All Things Dark and Beautiful Continued

From maroons, blacks and dark purple tones, with some details that varied from brocade to subtle, following this theme actually provided a lot of looks for the upcoming party season! I was especially delighted with the special today in the Sunday Times Style magazine on goth make up, the drama it instantly achieves and how it’s departed from its past reputation of being the uniform of an angsty teenager to seductive and edgy. Again I am so glad that last year while working at the Excel centre for Britain’s Next Top Model, finally facing facts that I will never be able to pull off that gorgeous Marilyn look with red lipstick, I invested in dark purple gloss and lip liner. Another fact I love about this vamp make up rave is the fact that it loves pale, flawless skin. I’ve always been kinda pasty, and to this day can’t apply blush to save my life, and am glad that my complexion is considered a trend. Coupled with blood red and burgundy nails, I’ve got the make up part of this theme covered.

When searching for all things dark and beautiful in my closet, one of the first to come out was my beloved ‘Alice’ dress-named for its ‘babydoll’ feel with the buttons, umpire waist and bishop sleeves with wide wrist bands. I love accompanying it with vibrant tights, such as these pink or burgundy toned tights, though a favorite is a gold floral lace pair. With a simple black pearl, I always feel like a gorgeous goth girl right out of a Tim Burton film!

My next look was aimed towards the bar scene, with another little black dress, only this one tight and with short sleeves. This red velvet tailored blazer is a favorite piece for the season, and because it gives just that burst of color I broke my crazy tights verdict and opted for grey, or even black lace stockings. Then, for a more club atmosphere I put together a selection of various silver chains and pieces. One of these days I really wanna get a cool black clutch, but until there this little black satin purse will have to do.

To make a brief departure from the hype for the party season, this outfit is slightly more casual, probably could be pulled off as a day to night look. I don’t usually wear single color pieces top and bottom, like this turtle neck top and black leggings but when paired with the velvet jacket becomes less Catwomanish.  With a statement necklace and chunky Dior chain bracelet, I see me going to drinks after work or even a movie in this look easily.

This look features my treasured Vamp top, a satin dark purple blouse with puffed sleeves that had me teased for looking like Maleficent (not that I’m complaining-BEST DISNEY VILLAIN EVER), but is now considered gorgeous. I always feel so sharp in it, and have worn it to events from the recent Hollywood Costumes event at the V&A. Usually paired with black leggings, sometimes I add a thick banded leather obi-style belt with it, that creates more diversity with the combination of textures. 

This neck piece I bought several years ago from a stall on Portobello had to make an appearance, since it always offers an allure of Victorian prudence and posture with it’s high neck line and ruffles, guaranteeing character to any basic black sweater. However I think I prefer how I used to style it, on top of a black shawl wrapped around my shoulders, paired with jeans to give it a bohemian look. The black jet stone and black roses earrings would also go with the season’s brocade trend brilliantly.

Honoring Halloween, appropriate for a number of occasions and even a mixture of sassy and dramatic, I hit the nail right on the head this month!

October: All Things Dark and Beautiful

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are turning gold, the nights longer. Yes, it is the season I cherish the most-Halloween! The one time of the year when eccentricity and the allure of the supernatural are celebrated. And so to celebrate, I’m doing a tribute this month to vampires, ghouls and all things that go bump in the night.

The mood board I created for this theme was pretty easy, especially since I’ve been saving some pieces just for this month! The first thing to go on was a page from the Jubilee of a Caroline Herrera shoot with the theme of the Wicked Queen from Snow White. Another image to have a prime spot was the man of the season himself, the amazing Tim Burton. His films have such a sweet innocence to them, despite their dark overtones, in the fact that all the characters have genuinely good intentions. Take his upcoming film Frankenweenie, about a boy who just wants his beloved pet dog back! 

For the past two years, winter catwalks have definitely taken a page out of Anne Rice novels with their ‘vampish’ styles, the models coated in pale foundation and dark lips, dressed in velvet and black leather. The direction I’m thinking for this month is a modern take on the goth look, with not just black but shades of maroon and dark purple, romantic with an edge. Think a vampire going shopping along Bond Street! 

Emma Watson was my first muse for this month, after seeing a shot of her in a Zac Posen gown. The witch girl of this era, Watson has this stunning ‘pixie’ look, with her slender frame, though she has such down to earth morals. 

My second muse is Chloe Grace Mortez, the creepy little kid from films Let Me In and Dark Shadows. I find her stunning, for such a young age she has such mature features with those full lips, and her characters always have a hard-as-steel attitude. Plus, I love her red carpet looks, from her red velvet McQueen gown to this beautiful take on the off-the-shoulders puffy sleeved dress with a pencil skirt frame!

So maybe not exactly ‘things that go bump in the night’...more like things that strut in the night.

Professional Yet Personal, Continued

I wanted to do a follow up entry, showing what I’d come up-including looks I had worn to interviews. But considering how so far the number of interviews I’ve had so far comes to a grand total of, um...ONE, I figured I’d go ahead with it anyway

This first look is the outfit I wore for said interview, for a position at London Fashion Week when I was working backstage for the designer Jeffrey Michael show. Both pieces had a boxy frame, this blouse from Ms. Selfridges and this Whistle tulip skirt, and how the waist is cinched made me worried I’d look dumpy. But, considering how the interviewee was taken at once by how well presented I was, I’d call this a success! My Tiffany key, a statement piece and lucky charm, had to make an appearance, thus my main choice for the top. I love this mustard color, and wear the top a lot with a pair high waisted maroon jeans when going out!

The shade of this dress works great with silver and gold tones, with bare legs or some chocolate colored tights for a wintery wardrobe! I love that lilacy-grey shade. Also, this thick Alice band with a cool art-deco pattern that gave it a great 60’s retro vibe. I’d place it with black pumps for now, but would be paired with some high boots depending on the season.

This is actually the look I wore backstage for the Jeffrey Michael Show at LFW-unlike the usual uniform all black for backstage, we were encouraged to look smart, since the press would be coming around after. I was rushing off to a cocktail party straight after, so I wanted something that could easily slip from day to evening. 

I’m loving this topaz color for the fall. The flare of the top complimented the skinny black trousers, staying true to my love for androgynous style. I coupled it with the art deco band, and got tons of compliments for the vibrancy of the look! Afterwords, I traded the headband for hoop earings, darkened my eye make up and swapped my flats for black heels, and was ready for the bar.

I wear a lot of teal-it’s such a radiant shade of blue! It’s the reason I was instantly drawn to this blouse from Anthropologie last month. I paired it at first with a pencil skirt, but it looked way too frumpy, so I stuck to black skinny trousers, though I would love to try with some high waisted flare black dress trousers. Jewelry can be a lot of things, though I’d probably go for some silver bangles.

This were some of the looks I’ve come up with. I’m glad to have covered the jewel tone bases, but have to admit guilty in using a lot of black as a foundation palette-but can you blame me? So if (and when) I finally succeed in landing some interviews, hopefully I can put them to good use!