London Fashion Week Day 2 Outfit - Waistcoat & Printed Culottes

Click to items still in stock; Culottes: Topshop. Waistcoat: Topshop. Shoes: c/o Dorothy Perkins. Bag: c/o Dorothy Perkins. Shirt: Zara. Sunglasses: Miu Miu. Earrings: J.Crew c/o ASAP.

Hello all!
My penchant for midi skirts and all things ladylike is no secret online (and in that thing we internet people refer to as 'the real life' too) and because of this, I sometimes feel I can be a bit predictable. So, as London Fashion Week is THE place of all places to experiment with something that's perhaps a little out of your comfort zone. When dressing myself (as opposed to when.. others dress me? lol) I try to always ask myself the same question, especially if I'm feeling a little doubtful about my choices; 'if you saw someone else wearing this, would you think they looked good?' I feel it's quite an insightful question to ask, as we're always more critical of ourselves than we are of others. It's a way to try and see yourself from someone else's perspective.

 I asked myself that same question when styling this outfit for day 2. It's true, shirts, waistcoats and tailored things are very what I'd call 'me', and if this was teamed with a pair of leather trousers I'd be happy as a clam. However, it was just the culottes that I was apprehensive about. But, I asked myself again and again, would I think someone else looked good if I saw them in this? Not to blow my own trumpet, but yes, yes I would. So I did it, I took the plunge and felt good about it. Culottes are certainly something different for me - but since wearing this outfit I've worn them again with a white ruffled bralet on an exceedingly warm day and felt perfectly happy!

Also, you know that rule that says you can't wear blue and black? Well, bugger that rule. The culottes are dark grey/almost black and the shoes and bag are navy. I'm a mad, mad woman. A rule breaking beast who cannot be tamed. I wanted to try and incorporate the cute little satchel and intricately detailed shoes (which I received many compliments on!) somewhere into my outfit choices for the week, so I did. And you know what? I'm delighted with the outcome.

(& Thanks to Holly McGlynn for some of the photographs!)

London Fashion Week Day 1 Outfit - Monochrome Florals

Top: c/o Missguided - similar here. Skirt: Coast. Bag: c/o Dorothy Perkins Shoes: c/o Dorothy Perkins - similar here (in the sale!). Necklace: Zara.

Hello all, and happy fashion week!

It's that time again. The time to expect an extreme influx of instagram posts and excessive use of the hashtag #lfw. I've been in London since Thursday, clip-clopping around the cobbles and pretending to be cool and aloof when photographers asked to take my photo; 'yeah sure whatever' when actually inside I'm like 'tehehehehe'. I was there days 1, 2, 3 and 4 and a Premier Inn right around the corner very generously put Becca and myself up for the week, so I didn't have to hobble back and forth every day.

On to the outfit. I really see fashion week as an opportunity to be a bit more flamboyant and extravagant than usual - it's a place where I actually don't feel overdressed, which is is a rare occurrence. I feel completely comfortable wearing things that I might not necessarily deem 'day appropriate' on a normal basis, such as my favourite style of skirt, Coast's 'Rita' which I'm wearing here in yet another colour variation. With it, I teamed a black and gold portfolio clutch and pointy heels with rose gold detailing, both from Dorothy Perkins. Looking at the photos now, I think the accessories complimented my outfit beautifully. In fact - I kept being asked if the bag was designer, much to my delight! 

How have you been enjoying the coverage so far? 

London Fashion Week Day 1 // Black and Gold

Hello all and Happy London Fashion Week!

What do you think of my new 'big photo' format? As you can tell by my use of technical language, my technological knowledge is extensive. 

I suppose by now your blogger, instagram and twitter feeds are likely full of all things hashtagged #LFW, and it's only the end of day 2 (is hashtagged even a word?). This is what I wore on the first day, where I met up with several of my wonderful bloggy / YouTube friends and also made some new ones! As usual, I spent the week approaching the start of London Fashion Week panic buying almost every item of clothing on the internet - only to try it all on the night before and declare that I despised it all. I was having a mild nervous breakdown. Eventually, I turned to my pre-exsiting collection, rejecting all new purchases and put this together and I loved it. What a joyous moment of relief that was! My mother had been saying to me the entire week 'stop buying clothes Arabella, wear something you've already got!' It turns out she was right, as not one item I wore was 'new' (in the sense that I've owned everything here for about 2+ months). She then enjoyed basking in the fact that she was right.

You might be able to tell by the appearance of the umbrella, it RAINED. SO. MUCH. Imagine the windiest day ever, the most rainy day ever and then combine them. Then double it. That was Friday's weather. AWFUL. You can see from my shoes in the last photo that my feet were SOAKED and absolutely frozen beyond all belief. The only plus was the fact that some rather lovely (BLOODY FIT) men had been hired to escort people around Somerset House, holding ginormous golf umbrellas to keep them dry. At one point one of them approached me and asked if there was somewhere I needed to get to, I said no, but you can walk me around for a bit anyway... and so he obliged and we did a few laps and I just stared at him. He said he thought I was funny but I think he probably meant 'a bit mental'.

(Top & Shoes : ZARA. Earrings & Bag : Chanel. Skirt : Coast. Belt : H&M. Hair by Toni & Guy.)

LFW Day 5 Outfit : Pink Coat / Emerald Jewellery / Black Faux Fur

Coat, Top & Necklace : ZARA. Fur Collar : ASOS. Earrings & Skirt : Topshop.  Umbrella : Accessorise. 

Hello all!

I'm writing this from my new room for the next 7 months, in my new house at university where I start my 3rd and final year tomorrow! (If you want to see any photos of my room, check my instagram @arabellagolby) 

I'd been accumulating various bits and pieces over the last month or so that I hadn't got around to styling into an outfit. My little collection included; a beautiful pink coat, a blouse with a leather collar (purchased in a Parisian Zara which somehow makes it even more exciting), an incredibly OTT necklace and some equally extravagant green earrings. They'd all been sitting around being admired but going unworn  So, on the 5th day of London Fashion Week I just decided to chuck them (couldn't think of a more elegant word than 'chuck') all on at once. Voila. As it turns out, it's by far one of my favourite outfits, ever. It's just the perfect mixture of everything that I love. Pink, emerald green, obnoxiously large jewels, fur (faux, of course) leather, collars, midi skirts, checks AND to top it all off, my favourite weather; rain. My friend Bianca and I truly had to battle with the elements to capture these photos - we were well and truly sodden by the time we reached the new american fast food chain 'Shake Shack' in Covent Garden where we'd planned to have a late lunch. I think it's safe to say that we were slightly overdressed for the occasion. 

LFW Day 1 Outfit : Tartan Suit / Pointed Heels / Umbrella...

Above : (Stolen photo) Posing for a prom picture with Becca. Then with Amy and Naomi from Two Shoes One Pair & Shope and Shore from London's Closet.

Hello all!

You might already know I'm quite a fan of the feminine-androgynous look. By 'feminine androgynous', which seems a bit contradictory - I mean I enjoy taking something quite traditionally masculine, like a suit, and adding particularly feminine elements like a pussybow blouse, cat eye sunglasses and a ribbon tied into a bow on the end of a plait - as I've done here! If you've been monitoring the London Fashion Week coverage you'll be aware of the weather situation. I saw someone tweet a couple of days ago; 'LFW = London Flood Weed.' It's true. It poured. I'd brought my goes-with-everything black umbrella, and with hair tightly contained in the high-plait there wasn't much chance of a frizz flare-up, so I wasn't too concerned, I actually found it quite pleasantly atmospheric. This was a last minute outfit decision although I'd had this suit hanging up on my 'new in' rail for about a week, and I adore it. The shoes however, are deadly (yet beautiful) in a way that is difficult to describe. A feeling I had not experienced from shoes. I said to various people throughout the day who inquired after the wellbeing of my feet - that they weren't painful on my feet, but on my calves  Oh my god my calves. They should market these shoes as a device for calf-toning. 

I was also so happy to see lots of blogger friends, and to make new ones! (I'm looking at you, Becca, Amy & Naomi!)