FORFEX 'KILLER' STUDDED HIGH-TOPS

 

Whilst scanning SheerLuxe.com I found myself linked to Black White Denim, an amazing retailer specializing in contemporary designer pieces. I came into contact with these on the point of all points sneakers by Italian footwear label Forfex, created by Designer Giovanni Forbice and worn by the likes of style icon Rihanna. 

In a bid to top up and build on my ‘casual’ shoe collection I knew I had to invest in these or I would regret it later. White shoes are everything. And these hi-tops featuring leather studded inserts are a mix between simple vs. flamboyant, which is the perfect kind of combination to make a style statement.

Think I’ll team them up with the ASOS acidwash boyfriend jean (once I can get my hands on a pair – bane of my life stalking the ASOS site to see if they’re in stock in my size!) or some jersey joggers and a plain crop top to channel an effortless rebel-chick look, whilst completely sneaking in the whole sportswear – urban-casual fashion trend that has intersected my AW12 wardrobe this season.

Note of the week: There is no better way to cheer yourself up than splashing out on a new pair of shoes. Shoes buy happiness people!

BOY MEETS GIRL

 

 Left: Topshop/Right: Urban Outfitters

Since discovering the black loafers in a previous post below, my fugly shoe empire has been expanding ever since. Many people loathe loafers but I for one have fell head over heels for the masculine footwear trend which I believe is a staple item in any shoe collection. I spotted these white preppy loafers in Topshop and had to invest in them as my new S/S shoe, they are so femininely masculine which will look perfect with this seasons pastel and neon colour palette. I'm all for details on shoes, and Urban Outfitters got it spot on this time with a subtle boy meets girl finishing on the black flats with the cute heart detailing. 

What's your choice of shoe this Spring Summer?

REWORKED

 

 A few weeks back my Fashion Marketing class had the opportunity to work with stylist Jennifer Anyan who gave us the task of creating a look with a classic white shirt. My group decided to focus on manipulating the shape of the shirt to create something entirely new whilst keeping everything else simplistic. I liked the idea of changing the masculine silhouette of the shirt into something a little more feminine. How would you wear a white shirt?

AUTUMN NOTD: NAIL TRENDS ALL IN ONE

Just been trying out some nails for the transition into Autumn where I've rolled together few of my must try nail trends. I conjured up a camel colour for the nude nail trend, mixing up a few old nail polishes to get a colour that would suit my skin tone (if you want to be economical and create a brand new colour with polishes you already have then refer to this post here). A tip is to use a shade that doesn't match your skin tone, so go with one that's lighter or darker otherwise you'll end up with mannequin looking hands! 

A newcomer nail trend is the new french manicure that is the subtle oval v shape which I love and previously blogged about. It definitely elongates your nails, so if you have shorter nails then you should definitely give this a go. Talking about manicures, the moon manicure has been quite a hit this year. It has been seen on Christian Dior advertisement campaigns to Chanel catwalks, so I decided to do the Lorraine Stanick odd ring finger thing and do a half moon using a chunky glitter. This was a bit tricky so my tip to keep the moon shapes looking sharp would be to use a nail art pen to outline the shape and then fill it in. And my thumbs got treated by the polish pattern graphics trend with ropes using this seasons gold and brown metallic colours.

It would be rude not to show you my new favourite addition to my wardrobe. I can't leave without sharing this fringe sleeve detailed body-con dress which I have been searching for in different Topshop stores for literally the past 2 months. I was elated when I spotted it on the rails whilst shopping when I was staying at my boyfriends, and it was just my luck since it was the last in my size. Just had a quick peek on Topshop and it's now in the sale so nab it whilst you can girls! Might do a haul post showing what I've bought recently, what do you reckon?  

PS. sorry about the awful quality of my pictures recently. It's so annoying that I've had to take them on my Macbook since I have no camera battery.

NOTD: MODERN FRENCH MANICURE

When there are grey skies and piercing rain outside your window, this depressing time of the year calls for nail painting time. I decided to grow my nails since taking off my Acrylics and spruce them up after I've been wearing the same fruit salad colour over and over for the last two weeks ('cause it was the only colour I purchased whilst staying at my boyfriends house) felt like I was living the dream only having one nail polish. And may I just add it was just my luck that it was the worst nail polish I've ever bought, the brush itself is awful and the application was uneven, looked lumpy and chipped after a day and a half - wasn't even worth the mere £1.79 I paid, sorry Collection 2000 lovers. 

Here's my fashionable version of the made over classic French Manicure (bar the odd one if you can spot it!). If you're sick of the staple white tip but still want classy and chic nails that are easy to do then try painting a subtle v shape down the edge of the nail as opposed to going the whole way around the nail. To make this less of a challenge you can do this with a nail art brush or pen which I've seen Models Own have recently brought out in Superdrug/Boots. I was debating whether to go all out and go crazy but decided on a muted pink with a black tip to keep them versatile and have an understated feel but you could experiment using the new seasons A/W shades - from metallics, sea blues to earthy hues. A nude colour with a red tip would look fab for the transition into Autumn.

THE INFREQUENT BLOGGER

After about a year of debating and convincing myself that I would start blogging again, I finally found the motivation and decided to make the return back since I've deprived myself of following some amazing blogs. In doing so I have rediscovered my love for blogging and will actively post now and then - without any empty promises this time! This is just a quick post where I'd like to thank all those who have welcomed me back and look forward to seeing some new faces. Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/lisadrivesavan xxx

STUCK ON LIKE GLUE

/Dress  thrifted/Scarf  ralph lauren/Shoes  office/Rings  asos h&m wallis/

Yes, these may not be your cup of tea but these shoes have literally been stuck on my feet since the moment I got them for my birthday from Office. I love how they bring an element of smartness to casual outfits and have the versatility to complete more formal looks. An amazing take on the loafer! I can literally wear them with anything and there is no doubt that they will be my shoe of choice next week on my work placement - but there is one problem of planning what to wear as I've never worked in an office before. What would you suggest, bearing in mind that I may be sitting in on meetings as well as being on the computer?

If you didn't already know, Office have the most amazing sale on at the moment with an extra 20% off selected shoes which you should check out and take advantage of. I definitely have my eye on a number of shoes but need to restrain myself from buying any more shoes since you'd probably think I've lost my mind if you saw my collection of shoes. And on the subject of shoes, I hope you all put your feet up and have a wonderful weekend.

MAKE DO WITH WHAT YOU'VE GOT: NAIL POLISH

With a similar concept to the Sleek Makeup pout paint I mixed up China Glaze in Aqua Baby and MUA at Superdrug shade 18 to create a lighter turquoise candy colour that suits my skin tone a little more than the original China Glaze colour. This is a really quick and simple way of creating a new nail polish that makes the most out of what you already have, without costing you a penny. It definitely saves you the disappointment of going out and spending money on a new bottle that turns out to look completely different on and has a poor colour pay off. You could even transform any colours you don't like so they don't go to waste. To create pastel colours that are perfect for the Summer in contrast with a tan you will need to add white to your chosen colour. All you need is a spare nail polish bottle, just clean out an old nail polish bottle by using a small amount of nail varnish remover and shaking it up and just repeat this a few times. Let me know if you try it out!

BACK TO BLACK - AMY WINEHOUSE STYLE TRIBUTE

/Shirt thrifted/Skirt new look/Watch michael kors/

This post is entirely dedicated to Amy Winehouse - the woman who had the most incredible talent with a voice like no other in our generation who will also be remembered for her signature style and contribution to fashion. Her poofy backcombed beehive hair and winged eyeliner have inspired Vogue Paris to Chanel runways - Karl Largerfeld describing her as an icon. 

She was always seen in black or bright and bold eye catching dresses, which was the source of inspiration for this outfit. Instead of replicating her exact style I mixed the two sides of Amy's colour choices together and tied up the bottom of the shirt to show a little flesh, giving quite an Amy-esque feel as she was known for her infamous crop top and denim shorts combo that flaunted off her growing collection of ink. The knotted shirt not only adds a hint of 'sexiness' in the most subtle way of showing the least amount of skin, but is a great way to revamp an old shirt.

RIP Amy, you'll be missed! This will always be one of my favourites: back to black xxxxxxxx

EVERYDAY FACE

My everyday face routine consists of slapping all these products on with the minimum of 4 brushes and using my fingers to apply the foundation and concealer as it gives me more of a natural look, as well as working in the product more effectively and evenly. I like to keep my face as simple as possible but change it up a bit by adding a different lip colour everyday.

Mac Select SPF 15 foundation - NC30

Mac Mineralize skinfinish natural - Medium Plus

Mac Mineralize skinfinish - Perfect Topping

Mac Studio finish concealer - NC30

Rimmel lasting finish minerals loose powder foundation - 303 True Nude

Smashbox fusion cream eye liner - Runway

Urban Decay powder blush - X

Maybelline eyestudio lasting drama gel liner - 01 Black 

YSL Lip twins - 5

What products do you use on a daily basis? 

THE MICHAEL KORS WATCH CULT

After endlessly searching for an affordable chunky masculine yet feminine watch with an over-sized dial to replace my Guess watch, the time had come for me to find this little gem last week - the Michael Kors MK5325 silver dial crystal dot watch from Time2. 

The watch also comes in gold and rose gold. I was debating between the rose gold and silver but I think I made a good choice going with the silver as it looks so classic and is a practical colour for me since I always wear silver jewels. It also has a little tab for the date, so if you're someone like me who looses track of the time of the month then this feature can come in pretty handy.

Without hesitation, I would recommend looking at the other watches in the collection if you want a a watch that exudes classic style that is good quality and isn't heavily overpriced. I can say that Micheal Kors is proving to be a well known name for their boyfriend style watches, especially on the wrists of you stylish bloggers and lookbookers. I am absolutely in love with it, it's perfect for me and adds a subtle fashionable statement to any outfit. It will without a doubt be attached on my wrist during the 365 days of the year.

Odds and ends

This Sunday has been a full day of procrastinating, consisting of catching up on sleep, walking in the sunshine and painting nails - here is what I came up with for my NOTD which is all about mismatching and embracing odd nails to signify the start of Summer fun!

Hair headwear: a quick fix

Ahoy ahoy! I thought it was about time I should do something hair related so here I am back again embracing laziness and bed hair. If you're someone like me who likes to get your hair out of the way and done with without any fuss sitting in front of the dresser for umpteen minutes then you should definitely try this out! This has been seen all over festivals this summer and has been perfect for me in hiding my awful fringe that I'm trying to grow out, as well as giving me an excuse to wear vintage scarves that have been forgotten about since the hot weather hit us (which has sadly gone away now)! It's also such a quick and easy thing to spice up an ordinary boring everyday hair style.

Oh and some good news!!! I have just purchased myself a better quality camera and a tripod (with my birthday £££s which I have saved up until now - and i have to say it was painful having to restrain myself from spending it). I am yet to try out the camera so keep your eyes peeled for some picture tutorials etcetc

How to: headscarf hairstyle

1. Fold your desired scarf into half so it looks like a triangle

2. Wrap the scarf in the same direction until you're left with a thin strip
3. Put the scarf on from the back of your head holding tightly onto ends

4. Tie the two ends into a knot/double knot or into a bow
5. Move the headscarf around to the side of your head

6. Pull forward some hair from the front sections of your hair

xoxo

Dear Royal Mail,

please may you stop punishing me for doing so much online shopping recently by loosing my ASOS orders in the post TWICE in a row now. It is getting ridiculously annoying and you are making me miss out on these little treasures! I hate you, very much!!!

rings currently still on sale by: asos.com

Obsession du Jour: Wedges

Hey hey beautiful ladies (and gentlemen) it has literally been centuries since I updated my blog but here I am at long last after taking time out to recover from a broken heart ;) I won't delve too much into the subject but all i can say is girls, guard your hearts!! Apologies again for being such a bad bad blogger I really don't deserve to have all you loyal followers, however I do have a myriad of posts lined up for you guys real soon.

It seems as though I have been doing a lot of retail therapy recently to feed my shoe addiction - as you may be able to tell from my flat shoe post here and I just wanted to share with you these amazingly-cool wedges I instantly snapped up after seeing them hidden away on a shelf in a quiet area in H&M on Monday. It's extremely rare for me to ever find shoes in my size in H&M and usually they are all out of really nice styled shoesies, infact these are the 2nd pair of shoes from H&M that I own, so I was absolutely elated when I spotted these. I reallllllly can't wait to wear them and I'm 101% sure they will be superglued to my feet this Summer.

Quickkk girls run run run and go and get these before they're gone!

xoxo

OOTD: Intoxicated with desire

Todays 'outfit of the day' is a la Kate Moss style. I adore her effortless, simple, thrown on together look and think I might stick to this look religiously during these hot Summer months, where it's fairly appropriate to wear short shorts ;) I found this v neck nightwear t-shirt in a sale rack looking all sad and lonely so couldn't leave the shop without being its new proud owner, I'm so glad I spotted it though, i have great plans for it and will compliment statement necklaces really well (and also loving how i'm personifying a t-shirt - think i might be loosing some of my sanity). Top tip of the week - dress with more of an open mind, it's okay to wear pajama t-shirts out, unless they have cute fluffy pandas on them..

What look will you be sporting this Summer? PS. thank you all sososo much for your sweet comments below on my nail tutorial, i always feel so overwhelmed with your kind words

xoxo

HOW TO: leopard print inspired nails

Hellohellohello beautiful bloggers! I am extremely pleased to say that my exams (and college) are well and truly over, out of the way, done and dusted! Now it's time for me to return back to the blogging world which I have to admit I missed a great deal. Oh as well as having some much needed me time, which i already began on the weekend without any hesitation at all as i spent the last few days enjoying the wonderful thing called freedom - having drinks (yes drinking legally since i turned 18 last week!) with some girlies, BBQ madness and a day full of shopping in Southampton. Anyway, to kick start the summer of more frequent blog posts, I am dedicating this post to the lovely owner of 'thats so yesterday . blogspot . com' who has encouraged me to do nail tutorials! Please do check out her blog, she is such a yummymummy!

Step by step guide:

Step 1. Use a base coat to prevent discolouration of your nails and promote longevity of your nail polish, unless you have acrylic nails like myself

Step 2. Apply two/three coats of your desired nail polish colour - I used OPI: A grape fit!

Step 3. Paint on imperfect leopard print irregular shaped and sized spots using a contrasting nail polish colour of your choice - China Glaze: Aqua baby

Step 4. Using a cheap liquid eyeliner or black nail polish and nail art brush, randomly dab around the dots without being too neat about it

Step 5. Complete with a top coat and voilaaa you're done!!

As you can see this is easy peasy lemon squeezy, you don't need to be a nail technician to achieve this look, anyone can do it you don't even need a steady hand! If you have any requests then please feel free leave them here on my formspring: http://www.formspring.me/lisadrivesavan

xoxo

OOTD: Happy Birthday to me..

Today is my 18th Birthday and education gave me the most wonderful present a girl like me could ever ask for.. a Psychology exam!! I'm sosososososo relieved my first exam is done and dusted. No more psychology EVER. I feel for all the other poor souls who had to endure the 1hr 30 minutes exam, it was an immensely difficult week prior to the exam trying to memorise 80+ studies. But thankfully it's now time to empty my brain of Psychology and get revising for my other exams boohoo!

I'm missing visiting all of your lovely blogs, after this week of exams is out the way, my mission is to respond to all your sweet words from previous posts and catch up on the blogging world. Hope you're all doing well!

xoxo

Procrastination at its' best

Revision vs. procrastination. So me being a person who has such a low self control, of course opted for sitting outside in the beautiful sunshine (with heaps of SPF on) accompanied by my new found love and an ice lolly instead of being cooped indoors wasting the wonderful weather away.. or should i say a decent grade? I kind of wish i was a little less carefree about exams, because i haven't started revising and my first exam is one week away! I just hope the big man upstairs is on my side on the big day...

Fashion makers fashion shapers is the essential guide to fashion by those in the know, which gives an incredible amount of insight into the fashion industry as its a book full of in depth interviews with famous designers such as Luella Bartley, stylists, founders of well known fashion labels and other key figures. It's also 'the first book to analyse the fashion industry as a whole' and you will discover the secrets in order to become successful in the industry. If you have an interest in fashion, and enjoy a good read as well as a few inspirational photographs & illustrations here and there then i think you should invest in this book. Ditch your fashion magazines, it's all about the books!

A few pages from Fashion makers fashion shapers:

Sadly this is the last blog post before my exams commence, so good luck to those of you who will be sitting your exams! Try not to stress out and try to keep this quote in mind: 'In everything we do, our own thoughts can help us succeed, or they can help us fail. Maintain a positive attitude'. And in the meantime, I will look forward to hearing from you all soon!

xoxo