SPARKLE DAY 'N NIGHT

'Tis the season to sparkle, and all that, though this year I've taken a break from the usual rounds of drinks, meals out and socialising, rendering my festive occasion wear redundant. It's all good for the liver, the soul and the bank balance, mind you. Instead of going all-out festive sparkle, I added a little into my everyday life thanks to this sequinned bomber from Motel. I've been looking for a layering piece like this for a while - easy to wear with boyfriend jeans, though also great for nights out.

I don't have too many going out clothes; I attempt to mix up my normal clothes into something edgier, hence the turtleneck and metallic A-line skirt: great with a maxi and a fluffy knit, respectively. It's always good to trade in the sneakers for a stomping boot, too, and incredibly whilst lusting over the Tumblr trend of cleated soled shoes I forgot I had something very similar myself. Miista been doin' that '90s chunky boot thing waaay before Stella Mac.

I hope you all have had lovely festive season, and I wish you a very merry Christmas. I'm heading home today and I'm really excited to see all of my friends and spend a while hanging out with my mum.

I'm wearing:

DAY	NIGHT
Sequin jacket c/o Motel	Sequin jacket c/o Motel
UNIF t-shirt	Evil Twin for Nasty Gal crop (via Steph)
ASOS/DIY distressed jeans	eBay skirt
Nike Free Runs	Miista Luannes
Minkpink bag	Topshop bag

METALLIC HOLOGRAPHIC

When blogging there is a pressure (real/perceived? Probably the latter) to constantly showing off new clothes, and I often don't bother shooting looks I love because it's been featured here before. However, for the first time in a little while I felt really good in this outfit, and the dress is styled totally differently to the previous time it was shown - plus in reality I don't wear new things or even brand new outfits every day - so this time I shrugged the pressure off. This dress is the perfect chuck on 'n go, dress up or down, eat as much as you like kind of thing so gets worn a lot, particularly to occasions like last night: my mum's birthday meal.

The only new thing I have here is my Ciara Clark cuff, whose work first caught my eye when my friend Kerry styled her lookbook. Ciara works with the most fantastically coloured holographic perspex - it looks pink here due to the flash catching it but in daylight it's more of an iridescent lilac.

Oh yeah, and after six weeks, two bleachings, one hair colour remover and infinite shampooings, my hair is back to platinum. For now. Just looks like a blank canvas to me now..

I'm wearing:
Ted Baker dress

ASOS turtleneck

Miista boots

Minkpink bag

Ciara Clark holographic cuff

NIGHTLIFE

So, did you guys hear that Fashion's Night Out is coming to Manchester this year? I'm so chuffed that not only does fashion exist outside of the capital, but Vogue chose my very own city to host it in this year. I had a pretty fashionable night out in Manchester with lovely ladies Robyn and Stephanie this week, so wht better way to accompany the FNO info than with these images? It was Robyn's first time in Manchester, so we showed her the nighttime delights of the Northern Quarter, including art gallery-cum-bar Common and Matt & Phred's jazz club. We're gonna be in a band, and these will totally be our promo shots.. Just gotta (re)learn to play music; we all confessed to play instruments in school but let it lapse in adulthood. Wah.

There really is so, so much happening on October 10th - so much so I couldn't feature everything - but you can view a map on the Vogue FNO mini-site. The main hub will be around Exchange Square, with Selfridges handing out gift cards to every visitor ranging from £1-£500 (I KNOW) and nail artist extraordinaire Sophy Robson is going to be in the Chanel boutique giving manicures. I still think about her dalmatian nails from Topshop Unique so that might just be my request.

Speaking of Topshop, their creative director Kate Phelan will be around for the evening to give a talk. I adore Kate's work, from Vogue to Topshop, and this is going to be one of the highlights for me; I'd love to know the ins and outs of her current position as it's a job title I dream of having myself one day.

Manchester-born designer Matthew Williamson will be in Flannels for a meet 'n greet, House of Fraser are running the infamous Vogue cover shoot experience, Vogue Eats pop-up food stalls on King Street.. plus loads more, much of which hasn't even been confirmed yet. I'll be your correspondent for the live music and DJs (bands will be playing in LK Bennett and Mulberry. Maybe it'll be mine, Robyn & Steph's band!.. Not), and you can also check out Lily Kitten for information regarding Manchester designers on the evening; This Fashion is Mine for anything student-related; and Tweet for exclusive content in the run-up to the event.

I already feel this is slight information overload, so I'll let you digest this for now and I'll provide more information as and when I get it. One thing you can be sure of is that there will be plenty of free booze.. so see you there, glass in hand!

I'm wearing:

Vintage denim jacket (stolen off dad)

Love Label jumper c/o Very

Vintage tartan skirt

Miista May boots

Minkpink bag
Hair scrunchie made by Shannon!

Robyn is wearing a Topshop playsuit & Steph is wearing Dr Martens boots

THIN WHITE LINE

What possessed somebody to spray paint this thin white line on the wall? Did it mean anything, or was it just a rebellious act of swiping the spray across the corrugated iron? I suspect the latter, because as a young 'un I've randomly defaced public objects with marker pens only to panic for weeks afterwards that the police would come knocking on my door about the messy "I <3 JONNO" (or whoever, I don't actually think I've ever fancied anyone called Jonno anyway) scrawled on the train station wall.

I spotted this line anyway and decided I wanted my picture taken in front of it. And, thanks maybe to the bottle of wine I'd shared with my boyfriend's mum previously, had a lot of fun taking them. I'd been out to eat with Chris's parents plus his grandad so I hope these pictures show how these amazing trousers can be dressed up for dinner instead of dressed down for work; I really believe statement trousers are a necessity in everyone's wardrobe and think they are really versatile.

Also, I've been using a cocktail of new oils in my hair lately and I can really tell the difference, even in these photos. I'm going to really hammer the hair growth tricks in the next few weeks and will update you on the results in a few weeks' time. A bit of an experiment, if you like!

I'm wearing:

ASOS crochet cardigan

Vintage waistcoat

Topshop camisole

Minkpink Distant Traveller trousers

Miista silver May boots

Fringed bag from Portuguese market

Bohemian Collective sample sale necklace

Assorted jewellery

LONDON NOT FASHION WEEK

Look where I am, ma!

To me, there is such an oversaturation of London Fashion Week coverage now: not only can you get your favourite fashion editor's thoughts immediately over Twitter, but bloggers are going backstage, getting sneak peeks, sitting front row.. so this time it was nice to get off the treadmill and have some chill time in London. I went to the pub both nights, saw friends from home who now live in the Big Smoke, met new friends, and just had a lovely holiday in Camden staying at the very hospitable Sheree's.

This post wouldn't be very interesting for you, dear reader, if that were all I did. I went to the Ashish show thanks to Sophie, who took pity on me and donated her ticket, plus the Tahir Sultan show which was in fact the very last show of Fashion Week this season. Mr. Sultan himself was a fabulous finishing act, strutting down the runway, totes shoulder robing his jacket. Chuckling way too much to get a photo.. soz.

The first couple of looks at Ashish were a little disappointing (read: no sequins, weird puckered fabric) but the collection quickly settled into the 90s-inspired liquid sequins we've come to love and respect. Ashish's party girl has had to grow up and get a job this season - and a construction job at that. Not sure the patchwork denim trapeze maxi dress is really suitable building site attire but I loved it nonetheless, and also the spaghetti strap sequin jumpsuit was beautiful (they say two's a coincidence.. let's just wait for number three). The hair was so backcombed that I worried for the models' next show; how they got that out I don't know, but at least it's a totally achievable at-home look. You just need a fine-tooth comb and an entire can of hairspray.

I gotta admit to being a bit of a fangirl.. it was also super cool to see models of the moment Leomie and Chloe Norgaard on the runway!

Other highlights for me included Sophia Webster's metallic purple unicorn bag, the Maoam machine that was broken and just carried on spitting Pinballs everywhere, discovering ethical company Veja and their collaboration with print designer Greg Anser (that rainbow image is a carbon map of the Amazon.. love a print with a story), seeing old faces and meeting new ones, and just generally having a good time in Sunny Old London.

Sheree's amaze shaggy jacket is Nasty Gal
I wore:
Topshop jacketWildfox teeForever 21 maxi skirtMiista bootseBay blow-up backpack





Wildfox jumperCharity shop shirtTopshop skirtJeffrey Campbell Pointe flatformsCharity shop coatForever 21 bagWildfox sunglasses


Image from Helena, who is also the pretty lady in paisley above
You can see a video of me in this outfit pretending to be a totally important fashion designer made by DijonVu.