Disco Pants

I've finally admitted to myself that I want the American Apparel Disco pants, its a shame they cost so much, at £70 they are a little out of my price range. They are a favourite of most bloggers and I love how versatile they are. They are not something that lets you hide in the background, they're  figure hugging and show off all your curves, that being said they seem to be flattering on anyone who wears them, I guess they hold you in, in all the right places. 

Wearable day or night, they can be grunge or sophisticated depending on how you wear them. I think its going to be the perfect addition to what now seems to be an all round winter wardrobe for us in the UK. Now if like me you can't afford the £70, own the runway do a look-alike for only £25.99 and they come in many pretty colours. What do you think?

Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro review

It is both moving and sinister from the start. The acceptance from the characters of their fate, is heart-breaking they know what their lives are for and that makes it heart-breaking. It is definitely something that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

It is written in the first person by a female narrative, who slowly reveals in reminisces the predicament her and her friends are in. By receiving the information this way, we the reader are left wanting to know more. It's as if we learn it the same way Kathy and her friends would have during their school years, just being told a little bit at a time.

One thing I really loved about this book was how Ishiguro covered relationships and memories. In life our relationships with those we love change and eventually like Kathy we have to accept this and learn to grow. Key moments in life always come back to us, they never seem to be that important when they happen but maybe later in life we can look back at them with fresh eyes just like Kathy.

Some may say these characters are 'two dimensional' but I just don't see that, these are emotionally damaged young people, who've been bought up in constant confinement. They never learn how to grow and even though I've said it before it chilled me how they just accept their fate, that one day they will 'complete'.

I won't say much else, just that you must read this book!

Kitty Flats

I spotted these kitty flats last year and absolutely loved how cute and kitsch they were. I instantly fell in love. Charlotte Olympia has such an amazing take on shoes and this kitty collection is no exception. A favourite of Alexa Chung, who has been spotted wearing them on a good few occasions. Now I can't afford the £425 price tag of the flat shoes but don't lose faith yet as I have found a very similar pair on this website for only £20 or the platforms for £32.

Not bad for that price! Now I just need to decide which ones I like more. What do you think?

Lazy Oaf x Batman

So whilst browsing through the new editions to Asos I found this amazing Batman collection from lazy oaf. Now everyone knows I love Batman, so this is my ideal collection, I'm just having a hard time on deciding what I want, at the moment I'm leaning towards the printed shirt, now this collection isn't on the cheap side the shirt is £65 but I really really want it so I may treat myself at the end of the month :).

I don't know if anyone has been watching the series of shows that have been on channel 4 this week, dealing with mental illness. Well I have and its a issue that is very close to my heart. For the most of my life I have been suffering from depression, something that was only really diagnosed in me last year. A lot of my behaviour especially when I was younger was always put down to shyness, it was only last year when I hit a very low point in my life that anyone thought it could be something more than I was just feeling a little low. I wont go into to much detail because its still a personal thing to me.

Even though it's a ongoing condition and I can honestly say I'm not the same person any more, I went to the doctors and got help and learnt how to recognise the signs that things may be spiralling downwards and you know one of the best things you can do, is just talk about it, talk about whatever is on your mind, don't bottle things up and don't think you aren't important or that you don't matter (that's always how I saw myself).

But the thing I really wanted to discuss was the overuse of the word 'depressed', I find it extremely annoying the amount of people who say how depressed they are because its cold out or they can't find something to wear. Grow up! That's not real depression, you can't even begin to comprehend how that feels without actually going through it yourself.

So if anyone actually reads this and maybe just wants someone to talk to, I'm here. I've got so many amazing people in my life who've been there for me over the past year and I wouldn't be where I am today without them so if I can do for anyone else what they've done for me then that's all I want.

ashleya_6@hotmail.com

The xx - Angels

This song is all anyone on my Twitter seems to be talking about recently, so why not give it a listen :)

The many faces of Catwoman

So with the release of the Dark Night Rises this week, I thought I'd focus on the sexy siren Catwoman and some leather inspired fashion. Even though the role of Catwoman has been played many times and lots of different actresses, the tight-fitting leather/latex costume has always been a staple, that's made Catwoman one of the sexiest villains around.Now I understand latex isn't really wearable everyday but it's always nice to experiment every now and again. So here are just a few idea's to add a seductive side to your wardrobe.

Bag: Asos, Skirt: Alexander Mcqueen, Belt: Topshop, Dress: Nasty Girl, Pants: Mango, Jacket: Topshop, Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell, Collar:: Topshop

Both the latex dresses where found here.

Update: So I went to see Batman last Friday and I have to say I absolutely loved it. There were certain things I saw coming and I think if you are familiar with the Batman comics you probably would as well. I was a little apprehensive about seeing Anne Hathaway as Catwoman but she was brilliant and I am hoping the rumours are true that she might be doing a stand alone film. The only thing I was a let down by was it didn't seem like a continuation of the second film its seemed more like the sequel to the first one. 

Perks of being Wallflower review

So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.

We can all find a little bit of ourselves in the protagonist Charlie, at first I didn’t know if I’d be able to relate to Charlie, he is a fifteen year old boy who has had to deal with a lot of tragedy in his life but throughout this book he would say something about how he was feeling and I’d find myself remembering a time when I’ve felt that way too. Sometimes I’d find myself shocked at the topics Charlie would discuss as I thought them very mature for a fifteen year old boy, such as rape, sex and drugs but overall I didn’t find that they were the themes I took away from it. Charlie is a ‘wallflower’ trying to find his way in the world with the help of the people he meets, he is a social outcast who has always observed the world from the outside, which I found I could relate to. It isn’t until the end that we find out the real reasons behind Charlie’s behaviour and it’s a twist I found rather disturbing. This book will transcend time and it’s something that will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

The 90's are back!

With the release of No Doubt's  new single settle down, I've been thinking about the ionic grunge style from the 90's and its revival in 2012. The grunge style was all about 'anti-fashion', breaking the rules. Grunge was defined by the music people listened to and it rebelled against the rigid lives of the older generations, grunge itself was a revival of the 1970's punk rock attitude.


The revival of this style has taken on a modern twist, we still want some femininity in our clothing, so instead of copying the 90's grunge style we use it for inspiration. Mixing grunge and glam together. It's all about the over-sized t-shirts, the denim jackets and high-waisted shorts, the tye- dye, the studs, the flannel, the hats and the longer skirts but giving it a feminine touch. It's a style easy to embrace and with not much fuss needed. The key to making this trend work for the modern day is to lift the dark colour palette with different fabrics and to add a bit of sparkle, don't be afraid to mix colours and patterns. Have fun with this style.

It's a look favoured by many of our favourite style icons today, I think it's safe to say that Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are the current Queens of grunge, followed by the like's of Kristen Stewart and Taylor Momsen and Kelly Osbourne. But let's not forget that Kate Moss and Gwen Stefani are both still rocking this trend, they've been able to carry it on and give it the perfect modern twist.

Brother's Graduation

Chanel Jewelled eyebrows

The jewelled eyebrow at Chanel's autumn/winter 2012-13 show provided one of the biggest beauty talking points of the season. It made a bold statement and its an extremely eye catching look. Models wore different jewelled tones in the colour of the upcoming season.

I love it and I've done it myself, a few years ago when I went to see the rocky horror picture show.

 It's not a look you could wear, well unless you have a lot of confidence but its definitely a fun one to play around with, even if you only use the colour palette or the sparkling effect the jewels create.

Knee High Socks

Okay, so I went to see the new Spider-man movie on Wednesday and I noticed that throughout the film Emma Stone's character Gwen Stacy was definitely rocking the knee high socks. Now knee high socks are one of the most challenging trends for most people to incorporate into their everyday looks. It's one of the trends that scares me. I'm always worried I will end up with the 'sausage leg', you know when the socks cut into your legs, never an attractive look or that I'm going to end up looking like an school-girl. I'm 23 and people already mistake me for an 18 year old. However knee high socks on other people seem to create a bold statement and add a more textured and polished look to tights or a bare leg. Daisy Lowe and Alexa Chung are big fans amongst others and its a look I really want to try.

Emma Stone in Vogue!

So my new copy of Vogue arrived this morning and Emma Stone was gracing the cover. I absolutely love her and as I've said before she is one of my style icons, so I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with her. It also came with a guide to the Autumn/Winter trends of 2012, a lot of which I'm looking forward to. Summer isn't really my season because pastel's don't really suit me but this upcoming season is perfect, very gothic and decadent. I can't wait to see what the high-street does with these trends. 

Make-up wise I'm wearing very little at the moment. I like to have a very simple eye and play up my lips with a red or pink lipstick. This is very different to a few years ago when I used to pile on the eye-liner (no more). However saying this I am rather excited about some of these colour palettes for make-up this winter. I might actually have a little play around with some different looks.

Wicked Review

'Elphaba is not evil, but a compelling and honest character.' 

This is a very challenging read, if you are expecting the musical think again. It’s a re-working of Baum’s original tale of Oz, telling the story of the life of the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s an incredibly complex tale and deals with many different themes, humanity, religion, politics, family, friendship, good vs evil etc. The beauty of this story is that it teaches us that not everything is as it first appears.

One problem with this book that has been pointed out many times is the jumpiness from theme to theme. As I said before it’s a hard read with a lot of complicated plot lines it’s not the fairy tale Oz we read as a child. Not everything is explained in the book and I know some people need the answers to everything in life and want their books to package everything up in a neat little bow but that’s not how life works. There are times in her life that Elphaba doesn’t remember so we don’t either. We see the world how she sees it. Corrupt, confusing and unfair.

Wicked is an adult read, it’s funny, smart and a little bit dirty.

Stolen review

Stolen is the second book in the Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong. 

Stolen follows the story of Elena Michaels who we first met in Bitten. Elena is a werewolf sent to investigate someone selling information on ‘werewolves’, however she finds her contacts to instead be witches who want to warn her about an organisation capturing supernatural species, such as witches, vampires, half-demons, shamans and werewolves to experiment on them.

The story was intense, dark and packed with a lot of gruesome scenes, death, torture, sadism. Elena goes through a lot in this book and what makes the darkness easier to read is Elena’s calm attitude throughout that somehow she will survive this. During her captivity we get to see a glimpse into her past and a little understanding as to why she is so scared to give herself fully to Clay.

I felt like there were some gaps in the story, certain things could have been explained better and at some points I think it lacks emotion that would have been expected and even though we do see a vulnerable side to Elena during her captivity I would have liked to see her reaction to when she gets out but it’s a little glossed over. Also it’s a little bit slow to start whilst you are getting introduced to everyone. Saying this I can understand that as it’s only the second book in a long series and a lot of the characters you meet here have their own stories to tell.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading the next. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who likes paranormal/supernatural stories.