Alexander McQueen | Vertically Challenged

Spring is in the air and there is a Spring in my step, cliché or not there is nothing better than waking up in the morning to a tree covered in full bloom flowers and the sky a wonderful shade of blue, but what lies ahead for the year for me. I think the phrase ‘time flies’ is simply all to real, I now go onto my Timehop and see reminders of a bungee jump in New Zealand three years ago or a fancy dress night 6 years ago with numerous photos taken in a less than presentable student flat. Now I like to think of putting some of my time into different things, although the next bungee jump is already planned for the end of this year, in none other than South Africa.

Of course on the cards are the numerous festivals coming up in the Summer, unfortunately no Glastonbury for me however I do think I will be partaking in an old favourite South West Four, just a stones throw from my humble abode, taking place on Clapham Common. The line up is unmistakably good, Faithless headlining Saturday, their first major London performance in four years I believe, not to be missed. Within my girl group of friends we have also been looking into Croatia, a place I’ve never been before but have only ever heard amazing things.

One thing that is special about London is that you’re never short of things to do that extend outward from the classic pub session (not denying however these will still be a common occurance). I remember last year having lunch and a prosecco cocktail, in the height of Summer, with my Mom before visiting the fantastic Glamour of Italian Fashion Exhibition at one of my favourite museums The Victoria and Albert, London. We spent a little too much money in the gift shop stocking up on books and beautiful prints as well as a miniature vintage Fiat 500 for my Dad to match his actual vintage Fiat 500. Previous to this I attended a lecture on Italian Fashion with a special focus on Salvatore Ferragamo, Shoemaker to the stars and if only all lectures in life had been like this one, so informative and fascinating. Next on the list is of course Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, also at the V&A, I’m hoping to fit in time to go to one of the 2 talks accompanying the exhibition too! (Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, 14th March – 2nd August, for tickets click here)

The other event I would love to attend which is slightly out of my reach is the Trust Women conference, a 2 day long event covering topics like Human Trafficking and Slavery as well as Women’s Empowerment and Special Focus talks. In light of some of the recent events including the tragic lost of over 800 lives in the Mediterranean Sea, these topics are more relevant than ever. With an advisory board that includes Cathy Russell (U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues), Cherie Blair (wife to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, lawyer and founder of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women) and Christie Turlington Burns (Founder, Every Mother Counts, filmmaker, author, super model) the event is sure to be a success once again. (Trust Women Conference, 17th – 18th November).

Funny how when you’ve finished education you eventually start to look back fort it, however this time I’m looking for more fashion trends and empowering women seminars rather than geometry and physics calculations.

Summer is now officially over.

As much as it pains me to say September is rearing its ugly head, back to school items are littering the high streets and Autumn/Winter is well and truly on the shop floors, with the bikinis looming in the distance covered in red pen. Time to think about what this Autumn has to offer, what we have to look forward to and of course what styles to take on. We can start small for now and venture into the Autumn nail trends, if we can take inspiration from the Autumn/Winter 14 Ready to Wear shows and focus on Calvin Klein Collection, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga, then it has to be deep dark blues, bright blues and bedazzling blues.

Black is black especially for A/W however especially in the case of Balenciaga blue shines through brightly, the shade of cobalt is effortlessly used to highlight shapes and textures in the designs. Follow this trend with your nails and go for a sharp cobalt blue, to bring a bit of brightness to your nails. Calvin Klein as ever kept to the brands core values of sexy, simple and chic only showing a hue of blue in the form of a dusty blue, try replicating this with a matte nail varnish or a textured nail varnish. Sarah Burton delivered once again with the Alexander McQueen show, it was dark, gothic and everything we have come to expect from the name. Mixed in with the mesmerising use of black were pops of blue and even purple, try a midnight blue colour or if you’re needing a little lift go for a baby blue and a statement black ring finger nail.

I can’t count how many nail varnish’s I have in my collection, especially after my birthday I have acquired quite a few more! However for me you can never have too many, whether you change your nail varnish once every full moon or once every hot dinner, this Autumn look out for the blue tips and try your own!