I'M ON THE EDGE

OF SANITY GLORY...

Gotta be honest here and confess that the song itself was a bit of a grower, but as soon as I saw the video I was SOLD! Fun fact: Gaga in Versace is a good thing -

My favourite look is of Gaga in the iconic vintage 90s Versace silk shirt, and apparently she's now vowed to wear nothing but Versace for 2 months after Donatella gave her a key to the family vault. Can you say WELL JEL?

I am ALL FOR this look on Gaga - just feels like she was made to rock it... Observe:

I mean, yes it's garish, loud, mental, tacky, fabulous, ghetto and weird, but that's why we all love her, right?

So anyway this look reminded me of a few things I'd favourited over on Etsy a while back but then promptly forgot all about. Check out these Edge of Glory-esq treasures:

The more I look at this shirt the more I'm like, I MUST HAVE IT! For Godsake it's got a giraffe on the back. Come on, that's amazing! Yup, defo gonna get this.

An actual Versace shirt from the 90s. I want this so badly it hurts, but it's like £150. Click to enlarge this photo and see what I mean though - stunning!

Even though I just bought that Zara backpack (which is actually kind of similar now I come to think of it, at least in terms of shape, zip and studs, hmmm...) this is also making me foam at the mouth with bag-lust.

Swoonage.

I'm predicting somewhat of a resurgence in this vintage Versace-inspired look thanks in part to Gaga but also in response to the news that they''ll be the next big designer to collaborate with H&M for Autumn. I'm 

pumped for the studded bodycon leather that I've heard rumours of... And, well, it's got to be better than last year's Lanvin collab, right? *shudder*

Anyway, what do you guys think of this look? Should I buy that shirt? I mean, I probably will anyway, but will y'all disown me if I do?

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Oh, and just cos I watched it yesterday and it was HILARIOUS, here's a few quotes from that seminal 90s teen flick, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a brilliant photo of Hilary Swank looking like a goon. Happy Friday!

Kimberly "Buffy? What's your sitch? You're acting like the thing from another tax bracket."

Pike: "Buffy, you're the guy. You are the chosen guy."
Buffy: "Right. I'm the chosen one. And I choose to be shopping."

"Does the word "duh" mean anything to you?"

"All I want to do is graduate from high school, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die. Now it may not sound too great to a sconehead like you, but I think it's swell. And you come along and tell me I'm a member of the hairy mole club so you can *throw* things at me? "

Kimberly [while having a fight with Buffy]: "Get out of my facial!"

LOLCATS!!

CHEERZ BIG EARS

Wow, don't I just have the gift for awesome, witty blog titles...

Oh my, this post is super overdue! I feel like I do that all the time - make plans and lists of things I'm dying to blog about then then end up leaving it all so late that I have to bung 'em all together into one hideous-Frankenstein- mishmash of about ten different non-connected things?

^ GAHD, one too many coffee's much? Anyway... Firstly let me thank few bloggy folk:

A couple of weeks ago I won Fritha Louise's giveaway on The Fish Tank - a blog I've been stalking reading for ages as I love Fritha's effortless style and magical trouser-wearing abilities. Seriously, the girl can wear the SHIZ out of a pair of trousers. Go see what I mean.

So yeah, the giveaway was a voucher for online shoe shop Zalando (I am loving their new roffle-worthy advert on telly with the wummin screaming, then the bf screaming then the delivery man screaming - AHHH!)

After a few weeks of humming and hawing I think I've decided on a new pair of Doc Martens. The pair I have at the mo are the brown shearling-lined ones which are amazing for winter - practically lived in them at the end of last year - but now it's allegedly warming up for summer I reckon I could be doing with a new pair. I can't decided between these two colours, whaddya reckon?

UHHHFT It's like Sophie's Choice up in here.

But anyway, yes, mega thanks to Fritha and Zalando!

Secondly I must, must, MUST thank Ann from Girl in the City Glasgow for picking me up a truly amazing goody bag from the Scottish Fashion Awards the other night. You guys can read all about the glittering event over at her blog, or at Kirsten's and Morven's as well...

Inside the amazing bag were loads of gorgeous smellies, including literally hunners of products from the Organic Surge range, and Label M dry shampoo which I LOVE!

But my favourite product is most definitely the little bottle of gorgeousness that is Untitled L`Eau by Maison Martin Margiela:

According to some fancy-shmancy perfume website, this is "an aromatic fragrance for women and men with top notes of citrus, mandarin orange and Amalfi lemon; middle notes of African orange flower, green notes and mint."

Aye.

It's fresh at first but settles into a really gorgeous warm, comforting scent. I spritzed myself with it before I went to bed last night and had a WONDERFUL sleep - is that a bit weird? Hmm. Anyway, I love it cos it's not too floral or girly, clearly since it's a unisex fragrance, and it reminds me a lot of two of my other favourite perfumes in the whole world - Jo Malone's 154 cologne and Prada's Infusion D'Iris.

So aye, total winner all round :)

Thanks again ladies, really feeling the blog love recently <3

One last thing - if any Scottish ladies are at a loose end tomorrow night, can I recommend y'all head to the Heriot-Watt fashion show at the Dovecot in Edinburgh? I wrote a little preview of it for The Skinny (which you can read HERE) and I'd love to go, but I'm actually heading off to a lodge at Gleneagles with my girlfriends this weekend so can't...

WHAT A SHAME! I'll have to make do with endless games of Ring of Fire, awesome banter, drunken twister, clay pigeon shooting (?!) Crossroads marathons and junkfood. GUTTER!!!

No, but really, you should go...

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PSSST! I reviewed Emmy The Great's new album Virtue for The List which you can read HERE, and may I recommend you go buy it. It's a truly beautiful album - that girl can SING summat amazing.

CHRIST ON A BIKE

It's official, bloggies. Found my perfect leather backpack and it is GOOOOOOD!

ZARA! What are you trying to do to me?!

Regardes:

 

This hot piece of leather action is £109 and will be MINE before the month is out. Mark my words...

MONKI COMES TO THE UK... FINALLY!

Swedish Fashion brand and retail concept Monki have announced they will be opening a pop-up store in London's Selfridges from September 1st.

Um, AHHHH!!!

I've been a mahooooosive fan of Monki ever since I first saw Mademoiselle Robot's first video as part of the Monki TV series - which by the way is a hugely enjoyable collection of videos about interesting bloggers' personal style, neighborhoods and blogging/styling advice. To say I am mildly addicted to their sleek, engaging website is a gigantic understatement!

I am also consistently impressed with their imaginative and high-end lookbook shots. Have a gander at what I mean... Magical!

 Cool, eh?

As for the clothing itself, the Monki collections are reasonably priced and offer up a more diffused, high street version of that other iconic Swedish fashion brand Acne's streamlined, modern tailoring, draped dresses and uber hawt accessories. Susie Bubble sums up the whole feel of the look Acne and Monki embody as SCANDI-COOL. Love it.

Here's a few of my fav collections from the website:

If I lived in London I would most DEFINITELY be heading over to Selfridges on September 1st, and these would be the first things in my basket.

I can only hope, if they sell well (and why wouldn't they), that this just MIGHT herald a British invasion on a grander scale...

What do we think? Are we excited for Monki?

CATCHITY-CATCH UP

Sweet grilled Cheesus, just about feels like I've gone and fallen off the edge of the earth what with my monster absence!

Fear not, bloggies, I am still alive (barely), only a bit more jaked, husky, spaced-out and bruised than usual. The reason for my sorry state? A long weekend spent getting blootered in a field in Inverness OF COURSE!

Yes bloggies I was at this year's RockNess festival on the banks of sunny Loch Ness. The lovely folks at The List provided me (and my pal Marie) with a free tickets in exchange for helping them to tweet live updates from the festival and to put together a review for the website.

Instead of pure DIVING RIGHT IN with a massive garbled ramble about how awesome it was, I think I'll spare you that gargantuan read and instead direct you to the review I penned for The List which can be found HERE.

Here's a wee collection of pictures. Needless to say there are the ONLY internet-friendly ones I'm willing to share...*the shame*

Sun! No, seriously...

The newly added Sub Club tent was a particular highlight, int that right Marie?

No idea who these choobs are. (Not really, they are actually Marie's pals.)



Purty.

Our campsite neighbour who coined the delightful catchphrase "GET YER RAT OOT!" Oh God, the story behind this photo is HILARIOUS but sadly not for the internet at large.

Trying to limit the intake of vodka.

Marie getting on it like a car bonnet.



Dedication to the fancy dress cause.



Marie's caption to this on facebook is "this is not real." LOL!


It all happened quite fast to be honest and I did feel SLIGHTLY under-prepared clothing-wise. Had I but known further in advance that I would be attending a festival I like to think I'd have put more effort in and chosen a wardrobe more like those "Festival Fashion" features you see all over the shop this time of year.

Got to be honest though, who the hell are these features aimed at? The ones that suggest wedges and sparkily tops and sequined tunics from Miss Selfridge (I'm looking at you LOOK Magazine!)? Not for folk heading to a festival in INVERNESS that's for damn sure! Summer or no summer, I think we passed through virtually every possible type of weather, except a full on blizzard, and frankly comfort was my only real priority.

That clearly wasn't the case for some folk though. I DID spot one choob of a girl in a fur coat and maxi dress. At a festival? In the mud? Look around you hen, you are HEFTY in the wrong place. Apart from said girl caught in a Glasgow-trendy-girl-at-ABC-in-2008 timewarp, most folk were in DENIM.

Denim shorts and hotpants for the ladies (and the occasional flamboyant man), obviously, as that trend will literally never, EVER die, but I also noticed quite a few folk going for an oversized/grungey/80s denim jacket. Even I myself was rocking my acid-wash number from Etsy:

Purty, huh?

AAAND Keith from We Are Scientists was all over the denim jacket look too:

"IIIIIII JUST LOVE DENIMMMM!!"

What a silver fox.

To make up for my crap camera SKILLZ not capturing this trend in action, here's a compilation of cool looks from tinternet that I THINK give you a sense of what I'm talking about:

Love a gratuitous/random Kanye shot...



Sorry for the Peaches shot, should maybe have warned those of you with a nervous dispostions/allergic to the heinous. MIAOW!

Anyway, do yeez get my drift? Cool. I OBVIOUSLY embrace this trend for oversized/bleached denim jackets and would heavily encourage you to participate. Sorted.

Other things I have been loving recently include Beyonce's Dazed & Confused cover and editorial. While I definitely dislike the hair colour (baby stay away from the bleach), I'm really glad to see Bey rock an up-do for a change. I've always thought her stunning looks lend themselves perfectly to high-fashion editorial stuff as and I adore this edgy look on her. Enjoy:

Finally, I have also been enjoying passing my Post Graduate Diploma in multimedia journalism at uni!!



Me. Or there abouts.

Just call me Kirsty McLaren, MA, PGDiP. Catchy! The hard work starts now though as I still have my Masters to complete and I'll be letting y'all know my plans for that as soon as I've finallised a few bits and bobbits.

Anyhoo, sorry for a pure long rambling post, I promise never to leave it so long in between again! Also, Blogger has recently been acting all weird and shifty with me, not letting me comment n' stuff, but be assured I am there lurking reading away feverishly!

GET OAN MA BACK

My jaw hit the deck this evening, whilst perusing the New In section of Topshop like I do most nights...cos I'm cool like that and by no means have too much time on my hands.

The reason?

..be warned, can you handle this level of sexy leather at tea time on a Monday? OK fine. You asked for it.

Behold, and cue the angelic choir:

This, my friends, is Topshop's take on Phillip Lim's iconic contrast-sleeved leather jacket from last season. Oh, and it is GOOD!

Though it lacks the trench cuffs and washed leather/battered effect, and it's a bit shorter and decidedly more biker than the original, this is by no means a shoddy interpretation. Had I not just blown £700 of my Net-a-Porter win on an Acne Rita I would be tempted to save up and buy this badboy like, um, NOW.

Phillip Lim's original:

One of my major contenders in my Net a Porter win, the Phillip Lim jacket still haunts me wherever I go.

Whenever I see it online, for example here on the gorgeous Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast, my heart does a wee somersault of regret at the fact I didn't blow the full £5,000 of the win on leather jackets. Excessive? Nah... Worth it. I mean LOOK at it!

Uhhhhft. My heart breaks.

Get the Toppers one NOW for winter. Contrast sleeves/leather sleeves are going to be humongous.

DANCE TO THE BEAT OF MY DRUM

Well, Bloggies, it is ALWAYS the quiet ones isn't it?!

Arguably Girls Aloud's shiest member, Nicola Robert's first solo track released today is an absolute stonker! Apart from being a pure CHOON (it does take a few listens, and the L.O.V.E chorus is very Justice vs Simian but still...) she's been styled to absolute perfection in the accompanying video.

What do you guys think of her look? A winner, no?

Since her porcelain-skinned, couture-loving reinvention a few years ago, her style has evolved to become the most interesting, fashion-forward and individual of all the Girls Aloud ladies.

The two key looks are both perfect, but I especially love the latter half of the video which sees Nicola in this multi-coloured jumper and high side-pony combo. I'd love to know who styled the video, anyone know? Smacks of House of Holland and she WAS Henry's former muse, but I can't find confirmation of this online anywhere.

He did however style her website artwork, so it would make sense:

Pretty, no?

All in all I'm loving both the song and the look. Thumbs up gurrrl!



LUCY IN DISGUISE

Today the Telegraph revealed the first pictures of Lily Allen and Sarah Owen's vintage-inspired designs for their brand Lucy in Disguise - named after their boutique in London.

According to the website, "the sisters hope their range will curb the disappointing feeling, experienced all too often, when a one-off vintage treasure just won't fit: 'Vintage sizing can be quite irregular,' said Owen. 'When we were buying clothes for the shop we saw so much that really nearly hit the nail on the head but not quite.'"

Speakeasy mini dress embellished with pearly sequins

Zanzibar jumpsuit

Honky Tonk dress

Jitterbug dress

The Roxy jumpsuit

Altamant dress

Chatsworth dress

Gold Rush mini

Promenade shift mini

Radio City dress

Thoughts?

Overall I think this is a pleasing, cohesive wee collection which fits the brief and ethos of the Lucy in Disguise brand perfectly! My favorites are the Speakeasy, Zanzibar, Jitterbug, Roxy and Gold Rush, though I would happily wear all the pieces.

One of the best things about the collection, as well as the fact it's fun and flirty, is that it is vintage INSPIRED, instead of simple remakes or literal copies of actual vintage pieces. This really proves Lily and Sarah's design talent and knowledge of vintage fashion right back to the 20s - to have taken the inspiration and translated it into desirable, wearable garments. In particular the Gold Rush, Jitterbug and Promenade dresses all feel really young and  contemporary while still remaining true to their vintage inspiration. 

Though instantly recognisable, nowhere is the vintage effect shoved down our throats - something I think Biba interpreted really badly with their relaunch last year - heady, overly-opulent and decidedly dowdy, even the gorgeous Daisy Lowe couldn't sway me.

Anyway, aar Lil' done good, no?

What do you guys think?