I am very excited, I have been invited to a wedding in May. It is a funny thing that I spend almost all of my time thinking about clothes and what to wear and complaining that I don’t often get the opportunity to go out and get really dressed up. Now that the opportunity has presented itself, I have absolutely no idea what I should wear. Should I buy something new ? Or should I wear something out of my already full to bursting point wardrobe. Then there is the dilemma of whether to wear a sleeveless dress, in which case, I then have to also decide on which cardigan or  jacket to wear in case it is cold, wet and windy which is not uncommon in May. Finally I have to find the perfect accessories including shoes, bag and jewellery.

After much deliberation, I have decided that I should definitely buy a new dress, nothing in my wardrobe seems to be just right for the occasion. On such an important day, I feel it would be rude not to be dressed in an appropriately stylish dress. So after hours of deliberation, I have decided here is my spring wedding outfit, not to bright or flashy to try and take attention away from the bride, not to floaty and flimsy incase of high winds and bad weather, simple elegant set off with a few stylish accessories. In the interests of frugality, I shall not be buying new shoes but wearing a pair that I found in the back of my wardrobe.

T-bags long sleeved knee length dress         

Ballantyne Stole  

 Nica Nemo Button Detail Bowling Bag 

I don’t usually give too much thought to sports wear. I’m not a very sporty sort of person and I don’t really care much for sports wear in a non sport situation. I like my clothes to be both comfy and practical but looking smart and presentable is also very important to me. I was however quite interested to hear the announcement that Hussein Chalayan has been appointed creative director for the sport life style label Puma. Chalayan graduated from Central Saint Martins School of Art with an honors degree in fashion. He has been named “British Designer of the Year” twice for his innovative collections and performance-based fashion productions. He is known for the fusion of art and fashion that he brings to his designs.

Puma collaborating with a top designer is not a first, Puma has also worked with Alexander McQueen and adidas by Stella McCartney is a very popular designer sports wear range. Even more recently, I have seen another designer sports wear collaboration between Gola sports shoes and Jonathan Saunders. If sportswear can really look this stylish, then perhaps I will have to take up some sport.

 Here is some more really stylish designer sports wear:-

Versace Sport T Shirt

Prada Sport T Shirt

Fifties is back in again this year and so are the full and swishy fifties style skirts. They were seen on the SS08 catwalks at Gucci, Prada, Marni and Donna Karen to name but a few. The skirts were flared and feminine, but with so many different lengths, patterns and styles there was definitely something to suit everyone.

For slender girls, you can wear either a long or short style but avoid too full as this will just swamp you. For petites, this style is difficult but you should be able to pull it off, if you avoid anything too full, large patterns or horizontal lines and team it with some delicate heels. For someone pear shaped, the full skirt is your best friend, great for covering your lower half, just make sure that the length is right and cuts across your leg where it is beginning to narrow. If you are an apple shape this skirt is again a very good friend, the more flared it is, the smaller your waist will appear.  If you are an athletic build, you can really work this look and most styles will suit you. Try some of the great bold prints that are everywhere.

A fifties style swishy skirt looks great with a fitted top and cropped jacket. In almost all cases high heels are essential to complete the fifties film star look. If you fancy a bit of fifties glamour for the summer, you’ll love this summery swirl skirt with retro flower print.

Not one to take a huge amount of notice of what the celebrities are up to, I do sit up and take notice when they strut their stuff on the red carpet. As a lover of dresses, the awards ceremonies and dressy functions give me a great opportunity to eye up the designer gowns that the celebrities so beautifully model. Each time the celebrities try to wear even more eye catching and beautiful dresses hoping to make it onto the front pages the next day.

What really interests me about the dresses, is that they are often the perfect colour to go with the celebrities complexion, hair and eye colour. They are just the right shade to make the Celebrities glow and look at their absolute best. I realise there may also be a fair amount of botox and make up coming into play as well, but you know what I mean. I say they are often the perfect colour as there have been a few very well documented disasters on the celebrity red carpet dress front but these are probably best forgotten. It is really no accident that the celebrities wear just the right colour dress. The designers spend their life choosing and matching colours and then there are the stylists who make a living just by helping them decide what to wear.

So why not make use of the celebrities designers and stylists for free. It simple, just find a celebrity who has the same or a similar colouring to you and then watch what she wears on the red carpet. There you have it the perfect colour for you to wear and look as stunning as a celebrity.  

Kate Hudson in Dior by John Galliano at Dior Haute Couture show in Versailles 

Cameron Diaz in Raspberry Dior by John Galliano gown at the Costume Institute Gala NYC  

Drew Barrymore in Ferragamo for the late show with David Letterman Pictures from people.com

This season, fashion and art merge into one, as clothes are decorated with all sorts of artistic designs from geometric prints to water colour washes and splashes, splatters and daubs. If you are into DIY fashion and customising your own clothes, then this is definitely the trend for you. Create your own unique masterpiece using fabric paints and pens on your choice of white garment. Get some inspiration from the catwalk shows.

At Chloe, three wide brush strokes in purple grey and black look simple and stylish on a short A line skirt.

At Dolce & Gabbana dresses were covered with multi coloured paint splashes for a bright and edgy feel.

At Moschino Cheap and Chic frilly dresses were decorated with graffiti like designs.

At Sportmax, this simple shift dress has a geometric pattern that looks like it was drawn with a ruler.

pictures from Elleuk.com

For the best effect, use plain white garments, you could try using this classic white vest as a blank canvas for your painting.

picture from elleuk.com

The celebs are at it again. Peaches Geldof if reported to have designed a collection for PPQ. Whilst some might say the celebs should stick to what they are best at, there have been some fairly successful collections such as Kate Moss for Top shop. Kate however is considered such a style icon it is unlikely that anything she put her name to would fail to sell. I’m not really sure if that is what happens they just put their name to the collection or what sort of a part they play in designing it. The Peaches collection for PPQ is certainly making the most of her reputation for partying and taking the publicity gained from her partying in their clothes to the next level. Peaches will create a line of handbags, dresses and separates for PPQ in her signature Nu-rave-meets-Goth style.

I will be quite interested to see what Peaches Geldof comes up with for her PPQ collection. Another Celeb collection which I will not be at all interested to see is the Lindsay Lohan legging collection. Lindsay will reportedly design a whole collection of leggings including patterned, striped and her favourite black and shiny black. I’m not sure if I’m missing something here but how difficult can it be to design leggings? Also I’m not sure I can take Lindsay Lohan seriously as a Style Maven when she reportedly wore legging for 21 days in a row last month. I do like wearing leggings and yes they are comfy, but I think this is taking things to far and I am really quite sceptical about what she could possible offer in terms of leggings. If you share Lindsay’s addiction to leggings, you will love these Chic, ruched leggings from the French brand Le Bourget. The high cotton content makes them breathable and soft. These leggings are both practical and stylish. 
 

Bangles are the must have accessory for spring summer 08 and what better way to bring your outfits right up to date. Add bangles, lots or bangles, right up your arm, all sort of bangles in all sorts of materials, then you have a great look for this summer.

Bangles were seen in abundance on the catwalk and with all different trends for this summer from tribal to boho from nautical to tailored. The bangles were chunky or delicate and juicy bright colours or monochromatic.

At Salvatore Ferragamo, a peach and cream outfit was accesorised with multi coloured chunky bangles on both arms.

At Jonathan Saunders a elegant and cool looking beige dress was accompanied by white bangles with gold edges.

At Emilio Pucci again a neutral beige outfit was accessorised with bangles. These bangles were chunky interesting shapes, made from raffia and other materials.

Peach, white pink and yellow bangles were used to mirror the pattern of this stripey dress as Salvatore Ferragamo.

At Gianfranco Ferre black chunky bangles complemented the tailored monochrome look.

pictures from elleuk.com 

 If you want to bring your look right up to date, try out a vareity of these Angie Gooderham bangles.

Natural slim resin bangle

Gold Chunky  Resin Bangle

Prada

Sonia Rykiel

Yves St Laurent

Roger Vivier

Paul Ka

Miu Miu

Jil Sander

Emilio Pucci

Armand Basi

Pictures from Elleuk.com

Spring Summer 08 is all about the shoe. Statement shoes strutted, stumbled and stomped down the catwalk with more than a touch of humour. The shoes is not just an accessory this season, but a huge style statement in its own right. As far as shoes go this season just about anything goes. Our traditional view of what a shoe should look like has been turned on its head literally with heels protruding at the wrong angle and soles being a key feature of the shoe designs. From clumpy heavy looking shoes with platform soles to delicate sandals with the thinnest of straps to shoes adorned with pom-poms and all sorts of interesting details, one thing is for sure these shoes are for feet that want to be the centre of attention.

But do these designer spare a thought for those who are to wear this shoes and of the discomfort, pain and injury some of these shoes can cause - I guess not. Whilst I love a really eyecatching pair of designer shoes as much as the next girl. I think that some of these statement shoes are just taking things too far. I will be opting for a really eyecatching but comfy pair of shoes with a chunky heels this summer like these Graffiamania shoes. They will add the height I need whilst being the most comfortable and  the easiest high heels to walk in.

The trench coat has always been considered a spring wardrobe essential and I am really starting to understand why. With all the stormy windy and wet weather we have been having lately my trench coat has become invaluable. The weather is at that in-between stage to warm for a thick winter coat but not yet warm or dry enough to do without a coat at all. 

The trench coat is also an ultimately stylish piece of clothing that can be worn with almost anything. It looks equally good when worn with a suit for work or over jeans on a weekend. As trench coats have become such a must have piece of clothing for spring, there is a huge variety of styles and colours to choose from. I like to opt for a single-breasted style as I am quite short and double-breasted can make me look shorter. Beige or black are both great colours for a trench coat, as they will go with everything, but for those who like to stand out in a crowd a bright coloured trench coat looks great.

 A classic style trench in red - a real head turner

  A great basic black trench to go with everything

 A suede trench for when style is more important than keeping dry

I love wearing colours. Bright colours, neon colours, pastel colours, clashing colours. They really cheer me up and make me feel happy. Sometimes I wear neutral colours and then add coloured accessories; sometimes I just opt for all over colour. The shops are awash with colourful clothes for spring summer 08 and I can’t wait to start wearing all those beautiful colours. 

When it comes to wearing colours, the key is to find your best colours; these are the colours that really make you look and feel great. In the seventies colour analysis became quite popular with TV programs like “Colour me beautiful” but there is really no need to go to an image consultant to work out what your best colours are. Look at your skin tone and work out if you have 

A warm skin tone with yellow, brown, olive or beige undertones - you will look best in clothes in the yellow, reds and browns family.

A cool skin tone with blue, purple or pink undertones - you will tend to look best in clothes in the blue, green and purple family.

As a rule of the thumb the greater the contrast between your skin, eye and natural hair colour, the stronger the colours you can get away with. Of course as with most things this is only a guide, the only real way to find out if a colour will suit you is to try it on or hold the colour near your face. There will be a whole palette of colours that suit you so try out lots of different options.

If you have cool undertones to your skin, try this Ladies Outback Embroidered Shirt in Sage

If you have warm undertones to your skin, try this red organic cotton blouse.