AS PROMISED..

.... A picture of my gold party dress in action at the office Christmas do. I pinched this picture off Charlotte from the VM team, thank you Charlotte! Can't wait to wear the dress again, it felt really comfortable and is such an easy piece to wear. Still bankrupt though!

FLUORO FANTASTIC!

Something tells me the fluoro trend is going to be big news next spring/summer, so I'm really hoping Santa stuffs the above Marc by Marc Jacobs chunky chain link bracelet with interwoven neon yellow cord into my stocking this Christmas. Come the new season I predict fluoro accessories will be must-haves pieces, after all, they will perfectly update our wardrobe's for the new season, adding a vibrant pop of colour to winter's neutral colour palette. Pick up this natty number at Net-a-porter.com now, and reap the benefits next year. Click to buy.

GOING FOR GOLD

I've been out burning money I really don't have this weekend, as it's my office Christmas party this week (although it seems very premature to celebrating Christmas). I'm not a big fan of overspending on occasion wear, my cost-cutting outfits this year have included a £14 Tesco dress worn for my friend's wedding, a 3 year old pencil skirt worn for my graduation and a £30 River Island dress for just about every other event. My reasoning is, that there's no point spending my hard earned pennies on occasion wear when I seldom need it.

However, my upcoming office Christmas do has pressured me into buying a dress so out of my bargain-buying comfort zone, I feel slightly nauseous just glancing at the till receipt. Because when the party is being held in a Michelin-starred restaurant, with the owner of our company, who gives his name to a global jewellery brand, flying over for the event, I felt this was one occassion when I couldn't resort to Primark.

So, I bought this amazing gold brocade dress from Whistles...



I'm not telling the price...

THE PRIDE OF BRITAIN RED CARPET LOOKS

Last night's Pride of Britain Awards saw a star-studded line-up don their gladrags for their red carpet moment. But who were the winners and losers in the style parade? Here's my review of the celeb looks..

Christine Bleakley put her Daybreak troubles behind her last night and graced the red carpet in a black, assymetric, sequin encrusted number by Dannii Minogue's fashion label, Project D. Project D dresses are fast becoming a celeb red-carpet favourite, seen previously on Amanda Holden, Liz Hurley, and of course Dannii herself. I'm not a big fan of this dress on Christine however, the look maybe simple and tasteful but it is also doing nothing for the tv presenter's fantastic figure. The length is odd, it should either be thigh-skimming or knee-grazing, not languishing in limbo-land somewhere in between. So whilst look this isn't a red carpet disaster, it's also not winning any best-dressed prizes from me.

Next up best pals Cheryl Cole and my style crush, Nicola Roberts, walked the red carpet together in two contrasting looks. Cheryl played it safe in a floor-skimming black gown, perhaps choosing a simple gown following the criticism her recent X-factor outfit choices have recieved. I think Cheryl looks nice here- simple, grown-up and stylish. Nicola wore a gown by a favourite designer of mine, Brit boy William Tempest. I am in love with the look- the mid-calf length of this dress is bang-on-trend and the bejewelled platform sandals add a touch of girly luxe to the overall outfit. All-in-all another sartorial triumph for fashion's new darling.

Finally, whilst I don't want to be seen to be Coleen-bashing (she's had her fair share of that in the media lately), I didn't like Ms Rooney's look at all; her dress was made from some odd, shiny, black-patterned material that looked cheap and more suited to a bargain basement gown. However, I have to give kudos to Coleen for her on-trend leopard print accessories and her updo that was reminscent of the hair styling on Prada's a/w10 catwalk. But even these styling touches failed to rescue such a dire dress, a shame, because Coleen's looking trim and healthy (whatever's going on in her private life). What are your opinion on the red carpet dresses from the event?

SAM CAM'S BACK

I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed when Samantha Cameron announced she pregnant earlier this year during the General Election Campaign. And before you ask, it’s not because I fancied Nick Clegg (although I did and still do) and couldn’t stand the positive PR her pregnancy gifted the Tory’s campaign. No, it’s actually because I am massive Sam Cam fan, and what’s more I adore her fashion sense; however, without causing massive offence to pregnant ladies, baby bumps and high fashion rarely go hand in hand. And just as I feared, Sam Cam's burgeoning baby bump confined her to the safety of empire line dresses for the rest of the campaign, which may be tasteful and demure, but are also downright boring.
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Anyway the good news is, beautiful baby Florence has joined the world and Samantha is well and truly back on her sartorial game. She has pulled some great outfits out the bag at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham this week, most notably this lovely Paul Smith dress from his A/W 2010 collection with pink water rose print detailing. Whilst Samantha tends to wear more accessible fashion from top end high street brands like such as Reiss, Zara and LK Bennett, it's still great to see Britain's leading lady wearing a great British designer.

HOT LOOKS FROM ACROSS THE CHANEL

Chanel's highly anticipated S/S/11 show took place in Paris today, and whilst the show itself was another monochrome masterpiece that only the legendary Karl Lagerfield could concieve, off the catwalk celebrity guests Lily Allen and Keira Knightly made the style statements that grabbed the headlines.

Both Allen and Knightly are celebs who, in the past, have been criticised by the fashion media for their less-than-conventional approaches to fashion. Whilst both girls never fail to look fabulous at red carpet events, away from media glare Lily is berated for her 'chav chic' styling, whilst Keira's casual, laid-back approach to fashion has been branded sloppy.

However, both girls were polished to perfection at the Chanel show today, Lily demonstrating exactly how to do maternity chic in structural chanel boucle wool jacket and shift, whilst Keira channeled the Bright Young Things in a drop-waisted twenties inspired dress that complemented her sleek bob perfectly.

Parisian style may be considered to be the epitome of good taste, but Allen and Knightley prove us Brit girls certainly know how to rock the look.

GO GREEN

First of all I'd like to begin this blog by apologising for neglecting Lafashionfolie blogspot- unfortunately after a long day in the office my brain tends to disintegrate to mush, and I've been avoiding blogging for fear of publishing pieces that are both nonsensical and incoherant.

Anyway, I wanted to share my new found appreciation with you for a colour I have long neglected and suddenly now desire more than any other primary or secondary shade.. I just can't get enough of khaki green.

Perhaps I'm slightly biased as it's also my surname, but green is a colour I am really inspired by at the moment, and in shades of military-inspired khaki, it has an urban, youthful feel that is so very appropriate for now. Plus khaki also carries the added bonus of being versatile and practical as it can be pared with most colours and works with both pale and dark skin tones.

I've just bought the above khaki hooded trench from Mango available from ASOS.com here (although to give you a cheeky heads up, it's reduced to £44 in store....) Go green, trust me you'll never look back! (and I should know!)