Avoid Dodgy Socks - Last Minute Gift Guide For Men

  I'm a bit of a sucker for gadgets and wizardry when it comes to Christmas gifts, so I would fit the mould for a gift buyer for men perfectly, but there is a but, I don't like gifts that have extra functionality unless they also offer quality, despite what we sometimes think at this time of year, men don't want a pair of funny socks unless they are made from a superior blend of fibres that will allow their feet to breathe. So first up on my last minute Christmas gift guide for men has to be a pair of Adidas Originals Superstar.The number of men that I know that are always up for a bit of Adidas Originals is well, a lot, so when I came across this slick very wearable pair in grey with the high shine of patent grey stripes running across them amongst JD Sports  range of trainers I thought they had it all, on closer inspection there was still more to come, the trainers come in four other colours and also, believe it or not, with 4 sets of inter-changeable stripes and two pairs of laces - yes you heard me right men can customize these trainers as and when the mood takes them at £65.00 I think that makes this pair of Adidas Originals Superstar a pretty solid gift choice.

 Bath time would not be bath time without a little ducky, but how about a rubber ducky that acts like a floating speaker whilst the egg shaped transmitter works its magic, I thought you might like that one - and the speaker does work it's been tested by a source close to me, ooh have you heard me, put me in a mile radius of gadgets and I think I'm Moneypenny at HQ! You can get hold of the Audio Duck for £14.99 from WHSmiths.

 For men that like to cook, in my opinion cooking doesn't get much more macho or fun than blowing things up or using dry ice, chemistry boff and chef Heston shows you how, oh and how to make the perfect cheese toastie and his famous triple cooked chips,his book Heston Blumenthal At Home from Waterstones is priced at £22.50. Follow that up swiftly with the perfect way to make an expresso with the De'Longhi Icona Espresso Coffee Machine in manly aubergine at £169.95 from John Lewis if your feeling generous.

 So finally we come to what I believe are the ultimate in Christmas socks made from lisle yarn in black and white with a tiny white skull motif, they are pretty sharp, priced £16.00 from The Kooples.

 *This is a sponsored post*

#Gwen Stefani | My Christmas Party Inspiration!

 

 

 Most of you probably know by now that I'm a huge Gwen Stefani fan, I love the way she manages to combine a rock attitude with her unique elegance and grace, I was pretty chuffed (northern expression) to see her on the cover of January Vogue, she looks amazing and has given me a bit of a leg up when it comes to deciding what I might wear for the Christmas party.I really like the clever way she has been made to look like she is wearing a large broad brimmed black hat, which frames her platinum hair like a halo and helps her makeup really pop!We have seen Gwen Stefani on many magazine covers over the years, see some of my favourites below, but I think this look really captures Gwens personality perfectly. She's got me reaching for my red lipstick as we speak!  

 

 

 

 

Celebrating Reaching 600 Posts #Giveaway!

Hi Gals, I'm celebrating reaching 600 posts here on My Passport To Style this December 2012, thanks to all UK and overseas followers for your lovely comments and for taking the time to read my blog posts and for inspiring me to write regularly about fashion, style and everything in between.To thank-you I have teamed up with Daisy Thomas accessory genius to give you the opportunity to win one of her unique hand crafted digital print handbags.This giveaway ends on January 7th 2013, so you still have time to enter, TO FIND OUT HOW TO WIN the spectacular Eye For An Eye bag excuse the pun! Click here and good luck!!    

* All images of bag featured here courtesy of Daisy Thomas image of snowman sourced via google images 

Daisy Thomas Handbag Giveaway

Tiger Tiger

Cosmic Clash

An Eye For An Eye

An Eye For An Eye emerald and gold key panel detailing 

I'm  really excited to announce a very special Christmas giveaway open to all My Passport To Style followers UK and overseas! If your all about luxury at Christmas with a good measure of cool thrown in, you will fall as hard as I did for Daisy Thomas's exquisite digitally printed handbags, inspired by one of the most luxe items on the planet the famous Fabergé eggs which were first created in Russia and later owned by Royalty. Daisy's handbags come in three colourful designs, An Eye For An Eye,Tiger Tiger and Cosmic Clash.

 Made from durable canvas each handbag features a long slinky chain handle and a very wearable classic shape. I like the fact that Daisy has considered the fun factor in her designs, most of us like to constantly change up our style and reinvent our look, so each panel of her handbags features a completely different print and design.

Her bold bag designs showcase a candy box of colours and dramatic fairy tale images from prowling tigers to floating golden keys.They all have a gold base made from faux leather and you can even customise your bag by choosing between a purple or lime green lining. Cost £55.00. I think Daisy Thomas bags will still be working hard post Christmas party season in the wardrobes of boho babes,oriental princess and of course at the chicest festivals next year.

Want to win Daisy Thomas's amazing Eye For An Eye Bag? Leave a comment below. This giveaway ends on January 7th 2013 at 10pm (GMT) and I will randomly select and announce a winner here on January 8th 2013

To increase your chances of winning the Eye For An Eye bag, you can gain one additional entry for doing each of the following:

• tweeting about this giveaway 
• blogging about it
• following/subscribing to My Passport To Style blog/twitter

For the first two, please leave a comment below with the link to your tweet or blog post.
*This giveaway is open to readers worldwide.*

*Please note I received a Daisy Thomas handbag as compensation for featuring this giveaway, all words and views expressed are my own and all images featured belong to Daisy Thomas. 

#Kurt Geiger Dolls Event Manchester

 

 

 

 Just recently I was invited to the Kurt Geiger Dolls event in Manchester the lure of party shoes discounted by 25% and being made over into a Kurt Geiger doll via an artists sketch pad was enough to have me braving the cold and skipping my tea so I would arrive on time!I was greeted by an impressive fan fare of Kurt Geiger shoes in the entrance of the store.

Ruby Slippers | Just The Beginning

 Red always cheers me up and wearing Ruby red reminds me it's nearly time to watch the Wizard of Oz whilst munching on buttery warm mince pies and inhaling the scent of my favourite vanillary candles!   

Some Sad News

Hi Gals,as you know it's not often that I get very personal in the pages of my blog, recently I had some very sad news my mum in law died of cancer after only a week in hospital and I felt it was important to share it here even if it is the season of Christmas, sometimes you can't sugar coat something you just have to share it. Writing and sharing my fashion and lifestyle blog with you all is one of my greatest passions, so please forgive me if my posting is a little irregular at the moment. I have so many fun Christmas inspired post's planned, but right now I just need a little time to adjust to not having one of best friends and someone I admired around any more. I wanted to share with you some of my favourite Christmas DIYS courtesy of pinterest,I love making friends gifts and making Christmas decorations if I have time as long as the process is fairly simple! What about you?

  Christmas DIY Favourites

 This tree was used in Anthropology's window display and reminds me of a giant foxglove it's made using rolled up paper plates and varying shades of green, the snow man is made by gluing the free ends of 3 different sized balls of string together and then gluing each of them together to create the head, middle and lower half of the snow man, I loved the idea of using a reel of cotton for a hat. I am definitely going to be etching initials onto some glass kiln jars as in the Christmas sweetie jar featured, but I will probably use an assortment of bright green and red bubble gum in smaller and larger sizes with the addition of a few silver cake baubles to add a bit more fun to the gift.My final Christmas diy pick, is this snugly vibrant pom pom wreath. 

Knot Wrapping Paper

I love pretty prints and packaging and being able to use things more than once as you have probably guessed from my previous DIY styleposts, this time of year I start to get obsessed about new ways to gift wrap my Christmas purchases.In the past I've used everything from music manuscript, plain brown parcel paper and newspaper print finished with  black velvet ribbon.So it's not surprising I have recently fallen for the charms of  the new retro inspired bright coloured scarves from lush Lancaster, made from Greenspun fabric which recycle plastic bottles into the fibres of this particular fabric, each scarf contains the equivalent of two 500ml plastic bottles and can be used to create an attractive alternative to gift wrap called knot wrapping a custom that comes from Japan, the process used to make Greenspun is identical to that used for making polyester, the difference being the plastic pellets are made from old plastic bottles. at under a five pounds each I think they are amazing value and it feels pretty good to have the option to help slow down the growth of our landfill sites through the combined efforts of Lush and companies like Greenpac that are creating fabrics that can help reduce plastic waste. Plus how many Christmas gifts do you receive where you can actually wear the wrapping paper and look ravishing wearing it!   

Join Me For Some #MERRIMAKING

We are getting a little closer to the season of Merrimaking, so when the gals from Merrimaking told me about their made to order festival animal hoods worn by Ellie Goulding and Rizzle Kicks, I thought is was the perfect time to share their passion for all things fun and furry here.

The two friends behind Merrimaking will be sewing live with the Secret Emporium Dec 15^th and 16^th at; London. Factory 7, Hearn St, Shoreditch. 
  a rare chance to commission a piece in person and make your animal hood that much more unique.

  From this snuggly beautiful made stag hood featured at Selfridge's to their soon to be launched first ever reversible lion hood on the 1st of December 2012 the dynamic duo that make up Merrimaking have their finger on the pulse of what us animal loving fashionistas will enjoy wearing and making merry in this Christmas, all I can say to that is, how grrrrand!! 


 

*images courtesy of Merrimaking

HEATTECH BY UNIQLO REVIEW| MY PASSPORT TO STYLE

A short time ago I made solemn and very difficult vow to myself that this year the lead up to Christmas was not going to be my signal to eat every adorable chocolate santa and reindeer that crossed my path. Shortly afterwards Uniqlo  approached me and invited me to review their slim line (my words) HEATTECH range which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, the timing could not have been better, I'm a big fan of their extensive range of prints and was excited to discover they have recently partnered Orla Kiely, which means more beautiful affordable prints and colours in wafer thin fabrics that can help me fight the pre Christmas bulge but still keep me warm, maybe I could relax my self imposed  pre Christmas chocolate ban and indulge in the odd chocolate reindeer.