Summer Style Trends

Words by Rahsian Parris

Judging by the current weather it’s looking like it might be a typically British summer, but you can always brighten up your day with some on trend summer looks. The SS11 catwalk saw some of our favourite collections to date, with fruity, floral prints, stripes and neons being our favourite eye-catchers of the batch. So before you write off the season completely, check out these summer sizzlers, sure to make you stand out when the skies are grey.

NEONS – no longer just for the dance floor

Everyone from Gwen Stefani to Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried have been diggin Prada’s striped neon dress. It’s the must-have frock of the season; dressed up or dressed down, it rocks. If you’ve already blown your wages on one of the lush clutch bags from the same collection, have no fear, high street favs Oasis have a copycat that’s purse friendly.

The Clutch

Next Best Thing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: Team neon striped clothing with a plane clutch for maximum effect. Avoid over striping.

 

FRUITY PRINTS – say goodbye to your table cloth

A tricky one to master, the fruit prints look lush when done right. Think big and bold; the more you try to tone it down, the more you’ll risk looking like a retro tea towel. Stella McCartney rocked the Spring/Summer catwalk with zesty prints and celebs have been eating it up. Jo Whiley shows off this Stella dress straight from the catwalk, but OSoYou take a little inspiration with this Black Fruit Print Dress, which costs a fraction of the price.

         The Stella Dress                                     Next Best Thing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TIP: Avoid being an actual fruit basket a’la Katy Perry. Keep your prints 2D unless you want to be attacked by seagulls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blocks, Dots and Spots – Colour made easy

Jil Sander never disappoints when it comes to bringing colour to the catwalk and SS11 was no different. The queen of colour blocking shows how to set off you rsummer style with brights, neons and a few muted shades, perfect for those of you who avoid prints like the plague, but still want to stand out in the crowd. Add some pops or blocks of colour with whole colour accessories or bright skinnies (always a winner and works for the boys too). 

Guys Do Colour Blocking Too

 

…And for the girls

If fruits and florals aren’t taking your fancy, jump on the Stella bandwagon and ditch your stripes for spots. You can mix and match trends here, i.e pops of colour and spots, neon spots, colour blocking with stripes etc. Whatever you do, have fun, that’s what summer fashion is about; bright, bold and beautiful come rain or shine.

TIP:  When all else fails channel trends through your nails (sorry that rhymed – *Facepalm*)

YSL does colour blocking

Nails Inc. does neons

How To Do Trendy Right: Leopard Print 101

Words by Rahsian Parris

First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way quickly; fashion isn’t always about timelessness, sometimes it is purely about being in the moment (ok the fashion forward moment), and last season’s leopard print trend was undoubtedly one of those classic ‘in the moment’ trends. Having been approached by a friend seeking some advice, the topic was screaming to be covered so here it is.

Leopard print, like all animal prints, is only acceptable in bulk if your name is Pat Butcher. Like most fashion folk, we like to be on trend and in-the-know, but as the late jumpsuit might tell you, some trends aren’t worth getting into, because they are simply not an investment. Now that is not to say that if you find a *golden* buy that is clearly classic and will suit your wardrobe down to the ground,  you shouldn’t buy it, that’s not what we’re saying, but when your wardrobe is full of leopard print and everyone else has moved on to pastels you will be… one word…buggered! There is nothing worse than wearing animal print when nobody else is… again…Pat Butcher.

Having said that, having been at the Q Awards party late last year, it is safe to say that parading around with your friends in the same animal print is nothing more than ghastly (you know who you are). There’s having an entourage and then there’s just being in a herd.

If you must succumb to even the most fickle fashions, here are a few pointers to 1: Save you some time and tears when the season is over, 2: Avoid being mistaken for a 1990s cross dresser, 3: Doing animal prints the right way, i.e not mutton, not lamb, just leopard.

 

TOP TIPS

1: Invest in classy accessories as opposed to full blown outfits. You’re still nodding towards the trend, but have an item that, when teamed with the right look, can be recycled past it’s trend-by-date.

We LOVE Billie’s leopard print scarf. Teamed with all black for on trend smart casual. (And check out those perfect brows)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2: Animal prints are already quite ‘in your face’, AVOID, at all costs, combining two standout looks in one.

In this get up we thought Alex Gerrard was going to a Halloween party not Nicole Carragher’s birthday party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3: It is IMPOSSIBLE to pull off ghetto-chic and animal prints at the same time

As if her re-popularization of velour tracksuits wasn’t enough, Paris Hilton goes one further with this wrong (on so many levels) leopard print hoody.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEN sins the sin of all sins (see number 2:) with this…well, we’ll let you fill in the blanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND again….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4: More often than not it’s the little details that count

Forget following the pack with leopard print EVERYTHING, look gorgeous glam, with a splash of wild, with trendy nails

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5: When all else fails and you MUST be trendy, go with a trendy clutch. However, choose wisely, you don’t want something you’ll never pick up again.

Mena Suvari shows how it’s done. Yes it’s leopard print, but it’s classy, not garish and gives colour to an all black outfit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So… to summarise

1: Choose trendy accessories over trendy outfits, it saves money and wardrobe space

2: Refrain from trend combining

3: Hoodies are fabulous for working out, lounging in the house and going to commit an ASBO, not so fabulous for wearing a trend

4: Trendy nails never fail

5: Classy clutches work wonders with minimalistic outfits

And last but not least… it’s probably best to avoid taking fashion tips from Paris Hilton

Celebrity Brows!!! Plucking Hell? How To Get Perfect Eyebrows

Words by Rahsian Parris

Every girl knows (we hope) that even the most gorgeous of faces can be ruined by the wrong eyebrows, so why is it that we still neglect them? Gone are the days when tweezing was enough to keep our eyebrows looking pristine. In fact, tweezers could well be the bane of eyebrows everywhere; one wrong pluck and you’re left looking like Cher Lloyd pre X Factor makeover. Barely there eyebrows are equally as bad as the slugs, so hand your tweezers over to the professionals and get acquainted with the new ‘IT’ brow technology – the HD Brows.

Cher Lloyd herself begged for the 7 step procedure that transformed her cartoon-ish, over plucked atrocities into gorgeous, high definition eyebrows. So here’s the low down on the hottest new eyebrow trend that will make you red carpet ready in 7 simple steps.

What?

HD Brows – a tailored combination of plucking, threading, waxing, tinting, treating and overall shaping of the brows to make them the perfect shape for your face and give them the kind of definition that even the best HD TV could not find fault with.

Where?

More and more salons all over the UK are having their staff trained as HD brow technicians, however, Director, Head Trainer and eyebrow queen Nilam Patel is the newly appointed celebrity go-to-girl and can be found at her own salon, Nilam Patel Aesthetics in Buckinghamshire.

Who?

From Katie Price to Stacey Solomon, have been flocking to Nilam’s HD Brows salon in Milton Keynes. Jenny Frost says ‘I travel 50 miles just to come and get my eyebrows done by Nilam, I’m addicted’.

Check out these good and bad brows. The ones to avoid and the ones to aspire to.

Good Brow Bad Brow

Even Angelina can’t pull off the ‘skinny brow’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her thicker, darker eyebrows suit the shape of her face far more

One word: SLUGS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…And then GORGEOUS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of tinting goes A LONG way for Gwen Stefani

Quite possibly the worst eyebrows to ever have graced British television

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUGE improvement on her brows, zero on her singing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God knows what’s going on here, but we’re pretty sure there was a mix-up with names, perhaps Posh was the original Scary?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One hot hubby and a few fashion forward steps later…