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Monday, January 31, 2011

The Clothes On Their Backs

Riccardo Tisci's Givenchy couture offerings this season were all about Asian influence. It's little wonder, because Asia and all the rich facets of it's culture are slowly permeating Western consciousness. Asia also has a major commercial influence, what with Prada joining the ever-increasing ranks of companies choosing to list in Hong Kong as opposed to their home markets.

This collection draws on a LOT of Asian influences (butoh, Kazuo Ohno, anime, embroidery, cranes, dragons... the list goes on) but I'm really interested in (as far as my incredibly amateurish, untrained eyes can see) the samurai and origami influences.


Japanese samurai circa 1870
When you go on websites that feature this collection and the insano, day-glo Philip Treacy headgear, the comments section is inevitably clogged with cries of 'VIKING!' - you can really see the influence of the samurai helmets.  Irrelevant note alert - One of my favourite places to go in the V&A Museum in London is the Japanese section to look at all the samurai uniform.  It's all so intricate and well crafted.  Every aspect of the samurai uniform is carefully considered; every colour, every fold, every image has a cultural or practical significance.  Perhaps it's this attention to detail that aligns it so well with Givenchy.


Samurai circa 1880
You can really see the samurai and origami influences in the sharpness and angularity of the shoulders.  The pink motif above looks like it could be a representation of a samurai helmet (or a backpack in the shape of a bug if you think about it in a Rorschach kinda way).  I love the pristine whiteness of this dress.  It's like a fresh piece of paper begging to be folded into all sorts of magical shapes.


Origami samurai helmets
The headgear made so much more sense when I saw these mini samurai helmets made out of paper.  I know that it's supposed to be based on robots... but I like thinking it's an origami samurai helmet.  Let me have my wrongfooted delusion, ok?  Here is a link if you want to make a tiny samurai helmet and wear it on your finger.

I'm not very good at conclusions, so let me just say that the Givenchy collection is beautiful and batshit crazy.  Just the way I like it.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Round Up/Links Dump... eh... thing

I'm not going to lie - I've been a bad blogger lately.  Inspiration has been low and I've come to the end of the broadband contract, so the flat is internetless.  And cold.  But that's beside the point.  Most of the blog writing has been done in a very dodgy internet cafe near my flat, populated with sleeping winos and people conducting very loud arguments via Skype.

But, and this is a big but, I do have some cool and interesting stuff in the pipeline, which shall be revealed in due time.  Here are a few interesting links to show you that I'm still connected to the world in some way and tide the regular readers (thanks guys...) over 'til I get my blogging mojo back.

 - I've got a facebook profile - fancy being friends?

 - Disneyrollergirl revealed!  There goes my claim to fame of seeing the back of her head at London Fashion Week in September...

 - Free samples of Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream.  This stuff is amazing - the offer is only open to people in the UK and Ireland.  Go forth and be moisturised (or accelerate the rate of burn recovery if that's what floats your boat).



I'm really looking forward to watching this at The Pavilion, Cork tonight. The Way of the Crowd is about the Wigan Casino, which was the epicentre of the Northern Soul scene.  When Paul Smith is one of the talking heads, you know it's going to be interesting.  I'm also looking forward to seeing some flash dance moves afterwards.  It's what I imagine I look like when I'm drunk - the reality is much crueler.

 - The-Coveted vs.thecoveted drama; get informed and weigh in with your opinion.

 - Friend of The Licentiate, Jo Linehan of S-oh S-ew! is competing to be one of Elle Magazine's next fashion interns - go throw her a vote if you have a spare moment (maybe this way she'll hire me when she becomes a Big Shot Editor Type).

 - I noticed that my column from last week didn't recieve the same amount of feedback as the others normally do.  The views are the same, so I'm wondering if it's the subject.  Do fashion and politics mix?  Or is Margeret Thatcher too evil/sacred to comment on? Let me know what you think.  Click here to read the column if you haven't got the foggiest notion what I'm on about.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Licentiate Column 26/01/11

I'll listen to everything that I'm told, but I almost never listen to a) my father or b) political news.  Both are fond of grand pronouncements, hyperbolic accusations and statements resulting in a sense of self-loathing the likes of which The National Enquirer can only dream of publishing.

It's fortunate that the one time I actually did listen to my father was in regards to politics - a double whammy that filled up my aural assault quota quite nicely, thank you very much.  He told me that the population of Ireland is close to the population of Manchester, but we have as many political representatives as country ten times Ireland's size.  The result is a tin-pot government, unable or unwilling to pull itself out of the country's present funk due to a lethal combination of corruption, ineptitude and a misguided sense of self-entitlement.

Ireland needs a Maggie Thatcher.  Calm down now, put down your pitchforks and Poll Tax paraphenalia, I'm not suggesting for a nanosecond that Ireland needs a woman who refuses people a fair wage, denies small children their calcium and plays with the power grid as if it was a tricky dimmer switch.


Margaret Thatcher was the Iron Lady, a politician that you could legitimately hate for legitimate reasons.  With her navy blue power shoulders and impervious helmet of hair, she personified the cold, steely, uncaring gaze of an impassive statue, unflinching at the chaos she was causing.  Our politicians bumble about more than the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers in a bouncy castle and retain the slightly greasy sheen of stress-induced sweating as if was going out of fashion (which it is).  The rumpled suits of Brian Cowen only add to his frazzled 'Whoops, there goes the Central Bank!' aura.  The shoulders of his suits are cut exclusively for faux-contrite shrugging or incredibly defensive prognostication.  Ireland's politicians are every bit as as bad as Thatcher; their shambolic, pseudo-apologetic clothing is the only thing to dictate otherwise.

We need politicians to smarten up and fly right.  The adoption of Margaret Thatcher as a sartorial National Treasure in Britain despite the deep well of public hatred (she was photographed for Vogue by Mario Testino in 2008) should draw attention to the power of the right suit in the face of gross ineptitude.  We need a decisive leader who can take charge, preferably with a swift jab of an Aquascutum handbag and the flash of a well-turned out ankle (Brian Lenihan or Enda Kenny, I'm looking at you).

What we really need are some good politicians, but since that's a near impossibility, we should just tart up the terrible ones that we have.  Give them some small veneer of public professionalism with the right clothing and attitude, and we'll have reason to double our complaints.  Backcomb Mary Harney's hair and cement with a pint of hairspray into the eponymous Thatch, pop her into a pair of suitable Ferragamos and presto!  We have a new Maggie.

A term coined appropriately at the apex of Reaganism and Thatcherism, 'politics is showbusiness for ugly people' still stands strong today.  And if that really is the case, then we're all watching Eastenders - not Questions and Answers.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

John Galliano - or is it?

What fashion blogette worth her salt doesn't have Fashion Gone Rogue on her reader?  Everyone has their reason for clicking; their favourite models, labels, stylists and photographers are all there.  I'm not the biggest fan of editorials, but I do love their Morning Beauty feature - chock full of notable picks that you might not have seen the first time around.

Here's part of a shoot from Vogue Paris' Dec/Jan '06/'07 issue - Dans la Peau de John Galliano, photographed by Peter Lindbergh, styled by new Vogue Paris editrix Emmanuelle Alt and starring Sasha Pivovarova as, er, John Galliano.  The resemblance is uncanny.

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Monday, January 24, 2011

I Heart Shen Plum

I'm having a serious girl crush moment on the work of Toronto-based illustrator Shen Plum, whose line drawings are a mix of storybook perfection (anthropomorphic animals)and gorgeous, brightly-hued girls with prismatic rainbow accents

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Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O

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Pics 2-4 from Girls Girls Girls (hopefully nothing to do with the Motley Crue song)


Mournful but not morbid, ethereal without being wishy-washy and dreamlike without veering into cliched 'fairy-Lula-girl-in-a-wood-with-a-floaty-dress-on-a-tyre-swing' territory.  Just my cup of tea.

Shen Plum shows her stuff mainly in Toronto, but you can buy jewellery and other bits from her Etsy shop, prints from ES Illustration and super-cool badges from Stereohype, which are getting nicely settled into my wish list as I type.

Friday, January 21, 2011

I want to be a Teddy Girl

Before Ken Russell was shocking us with his films and I was astounding the world with my poor command of Photobucket (hence the higgledy-piggledy pictures), he was a photographer.  You could probably say that he was one of the first street style photographers.  His pictures were brought to my attention in a guest post by new Licentiate fave Vagabond Language.  His documenting of the working-class Teddy Boys and Girls in the 50's are a source of endless inspiration.

Throw in a viewing of Nowhere Boy, where the young John Lennon mixes with all kinds of Teds and Julies, and an obsession is born.

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Fancy some swag?


I'm giving away a copy of the Isabella Blow bio 'Blow by Blow'.  Written by the late, great stylist's husband, the books is relevatory and revealing in equal measures.  Entering the giveaway is uncomplicated, you just have to be a fan of The Licentiate on facebook.  Click the link or the sidebar on the right, then leave me a comment on the facebook page telling me why you want the book.  G'luck.

Licentiate Column 20/01/11

Have you been watching Mad Men? I was unaware of the hype surrounding the acclaimed American drama until this Christmas, when I was presented with the first two seasons of the show. On Monday, I sat down to watch an episode. A few days, and the development of some very square eyes later, I have finished the box set.


It is an excellent programme; smart, funny, knowing, genuine, mysterious, well-written and excellently characterised. And stylish, incredibly so. Interweaved into the lives of the Mad Men, the ad men in the grey flannel suits, waft three very different woman; Betty, the highly-strung, neurotic ex-wife of leading man Don Draper, Joan, the sexually voracious, va-va-voom office manager and Peggy, the token woman copywriter in a man's man's world.

It's unsurprising then that the style of Mad Men has become a source of inspiration for shoppers and designers everywhere. Prada's A/W '11 collection was lifted heavily from the strict, ultra feminine silhouette of the show, incorporating cat's eye spectacles, sinched-in waists, circle skirts and bouffant do's. 'Mad Men' has become one of the most searched terms for vintage clothing vendors on the internet - for women in search of that perfect 'downtrodden housewife' look.

Every aspect of the show is carefully considered. Even the books that Don and Betty read reflect their personalities and periods of mental stasis in some way. This attention to detail is no different in the costuming; designer Janie Bryant has very specific colours and patterns assigned to each female character. Betty has pretty floral dresses in classic shapes Ć” la Grace Kelly, Joan wears jewel bright tones and form-fitting shapes and Peggy gets the short end of the stick with checks, plaids and a particularly nacreous shade of mustard.

It makes perfect sense that women who emulate the Mad Men style are characterised as either a Joan or a Betty. In one episode of the show, a Playtex campaign is pitched with the conceit that a woman is either a Marilyn or a Jackie. One is straight-up-and-down, the other has an abundance of curves. One is a wife struggling with her husband's numerous infidelites, the other is a fleshpot with a more pragmatic view of human couplings.

In truth, the only difference between Joan and Marilyn or Betty and Jackie is the colour of their hair. Yes, they look great, but would you really want to be either of them?

I like Peggy best. She's smart, she's savvy, her character is the one who has evolved the most consistently, from timid secretary in little-girl dresses to a no-nonsense, helmet-haired boardroom babe in navy fitted suits. She works hard and tackles all obstacles head-on. It's a testament to her character that her wardrobe is the least appealing to the viewers but she manages to retain an aura of chic. I may have a vintage plaid dress or two hanging up in the wardrobe in homage to this particular proto feminist (just not in mustard, my admiration only stretches so far).

In the Playtex pitch meeting, Peggy counters that she is neither a Marilyn or a Jackie. Her male equivalents variously describe her a Gertrude Stein or a young Irene Dunne. In truth, Peggy is neither, but is unequivocally herself. Neither Jackie nor Marilyn, but inimatably Peggy - individuality is a Mad Men style that will always be in fashion.

Monday, January 17, 2011

I'm a bad widdle blogger...

I've been known to repost the odd blog post.  I'm extremely gratified that views for this blog have increased and so I like to show new readers a few bits that they might have missed.  But this is different.  This is a repost of a repost. I have gone that far.  Revoke my blogging license, for I have broken all the golden rules!

This originally surfaced on my first blog, which was terrible.  I reposted it on The Licentiate in March and I'm reposting it now, because, frankly, who doesn't like to watch how miserable Karl Lagerfeld is on Blue Monday?  Enjoy...

To quote the big K himself:

“I hate birthdays, ... It's more like a new starting point in New York. For me, it's an evolution. I don't celebrate the past. I like the present and tomorrow.”



Here are links for the curious mid 90's doc "Karl Lagerfeld Is Never Happy Anyway", which must have the worst soundtrack of all time. The audio for the last part is disabled, ostensibly because of copyright, but we all know that it's really disabled because the world would be a much crueler place if it was not. Plus there are subtitles for those short on brain and/or German language skills. We all know what happens in the end anyway; he loses a pile of weight, becomes the voice of Fabu in the new Totally Spies film and also becomes the subject of the fantastic 'Lagerfeld Confidential'.

Happy Evolution Sir Lagerfeld.

EDIT:  The  person who uploaded these videos have made them private for some reason.  Here are a few screenshots from a VICE Style article.  Read the article.  It will tell you everything you need to know about this documentary.  And I'm sorry about not noticing earlier.  This is what comes out of being a lazy bum.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Licentiate Column 13/01/11

I'd like to thank everyone who has voted for me so far as one of Ireland's most influential bloggers .  The competition is ending tomorrow at 6pm Irish time, so I'm going to make a final (very annoying) push for more votes.  If you've voted before you can vote again (it's every 24 hours).  The instructions for voting are on the page.  I'm just about creaking into the top ten and I'd love to stay there but I'm neck and neck with another blog - so I really really do need them votes.  Click here - I'm number 42!


*Public Service Announcement over - on to this week's column...*

Today I picked up a nice, shiny magazine. You know, the kind of nice, shiny magazine full of nice, shiny clothes with nice, shiny prices. The kind of magazine that issues the most hallowed and anticipated of all biannual supplements (barring Heat Magazine's soul-crushing celebrity swimsuit pull-outs) - the catwalk report.

We'll just call this magazine a generic, vaguely evocative French word. Let's call it Haute. I love Haute because it is cover-to-cover with beautiful people, fairytale settings and clothes you and I can never afford. It is pure escapism. It inhabits a world totally inaccessible and separate to our own, albeit one that we can peer into just by briefly licking our thumbs and flicking a page corner, like a version of Alice and the Looking-Glass for shopping addicts.

Magazines like Haute publish the catwalk reports as a way of imposing themselves into our world. Haute has picked up the Looking Glass and smashed it over Alice's head. It's less assimilation - more indoctrination.

The idea is to pick and choose which aspects of which collection appeal most to you and blend it into your wardrobe; simple things like (a) bold block colours or (b) simple tailoring or (c) a pair of flared jeans. You're not really supposed to wear the catwalk look from head to toe, because if you did, you'd look a bit like (a) a lego brick, (b) an extra from Logan's Run or (c) a Studio 54 reject for whom the party has long since ended.

This season Haute is championing the Luxe Sportswear trend. 'Luxe' does not mean 'luxury', rather 'Luxe Sportswear' means 'Expensive Tracksuits... In Impractical Heels'. Popularised by designer Alexander Wang, Luxe Sportswear has been around for a few seasons and is defined by distressed shrunken leather biker jackets with leggings, oversized t-shirts, lace-up heeled boots and enough grey jersey to swaddle a million coltish-legged prepubescent models. Nothing we haven't seen before.

Luxe Sportswear is perverse; it pairs the practical with the impractical. Waterproof neoprene, traditionally found in wetsuits, is used to construct soft, shell-like bodycon dresses. Joggerbums are worn with towering heels.

The neoprene dresses I can understand. It's an unorthodox material and, because it's such a stiff fabric, it can hold it's shape and produce some unexpectedly beautiful results. The heel and tracksuit pants? Oho no.

Today I saw a woman walking down the street wearing a pair of billowing khaki jersey pants. The cuffs of said pants were tucked into spindly McQueen-esque lace-up heels of the same hue. Her gait was circumspect, possibly because every step she took would inflate a pant leg like a runaway wind sock in a wheezing gale.

Apart from that segue into the risible, Luxe Sportswear is fully representative of it's beloved grey jersey. It's boring.

Even the ringleader of the bland, sorry, grand circus, Alexander Wang, is getting tired of the monsters he has created. He is quoted in interviews, saying "If I see another distressed black leather motorcycle jacket, I'm going to shoot myself in the face".

That's a bit harsh, Mr Wang. Perhaps you should make your weapon a water pistol instead. When the time comes for that fateful splashing, pray that you'll be wearing neoprene.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

My Personal Style Resolutions #15: Skinni Peach

Hey Licentiate readers! My name is Dawn and Im the little lady behind Skinni Peach (the skinny on all things peachy). My blog is heavy on beauty ramblings with hints of fashion bits here and there. I write the beauty and fashion pages for RSVP Magazine along with spa reviews and a few features too. Sarah asked me to jot down my style resolutions for this sparkly new year – so.... have you got ALL DAY? The only thing holding me back is my pathetic bank balance!

My Style At The Mo: It varies. I’m in love with anything feminine. The 1940’s and 50’s are my fav eras and my wardrobe is full of dresses inspired by these decades. I’ll be buried in my skinny jeans and at the mo I’m stuck in a floral rut. Anything floral, I gotta have it, it just screams, “Hey, I’m a lady!!.” Give me anything peach or nude and I’ll be yours forever!

2011 Style: Even though the winter chill still whispers through the air the new Spring lines are hitting the high street soon and this year Im loving the spanking new trends. Lace, nudes, print, feminine chiffons, colour blocking, wedges and orientalism...I WANT IT ALL!! But there’s a few things I have my eyes on (although their all COMPLETELY out of my price range, but a girl can wish!). My style resolution this year is to embrace every trend in some way or another. I’ve picked my cream of the crop below...do we share a trend love?

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Valentino Lace-trimmed cashmere-blend shawl – the perfect nude colour with an oriental twist.

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Diane Von Furstenburg Opal leather wedge sandals – NEED these!

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Reiss peacock lace dress – bang on the modern romance trend with the right amount of lace and chiffon to boot.

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Betty Jackson Dress – staying on trend with the colour blocking sticking with my fav 50’s inspired twist.

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Oasis Pussybow blouse – I bought this 70’s-esque blouse during the week so my style resolution is on the right track!

My Personal Style Resolutions #14: Glamrocks Luna

Firstly big thank you to Sarah for letting us be guest bloggers on The Licentiate! It is a privilege to be asked. We are two fashion bloggers / stylists/ very excited to say vintage online shop owners!! You can check out our blog here. Follow us on facebook and on twitter. If anyone fancies a little New Year's vintage shopping here is a link to our shop tabitha!

Now all the shameless plugging over let's get down to business! The pair of us sat down and discussed our style resolutions for the New Year. The only thing we can conclude after a long chat is that we are getting old! 2011 is going to see us taking more time and thinking about what we are buying. Gone are the days of walking into a shop and buying an item because you love it. It is time to start thinking more about picking clothes, accessories and shoes that will tie into our existing wardrobes. It may sound a little sad but its true.
In fact, a certain half of this blogging duo was a fiend for spotting something shiny or floral or aztec printed and just buying because they "reaallly needed it"..which has resulted in an awkward situation of every time they open their wardrobe they have a pattern induced seizure.

So, what we're trying to say is there is no point having tons of items in your wardrobe and not being able to create an outfit with them. What is needed is some staple items and a little creativity.

It's also a good idea to stick to a colour palette that suits you. This needn't be boring, like oh I can only wear grey or green is my colour. It could be as simple as picking frosty or warm tones depending on your skin tone / hair colour etc.

We have also mastered the art of male shopping. "Ehhh what?" you ask...

Well men have an amazing ability to wake up and say "Oh i really need a white tshirt". They then go to a store, pick out a top in their size then bam, approx. 56 seconds later they are walking out the door t-shirt in hand.

So a good way of doing this (plus it completely cuts down on impulse shopping ) is to decide what stores you're going to hit ,scour their website and have a wish list ready to just pounce on the items and leave before you decide to "just take a look at the shoes for a second... Oohhh they are amazing... and reduced, ohh......." etc etc.

At the same time there are vintage shops offering amazing one off clothes that are wacky and bright and sequined and tattered ,totally bananas but completely deadly.
When things like this come along and you must have them, just make sure you have a good staple in your wardrobe to pair them with..for example denim shorts / skinnies / plain blouse .

So, these are our resolutions for 2011... Obviously, we're going to fall off the wagon now and then with a pit stop in Penney's resulting in 40 euro of pointless nonsense being bought, but we're ok with that . It's inevitable. Just like my heathy eating resolution will probably come to a crashing end with me ordering everything in Eddie Rockets one day after work because I cant cope with another lettuce leaf.

But we'll have tried, and that's all that matters right?

We hope you have a healthy and happy New Year!!

Lou and Una

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Monday, January 10, 2011

My Personal Style Resolutions #13 Blondorexic

My name is Sian, and I run Blondorexic - it's a mash-up of outfit posts, editorials and pictures I find inspirational, with the occasional video thrown in. I like to look at the transition fashion makes from design, to runway, to street, and I try to bring this across in my blog. My main inspiration source is film. I'm also studying History at Trinity College Dublin, and tend to base my outfit posts on a student budget.


2011, unlike most New Years, definitely seems to be a year for change. Normally I don't even bother making resolutions, and, besides style resolutions, this year was exactly the same with one difference - I became a productive person. Both my bedroom and wardrobe have gone through a complete overhaul in the past week - a far cry from my usual post-Christmas food-induced stupor that renders me completely useless until the return to college.


So with this can-do attitude in mind (wouldn't Obama be proud!), I firmly decided upon my 2011 Style Resolution: The Five Piece French Wardrobe.


When I first read about this on afterdrk.freshnet.se, I thought it was far too extreme a wardrobe diet for someone who buys as many clothes as I do to undertake. However, on closer inspection, the Five Piece French Wardrobe could be exactly what I, and my fellow recession-damaged shopaholics need. The main rule of the diet is to only buy five new key pieces per season (ie. ten per year), not including basics. It's up to you to decide on the rest of the rules, like if you want shoes to be included as one of the five pieces, or hats, or jewellery...you get the point. I had wanted to start buying less, but better clothing, so this 'diet' seems perfect.

In a dream world, my five key pieces for this season would be...

A Vintage Yves Saint Laurent brown leather clutch. (click to see) It's the perfect summer clutch - classy enough for nights out, casual enough for barbeques, and big enough to fit all of your summery things in.

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Nina Ricci Draped Nabuk Wedges. Again, another item that could carry you throughout Spring and Summer, and could be succesfully worn with any number of different outfits. I'd wear them with black ankle socks, denim cut-offs and an oversized black shredded tee, YSL clutch tucked stylishly under my arm, of course..

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See by ChloĆ© scalloped cotton and silk-blend jersey dress. I think getting a dress is very important when following these rules, as it's an entire outfit in itself. This is another really versatile piece - nude goes with everything, black goes with everything, Chloe goes with anything...  How could you go wrong?

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Premium Red Suede Strap Biker Jacket. Living in Ireland, a good jacket is necessary even in Summer. This cranberry red suede is absolutely irresistible - it would be such a delicious colour on tanned skin. I did say in a dream world..

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via luisaviaroma

AQA Contemporary Opals Ring. No girl can resist jewellery, and my personal favourite is a statement ring. You can't get more statement than this opal beauty from AQA; have that resting on your finger and nobody will even glance at the rest of your outfit.


Whether I have the willpower to stick to the Five Piece French Wardrobe and resist Primark's catwalk copies remains to be seen, but, just like the majority of the Irish people, what my wardrobe could really use is a diet after weeks of over-indulging. Hopefully my wardrobe's willpower is stronger than that of the majority of Irish people.


Happy New Year!

Sian. x

My Personal Style Resolutions #12: Rose Tinted Uncertainty

Rose Tinted Uncertainty is a blog filled with loads of things from heels to screen prints, petticoats to freckles. Everything that fills up the ever girly, ever curvy and ever obsessed with fashion world of me (Rhona), founder of Rose Tinted Uncertainty, is on there.


What’s in a shoe? Your foot… obviously, and that is what I want to talk about, my feet and more importantly my shoes.
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My New Years resolution is to wear more heels (it’s the same as last year) and to teach my feet that heels are their friend and not their foe. For a girl who loves heels it’s very upsetting to know that my feet don’t agree…

I’m getting on in years (almost 21!) and I am slowly but surely turning into a woman. But I want to be more than a woman, I want to be a lady (really really badly) and as well as being polite and kind (I promise I am  working on them) a lady wears heels. So you can see my dilemma, I have feet who want to stay young and wear little girl mary-janes and converse and will not listen to the rest of my body which is dying to be a lady. Stubborn little feet, aren’t they?

So my cunning plan is to get loads (don’t know where I’ll store them) of mid-heeled shoes for the daytime. Cute little fifties style ones, as well heeled brogues and loafers. This way my feet will be slightly raised all day and when I wish to wear my stilettoes it won’t seem such an ordeal for my stubborn little feet.

I know what you’re thinking, “flawless plan Rhona, you’re a genius!” But unfortunately there is a reason why it is the same resolution as last year. I bought loads of heels last year but nearly all of them were really high so I had little to no mid heels for the day. This of course resulted in the same problem as the year before- really sore feet when I ventured out in my stilettoes.

So I have to restrain myself and buy only mid-heeled shoes (unless I come across an amazing pair of high heels that I will have to get or face a painful death- but only then). It will be hard, I am addicted to shoes and I’ve no job so it isn’t as if I can buy both high and mid-heeled shoes.

So it is a good thing that there are loads of fabulous mid-heeled shoes available in Office. Fair play to them, they are all so beautiful! I will take all of these please…
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All shoes from Office

Hopefully this year I will keep on track…

Rhona xx

Blog:  http://rosetinteduncertainty.blogspot.com/
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/rose-tinted-uncertainty/10150139582720058?ref=ts
Bloglovin:  http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/1433365/rose-tinted-uncertainty

Sunday, January 9, 2011

My Personal Style Resolutions #11: Blink and You'll Miss

Hello! Kellebelle here from Blink and You’ll Miss. My blog is a mixture of personal style blog posts, general musings about fashion and some little rants thrown in for good measure! X

My Personal Style New Years Resolutions

Sometimes I feel I can get stuck in a bit of a fashion rut this time of year. You know the way it gets – picking the cosy, snugly, shapeless jumper over anything that resembles ‘chic’.

I get up for work at 5.30am to be in for 6am and I find it hard sometimes to throw on blazers or any non-cardigan shaped item! Plus at that hour of the morning it takes all my will-power not go into work in my pjs and hoodie!

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I’ll do anything really to get a few extra minutes in bed, breakfast in work equals an extra three minutes in my leaba so I lay out my clothes the night before. But again, the blazer that looked so nice the previous night now feels like cold cardboard against my skin so it’s flung into a far corner in favour of some woolly knits!

When I used to work on the later shifts I was always a bit dressier in work; heels, blazers etc. So my resolution is to look like I didn’t get dressed in the dark wearing whatever was nearest the radiator. Toasty!

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This year, 2011, I’ve decided is going to be different! Well, the days will eventually get brighter and the snow (I hope!) is well and truly gone. I think my work wardrobe is in need of a bit of a revamp - of course I don’t want to banish the knits altogether and they can make a nice faux-duvet on my desk!

Photos: Topshop

Saturday, January 8, 2011

My Personal Style Resolutions #10: SoooAli

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In between studying History of Art and Architecture with Early Irish, Ailbhe loves traveling, cooking and above all, fashion. Her habits are funded by a part-time job as a lifeguard. Somehow she finds time to update Soooali.com with personal style photos, editorials and interviews.

My resolutions follow the calendar of the fashion world and therefore come twice a year! I find it difficult to remain determined all through the year and so doing this makes my resolutions a little easier to stick to. Okay, okay I'll just be honest here, I always fail after a month and I have less time to feel guilty if I change resolutions every few months! Now of course the 'find a solution for world peace' and 'get rich in order to buy a Chloe handbag... I mean, give money to charity' are ongoing resolutions for the rest of my life. Don't we all have a couple? But for next year here is what I plan on doing... at some stage or another:

1. Start a diet, go the gym, uh what other punishments are we humans supposed to endure?

2. Stop making lists and start doing what's actually on them. I am such a procrastinator.

3. Vow to write every appointment etc in my moleskine. I can be scatty at times.

4. Get rid of my leopard print obsession. Immediately. Leopard print scrunchies were the limit. They are not attractive.

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5. Get into the 70's trend though I'm a little afraid to embrace the flares again, memories of parachute pants haunt me!

6. Finish a bottle of nail varnish before buying another in the exact same colour...even if it is another brand! Yes that is a picture of just a few of the polishes I own...ahem.

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7. Buy more investment pieces...i.e. stay away from Penney’s for a while and save some money.

8. Sort out my wardrobe and get rid of all the fluff in between. Oxfam is going to have a feast!

9. Start looking after my skin; it gets a lick of water every now and then. I have so many products, but never follow through with all the fuss. The wrinkles are appearing though, so it's about time!

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10. I guess my main resolutions have the underlying theme of consume less and save more. If I achieve that one little bit I'll be happy.

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Finally thank you Sarah for having me, this is my first ever guest post and it was really fun to do. I love reading your site and wish you all the best in 2011!

ali@soooali.com

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