Isabel Marant Pour H&M

Image from the Lookbook

High street brands collaborating with designers is becoming ever more common and H&M have been leading the way since 2004 with their Karl Lagerfeld collection. Since then the high street brand have collaborated with many designers including Stella McCartney, Jimmy Choo and Lanvin. This winter they've teamed up with Isabel Marant to create a to-die-for collection that will be available in stores and online from the 14th November (only 2 days!!). Prices range from $29.95 - $399 which is excellent for people like me with not so much cash to splash! The launch party was held at Tennis Club de Paris on the 24th October and many famous faces were seen sporting Marant's designs including January Jones, Freida Pinto and the epitome of French chic and one of my personal style icons, Audrey Tatou.

'What inspires me? It can be a gesture of a woman in the streets, it can be a stain on the carpet. It's things surrounding me that help me to understand what I have in my head. This collaboration with H&M was really a nice opportunity to re-do what I love in my collections and share this love with a wider public,' said Marant about the collaboration.

H&M declared "The Isabel Marant pour H&M collection is an eclectic mix of boho elegance and rock ‘n’ roll insouciance. The spirit is quintessentially Marant: masculine tailoring is featured together with skinny pants, sweatshirts, loose blouses, airy dresses and textured knits."

Here are some pieces from the collection. My favourites are the red patterned jumper and the grey jogging bottoms (directly below left and right).

£34.99

£34.99

£99.99

£199.99

£79.99

£69.99

£69.99

£49.99

£99.99

£14.99

So what do you think of the collection? Let me know in the comments below!

Isabel Marant Pour H&M is available in selected stores and online from the 14th November http://www.hm.com/gb/isabel-marant#item/6103_SL_W_28

A Poor Fashionista's Guide to Paris: Le Marais

I've now been in Paris for around 5 weeks (blog writing had to be put on hold as it was rather difficult to settle in) and I feel like I'm already becoming a part of my dream world, the world of fashion! Last week I attended Vogue Fashion's Night out on Rue Saint Honore (left) and this weekend I've been at Tranoi trade show (a blog post about this event will be coming soon!) So having already spent a fair amount of time roaming the streets of Paris I thought I would put together a concise guide of Paris for those who love fashion but don't have the cash to splash! I will write a post about a new area each week so watch this space.

The number one hot spot to visit and the area I'm going to start with is Le Marais, catch a line 1 Metro to Saint Paul and cruise up the escalator straight onto the street. Le Marais is the best place in Paris to find vintage clothing. My favourite store and the generally acknowledged best is The King of Frip. Located on Rue du Roi de Sicile this store has so many clothes inside and they are all reasonably priced (for a vintage store in Paris anyhow). I bought the cape coat pictured above in this store for 40 euros which given the quality of it is a total bargain  Along the same road there a few other vintage stores which are worth a pop in.

The King of Frip

Once you've shopped and dropped make your way to 14 Rue Pavée to L'eclaire de Genie for an absolutely splendiferous ecalire. With a new collection each season these cakes are the patisserie world equivalent of Chanel. This season I would recommend the Caramel Pop Corn eclaire which is crème caramel salted butter with caramel fondant topped with caramel popcorn. A bit pricey at 5 euros each but well worth it in my opinion. If you feel like really splashing out or taking home a tasty gift then they come in boxes of 4, 6 or 10. If you feel like something more savoury then you have to go with the falafel that the area is famous for. There are hundreds of stores and they are all cheap and tasty!

http://www.leclairdegenie.com/eclairs

Once you've purchased your eclaire/falafel make your way to the Seine and eat your food on the river banks. Once you've eaten it all up walk through the area, admiring the timelessly chic Parisians and gazing into designer boutiques until you reach the Pompidou centre. This is one of my favourite places to visit. The place outside is perfect for people watching and inside is a fabulous modern art collection that I find truly inspiring. 

http://www.centrepompidou.fr/en

And so ends your day in Le Marais, if you feel like going out for dinner then I would recommend a creperie because what else would you eat in Paris?! I hope you've found this post interesting/helpful and please leave any questions in the comments below!

My Wardrobe: Suede Heels

I feel like the thing this blog is lacking is the contents of my own wardrobe so I'm starting a new 'column' that I'll write every Tuesday about the things in my wardrobe! As I'm only 18 (I'm actually writing this on my 18th Birthday!!) and have my strict budget my wardrobe isn't exactly the most extensive of expensive but I'm hoping that over the next year whilst actually having a job I might develop a larger collection.

                                                                                          

As Manolo Blahnik once said, 'Shoes are the quickest way for women to achieve instant metamorphosis' which I think is the perfect explanation as to why they are such a crucial element of a wardrobe. In this post I'm sharing with you my staple suede heels. The first is the absolute necessity that every woman should own, a pair of plain black court heels. Mine are from Primark and were only £8 but they've lasted me about 3 years already!

The second pair is these grey open toe heels. These are one of my favourite pairs of shoes because they are super comfy and look really great on. They were £15 from New Look 2 years ago.

These black studded low cut ankle boot heels are a fairly recent splurge at £40 from Office but I love them to bits and they aren't too high so can be comfortably worn all day.

The last pair is these cute navy blue pointed toe heels with a bow. These were the first ever heels I bought. I bought them in New Look for £10 in the sale way back in 2008 when I was about 13. I love them not just because they are adorable but also because of the history and stories they carry.

Summer is here!!

Firstly an apology for how neglected this blog has been!! I have just finished my final ever year of school and so was busy with revision, exams and making plans for my gap year starting in September. I have been lucky enough to find myself a job Au Pairing for a lovely family in... PARIS!!! So starting from September I will be able to Blog about fashion from my favourite fashion capital in the whole world!! Now, on to this week's blog post!

Living in England, I spend the majority of the year in tights and jumpers so when the sun comes out, like every Brit, I go crazy and pull out all of my summer outfits before the sunshine gets the chance to escape again! This summer my staple item is a block colour maxi dress. It might not be the most up-to-the-moment fashionable piece but it is an investment item that will be stylish every summer. If you are bold then choose a bright colour like yellow or hot pink. If you're less confident with your clothes then go for a pastel pink or a soft blue. Here are some of my faves:

Asos Petite Exclusive

Boohoo.com

Kore by Sophia Kokosalaki

Denim and Supply by Ralph Lauren

I was fortunate enough to find a pink maxi with pocket detail in Primark for just £5! (Something that is great given my still limited student budget). This style of dress is really easy to transition from day to night and so is perfect for those holiday capsule wardrobes. I styled my dress with flip-flops and aviator sunglasses for day time and then dressed it up with tan sandles with a slight heel and an Aztec necklace for evenings:

Evening look

Daytime look

That's all for this post but keep a look out for a new current inspirations post coming soon!

A Multitude of Magazines!

When you walk into WH Smiths to buy a magazine you're confronted with rows after rows of magazines so I wanted to write a post on my recommendations to help when deciding which to choose. I remember when I started being interested in fashion I wasn't AS scared because I was only around 13 so the choice of 'child' fashion magazines was fairly limited to Teen Vogue. But when I think about it, Teen Vogue gets it so right that there don't need to be any other fashion magazines for young people. If you have a child or know someone between around the ages of 11-14 who is interested in fashion then they should definitely be reading this magazine!

Company February 2013

Teen Vogue February 2013

It soon came to a point at which I wanted to start reading more 'adult' fashion magazines. Aside from Vogue (which I will return to later) probably the most popular fashion magazine in England is Company Magazine. It has accessible, street-wearable fashion ideas that are perfect for inspiring everyday or evening wear. The emphasis is based much more on street style than haute-couture. It successfully breaches the gap between glossy magazines like Vogue and fashion blogs. I would recommend this magazine to anyone with a casual interest in fashion who wants to know the street trends. Company is also the most affordable (£2.50) so this is usually the one I buy each month.

Nylon February 2013

As I became more and more interested in fashion I began to explore different areas and branched out my reading matter to more varied magazines like i-D, Haper's Bazaar and W magazine. In this exploratory period I discovered Nylon. This is probably my favourite magazine that I read. It always features current and interesting people. As well as great fashion features it has articles on music, television and films. It's a little more indie than many others and although it is quite expensive in England (£4.50), it's definitely worth it! I would recommend this magazine to anyone and everyone!

The last magazine I want to talk about is Vogue. The original fashion magazine, the fashion bible, Vogue is THE fashion magazine. Even people who know nothing about fashion know this. The main complaint people have with Vogue is that there are too many advertisements however ads are not only an important source of revenue for the company but also can help you to stay on-top of trends. Fashion houses will change their advertisements to reflect that season's collection and so can be used as inspiration. There are 18 countries that produce a Vogue each month, the most famous/popular being American Vogue, Vogue British and Vogue France. Each version has an individual style which reflects the country's general style (e.g. French Vogue features a lot of black clothes, nudity and smoking). The three just mentioned are must-reads each month for anyone seriously into fashion but I would also recommend Italian, Russian and Korean Vogue as others to check out from time to time.

American Vogue February 2013

Vogue France February 2013