Best wishes from Lyon

I am posting this from my hometown, Lyon! I'm in France for the Christmas holidays and today it was 16°! It was really warm and I got a chance to wear my new favourite skirt with my over-the-knee socks without freezing! People were looking at me in a funny way, haha I keep forgetting that in this city people stare if you look ever so slightly different! That's why I love London so much, you can be yourself, dress the way you want and nobody cares!


Skirt: Zara kids // Blouse: Primark // Coat: vintage

Bag: Ines de la Fressange (vintage) // Socks: M&S kids // Shoes: Topshop

I really like this outfit, wearing different shades of brown with the cream bow blouse, and I am also wearing my latest vintage find: this Ines de la Fressange bag (a french brand, which I found in London, how random!) it's so lovely and the shape is really practical -I can fit all my stuff in it!

Lyon is famous for its buildings painted in different colours which make for a lovely setting; this is just two minutes from my flat, I really like this area, with the Saone river and the old town nearby!

Elizabeth Lau Pop-up Shop

I've known the brand for a good few months now, and I fell in love with the pretty prints, cute buttons and the lovely feminine style in general! Elizabeth has opened this pop-up shop on 2, Ganton Street (just off Carnaby Street) for a month, it's open until the 24th of December so get there quickly! The London born and raised designer is showcasing her A/W 10 collection, the shop is adorable and I was surprised to meet the lady herself when I went there! Elizabeth was so nice and it was amazing to meet the woman who designs such beautiful clothes. I truly am an Elizabeth Lau fan, and I think the pictures speak for themselves.. Seriously, how cute is everything?

Elizabeth Lau is known for her quirky and feminine style, and the brand, which made its debut at London Fashion Week in 2007, really is a must have!

Elizabeth is not only selling her lastest collection, but also some jewellery made by her favourite designers, such as Gemma Lister (who makes the lovely shiny peter pan collars you can see in the display) and Bark. All the framed prints are made by Little Doodles.

And yes, this is Elizabeth behind her desk on the last picture! :)

(ndlr: I've seen quite a few bloggers writing about the pop up shop recently.. I actually went last week but with my return to France and a wisdom tooth out of the way, I just did not have time to post it before! I really need to post more often :P)

V&A News

I am, as you know, a fan of the Victoria and Albert Museum.. Well, a fan is a bit of an understatement, I am in love with this museum and spend my life there!

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you some forthcoming events that I am going to attend, and hopefully some of you will come along!

First, as you may or may not know, the VandA regularly organizes 'Fashion in Motion' events, which are live catwalk shows where designers showcase their collections! Needless to say they are not obscure designers, but only 'la crême de la crême' (such as Vivienne Westwood, Anna Sui, JPG and Kenzo to name but a few).

The next show will present the work of Stéphane Rolland; on the 10th of December. There are four shows during the day, but if you want to grab a ticket, I'd suggest to call quickly because they are going fast! (by the way the shows are free to attend, which is just amazing!)

Stéphane Rolland is a Parisian couturier, who launched his Haute Couture house in 2007, and is well known for "his modern and original interpretation of couture". He is now working on a ready to wear range for 2011.

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The second event I wanted to mention is a one day event this Saturday (4th of December) entitled 'Behind the Scenes with the Ballets Russes'. The Diaghilev exhibition is on at the moment, which I would highly recommend because it's just brilliant (there is a lot to see and it is so worth the £7 or so to get in); and this is a study day where we are going to explore the sets, costumes and graphic art associated with Diaghilev's dance company. Because I am a student, I only pay £5 otherwise the day (10.30-5pm) costs £46. I know that this is going to be so interesting and a great way to spend my Saturday, in my favourite museum, learning more about the Ballets Russes!
I will make sure to report back about those two events, and hope it will be of interest to some of you! Here is the number to book any of the events 02079422211 :)

What I get up to at LCF..

Sorry I haven't updated in ages.. I have been literally drowning under work until yesterday, when I handed in SIX subjects for uni.. Urghh I'm only starting to recover from all that lack of sleep after sleeping for 12 hours straight today..
Anyway, here is some styling I did for mh, my styling class! It's nothing much as you can see, but I did this to illustrate one of the trends I was doing for my coursework.. I took the pictures myself as well.
The trend here is transparency; playing on revealing without showing too much, if that makes sense! I wanted it to look quite dreamy and romantic. My friend is wearing a Primark dress and lace body. What do you think?

Oh and I got to model as well, for one of my classmates' trend which was this black and white motif, I don't know how you call it! Seriously, how pale do I look? haha

I'll be back soon with some more vintage treasures, I seem to be quite lucky at the moment! :D

Vintage Finds

I have been charity-shopping a lot recently, due to my student budget being reduced.. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation so I shall not complain! Also, I love charity shops and vintage clothes, so it could be worse :)

Anyway, here are my latest vintage finds: first up is this 50s inspired coat: I often find that most vintage coats are too long for me, but when I tried this one on it fit perfectly! Actually the sleeves are slightly too short but I don't care! I really love the (fake) shearling collar, and for 10£ I think this coat was too lovely to be left behind!

Next is a cute cat pendant necklace that I got for 2£ in my local charity shop (which is a mere 10-minute-walk from my house, I discovered it recently and I'm so happy!) I love cats, and I like old fashion accessories i.e the kind of things my grandma could have in her jewellery box.. So this one was perfect!

Coat, necklace & cardigan: vintage // brogues & top: Topshop // jeans & rings: Primark

The cardigan on the right is nothing special, but I like the buttons and it's really warm, plus it has black suede patches, and was just 3£. The grey top is from Topshop, it's longer at the back which is nice, a great basic, I should probably get it in other colours!

On another note, it's really high time for me to get a proper haircut, my hair is too long, my fringe has disappeared and it looks crap in general! Any suggestions?

Autumn Essentials #2 (at last)

With Autumn definitely settling in now, I find myself wearing lots of camel/brown colours, in an attempt to match those of the nature around me!
I found this jumper in Zara a couple of weeks ago, I love the shoulder pads, and the material is really nice as well. I got the Mulberry tote bag at Selfridges during Vogue Fashion's Night Out last month (for free!) I love it, it's perfect to fit all my A4 notebooks for uni! The brogues you all know by now, and the jeans and belt are from Primark!
All in all, this is a pretty cheap Autumn outfit :)

I wonder how you are coping with the weather? Eating lots of sweet (or not) food? Staying indoors watching tv? Indulging in some retail therapy? I, for one, chose the latter! ;) See you soon for my latest vintage finds!

Autumn Essentials #1

(very *natural* pose..)

Autumn is fast approaching, and I'm sure you will agree that a new season means new clothes, or at least a few key pieces to last for the season (and hopefully a bit longer). So I thought I'd share with you some of my essentials, starting with camel tapered trousers and dark brown loafers: a rather simple outfit yet one I really like and feel comfortable in!

Trousers: Zara // Tee shirt: Zara // Loafers: vintage // ring: Primark

n.b: I'm afraid my photos are as bad as ever, but I've decided not to let that stop me, and I am determined to make this blog worth reading/seeing!

What are your Autumn essentials?? I'm really curious!

Zara e-shop!

September is here! I'm afraid I haven't written a single article during August, I worked so much.. I have now a new job (yay), and have enrolled at London College of Fashion today (but more on that later!)
For now, let me show you some pieces that I love from Zara Autumn-Winter collection! Their e-shop opened yesterday, and after seeing some of the items below, I decided to have a look IRL.. I must say I could not help to purchase one of them.. Can you guess which one? ;)

- I love this dress because of the colour and shape, it's really feminine and I love the combo white socks/sandals!
- Leopard trousers? So not me, right? That's exactly what I thought when I first saw them, yet I love them and they fit perfectly (this does not mean I bought them hehe)

- The whole military/grunge look is really a major trend, and this parka would be great for Autumn.. Plus I have a newfound obsession for kakhi!
- I love the leather pockets, I think they make this -otherwise- rather plain shirt quite unique!

(All the pictures are courtesy of zara.com)


- Such a cute tweed blazer! It's actually from Zara Kids, they do the same one for women, but at twice the price! So if you're a size 6-8, make sure to have a look there first! Oh, and the blazer has patches!
- Wedge boots, camel colour: sooo perfect (or so I think!)

So, of all these pretty things, which one did I buy today? Make a guess! & if you have been on the website, what do you like best?

xxx Iris

Lula Pop-up Shop & Jazmine

Hey there! Last week I went to the Lula Pop-up shop at Harvey Nichols, it was such a lovely little shop/exhibition, which has been set to celebrate the magazine's 5th anniversary!

On that day I also met up with the lovely Jazmine from the blog Jazzabelle's Diary, we first went to see the Peter Rabbit Exhibition at the V&A (we both are huge fans of the museum) and then I finally went to the Grace Kelly exhibition (thank you Jazmine :)) Both exhibitions were great!
Here are some pictures of Jazmine, she is so pretty and stylish, she has a talent for creating the best outfits with a mix of vintage and new! If you don't know her blog yet, make sure to have a look, she has a lovely blog (and updates daily!)

xxx Iris

Recent purchases & new job!

Hi everyone!

I have been absent from the blogosphere for a while now, but I have a good excuse for it! See more at the end of this post.. But for now, let me show you my recent purchases through -fake- polaroids:

- a loose Comptoir des Cotonniers tee shirt with Léon, the emblematic dog of the brand! I got it on sale this week, I usually cannot afford this brand..

- a white see-through blouse, I really like the sleeves, they remind me of tulips! (from Primark).

- a H&M bodycon silkish skirt, which was also a bargain from the sale!

- a Regency chick-lit! Okay, this one is not really related to fashion, even though they do talk a lot about clothes :D (Splendid - Julia Quinn).

And finally.. the reason why I've been away for so long! I have found a summer job, I am currently working at Selfridges!! It can be hard work, but I really enjoy it and feel so lucky to work in such an amazing department store! Who would have thought the little Frenchie that I am could get a job there? I work a lot, and wear a uniform (black tee shirt, skirt, shoes) so no outfit post for now.. However my giveaway is still on and will up soon! Please bear with me, these are really busy times! :D

xxx Iris