Suit & Tie

I love bows, ribbons, pastels, and glitter.

But all of that may need to be put into hibernation for a bit as I take a visit to the tailors soon after I've seen all these women borrowing their boyfriend's penguin suits.

There's something so powerful and sexy about a female in a suit and tie.

It can be androgynous and mysterious, or be fitted and seductive. 

Whether it's a skinny one, undone, or wrestled into a bow - the tie finishes all up.

I love the addition of a cummerbund at Chanel, and this variation of tweed and rolled up sleeves to give the look more of  tough edge

I can't get enough of this look - I'm off to find the more tailored pair of trousers I can wear to team up with some dangerous stilettos.

What are your guys' thoughts on women in menswear?

Hope you're all well!

Speak soon,

A.x

Beautiful Ballerina

Strictly Come Dancing isn't a guilty pleasure for me. I just full blown-out love it

And apart from the beautiful sparkly dresses, funny banter and amazing dancing, one of the reasons why I enjoy watching every Winter is the judges, in particular, the beautiful Darcey Bussell.

After watching a documentary about her life recently, she had a whole lifetime as a dancer before the show, that I knew little about - and it's the stuff that fairytales are made of.

While being named Dancer of the Year in the 90s and featuring in modelling in countless campaigns, she was a the youngest principal dancer t the Royal Ballet for many years.

Being awarded a CBE in 2006, she retired from the Royal Ballet in 2007, and was faced with a standing ovation, with hundreds who were tearing up and catapulting flowers onto the stage, begging her to stay!

She is just as elegant and beautiful on Saturday night tv now, as when she was a graceful ballerina. And with my slight obsession with the ballet - it's so feminine and I dream of tutus - it's unsurprising that I dress like a wannabee ballerina every now and again (especially as I am basically a ballet drop out!)

Sources: balletnews.co.uk, dailyrecord,co,uk, ballet.co.uk, royalacademy.org.uk, guardian online, britsattheirbest.com, classicfm online, express online, flikr, hellomagazine online, whatsontv.co.uk, huffingtonpost, digitalspy.co.uk

Although I may not have a beautifully embellished, multi-layered tutu in my wardrobe, a powder pink skirt that swirls like a dream, is just as good when it comes to going to lectures.

With a just as girly sequined bow in my hair and sparkly belt around my waist, I brought the outfit off of the ballet stage and into the 21st century - where a 22 year old girl has to do more than gliding across a stage, and has to do less exciting things like buy groceries - and teamed it with a shearling-lined denim jackets and brown lace-up boots.

top:H&M, skirt:ASOS, jacket:Topshop, belt:Topshop, boots:Timberland, bow:Topshop

I may not live out my childhood dream of being a ballerina, but damn it, I will dress like one!

What profession do you wish you could dress like on a day-to-day basis?

Hope you're all well!
Speak soon,
A.x

School's Out!

Usually, I have to battle with myself to stop myself wearing too many colours at the same time, but for once in my life, chic and simple monochrome was calling out to me. But, trust me to turn something chic into looking so childish - I'm sure my niece wore something very similar to nursery the other day!

With a plain white tee underneath, I cinched this floaty LBD in with a clear and jeweled belt, and laced up these cut-out, brogues and was ready to take on the boys and girls with a game of hopscotch!

dress: ASOS, tshirt: ASOS, belt: River Island, shoes: Clarks

I love how these brogues are simple and clean, but are still fun and feminine with it's cut-out detail and dreamy creamy tone and wooden heel and sole - I have a feeling they're gonna be my feet's BFF's for the summer!

Topping it off with my signature bow, I set off to go play hopscotch with the world.

Are you all about the monochrome? Or is it the more colour, the better?

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon.

A.x

Hey there Mister!

Last week saw the final for the Great British Sewing Bee, which I have become obsessed with this year. And along with many other reasons why I've fallen in love with the show, one of the big reasons is that it's brought the pristinely-dressed Mr. Patrick Grant into my life.

Despite being an absolute fashion fiend, my attention to men's fashion in my life has gone as far as picking a festive jumper for my Ken doll. In fact, that's all he had to wear, because whenever I was good and got a trip to Toys R Us as a treat, Barbie always got a shiny new outfit. Hands down. Poor Ken didn't have any trousers to wear for the best of a year - until my brother was fed up of staring at his his non-existent dolly-man parts, and bought him a pair of fetching board shorts to go with his jumper.

Me with my pride and joy: my Barbie dolls (check out those shoulder pads!)

But, ever since I joined the beautiful world of Pinterest (hey! join me over there & let's be friends!), my love for men's fashion has gotten a bit obsessive and my Ken doll would have a full blown-out, snazzy, wardrobe nowadays.

And Partick Grant is my new poster boy for men's style.

Personality aside - a well-dressed guy is possibly on of the most attractive things on this planet. And Patrick Grant's style hold many of the qualities that I personally think makes a man look 10 out of 10.

There is nothing more classic, more smooth, more suave, than a man in a well-fitted suit. Nothing beats it and if it's not broke, don't fix it!

Cool as heck - that certain stance, that certain attitude. I quite put my finger on it, but it's that confidence of knowing what they're wearing feels and looks good. It's 'them', and that's all that matters.

Cozy - there's something to be said about the understated jumper (I am a massive sucker for knitwear). It's homely, comforting, and paints an instant picture of having a pot of tea in front of a fresh fireplace, after a long muddy walk in the woods. It just warms my lil heart up!

The 3 C's - lucky how that turned out! And there's that one extra thing that always just tops it off. Those little finishing details. That sense of fun. A cheeky manner - just that thing that makes their personalty come through in their clothes.

As you can probably tell, some other fine fellas who I think are worthy of the wall of fame when dressed to the nines, are also featured on here. A little bit of Eddie Redmayne here, a splash of Gordon-Levitt there. For once, pretty pastels and flirty florals aren't the center of my attention!

Un-winding down from the success that was the Sewing Bee, with a new range out for Debenhams, and looking like he just stepped out of GQ, who he contributes for, it seems like there's no stopping Mr.Grant!

Whose your style inspiration when it comes to the men in your life?

sources: hearaldscotland.com, asuitofclothes.tumblr, trekstock.com, rantlifestyle.com, tellychat.co.uk, gq online, telegraph online, dressedfordinner.files.wordpress.com, theguardian.com, stylesavage, esquire, thetimes online, menshealth.co.uk, pinterest

Hope you're all well!
Speak soon,
A.x

Amy - v.2.0

I've come back to my parents for a couple of weeks for Easter break - using the word 'break' loosely here.

I've never been more busy and had a longer 'to-do' list, but be more excited and ambitious in my life!

As my masters course comes closer to finishing, my pile of work just continues to build - hence why I'm using my Easter break to try and get on top of it (staying up to 3am writing features is never ideal!) -hence why I've not been putting as much effort into my blog as I would like to.

With the world of work becoming more real everyday, it's become more apparent to me how much enjoy writing on her, and how important it actually is that I continue to, no matter how busy life gets.

Throughout this year and on this post grad course, It's never been more apparent of what kind of person I want to be and continue to grow into. Not only that, but I've never been more clear or have a more aspirational view of what I want my blog to be like, what kind of people I want to work with, what kind of employee I want to be, what kind of writing I want to be writing and what kind of career I want to work towards. And this is all because throughout this year, I've worked non-stop at all of these factors, and realised all that i don't want to be.

So, as well as my deadlines and the endless CVs and job applications I keep sending off (this is the view that I've been facing for pretty much the past week!), I have a image and idea in my head of what I want my blog to be like. How I want to images to be edited, what the tone of the writing will be, the layout and colour scheme...my dream blog - and I'm gonna work harder than ever to get to that. Now, I'm not saying it's going to be an overnight change (this isn't Extreme Home Makeover), it's gonna be gradual, because I'm still learning and figuring it all out. Just like all these changes and views that I have and want now, they've all come because of what I've learnt throughout the past year.

So I hope you join me along for the ride! - there may be bumps along the way, but I'd love it if you joined me on the journey!

Hope you're all well,

Speak soon!

A.x