Summer, summer sun

So I'm almost half way through my travels in Brunei, what an amazing place it is so weird to be living in such a different culture! Within the first week of staying here I had the absolute pleasure of meeting the sultan of Brunei! He is equivalent to their king and the country love him! After meeting him I could see why, he was such a relaxed man and very easy to speak to! 

So far I have been making the most of the sun by sunbathing at the yacht club often I have also visited shopping centres which I must admit are not quite like those back home in the UK..... they also sell a lot of 'genuine fakes' which made me laugh! People often stop and stare as you walk past because we are white and British however people are very friendly and are often just interested to find out where you come from.

The other day we also did a guided private boat trip along the river of Brunei and went to see the wildlife along the coast. We went at dusk so the tide was going out and we were lucky enough to see monkeys, crocodiles, snakes, otters, monitor lizards and many different types of birds in their natural habitat, I must admit I am not a massive animal lover but this was incredible and nothing like I had ever experienced before! 

The country is very interesting and there are some beautiful sights to be seen. Although choosing appropriate clothing is really hard because its sooooo hot out here the last thing you want to do is wear long items of clothing that cover your knees and shoulders! I have mainly been wearing maxi dresses with pashminas as it is simply too hot to wear trousers of any kind in the day time. Although I can't complain seeing as I'm from England where it rains 90% of the time! 

Off to Brunei

So... I am currently just finishing off packing for my holiday tomorrow, I'm off to Brunei for just over a month to visit my parents who have recently moved out there! I love packing because I love finding all of my summer clothes I forgot I had.... (I haven't been on holiday in a while!) and matching up different outfits for my time away although I hate how there is a restriction on luggage, it makes my time packing very hard especially as I can be very indecisive!

I also have to bare in mind that Brunei is a muslim country and very hot, what a challenge. Luckily I have some lovely pashmina's that I purchased in Turkey a couple of years ago that I can take with me and plenty of maxi dresses, I knew I would wear them again at some point! I also have some great new sparkly sandals recently purchased from the high street! I am also trying to pack fairly light (haha) so I have some room to bring lots of little bits back with me! - Feeling very excited although not so much looking forward to the 17.5 hour flight!

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

At the moment I am really loving heeled strappy sandals they are so versatile and can be dressed up or down and they are so comfyI I recently bought a pair from New Look for just £19.99 they look great with black and white dresses and my new white trousers from mango! I think they really add a touch of class to a summers outfit and they are also in so many high street stores at the moment in so many different styles and colours.

Here are my new shoes ... (Not a great pic as it was taken on my phone!)

Here are some other lovely sandals from the high street stores made into mood boards... 

DUNE

NEW LOOK 

RIVER ISLAND

TOPSHOP 

ZARA

Valeriya Kutsan - "weird beauty" - make up

Valeriya Kutsan

I absolutely love all things monochrome and when I found out about Valeriya Kutsan’s 2012 collection I fell in love with it! Kutsan uses only black and white paint throughout this stunning collection, I love how creative her designs are and how they show that face painting is not always about novelty children’s parties.

These inspiring images are a collaboration between the artist Valeriya Kutsan and photographer Alexander Khokhlov (a Russian photographer), the collection was named “Weird Beauty.” Alexander Khokhlov said, “In these series we decided to deny any colour in our series except black and white to make more accent on forms and volume."

“The experiment should prove that usual simple forms, familiar things or characters can be a main part of wonderful beauty looks. Model faces in this project are not just canvases for the face-arts – they play their own role in each photo with different parts.”

Kutsan started by coating the model’s face with white paint before applying many layers of black paint to create the outstanding monochrome effect. Personally I love the collection of images from this collection and think they are so empowering and inspiring.

“Women think of all colours except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.”

— Coco Chanel

Elie Saab- A/W 13/14 Couture collection

ELIE SAAB 

As a fashion student, I have a real love for Haute Couture; one of my favourite couture designers is Elie Saab. The collection for A/W 13/14 is actually incredible! I love how glamorous and extremely feminine the gowns are. Many of the garments include deep colours such as reds, greens and gold’s I also love the fabrics used throughout the collection like satins and chiffons which shine in the light and add texture and layers to make each garment individual.

Images from the A/W 13/14 Haute Couture show

My favourite garments from this collection....

Personally I think this collection is very regal, especially with the colour palette used and the cut of the garments including the long length in dresses. These dresses are fit for a princess, and I can definitely imagine Kate Middleton wearing a dress from this collection. Especially as Kate has been known to wear Elie Saab before and Elie Saab has an established name for dressing royalty and many celebrities. 

Just a few famous people Elie Saab has dressed...

Kate Middleton in Elie Saab dress

Princess Madeleine in Elie Saab dress

Emma Watson in Elie Saab dress which included pearls and crystals 

and was part of the Haute Couture A/W 11/12 collection

Katy Perry in Elie Saab dress

Meanwhile as a student I can only dream that one day I may own an Elie Saab Dress! 

Coordinates and matching sets

At the moment I am really loving colourful coordinates, they are so on trend and really eye catching, there are is also a wide selection on the high street from stores such as H&M, Miss Selfridge, Zara and Mango although my favourite sets are from Topshop and River Island because I love the colours and prints on offer. I also love how you can mix and match garments to create a different style for example, teaming a bright bold printed blazer with a LBD- perfect for a smart/ casual look!

Obviously these trends have filtered from the catwalk from designers such as Mary Katrantzou, Dior, Victoria Beckham, Balmain, Calvin Klein, Pedro Lourenco and Stella McCartney. Although these collections are slightly different as they are power suits in very strong colours such as deep blue, black and bright red. I hope this trend will last a while until next S/S as it's so easy to mix and match!