Outfits for New Year

I know it's hard to choose the perfect outfit for New Year; it's complicated to combine prettiness, class, sexiness and to preserve yourself from cold at the same time. I'll do my best to give you great ideas and help you pick the right clothes.

I will focus mainly on black and white, because these are the New Year's colors.

The first outfit that I suggest is black shorts, tights and white top. It sounds simple, but you can make it very stylish by choosing printed shorts or specific materials like lace, leather... There is a lot of cool tights that you can wear, don't be afraid to wear printed ones! Add some accessories like a nice hat, or some big earrings (I really recommend you some strass)... Regarding the shoes, heeled boots are perfect, or some short boots. And for the jacket, it's quiet easy, you can match leather, fur, lace, wool, denim etc, according to what you are wearing. I matched some items to give you some ideas.

 

Dresses are also classy and sexy at the same time. You can find a lot of cute black and white dresses at Zara, Pull and Bear, Bershka... Choose one that fits your morphology,  even if you are not very thin, don't hesitate to wear a dress that emphasize a beautiful part of your body; for example, if you have nice shoulders, put a low-necked dress, or if you have beautiful legs, wear a cute short dress etc. For the accessories, as I said, don't be afraid to put some big ones. And for the jacket, I suggest a coat as long as the dress or a bit longer. And finally, there isn't much choice for the shoes, heels are the best with dresses! By the way, don't hesitate to put simple dresses, and style it with the jacket and accessories.

 

Pants are a bit more difficult to wear because it's an item that we wear everyday so it's not very easy to differentiate the everyday look by a special look for New Year. In this case, the additional accessories are very important, because even if you wear printed pants or a chic top, it won't give a special event look like you probably want; so as I said, put on some hot jewelry, fancy jackets, shiny purse etc.

 

Most of the items are from Zara, Pull and Bear and Topshop. You can also wear overalls, whether it's pants, or shorts with tights of course and style it with additional accessories. And if you have a party item that doesn't need any accessory, keep it simple and classy. Anyway, whatever you wear, be comfortable and confident!

I wish you a beautiful new year, full of happiness, fashion and good food! Thank you very much for reading my blog and supporting me, it means a lot.



Rihanna, the new face of Balmain

After her three successful collaborations with River Island, Rihanna has been named as the new face for Balmain. She started in the French luxury label's Spring/Summer 2014 campaign, then was selected for the big role. According to the creative director Oliver Rousteing (head of Balmain), in front of the camera, the pop star makes you feel like she's the only girl in the world; he also added that she was the inspiration of his creations.

Rihanna is posing against a gridded monochrome backdrop, she wears a lot of jewelry like gold chains, chunky gold cuff bracelets... Her outfits are mainly denim, nylon and lace (for the shoes). The Spring/Summer 2014 collection reflects a lot her style, it matches her perfectly: elegant street wear and chic sexy diva.

Last minute gifts ideas

For those you haven't done their Christmas presents list, here's some last minute ideas:

I think a winter hat is a nice gift for those who like fashion. You can find stylish hats at all prices, from Zara (in the picture) to the biggest brands.

A watch is a very beautiful present, especially for men. It's not a very difficult gift since there is a huge diversity; again it's available at all prices, from Watch or Casio to the biggest brands like Rolex.

Christmas is also an opportunity for some dream bag. Women wait for this chance to get a hit bag like Chanel, Phillip Lim, Stella McCartney, Celine... It's an expensive gift, but it's totally guarantied for ladies.

For the music lovers, there is a lot of cool gadgets, the latest beats for example, a new stereo or an iPod... If you want to make it more special, I suggest a vintage stereo, if you think the person will like it of course.


If you want to give a trendy present, I really advice you a plaid item because 'tartan ecossais' is very fashionable this season. You can get a plaid coat, jacket, shirt... You find it everywhere, especially at Zara and Topshop.

Elie Saab Resort 2014 bags

Elie Saab is one of my favorite designer, not because he is Lebanese too, but because he knows how to be noticed without creating crazy and exaggerated collections; it's chic and elegant without being too classic. Anyway, I wanted to show you the Elie Saab Resort 2014 bags that I absolutely loved. It's classy and stylish at same time with the geometric shaped cut-outs. The palette of colors is amazing, I love the mix of pastel colors and snake prints! I still don't know the prices, but it can definitely be a great Christmas gift!

Best cookies

CHOC CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour, measured correctly
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks or 170 grams) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (150 grams) light brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (180 grams) chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.

Directions:
Toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for 2 hours, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

The fashion collaboration of the season!

Celebrating their 10th year anniversary on the fashion scene, the iconic artist Damien Hirst has teamed up with Alexander McQueen. They created 30 new designs for their famous scarfs collection, inspired by the natural world, including chic colorways and kaleidoscopic geometric shapes. Besides the skull motif as a base, a lot of other prints were added too, like butterflies, bugs, spiders and other insects. The items are limited edition, so if you want this must-have accessory, you have to hurry up before it's out of stock! The prices are from 515$ to 1,715$; already exclusively available in stores and online. I think it's a very beautiful present for Christmas, especially for someone who is into fashion.

80's it is!

I've been watching The Carrie Diaries, an amazing teen drama television series, that I absolutely recommend for all the teenage girls, especially the fashion lovers. It's a prequel to the television series Sex and the City; Carrie's life when she was young, so the story takes place in the 1980's. Besides the charming story, I love the characters' style! Personally, I really like the 80's look, and after watching the series, I appreciate it even more. I did some interesting researches on The Carrie Diaries' style and the 80's trends. Apparently, Eric Daman is the costumes designer, known also for his wardrobe work in Gossip Girl (my other favorite television series). According to him, it's all about mixing and matching prints and shapes that we don't see every day. The characters' style is of course inspired by 80's icons, like Madonna who was sensational in her Like a virgin phase. She was very influential to female fashion, especially with her "street urchin" look consisting of short skirts worn over leggings, necklaces, rubber bracelets, fishnet gloves... We see a lot of that in the series, not just in Carrie's character, but also in Dana, Larissa (my favorite), Maggie... Daman precise, in an interview, all the stores where he usually shops for the costumes; He uses a lot of Topshop and H&M, Etsy and Urban Outfitters are good too. I think American Apparel can be also useful for basics stuffs.
What I like the most about this series, is that each character follows the 80's trend but in his own way, the fashion is individual and personalized. I'm definitely inspired by this particular time in history, I think I'm going to extend my vintage wardrobe (more high wasted pants, more over-sized jackets/sweaters, and definitely more printed items).

Here, Carrie is wearing a short dress from Nasty Gal.
Most of the outfits are daring, it's not really suitable for everyday, but it can definitely inspires you for similar outfits more adequate.