I Have Moved to Tumblr, Three Times...

So unintentionally, I have been posting pretty regularly (posting: re-blogging mainly) on three Tumblr accounts in recent months. Leaving this blog behind was intentional. I bought a new domain for another blog, but whilst I was trying to perfect ideas I became exhausted and frustrated with the direction that most 'fashion' & 'lifestyle' blogs were going, so that never came to much, yet... Anyway come say hi on Tumblr click the following links for:



Pretty much my head & heart and no specific theme in blog form

Lingerie & Swimwear

Polyvore outfit sets

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have followed me, visited from time to time and/or commented on my posts. Part of me starting a new blog instead of improving this one was because I had allowed myself to get too lazy with this, and I felt pretty bad about neglecting to reply to comments and visit most of my new followers' blogs in my spare time. I'll update on here perhaps if I get my other Blogspot off the ground but Tumblr is the way forward for now :) much love x

Mint Gold Chip

Mint/Aqua/Turquoise/Sea-foam Green - whatever you want to name these general shades, I love them. They always have been a favourite of mine, especially in the summer months. Nothing complements a tan better after all.

I've posted before about the Barry M Instant Nail Effects when it first hit the shelves, and ever since then I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a gold crackle effect polish, but to no avail. There have been plenty of silver variations, but I'm a gold hardware girl who sticks to her guns.

So, you can imagine how excited I got when I walked into Sephora last week and there, within a few steps of the door, was a gold shimmery crackle effect nail polish. I envisioned it going perfectly with my favourite mint green shade and due to my giddy excitement, I forgot I already own two nails polishes in this colour and went ahead and bought Sephora's own brand in 'teeny bikini'.

The gold beauty in question is Sephora by O.P.I in blasted gold. I realised after I had put the magical pairing to the test this morning that I probably subliminally got the idea from a purse I already owned. Oh, I bought the mint/gold Forever21 ring (pictured) earlier on that same day too.

To add to the mint loving, I finally got to try the Dessert Delights gums in America last week and bought extra packs to bring home too. Mint Choc Chip is one of my favourite ice creams (Dulce de Leche ties!) so this gum is basically perfect.

And finally, while waiting for my images to load up I clocked my brand new Diana on the other side of my room, which I bought on my birthday just before going away. Not hard to guess what colour she is...

Well, close enough.

Click read more to see more images, created by more talented individuals than I in this colour theme...

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Vegas and The Rest

So I'm back, and seeming as I tend to share a lot of images, and lately have shared my excitement for Vegas on seemingly every other post, I figured I'd share some of my holiday photos on here. I landed back in London this morning but haven't slept since Friday night/Saturday morning in Vegas (damn overnight flights and illness) so I'm currently about to go crazy as I haven't slept in about 32hours now. I've been forcing myself to stay up all day to avoid the horrid jet-lag I experienced after my trip to Canada in February. Fingers crossed I wake up at a reasonable time tomorrow then...

So anyway, here's a random jumble of photos from Las Vegas, The Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and some places in between. My mum and I flew over to celebrate my 21st and her 40th, which are two weeks apart. It was unreal. I'm so exhausted from cramming so much into a five night trip with two long haul flights, but it was oh so worth it.

We stayed at the MGM Grand, but I'm pretty certain I would like to make the Bellagio my home now. We saw the O show by Cique du Soleil too, which was incredible, and had the most amazing steaks at Prime (also in the Bellagio - love love love).

I dragged my poor mother into three Victoria's Secret stores there too, and still didn't manage to find the things I'd bookmarked online. But I did finally get my gold Michael Kors watch with some gift money and money I'd saved for the trip. Very lucky lady, such a surreal week.

Time to sleep at last anyway, until the morning lovelies x

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My Birthday Is Almost Over

Well, officially. But the celebrations will continue throughout the week a la Vegas! Giddy :)

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Claire's Cat-Eyes & Frizzy Fish-Braid

While I was in Portsmouth at the weekend, we popped into Claire's Accessories to get my younger sister a pair of sunglasses. This place used to be my haven when I was her age, I could spend hours in there much to my parents' dismay. While looking at sunnies for my sister I spotted a pair of cat-eye's that madly enough are probably the best one's I have found as of yet on the high street. They were only £5 so I went ahead and bought them, despite the fact my sister thought I was joking around when I picked them up...

Today I also finally taught myself to do fish-tail plaits. I've tried and failed before when reading instructions, but today I Googled it and used one of the video results instead. I picked it up in minutes! The heat in London right now is pretty insane - nice if you're chilling in the park, not so nice if you're running around doing errands or working/commuting. This little plait is a nice alternative to the usual quick regular braid I would do to my hair and means I can go without straightening it, which would be a complete waste of time with the current weather anyway.

Yeah so when my hair is down and curly it looks like I have a ton, but really there's not many strands at all ^

I Need To Go To The Beach

When I say 'the' beach, I don't actually mean an English seaside resort, and I certainly don't mean my hometown. The urge to run off to the airport and jump on a flight increases on a daily basis...

Oh Hey It's Me

I was helping my friend Tee style some shoots for her Final Major, and one of her ideas was to do straight-up style photos of all her friends showing their 'style/personality', and I ended up being photographed.

I LOVE this skirt, but the mini underskirt beneath it rides up constantly, and due to the fact it is sheer it's kind of awkward...

Christmas Came Early

My mum visited this time last week for a Christmas shopping trip, where I got to pick out some presents. There surprisingly wasn't anything much that I wanted, except for some new heels.

I had already spotted these Topshop beauties online but was too desperately poor to invest, and then I saw them in the Selfridge's shoe hall and knew I had to have them. I spent the rest of the day looking around still, and in the end we were chasing them down in 3 different London stores before finally finding a pair in my size.

It was worth it though, and I lasted a very long night in them at the Levi's Christmas party this week. Amazing effort considering the alcohol levels consumed...

Apologies Ms. Prada - I was never really going to get my hands on one of your beautiful Miu Miu pairs, which I have spent months and months lusting after...

When I was seeing the mother off, a woman breezed past us in the station wearing a pleated black maxi that looked perfect, blowing around in the wind. Yes, I am still hooked on maxi's despite my lack of ability to wear them practically.

Anyhow, this woman - I figured - was just one of those annoyingly cool looking people who always has perfect clothes (you know the type) that I'd never be able to find. That was until I discovered that her skirt was from Topshop. Yes, Topshop to the rescue once again.

I had to search all of Flagship only to find shorter versions in several colours, but no black maxis.
Thanks to Topshop.com, another Christmas present from the mother is on its way to me as we speak...

It's weird, because before this past week Topshop hadn't been in my good books for months. I usually have a list as long as my arm of things I want from there but lately the spark has been missing, but it seems to be making a come back.

And finally... Wow, can I rant??

I just got back from a cheeky trip to Nandos with my dearest friends/roomies where we swapped Christmas presents before we head home over the next week.

They seriously are the best...

and it's still a whole week + half a day until Christmas morning. Getting SO excited now...

Barry M Instant Nail Effects

So, my dear friend Vicky read about this new Barry M nail polish that creates a crackled effect on your nails, and set us up on a mission to search every Boots store we happened upon to find this magical stuff. Eventually, she spotted it in the tiniest Boots store you could imagine, funnily enough. With a 3 for 2 offer I also bought two other colours, and have just put the Instant Nail Effects to the test with the 'Mushroom' Nail Paint as my base, and I'm pretty impressed and in awe of the results.

I'm pretty awful at painting my nails neatly - I end up with a mess all around my finger tips. Cleaning up with nail varnish remover and cotton buds does most of the job, but for the corners that are a little too close, cotton buds end up wiping off half my nail varnish. Another friend of mine pointed out a product she has used before when we went to a Sephora store in Rome a couple of months back (really, England, we have Victoria's Secret and Forever21 on board now, give us Sephora already) and it was just the thing I needed. This handy little correcter pen has a pointed tip perfect for getting up close and personal with your messy nails, without wiping half the stuff off.

All images my own, if you plan to repost my ugly hands then please credit FantasticalFashion.

I'm Back! Happy Halloween etc

So I got ready about an hour too early and have to wait for my flat mates to get their Halloween on. Enter documenting my very un-original attempt at a cheap Halloween outfit! I haven't done a myspace style posing picture in a long time so I'm feeling like a bit of a lemon right now.

PS. Currently getting tons and tons of images organised to hurl at you lovely followers to make up for my lack of posting.

Hope you're ready for it!

PPS. Happy (premature) Halloween! Most people seem to be celebrating tonight so...

x

Welcome into my life, YSL Arty

I have wanted one of these beautiful rings for so, so long now.

After telling my sister about them recently, I went onto Net-a-Porter to admire some of the other rings as these had been out of stock for some time. But HEY! There they were - a whole ton of YSL rings back in stock.

I had it in my head that they cost a lot more than they do, so when I realised they were priced at £115 (devoting my weekends to work is finally paying off) I put my order in straight away.

Something tells me I'll be attempting to wear this with every possible outfit...

Sale? Sold!

Some longtime followers may remember me mentioning this dress a while ago - Topshop's very own version of the Alexander Wang embroidered mesh dress.

It kept selling out before I could afford to actually buy it, but with it being such a good copy of such a good dress there is no surprise.

The big surprise was finding one in the Topshop sale nearly two weeks after the sale actually started (usually it's a load of rubbish to begin with, nevermind this far in) in my size for only £20. I got my boyfriends staff discount on top of that which made me a little more smug. I can't wait to style it up...

This is the best image I could find and has both the original and Topshop version. Credit to wantandafford.com (obviously)

Recommended Read

One of the best presents I recieved this Christmas?

The TeenVogue Handbook.

As soon as I found out a release date I requested it for Christmas and have been eager to read it since. Now I finally have my shiny copy and have read my way through the Editors and Stylists sections - both areas I'm dying to get into.

The book also has sections on Designers, Models, Photographers and Beauty, which I will also read through as any advice in this industry is useful.

The sections I have read so far have been very inspiring. Most of the advice is stuff I have probably read elsewhere, but this only being due to my crazed research efforts online whilst looking for internships and how to succeed, etc.

Either way, it has given me the kick up the tush I needed to get back into the swing of things and start harassing the industry again for more opportunities.

Definitely a must have if you're considering any of these professions, with some great images included and breakdowns of a typical day, as well as how they all got to where they are today and their all important advice for budding fashion stars.

(Image: TeenVogue.com)

Apologies...

I've been slacking on the posts lately, I know. I'm waiting for my Dad's assitance in sorting out my photoshop software, and all the images I've saved up for posts need to be put together and so on, just so that my posts aren't miles long.

Fingers crossed it'll be fixed soon... Thanks for stopping by x

PS. I finally got hold of the skirt!

D.I.Y - Lace Collar

During a very creative mood I decided to make this pretty lace collar.

I bought a metre of this black trim from Fan (an amazing textiles shop opposite RD Franks, just off Oxford Street) and I bought the velvet ribbon from Paperchase.

I cut the lace to size then weaved the ribbon throughout the gaps evenly, leaving enough at both ends to tie it in a bow.

It makes a great addition to a plain t-shirt.

Or makes a nice statement peice with a strapless dress for the evening.



Of course you can use cream lace, or any colour you can find for that matter. It's a nice, cheap way of adding some pretty detail to your outfit.

Happy First Birthday

I have just realised - Fantastical Fashion is now one year old!

I have lots of image folders and drafts building up to ensure I don't slack with posting over the next year. Lazy blogging doesn't get you many followers.

Maybe I should celebrate with a trip to Hummingbird bakery? Mmm yes please!

Image from Lula magazine via tfs

LFW - the rest

Today was exciting!

I didn't bother trying to get into any shows but I saw Anna Wintour, Lara Stone, Freja Beha Erichsen and Erin O'Connor - the latter for the millionth time over the past few weeks - within metres of where I was standing (people watching is the best at fashion week) along with the whole UK Vogue and Glamour team and many other infamous fashion journalists, all arriving at Somerset House for the Jaeger show.



My papparazi skills are pretty shocking but I managed to get a few snaps.

This is Freja, my camera didn't have time to adjust to the light, or lack thereof?

Jason Gardiner? I didn't know either...

Oh yeah, I pearled out my Blackberry Pearl.

All images quite obviously taken by me - awful haha

Just A Quickie - LFW

So I didn't go to the Ioannis show in the end. Turns out it was miles away from the other events (I would have had to take a tube and 2 overground trains to get there) and didnt realise this until an hour before we planned to leave.

I'm working on getting some straight ups together for my uni project and will post them all on here once the fashion week plus working at Aldo drama is complete.

For now, I'll post a few of my favourite pictures from today. I went to two shows at Vauxhall Fashion Scout and did an awful lot of people watching in the blazing hot sun. I forgot my sunglasses as well, damn it.

Itsu sushi's 'strawberry sun' frozen yoghurt is my favourite non-guilty pleasure!

The Matches pop-up store at Somerset House

Bryce d'Anice Aime - I loved this show, especially all the spiky structuring...

In mad love with this particular outfit

Alice Palmer - we weren't in a very good position for taking photographs for this show...

Structure + buns on the top of everyone's heads are still going strong.

I need to try and keep up with the rest of the shows on Style.com. Life feels so hectic right now, but I'm enjoying it!

Hope everyone is enjoying fashion month.

More posts ASAP

All images are taken by me