Empora Style Spy

Oh how we heart Lulu Guinness.  And she obviously loves us too, as she has announced plans for opening up a lip-themed pop-up store just in time to share the love on Valentine’s Day.

The store, situated in the Carnaby Street shopping precinct, will be opened by Lulu herself on February 8th, and will continue to run to coincide with London Fashion Week.  She’ll have cute accessories galore for sale, and a portion of the sales she makes of these lip clutch bags, will go towards scholarships for fashion students at the London College of Fashion.

The Lulu Guinness pop-up shop will be at 65-67 Broadwick Street, London, W1 9QU until February 22.

In the meantime, you can shop her delightful bags, purses and shoes here.

Keira Knightley, Anna Friel, Rachel Bilson

Breton stripes are definitely one thing to sit high on the not-going-anywhere fashion pile.  A classic Breton stripe can give your outfit a chic, Parisienne twist and has the versatility to look dressed up and dressed down, to suit young and old and to look equally as good on both sexes.

One of the easiest ways to wear a Breton stripe, is in the form of a basic loose-fit top.  Wear it with jeans and boots for the easiest and most effortlessly stylish outfit you could ever come up with.  Add a blazer (and roll up the sleeves, a la Rachel Bilson) for French perfection.

Alternatively, a tunic over tights and ballerina flats is the epitome of cute sophistication – look towards Anna Friel for inspiration.  And, come summer, a cropped tee and denim cut-offs have that playful Brigitte Bardot feel about them – just add plenty of sultry eye makeup and some pretty sandals for instant beachside elegance.

John Lewis long-sleeve Breton t-shirt, £15
Crumpet mini cashmere sweater dress, £250 from Net-a-Porter
Jigsaw retro jersey stripe top, £34

[Images: PicApp]

Couture continues in Paris and there has been plenty of sartorial eye candy on show in the past few days to get fashionistas whipped into a frenzy.

Karl Lagerfeld steered clear of black and navy for the first time in his career, and focused the Chanel collection around the idea of “neon baroque” – pastel and pretty, fluid and fussy, embellished and extravagant – the idea apparently came to him in his sleep.  Models with hair piled high and offset by oversized bows stormed the catwalk in futuristic silver footwear.

Meanwhile, Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy focused on a darker, more dramatic collection of jewelled tones (purple, green and electric blue) that he mixed up with ivory and beige.  The bold, gothic makeup offset the  Seventies-style jumpsuits, tuxedos and cocktail dresses and we couldn’t help but notice the unusual T-bar ankle booties that are sure to end up on A-list feet on a red carpet near you.

[Images: PicApp]

Sometimes it can be a challenge to rug up against the cold and still look cute, but Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen proves that the age-old trick of layering and  dash of colour can work wonders to amp up your outfit.  She’s thrown on several knitted layers and accessorized with a plaid scarf, fingerless gloves and the most divine pair of blue suede ankle boots.

Our top tip: Pay your nails special attention with a coat of polish – a flash of colour looks great peeking out from your fingerless gloves!

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW YOU CAN RECREATE TAYLOR’S LOOK FOR LESS.

It’s possibly the most coveted label in the past few years, but it’s also one of the most expensive.  So you can imagine the whoops of joy that are being let out across the world today as news filtered through that French fashion house Balmain are thinking of creating a lower-priced diffusion line.

Grazia reports (via Fashionologie) that the Christophe Decarnin-designed label have been testing out a Blue Label line, which has a pricetag 40-50% markdown on it’s mainline big sister.  So instead of £1,000 t-shirts, we might be able to get our hands on one for £500.  Err… yeah, that’s still quite a lot.

But considering the demand is still there for dresses that are usually £9,435 and pairs of distressed jeans  at £879, we can imagine this diffusion line will cause stampedes if it ever comes to fruition.

UPDATE: Sadly, this has been proven to be purely just a rumour after all.  Vogue reported a Balmain spokesperson as saying: “There is no Balmain lower priced line.  What I think you might be referring to is a capsule collection that was prepared for some Parisian retailers.  Christophe Decarnin wasn’t involved in that project. The brand has decided to not repeat the experience, preferring to concentrate all its efforts on the mainline.”

Boohoo – does anyone else need a tissue?

SHOP (OR PERUSE) BALMAIN COLLECTION HERE.

1. John Lewis knit ballerina slippers, £10.50
2. Barratts pom pom slipper boot, £5
3. Boden faux fur lining spotted slipper, £14.50
4. Oliver Bonas grey sheepskin puppy slippers, £39.50
5. Dunlop Moccasin slipper, £15 from Barratts

With awards season in full swing and Couture Fashion Week kicking off with a bang on the Sunday just gone, it’s only inevitable that we see some of these magical creations being lifted almost straight off the runway and onto the red carpet.  Two we are crossing our fingers (and our toes) in the hopes of seeing are the delicious dresses above by Armani Prive.

The ethereal and dreamy quality of the collection was apparently inspired by the moon, according to the man himself.  ”I always need a hook to get into a collection, and that was it—thinking about something romantic and dreamy, far away from our everyday life. Something less harsh,” he told Style.com.

We’re wondering which starlet will win the race to get first dibs for the Oscars – Anne Hathaway seems the obvious choice, as she could pull off either of these looks with aplomb plus she was sitting front row at the show.  But that could be all too obvious…  Who else would you put in one of Armani’s couture creations?

We’ve been loving studded shoes for quite some time now (you may recall our recent Louise Goldin for Topshop excitement as just one example), but it’s not often we find a pair of really, really hot shoes for under £20.  That would be like doing the impossible.

Somehow, we’ve managed to find such a thing.  These ‘Rascal Rapture’ court shoes have a suede look finish, trendy studding on the heel and the best part is they have been marked down from £35 to just £18.  We have Shudoo’s amazing sale section to thank for this – cheers Shudoo!

The first few pieces of the Jonathan Saunders for Topshop collection have appeared in store (and online at Topshop.com).  So far we see some denim We.Must.Have and we are also coveting the long sleeve dress as one of those amazingly versatile, throw-on-with-everything numbers we’d wear all the time.

There’s another two pieces to come, with the collection focusing on geometric shapes and an architectural feel.

If you’re interested in shopping Jonathan Saunders‘ mainline collection, you can do so here.

It reigned through autumn, but teal is still making it’s mark this winter.  A softer and brighter alternative to the solemn blacks and greys we seem to be drawn to over the colder seasons, teal has the ability to breathe some life into your winter wardrobe.  Pair it with black, navy or neutral separates for a toned-down look, or keep it bold and wear a teal dress for a good bolt of block colour.

We are particularly crushing on this Alice & Olivia draped silk halter dress – we’d be wearing it with black opaques and boots through February, and then come springtime, go bare-legged with heels and a light jacket.

SHOP THE TEAL COLOUR TREND HERE.