Winter Fashion

Fashion

Hey hey!

I hope you are all having a lovely run up to Christmas.

I thought I would write a little blog on my favourite winter fashion trends right now. I have a few looks that I am loving right now and as you can probably tell from my lasted Instagram posts they involve a lot of faux fur.

This jacket (similar here) is my all time favourite- the compliments I have recieved on it have been endless! It is actually my mums from nearly 20 years ago. She got it relined on the inside and it looks as good as new! I paired it with my new favourite trousers- these ‘leather look’ leggings from Next. I have hunted high and low for leggings like these that didn’t look too cheap so I was really happy to find them! Also I love this hat from H&M (similar here). It is the perfect way to make an outfit more autumnal/wintery.

Next up: knee high boots! I am well and truly in love with these boots. I have always wanted them, however, because I have long legs I have struggled to find the right length. Thankfully I found these perfect ones on ASOS and now I wear them all the time.

I love wearing them with jeans, but I think its extra cute to pair them with a skirt or dress. I have a feeling that I will be wearing them lots over the festive period!

This jacket has been in my wardrobe for 4 years now (similar here), and I bring it out every winter. I love the black and white contrast. I got it from TK Maxx and always find that they have the best faux fur jackets/coats in the Christmas sale!

And finally, this little white faux fur number was a lucky find from Very (similar here). This is a perfect little jacket for the festive period because you can dress it up or down. It would be perfect with an LBD for the evening time and is perfect during the day.

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I created this daytime look with boohoo flared trousers which I’m obsessed with, a simple black top and my Louis Vuitton cross body bag.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, and if you are going shopping in the sales remember you can’t go wrong with a little faux fur!

Love always,

Rachael

My LFW Experience

Fashion, Lifestyle

Never in a thousand years did I think I would get the opportunity to go down to London Fashion Week. This was quite literally a dream come true.

I applied for an internship with William Chambers Millinery (based in Glasgow) to go to LFW for five days after seeing their advertisement on Facebook and much to my surprise I got the internship! I booked my flights straight away, got myself organised and within two weeks I was flying down to London.

I flew down to London on Thursday night, arrived at my hotel at midnight and was at the LFW studios by Friday 9am. When I got to the studios there were photographers waiting outside ready to a catch a glimpse on anything and everything. I was greeted by Niall who then helped me get my pass for the week and then was introduced to William. William is the milliner behind the beautiful hats and Niall works will William too, often helping with the PR and marketing. They also happen to be married – a real dream team!

I was working in the designer showrooms where everything from clothing and swimwear brands to jewellery and handbag brands were showcasing their Spring/Summer’18 collections. I was based in the accessories area along with other hat brands like The Season Hats, Harvey Santos Millinery, Sophie Beale Millinery and of course the wonderful Stephen Jones Millinery were also showcasing their brand. The very non-fussed about hats Rachael was about to become a lover of all things hats in the space of 10 minutes!

I couldn’t believe how beautiful Williams collection was! He has been making hats for 10 years now, and this collection was a celebration of the last 10 years. He brought back previous hats that were memorable and classics. William is also inspired by his flower garden, which is why there are a lot of floral inspired hats. William sells his hats in his shop in Glasgow, but also stocks in Harrods and Fortnum and Mason- how fabulous!

And now for the fun part- getting to wear the hats!

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I was instantly drawn to the feathers on this hat- so fun and perfect for a cute pink wedding outfit!

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As well as hats William also makes the most beautiful, delicate headbands!

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By far one of my favourite hats! I’m in love with the flowers.

How fabulous is this?! Singer Kelis wore this in one of her concerts in Glasgow.

There are no words- I cannot tell you how much attention this hat attracted- amazing!

I love love love the bright pink on black combo on this design.

The detail on the structure of this hat is to die for!

Again one of my favourites- the flower is beautiful.

Would you believe me if I said this hat was made out of drinking straws? I know. Insane.

And another one of my favourites- it was hard to pick one.

In terms of the internship it involved a lot of wearing hats (of course) but I got to meet lots of people! There were bloggers, designers, guests and most importantly buyers walking around the showroom and it was my job to speak to lots of people about Williams designs.

Furthermore I modelled the hats for buyers so they could see them on an actual person rather than a mannequin head! I also walked around the showrooms wearing the hats and went outside the studios where photographers took my picture whilst wearing Williams designs!

I also got invited to the designer after party in a very fancy bar on Sunday night where there was free prosecco and canapés and I got to meet more people in the industry!

Of course I couldn’t finish this blog without a few pictures of Stephen Jone’s designs- here are a few of my favourite!

This hat is stunning on!

Wacky and fabulous!

This is just genius!

So there it is- my first LFW experience. It was the most amazing five days and I am so grateful for the opportunity, I learned lots, met new people and most importantly has so much fun!

I hope you all have a lovely week,

Rachael x

Summer looks

Fashion

Hey hey!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer wherever you are. I have had a busy few months travelling to Norway, Malta and Mallorca and with the travel comes planning summer looks. I love summer fashion- there is nothing better than throwing on a dress and some sandals without the thought of adding some tights or a big jacket to keep warm that just ruin your look (the perks of Scotland). Anyway I thought it would be a nice idea to show you guys what I am liking right now and talk in more detail about some of my favourite summer buys.

Polka dots- I spotted this dress on Boohoo (similar here) and had to have it! This summer has seen a huge rise in the polka dot trend with high street stores like Zara, H&M and Topshop following suit. I think a dress like this is a great staple to have in your wardrobe and can be worn for pretty much any occasion and in whatever season- not just summer.

Florals- this botanical dress (similar here) is the same style as the above polka dot dress from Boohoo too. As you will all know, I don’t really go for bright colours and struggle to fit them into my wardrobe so the botanical print on a black background was the perfect choice for me. Because it isn’t super summery because of the black it would work in Autumn too! H&M and Pretty Little Thing often do really nice botanical prints!

Ruffled sleeves- the love of my life. I cannot get enough of these sleeves! They just instantly make a blouse or dress that little more special. This has been a trend for a while now and thank goodness it is carrying on into Autumn/Winter! This blouse is Missguided (similar here), but the majority of high street stores carry the same trend.

Carrying on the theme of ruffles- this type of dress is a must have! A cute little summer dress with ruffled detail will never go out of style. ASOS carry lots of dresses like these!

All black- just because it’s summer doesn’t mean you can’t wear what you love.

The maxi- summer is the biggest season for maxi dresses and skirts. Almost every shop has them in stock in a range of colours, styles and prints so go with that you are most comfortable with. I love floral maxi dresses because they just look so pretty on. The more flowers the better, in my opinion! This dress is from Boohoo in the tall section- they have a similar one in stock in a normal length here.

GLAM- I have been waiting foreeeever to wear this outfit. I am obsessed. Firstly tassel earrings are making a comeback and I could not be happier. These black and white ones are from ASOS but H&M are currently carrying them in a wide range of colours. I then paired this simple one shoulder top with these FAB ASOS trousers. I am obsessed with the slits up the front of them. I think this outfit gives off such a glam vibe but it’s isn’t too over the top. Summer is definitely a season to take fashion risks so if you are feeling it, go for it.

Now lets talk swimwear. My favourite thing about summer is buying bikinis and swimsuits.

First up is this classic ASOS black swimsuit- simple and easy to wear. I dressed it up with a gold chain necklace from M&S.

Basic- this bikini is the perfect understated bikini. The bottoms are from Next years ago but the top is from eBay– YES, eBay! And it’s only £3.99 and comes in a range of colours! This top is an absolute steal in my opinion.

Fruity prints- pineapples on a bikini top? Yes please. It’s always fun to play about with fun prints and trends, especially on the beach! Primark are great for doing cheap, fun swimwear.

Animal prints- can’t go a miss. I am obsessed with animal prints, but only in small doses, therefore animal print bikinis are the perfect amount of this style. The tiger print bikini is from H&M (similar here) and I have to say it is probably the comfiest bikini I have ever bought! I would highly recommend the style.

The bottom leopard print bikini is also H&M and comes in a super cute swimsuit as well.

So that’s it! With summer nearly over I am now looking forward to getting my Autumn wardrobe sorted- decisions, decisions.

I hope you enjoyed reading.

Have a lovely week,

Rachael x

Norway and my experience at Bik Bok

Fashion, Lifestyle

Hey hey!

So as some of you may know from my Instagram, I am back from the most amazing trip to Oslo, Norway. I was there for a placement at a Scandinavian fashion company called Bik Bok. Before I tell you all about my placement I want to talk about how much I loved Norway!

I arrived in Oslo after a short flight from Edinburgh and was greeted by some lovely rain (nothing new for a Scottish girl) and got a taxi to my airbnb apartment in the Frogner area. If you go to Oslo, I highly recommend looking at airbnb as it works out half the price of a hotel!

I instantly fell in love with Oslo. I couldn’t get over how beautiful it is! The architecture was stunning and all the streets were so pretty and clean. Everyone I met were super friendly and spoke perfect English!

I arrived on a weekend so spent a couple of days sightseeing and stumbled upon the most beautiful park called Frogner Park! It was filled with statues and a pretty pond surrounded my flowers.

Sightseeing on your own can get a little lonely at times so I was really happy that my dad flew out to spend the last couple days with me!

We explored more sights of Oslo including the Opera House and The Palace as well! We got such beautiful weather making Oslo look ever prettier! We went shopping and found a street with Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Gucci on it- heaven!

My dad and I also found a festival going on called Piknik i Parken which had Solange Knowles performing at it! It had such an amazing atmosphere and we had so much fun!

As amazing as Norway is, it is so expensive! If you are going there, be aware of the prices! If you want to go grocery shopping I would recommend going to Kiwi as it is the cheapest supermarket.

And finally onto my placement. Bik Bok is a fashion company specialising in womenswear and was founded in Norway. Since then it has grown to have 200 stores across Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Austria. Their clothes are very on trend and gorgeous!

When I was there I was placed in the children/teen department which has a line of clothing called WOW. I worked with the buying team and was super excited to see what they got to do as it was my first experience of buying.

I got the chance to go behind the scenes of a photo-shoot and also got to sit in with buying meetings with suppliers from India and Turkey!

I learned lots, like how to measure samples properly and got to watch how the buying process happened from start to end. Everyone in the office were so friendly and made the experience even better!

The above are design boards I made for the WOW team!

Overall, I had the best time in Norway. My experience at Bik Bok has definitely reinforced the fact that I want to work in fashion, and I am really grateful for the experience.

I cannot wait to go back and would recommend to anyone to give Oslo a visit- make sure you check out Bik Bok when you are there also!

Love always,

Rachael

Dressing for Spring!

Fashion

Hey hey!

So it’s finally Spring, which means it’s nearly Summer… my favourite time of the year, yay! And most importantly, Spring/Summer is my favourite time to buy clothes so I thought I would share some of my new Spring wardrobe.

I have just been in London (a nice escape from revision) so was able to shoot a couple of my outfits down there!

Up first is my more casual look…

Missguided shirt, Boohoo blazer, ASOS jeans, Mango Sunglasses, ASOS choker (similar here), New Look mules and Louis Vuitton Neverfall handbag.

First of all, the sleeves on this shirt! I fell in love with them when I went into the Missguided store in Westfield. I thought it would go perfectly with this blazer, with the sleeves peaking through! Big sleeves are really in and I think this style will continue, so grab this shirt (or similar) whilst you can!

And finally, these mules are the shoes I’ve been looking for this Spring/Summer! They are also available in light pink so I have my eye on them. I love how Gucci have made mules so fashionable now, and lots of high street stores are following the trend, yay!

It’s no secret that I love chokers, so when I saw this star design one I fell in love! The Mango cat eye sunglasses are the perfect way to finish an outfit off!

My second look…

ASOS dress and Moschino scarf (similar here).

This look is definitely more summery! I’m not a huge fan of bright colours or prints but I love them in small doses. This Moschino scarf is to die for! The print is a perfect pop for a simple outfit! Fun bandanas and scarves are starting to make a come back so I am excited to experiment!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Lots of love,

Rachael x

Valentines Day Inspiration

Fashion, Lifestyle

Hey hey!

Since it’s Valentines day next week, I thought I would help you girls out with date night ideas- whether it’s with your girls or with that special someone. Also boys, if you are struggling to get your partner a present, I’ve got you covered too!

So lets start with date night outfits…

Missguided red dress- perfect for drinks!

How cute is this Missguided co-ord outfit? Wear it together or just pick one piece and match it with something else!

Mesh shirts are my new favourite thing! You can wear a plain top underneath or show off a cute bra! This one is from Topshop and I love the pussy bow detail.

You can’t go wrong with a LBD from Zara

The bandeau detail on this Pretty Little Thing jumpsuit is to die for!

Now lets talk lingerie..

I am a self- confessed underwear addict and have extra drawers in my flat just so that I can store it all- so I like to think I am at least a little bit knowledgeable on the subject! Whether it’s for you’re other half or you just want to treat yourself, I’m going to show you some of my favourites.

I have decided to choose red and black lingerie as I think for Valentines day, those are your best picks! But if you want some other colours most of the lingerie I picked comes in alternative colours- so go for it!