Helix Piercing - My Experience

This is only a short post I'm doing in order to help anyone considering getting a helix/cartilage piercing, hopefully I will convince you that it's worth getting! I had mine done on the 18th and I will go through where to get it done, the pain and the after-care.

I decided to get it done after my last exam as a treat to myself for my hard work, so me and my friends went to our local tattoo shop and signed up for the piercings we wanted; I got my left helix and my friend got her belly button pierced. I would say we went to probably the most expensive place in our town (mine cost £20) but I think it was worth it because we knew the hygiene standards and overall way they carry out the piercings would be safe and worth the money. The place was called Ashford Custom Tattoo and I would recommend it to anyone local. It's better to be safe than sorry so go somewhere that has good reviews and that people would recommend, its better to pay a little bit more and avoid infection in my opinion. 

We had to fill in some forms and then that was it! I was nervous to get it done but the people there were so great and talked us through everything. First, he sterilised all the equipment he was using then he cleaned my ear. He then felt my ear to find a suitable part of tissue to pierce through. I obviously couldn't clearly see what he was doing unfortunately, but he told me to take a deep breath in and a deep breath out, and on my exhalation he pierced through with the needle. It was more painful than I was expecting but that's only because I've only ever had my lobes pierced which doesn't hurt at all! The most uncomfortable part is when he slides in the jewellery in because it feels so strange.

I wasn't totally sure how to clean my piercing after I got it done so I looked on Google and asked friends with the same piercing. The conclusion was that warm water with a bit of dissolved salt helps soothe and heal the piercing. So now every night I use a cotton wool bud (Q-Tip) and apply salt water around the piercing. As you can see from the photo, the back of the piercing is long so that you can clean it easier, so I push it forward, clean around the jewellery with the bud and then push it back and do behind my ear. 

Watch this if you want to see the process in more detail and also how to clean it.

In conclusion I would say to anyone considering it to go for it because it won't be as bad as you think. 

Rihanna - My Fashion Icon

Hello! Since I haven't posted in 3 months (I'm sorry!) I thought I would try and make up for that by doing a post I have been promising you for a while now - my style icons. I have decided to just narrow the celebrities whose style I love down to just one: Rihanna. I will talk about why I love her style and pick out specific outfits from her. Enjoy!

I love everything about this campaign. I
especially love the symmetry of the S shape of
her body and how the pink shade of her glasses
clearly contrasts her red lips which clashes so hard
it actually works.
 Can I also add that this is my personal
favourite of all her hairstyles.

Rihanna

Probably one of the most influential celebrities with regards to style, Rihanna is in my eyes the most versatile woman going (I mean, is there a hair style she hasn't rocked?). A$AP Rocky wasn't wrong for using her in his Fashion Killa video (it's old I know but the point is still valid - link here) because that's exactly what she is; she takes a trend and blows it up and exaggerates it so much it suddenly becomes the coolest thing ever. 

Her appearance is just timeless as she's always bringing something new to the table - showing how she can pull off just about anything and make it work, which is what she has been doing for 3 decades now - making her a fashion icon for all generations as she is conscious of the current styles and aware of how to carefully contradict them or to bring a bit of her personality into it, which her and her amazing stylist Mel Ottenberg (whom I also adore as he is one of the main ridiculously talented back-stage genuises of the icon that is Rihanna) find no problem with.

A look by Rih that made me speechless from her beauty was from the Met Gala 2014, when she stunned everyone in a beautiful Stella McCartney cropped top and skirt. Everything was perfect about this for me, even the tiny hint of a tattoo emerging from her top and the sleeves which added some classic "Rihanna Identity" to tastefully juxtapose her white beauty elegance and grace. 

A more recent wow moment I've had as a result of her effortless style and eternal beauty and basically just her overall absolute coolness that makes her Rihanna, was a couple of days ago when I saw her cover for i-D magazine. If this doesn't scream the words modern, 2015 and simply awesome to you then I honestly don't know what will because I can hand on heartedly say this is an aesthetic I have never seen before and to me it gives a whole other meaning to the word "beauty". Instead of me waffling on about how cool I think she is, I think you should take a look at this article by Maeve Keirans for MTV who summarises perfectly the reasons I love this and adds some more weird and wonderful photos from this shoot.

  Please don't resist the urge to applaud when you see these photos - I know I did.

And finally, the last Rihanna moment I wish to discuss is the fun and quirky pop art inspired video for Rude Boy, which is basically just a visual mood board of colour, randomness and sex being combined to form a work of art masterpiece of a music video. Even if you (like me) are not a fan of the song or it's meaning - you have to admit that the video is new and each one of her outfits just fit with the video, and all of this just makes the rubbish lyrics and overall terrible song 100x better and acceptable to love 5 years after it has been created. 

And that, is why Robyn Rihanna Fenty and everyone behind the scenes with her fashion, is my number one style icon and goddess and always has been (and always will be as she continues to wow and impress). I say good luck in finding a 26 year old with a more impressive and original style portfolio! 

thanks for reading

A Day In London

So, we have just had half term here and my family decided to take a day trip to London to visit the poppies at The Tower Of London (representing the thousands that were killed in World War One). They were beautiful and such a breathtaking sight to see so many ceramic, hand made poppies covering the grounds of The Tower Of London.

But that's not what I came to blog about. I managed to persuade my parents to take me to the V&A Museum of Art and Design because of the fashion exhibitions there I'd always wanted to go to. Let's just say it certainly didn't disappoint my expectations! But, before I give you a tour of the museum from the photos I took, here's a look into what I wore...

I actually really liked my outfit as it was not only reasonably stylish and matching, but that shawl is the softest and comfiest thing you will ever come across! So here goes:

• Shawl - Matalan (surprisingly!), £10
• Black Shirt/Blouse/Tshirt - Oxfam, £5
• Jeans - Primark, £8
• Loafers - New Look, £15
• Necklace - Forever 21, it was a gift         

 So I hope that from that list you get the idea that the clothes I wear are nothing fancy and extremely affordable for all (total outfit cost just roughly £40!). However I hope you think that from seeing this it proves you don't have to spend hundreds on clothes to feel confident or make an outfit work. I think that for me, the tip for sensible shopping is that before you buy something thing carefully about what you have at home that it would look super cute with so that you're constantly making possible outfits up in your head and so everything you buy will get worn and will fit nicely into your wardrobe.

Now for the exciting part. We visited the Fashion section of the museum and I'll now talk you through fashion through the ages. I will hopefully give you a real life tour of the the museum as if you're visiting it yourself! (I took photos of the parts that interested me the most so there may be parts there I haven't spoken about here that's why it may miss out certain decades) ENJOY

"Spanning four centuries, the V&A’s Fashion collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of dress in the world. Key items in the collection include rare 17th-century gowns, 18th-century ‘mantua’ dresses, 1930s eveningwear, 1960s daywear and post-war couture. Plus a growing number of pieces from 21st-century designers." - V&A website 

So, we begin in 1755 with this huge dress! (This is the back of the dress by the way.) I like the moon-like patterns and the stars making it clear it was made to be worn during the evening on a night out. I'm not too keen on the colours - it reminds me of porridge. But, I do like the dress to the top right, the colours are very 2014 - black white and grey! And it's nothing too frilly or over the top - like the one on the right!

Now for casual wear at home in 1830. Again, the clothes in this era don't exactly excite me, but I have to add them in to show the progress fashion has made since then.

I actually love these! The top bodice is from France 1865 and is stunning, it has a real Japanese kimono feel yet it's only a french bodice! The bottom two pieces are from Paris in 1889. On the left is the arctic fox fur coat which would never fail to keep you warm I'm pretty sure. You could be naked underneath that coat and still be the perfect temperature to face a Parisian winter! Then on the right is a beautiful silk chiffon bodice with velvet ribbon which is totally glamorous and I kinda wish was the fashion now - I'd have one in every colour!

 Now for one of my favourite items at the museum: the beautiful evening coat on the left by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1890. The roses at the top combined with the faces and the blushing lips along the back of the coat are just so original and romantic, i love it! The silk chiffon dress on the right is also gorgeously elegant and beautiful and those shoes at the bottom by Jack Jacobus in 1930 were worn by the Queen Mother herself! 

After seeing that beautiful bodice from 1865 i was quite disappointed when I go to the era of  the kimono, they were so boring and no where near as exciting as that wonderful French one! But still in 1905, in Japan, kimonos became a growing trend. I like the one on the right, it's so heavily patterned and pretty, I think it wouldn't take much to get attention whilst wearing it. Joseph's technicolour dream-coat (not actually, I'm joking) at the back is also white interesting, but if it was me, I'd wanna wear it inside out to show of that rainbow! 

 This part of the exhibition was named "The Modern Woman" and presented items from 1925-1940. The first two from the left are bathing costumes and what I found interesting when looking at them was that I've seen those shapes (the high waisted short with a bikini like top) recently, showing that we really do just recycle styles from other eras over and over. The colours of these bathing suits were also popular this summer. However I'n not sure I can say the same thing about the beach suit on the right, I don't think we will ever go to the beach and say "oooh I love their beach suit" it would be more like "..ridiculously short shorts and crop top" but still, I have to say I love the stripes and just the idea that this was worn to the beach really.

To the right is a Vogue magazine from US 1927 and its clear that the covers of magazines have changed a bit since then.


This beauty on the left is a Coco Chanel evening trouser suit from 1937. I think it's amazing, covered in sequins and sparkling in the light with lace all down the front, I can see it being very comfortable and a suit you found yourselves dancing in all night long in 1937!

Now for the "post war couture" part of the introduction. So as you can see from the photo on the right, the womens style in the 1940s was very formal with suit jackets or blazers with long skirts, brooches were also very prominent at this time. In the outfit on the right that gas mask bag is made from reptile skin - just a fun fact! And yes, to the left we have another look into the progression of the covers of Vogue magazine, these are both from 1949.

Now for the 1960s when haute couture became more significant in the world, this photo is of a Christian Dior presentation showing the different layers of a garment.  

This was the "Revolution" presentation from the 60s in London. It's almost as if they just discovered colour in this age and the mixing of different clashing colours within one piece, I mean look at that dress on the left and those ties! I absolutely adore this era and that dress in the middle is so cute! 

Now we shall venture into the 1970's and I have one word: flares. The clothes at the front are quite tribal and very flowing, with colour schemes the complete opposite to those found in the previous decade. However, as soon as I saw this presentation my eyes were instantly drawn to the shirts in the back from Ossie Clark in the 80's, I must admit I own a shirt similar to those, as I love the vintage feel and pattern of those thin blouse like material shirts.

So this was from the exhibit called "Radical Fashion" from the 1990s. From seeing this it's like you can't pinpoint an exact look to this decade because everyone experimented style-wise and there was no iconic trend that people would immediately identify with the 90s like there was with the floaty clothes from the 70s and the bright, colourful clothes from the 60s. (I wouldn't know for sure of course because I was only there for about 13 months of this decade!) When I saw this exhibit I was drawn to the fashion illustration on the back wall, because I have an interest in these and have tried to create some myself. I then looked into the information said about that illustration and found that it was actually by the one and only Karl Largerfeld for Chanel in 2009!

So, were now getting quite recent in the museum and I found many of the things in the 00s to 2014 really interesting because well quite honestly I'm not a big fan of history so I like recent things and seeing popular modern designers work right there in front of me was amazing. These shoes were just wow, works of art but I'm not sure if I'm totally feeling them, by Meadham Kirchhoff in 2012, I think its the yellow fluff that took them too far!
These shoes were made to be worn with that unique outfit shown there on the right. I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo or not but the dress had like a people paper chain feel to it all around and it was actually quite cool really. I think that the concept is genius and if there was a top made like that I may actually wear it. Overall I actually really loved that outfit combined with the cute thigh highs, but then put it with the shoes and just oh dear.
This interesting coat was from Alexander McQueen! I couldn't believe the museum had clothes from such famous designers! Anyway so this coat, I'm not overly keen on the whole religious vibe going on but I do like how original it is and well I don't think anyone will have seen anything quite like that in Primark or Topshop to be honest, which is what fashion is all about - stepping outside the ordinary!


So, there we have it! A tour of the fashion shown in the Victoria and Albert museum, hopefully we got a sense of how constantly changing fashion is and also how much style has changed over time! I personally thought it was the most interesting thing I ever saw so I hope you enjoyed it too. But, there was one exhibit there which showed one trend across most of the time the V&A looked at: TSHIRTS! I can never quite see Tshirts going out of fashion to be honest and its something you can literally put anything onto and then make it wearable and fashionable.




So here it is, a selection of the kinds of Tshirts worn ageing from left to right from 1913-2014. Band Tshirts and memorabilia was certainly a big thing for the 80s section of the museum. I liked this exhibit because it shows how fashion across  a hundred years can be linked but still changing, if that makes sense!

Okay, I'm finished now I promise! Its funny because in my last post I apologised for how short the post was but now I think it's appropriate to do the opposite! But well I did explain in detail fashion from the 1700s to today so it was never gonna be a short one. I hope you enjoyed my post and I strongly advise you go to the V&A asap - an amazing experience I loved!

(:Thanks For Reading:)

Paris Fashion Week

Hey! This is only a short one I'm afraid - I'm literally so busy at the moment. I thought that this would be a pretty disappointing fashion blog if I don't post anything about at least one fashion week, so I've decided to produce a post summarising my 2 favourite shows at Paris Fashion Week, which was Wednesday 24th September to Wednesday 1st October. I chose to talk about Paris fashion week as opposed to London or New York for example, simply because as I have mentioned before, something about the city fascinates me and I can't wait to experience the fashion capital for myself. 

CHANEL

"Karl Lagerfeld staged another epic catwalk show in Paris for SS15"- Metro

Karl Largerfeld has a reputation of not being one for half-measures,(what with last years supermarket style show) and this years spring/summer show from Chanel was no exception to this. He organised a staged Parisian feminist march, featuring beautifully dressed models (of course) and brought the catwalk to life, showing a new, exciting way to present a runway show. The Boulevard Chanel runway itself was set as a typical Parisian street, complete with puddles and zebra crossings. Cara Delevigne led the show, with models such as Kendall Jenner, Georgia-May Jagger and Gisele Bundchen holding signs which shouted slogans such as "He For She" and "History is Her Story", my personal favourite was "Make Fashion Not War"! 
Luckily the excitement of the show didn't distract from the clothes which were as usual - works of art. There was a real 70s feel to the clothes, and a lot of use of bright psychedelic watercolour prints across the show. Largerfeld and the Chanel creative team, often combined modern shapes and tailoring with vintage colours and patterns to create a 2015 spin on 1970s style. In the look on the right, the bag strap is covered in peace signs cleverly intertwined with the Chanel logo. The clean and simple collar completes this outfit for me and brings it together as one look. Knitting (shown below) stayed strong among the collection too, using extremely thick wools to create a more home-made. Overall it was another surprising yet brilliant show from Chanel. Watch this for a closer look.

(Right)Cara and Gisele after the Chanel show, creating the Chanel double C logo.

STELLA MCCARTNEY

"Stella McCartney serves up a breath of fresh air in her SS15 collection" - The Evening Standard

Stella McCartney I find, is always a designer of more wearable fashion, therefore I personally find it easier to take inspiration from her looks, which is great. Comfy Catwalk was apparently the theme behind the show and The Evening Standard described her latest collection to be designed to "empower women through comfort" and similarly to the Chanel show, the clothes had a strong feminist vibe to them. (Below) Knotted sandals were created from the designers signature vegan leather.

    It's fair to say that monochrome is definitely in at the moment, so its interesting to see McCartney use the current autumnal colour trends within her spring/summer collection.The collection also features many other beautifully complimentary colours including white, cream, blush and blue, on top of new, modern prints. The collection noticeably avoids over-used and obvious floral designs, meaning each outfit is something we've not seen before in a Spring collection. One trend throughout the show was that the clothes presented the same, loose fitting silhouette, further showing Stella's idea that clothes don't have to be right fitting or revealing to make a woman look stunning. There was a certain elegance and grace with a modern, powerful twist swept down the catwalk in the Opera Garnier, and I loved it! Front row view of the show!

 

So there we go; my two favourite shows, again I apologise for the length.

(:Thanks for Reading:)

The GQ Awards

I know I said that my next post will be on my style icons, but after seeing photos of my favourite celebrities attend this event last night in glamorous outfits spamming my Instagram today, I thought I must do at least a little post about it about a few of my favourite and least favourite looks.

GQ is a magazine I have recently started to be interested in due to the huge style sections online (here incase you want it http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style ). Even though its aimed at a male audience and looks into the current male fashion trends and all things man, I still adore looking at how they can create works of art and tell a story through the clothes from mainly just trousers and shirts (dresses and skirts are not usually accepted into male fashion!) To be honest, I sometimes like more clothes from Topman than Topshop and I have been known to purchase clothes from the male sections of shops - I love the over sized baggy jumpers, skinny jeans and Vans look, and just the effortlessness of menswear overall, so some days when I'm feeling lazy fashion-wise, I opt for a more boyish look. Anyway, less about me more about last night!

On 2nd September, the GQ Men of the Year Awards were held at The Royal Opera House in London, and I plan on looking into a bit of the the red carpet fashion that attended (best dressed/worst dressed kinda thing), so for a proper update on the actual awards that were received see here for a list of all the GQ winners, so here goes! By the way, everything I say below is my own opinion on their styles and in no way am I saying things factually, I'm looking at what they wore, describing it and giving my opinion:)

The Woman of The Year Kim Kardashian West wore what many have described to be "her most revealing outfit to date" in a black latex bodysuit with a gunmetal skirt by Ralph & Russo's haute couture. I actually really like this, especially the length of the skirt and the mechanical and industrial feel to it that makes it modern and interesting, kinda like a sexy robot I suppose.

In my opinion the best dressed couple of the GQ Awards has to be Lewis Hamilton (Sportsman of The Year) and Nicole Scherzinger (worst went to Dougie Poynter and Ellie Goulding; her dress reminded me of loo roll and Dougie looked like a Captain Jack wanna be!) However, I love Lewis' look slightly more (it was the Men of The Year Awards after all I suppose). There's a lot going on in Lewis' look and a lot that could've easily gone wrong but I like that; the tie, the trainers, the slightly wet look jacket but combined it totally works and shows a good mix of designers Armani and DSquared2. As for Nicole's beautiful pale pink bandage style gown, she presented class and elegance whilst looking absolutely stunning, styling this with beachy waves (simular to Kim's) and shiny black nails (to match with her boyfriends tuxedo/tennis look of course). Overall the couple were a grand success on the red carpet.

Moving on to slightly less successful looks with surprisingly Pharrell Williams (Solo Artist of The Year) who is usually one of my favourite male style icons. While some may be all over this laid back, mix of styles and colours, I personally was not a fan (and I think the lady on the left of him agrees with me). I found it all too much - the customised Chanel boots can stay along with his signature Pharrell-style hat but the rest can go and be worn on another occasion (or just never), totally not for red carpet.


Now for this one I may be slightly biased considering she is one of my favourite celebrities out there, but for me Cara Delevingne absolutely rocked the red carpet last night in highwaisted black shorts and a laced naked dress by Burberry (can I also add that the My Burberry Fragrance ad with Cara and the legend Kate Moss was one of my favourite campaigns to date, an image shown from it below) teamed with an exciting splash of yellow in her gorgeous velvet coat and also her cute little purse and then those Tabitha Simmons boots oh my, the outfit was a recipe for perfection, bravo!

The final look I will talk about is from Rita Ora, I actually find myself in love with a lot of what she wears a lot of the time and style wise although no one will ever top RiRi, she reminds me of Rihanna quite a bit. So her GQ look was in my opinion: spot on. Her sheer thigh-split one shouldered gown wowed everyone at the event, showing off her perfect pins and what The Mirror described to be an "ample amount of cleavage". Although the striking glittery gown was amazing, I found myself more in love with her make up and hair, the classy yet modern up 'do with an awesome French side plait matched with the dark and mysterious smokey eye look did it for me, along with the beautiful dazzling earrings. Another perfect look from the girls!

I could talk about this forever going into the looks from Daisy Lowe, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jourdan Dunn,  and more but I don't want to bore you on my second post, however I think from the little I've covered it's fair to say even though it was the Men of The Year Awards, the girls clearly stole the spotlight fashion-wise!

(: Thanks for reading :)

Hey There!

Hi, I'm Hannah! I decided that it's a known fact that most bloggers will revisit their first post and cringe at the embarrassment of their younger selves and their lack of blogging knowledge and experience, but you've gotta start somewhere! So I plan to make this introduction as cringe-free as possible (and also waffle-free but that's another target all together!). 

I also noticed that bloggers tend to kick-start their blogs with 50 facts about themselves,  I considered doing this and then decided against it based on the fact that I'm simply not interesting enough for that, so instead I shall divide 50 by 10 and attempt to inform you of the 5 best facts about me, hopefully giving you a sneak preview into what's to come on this blog (like reading the blurb of a book), so here goes:

1. The Basics - I'm fifteen and I live in Ashford (sometimes appropriately nicknamed "Trashford"), and unfortunately, always have done. Ashford is in the county of Kent and the country of England (I had to add that just in case). It's fair to say its not the prettiest of towns and one day I hope to move to somewhere slightly more scenic and ideally by the sea, however for now it will do. 
   
   Here I present to you a cheerful selfie of me from April, wearing my favourite dress, but more on denim and the Eiffel Tower to come on my blog.
2. The Fashion Industry - Filled with excitement and new trends constantly being made, fashion fascinates me and always has done. I long for a career in fashion and textiles, preferably as a journalist (editor of Vogue would be nice) so I thought I would get a head start and create a magazine style blog to get a feel for the industry and what people enjoy reading about.  My blog name represents my style, this is because many different eras, people, and places have helped influence me, like the individual squares of a patchwork quilt coming together to produce one unique piece (with also an element of sarcasm and guilty pleasures too, also shown in my blog title). I won't say anything else about my style as I will leave that to other posts. 
3. Music - Much like every other teenager on the planet, music is a huge part of my life. My wardrobe and iTunes are extremely similar actually: varied, questionable that the same person owns everything there, and both mostly revolving around the 1980s.  So here we go with my top 3 bands: Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths, Oasis. I saw Arctic Monkeys live on the 23rd of May this year with my Dad and it was without a doubt the best day of 2014 (so far), and it pains me to know that I wont be able to experience my other two favourite bands live - yet another disadvantage to being born in the wrong decade, I'm just too late! 
   
4. Literature - English is my all time favourite subject, and I hope to take English Literature for A level next year. I love to indulge myself in the beauty of words on a page and I have to admit that sometimes I will be that person in the class that takes the meaning of poems way too far, but its yet another one of my passions, hence why I have started this blog - to express myself and love of all things fashion through letters and punctuation, my favourite! I must also confess that I was among the thousands who sobbed endlessly at the beautiful film "The Fault in Our Stars" (don't panic; I read the book first). 
5. Haribos - For my final fact I thought I should do something a little more fun. So, Haribos are my favourite snacks, I like the hearts because they make me feel loved. If you didn't get that then check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9scm3NCIH_E . Anyway, I've figured there's not much else I can say about Haribos so I'm going to be sneaky and add another one in here: Tumblr. I love the community feel of it and how we're all roughly the same age and so all have the same views on things (and also the same sense of humour) its the number one home of fandoms and I'm almost 100% sure that all of my funny stories/jokes will start off with "I saw this post on Tumblr..." So if you want, have a nose around my Tumblr blog here: http://thirteen-balloons.tumblr.com/.

So there we go, Fashion, Music, Literature, Food and the Internet, the basics of my life in 5 points. Not all my posts will be this boring but hopefully you have now got to know me a little better. My next post will be about my style icons and influences (God knows when I will post it; I'm going into year 11 this September so my GCSEs are right around the corner, but I promise to do it asap!) 

:)thanks for reading(: