Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ooh it is snowing outside, it's cold and blustery, but I love this time of year! The snow is so pretty and makes me want to dress all warm and snuggly!

There is nothing like a bout of snow to make me want to dress like an eskimo, in layers of cosy knits! So, I've been on the H&M website and have been truly inspired by some of their knitted gorgeous bits. I've posted some of my favourite pieces below, so have a looksee and remember, when it's cold and snowing outside, it gives you the perfect excuse to buy some lovely new warm things! Seeing as we've just had pay day, I think you can treat yourself to a piece or two.

Stock up on knits, faux fur and anything cosy and cuddly - enjoy! x

Cardigan £34.99

Dress £24.99

Earmuffs £2.99

Hat and mittens £12.99

Cardigan £49.99

Scarf £12.99

Cardigan £29.99

Wear Your LBD to Work Day!

How nice would it be to do something good for charity AND look fabulous at the same time?

Well, look no further. The Clothes Show Live (which takes place from this Friday) is launching "Wear Your Little Black Dress to Work Day!" Where they are inviting all women to wear their LBD to work on Friday 3rd December in aid of Oxfam. They are encouraging every woman to bring a bit of glam back to the office and donate £1 to help people living in poverty.

To get involved, visit clothesshowlive.com/news/oxfam  and bring a bit of vampish glam to your office, whatever your line of work! Although, with the cold snap, maybe it's best to accessorise with some Ugg boots, mittens and lashings of faux fur. Oh well...it's all for a good cause. Enjoy, and spread the word! x

Black Chiffon Fluffy Banded Waist Dress £120 Topshop

Competition Time! Win Tickets to the Clothes Show Live!!

Hello lovely readers, it's time for a treat (well, seeing as it's the weekend and all!)

The lovely people behind the Clothes Show Live - the best fashion event of the year - have given me two tickets to use as a competition prize for one of my lucky readers! Ooh I spoil you!

Clothes Show Live takes place in Birmingham from the 3rd - 8th December, so you have to be able to get to Birmingham...a small price to pay to attend the ultimate fashion event of the year. See below for all the info you need as well as the question. If you want to enter, simply e-mail me the answer to belleoftheballfashion@yahoo.co.uk

Clothes Show Live 2010 is back to host the hottest and most stylish fashion and beauty event of the year! Returning to Birmingham’s NEC, 3 – 8 December 2010 and bringing together hundreds of your favourite fashion and beauty brands and boutiques; non-stop catwalk shows and the UK’s hottest celebrities, it’s the ultimate shopping destination this party season! And what’s more, you could be going for free.

This year’s 45 minute Fashion Theatre performance with 40 models and dancers will set the party season off in true style – packed with 250 fabulous outfits and inspirational hair and make-up looks. There is no other show quite like it!

New to this year’s show is the ‘Sknitch’ zone, where you can watch presentations and demonstrations, learn new techniques, browse through beautiful fabrics and gain insight into everything related to sewing, knitting, needlework, stitching and embroidery. Customisation is back and Sknitch is the place for every lady to tailor her individual fashion needs!

Running alongside Clothes Show Live is the most exciting new dance experience – The Dance Show. Pick up advice, take part in classes and get your groove on at what is set to be the most spectacular dance event of the year.

For your chance to win this amazing prize, just answer this simple question:

QUESTION: Which TV style guru will be presenting at the Fashion Theatre at this years Clothes Show Live?

Head to the Image 

Clothes Show Live takes place at Birmingham’s NEC, from 3-8

December 2010. Tickets are available online now at clothesshowlive.com or by calling 0844 581 1256.

Don’t miss out on your chance to attend THE fashion and beauty event of 2010 and good luck! Enjoy x

Love Hearts and Crosses

Ooh I do love a new fashion discovery, and when one of my best friends pinged this website over to me today, I couldn't help but get excited over the delectable goodies it contains!

Introducing Love Hearts and Crosses, an online boutique that sells a wide range of contemporary, vintage, and handmade jewellery.  Quirky and cute is their moto and they have a whole heap of pieces that you won't find anywhere else on the high street.

Their influences come from current trends, childhood books and films and just about everything else! Check out the fab scrabble ring, the chunky animal lockets, the glittery heart shaped clutch bag and my absolute favourite, a whole range of classic Alice and Wonderland jewellery...love!

The price points are very resonable, ranging from as little as £3! Get online now and start stocking up for Chrismakuh...and don;t forget to buy one (or six) bits for yourself. Enjoy x

http://shop.loveheartsandcrosses.co.uk/ 

OMG Lanvin Loonies!!

OK so I know I have already done a post on the Lanvin collection, but now, the collection is finally available to buy!! Collective WHOO HOO!

The collection went on sale at over 200 stores worldwide yesterday morning and there were hoards of fashionistas desperate to get their mitts on these more precious than gold pieces. Some die hard fans actually camped out overnight to make sure they got in first!

Everything in this collection (even the carrier bags are gorgeous and oh so stylish!) is brilliant. Highlight pieces include a gorgeous one shoulder ruffle yellow dress and a beautiful floral flouncy number, if you go on the website now, you'll see that EVERY item (bar one cap) is sold out! Eek! Some crafty fashion folk have already put their gubbings on ebay, selling the pieces for up to 4 x their retail price...hmmm..

Customers were only allowed to buy one of each item, and with people boycotting changing rooms, you can expect a flurry of unsuitable returns this week - so don't lose heart if you haven't managed to get your piece of fashion history just yet, and don't give into the ebay trap. Just keep checking the website and speaking to your local store to find out if there have been returns yet. Good luck and enjoy x

What the Waissel??

Not a proper post - please excuse me, I shall post properly later, but I just wanted to have a looksee at what the luckiest (and most desperate) chick on TV looked like this weekend.

The X-Factor once again threw up a whole lot of shocked responses from the audience...is it worth commenting on how Wagner went through yet again, or how a relatively talented contestant (although I'm not a fan) went out, and the desperado that is KaWais stayed in?

Let's just have a quick look at the girl's new look - obviously, they are trying to create an entire image overhaul, in the hopes that the public might warm to her...the flaky psycho hair thing obviously isn't doing it for the Great British Public. So what do we think? Personally, the new elfin crop seems to be a plea to the public to see her as a new innocent "woe is me" figure, and even though she stated "this is me" I swear she said the exact same thing when she was wearing that Halloween get up with the ridiculous hair and freaky make-up! The dress was fab - can't argue with that, as I can't argue with Grace Woodward...but Katie...seriously, the new hair might have gotten you out of the bottom two, but surely by now (how old is she, 25?) you should know who you are. Copying Emma Watson ain't going to win the X-Factor for you.

MAC and Me!

Fun day today - I had a make up trial for my upcoming wedding in Feb! A fab girl called Elina popped over with a SUITCASE...yes...a whole suitcase filled with delectable MAC goodies! She is not a weird hoarder, Elina works for MAC, pretty high up, and does freelance make-up on the side...fab way to make a living.

Now I am someone who is very particular about my make-up. I don't like foundation, I love dramatic eyes, and I like my eyeliner done only a certain way. That being said, I wanted to be open about the trial - but I knew that a typical "bridal" look is not something that is...well...me. I love experimenting with make up, especially my eyes, and I knew that a pretty and subtle look just wouldn't cut it, and I want to look like me on my wedding day..just better!

Elina was fab, she took all of this on board and whipped open her case...my mouth dropped! It was as if she had swept an entire MAC counter into her bag. hundreds of lipsticks, lip glosses and lip pencils, dozens of foundations, powders and brushes and just a massive amount of eye shadow palettes, mascaras and eyeliners. Girl heaven in a bag.

I'm not going to give away too much, but needless to say, I was a MAC fan before, but now, I am their number one fan. The colours in the eyeshadows, pigments and lipsticks are just amazing. The mineralized foundation that Elina used glided on and felt like I was wearing nothing at all, but looked beautiful, and the lip gloss I opted for was a special charity edition, where the proceeds (minus VAT of course) goes to helping fight HIV and AIDS - it also looked perfect!

MAC have got some amazing collections at the moment, and I highly recommend popping down to your closest MAC counter (try going to Harrods if you can and ask for Elina) and testing out some products and fill your basket. My favourite has to be Venomous Villains - iinspired by the Dark Side of Disney the collection has four parts corresponding to each of the evil cartoon villains.
Cruella De Ville, the fur loving, skunk haired glam villain from 101 Dalmatians.
Evil Queen, the jealous and vain beauty queen from Snow White.
Maleficent, the witch/dragon who is quite possibly the scariest Disney baddy of all time from Sleeping Beauty.
Last but not least Dr Facilier, the voodoo baddy from The Princess and the Frog.

Other products I really recommend from today are Viva Glam, a new collection which features Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga - the lipgloss I'm wearing on my wedding day is from this collection. The Mineralize foundation, which goes on like a dream and the Prep and Prime Skin lotion, which is fab for popping onto the face before applying make up, as it minimises pores, gets rid of oils and makes make up stay put all day! Perfect for brides.

I've put some pics below so have a look, and check out the website. Enjoy x

Get Ahead of the Trends with Pret-a-Rever!

I'm very excited today, as I've had a wee fashion article published in the JC today (all the Jewish mummies are very proud) but I don't want to toot my own horn - I'd rather gush over an amazing new website founded by an amazing gal, Lucy Norris.

Say hello to Pret-a-Rever! This fab new exclusive website, is all about being on trend - but not on trend now, or even next season, but the season after that and beyond! It also allows you to buy into those seasons, so you'll really have your finger on the fashion pulse. Forget about that camel coat for AW10 and the colour blocking for SS11 - you'll be knowing what to rock before the High Street has any idea!

Pret-a-Rever is a new online magazine website dedicated to the stories within, not only fashion, but all creative industries. Not only is it packed with stimulating editorial content, but it has a trend guide, which shows you where trends come from and where they are going. Once the content has enticed you to buy, you can click on the pic and be directed to an online luxury retailer, such as my-wardrobe or Start-London (and loads more in the pipeline!)

This a a truly revolutionary website, and I believe amazing things are going to come of it - remember the name and be ahead of the trend!

http://www.pret-a-rever.com/

Faux Love

I love the winter! Mostly because of the fashion. I love layering up, I love knitted things and woolly things, I love hats, scarfs and mittens, and most of all, I love faux fur!

This season, the faux is everywhere, from Russian hats at Primark (£3 total bargain) to faux fur mittens at New Look to faux fur stoles at River Island. We can thank Chanel's AW2010 show for the faux overload, and I truly believe with fur, it's better to fake it! I wore an amazing faux gilet the other day and everyone commented on it, they could not believe it was fake, and it was so soft and warm, no one had to know if was £12 from Primark! I've also got a huge collection of Russian and pilot hats, earmuffs and faux trimmed boots, which keep me warm and (I think) looking pretty alright!

Some people are skeptical of the trend, but I urge you to try it out...a gilet, a hat, a scarf, give faux a go! Enjoy x

Trapper hat £29.99 River Island

Faux fur gilet £75 Topshop

Premium faux fur collared coat £175 Topshop

Faux fur leopard print stole £29.99 Zara

Grey faux fur trapper hat £19.99 River Island

A Ring Fit for a Princess

Wowzers! Mazel Tov to Prince William and the lovely Kate! It'll be so nice to see a royal wedding in my lifetime! Now this isn't really a fashion post, but I just wanted to point out the stonker of a ring that Mr. Windsor has bestowed upon his missus. Not only is it a fabulous, beyond gorgeous ring, but it was the late Princess Diana's ring, so this is some amazing family heirloom!

Garrard Jewellers created the ring - an oval sapphire of the bluish hue. It's an 18-carat engagement ring with 14 smaller diamonds on the side, forming an elegant and extremely elaborate ring! Ah well, I'm sure we can pick up something similar at H Samuels.

 The couple are due to tie the knot next spring or summer...can't WAIT to see the dress!!

Something cute for a Sunday night!

This is not much of a post tonight, I do apologise, as I am trying to make my blog more of a daily fashion flash - like a little fash mag each day - well that's the aim! Tonight though I am exhausted, after a weekend of gorgeous babies (not mine!) family, friends, engagement parties and a 500 mile round trip in a car with the boy getting very frustrated at the traffic, I have just walked into my nook, had a cuppa, watched in distress and pure fury the X-Factor results (seriously, what the hell?!) and want to do the smallest of postings of something I am a little obsessed with.

You've gathered my now my love of Japanese fashion, well, I also have an obsession with all things Japanese, and these little Momji dolls are among my favourite! Momiji Dolls are collectable friendship dolls, each with their own characteristics, likes and dislikes. At the base of every doll is a slot into which can be used to hide a secret or friendship message for someone special - cuuuute! They are so gorgeous, I currently have about 6 scattered around the house. They just add a gorgeous bit of colour and personality and they make the sweetest presents. They come wrapped in little japanese take out boxes and little sayings on the side. I am not a doll fan, in fact, I hate dolls, creepy little bastards, but these are something else. So sweet, so collectable, and perfect for Chrismakuh presents, or a little gift for yourself.

They're stocked at John Lewis and Selfridges, as well as plenty of other places and are about £11 each. Check out the website http://lovemomiji.com/ and be prepared to go: awwwwwwwwwww!!! enjoy!

Bewitching Style on the Red Carpet

OK, I really did not think I would be doing a second post on Emma Watson in a week - but that girl looked beyond fierce at the Harry Potter premiere yesterday! Since she chopped off her hair, her style status has shot straight up, with her taking on a whole new fashion persona fitting for young British celeb royalty.

The 20 year old elfin beauty left little to the imagination in a sheer black dress with mini voluminous feathered skirt (ticking all the fashion trends) by Spanish designer Rafael Lopez. Miss Watson usually dresses ever so slightly more demure at previous premieres, but this bold and fabulous ensemble, together with the elfin crop and slightly vampish make-up appears to be her telling the world "I've arrived!" In all her fashion glory, so long Hermione Granger, hello Emma Watson!

Tea-Shirts!

I am a girl who loves a good cuppa. Scrap that, a cup of tea (made well – milk first) is one of my all time favourite things. Now, you may have noticed a certain group of old skool tea characters are back, gracing our TVs once again – I’m talking about of course, the Tetley Tea Folk!

These awesome characters were last seen on screen in the iconic 70’s, 80’s and 90’s ads, and now that they are back with us, not digitally enhanced and not in HD – proper vintage,  what better way to pay homage to Gaffer and the crew than with these awesome t-shirts, starring the Tetley Tea Folk.

Tetley have teamed up with must-have celebrity t-shirt brand Truffle Shuffle to create four unique designs.  The vintage style tees are available for both men and women and are being sold exclusively at www.truffleshuffle.co.uk priced £20. Grab yourself your favourite style and snuggle down with a lovely cuppa…mmm…enjoy!