Back to School: Wardrobe Planning

About this time of year, my mum would always take me shopping to buy my new school supplies: stationery, bag, uniform and shoes. I loved getting all my new things ready for the coming year, arranging all my new pens into my pencil case (remember gel pens? pretty sure I had upwards of 100 of those!) and choosing the all-important school shoes.

When I left school and went to uniform-less sixth form and started buying my own clothes and stationery supplies, this little ritual seemed to fall by the wayside, but I seem to have picked it up again since I've been at uni. I suppose it sort of ties in with me thinking about the big items I want to introduce to my wardrobe for the upcoming season. Winter is always my favourite time for dressing; I love layers, and woolly jumpers, and the dark reds, greens, and blues that always come out during this time of year.

In the perfect world, my winter capsule wardrobe would look very much like this:

1: Rag & Bone // 2: Underground // 3: Vagabond // 4: Zara // 5: Proenza Schouler // 6: Topshop // 7: Topshop

Shoes:

I blogged about these Rag & Bone boots yesterday; they're still perfection. I have a pair of Underground creepers already, but they're bright pink suede and pretty unsuitable for incessantly wet Scottish winters! These leather ones are much better; as are these leather Vagabond flatforms in comparison to my usual suede Topshop ones.

Bags:

The Proenza Schouler PS1 is my absolute dream bag. This has been on my 'when I have enough disposable income' waiting list for a really long time, and will be staying there for the foreseeable future! Perhaps if I manage to clear my overdraft this year it could be a graduation present to myself. The Zara bag is in the sale right now, and I might buy it in the next couple of weeks. While I like to keep my shoes black, I like to inject a little colour when it comes to bags, especially in winter when everything is pretty dreary.

Accessories:

I love leather gloves in winter; woolly ones just seem to cumbersome. I've lost one of my old leather gloves which is such a shame as they fitted perfectly! I have really small hands, so it's quite difficult to find gloves that fit properly. My mum once bought me a pair of children's gloves with little puppets on the end, they're my absolute favourite but completely impractical! This Topshop leopard print scarf is gorgeous. I'm totally for regarding leopard print as a neutral.

1: Topshop // 2: River Island // 3: Topshop Boutique // 4: Burberry London // 5: Topshop // 6: Acne // 7: H&M // 8: Collette by Collette Dinnigan // 9: River Island // 10: Faith Connexion

Bottoms:

Black skinny jeans and a black skater skirt: I like to keep it simple. I've already blogged about my perfect pair of black skinny jeans, but I'm really nervous that they're being discontinued! They're in the sale on the ASOS website but there's barely any sizes left - they'd better keep stocking them or I'll have to go on yet another hunt!

Outerwear: 

A Burberry trench coat is the ultimate classic wardrobe item, isn't it? My granny bought me a well-fitting and comfortable trench from Zara Kids last year, but this Burberry London one would just be the dream. 

Tops:

Love this Topshop boucle cardigan. I find this style is perfect for slipping on in the library or coffee shops during the colder periods; they're super warm and cosy but look a lot more elegant and put-together than a hoody! 

Dresses:

I think it's pretty obvious that I love stripes. This H&M dress is an absolute bargain; the material also contains alpaca which I can confirm is SO warm! I've also developed a slight (read: major) obsession with this Faith Connexion dress. I really really hope it makes it to the NaP sale, or I find something similar somewhere else. I'm looking out for a plain navy dress as I can easily add the collar and buttons myself. Let me know if you see something similar! 

Top 10 This Week #2

1: River Island // 2: Wal G // 3: Topshop // 4: Topshop // 5: H&M // 6: Banjo & Matilda // 7: Burberry // 8: H&M // 9: M Missoni // 10: Eames

Paintings Update #3

I've been fairly busy this week painting-wise; I've finished off one portrait that's been lingering a while, and got a good headstart on a new mini series I'm doing: iconic fashion pieces! I really enjoy doing these, they're super simple but super effective (in my opinion!) - basically just repetitions of one single item of clothing or accessory. I think my favourite is the Alexander McQueen skull clutch one; some of them still need details adding though, but I've ran out of glitter! Tomorrow's plan is to head to Ryman's and restock my glitter collection, and also see what they have in the way of metallic marker pens - I remember in primary school my teacher had some really cool ones that you shook before you wrote with them, does anyone know if you can still get these/what they're called??

A-Z of British Style: B is for Burberry

Just a short decade ago, the brand Burberry was languishing in the depths of bad publicity. When Daniella Westbrook appeared wearing head-to-toe Burberry check, even co-ordinating her baby's pram with her outfit, it seemed that the brand would forever be worn by 'chavs' and scorned by fashionistas who were embarrassed to be associated with chav culture.

Burberry is famed for it's distinctive trench coat, invented by its founder Thomas Burberry

However Christopher Bailey - ex-Gucci designer - was appointed as creative director in 2001 and chief creative officer in 2009, and together with Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts Bailey has transformed and modernised the heritage brand.

Watson and Redmayne in their respective campaigns

Burberry's marketing strategy has been to harness the joint powers of social media and celebrity culture: modelling stints from celebrities such as Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne have exponentially improved Burberry's profile among the youth demographic both in the UK and abroad, and is considered one of the most successful fashion brands on sites such as Facebook (12 million 'likes'), Twitter (1 million followers), and Youtube (14 million views)

Burberry Prorsum A/W 2012 show finale

Today the cohesiveness of the brand has gone from strength to strength, something Ahrendts has credited to Bailey's consistent vision. This month Burberry has been one of the most expensive fashion companies on the FTSE 100, consistently outperforming similar companies: Burberry has now joined brands such as Louis Vuitton and Prada as a billion-pound fashion label, and analysts say that the brand will only continue to grow.