wardrobe of fashionista, bank balance of a student

Jagger and her gapped teeth, Cole and her freckles, Kurkova and her belly button (or lack thereof). The fashion industry has opened its arms to imperfections, and a new face of beauty has been born. Welcome to the age of the unusual.

For years, models have been pedestalised. Every girl wanted to be one, every man wanted one. They were these mysterious, flawless creatures. You know the type, those enigmatic women that always seem to look effortlessly perfect. But this fascination had its dark side, and seemed to set the standard that your everyday, ordinary, yes-i-have-bad-hair-days-and-no-i-don’t-always-have-time-for-a-manicure women had to live up to incredibly high. Though we all new it wasn’t real, simply the child of some incredibly talented make-up artists and airbrush wizards, beauty seemed almost unobtainable. We would never measure up. 

With one flash of her endearingly imperfect smile, Georgia Jagger has changed all of that, and the fashion industry is at last recognising flaws as something that should be embraced, not smoothed over with some fancy photoshop tool. Stretch marks, freckles, a slightly crooked smile; we all have little imperfections that make us who we are. For example, I’ve got a freckle above my top lip, and while back in the day I pretty much plastered over it with whatever budget brand foundation my pocket money could afford, I’ve learnt to love it. After all, who wants to be a carbon copy?

While I’m an avid follower of this new celebration of imperfection, I’m beginning to see signs of it going too far. As with so many major trends before, we are now teetering on the edge; perched on the brink of fascination becoming obsession. News stories have surfaced recently that women are deliberately getting gaps put in their front teeth, a la Miss Jagger. Flaws make us real and unique, so surely artificially creating them defeats the whole point? Personally, I think this new perception of beauty, this promotion of imperfection and this rewriting of flaws, making them no longer synonymous with deficiency, but something that should be celebrated is one of the most important realisations in fashion history, and I would hate to see it spiral into a narcissistic roundabout of implants and enhancements. 

The release of the Oscar nominated Black Swan seems to have triggered something within the fashion world, and its ongoing love affair with a pallet of delicate lace, chiffon and nude tones has been reignited. Take a look at these ballet inspired pieces, as this season is all about embracing your inner Darcey Bussell. Who knew we were so stylish aged 7, painstakingly trying to get our plies just right?

Chiffon dress with pearl neckline detail, £25, Boohoo

Tie-up ballet pumps, £18, Topshop

Black tutu, £35, Topshop

White hold-ups, £22, Falke at ASOS

Lipsy ballet dress, £31.50, ASOS

Knitted wrap cardigan, £22, ASOS

2 Pack of Bodysuits, £12.99, New Look

Ah, the Great British winter. Unpredictable downpours, gale force winds and that weird cold you seem to get that never fully hits, but just lurks around leaving you red-nosed and runny-eyed for weeks on end. Enough to make you want to hibernate, isn’t it? 

So take action, and stand out from the sea of dull grey hues that generally characterize this time of year. High streets and runways have been splattered with more colours than a crayola box, from pillar box reds to mustard yellows. Embrace the trend, and inject a slice of summer into your wardrobe.

Harem trousers, £38, Topshop

Shift dress, £26.99, New Look

Clutch, £15, ASOS

Shorts, £30, ASOS

Dress, £48, Rare

…but it’s quite hard to care when you’ve just bought a dress this beautiful. 

Even though a chiffon shift dress would normally be filed away as a ‘special occasion number’, I don’t think this should necessarily be slapped with an ‘evening wear’ label. You could easily dress it down with some cute brogues and a light fur coat, or toughen it up with a leather jacket and over the knee tights.

You can pick one up yourself from Topshop. 

Every spring sees a new print decorate high end runways and high street aisles alike. This year, the fashion world seems to have caught bird flu. The swallow print is absolutely everywhere, decorating dresses, blouses, jumpsuits and even tights. Karen Walker and Miu Miu showed us the new way to wear animal print on the catwalk, now it’s time to see what the Great British high street has to offer. I was toying with the idea of making an embarrassing pun about being fly, but the bird jokes should probably just stop. 

Trousers, £74, Karen Walker at ASOS

Tights, £8.50, Topshop

Kimono, £50, Topshop

Bag, £28, Next

Shirt, £40, Urban Outfitters

‘Style icon’ has always been a label hung round the necks of the elite. Moss, Miller, even Madonna if we overlook the infamous leotard phase.  It seems to me, though, that these days, we’re finding fashion inspiration a lot closer to home. It’s the girl serving you your morning caffeine fix. It’s the boy sat next to you on the train. The streets are the new runway, the supermarket aisles the new red carpet and ‘civilians’, if you’ll forgive the Hurleyism, are the new celebrity. The men and women of Britain have been quietly concocting killer looks for years, and with this in mind, i’ve trawled through the best ‘street style’ blogs around to bring you some of the greatest unsung heroes of the fashion world. 

One of my favourite things about the rise of the archetypal girl or boy next door as a style muse is that it proves Christian Dior was right: “the fundamentals of fashion cannot be bought. But they can be learnt, by rich and poor alike”. To put it more succinctly, you don’t need to have a million dollars to look it. 

Check out these ‘street style’ blogs, they’re fantastic. Although they will probably give you a serious case of wardrobe envy. 

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

http://facehunter.blogspot.com/

http://lookbook.nu/

http://stylescout.blogspot.com/

http://copenhagenstreetstyle.dk/

My philosophy in life is usually what Vogue says, goes. But when browsing through their forecasts for Summer style in 2011, I saw 4 little words that made me freeze, like when people make really shocking revelations in movies (think Bruce Willis, end of Sixth Sense). Kitten. Heels. Are. Back. To me, these were precisely the 4 little words I never wanted to hear. I hate kitten heels, and I know i’m not alone. Facebook group: ‘Kitten heels make me sick’. 58, 696 people like this. They’re one of the most pointless things to come out of fashion. Except maybe shutter shades. Either wear flats, or man up and wear actual heels, don’t just hover around 5cm off the ground. They remind me of those creepy little beauty pageant kids clacking about in their Fisher Price My-First-Heels. And why they keep resurfacing like fashion’s very own poltergeist is beyond me, but I for one will not be rushing out to join the kitten clan any time soon. 

Come on, Vogue, you’re better than this. 

In a remarkably un-sterotypical turn of events, i’ve actually been a very busy little student over the past few months. But while i’ve been making deadlines by the absolute skin of my teeth, working off the damage that Topshop did to my overdraft at a summer camp and watching endless reruns of Jersey Shore, i’ve neglected my blog. I’ve missed out on tapered trousers, slept through aviator jackets and camel coloured garments have been and gone. So, I’ve decided to get on the bandwagon early, a sort of fashion pre-empt of strike, and bring you the must haves for this Spring and Summer (on a budget, obviously, student fees have gone up dontcha know). New year, new start and all that…happy 2011!

We’re all familiar with the whole ‘sheer’ trend, right? And us and our maxi dresses are old friends. Well girls, this spring is all about marrying together styles, forming something new. This coupling gives a little nod to a certain meat donning, pokerfaced megastar. Be warned though, the sheer maxi isn’t for the faint hearted. This look takes some balls (no Gaga pun intended). If you think you’re brave enough, try this Religion version from ASOS which comes in at a very modest £32 - thanks again, January sales. 

I know this might be a little bit of a confident assumption to make, but i’m hoping the sun will decide to grace us with its presence eventually. And there’s only one eyewear option when/if it does. Catseye sunglasses are back, in all their 1950s-rockabilly-glamour glory. Try this pair, just £4.99 from New Look. All that’s left to do is curl your hair, slap on the red lipstick and embrace your inner Pink Lady. I always wanted to be Frenchie…

Here’s another example of 2011 combining two trends to form a fresh look in a sort of fashion mash-up. This time it’s in the form of the typically masculine shirt dress, and the oh-so-feminine and oh-so-Spring floral. Dress it up with some tan shoe-boots. Go casual with some cute brogues. Team it with a 70s style wide brimmed hat and a chunky belt, and you’ve ticked all the style boxes. My favourite is this ASOS version for just £40. 

This summer is all about tying together a cacophony of trends from the last few decades and stamping them with a little 2010 attitude. Valentino Garavani is a fully fledged apparel genius, reknowed for his decadent gowns that make even the most sophisticated of women revert back to feelings of youthful fairytale fantasy. His Paris Fashion Week show channelled a new romantic vibe, focusing on a palette of nudes and subtle greys. 

Obviously this is a tad too Bradshaw to wear when nipping to Tesco, but I came across this Dorothy Perkins blouse recently that captures the spirit of new romanticism perfectly, while still remaining toned-down enough to secure a place in our ‘everyday’ wardrobes. The colour and style make it an incredibly versatile piece, but I’d personally tier it with frayed denim shorts and brown brogues.

Girls, the unthinkable has happened. Our Mum’s 1980s leftovers have finally come in useful. Happy wardrobe raiding!

Let’s just hold on a minute. When were they ever here?  I’ve never seen anyone wear them, except when they were, you know, actually cycling. What next? Hard hats and hockey masks? No. If DKNY can’t even do them justice, what hope do we have? I really do think some things are best left in the past. Like the bubonic plague. And perms.