Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival celebrates its 67th anniversary this month.

The Daily Mail showed an article with sketches of the most famous Cannes red carpet dresses and i found it quite nostalgic to look back on all these iconic dresses. It makes you wonder what dresses from this generation will go on to be iconic and admired by my children, and even grandchildren.

I love these sketches, im tempted to draw them out and paint them on a canvas to hang in my room (not sure my fiance will agree with the decor!) . I am particularly taken with the dresses of Monica Bellucci and Paz Vega- but maybe thats just because i am a sucker for a red dress.

Which of these is your favourite?

Kayla

xxx

Baftas

So less uni work means more time for personal projects... including watching TV... ahem researching!

The TV Bafta Awards were this week and there was a definite trend in the style of dresses worn.

I love watching the award shows just to see what people wear! While some seem to look amazing, there are always those who either disappoint with a  rather lack lustre outfit, or wear something totally bizarre- and not in the good way.

At the Baftas- Black was the new black. Personally i love a black dress, i love how you can take the whole look back and focus on one thing, be it crazy accessories, or big hair, or an unusual cut of dress.  I love the elegance that a black dress denotes, the classic style it emulates. Think classic Chanel, or even the one and only Givenchy dress from Breakfast at Tiffanys.

One of my favourite looks of the night was by Helena Bonham- Carter. It is no secret that i adore this woman. I think she is so interesting and intrinsically beautiful and creative. I love this look on her, she always dresses her own way, but while the dress itself is more understated than her usual style, the glasses add a little punch of wackyness. She oozes glamour here while still retaining her own style- and i think she looks stunning.

Another of my favourite black dresses was by Broadchurch star Jodie Whittaker. This style is so simple but just different enough to make her stand out. She looks flawless and effortless.

Caroline Flack wore a long gown which looked gorgeous- showing she doesn't need to display her amazing legs to look smoking. It reminds me of some of Vivienne Westwoods dresses with the volume and origami style folds. 

James Cordens wife Julia Carey looked drop dead gorgeous, and announced she is also expecting! Im not sure if its the baby or the dress, but she looked beautiful. Her dress was elegant but the gold detailing reminds me of Alexander McQueens designs, and perfectly matched her clutch bag.

I usually do not look to Sophie Ellis-Bextor for a style icon but i really liked her dress this year. Like her i have very pale skin and it is very difficult to find clothes that do not wash you out- and indeed makeup can also pose a huge problem. She looks amazing here and manages a smokey eye highlighting her pale skin rather than washing herself out.

Who were you favourites from the Baftas this year? And what is your ultimate black dress?

Kayla

xxx

Catching up

So i know i promised to post more, well i have finally finished my degree- so now i can dedicate more time to this!

A lot has happened recently and to be honest it has all been overwhelming! I am now looking forward to focusing on my health and finding a job that will hopefully lead to a career.

Expect lots of wedding updates and hopefully (fingers crossed) updates on the job situation!

Thanks for sticking with me

Kayla xxx

Wedding Talk

So, this is the start of what is bound to become rather a collection of wedding related blog posts. I have annoyed many people already by flooding my social media full of wedding related posts- but i don't really care. Its important to me and it is an exciting time, i hope only to marry once, so why shouldn't i get excited about it.

Of course for most people, the dress is the big deal. I booked to try some dresses on a few weeks into our engagement, just to get a feel for what i thought i may like. No matter how well you think you know your body and how well you think you dress- always try some on. It turns out a dress i had eyed up for months- didn't look right on, and one i picked out thinking it wouldn't suit... well it looked amazing. I took my two girlies with me, people i knew would give an honest opinion, but i would recommend not taking any more than two people. At the end of the day the decision is yours- too many opinions can be very confusing.

So after trying on many and trawling through the internet, i still did not know what i wanted. As many wedding dresses start from £800 onwards, i knew i was looking at a more budget variety. Here comes the debate. There are plenty of websites and ebay sellers who offer the same dresses as other designers, but at a highly discounted rate- sometimes less than £100. Why so? Well these dresses are made in china and are basically copies of the designer dresses. Ask about these on a bridal forum and expect a huge debate. from what i have seen, many people buy these dresses and find that the dress is spot on, the perfect dress at a fraction of the cost. However they carry a risk, for each happy bride there is another whose dress turned out to be less than satisfactory. Anyhow i had decided EVENTUALLY that i wanted one of two dresses. Both of these from a bridal store were in the region of £1000- somewhat out of my price range, however online from these Chinese copy cats  i was looking at between £100-£200- much more reasonable.

Being a fashion student i figured- what the worst that could happen? i thought if the dress comes and i don't like a part of it, ill upcycle it, ill rework it until it is right, i have the skills necessary. And then while searching online i found a woman selling my dream dress, my £1000 dress.... for jsut £200! It was too good a deal to miss! However she would not post it, and to cut a very long story short, im very lucky that my wonderful bridesmaid was happy to drive 2 and a half hours away to pick up my dress. (Thank you Helen!!!). To top it all off, when i tried the dress on it fitted like a glove, i could not be any more thrilled! 

So for me, the wedding dress part of my wedding planning, went quite smoothly. I am now the proud owner of a genuine Mori Lee wedding dress, and i know i will feel not £1000 but a million pounds on our special day.

My advice for dress shopping

Number one- always go try some on.Pick some you like and some you hate. try them all on, book 10, 20, 30 sessions. Just try on everything

Number two- go with your gut. I didn't have the big "Oh my god its the one!" moment. i didn't cry. But then i never had that moment about my partner either, i just knew. I knew he was the right person, and i knew this was the right dress. It looked great, and it was super comfy, what more could i want. I think people put too much pressure on themselves finding "The one" when it comes to the dress. Its a dress. Just a dress, wear what you like and what makes you feel good- don't stress.

Finally its a dress you wear once. It does not have to cost the earth. By all means if you have a huge budget, buy through a bridal store. But if you don't there are options! Buy off the rack from a bridal store, buy second hand or buy copies. If you buy second hand, insist they dry clean it first- this saves you a job. But think of it this way, you know this dress has been worn for mere hours, and you are paying for a fraction of its original cost! What a bargain! And if you choose a Chinese copy, be savvy. 

 Personally i would suggest buying through ebay as ebay usually favour the buyer in any dispute, so you know you are protected. Also only buy from sellers with near 100% feedback, again you are more likely to have any disputes resolved as they don't want their feedback destroyed! Finally have a back up plan. Your dress may arrive and not be perfect. Either keep the cash to one side to buy another dress if it all goes wrong, or make good friends with a seamstress!!

Hope this helps any brides to be!

Kayla 

xxx

Disney Nails

Those who have read my previous posts know i fell in love with Gelish nails. Well for christmas my wonderful fiance bought me a uv lamp and a few Gelish colours so i could learn to do them myself. i was totally ecstatic, and it turn out the technique is really simple, while my manicures may not last as long as when i have them done professionally, they still last for 2-3 weeks! and of course i can repair them myself at home if i snag one. if you enjoy Gelish nails i really recommend you invest in one of these sets- i am having so much fun with mine

This is my new manicure- i have noticed that i can make my nail decals last even longer by combining them with a Gelish manicure. i do my nails as i normally do with Gelish polish, then i pop the decal one, then another layer of Gelish topcoat! These decals were from eBay- i got 20 decals for £2, and i love them. i will definitely be investing in loads more!

Kayla 

xxx

Mulberry

I saw this article and found it quite interesting- so i wanted to share it with you guys

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2550629/How-Mulberry-got-big-boots.html

I have to say, i feel like Mulberry has got a bit old. For a while their classic designs were the "Must have" handbags, but i feel like somehow...they got boring. All of a sudden cute quirky bags came back into fashion and these just fell away. Maybe they were too classic. I think they were too easily imitated that Mulberry no longer became something people needed to have, and i think the brand is not as aspirational anymore.

I would be really interested to hear what you have to say in regards to this article, send me a message and we can discuss:)

Kayla 

xxx

Hello Guys!

Hi guys, i apologise for my lack of posting

I have had such a hectic time lately, and i really hard to prioritse my university work

Where to start- well those who follow my other social media pages will know that i recently got engaged! I am due to get married 10th of December, so expect lots of wedding related posts!

In the meantime i completed my work experience with luxury brand Alexandra Mann, and today i handed in my dissertation!

I will make it my mission to post regularly from now on, but i must admit it will likely be less often that before my little break! I will document as i did before, fashion new, my do's and don'ts, but also some of my work towards my Final Major Project and any news about my job seeking!!

Hope to hear from all you guys soon!

Kayla 

xxx