Lucy in Disguise in Dublin

Hey All,

If you watched any of Channel 4‘s Riches to Rags documentary you’ll know that Lily Allen and her sister, Sarah Owen worked together to create high-end vintage collection, ‘Lucy in Disguise‘ which culminated in the opening of a flagship store in Covent Garden, central London.

This weekend the two company founders were in Dublin to launch their pre-fall collection of vintage-inspired fashions in Brown Thomas Dublin and BT2 Dundrum. The collection takes inspiration from various past eras and each piece is named after a place or time from a different decade. Like, ‘Altamont’, ‘The Roxy’, ‘Goldrush’, ‘Capone’, and ‘Zanzibar’. It’s a clever way of describing each piece; without even seeing the collection you immediately imagine a  collection of romantic yet edgy pieces.

Lily wears, the short ‘Honky Tonk’ dress €130; Sarah Wears the Silk ‘South Kensington’ Maxi dress, €320. This one is undoubtedly my favourite.

More examples from the collection:Pink chiffon maxi-dress, €355; Black lace maxi-dress, €475.

Pink chiffon dress, €355

Red jersey jumpsuit, €230; Silk sequinned dress, €475

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It’s a brave collection, with so many Maxi-dresses and jumpsuits that are both notoriously tricky retail-wise. With original vintage dresses, they are very often made of heavy polyester so the design team behind Lucy in Disguise have been clever to use lighter, floaty fabrics for their vintage-inspired designs. I think I’d still prefer the real thing, but then with those prices I have no choice!

Yours,

Whisty Xx

Lily Allen gets Ivor Novello-ed in Ivory

Dear Readers,

Have a bit of Friday inspiration.

Love Lily; for her honesty and don’t give a darn attitude? Probably. But love her style too, and as she picked up 3 Ivor Novello awards (including Songwriter of the Year, along with co-writer Greg Kurstin) last night she wore this:

Amazing, I want it.

Have a fabulously, sunny weekend.

Xx

Images Via Dailymail.co.uk

Stars in (and all ’round) their Eyes.

or “I was made for loving you, baby…”

I was having a bit of a spring clean-out, of my make-up bag trunk this morning, and found loads of multi-coloured / sparkly shadows, liners and pencils that I’d kind of forgotten I had. While I was doing said Spring-clean I had this weeks Top40 countdown on MTV and realised how much I love the revival of dramatic eye / face make-up in pop music at the moment. Apart from Lady Gaga who is pretty much leading the way when it comes dramatic anything, there are loads of other ladies grabbing the glitter pen too:

Lady Gaga

Lily Allen

Florence Welch

and Ke$ha (above & below).

…are all doing their own awesome versions of dramatic / stage eye make-up. (Love this last picture!)

Not forgetting, either, the men that led the way in the 70′s.

Gene Simmons, KISS

David Bowie, Aladdin Sane Album

… so I thought, I’d have a go at this myself … one subtle (ish), silver and glitter pattern over one eye later and what do you know, I kinda like it.

I’d just prefer something a little darker and more dramatic…

Now we’re talking, Plus I like it so much I have to keep nipping off to the bathroom to have a look, it’s so sparkly! Close-up:

Suspenders!? hmm… Actually they’re tights.

I made a point of going to stores that I don’t normally venture into yesterday, including Tommy Hilfiger on Grafton Street. I also would not have counted Arnotts Project as a place I shop in either. In fact until yesterday, I had never stepped foot inside the place. I’ve passed it on numerous occasions but never went inside and thinking about it, I have absolutely no idea why. Maybe I thought it would be over priced, wouldn’t have what I was looking for, or was no different from the original Arnotts or even Debenhams across the road.

So I finally got myself in there yesterday afternoon and I liked it. It’s like a bigger, shinier version of BT2, with bigger shinier fittings. I got talking to one of the sales girls who told me that the Project had been open a year and that things were still in the experimental phase. The departments that occupied each floor for example, had been moved around recently and the current layout was proving to be the most successful. Well it looks good anyway.

I looked through the handbags, accessories and cosmetics stands at the front of the store, before I discovered the old-school-style, hosiery department. In fact I was in tights heaven; (if there could possibly be a place) there were hundreds of pairs by dozens of different designers and brands. Everything from lace to leopard-print in as many colours as you can imagine.

I saw the Henry Holland for Pretty Polly range and having been inspired by pics of Lily Allen (see above) earlier this week grabbed a pair of ‘Mock Stock’ from his collection. (Hers weren’t Henry Holland but were definitely of the Mock Stock(ing) variety). They’re a full-leg tight that she is wearing, with a pattern that is made to look like stockings. I also bought a pair of leopard-print tights by Jonathan Aston, a la Emma Watson for Teen Vogue. Loving Arnotts Project.

Lily Allen Pic Courtesy of XPOSUREPHOTOS.COM

Lily Allen – Statement Accessories

Lily Allen was out in London last night attending both the Hapers Bazaar Women of the Year Awards and the launch of  Matches Boutique. She wore a simple comprising a grey sweater and jeans, which were then accessorised to the max with a statement necklace and elbow-length gloves. Hair swept back and dark glasses on, Lily looked like a modern day Holly Golightly (again).

She must see the Audrey Hepburn character as her muse and I can’t think of a better look for her to channel, she looks great right now and maybe it was this vibe that helped her land the Chanel Coco Cocoon bags ad campaign?

Get the Look for Less:

Cute ad’s, ugly bags – Lily Allen for Chanel Coco Cocoon

The last word I ever thought I’d write in the same sentence as Chanel, was ‘ugly’, but the verdict on the new Coco Cocoon reversible bags is just that. The ad campaign for the accessories features Lily Allen who looks great in the pics, I love the tiaras and huge shades, the leather blazer is drool-inducing and I always loved those Chanel Cuffs (see images below). It’s just those bags aren’t that nice; I don’t mind the quilted one so much but the others are, dare I say it, a bit cheap looking?

The idea behind them is novel though; they are reversible nylon and lambskin bags and I guess this picture shows the before and after bags, one side is plain the other is quilted. The range includes a tote an overnight duffel and a hanging garment bag and all are reversible. More pics…

Lily Allen Festival Looks

Due to take the main sage at Oxegen this evening, our favourite feisty popstrel Lily Allen, has been working her high heels off all summer! As well as Oxegen she’s been performing at fesivals all over the world. The last two weeks have seen her looking amazing at the Wercher Rock Festival in Belgium and Switzerland’s Montreux Festival. This touring lark has done wonders for her figure and her outfits reflect that.

Take this picture of her on stage at Montreaux, the sheer dress and sparkly waist coat teamed with the sky-high heels and casual hair is festival perfection. A bit of risqué glamour and a bit of laid back grunge gives the ideal I-don’t-care-air about the outfit and Lily Allen rocks this look.

Luscious Lipsy

The sun’ll come out tomorrow…

Well, maybe not but there is certainly something that will brighten up my day; glam frock brand Lispy is opening its very own doors for the first time in Dundrum tomorrow, May 19th, 2009.

Yes, their first stand alone store in Ireland is set to open tomorrow with the “official” opening Thursday 21st, when Dancing on Ice competitor, Jessica Taylor will be cutting the ribbon in true glam style at 3pm. Popstars from both sides of the Atlantic are huge fans of the brand, with everyone from Lily Allen to Lady Gaga wearing it. The dresses are fashion forward, glamorous and totally within the average girls fashion budget.

Their latest collection not only has the sexy dresses that Lipsy are famous and successful for but also accessories, leggings, tops, skirts, jumpsuits and more. Plus they also have a ultra-glam VIP range for something really hot. Let’s hope that the full collection will be available at the opening of Dublin’s newest fashion boutique tomorrow.

Here are two campaign shots from the latest shoot, more to follow:

Karl Hearts Lily Allen Hearts Chanel

It seems that being a GI-normous fan of Chanel and wearing it a lot has paid of for Ms Allen. She has been personally picked by Karl Lagerfeld for the latest Chanel campaign because, he says, “she is fun”. Lily will be the face of Chanel bags and a shoot is due to take place this week.

I say fair play! She’s looking great at the moment, especially when she’s in Chanel. I’m glad there’s no more pink hair and dodgy trainers. She’s lost her chav look but kept her brash, outspoken personality which explodes through her totally on-trend wardrobe.