Oasis Evie Bag | Céline Trio Dupe

If, like me, you can't quite justify spending over a months wages on a bag when there are other, arguably more important things, your money should be spent on (e.g rent, food, Netflix subscriptions...) then you understand dupe shopping. 

Not looking for a straight up fake but an inspired design from a trustworthy source at a much more reasonable price. 

Which brings me to this Oasis Evie X Body Bag which is now in the sale for a tenner. A tenner. For a Céline Trio inspired bag that has literally answered all my Pinterest and Instagram envy-induced prayers.

£10.

(I actually paid £15 as I got it a few days ago so D'oh! etc.)

But I have to admit even the original £25 price is an absolute bargain for this bag and I know this'll be literally glued to my shoulder in 2016!

PS I got this on the House of Fraser website so always worth checking other stockists if it goes out of stock on the Oasis site! 

Fashion Illustration: Zuhair Murad Resort 2016

♥ ♥ ♥ 

Fashion Illustration: 'The Fish Gape'

 This illustration accompanies the ground-breaking revelation that is taking the showbiz world by storm and affecting selfie game everywhere: the pout is out; the seductive mouth-slightly-open-but-not-quite-catching-flies is in; and the name of this new pose is as deprecating as ever. 

Behold the Fish Gape.

Yes, Fish Gape. 1,159 Insta hashtags and counting. But, as awful as the name is, the pose is a little more flattering than your standard trout pout so I'm backing this selfie revolution all the way into my illustrations. This particular model I actually drew long before the Gape became the Gape but, in light of recent events, now seemed an apt a time as any to share her.

  

The model I was drawing actually had bright red hair but after painting the eyes and lips first I decided to finish the rest of her in pencil and am so pleased with how it turned out. I really struggle with drawing faces on full body illustrations due to the space limitations so I absolutely relish drawing head-shots like this.

So, I hope you like this illustration and hopefully there'll be more (non-Duck???) face-focused illustrations coming soon.

Fashion Illustration: Noon by Noor SS16

Noon by Noor's was far and away one of my favourite shows of last month's Fashion Weeks. 

Their collection literally took my breath away and, as I could never satisfy my urge to own everything (lol anything) from it, I decided the next best thing would be to draw some of my favourites. 

Starting with this mouth-wateringly beautiful lilac evening gown...

Leaves were a dominant motif on the runway and I especially loved the jacquard effect on this dress. 

I'll be sharing some more of my Noon by Noor illustrations as well as other Fashion Week Faves over the next few days so please check back if you liked this one <3 

New Loves

Firstly, how in the world is it the first day of SEPTEMBER tomorrow? 

2015 , I implore you please slow down a little bit during these last 4 months...

And secondly, I would like to share some of my favourite new purchases/discoveries I've made this rather grey, wet and gloomy August. Hope you enjoy!

THE BEAUTY WINNERS

MAC Bombshell

Quite literally the most perfect shade of pink lipstick I have ever laid eyes on. I was out looking for a suitable replacement for Avon's Pink Quartz (after finally admitting that scraping out the dregs with a lip brush in public is really not a good look, nor is it at all convenient) and I ended up finding the perfect match only, like, better. It's the most beautiful, subtle pink but still has that little shimmer to it to - ideal for everyday wear without being at all boring. Did I mention it's perfect? 

Photo Diary: Bloggers Market + Landaan

FYI - The Hoxton Hotel - NOT in Hoxton. Who'd have thunk it? (Hint: not us)

So after a lovely little bus journey from Hoxton to Holborn (to The Apartment at the Hoxton Hotel, in Holborn, not in Hoxton, FYI) we arrived at the Bloggers Market hosted by the lovely Carrie (WishWishWish), Olivia (What Olivia Did), Dunya (Dearest Deer), Kristabel (I Want You To Know) and Lucy (Shiny Thoughts).  Cue a whole load of cuteness.

Photo Diary - Shoreditch

The joys of living on the outskirts of the greatest city in the world (this is an opinion formed almost entirely on bias, however, of all the cities I've been fortunate enough to visit so far - London is by far the most quirky, versatile and downright loveable of the lot!) is that when it comes to finding things to do on the weekend you don't have to look, or travel, very far. 

After a quick Saturday morning hunger-fuelled Google sesh I soon decided Urban Food Fest was the destination. Destination taste-bud blessedness. 

PayDay Wishlist

Currently in the process of trying not to do the whole spend-all-my-money-within-one-week-of-payday-and-be-all-kinds-of-broke-for-the-rest-of-the-month thing. But let's be honest it never happens! GIMME.

H M crop shirt / Topshop high rise skinny jeans / ASOS strap shoes, £35 / Topshop strap shoes / Chloé chloe purse / Topshop pink wallet, £6.42 / Asos watch / King pillowcase / King pillowcase / Nike | Nike Rally Tight Sweatpants at ASOS / Moon Magazine Issue 2 - Urban Outfitters / #Girlboss Book - Urban Outfitters

The Inspo Post

"The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work."

Up until a few weeks ago I pretty much put the pro in procrastination; the joke was I'd always considered myself an ambitious person who thrives on being busy and having something to show for my time. Yet, in actual fact, all I'd do is get home from work, crawl into bed and watch countless episodes of That 70s Show - the only products of my free time ended up being a flat iPad battery and square-eyes. 

And then last month, whilst moping over my bowl of Rice Krispies one Monday morning, I realised I'd had enough of the routine. I realised I want need change - that all the goals I so "passionately" want to achieve and the dreams I want realised aren't going to materialise from binge watching Netflix in bed. I have this drive to be successful and do all the things I've ever wanted to do and, for the first time (in foreverrrrrrr), this drive is so strong it's overpowering insecurities that, up until now, have always crept in the way. So, in order to keep this motivation going strong, I've been fuelling it with the help of Pinterest and thought I would share some of the quotes and images that have been keeping me inspired. 

Summer in the City: Outdoor Movie Night

A massive inflatable screen + a field in the heart of London + 10 Things I Hate About You + 400 people + food + drink + blankets = one damn good summer's night.

I'm a bit of a complete and utter Pinterest fanatic and, during the recent stint of hot weather we had, I very optimistically decided to create an all-things-summery Pinterest board; it's basically a board gradually being made up of pretty pictures of beaches, shadows, ice-cream, picnics, outfits and, most importantly, amazing things to do that are made even more amazing by the presence of sun/heat. So I made it my kind of summer bucket-list board and aim to recreate as many of the experiences in the pictures as I can. 

Summer in the City: Greenwich

I don't know about the rest of the UK but I know if you live anywhere in the vicinity of London your weather forecast for this weekend was grim, grim, a little less grim, and then some more grim. Saturday was the 'little less' part and though the weather was a bit bipolar at times (so unlike British weather, I know) on the whole it was pretty decent so I was determined to have a good old day out.

Illustration Inspiration

http://www.rongrongdevoe.com/

I am so in love with illustrating at the moment and a big part of that love comes from looking at other artist's works. I'm constantly on the lookout for new illustrations/illustrators, and assume I'm not alone in this quest, so thought I would start sharing some of the pieces that inspire and motivate me on a daily basis with my own pictures. The talent/skill/God-given gifts that these artists have is truly breathtaking. Enjoy!

My Bucket-List #1

Sometimes all it takes is for one person to share a really effing cool memory with you to trigger that little voice in your head that say's 'DO MORE COOL FUN SH*T'.

Fashion Illustration: Tinie Tempah & Lewis Hamilton

Besides His Royal Highness Sir Lord David Beckham OBE, Tinie Tempah is most definitely thee most stylish man on British soil right no - encompassing everything unique, edgy and urban about Brit (of the Londoner variety in particz) fashion.

Things I've Done: Blogger Events | Mooching | Face Stuffing

Ola!

Happy first day of summer *red-dress-salsa-dancing-girl-emoji*

Decided to do a quick visuals post of what I've been up to the last week or so as I haven't been using Instagram (????!!!!!) and if you do something fun and don't share it with the internet did it actually ever happen?

STYLE-SPO: Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor

I've been stuck in a serious style rut lately (by 'lately' I mean pretty much since I went from buying age 15-16 to buying a size 8 *reminisces about that short-lived time I had single-digit-sized hips*); namely this rut is caused by the struggle I have incorporating anything that isn't black, white or grey into my wardrobe. Literally for the last year and a half the most colourful thing I've worn is a rose gold watch and, I have to admit, as much as I love the simplicity and effortlessness of a monochrome pallet - I'm getting oh so very bored.

Fashion Illustration: Beyonce 2015 Met Gala

Beyonce. Givenchy. Need anyone say more?

Fashion Illustrations / Alexa Chung Met Gala 2015

Two things I've love-love-loved since I was a little'un are art (holla at the kids who had colouring books for entertainment instead of iPads) and fashion (the football kits and trainers were totes sports luxe- just 15 years ahead of the trend). So, for the past few months I've been trying my hand at a bit of fashion illustration.