POP YOUR COLLAR

If like me your purse if firmly shut this month then look at investing in accessories such as one of these gorgeous collars. A friend of mine commented on I Heart Fashion's Facebook page (click to like) recently that she was in search of a collar necklace and the good fashionista that I am made sure I not only found her three fabulous choices but styled up a little outfit or three - Cher in Clueless eat your heart out! First up we have the day-time collar look with a simple tee, coloured denim and some quirky butterfly slipper pumps I've had my eye on for a while. For £16 they may not last long in the rain but they will certainly give a simple jeans/tee combo an edge.

Leather Rhinestone Collar £45 Topshop

Leon Butterfly Slipper Pumps £16 ASOS

Kane White Tee £75 Net-a-Porter

Joe's Jeans £190 Donna Ida

Then we have the office outfit choice. I fell in love with the love heart print peplum top pretty much as soon as I laid eyes on it. With little capped sleeves and and a waist-skimming hem, what better accessory than this cute beaded collar from Boohoo. If I wasn't going to wear this to the office then I'd take away the tailored trousers and pumps and adding some serious skinnies and flashy heels.

Zoe Beaded Detail Collar £12 Boohoo

Pink Heart Print Peplum Top £22 Dorothy Perkins

Double Tab Tapered Trousers £28 Topshop

Dinky Black Chain Pump £28 Miss Selfridge

 

 

Finally I've put together an evening outfit choice with a leather skater skirt which looks fab with a simple sleeveless tee. This lurex top needs to be tucked in with the collar worn over the top and although you may see this as more of a statement necklace, it certainly has the same effect if not better than a collar - plus what better colour to team with these gorgeous tangerine Mary-Janes than turquoise.

Kenneth Jay Lane Turquoise Collar £115 ASOS

Black Leather Skater Skirt £395 Felder Felder

Lurex Drop Back Sleeveless Top £28 Topshop

Super Orange Mary Jane Heels £45 Miss Selfridge

THE GOODHOOD STORE

Now I work in menswear I seem to stumble across little gems like this one a lot more than I did when I worked in womenswear. The Goodhood Store opened its doors in 2007 in the undeniably hip Hoxton, Shoreditch. With brands such as Antipodium, Libertine Libertine, Nikki B, Surface to Air and YMC, the stores brand mix gives that much-needed edge when the high street and even ASOS has worn a little thin. Goodhood's cheeky Tumblr page needs a shout and make sure you put their blog in your favourites.

Karen Walker Boat Pants £308.00

Sabrina Dehoff 8 cord bracelet £107.00

Paper 2 £3.00

Super America sunglasses £113.00

Bag 'n' Noun large napsack £156.00

THE BEST OF S/S12

Topshop s/s12

I'm flagging with blog inspiration today and I don't really have time to sit and catch up with all the coverage from Milan fashion week - I'm that far behind I know! - so I thought with the first day of spring over it would be a good time to catch up on the s/s12 high street campaigns.

From Next using Arizona Muse to Kate Moss becoming the face of Mango, the high street certainly seem to be picking up their game when it comes to new season campaigns. Primark still have a little to go in terms of quality, and River Island is far too Versace-esque for me but H&M and Zara could have stemmed from the likes of Miu Miu or Prada.

Marks and Spencer s/s12

Marni for H&M s/s12

ARE YOU ONE HALF OF A STYLISH COUPLE?

Glamour magazine, in association with my-wardrobe.com, are holding a competition to find Britains Best Dressed Couple with a prize of £20,000 to spend at the online haven! Can you imagine how many pieces of gorgeousness that could buy...if I was one half of a stylish couple you could be pretty sure the prize fund would be split 90/10 in favour of me.

With a judging panel comprising of the Project D duo Danni Minogue and Tabitha Someret, Dermot O'Leary, founder of my-wardrobe.com Sarah Curran and Glamour editor Jo Elvin, the competition will run from this months issue, staring the lovely Jennifer Lawrence - who is certainly working that swimsuit.

To enter, couples must submit three recent photographs showcasing three different styles by emailing glamourstylishcouple@condenast.co.uk or uploading them to Glamour's Facebook page. Style scouts will also be scouring the streets of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edingburugh and Belfast from 12th - 16th March so make sure you and your plus-one are out and about looking sharp. The closing date for entries is 23rd March, when readers will help decide the shortlist. The finalists will be announced in the June issue of Glamour, when voting will reopen for readers to champion their favourites. The winning couple will then be revealed in an exclusive photoshoot for the September issue of the magazine.

Here's a little inspiration of stylist couples...

Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl

The Kooples campaign

Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl

APRIL GIRL

April could certainly be Nicole Richie's month judging by the not one, not two but three magazines she's covering. How can I decide which one I love the most when they are all equally as fabulous?! Flare magazine was the first cover I spotted, with Richie rocking a little gold Roberto Cavalli number and looking every inch the rock stars wife.

The designer is also spotted on the cover of C magazine, a Cailfornian style publication shot by Dewey Nicks. Dewy skin, bed head and just kissed lips make for the perfect cover - very Bridget Bardot/Marylin Monroe non? Lastly, I absolutely heart the lace jacket and baby blue platforms in Richie's Ocean Drive cover - I've always wondered how people actually walk in those style shoes minus heel?

BEFORE I'M 30...

This is probably one of the most personal post's I've ever written so bare with me if it feels like I'm straying too far from the familiar 'fun-filled fashion' formula of I Heart Fashion. I read alot of blogs and the ones that resonate with me the most are the ones which I can personally relate to. That's why I chose to write this post.

Last year my pop's was diagnosed with cancer but thankfully god must have been looking down on us because after a long six months of a major operation and chemotherapy he's made a full recovery and is back fighting fit. I suppose I can only write about it now because I'm no longer scared about it coming back and the reason I'm telling you such a personal thing is because last year made me realise how short life really is.

I know it's a cliche to say but it takes the possibility of losing someone so close to make you open your eyes and start living. I'm 27, turning 28 in October to be exact and I'm at a point in my life where I want to achieve a lot of things but up until now I've been the sort of girl that lives for tomorrow, not today.

I'm all for the planning stages but when it comes to actually carrying out these plans, I always find a reason as to why I'll 'do it later'. Well, I kind of made a promise to myself a couple of minutes after midnight on the 1st January that this year would be different. Putting these plans down in writing is designed to give myself a firm kick up the arse so here it is...10 Things I Will To Do Before I Turn 30.

1. Travel Alone

I'm an independent girl. I live by myself and manage to pay my bills on time every month. I can find places on a map, be it Google Maps but still. I take charge of organising holidays. I'm always the first one to suggest going away somewhere exotic. But I've never travelled alone. Before I turn 30 I want to go to New York, on a single mission. It's not because I don't want to share the experience but because I want to be completely out of my comfort zone. I suppose it could be a little 'Carrie Bradshaw' lifestyle yearning - bright lights, big city and all that crap but that's what I want to do. So I'm going to do it.

2. Say it with conviction

I think this is something most people go through in their 20's and I'm hoping that as I get older and becoming more sure of myself as a person this sort of thing will come naturally. Before I'm 30 I want to be confident in myself and what I'm saying. I sometimes find moments at work where I feel like a fraud - like I've fluked getting the job and one of these days I'll be found out. I want to have more confidence to say my ideas in a room full of people and not be met with a wall of awkward silence. I also want to have the confidence to go up to a guy I fancy on my train and say hello - right now I could never do that, I find it a struggle to look him in the eye so more often than not I inappropriately stare downwards in the direction of his crotch area. Which leads me on to my next point.

3. Truly, Madly, Deeply

Up until recently I was in an on-off relationship with someone that I met at university 6 years ago. It wasn't right and it's only now I can see that it wasn't - that good old saying 'love is blind' is more than appropriate in this instance. We tried the friend thing but kept straying back into GF/BF territory which isn't helpful to anyone - especially as he lives in London and right now I'm firmly set in Leeds. So now I find myself single, happily single, but thinking by the time I turn 30 it would be lovely to meet a nice young man. I have a very particular type and I'm thinking it might be time to divert away from that to see what's outside the standard 'tall, rugby playing hunk'. I've been in love but I don't think I've ever been in movie star love, the kind of love that overtakes you like Carrie and Mr Big. That's something I need to work on.

4. A place worthy of ELLE Home Decor

If I wasn't a writer then I'd definitely consider taking some kind of interior design course. When I moved into my first place last year I spent three months beforehand buying all the things I wanted, from huge printed cushions to a sequin lampshade - don't laugh it actually looks pretty fabulous! But the trouble is I rent and decorating isn't really worth it, especially as I move out in three weeks time but that's a whole other story. I want to have a house that I can put my stamp on and decorate in such a way I have ELLE Home Decor knocking on my door, begging me to allow them and photograph my work. I want to entertain, have dinner parties, summer bbq's, god dam it I want to be the host with the most, is that too much to ask?

TIME FOR A LITTLE PAMPERING

The gorgeous girls over at Holler London were kind enough recently to send me over lots of John Frieda goodies to try out. I'd spoken to them about how over-processed my hair was by colouring and constantly straightening it and the next thing I know they'd sent through the new John Frieda Full Repair range. I've being using it for a week and can definitely feel an improvement already. I've always been a little cautious about using products on my hair, which is probably why its so ruined from the old GHD's, but these products (including styling spray and heat protecting spay) are so lightweight they don't make my already-thin-hair limp and lifeless.

Anyway, after not getting enough sleep for nearly two months and having a pretty rubbish 'show-season' diet of grabbing things in between working, I'm in need of a major pampering session. Tonight I've decided to turn my Blackberry off, get the vino out and scrub myself out of the winter cocoon I'm currently hibernating in. Along with the John Frieda Full Repair deep conditioning treatment, which smells the kind of gorgeous you usually only find at the hairdressers, I'll be buying some other body and face treats on my way home. Here are my top seven 'girls night in' products...and seen as my money seems to go as soon as I get paid I've made them nice and purse friendly.

Are there any products you'd recommend me buying?

Exfoliating Gloves £3.00

Nails Inc 'The Mall' Nail Polish £11.00

Soap and Glory The Fab Pore Peel £8.00

Vasline Intensive Rescue £3.39

Boots Gorgeously Feet Sensationally Smooth Foot Scrub £5.10

The Beauty Parlour Lipbalm £1.99

Good Things Deep Clean Exfoliator £4.99

OSCAR RED CARPET MOMENTS 2012

Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli, Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford

As you all no doubt know last night the best of Hollywood gathered for the 84th Academy Awards. The red carpet line-up was one of the best to date and I found myself wanting to feature nearly every look. First up lets take a look at the best dressed of the night - I couldn't actually chose between the gorgeous Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli and the sleek Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford so I've awarded a dual best dressed award - Gwyneth certainly know's how to rock a couture cape.

Neutrals were the obvious trend of the night with approx 60 per cent of attendees wearing nude, white and pearl. Jennifer Lopez looks a tad predictable in Zuhair Murad with  her signature high bun while Kristen Wigg looked effortlessly gorgeous in J.Mendel. How stunning does TV presenter Louise Roe look? Although she was reporting from the red carpet rather than attending she is possibly my third best dressed of the evening in a customised Black Halo dress.

Clockwise: Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murah, Louise Roe in Black Halo, Giuliana Rancic in Tony Ward, Kristen Wigg in J.Mendel, Rooney Mara in Givenchy, Cameron Diaz in Gucci

The second most popular choice of the night was to rock a little metallic. The two most stunning choices were from Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen and Ellie Kemper in a gorgeous bronze Armani Privé dress.

Clockwise: Ellie Kemper in Armani Privé, Judy Greer in Monique Lhuillier, Stacy Keibler in Marchesa, Meryl Streep in Lanvin, Sandra Bullock in Marchesa, Jessica Chastain in Alexander McQueen

Floor length sequins are always a popular red carpet and this year didn't fail to disappoint. Rose Byrne was my absolute favourite in a black one shouldered Vivienne Westwood number. I was also hoping someone would wear this Elie Saab Couture number but I was surprised that Milla Jovovich would be the one. I actually thought it might be Rose after her triumphant Elie Saab jumpsuit earlier this month.

Clockwise: Rose Byrne in Vivienne Westwood, Milla Jovovich in Elie Saab, Anna Faris in Diane Von Furstenberg

Candy colours were my least favourite choice of the night with Michelle Williams looking boring in Louis Vuitton - where has her fashion mojo gone?! Penelope Cruz looks much older than her age in this Armani dress and pearl necklace. The only saving grace in this group is the gorgeous Maria Menounos in this Grecian style Maria Lucia Hohan gown. The colour suits her skin tone perfectly and the simple accessories and swept back hair lets the dress speak for itself.

Clockwise: Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton, Maria Menounos in Maria Lucia Hohan, Penelope Cruz in Armani

NEW ON THE HIGH STREET

Crochet Sleeveless Shirtdress £50

Multi Animal Flippy Skirt £26

Acid Playsuit £35

Acid Wash Shorts £42

McQ Alexander McQueen Shopper £120

Flat Top Plastic Sunglasses £16

SEE THROUGH STYLE

One of my favourite bloggers Laura Fantacci of Wear it Today always does a fantastic job of showing us mere mortals what her and the girls over at the Red magazine fashion cupboard wear for fashion week. I'm a fan of pretty much 101 per cent of her wardrobe and love the fact that she's such an avid supporter of the high street. From Topshop to New Look, Fantacci always wears one fabulous piece of high street - especially in her outwear choices like this gorgeous red coat from Zara.

For London Fashion Week the Red girls made their way to pretty much every catwalk show and presentation - with Fantacci documenting every look. I love this outfit from the shocking pink Breton style jumper to the perspex clutch (taking a little inspiration from a Mr Christopher Kane I suspect) and seen as its only a fashion-bagin £15 from Kurt Keiger I suggest you snap one up now!

Perspex Large Clutch £15 Kurt Geiger