#Lush Opening At #Lancaster

Great name, penny Lush!

Juice bike

Small but perfectly formed that's the city I live in, but it was definitely missing a little something until yesterday, and then ta da! That something arrived in the form of a newly opened Lush store, if you haven't ever stepped inside a Lush store before, prepare to have your senses assaulted in a good way,it's like a fairground and a delicious smelling cupcake shop in one! No matter how many times I walk into Lush I always walk out with a smile as well as whatever I couldn't resist, which has got to be good, my list of favourites includes, massage bars, henna dye, solid perfume, lip balms and a shampoo that is made of stout and lemons these have all found there way into my heart and my bathroom.

 So here are some of my favourite moments/products from the opening, embarrassingly I practically squealed with delight when I stumbled across this pile of crumbly brightly coloured lush play dough, aptly named Fun in their window, it smelt goood, I was already addicted to the regular stuff, but this was beyond regular! When your done playing you can crumble it in the bath. I loved the purple heart COOKIE cutters too.

What Makes A Blog Beautiful ?

I'm in the mood for a blog declutter and makeover, My Passport To Style is my little fashion and lifestyle bubble a place I cherish and can count on to brighten my mood as I revel in all things style related, but lately as I have been visiting more new blog's than usual, (thanks CosmoBlog awards for that!) I keep catching new stylish blog's with original fresh designs that jump out at me and leave me wondering at the possibilities,

Cosmo Blog Awards 2012

Topshop Best Brand Blog -Image courtesy Of Cosmo FB

  Some of you may know I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had been shortlisted for the Cosmo blog awards 2012. I love writing about the creative world of fashion and making it hopefully accessible and fun for anyone who reads or follows blog, but being a little tucked away in the North UK and away from the razzle dazzle of London you have to fight as a fashion blogger to get recognition, so its great that Cosmopolitan magazine a) recognises fashion bloggers in this way and b) is really inclusive in their search for new fashion bloggers and new blogger category's for the Cosmo Blog Awards.Some times writing about fashion and wearing all the hats required to run a fashion blog and working a day job is hard slog and a little isolating so being shortlisted has encouraged me to keep writing about fashion but also to keep improving the content I offer you, the lovely readers and followers of my blog.

Credit- Movie Met 

Although events transpired against me and Cinderella did'n't get to go to the ball, I caught up with exciting events of the night by checking out some of my favourite fashion bloggers who had also been nominated.It sounds like they had a blast and it was really fun night at Londons Rose Club with a fortune teller, lots of pampering and great goody bags.

Credit - Style Rawr

Thanks Cosmo magazine and thanks to Next for sponsoring the event.A massive big thank-you to everyone who was kind enough to take the time to nominate My Passport To Style, that in it self means so much to me. Here are the winners, there are some really talented new bloggers out there!! Were you at the Cosmo awards, what did you wear? Have you found a new juicy blog to read?? 

MY #VERY #BERRY A/W12 COLOUR GUIDE

Have you been seduced by this A/W 2012 berry colours yet?The little lady above, makes wearing them seem effortless.
However lets not forget she's had a squad of make-up artists and stylists working round the clock to create her gorgeous very berry look! I've put together a little My Passport To Style colour guide on my blog of which colours work best with this seasons bold reds and purples for any skin tone.

1. Garnet + Palest pinks, look really pretty together. 

 2. Garnet + Mustard creates a baroque colour scheme, add a little velvet in the mix for texture and a lovely vintage feel. 

3.Plum + Silver create a pretty slightly retro feel for day time or evening, dark grey works really well too with plum as in this sofa makeover which I love.

4. Plum + Khaki make for a great casual colour combo, throw in some sky blue denim and your good to go. I'm planning on putting together a plum velvet dress with knee boots and a khaki army jacket and blue postman's bag to create a folk inspired look.

5.Plum + Acid Greens and Yellows compliment each other beautifully.

6.Lastly both plum and garnet look great with black, although an obvious choice, if you can, try wearing shiny accents of black velvet or patent leather accessories to give darker hues like garnet a lift and pile on the silver! Day time or evening it works! 

Sign up to My Passport To Style top right of this blog 

#Skirts V #Dresses This A/W2012

net-a-porter

 

refinary29.com

refinary29.com

Psst have you heard the scary news on every fashionistas lips at the moment, that set my heart racing a couple of weeks back, OK well I better tell you, the dress is being replaced by the skirt,not sure how you feel about this rather radical move towards separates? Me neither.You see I have a body that was made for dresses, the unbroken print and cut of a dress generally help me look taller, curvier and slightly slimmer,see my current wish list above!

Skirts can make me look a little cube like, unless of course I team them with extremely high heels (which I may or may not topple over in) and a shirt in exactly the same tonal shade or print as my skirt in which case I'm thinking I may as well just wear a dress?! I am still experimenting and quite liked the polka dot skirt I created from a Muji dress recently.I found a good middle ground over on Wayward Daughter fashion blog  for holidays and summer weather,she created a sweet summer separates look, by cleverly adapting her summer dress.Oh and she makes the most beautiful vintage inspired dresses in case your in need! Will you be welcoming the bold new move towards wearing separates, any favourite style tips on rocking a skirt this Autumn 2012?       

Wayward Daughter

The Trend For #Oversized

I was in the middle of super sizing my accessory wardrobe this weekend egged on after watching Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette again and discovering Anna - Della - Russo's opulent collection for H&M. Accessories are always the easiest place to start, with souped up bows and scarves and I'm feeling rather frisky about big collars too.I stopped to ponder if this was really my way of side stepping the bigger issue of wearing a walloping big coat this A/W2012 with sloping shoulders in a nice shade of mohair.

 I have my own style that I'm happy not to compromise on but every now and again it's fun to to take a trend and make it your own. The fact is I love the cool of the oversized coat and its boyish slouch appeal, but I think working the full length coat requires a certain austere hair style and make up to make it work fully. I'm not sure my often unruly wavy hair will make the grade, of course I dutifully tried scraping it all back, whilst imaging I was wearing the oversized coat of my dreams and sucking in my rounded cheeks in to represent the angular feline look of Alexa but no dice. So for now I'm going to look out for an oversized biker jacket ( I love the idea of wearing a longer length) and stick with super sizing my accessories.What about you, do you like the grandeur of large accessory wearing or are you after an oversized coat for this A/W2012? 

   

*images courtesy pinterest 

Frankie Says Relax & Have Fun #LFW12

 credit -(Jess Carter)

Here's my round up of London Fashion Week 2012 highlights, great to see that there was plenty of humour around as well as stunning wearable pieces. What do you think? Do you like your clothes to be a bit on the quirky side, will you be working a bolt or two this Spring 2013? 

 Frankenstein inspired bolt and whip stitch shoes from Christopher Kane 

Loving the care free abandon of this badly wrapped girl in bubble gum pink and a beautiful cut by 

(Christopher Kane)

Stunning trapeze shapes and opulent prints from Louise Gray

Louise Gray, fun original and hip, metallics with black print

I want this Louise Gray dress that combines my favourite colours with contemporary 50s styling

Who could resist a goodie bag with a barbie shaped camera?! Louise Gray is a genius!

#Minnie Mouse Flys The Flag At #LFW12

Terry De Havilland

Hi there any Minnie Mouse fans in the house? Good well your in for some lovely Minnie Mouse overload, Britain's top designers were challenged to come up with some Minnie Mouse contributions for LFW 2012, with designs to be auctioned on Ebay, after LFW was over, so which Minnie pieces left me wanting to be part of the next big bidding war on ebay?

 Terry De Havilland beautiful designed Minnie Mouse inspired wedges, complete with huge red and white polka dot bows could turn any die-hards tom boys amongst us into coquettish bow wearing minxes. Giles Deacons black and red spikey bow juxtaposed against the sweet back drop of clashing Minnie Mouse print with a sliver of polka dots that just covered the bra strap area is suitably saucy and edgy to warrant a bid.

The next two dresses in vintage style prints by Richard Nicoll are also strong favourites and so wearable for statement clothing. The first dress features a pair of giant Minnie Mouse ears for sleeves and the second print in a washed out grey creates a faded newspaper effect.

 I'm a big fan of accessory designer Tatty Devine and was thrilled to discover she had been one of the designers contributing to this London Fashion Week project, I love her crazy toon time eyeball necklace complete with fluttering lashes synonymous with Minnie Mouses character, it drapes beautifully and it will add a sharp contrast to any colourful necklines this A/W 2012.Could I possibly squeeze one last bid out? I decided that yes I could, for this original and pretty stirling silver and rose gold polka dot bow headband by Husam El Odeh and Luke Hershesons, it scores big in my books for combing innocence and sophistication together. 

Final Word

I love much of Lulu Guinesss work and while handbags have all the lure of the theatrical, I was underwhelmed by her Minnie Mouse offering, the quality of the design was evident as always, but I expected a more exciting use of materials, to me the clutch reminds me of a plastic children's lunch box I might pick up from a Disney store, with the exception of her signature lipstick charm. I have to say my least favourite piece from project Minnie Mouse was the finale piece in this line up a grungy black headband by designer Piers Atkinson, that left me feeling wearing it would transform me into a drowned sewer rat rather than a perky spirited Minnie. Make fashion history and try your luck with a bid here!            

Richard Nicoll

Richard Nicoll

Tatty Devine

Husam El Odeh

Lulu Guiness

Piers Atkinson

 * images courtesy of fashion telegraph.co.uk