White blazer love

Ever since buying my white blazer from New Look (1) - a bargain for £29.99 - it seemed to have filled a huge gap in my wardrobe I didn't even know was there. It's an easy way to dress up your jeans, smarten any look and goes with everything.

Here's my pick of white blazers for every budget. Do you own/plan to buy a white blazer?

1. New Look, 2. ASOS, 3. H&M, 4. Zara, 5. Karl Lagerfeld at Net-a-porter.com, 6. Chloe at Net-a-porter.com

 

Have a stylish day.



Blue

 

Who would have expected, I've gone all navy! And got some flowers in the pictures to match it :)

Wearing: DKNY jeans denim jacket (old), Karl Lagerfeld tank top (invisible in most photos...), H&M skirt (old), Carvela at Kurt Geiger shoes (sold out), Mulberry Bayswater, YSL arty ring, ASOS stacking rings, New look bangle, Michael Kors watch and Dior sunglasses.

Have a stylish day.

Two ways to wear: The little black dress

The beauty of LBD - there's countless of ways to wear it. As Karl Lagerfeld said: "One is never overdressed or underdressed in a little black dress." And who am I to argue?

 See the original posts here and here.

Have a stylish day.

Colourblocking with Karl

Colourblock top: K by Karl Lagerfeld, H&M jeans (sale, similar), Jimmy Choo shoes, Mulberry Bayswater bag, random bracelet, ASOS zig zag rings, Michael Kors watch, Nails inc. Picadilly circus nails.

You may have noticed my new hair. It's slightly darker and I've got fringe! What do you think?

Have a stylish day.

Vintage Sunday by Annie Leibovitz

The way I came to make today's Vintage Sunday post was anything but straightforward. Usually when I prepare this post, I want to include some recent news and fit it somehow in the past. I was thinking about Stefano Pilati and how I'm sad he's left Yves Saint Lauren. Don't get me wrong I'm sure Hedi Slimane who's replacing him will do great, but I still feel sorry for Pilati and I hope he's going to find a great new job soon or will start his own fashion label. Thinking about all of this I remembered how sad and shocked I was when Tom Ford left YSL and Gucci. Tom Ford is my favourite designer ever and this is how the story came about. I was going to post about his era for YSL, but I found this amazing editorial starring beautiful Natalia Vodianova shot by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, interpreting Alice in Wonderland in a very clever and unusual way.
Above we have Alice falling into the rabbit's (Tom Ford) hole wearing YSL Rive Gauche by the designer.
Below you can see Olivier Theyskens and Natalie in his design for Rochas, Karl Lagerfeld and his Chanel Haute Couture creation, Christian Lacroix and Haute Couture dress by him, Stephen Jones who wears a custom-made hat of his own design, Dior Haute Couture by John Galliano, Alexis Roche, Atelier Versace dress and Donatella Versace and Rupert Everett all playing different parts in the story. Awesome editorial, no?
Have a stylish day.

(Photo: Style.com)

Stylish answers - by model Katerina Smutok

opening Corrie Nielsen

My stylish readers, I have a new regular feature for you (yes another one) and this you can expect every Friday, giving you something interesting/insightful to read just before or over the weekend. By working in fashion industry I have met many incredible people and here I'll be bringing you their knowledge of the industry and their particular field. There will be different areas every week.
Starting off with a Russian born model Katerina Smutok, whom I met couple of years ago, whilst working backstage at Ascot, where we put on a daily fashion show for the people in the Royal enclosure part. Katerina has had her first experience of London Fashion Week this season and has working with Karl Lagerfeld on her portfolio. Read all about it here.

1.) I spotted you at quite a lot of shows during London Fashion Week, including Corrie Nielsen and Jasper Garvida. What others did you walk and what was your favourite and why?
That was my first fashion week in London and it started quite well. My first show was for Corrie Nielsen and it was an honor to open it. I did other shows as well like Central St.Martins show full of young creative designers, Dans la Vie, Francesca Marotta, Ji Cheng, Prose, Dion Lee and also Jasper Garvida. I won't hide that the favourite was for Corrie: beautiful looks, make-up, great organisation and feedbacks after the show.

2.) What other fashion weeks did you work at recently?
I always do Berlin Fashion Week and work for the best designers there like Michalsky, Streness, Unrath und Strano, Lala Berlin, Kaviar Gauche, Dimitri, Marcel Ostertag, C'est Tout and many others.

3.) What has been your best modelling job/career highlight?
I think it was Chanel Haute Couture in Paris. But the most impressive was again with Karl Lagerfeld on Fendi show held at Great Wall in Beijing, China. That was massive!

4.) How did you start as a model/ what do you enjoy about the job?
I was born a model. My mother is a designer in Russia and she always dreamt about long-legged daughter with blonde curly hair... Well, long legs I have, blonde curls has my brother))) The best part of my job is... Meeting new people, I enjoy the company of creative people; I love traveling, learning about new cultures and customs; and I love every moment when I walk out on the catwalk - the preparation, rehearsals and dressing for only 20sec of fame!

5.) You must travel a lot, what is your favourite country/city?
London is my favourite with Berlin close second. And the 3rd is Moscow - I still believe it's the most impressive and grand city.

6. How do you keep in shape/look after yourself?
I can't start a day without nice breakfast, I always have lunch and light dinner. I'm a model, but I do eat! I have to walk a lot on castings and sometimes during fashion week you have to see about 20 different clients in opposite sides of the city, so I need proper food to give me energy to make all these appointments. Plus I take classes at Central school of Ballet and I do yoga at home when I have time.

7. What are your dreams/goals?
I'm sure I won't leave fashion when I finish modeling. I was thinking about opening a shop and have actually started working on it already.

8. What's next for you? Any exciting campaigns you can share?
This month I am planning to go to New York to meet my new agency Muse. I am very exited as it is a new market for me. So please wish me luck ;)

We'll cross our fingers for you! Thank you for the stylish answers and let us know how you get on.

Have a stylish day.

at Jasper Garvida

Diane Kruger - style icon

Diane Kruger has been on my radar for quite a while as she is always so impeccably dressed, often spotted in Chanel, but to everyone's surprise she wore this beautiful Chanel Haute couture creation just days after it appeared on catwalk! That seems very advanced even for her. But I'm sure she's good friends with Karl Lagerfeld for being such good ambassador for the brand that she can have anything she wants whenever she wants. And why not?! I'm sure after looking so chic as always it will only increase the sales. I love her style and can't wait to see what she'll wear next.
Have a stylish day.

Chanel - timeless classic

Coco Chanel is the ultimate style icon. She revolutionised the way women dress. She was the one who started wearing trousers and used men's simplicity in women's clothes. She caused controversy but eventually people loved it. We should all thank her. Many designers are still inspired by her and her legacy continue.
Karl Lagerfeld is very good at keeping the original ideas of Coco and recreating them season after season, making beautiful clothes and accessories sought after all over the world. I love Coco's piles of pearls and a minimalism in her designs that still seems so fresh. No wonder vintage Chanel is so expensive, it looks modern and is definitelly a timeless piece. It's well worth investing in a piece of Chanel as it wil never date. People can't get enough of this luxurious label. Whatever it is: clothes, accessories, beauty and more you're guaranteed quality and style.
People often quote Coco, they dress like her, they use her as an inspiration. There have been countless books written about her and  movies about her live. People can't get enough of her. True style never goes out of fashion and she is a great example of that. Marilin Monroe famously said she wears nothing to bed except few drops of Chanel No 5. It's been years and years since she started her great label and I am sure it will continue to be very popular for years to come.
Have a stylish day.

My top five designers

Last night I couldn't sleep and I was thinking about... Fashion, naturally! About my blogs, you - my readers, what I wanna write about, and especially my favourite designers. Sometimes I've got quite a few post in my head ahead and sometimes I just improvise. Today I'm planning posts about two people whose work I admire the most (don't wanna reveal too much, you will see soon), but you could probably guess as I write about them a lot. So I decided to compile a list of my top five designers.
Number 1 is definitely Tom Ford, but the other four I share equal interest in. Therefor in random order as they came into my head are:
Christopher Bailey
Alexander McQueen
John Galliano
Karl Lagerfeld
All of course very talented and recognised for their excellent work and bespoke creativity. I love their work so much and they are the reason I am interested in fashion and excited to see season after season what they are bringing to us, their vision of beauty that I and many women all over the world are dying to wear. Well done to them all and let's hope they will keep us well dressed and more for many years to come ( sadly except the late Lee McQueen). Salute. Make sure you let me know who are your top five.
Have a stylish day.
PS: the picture above is a cover of book I picked up last week at V&A. Their book shop is a must visit for any fashion enthusiast. It's very well stocked and I could spend hundreds of pounds in there..

Collector's item - Chanel DVD

The day we've been waiting for is nearly here for all fashion lovers. The biography movie Coco before Chanel is coming out on DVD on monday, great not only for those who missed the film in the cinema, but also it will be nice to see it again and it's gonna be an amazing piece for your DVD collection. The great designer is such an icon and it is inspiring to see her life before she became famous. She was very determined and a hard-worker - great assets for the global stardom she achieved. Many years after she died her legacy lives on. I share her passion for pearls. They are my favourite piece of jewellery and I believe in this case the more the better. All women owe her for what she has done to women's fashion. And I think Karl Lagerfeld is following in her footsteps really well making Chanel THE label everyone wants to wear.
.