My day off

I wore this to a pretty pointless day. On my day off (when I had lots of little errands to run), my mum dragged me (literally) to one of her friends house (the most boring woman ever). I was stuck there for a few hours and my thinking was if I was going to die of boredom, I might as well look decent doing it. It also gave me the opportunity to try out my new bag and bracelet.

My shoes are from Priceless and my dress's label is Tsogyal (???). I haven't heard of them either, but I saw the dress in a local little shop and loved it.

I still don't know if I like this dress better with or without the belt. What do you guys think?


So, the new bag and bracelet:

The bracelet was kindly sent over by Munique, who specialise in handmade jewellery and bags.

The company was founded in 2007 by Arline James-Thomas (who is absolutely lovely) because of the demand for more unique accessories for women who want to stand out and be unique. The bracelet really is unique and funky. Its made really carefully, with beands and safety pins. My dad, who loves seeing how things are made, was really impressed. It was clearly made with a lot of effort and it looks really good. Its so different from anything else I own. I think its obvious in my outfit pictures, that the bracelet stands out. If you want something to make you stand out from the crowd, I definitely recommend this!

Also, check out Munique's blog here.












Thank you to Munique for the 2 pictures above.
















And this bag is now a personal favourite of mine. Ted Baker recently had a competition and I won!! They revealed a clue a day for a crossword and, from the shaded boxes, you had to figure out what the prize was. I was so happy when I found out I'd won this bag! I adore the colour!
The bag is called 'Violete' and its a leather clutch bag, with a detatchable chain strap.


Sherin xx

P.S. Cringing at bad hair. And apologies for the awful settings on my camera. Dark days mean that all pictures come out awful!

P.P.S. We just found out about a cool event taking place in London and Manchester. Skinny Cow are teaming up With Kelly Brook and are hosting a very bis Charity Swap shop, with all funds going to the Marie Curie Cancer Trust (a charity close to my heart!)

Many celebrities will be donating their clothes, such as Sarah Harding. All you have to do to get an invite it become a fan of Skinny Cow on Facebook and you will be entered into a draw to attend the events. Even if you don't win the tickets, there are lots more things for you to win. Nestle will be making a donation for every item swapped by a celebrity.

For more information, check out this video.

Modern Day Vintage: Part 1

I love the whole vintage look: from the 1940's or 1950's: gorgeous red lips and amazing clothes. Its so classy and looks wonderful. There have been many vintage inspired icons in the past, but sadly, there are less and less vintage beauties. There are, however, some modern day icons who, you can tell, are obviously inspired by the vintage look.


Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel is one of my favourite actresses at the moment and I wrote this post on her a while back. I love how she is so unconventions and optsto do indie movies, instead of big budget one.

Her style is very quirky, feminine and flirtations. Its her own unique style and its clear that, when it comes to fashion, she doesn't follow anyone! Her style is a mixture of indie, and vintage and her usual look is a cute dress, with tights. Her dresses are all very cute and vintage looking.

She accessories with a vintage flair as well. She adds ribbons to her hair and has bows as well. Zooey's carfree and relaxed attitude adds an extra personal feel to her look.









































Zooey Photo Credits: Instyle, Film.com, Zimbio, Zimbo (again) and gofugyouself


Dita Von Teese

Dita, as you should know, is best known for her burlesque performances. She is the ultimate Burlesque queen.
She has incredible style, with a very strong retro-glam vintage vibe to it. She mixes a 50s throwback style with some modern elements, giving her a perfect style, which she manages to pull off really well. I like that her style and image is completely different than everyone else out there, creating a more fantasy look.
She says that she adopted the 40's pin up look because she felt that she didn't fit in well with any other look. Its so good to see that she never ttrid to be somebody that she's not.

Dita was well on her way to becoming a ballet dancer, and its clear that that past has had an immpact on her preformances. As a teenager, she was intrigued by all things retro and vintage, such as old Hollywood movies. Her inspirations include Bettie Page and she picked her name after the German actress, Dita Parlo.

























Dita Photo Credits: Fashion About, Cointreau, Stellar Magazine


Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett is exactly the kind of icon I've been talking about. She definitely fits into the old Hollywood glamour look. She is so gorgeous and definitely looks the part of a 50's icon. She has often been compared to Marilyn Monroe because of her blonde hair and how she looks in red lipstick.
Her hair is one of my favourite features about her. She wears her hair in really gorgeous soft curls a lot of the time and it does look very 50s.

She has amazing vintage style as well. Her outfits are usually 40's inspired and are really feminine, like they were in that era. She's got great curves and really knows how to use them, making her very elegant and sexy.

A lot of the roles she picks also have quite retro feels to them. I loved her style in 'The Spirit' (its a pretty awesome movie) and in 'The Black Dahlia'.













And her ad campaigns for Dolce & Gabbana are really well done. She looks so stunning in them. We wrote an article about it as well, which you can check out here.












Scarlett Photo Credits: Teenscenemag, All celebrity-pics, Forbidden Planet, Time Magazine, and the Daily Mail


Duffy

For those of you who don't know her, Duffy is a Welsh singer-songwriter. She has a great voice and her music is very 60's inspired. Her style is really reflectant of her voice as well, and she has wonderful vintage style.

She's often been described as a modern day Bridgitte Bardot and she's well known for her hairstyles and make up. Her make up is very vintage-esque: she wears a lot of fake eyelashes and very thick eyeliner.

Her style is pretty classic. She sticks to black and white, but sometimes adds a pop of colour to her looks with a bright accessory. She has a perfect retro glam style. Her dresses are very cute and 50s inspired.

Duffy Photo Credits: Talktalk and Red Carpet Fashion Awards

Check back in a couple of days, where I'll be looking more into modern day vintage.

Sherin xx

Unnurwear Bags

One of my favourite things about being a blogger (after the great people I get to know) is finding out about new companies! We recently discovered Unnurwear Accessories and love how unique its pieces are.

Unnurwear has launched its Spring/Summer 2010 collection. Heres a bit of a background on the compnay, in case you haven't heard of them before: The company was founded in Iceland, by Unnur Fridriksdottir, in 2006, and specialises in gorgeous handbags and accessories.

(This bag is called Embla, and is my favourite from their collection)

The very cool thing about Unnur is that they use sea-leather in the bags...in other words: FISH! In Icelandic, Unnur means 'the waves of the ocean' (what a beautiful meaning!). The fish thats used is farm grown Salmon and African Perch.
Using sea leather means the Unnurwear contributes to sustainable fashion and is very conscious of culture, nature and comfort!

I've never used sea-leather before, but apparently, its just like normal leather, but the more its worn, the better it looks.

(This is the Elisabet bag)

I've had a look at some of the bags online, and gosh, do they look spectactular. The material really does look like its something special!

Anyway, Unnurwear has added 2 new bags to the collection, and both look really cool.

This is the Kristin Bag. Its a tote and is very versatile and looks like you can fit quite a bit in it.





This is the Stina bag. Its a small clutch, that can also double up as a cosmetics bag.

For more information about Unnurwear, check out their Facebook or Twitter.

Also, if you remember, on Friday, we mentioned that Eclectic Eccentricity Jewellery were doing promotions in honour of London Fashion Week. I thought I'd update you on what is going on this week. For today, they've designed an one off necklace, which you get to name! The entry with the best name wins it as well.
Tomorrow, they will be running a poll of some of their pieces. Whichever one recieves the most votes will be discounted by 50% for a day!
And finally, on Wednesday, they will be giving clues that will lead you on a treasure hunt across the website! If you get the answer right, you will be entered in a draw to win a goody bag worth £100!!

Good Luck! I'm definitely taking part in these!!

Finally, Benetton are doing a 'IT'S:MY:TIME' global casting competition. They are looking for 100 finalists to publish in a book they're doing, and you also get to go on a 200 Euro shopping spree if you're one of them. re are also going to be 20 finalists, who will go one to become the face of the brand. They get flown out to New York to take part in Benetton's F/W2010 Campaign. The campaign will be shot by top photographer, Josh Olins.

They're hosting a global casting and are encouraging everyone to enter! They don't want your typical models, but are looking for more creative individuals. They are looking for something different and something real.

All you need to do is create a lookbook and build a profile that expresses your style. Check out the website for more details.

Sherin xx

Dubai!!

Last week, we took a family trip to Dubai for a few days, to escape the cold London weather. I did, however, have a bit of trouble when it came to planning my outfits. It was due to be very hot there, but Dubai is also a fairly traditional country, so I did feel that I had to be dressed more respectedly there.

It was actually 'Dubai Shopping Festival' when we went, so there were due to be lots of sales and offers. I was really excited for this, so I took very few clothes with me, with the intention of buying loads there. I have to admit that some of the sales were very good, but for some reason, I didn't really see anything that I liked, so only bought a few things.

(Thats the world's tallest building)

Day 1:
Our hotel was next to the world's biggest mall!!! I also knew that there was a Forever21 there, and as there isn't one here in England, I was on a mission to find it. I must have been quite a sight, wandering around the biggest mall in the world, with a map and parents lagging behind me, looking for it...and I found it!

I managed to find this gorgeous bag. I saw it online quite a while ago, so thats the first thing I went to find! I actually didn't pack a handbag with me, because I knew that I'd get this bag! I, unfortunately, didn't pick up anything else from Forever 21. I don't know whether it was because the prices were higher than they would have been in the US, or the fact that I ddn't need anything, but I didn't really see anything else :(.





Day 2: I'm telling you: it felt good to get some sun on me. I'm wearing a New Look 'Guns 'n Roses' T-shirt, Skirt from Joy and my Vans (I know the Vans don't go with the rest of the outfit, but they're so comfortable!).
We relaxed in the morning and early afternoon, then in the evening, I had an absolute surreal shopping experience! We went somewhere called 'Global Village' and it was CRAZY! It was basically a huge open space, and every region of the worl had a section dedicated to it. Each of the different regions sold really traditional items and it was so fun going to all these different parts. All the regions also made sure that their space looked like their country (so I saw a model Eiffel Tower and really dressed up people!).

Day 3: New Look dress and a Dorothy Perkins t-shirt underneath. I also had the same thinking when it came to shoes, despite bringing heels/flats with me.
My hair also has LOADS of product in it. Curly hair and hot/humidity don't go too well together!

My morning was what Dubai is all about: Gold Shopping. If 'you've never been Gold Shopping in Dubai before, I recommend you do it at least once in your life!
There a tons of little gold stores all lined up together, with their lights blaring at their gold. The first mission is to choose a shop, then you have to decide what you want. Next comes the fun part: Haggling.
Seriously, everything in Dubai thats not in a proper mall can be d down! The shop assistants purposely price everything higher than it is, just so people haggle the price down. It really is very fun.

Although I didn't buy any gold, I did get a lot of silver. Here are my favourites that I bought:

Anchor pendent: There was this one little shop and we bought lots and lots from there and the shop owner threw this in for free.









Ruby Bracelet: I bought this from the nicest guy ever! He was so amazing to talk to and was really funny. I was absolutely drawn to him and my dad had to drag me and my mum away from before we spent all our money there.






Day 4: This was our last day, so we spent most of it relaxing by the beach and driving around.

(Me with my dream car: a Mustang. I will buy one one day!)

Sherin xx

P.S. As you know, Its officially London Fashion Week (yaaaay), and because of this, theres lots going on, including company promotions. We found out about a very cool promotion that Eclectric Eccentricity Jewellery is doing. They've planned lots of events and discounts, as well as free gifts and competitions. They'll also be blogging behind the scenes, so check out their Twitter for the latest updates.
Today, they're doing 20% off everything! Just enter the code EELFW at checkout! Over the weekend, they will be giving a free gift with every order, if you enter the code FREE in the message to seller box at Paypal checkout.
We'll keep you updated with what they have planned next week as well!

Hello

I'm finally back from my little get away to Dubai. It was a great little trip and the weather was amazing (and then we landed back in London and its was cold and wet!)
I'm not entirely settled back into real life yet, so won't have my post about my holiday for another few days. I'm also very very behind on my blogs!

In the meantime, heres a random post:

Firstly, I wanted to express my shock at the death of Alexander McQueen. He was an absolute genius in the fashion world. I found out while I was on holiday and was really sad about it all! He was one of my favourite designers and I found him very inspiring. I wrote a short post about him last year as well.

I recently also took part in a Valentines Day Blogger Gift Exchange that was being run by Sierra from Ocean Dreams, on Elfster. I recieved my gift today and was so happy, as I'd had a long day beforehand.
I got sent Mascara from Benefit and the cutest hair clips from Forever 21. So, I want to say a HUGE thank you to whoever sent them to me! There were also sweets, but they didn't last long enough to be photographed!!


Also, I don't know if you remember, but we both recently went to a New Look Store opening. I got sent some pictures from it as well:









Yup: theres a whole floor dedicated to shoes!!










And thats Kimberly Walsh cutting the ribbon.

New Look have an 'Idol' range, and lots of different celebrities have been spotted out and about wearing it. I love the Idol range: its very rock chic inspired!
























Sherin xx

P.S. Pictures from New Look