Fashion On The Web

There’s nothing as girly as a bountiful head of curls and we’re all in love with this style but few people have the hair to carry it off. However, if you’ve got the length and either naturally curly hair or hair that holds texture well then curl away and then backcomb gently with your fingers for a great party season look.

For a subtle sleek and smooth vintage ’40s style waves frame your face perfectly curl only the lower half of your hair with GHD hair straighteners with a flick to create a bouncy effect this look is great if you’re growing out a long fringe. By working tongs or placing rollers from the mid-lengths down and not the roots you avoid an old-fashioned look which can add too much bulk at the sides.

Hair can go from its naturally tight curls to soft waves with the help of a blow-dry and large barrelled brush.
For a polished style use tongs, ghd’s, a wand or small rollers to create the perfect spiral curls and avoid breaking up the curls by steering clear of using a hair brush or messing with your fingers too much.

Liven up usually straight locks with a few randomly placed tonged curls, giving her a softer, more romantic style.

It’s an exciting season for accessories! The vibe on the catwalks alternates between romantic, dreamy pieces to edgy, futuristic, and angular. Whatever you’re into, read our essential guide to THE accessories for this season.

Let’s start at the bottom and talk footwear. It’s all about the clog so embrace your Dutch side and go wooden. Amazingly comfortable, go for a mid-height mule that’s perfect with jeans or a cropped trouser. This season’s clog comes in every colour, height and style imaginable – try them all!

Patterned tights are groovy and you can thank Marc Jacobs for that. Patterns, spots, bows, you name it – ideal to jazz up last season’s tulip skirt. Wear ankle socks with heels for a look that’s still going strong – great with this seasons high-waisted short.

Moving up, belts are still popular – think sleek for 2010. Waist-cinchers were spotted all over the catwalks, paired with dresses and smocks – the bigger the buckle, the better! Or go low-slung for a relaxed feel, the perfect accessory for that floaty floral dress.

Let’s focus on bags – I’ll be clear about this, it’s time to praise the Perspex! A strange choice yet but totally cutting edge for summer, Chanel, Burberry and Donna Karen showed us how it’s done in New York.

Statement jewellery is making a comeback, with large, striking pieces combines with plain, sheer fabrics. Large it and buy the biggest necklace you can find.

Finally, finish off with a hat. Popular styles include the straw boater and the bowler. For a quirky, fun look wear your bowler with denim shorts, a plain white t-shirt and a fitted waistcoat.

When it comes to women’s fashion, accessories are awesome! It’s a great, affordable way to instantly update your outfit.

Think celebrity fashion and the Beckhams immediately spring to mind. Not only is the fragrant Mrs B a fashion icon across the globe with her fellow celeb BFF’s copying her look, she’s brought her innate sense of style to the privileged few with her gorgeous range of couture dresses (the absolutely stunning ‘Cloud Dress’ is to die for and at the very top of my wish list).

Now, copied by practically every high-street store, you too can walk the Posh walk with copies of her exclusive creations (A-listers: you can keep your designer clothing!) It’s all in the detail; look for a subtly puffed sleeve or ultra-flattering pleating to experience the glamour and women’s fashion genius of our very own Vicky Adams. Move over Katie Holmes and Eva Longoria-Parker and make room for us glamorous high-street honeys!

Look for fitted dresses with beautiful bell-shaped skirts and asymmetrical necklines with longer length knuckle-skimming cuffs. Full-length zips are another key detail, particularly at the back. Or choose a cute cap-sleeve with a full, flared 1950’s style skirt. Jewelled embellishments, particularly around the neck, are a striking feature bringing a chic, vintage feel.

Of course, black is the classic colour but ecru, beige, taupe and eggshell are gorgeous nude tones that flatter the body-con silhouette of these delicious frocks. Try a vibrant teal or petrol blue for a complete colour change, which looks fabulous with olive skin.

When shopping for the essential dress, look for soft draping, pin-tuck pleats and unusually shaped necklines. For daywear, choose soft neutral colours; for evening, select sparkle or metallic for a touch of sophistication. The perfect gown is out there with your name on it – now it’s just up to you to find it!

It may not be top priority for a man when going out but accessorising is important, now you don’t have as much choice as women to accessorise with but it doesn’t mean it’s not as important. You need to make sure whatever you wear with your clothes actually goes and matches including shoes, hats and belts.

There is now a lot more choice than there used to be for accessories in designer menswear so it does give you more scope than it used to, to match such things as belts and scarves to what you’re wearing. This year some popular colours will be grey and brown, grey is a great colour to wear and can mix up a black suit, top or jacket and can look smart, brown on the other hand is great with inky blue denim and other earthy colours and can look a bit more casual than grey.

The only thing really to remember is you don’t want to overdo the accessories, so don’t opt for wearing all your brown or grey accessories at once.

Brown accessories

Grey accessories

It’s not often movies have much of an influence on fashion however this year since the release of Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland fashion has taken a fairy tale feeling with many designers bringing out collections of eclectic designs inspired by the movie.

Alice in wonderland

Picture courtesy of centralasian

You can see why when you watch the film, Tim Burton’s directorial sense always seems to be over the top with visual arts and the wardrobe also follows suit, you too can pick up this style with many highstreet stores offering their Alice in Wonderland wears. Many creations are vivid in scale and colour like the fantastical jewellery design for Disney by the likes of Stella McCartney, Swarovski, Tom Binns and Anna Lou of London as well as their own t shirts with character designs on them. But if these prices are a little too steep for you then you can always design you own and use t shirt printing to create fabulous Alice in wonderland inspired t shirts.

There are many ways to create your own interpretation of the film using it as inspiration like a pack of cards to making your own smiling Cheshire cat with a little help from photo shop. You can use an online company such as Splash Logo to make your creations come to life and wear your Alice in Wonderland themed designs for a fraction of the cost.

Queen of Hearts

Picture courtesy of erjkprunczyk

Some items in our wardrobe just have to be the best. It’s about making an impact and the best way to do this is to purchase the finest pieces you can afford. Don’t focus on designer clothing; simply look for the perfect cut and finish and when you’ve found it, stick with that brand. Forget the high-fashion consumables – save up and invest in the best.

First things first – the perfect suit. This is where fine tailoring is vital for that perfect fit. There’s no better feeling than stepping out in a well-fitting suit, it inspires power and confidence and will make you feel a million dollars. On cost-per-wear terms it really is cost-effective to buy the best you can afford – a classic suit will last; it’s adaptable, versatile and if you look after it, will last for years. Invest in the best.

A coat is an essential winter item that can make or break an outfit. If you only buy one item for the winter season, make sure you invest in a classic coat. A trench will never date and can be worn for business or leisure. It’s a simple way to make sure you look chic even if you don’t feel it! A classic beige trench and a pair of oversized sunglasses can give you a movie-star look in seconds.

Treat yourself to a wonderful pair of designer heels – a pair of Manolo Blahnik’s should be on every woman’s Christmas list. Yes, they’re not cheap but as investment dressing goes they are worth their weight in gold. Go for a classic style that you’ll wear again and again, with your aged, ripped jeans or with a dressy, sophisticated ball gown. 

Change your shopping habits and splurge on the classics in 2010. Investment buying: it’s the way forward.

A fabric favourite across the board this season in fashion is lace, whether you’re styling it in versions of punk, Goth, Victorian or retro this fantastic trend will keep you in style for much of the season. Lace is always a popular fabric because of its super sexiness and versatility from romantic and floaty to hard and edgy lace is a chameleon material.

If you want to go for a retro 60’s vibe go for a shift dress like the one below that has a lace crochet neckline, great for spring and summer evenings and on trend in navy.

Navy shift dress

If your look is more heavy and punky try dark lace with detailing in a casual style like this one and you can team it with heavy boots and lots of jewellery for a harder take on lace.

Dark lace dress

Another trend that lace lends itself to perfectly is underwear as outerwear mixing lace bodies or corsets with jeans or shorts with lacy tight or leggings for a sexy evening look!

Lace trend

This style is a less styled perfectly colour look, although does take some good dyeing techniques to create and aims to look like the opposite, celebrities like Alexa Chung started it with her brunette roots fading into sun-kissed ends and it has now spilled over onto the catwalks. You can have your hairdresser recreate this look for you as there are different ways to create it which depends on your hair length. Longer hair benefits from the ribboning technique that weaves lighter shades down the lengths of the hair for more natural highlights not from the roots however long bob or shoulder length hair can have full-on lightened lengths around the whole of the head created by the techniques of balayage or ombré. If you use ghd uplift spray to give volume to the hair you can recreate that designer catwalk style.

The grunge look style of mussy hair with ultra-natural sun-kissed ends which works perfectly with this colouring as well as long glossy locks with the addition of strands of coppery tones weaved ribbon-like through the hair. You can recreate this look by using ghd hair straighteners to create soft curls for Hollywood glamour.

Controversial singer and fashion icon Amy Winehouse who has not always been known for her sense of style has teamed up with the British clothing brand Fred Perry to create a 17-piece apparel and accessories collection launching in autumn. Normally seen in her uniform of hair, ballet pumps and capri pants, it seems that Amy’s quirky style has impressed bosses at Fred Perry.

Winehouse who has in the past favored Fred Perry’s mod style seems a good choice really for the brand and she has said ‘I’m really excited about doing this line with Fred Perry.  We’ve been working on it for a while and it’s great to see it finally come to fruition.’

The company has said that the line, which will be retailing between £22 and £100, embodies the singer’s signature style while remaining true to the Perry aesthetic. The line which takes inspiration from the Fifties includes sweater dresses, polo shirts and pencil skirts with colours predominantly black and pink with tomboy tailoring juxtaposed with a feminine twist. The line will be sold at Fred Perry stores and some concessions and the company insists the Back to Black singer has been heavily involved in designing and that classic pieces are given the full Winehouse treatment but still remain instantly recognisable.

Other artists to work with the label and turn their hand at the designer menswear include Paul Weller and Damon Albarn, Fred Perry managing director John Flynn said: ‘We are excited that Amy is working with us on this quite unique project. We have had a great relationship with her over the years as she has been a loyal fan and supporter. ‘Amy‘s sense of style and attitude to music and fashion pervades through this collaboration.  We hope her fans and our fans will feel the same way.’

Amy Winehouse

Picture courtesy of IVO GARCEV

The 15th March is St Patricks Day and many people all around the world join in with huge celebrations by dressing up in green, drinking lots of Guinness and having lots of fun! You too can join in the fun if you want to show your Irishness then you can great you own St Patricks Day t-shirt with t shirt printing. You can create your own design and have it printed out on any colour shirt you wanted can be green, white or anything.

Custom t shirt printing is great because you have free range on what design you have on it as well as choice of colour, style size and fit. If you use an online company such as www.splashlogo.co.uk you can send them your designs and they will quickly have your creation printed out ready for the festivities.