Luxe for Less: Sequin Skirt

Many of you style-conscious variety, follow the musings of @DKNY PR Girl via her twitter and she has since launched a blog for when "140 characters just aren't enough!"  One of my favourite editions is her to do list and in at number 4 is....

"Buy oversized sequin mini skirt for holiday soiree perfection!"

The link takes you to this beauty...

Available from DKNY, of course, it's retailing at around $275/£235, it's almost quite reasonable *Louisa shields herself from credit busting divas around the World*

I was elated to see, however, when flipping through the December issue of Elle last week, this clone by Marks and Spencer's Limited Collection for just £55.

I'm a huge sequin fan and consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur.  Yes there is such a thing as sequin snobbery and I have defined the rules.  I may even do a "good sequin v bad sequin" post someday.  

These just aren't any sequins though, they are the new trend of sequins, known to those that are fashionably well versed as "paillettes."  Elle described them best, I think, as "sequins on speed."

Teamed with a traditionally festive colour both of these numbers will be perfect for over the, dare I say it, fast approaching party season.

*Gasp* Can't find the Marks and Spencer's version online, hopefully it's not too late for us all! *Grabs coat, heads to Oxford Street*

*Images taken from www.dkny.com and www.cosmopolitan.co.uk

No.25

ELLE and I have two very close ties.

1.  I used to work in their Advertising Department.

2.  This year we have both turned 25.

If you didn't know that the October edition is their big Birthday special then I can only assume you have been hibernating somewhere, as even the London tube is running an ad campaign for the Kate Hudson adorned cover.  I can proudly say we own two issues of ELLE October in my household, which almost turned into three.  What can I say, once I work for a brand I work hard for it, even after I've left.

An ex colleague informed me before release that the October cover was AMAZING but if I'm completely honest I don't think it's one of their best, although it is visually beautiful.  I love this publication with all my heart but I have a very distinct image of Elle, I don't do well with change and I still feel that for me the perfect covers are the ones similar to the Chloe Sevigny and Mary Kate Olsen's, I featured here.  However, Kate is just the main newsstand, there are actually five covers in total that can be purchased from ELLEUK .   Or if you are particularly observant and feeling extremely lucky you may want to enter their competition running on their contents page to win all of them.  This is why I adore this mag, their designer covers are always coveted in the office and the Boris Johnson cover was just plain genius!  Once again they are offering an array of interesting takes on their issues and I'm not embarrassed to say that I most definitely want all five, with my personal favourite being the very British John Galliano artwork.

Upon purchasing my copy I did release a little squeal of excitement as it felt as though it was oozing out of its cover bag, screaming "Read me! Read me!"  I'm still currently working my way through it but so far it doesn't disappoint.  

Monday night also paid homage to the mag with Hachette Filipacchi hosting a 25th Birthday Bash at Whitechapel Gallery in assoication with Swarovski.  I am sick with envy that I couldn't be meandering about the party, especially after seeing that Vivienne Westwood was speaking at the event.  Editor Lorraine Candy described her as a personal hero and one of the best British designers of all time that really exudes the Elle brand ethos and therefore the perfect person to be their guest of honour.  You can watch some footage of the night, including interviews with both Lorraine and Vivienne on Elle TV here.

ELLEUK.com have featured the outfits worn by several editorial staff at the party on Monday and after perusing through them all their were two very clear front runners for me. 

Lorraine Candy in Vivienne Westwood

Kelly Skerrit (PA to ELLE Excecutive Fashion Editor) in a mixture of High Street

Kelly flaunting some FABULOUS accessories

I adored both these looks, most notably Kelly's.  I thought hers was glamorous, fresh, funky and completely affordable with her mixing and matching the top and skirt from Topshop and River Island.   You couldn't get a better poster girl for "personal style" and "wearing it your way", ELLE's most important message.  There should also be an honourable mention to Kelly's boss Stacey Duguid and her most delicious shoes. 

Shoes from YSL


To see more editorial ensembles see here.


But the festivities don't stop there, get your butt over to this page on ELLEUK.com for some more thrilling twenty-fifth birthday treats which includes six personalised ELLE beauty products.  One in particular is tres exclusive as there have been 25 perfumes made by Francis Kurkdijan, inspired by the ELLE girl, that can only be won via ELLEUK.com.  My other must have item from the range is Bobbi Brown's eye couture set, which comes with a limited edition magazine cover sleeve but at a whopping £175 I fear this one may stay on my wish list for some time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

*All images from Elleuk.com

And so I rant....or 10 things they don't tell you about the jobs you have to do whilst trying to break into the performance industry

Firstly, please let me apologise for the collective whingeing that is about to take place within this post.  There shall be no homage to the latest outfit I'm coveting or the sumptuous bubble bath I've been indulging in, nor will I be regaling you with stories of prestigious events I have been attending.  This blog post is purely an outlet for my artistic frustration and overall dissatisfaction with my latest promo escapade and the general public that I am unfortunate enough to meet along the way.  Please note upon saying "you" I do not mean literally you that are reading my blog, so please do not take this attack personally, unless of course you are one of the ten mentioned below.

1.  I haven't had an audition for what feels like months....oh wait....it has been months and I'm parading around in a gold prom dress handing out free tissues making a fool out of myself, so when you exclaim "so you're a (insert brand here) model" and I respond with "representative, I'm not a model" and then you go on to say "do you feel like you've reached the top of your game?"  I'd just like to let you know that comment was NOT COOL.

2.  Nor is it cool that when I'm handing out free alcohol samples that are restricted to one per person for health and safety reasons, you come and grab another one.  After politely telling you that the sampling is one per person, I don't find it particularly cool either that you speak to me as if I don't have two brain cells to rub together and say something along these lines "Don't worry your pretty little head about it.  I'm just trying to go to work, just like you are.  Chill out.  Just smile, it's not worth worrying about.  I'm going to take this drink and you're just going to get over it because lifes too short for you to be worrying about this."  I find it even more uncool that I was so shocked at the tone at which you spoke to me (I should know better) that I spent the best part of an hour thinking of how I should have responded.  FYI  if you're reading this, rude woman from Waterloo my favourite come back to date is "I'm assuming the job you're on your way to doesn't require people skills."

3.  Are you seriously going to make me explain to you what a tissue is and the concept behind this marvellous invention?  Oh and ps that whole 20 minute decision crisis over whether you should take my free sample or not  was just a little ridunkulous....not to mention the fact that when you finally did take it you then had immediate free sample remorse and handed it back, what I'd like to know is how long did your husband have to wait for a response after he proposed?!

4.  Telling a colleague that we need said tissues we're sampling to "wipe our vagina's with"....not cool on multiple levels.

5.  Spitting in all of the drinks we've just poured as well as all over me and then laughing about it is disgusting behaviour and not something that you should be proud of. EVER.

6.  Asking me "Can none of you go out and get proper jobs instead of just handing out free stuff?" will result in me crying the whole way home.  Thank you.

7.  Calling me a stupid girl when I try to stamp your hand (I did ask nicely first) so we can monitor you've taken one of the alcohol samples (again because its one per person for health and safety reasons) is not just rude but completely demoralising.  If I were stupid I wouldn't have got good G.C.S.E's, A Levels, a really good Degree, a place at an Acting school in New York, an Irene Ryan Award nomination by the American College Theatre Festival, a job at the World's biggest publishing house Hachette Filipacchi and respectively the Worlds biggest selling fashion magazine, Elle.  So forgive me but no wonder I secretly smiled when you spilt your drink down your suit after leaping away from me whilst berating me as "stupid!"

8.  Nor is the stamping a tagging device for the Government, you are now the 10th person to joke/ask me that today.

9.  Blowing your nose into one of our free tissues and then throwing it in one of the tissue bins we were sampling from for me to find later and yes I did know you did it on purpose, is gross, you're older than me, I expect this kind of childishness from a child but an adult, that's just plain wrong.

10.  And finally, basically insinuating that you'd like me to stamp your penis, is a, beyond me b, not funny and c, kind of sexual harrassment.  Just saying.

"Bloody ELLE! They've done it again!"

Whilst working at ELLE I was privvy to many a meeting defining our brand and how we were going to project that to the reader.  One of the points made by Editor Lorraine Candy that really stuck in my head was how they aim to show the cover star in a completely different light to that which we are used to seeing them.  Their September 2010 issue could not have further proved that point.  Whilst grabbing snacks at a newsagents for the cinema yesterday with a friend I pointed out the Emily Blunt cover, for her to look at me quite blankly for a considerable amount of time.  The realisation eventually dawned across her face and there was most definitely a shock factor to it.  This friend worked quite closely to Miss Blunt back in 2008 during Wolfman and therefore should have known her from a mile off.  Her exact words were "My god she looks so different!"

Well done ELLE you've done it again.  To find out how they shot Emily's cover look read The Cover Blog

Two of my all time favourite ELLE covers....

Chloe Sevigny March 2008

This cover was made to "create a stillness on the shelves" and was the first after rebranding in 2008.  It was oddly enough the first issue that inspired me to buy the mag and randomly enough I interviewd for a job with them just weeks later.

Mary-Kate Olsen September 2008 (Subscribers Edition)

Newsstand Cover

This is by far the MOST amazing ELLE cover, great styling, great editing and great cover girl!

As Seen On Screen

Tuesday night in the US marked the last EVER episode of MTV's  The Hills.  According to reports it was filled with nostalgic cliches  about "moving on" and ended with a cheeky wink at the audience when the final shot revealed backdrops pulling away and a full on tv set.  So it was scripted after all?  All of it?  Some of it?  I guess we'll never really know.  It didn't stop there though.  The drama continued off screen at the wrap party when an uninvited Spencer Pratt rocked up to the Roosevelt Hotel disguised as an old man in order to gate crash.  He failed.

Continuing with the theme, I too have had some of my own The Hills excitement this week.  Mine and my best friend Leanne's Bodyform Sponsorship Idents began to air on the show in the UK.  Back in December 2009, a week before Christmas I was preparing for my departure from Elle when the perfect casting appeared.  The client required a few pairs of friends that were comfortable in front of the camera to talk about thier friendship as well as having a strong understanding of The Hills and its cast.  I phoned Leanne immediately and fairly frantically and next thing I knew we were at the casting the following day.  From the get go we knew we were going to get it.  Not arrogance, just adrenaline and pure want I think.  We were right.  Just three days later I took some last minute holiday from Elle and we were arriving at a home in Stockwell, in which we indulged in a particularly yummy lunch and pretty much got paid to hang out and chat. 

Several girls Idents have been running for some six months now and I have begun to become concerned of late that ours were never going to make it on air.  Lo and behold though, Sunday lunchtime I received a call from Lea informing me that ours were finally on.  Since discovering this though we have also learnt that not only are we running continuously on MTV but we have also been used the most, currently with a running total of 10 Idents altogether. 

The only distressing fact being, that for some time now, since seeing this picture of myself, I like to think of myself as a Lauren Conrad type.

I instead look like this.