Outfit of the day - Graduation

I had my graduation last week which was held at Wembley Stadium.  It was so nice to see all my uni friends after almost 6 months!

I spent many shopping trips looking for the perfect dress.  In the end I got this one from Topshop.

My friends & I spent a long time throwing our hats in the air until we got a good picture!!

It was such a special day & I can't believe I've graduated now!  The past 3 years have gone so quickly.

This next month I am so busy with Christmas, partying and I have a trip to Venice planned with my boyfriend, which I am so excited about :)  

Thanks for reading!

Outfit of the day - Ibiza Boat Party

I have just returned from my second trip to Ibiza & every time I fall a little bit more in love with this beautiful clubbing island.  I would very much like to visit again soon.

This time my friends & I decided to go on a boat party, which is a must!  It combines music and dancing with the beautiful scenery of Ibiza.

Views from the boat of rocky islands of San Antonio bay.

My friend & I on the boat.

I'm wearing (left) coral shorts, Topshop, £26 & lace top with establishment, Topshop, £35.

My friends top is from River Island.

River Island, jelly sandals, £13

These are the best holiday footwear! They are really comfortable & fashionable too.  The neutral colour means that they can worn with every colour. Also they are great to wear in the sea, if like me, you do not like your feet in the water :)

Thanks for reading!

June Glossy Box

I was happy to get home from work today & find my first Glossy Box! I've been waiting hopefully all week & was so happy it finally arrived.

After watching all the blogs/vlogs about May's Glossy Box, I knew I had to subscribe & I wasn't disappointed.  I am a sucker for cute packing and boxes so I love the whole Glossy Box "look".

The outside packaging in a dark dark with baby pink Glossy Box logo's all over.

The Glossy Box itself is pale pink with a grey logo.  

After undoing the pink box & carefully undoing the black tissue paper, I found 5 lovely products!

(left to right)

1 - Batiste, original - dry shampoo

2 - Bioeffect, EGF Serum - Face Serum

3 - Lalique, Perles de Lalique - Perfume

4 - OPI Designer Series, Mini Nail Lacquer - Nail paint

5 - Abahna, White Grapefruit and May Chang

I am so excited to test out all the products, I think they all really wearable & there are no products that I wouldn't really use.

Looking forward to the July box :)

Thanks for reading!

The End of the Beginning

So I have finally finished my Fashion degree and now I'm off to start the next chapter of my life in the world of work, which is very exciting.

I finished my collection at the end of May, then my uni had 2 fashion shows and a stand at GFW.  It so exciting to see the finished products and was very proud of how much effort I had put in, sometimes staying as late as 10pm at uni!

Images from my Fashion Show.

Topshop Haul

So I decided to have a little break from uni work the other day & bought a couple of items from Topshop online & in store before I went to work the other day.  As I work for Arcadia, I take advantage of the staff card I have, which gives 25% off all the "seven nation" brands.  However if you are over 18 you are given a "store" card then get a monthly statement, which means you can easily loose track of your spending!

Anyway, the first items I bought were 3 nail paints, in "Delusion" (dusky purple), "World's End" (pale blue) & "No Love Lost" (coral).  All 3 colours are really popular for spring/summer especially my favourite "no love lost", which is in the shops a lot right now.  (in this photo it actually looks quite pink, but it is more a coral colour!)

Nail Polish - £5 each

I have already got "Gone Fishing" (pale green), "The Big Easy" (blue) and "Bee's Knee's" (yellow), which I really love as well.  I find the nail paints really easy to apply & you only need one coat, but it does chip after a couple of days so a top coat is defiantly recommend.

When TopShop first brought out a make-up, I was actually really excited.  As I love all their clothes & accessories already I thought their make-up would be really good but after trying some products I was quite disappointed, especially with their skin tint.  I felt that it supplied quite a thin layer as well as quite sticky & wet.  However, I felt the waterproof mascara & nail polishes are the same quality as any other brand.

I have mentioned before that I am going to Spain in month so I bought a new bikini, which is coral & white stripes with black straps.  Coral is in the shops a lot at the moment so this bikini is a great way to stay on trend on the beach this summer.

Bikini - £26

Also, Topshop at the moment have lots of t-shirts & vest tops in with "burnt-out" detailing & a loose pocket.  After buying the dusky purple t-shirt & cream vest, I was really excited to see they had brought out a floral one.  The colours on this top are gorgeous & are definitely suitable for spring/summer.  They are pastel colours & look really fresh.  As it is still quite cold at the moment, I will probably be wearing it tucked into jeans, but it will also look good with shorts or a skirt in the summer or on holiday.

Floral Pocket Top - £25

Back knot detail

Finally, I got 2 pairs of dolly shoes & a pair of tan sandals, with an average price of £18, I thought they were all great value for money & as the weather warms up it will be nice to get out boots!

Tan Sandals - £18

Nude Ballet Pumps - £16

Satin Embroidered Pumps - £18

Tans & nudes will be big again this spring/summer with shoes & bags being the easiest way to wear this trend.  They look good with most colours as well, as they neutral colours & are a must buy for a summer wardrobe.

I am off to Nottingham next weekend to see my sister so will be doing some more holiday shopping, so expect another haul soon!

Thanks for reading :)

(All items can be found at http://www.topshop.com)

Week 7 - Fabric & Market Research

So today I took a trip to Shepherds Bush with some friends to visit the fabric shops.  It was the first time I have been and I found so many good quality fabrics at really good prices.  As I was in the area I could not resist taking a trip to the lovely Westfields of course!

I decided to take a look at the new Abercrombie & Fitch "sister" store, Gilly Hicks.  I have never really been that interested in A&F or Hollister, but after seeing a review on youtube of GH (& the cute carrier bags!) I have found that I really like the clothing and underwear.  I bought a pair of navy shorts which we £18 & I thought was a reasonable price.  Since I arrived home I have looked on the website & found lots more gorgeous stuff. 

Also, I looked in Pull & Bear for the first time & fell in love with the printed tees.  I was told it is a Spanish company, so after looking online found out there are quite a few stores in Barcelona & the north of Spain, which is where I am going in 4 weeks so will definitely be saving room in my suitcase!

The main reason for going to Westfields, was to look at branding and promotion already used in the retail industry, which now I will document for my marketing research before making my own logo.

As well as looking in London for fabrics, I have actually found my main fabric on ebay, a khaki nylon, for £1 per metre!  Another online site I have been buying fabric is Eternal Maker, which supplies really cute printed cotton such as ditsy, polka dot & gingham.  The fabrics are not cheap & is sold in 25cm quantities.  I also bought a Paris map fabric, which is not for my collection, but I really liked it so might make a cushion cover out of it instead.

Thanks for reading :)

Week 6

Spent all day drawing working drawings for all 6 outfits and will now have to put into illustrator.  I have also slightly changed a couple of design features on my line-up again.


This week I have mainly been sorting out my journal boards for my portfolio.  This is the second time I have re-done them.


Concept Board:

Colour & Fabric Board:

Analysis Board:

Final Collection Line-Up - Week 5

Been a long time since my first post as I have been very busy!  I have now change my final line up twice, which has meant a lot of re-drawing and also alterations to my already made toiles.

It is now the end of Week 5 and I am just completing my fourth toile, which is a jersey bodysuit and drawstring trousers, with a waterproof zip off jacket.  (Outfit 6 below!)

 1        2         3        4         5           6

To date I have sewn 3, 3 and 5 in toile form, which I will take pictures of and post.  This week I am concentrating on outfit 6 as well as fabric and knit samples, which I also hope to post pictures of very soon!!

Last week I went to London Fashion Weekend with some friends from uni. I bought a gorgeous bag from a company called Papa Razzi and it basically looks like a rolled up magazine, I love it!  I also managed to see the fashion show, which included a couple of well know designers, Mark Fast and Bora Aksu, their collections were amazing.  Also, I really enjoyed the first "look", which was based on the film Black Swan and included sugary pink ballet themed clothing.

Thanks for reading :)

Final Collection - Week 1

I'm Lottie, a 21-year-old fashion student from the UK.  I am currently in my 3rd year at university in London & have just started research for my final collection.  I want to use this blog space as a journal to document my work, ideas and, later on, the final outcomes.  I will try to update once a week.

The theme of my collection is a new look for summer music festivals.  As research, so far I have looked at the camping aspect, with quilting techniques from sleeping bags and nylon fabrics with patterned cotton linings.  The main aims of the collection are fashionable, comfortable and practical.  In order to do this I have chosen a range of fabrics including gingham cotton, polka dot jersey, stretch denim, chunky knit and waterproof nylon.

Key garments include body suits, shorts, jumpsuits/playsuits and Mac's Key design features include quilting, peter-pan collars, exposed zips/ hook & eyes, double ended zips and pockets.

Below is an initial concept board, I am currently working on an updated version and should have that finished for next week.

Thanks for reading :)