Festival Fancies

Festival season is upon us and Coachella-goers have already treated us to some fabulous street style. Festivals are the perfect opportunity to have fun with trends from romantic florals to vibrant citrus shades and  flashes of neon. Personally I'm loving the surge of 90s revival clothes as they're just so cheerful and remind me how much I loved my childhood wardrobe!
This last week has been gloriously sunny but let's not forget the great British weather and the very high chances of the fields soon turning into a sticky situation ankle deep in mud! Whether you got for a classic style or a fun print which brightening up the muckiest of days a pair of wellies is a festival essential.
Here are a few looks I've put together with Summer festival frolics in mind. Will you be heading to any festivals this year?

♥ Tie-Dye Heart Pullover, was £16.75 now £11.99 Forever 21

♥ Cloud Print Skater Skirt, £32 Miss Selfridge

♥ 3-pack bracelet, £5.99 H&M

♥ Suzie Shell Statement Necklace, £25 Accessorize

♥ Floral Painted Ring, £3.15 Forever 21

♥ Tottie Short Wellingtons - Ladies, £20.99 Equestrian Clearance

♥ Braided Trim Floppy Hat, £8.90 Forever 21

♥ Pink and Ivory Print Sundress, £25 Dorothy Perkins

♥ Steve Madden Pink Celeste Satchel, £49.99 New Look

♥ Gold Necklace, £7.99 H&M

♥ Caldene Westfield Wellington Boots - Adults, £52.99 Equestrian Clearance

♥ Multi Floral Burnout Crop Tee, £24 Miss Selfridge

♥ Contrast Crochet Short, £32 Topshop

♥ Cream Cut Out Drop Earrings, £12.50 Miss Selfridge

♥ Coral Metal Plate Embellished Sandals, £40 River Island

♥ Plastic Flower Ring, £8.50 Topshop 

♥ Gold Metallic Leather Barrel Bag, £50 Zatchels

Loveless: Meadham Kirchhoff X Amazon.co.uk

For me one of the most exciting design talents on the catwalks at the moment is the dazzling duo of Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff. There's something so enchanting about all their collections, from their super kawaii pastel confectionery of SS12, complete with smiling heart aprons perfect for fairy kei, to the exquisite historically inspired embellishment of SS13 with rows of Rococo-esque bows.
With my fangirling heightened as such, you can imagine my glee when I found out about their exclusive sweatshirt collaboration with Amazon.co.uk and was kindly given a sample for my own wardrobe. Next time I think I'll play up the juxtaposition of the casual and the elegant further with an OTT costume jewellery necklace and maybe take afternoon tea.
Each design within the collaboration, which can be found here, captures a little something of that unique Meadham Kirchhoff magic and sense of joy.

High Street Hits: Arm Candy

I have always been a bag girl. Whether you're wearing a dress or jeans the bag is an accessory with the power to change an outfit and fill you with glee, which is always good with me! No matter how horrendous your bad hair day might be, a fabulous handbag will never let you down. The new season fashion trends seem to have brought some really lovely ones to the high street, especially satisfyingly boxy structures and a whole menagerie of bright and beautiful colours for Summer from pastels to neons. Below are some of  my favourites I've been spying this week.
I've also spotted some wonderfully cheerful plus size clothing for Summer. The sunny months will be perfect for showing off fun and vivacious prints as well as bright block colours with pretty details from pleats to a intricate crochet trim- no more hiding beautiful dresses under Winter coats!
 

1. Strawberry Across Body Bag, £25 Accessorize

2. Limited Collection Appliqué Satchel Bag, £39.50 Marks and Spencer

3. Delicious Apple Basket Bag, £40 Ollie & Nic at House of Fraser

4. Scallop Shoulder Bag, £25 Accessorize

5. Stone Gertie Bow Structured Bag, £12.99 New Look

6. Tassel Bowler Bag With Rabbit Fitting, £35 ASOS

7. Pink Bag, £29.99 H&M

8. Hello Kitty Town Satchel, from £110 Zatchels

9. Patent Messenger Bag, £24.75 Forever 21

10. Purple Glitter Across Body Bag, was £35 now £17.50 Jonathon Kelsy at Debenhams

11. Roxy Grab Bag, was £49 now £24.50 Therapy at House of Fraser

12. Touch- Rivets Shoulder Bag, was £34.99 now £16.99 Mango

High Street Hits: Cinderella Shoes

Harrods have gone mad for Disney princesses at present with festive window displays featuring regal interpretations of these iconic muses  from celebrated fashion houses such as Oscar de la Renta, Marchesa, Valentino and Elie Saab.
In store they've also opened a dreamy Cinderella Slipper Salon; whether you have big or little feet why not see if the shoe fits for size! We can't let the children have all the fun can we? It looks quite the beautiful experience and I so wish I'd had the time to go and explore instead of being poorly this month. What's more, the stunning shoes range from £24.95 to £34.95 making them a rather affordable piece of magic.
I was also besotted with Miu Miu's gorgeous glitter shoes the moment they burst onto the scene in AW11. The beautifully sculpted heel turned timelessly pretty sparkle into a power piece. I wasn't the only fan and ever since I've loved the way all things sparkly have infiltrated the high street. So go out and create your own fairytale, just try not to lose a shoe on the way home...

1. Cinders - Glitter Court Shoes, £95 Ted Baker 

2. Gold Glitter Court Shoes, was £45 now £40 Wallis 

3. Glittery Court Shoes, were £24.99 now £15 H&M 

4. Sparklebay Court, £60 Monsoon

5. Jingle Glitter Bow Peep-Toe Court Shoes, £45 Topshop

6. Hotlist 3, were £125 now £39 Nine West 

7. Silver Sequin Knot Court Shoes, £34.99 Ruby Prom at New Look

8. Blaire - Flared Heel Almond Toe Court Shoes, were £85 now £42 Dune

9. Flick Flack, were £79.99 now £67.99 Irregular Choice

Hyper Japan!

I was such an incredibly excited bunny to wake up to the morning of Hyper Japan February 2012. I'd been looking forward to it ever since spying tweets during the last one and hearing how amazing it was! Arriving at the event my curiosity was immediately piqued by so many stands of intriguing things!
The spectacle which is Hyper Japan is a J-Culture event on a huge scale in London and spanned three days from Friday to Sunday with exciting performances and fascinating panels happening each day! Sadly I could only attend on Friday which is a real shame as I missed both the fashion shows and cosplay parades! The next event has been announced for 23rd-25th November and I'm already such an excited bunny looking forward to it!
My afternoon started with modelling in the Sake Awards with other lolitas, which was both fantastic fun and an honour. Hyper Japan is a wonderfully social occasion and it was lovely to have a good chat with fellow blogger Faye, see some lolitas I already knew from the Midlands and North-West communities and meet others from around the country! Everyone was so friendly and I met some really lovely people.
Soon I was off exploring the stalls and frequently having major Hello Kitty geek outs. I bought some really lovely things which deserve a blog post of their own, though the accessories have already been creeping into a lot of outfit posts! I hope you'll enjoy my snapshots of the day and hopefully I will see some of you in November!

Pocky munching was definitely required and the Tofu Cute stand hosted an array of yummy looking treats.

Adorable rings from Two Bad Bananas from jelly babies to flowers.

The opportunity to have a photoshoot in a stuning kimono!

Hard to resist lolita goodness from renowned brand Baby the Stars Shine Bright.

Stickers of an epic nature at Artbox. 

The V&A Kitty and the Bulldog panel discussing the exhibition.

Amazing hair accessories from Now, Voyager.

It was hard to tear myself away from the delights of the Little Mizz Kitty stall of kawaii hair accessories and jewellery.

A lolita art installation by lovely Fine Art Sculpture student Memz.

Roxie Sweetheart cuteness with smiley brand owner Michelle.

It was wonderful to get to see Bunny De Coeur's full gorgeous range in person!

My lovely lolita friend Joanne who designs some amazing clothes at Rocking Horse Fashion.

High Street Hits: Fondant Fancy Frocks

This season I have been delighted by the presence of my favourite fondant shades, from Louis Vuitton's dreamy carousel fahion show and ad campaign to the racks of my favourite high street stores. They work wonderfully well with an elegant, ladylike aesthetic like that seen in Luella's glorious SS09 collection which I am ever fangirling over. Whether you're heading to afternoon tea or wish you were here are some of the beautiful dresses I've been eyeing up on the high street.
1. Blue Flared Belted Dress, £50 Dorothy Perkins
2. Lace Peter Pan Dress, £48 Topshop
3. Floral Burnout Prom Dress, £42 Miss Selfridge

4. Claire Dress, was £75 now £50 Monsoon
5. Floral Prom, £150 ASOS
6. Chiffon Tapework Prom, £90 Warehouse

7. Light Pink Lace Skater Dress, £40 River Island
8. Dress, £24.99 H&M
9. Jasmyne Petal Dress, £90 Oasis

Little Black Bag: Kate Benjamin Clutch

Kate Benjamin clutch via Accessories Direct, Autograph by Marks and Spencer dress via PDSA charity shop, Miu Miu headband, Dorothy Perkins shoes, H&M tights, Wallis cardigan.

The Little Black Dress is a wardrobe staple that can be transformed for different occasions. I was very lucky and found this one in a charity shop and it suited me so much better than anything else I'd found for the event I first wore it to, making me one very happy shopper. Since then I've worn it to a couple more occasions and I love it.
When Accessories Direct asked me to look at some images of their lovely items and tell them my favourites I was immediately drawn to this bag. I was absolutely delighted when they emailed me back and said I could have it, my first choice, to review! The clutch has that comforting squishy factor that I love but it's also smart and sharp with the very modern clasp structure. It's versatile, elegant aesthetic reminds me very much of the LBD and I'm now calling it my Little Black Bag. 
OK so it's not actually fully black but I think this just makes it more versatile to go with more dresses. Shimmering below the lovely black lace we have a beautiful subtle pale gold fabric. The fabric manipulation is also in this stiffer layer with pleating, whilst the lace sits as a soft layer on top. It's really very cleverly done and can work with modern or classic styles to lots of occasions. I'm definitely impressed when it comes to the construction and quality of this bag.
This Kate Benjamin's black lace clutch bag has the huge bonus of being rather big without being bulky. Sometimes an occasion calls for a charming evening bag but practicality calls also. I like the fact I can fit as much junk as I need in it!
I am so, so pleased with my beautiful new bag and it's one I can foresee turning to again and again. Do you have an item you keep returning to that gives you that little extra confidence for special occasions?

I couldn't resist showing you the deer friends I made during the making of this outfit post- how I love Cannock Chase!

Florrie, Pearl and a Pug

Here's a face that has appeared on my blog a few times before: the lovely Pearl Westwood of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. I'm really happy to have met her through blogging, and in person when she offered to show me Manchester's best shops.
We met to have a catch up, shop for and plan our Fashion Week wardrobes and generally had a good giggle! Pearl is completely and utterly devoted to Vivienne Westwood and the only non Vivienne Westwood thing I can find in this outfit is her tights! Even the gloves she later put on were from her faithful VW.
My outfit likewise was very 'me' with pink and florals. Here's my outfit rundown: Scope charity shop vintage dress, George at ASDA 300 denier tights, New Look boots, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, Dorothy Perkins brooch on a H&M scarf, floral H&M snood and animal print purple cardigan, floral Forever 21 scarf (under snood) and Wallis coat.
You may have spotted an extra snazzy accessory in the form of the Pentax camera. I've borrowed it from college and am having fun playing with black and white film. I hope I've created some lovely images, you just never quite know how they're going to turn out! But I'll be sharing them with you as soon as they're printed.
For now I shall leave you with my favourite DSLR shot of Pearl, which oddly reminds me of one of those strange fish you find at the bottom of the ocean...