Inspirational People: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

1991 - Full House, 2000 - promoting their new line of dolls, 2002 - Vanity Fair party, 2004 - Hollywood Walk of Fame Induction

I've been fans of MKA for as long as I can remember, from watching Two of Kind and all their childhood films, to following their style throughout their later years, I've been here for all of it.  

They've worked their whole lives since they were 9 months old on Full House, and haven't stopped since. They had multiple TV shows together, as well as 12 films together - featuring favourites such as Passport To Paris and Winning London. Their last film together was New York Minute in 2004, the year they were also honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2006 - Cannes Film Festival, 2008 - Chanel at PFW, 2008 - Influence book launch, 2011 - CFDA Awards

After moving on from film and TV, they quickly moved into the fashion industry - with Mary-Kate creating her own spin on the boho-chic look, which was named the 'homeless' look. They created a teen fashion line for Walmart - which I also remember being available in an Asda near my nan's house and I think I owned quite a few pieces from it! Since then they've released their own couture fashion label, The Row. They've also produced multiple lines for Elizabeth & James and had a collection for J.C. Penney. During this time they released a book, Influence, which featured interviews with prominent figures in the fashion industry. They became regulars at star studded events such as Cannes Film Festival and the Met Ball, and also sat in the front row of prestigious fashion shows like Chanel at PFW.

2013 - Bik Bok collection launch in Norway, 2014 - Elizabeth & James event, 2015 - Met Ball, 2015 - CFDA Awards

Most recently, MKA have released yet another fashion line in Norway and in 2015 they received the award for Womenswear Designer of the Year from the CFDA for The Row.

The reason MKA are so inspiring to me is that they've achieved all of this by the age of 29 - only 9 and a half years older than myself - and they're showing no sign of wanting to slow down. They're so dedicated to everything they do, and they even make time for charities and human rights work.

If I can have even a little bit of their success by the time I'm 29, I'll have done something right.

(Image Source: Vogue MKA Olsen Style File)

A Quick Look At My Pinterest Boards

Recently I've become a bit obsessed with Pinterest. I never really got into when I originally signed up but the past few weeks all I've done is perfect my boards and find new ones to follow. Anyway, I thought I'd share the boards I've been making and hopefully inspire you to create your own!

ART: Illustrations & Patterns, Moodboard Inspiration

BEAUTY: Hair

BLOG: My Pictures

CELEBRITY: Audrey Hepburn

FASHION: Adverts, Celebrity Style, Designer Wishlist, Film & TV, Runway, Street Style

INTERIORS: Bathroom, Bedroom, Bookcases & Shelfies, General House, Kitchen & Dining, Living Room, Office & Workspace, Walls, Wardrobe

OTHER: Books, Disney, Harry Potter, Music, Organisation, Pretty Pastels, Quotes, Travel

SEASONS: Spring & Summer, Autumn & Winter

If you have Pinterest please share your link because I love finding new people and boards to follow!

My Favourite Designers Part Three - Balmain and Some Honourable Mentions

The last in my three part series about my favourite designers. Part one and part two.

Balmain

FW12 | FW14 | FW12

Out of my favourite designers, Balmain is definitely the edgiest. You won't find many (if any) floaty, romantic dresses here.  Again, this is a brand that I've only paid attention to in the last few years, since the Kardashian-Jenner-Wests brought it to my attention. I just love everything about Balmain, and the two collections shown are my favourite from Olivier Rousteing so far. He's managed to give Balmain a military feel about it's clothes, but still keeps it super chic. I'm obsessed with that skirt from the FW 2014 show.

The Honourable Mentions

Marchesa SS15 | Oscar de la Renta FW12 | Zuhair Murad SS15

I clearly have a lot of favourite designers, but there's another few that I love - even if they're not my absolute favourites. I'm absolutely obsessed with this Marchesa dress that Fan Bing Bing wore at Cannes Film Festival. I also really like Oscar de la Renta - some of the dresses are just what I imagine at an over the top America prom! Finally, much like Elie Saab, Zuhair Murad just has the most stunning dresses

I hope you enjoyed this little series and the insight into my favourite designers! Who are your personal favourites?

Childhood Chick Flicks

Like any young teenager, I loved watching chick flicks. Form 90's classics to Disney's own films, I watched them all. In light of the most amazing news ever from a few weeks ago (a new Princess Diaries film - all my dreams came true!), I thought I'd share my favourite childhood chick flicks that I still love to this day:

• Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
• Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
• Clueless 
• Mean Girls
• New York Minute
• The Princess Diaries

A few others I enjoy include Wild Child, The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday and every other MKA Olsen film!

What are your favourite childhood chick flicks?

San Diego Comic Con 2015

The Arrow cast at Comic Con (Image source - Tumblr)

Every year without fail I wish at was at San Diego Comic Con. Even though I don't get to go, I like to keep up-to-date with everything that's going on. Although there was no Marvel film panels (no Civil War panel!) I still managed to find some highlights to share with you all:

DC TV Panels

• Arrow: I recently started watching Arrow so I was excited to find out any information on season 4 and Felicity/Oliver. Not only were we treated to finding out who the new villains are, we also got to see the new Green Arrow costume, find out about Felicity and Oliver's relationship, and we were entertained by Stephen Amell's entrance to the panel.
• The Flash: Much like the Arrow panel, we got confirmation of the season 2 villain for The Flash, as well as the return of the Reserve Flash. The panel also announced some new cast members and characters that will be popping up throughout the series.
• The Legends of Tomorrow: This is the panel I was most excited about after watching the massive trailer that was released earlier in the year. I love a good spinoff and I can't wait until it airs! I'm glad to hear that Arrow and The Flash will be setting it up in the start of their seasons. There's also speculation that Laurel Lance will play a pretty big part in setting up the team, so it'll be cool to see the dynamic between her and Sara again and how it's changed.

Marvel TV Panels

• Agents of Shield: Despite the news about the new season - the Secret Warriors, Skye officially changing her name to Daisy and information about a new villain, the thing I most enjoyed about Agents of Shield was the dubsmash wars between the cast and the cast of Agent Carter. Honestly, it was hilarious. The thing I most want to know but we obviously didn't find out - is Jemma Simmons still alive?!
• Agent Carter: Like we already knew, Agent Carter is moving from New York to LA for season 2 as Peggy tries to solve a murder. After letting go of Steve at the end of the last season it'll be interested to see what frame of mind she's in and if she'll get a new love interest.

AMC Panel

• The Walking Dead: I don't have much to say about this other than how iconic was that Rick line in the trailer? As my friend Katie said to me, write that on my tombstone please. Also there was a serious lack of Tara and Eugene - I am not happy AMC.

Did you keep up-to-date with SDCC? What were your highlights?

My Favourite Designers Part Two - Elie Saab, Giambattista Valli and Valentino

Part two of this three part series. Find part one here.

Elie Saab

SS12 | SS15 | SS15

There is honestly no other reason that Elie Saab is one of my favourite designers other than I fact that they make the most beautiful dresses I'ver seen. They make the ultimate disney princess dresses! Each one shown is similar but completely unique at the same time. Whether it's the floral detailing or the feathering look - they know how to make a good dress.

Giambattista Valli

SS13 | SS15 | SS13

Another designer that makes the most amazing dresses is Giambattista Valli. I did a presentation on Giambattista Valli for one of my seminars last semester, and found out that it's another relatively new brand - only created in 2005!  Again, I just love the detailing that Giambattista puts into his dresses. They look relatively simple from a distance, but the close ups show just how intricate they are. Also, is anyone else impressed that I can spell Giambattista Valli without looking it up?!

Valentino

FW13 | SS12 | FW14

What can I say about Valentino? Other than the fact that Zayn Malik was FROWing at their recent Paris menswear show. I think there's a romantic feel that comes with Valentino's gowns - again, the brand goes to town on complex detailing to make each one unique and special in their own right. I also love their shorter dresses, they're nothing over the top but are still beautiful.

What do you think of these three designers?

#UltimateLifeGoals

I did a similar post to this a couple of months ago on a moodboard that I had to make for university, but I thought it'd be fun to do it again on Polyvore! I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do when I'm older so here are my #UltimateLifeGoals:

• Live in Paris 
• Write a book
• Blog for an online magazine
• Have a column in a well-known magazine
• Keep blogging
• Own my own online magazine
• Have my dream office
• Go to PFW
• Start an online shop
• Be a #GirlBoss

I realise that most of these are probably unrealistic (or maybe not - I should just make them happen!) but I think it's fun to picture an ideal life/career.

What are your #UltimateLifeGoals?

My Favourite Designers Part One - Chanel, Christian Dior and Dolce & Gabbana

Although I love street style and high street fashion, I also really love high-end/couture designers. I find it super interesting how intricate and detailed the clothes are and how much time and effort goes in to making them. So I thought I share my favourite designers in this three part series.

Chanel

SS04 | SS15 | FW14

Although I haven't been as impressed with Chanel's recent collections, I suppose they're a sentimental favourite. Chanel was the first designer brand that I was really interested in, partly because of those beautiful bags and partly because of their classic and timeless style. I'm more interested in vintage Chanel - the classic handbags, the black suits and the boucle jackets.

Christian Dior

SS12 | SS15 | FW14

I never used to pay much attention to Christian Dior, but last year I did a university presentation on 1950's style and Christian Dior was one of the main designers of that era. He completely changed the way women dressed at that time, and since then the brand had continued to produce classic and beautiful designs.

Dolce & Gabbana

SS15 | SS14 | SS15

There is nothing that I don't love about Dolce and Gabbana. Compared to Chanel and Christian Dior, it's a relatively new brand as it was only created in 1985, but it feels as if it's been around for ever. It's by far my favourite of the Italian designers (although I do have a soft spot for Giambattista Valli!). I love their attention to detail - even the hair is highly styled and beautiful! 

Do you like any of these designers?

What I've Been Reading Lately #2

The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Toklien

The ultimate fantasy trilogy. After I read The Hobbit, I quickly moved onto The Lord of The Rings trilogy, and it did not disappoint. As it's spaced out into 3 books and 6 different parts, the pace was much slower than The Hobbit, but it was still really enjoyable. I felt like we got to know the characters much better, with old favourites like Gandalf and Bilbo returning. I loved the introduction of the little group of hobbits - the relationships between Merry and Pippin and Frodo and Sam were so special and lovely. There was also a few twists and turns that I certainly didn't expect - I would definitely recommend this to any fantasy lover.

Emma by Jane Austen

This was my first Jane Austen novel and only my second ever classic novel. I did really like this book but I found it really difficult to get through. Maybe it's because I'm not used to reading classics, but I didn't find myself wanting to read through it continuously and it seemed like there was no plot. It was more like a collection of short stories to me. Although it picked up towards the end, I don't think it will be one that I'll be reaching for again.

Techbitch by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

This is the perfect chick-lit book for anyone interested in technology, fashion and the magazine industry. It's super easy to read and gives a real insight into the use of technology and how it's changing the magazine industry. The only thing I didn't like was that Imogen knew literally nothing about social media or technology - even my nan and granda know what Facebook is!

The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad

I read the L.A. Candy series when it first game out and I'd had this book sitting on my shelf for a few years now before I finally decided to pick it up. I think I read this within a day, like the previous series it's really easy to read and only 300 pages long. Again, it centres on the creation of a reality TV show in LA, with some characters from the previous books returning and the introduction of two new main characters. The plot twists were kind of predictable and easy to read, but I was still hooked in wondering what was going to happen. I can't wait to pick up the last two in the series!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

Summer Style Inspiration

(Image Source - Tumblr)

I am absolutely awful for dressing for Summer. Winter is easy because I can add a million layers but I get hot way too easily in Summer. I also burn really easily so I liked to stay as covered up as possible, which is quite hard to do!  Anyway I thought I'd do a little Summer style inspiration post to get myself thinking about what I'm going to wear when it starts to get really hot! I thinking ripped jeans (hopefully no dodgy sunburn on my knees!), light t-shirts, kimonos and converse with some frilly trainer socks. My fedora will not be leaving my head either - perfect to keep my hair in place when it's breezy and to stop my head from getting burnt! I also want a pair of dungarees but I'm not sure I could pull them off.

What will you be wearing in Summer?