fashion | Vanity Claire

ClaireJune 5, 2013

Outfits of the Day: Double Denim & Summer Pastels

HEY THERE HELLO. This is just going to be a quick little Outfit of the Day post. It is, in fact, our first proper OOTD entry that hasn’t involved mirror snaps or pictures where we are happily obscuring our faces. I would like to apologise for a few things:

• The quality of the photos. We are finally going to start using a proper camera (and a tripod – look how serious we have become) so these will improve!
• My awkward photo face. I am awful at having my photo taken, I usually end up doing a creepy smile that is most often found on the faces of sex offenders on Crimewatch. Again, I think that the tripod and practice will make this better over time.
• Our messy floor – no real excuse there though, I’m afraid. We just messy.

Claire

Lace Body: Topshop
Vest: Primark
Gold chain: eBay
Watch: Casio
Lavendar skinny jeans: Primark
Shoes: Converse

I decided to wear quite a summery-coloured outfit today, possibly as a reaction to wearing all black yesterday and nearly boiling in the heat. Before, I never would have dreamed of wearing a pastel pair of jeans as I was convinced they would be the least flattering thing for my shape ever. As you can see, I was incredibly correct about this. BUT I’m going through a new phase where I’m trying to embrace my natural body shape and so getting The Hips (epic enough to deserve capital letters) out in lavender is now something I am just rolling with.

Lauren

Blouse: Missguided
Denim shirt: Primark
Jeans: Topshop
Shoes: New Look

We recently published a post all about double denim where we asked whether you dared to do it. Well, Lauren dared. She says this was a result of me telling her we needed to do an OOTD post and her panicking with the need to wear something interesting – BUT I think it works marvelously. Fun fact: these glittery pumps proceeded to give Lauren huge blisters on our way into work, causing her to stop off and wear her bright (and I mean BRIGHT) pink gym trainers for the rest of the journey. Of course I didn’t laugh. Of course.

ClaireJune 5, 2013

15 of the Best Fashion & Style Quotes

No matter how witty or philosophical we try to be, sometimes we have to face facts that somebody has already said what we want to say – and they have probably said it better. Below are some of the best quotes about fashion, beauty and style from the people who know best: designers, writers and fictional hero (but frequent idiot) Carrie Bradshaw. Enjoy!

“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
– Oscar Wilde

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”
– Coco Chanel

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”
– Orson Welles

“To me, clothing is a form of self-expression – there are hints about who you are in what you wear.”
– Mark Jacobs

“It’s a new era in fashion – there are no rules. It’s all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together.”
– Alexander McQueen

“One is never over-dressed or underdressed with a Little Black Dress.”
– Karl Lagerfeld

“Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves and, of course, each other. If girls dressed for boys they’d just walk around naked at all times.”
– Betsey Johnson

“Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness, simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”
– Bo Derek

“The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.”
– Yves Saint-Laurent

“You can never take too much care over the choice of your shoes. Too many women think that they are unimportant, but the real proof of an elegant woman is what is on her feet.”
– Christian Dior

“Anyone can get dressed up and glamorous, but it is how people dress in their days off that are the most intriguing.”
– Alexander Wang

“Shoes transform your body language and attitude. They lift you physically and emotionally.”
– Christian Louboutin

“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.”
– Miuccia Prada

“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.”
– Virginia Woolf

“When I first moved to New York and I was totally broke, sometimes I bought Vogue instead of dinner. I found it fed me more.”
– Carrie Bradshaw

You may notice that some style icons are notably absent from this selection of quotes, namely those fabulous bitches known as Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. This is not to say that we don’t love these chicas; au contraire, our house is full – some may say festooned – with posters of them. However, I simply can’t cope with how over-quoted they are on social media sites. If I read ‘I’m selfish, impatient, and a little insecure’ one more time on Twitter of Facebook then I cannot be held responsible for my actions. For this reason, I have had to exclude them and their wise words from my list. I am terribly sorry.

What are your favourite quotes about fashion and style?

ClaireMay 31, 2013

Fashion and Beauty Tips We Can Take From Game of Thrones.

So, Claire and I have a bit of a confession to make. While we are big believers in Fake Tan Thursdays (gotta get ready for the weekend, y’all) and spend far too much of our lives discussing what lipstick to wear, we are secret geeks. I’m an unashamed Lord of the Rings fanatic and Claire has been known to read some George Martin on the commute home from work. Both of us, much like the rest of the world, also like to sit down with a cup of tea and watch a bit of Game of Thrones. Our Thrones evenings are productively spent with me shutting my eyes during the scary bits (go home, white walkers, you are drunk) and wondering when Jon Snow is going to take his top off.

However, we have also noticed that Thrones is actually very informative about life in general. Where else would you learn not to judge a book by it’s cover (we’re looking at you, Khal Drogo, may you rest in peace) and that being an independent woman who owns dragons is ok? With this in mind, we’ve also realised that Thrones can give us some essential fashion and beauty tips to take away from Westeros and apply to our everyday lives.

Whatever anyone says, maxi dresses will never go out of style:

Maxi dresses are pretty much a wardrobe staple these days. They’re on-trend and delightfully ladylike (because nothing quite says ‘I am a lady’ than flashing your ankle at attractive men and wondering if they will be your boyfriends). However, I feel like the simple maxi dress has not been getting the attention it deserves recently. With the rise of the midi dress/skirt, fashionable women everywhere have been wondering whether the time of the maxi dress has ended and if their summer staple has been replaced.

Thankfully, Fashionable Women, Game of Thrones has reminded us that maxi dresses are freakin’ sweet. Whether it’s Daenerys in her (quite frankly) stunning chiffon numbers or Margery in her saucy cut away dresses, we’re reminded that there is literally nothing better than a casual maxi to make life infinitely better.

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Putting some effort into your hair makes a world of difference:

Has anyone noticed that pretty much all of the gals at Kings Landing have great hair? No wonder it’s the place everyone wants to be (though I’m not sure that Stannis has the capability for great hair). My general theory is that if you put effort into your hair, the rest will follow. So, take some tips from the girls from Thrones and get some extensions, shine spray and a nice pair of curling irons. Unless you are beyond the Wall. Then you have other things to think about and brushing your hair can take a back seat (don’t worry, Gilly, no judgement).

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Blonde is not always better:

Claire will probably cut me in my sleep for this, but Game of Thrones has definitely taught us that blonde is not necessarily better and they certainly don’t always have more fun. While Daenerys is pretty much the epitome of perfect and her hair cannot be faulted in any way, the other blonde characters leave something to be desired. Cersei in particular has many faults, namely having intimate relations with her brother and being nasty to pretty much everyone. We don’t even need to start on Joffrey, he is just a twisted young fellow who doesn’t give blondes a good name at all.

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Ultimately, the hair colour tips we can take from Thrones is that being ginger is great and will get you many a fine young man (or just one. Named Jon). Having brown hair isn’t too bad either, but what we all should be aiming for is silver.

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Dragons are a great fashion accessory:

Putting the right accessories to an outfit is one of life’s most difficult problems for women. The number of times I’ve had to ask Claire if my giant gold earrings, chunky gold chain and knuckle-duster are too much have been too many (apparently they were too much, who knew). Our pals at Game of Thrones have come up with a brilliant solution. Dragons.

If, like Daenerys, you have accidentally misplaced your clothes in a bonfire, simply perch a few dragons on your shoulder to complete the look. If you’re taking a cruise and are unsure what accessories are ship appropriate, having some dragons nearby will make your outfit truly stand out. Daenerys always looks great and our theory is that it is because she accessorises carefully with her fire-breathing friends. Great style work, HBO!

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Dressing appropriately for the weather is a good idea:

Here in Britain, we are constantly plagued by weather that can’t make up its mind. It may officially be summer, but I’m finding myself having to dig out my winter coats to fight the sob-worthy chill. It may be tempting to shout ‘I JUST DON’T CARE ANYMORE’ and don a crop top and a mini skirt, but Game of Thrones says otherwise. At Kings Landing, the girls get away with skimpier clothes (shoulders, ooo-er) and rightly so because it’s hot. But beyond the Wall, our favourite fashionista Ygritte wears some pretty interesting puffa jackets. While these might look slightly hideous, she is most definitely avoiding frostbite. So ladies, the moral of the story is to put on a coat if it is cold, even if you’re going out and claim that you have your tequila jacket on. Because if winter is coming, then tequila jackets won’t be very much use against our white walker pals, will they?!

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ClaireMay 29, 2013

3 of the Best eBay Dupes Available Right Now

Topshop ‘86’ Jersey / eBay ‘85’ Jersey

I featured this jersey in my varsity trend post a couple of weeks ago, where I commented that I really liked it but was umming and ahhing over it because I had noticed so many girls wearing it. At £20, I think it’s pretty reasonably priced for Topshop (who, it has to be said, can sometimes be the lords and masters of over-pricing); but I was still interested in looking around for a cheaper alternative.

And HELLO, alternative! This eBay dupe is less than half the price of the Topshop version, at only £6.99 (plus £1.99 delivery). You have to admit that they’ve done a pretty good job of replicating it, even down to the stripes. As well as the difference in number, I’m sure there are probably some differences in the quality of the material. I will soon be able to let you know, as I couldn’t resist ordering the dupe and am expecting it any day now.

Mango lion head chain / eBay lion head chain

Rihanna has been photographed numerous times wearing her Versace lion head gold chain:

and since then a number of high street dupes have popped up. Compared to a Versace necklace (one day, one day…) (okay, more realistically: never, never…), the Mango one featured above is still a snip at £17.99. But once again, eBay comes in at even more of a snip. The link above goes to what I think is the chepest seller in the UK, as it comes in at under a tenner, including postage. You can get them for half that price if you order from Hong Kong and don’t mind waiting around 3 weeks, but if you share the ‘I WANT IT AND WANT IT NOW’ mentality of us Stylingo broads then the extra couple of quid isn’t too bad.

Jeffrey Campbell Lita platform / eBay Wooden Heel Lace-Ups Platforms

I’m sure we would all love a pair of genuine Jeffrey Campbells in our shoe cupboard – my 5’2 frame would particularly enjoy that delicious platform. However, at around £120, they’re not really something that a lot of us can just buy on a whim. Luckily, quite plain styles like this are pretty easy to duplicate, and these ones from eBay are a much more affordable £32.99.

What do you all think of cheaper dupes from shops such as eBay? Do you love them, or prefer the real thing?

ClaireMay 28, 2013

Neons and Brights

Up until approximately two weeks ago, I was a staunch hater of neon. I pretty much thought it looked horrible on everyone, I vowed never to buy anything flourescent ever and I strongly believed that it was the worst trend to come from the fashion wizards since they allowed corduroy to happen. In fact, it almost got to the point of shouting ‘GO HOME NEON, YOU ARE DRUNK’ every time I saw a bit of bright clothing on the high street. View Full Post

ClaireMay 28, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Bank Holiday Special

This is our first Outfit of the Day post and, true to form, we are doing it in a slightly askew way as it’s actually Outfits of the Weekend That We Were Too Lazy to Post at the Time (or #ootwtwwtltpatt for you Instagrammers out there).

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ClaireMay 24, 2013

The Young British Designers Event at RBH.

Yesterday, Claire and I (as well as our chauffeur, I mean boss, Gary) had the brilliant opportunity of heading over to RBH for the presentation event of Young British Designers. RBH is a creative agency based in the Midlands who have worked in connection with YBD since its launch in 2010. For those who don’t know (where have you been?!), YBD is all about championing the many talents of young designers in Britain and showing off collections from emerging British fashion designers.

And what a day we had! After sneakily re-applying makeup in the toilets at work and choking the office with Black XS, we were off with our really cool Perspex invites firmly in hand. Even though we didn’t win the YBD outfit competition, Claire’s loud ‘AH, GO ON THEN’ when we were offered a glass of champagne got the event of to a great start. We mooched about for a bit and met some lovely people before legging it upstairs to where the clothes were. I have about three words to say about this: beautiful neon bags.

There was a great mix of stuff from last season as well as current spring/summer pieces. My personal favourites were the spring/summer collection of shoes and bags. OH MY GAHD, I nearly died with love for a pair of wedges that had neon straps. I may have spent slightly too long staring at them with love and adoration, stroking them and declaring that I will never love like this again. I didn’t actually stroke them; I’m not a mad person. I am a young professional who can behave in a classy and sophisticated way and not drop cupcakes on the floor. ANYWAY, Claire’s personal fave of the day was a blue box bag and had she bought it, I’d have stolen it and claimed that the stray cat we occasionally let into our house (fondly named Snoop Catt) must have eaten it. Unfortunately, we were too poor to make any purchases (darn you payday, how dare you come a day late) but Gary bought a lovely bag for his mum.

Shop the Young British Designers collections here

After having a browse of the collections, we headed to the cocktail bar for a mojito or five and had a play with the tweet mirror (which was AWESOME, by the way). There were a couple of talks as well, one by RBH’s Debra Hepburn and one by Beverley Nielson. Beverly heads up the Birmingham Made Me Expo, which is really awesome and you should all check out. She’s also worked at Vogue in New York so all in all, a very interesting person.

For those who are interested, I wore a snake print midi dress from Missguided, my trusty black leather jacket from Miss Selfridge and a pair of teal heels. Claire went for a navy midi dress from Topshop, a chunky gold necklace and Kurt Geiger heels.

It was a fabulous day and we’re very excited for what’s to come with YBD.

So, big thank you to RBH (and the green bow-tied mixologists, of course).