NyLon – Nights Out On Both Sides Of The Atlantic

The idea of a jet-setting lifestyle may be completely out of reach for most of us, but that isn’t to say that you can’t plan ahead and make a superbly ace night out on both sides of the Atlantic! Raid that wardrobe, pack your bags, and see what’s cool to do in New York and London on a Saturday night!

Bembe. Brooklyn, New York – Underneath the Williamsburg Bridge is a little hideaway that’s pulsating with Latin beats and candle lit dancers swaying away to sexy sounds. For those that may find it a touch too hot, have a chill at the bar and get some tequila shots down you. The locals swear by dipping their lime in sugar AND coffee! Strange, but somehow it kinda really works! Try it and see if that’s not how you’ll have your tequila from now on!

Raffles. Chelsea, London – It’s a members club and membership is only by invitation, but you can get yourself on the guest list and get yourself a Raffles table booking. The intimate surroundings combined with the VIP service will make you feel a feel preeeetty spesh, and, there’s an abundance of cocktails to choose from, yummies! And there are usually a few celebs to keep an eye out for, having been featured heavily in Made In Chelsea, or if music’s more your thing, The Rolling Stones have been caught partying there too! So if you have the stamina to go until the club closes at 6 in the morning, get yerself down there!

House Of Yes. Brooklyn, New York – This spot opened in 2016 and has quickly become a way for party goers to wear insane costumes and go all out on the weekend! They hold parties like the exhibitionist “House of Love” as well as the immersive “Little Cinema” film tribute nights. Let’s not forget the aerialists, dancers, and magicians that are flying all around you! As an experience like no other, House of Yes is not just a place to go and have drinks, but it’s a place that will have you yelling “yes” in wonderment at every turn.

The Electric Ballroom. Camden, London – At the heart of the hippest part of London, The Electric Ballroom hosts every music night you can think of, but the highlight has got to be the Ultimate Power club night. It’s 80’s anthems, all night! If you think that the best way to enjoy a night is to yell along to Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer” and playing inflatable guitars, this is gonna to be one of your best nights out eveeeer! A lot of people think the 80’s went out of fashion quicker than disco, but judging by the crowds at these nights, it’s never been damn cooler.

London and New York have been two cities separated by a common ocean, and if you’ve got the money for a jet-hopping life, then you can’t do better than these places, they are totally my two favourite cities on earth. You’ve gotta try to get out and see the nightlife in both cities, go on, wear some NyLon!

Better Ways To Cope With Your Passion For Fashion

We’ve all gotta bit of a passion for fashion in some way, right? It’s a form of art, and it’s a way to express yourself, pretty much like a musician, painter, or writer would. You shouldn’t be suppressing that appreciation for something beautiful, but, um, hey, you also shouldn’t let it run away with you. A musician doesn’t break their bank account by buying every nice guitar they see (or they shouldn’t), and you shouldn’t break your bank account by buying every nice piece of clothing or quirky fashion accessory you come across! Restraint is a powerful but difficult thing to master, trust me, I know that! Our minds tell us that we’re denying ourselves something or missing out when we restrain our urges, but the truth is the complete opposite. You’ll appreciate things like fashion far more when you don’t splurge to the point of forgetting why you loved all these gorgeous pieces of clothing in the first place. When you treat yourself to the occasional stunning fashion piece, you appreciate it far more. Here are some ideas as to better ways in which you could cope with your passion for fashion!

Shop cheaply – Unless you’re in complete debt, eeek, which I’ll mention later, you don’t have to give up on fashion. You shouldn’t give up on the things you love, but you should know how to approach your passion for something when it’s costing you a fortune. Every time you need to update your wardrobe (and that means your clothes are too small, old, or torn rather than you simply wanting more), you should consider the cheaper options. You should try thrift shopping because the clothes are not only far less expensive than the big brands change in their stores but they’re also just as nice as clothes in the big shops. As a vintage loving gal myself, I’d say that vintage clothing is far cooler and unique than the mass produced, mainstream things you’ll find on the high street. Better yet, you’ll be shopping ethically when you head into thrift shops, charity shops, or even just swapping with friends; going for the second-hand option may not be as glamorous as buying a brand new skirt, but the sweatshop industry which creates those clothes sure isn’t glamorous either. At least you won’t be funding more hardship for those workers. You could do a little research into other ways to save money when shopping if you’re worried that you might be wasting cash on your clothes (whether you’re prone to splurging or not). So many big stores trick you into thinking you’re getting a great deal when you’re really spending far more than you should be. Do a little research, and hunt stores which offer ethical clothes which are beautiful and come at a fraction of the price you’d see in other stores.

Try the ‘1 month’ technique – This is a clever lil’ technique if you can be strict with yourself. Next time you walk past a shop on the high street and see a stunning dress or top in the window, make a note of it on your phone or a piece of paper. Wait a month, and see how you feel. This is the ultimate way to determine whether you really want a piece of clothing or you just felt the pull of your insatiable urge to shop. If you still want the dress or whatever fashion item you saw in the window one month after first seeing it then you can go ahead and treat yourself to it. If you find that the urge has passed then don’t buy the piece of clothing or the fashion accessory because you probably never really wanted it anyway. You were simply enticed in the moment, and that’s the entire purpose of display windows in shops.

Make a budget – If you really want to curb your excessive spending then you need to start keeping track of it. Take control of the situation, and make a budget. To do this, you need to first look at the money you make each month (if you’re self-employed then note down the average amount of money you make). Once you have a rough figure, note down all the necessities you need to purchase each month; your rent, the average amount you spend on utility bills, and the average amount you spend on food. The figure you end up with should give you an idea of how much money you need to add to your budget for necessities. Make it a little larger than the amount you spent in order to allow for variation. Stick to this figure. It’s pretty darn vital that you always have money set aside for necessities. You should be left with a rough figure concerning the amount of disposable income you usually have for each month. Set aside some, but not all, of this money for shopping; that’s your new monthly budget for “luxuries”, and you can’t exceed. A way to stop yourself exceeding it is to keep only one credit card for emergencies but to never take that card out with you. This is the key to avoiding debt; never spend more money than you make, and you’ll never need to borrow money for anything unnecessary. If you are in debt, whether it’s for something important like a house or excessive borrowing and spending in the past, then suspend all luxury purchases and pool all your disposable income for that month into paying off your debt. Don’t borrow any more money until your debt is gone; ideally, you shouldn’t borrow money for anything other than big purchases such as houses or cars. When you do, of course, paying off the debt quickly is essential to maintain a good credit score which to me, has always been important.

Don’t go to a mall or the high street to kill time – Only hit the shops when you need to buy something vital for your home or your children, perhaps. Don’t stroll into a mall just because you had some free time because that’s when you’re shopping for the sake of improving your mood and not because you actually need (or even really want) any of the things you’re buying. Treating yourself to luxuries is fine every now and then because we all do it, but when you’re more bothered about the momentary rush it gives you to buy something rather than the thing you’re buying then that’s when you need to stop. Your passion for fashion should solely be focused on the fashion itself, and you shouldn’t be hitting the shops if you’re not even sure why you’re doing so. When you do need to shop for necessities such as food then you should try to head for your local grocery store or smaller, local shops in order to avoid the tempting sight of big clothes brands in the center of your town or city. You want to resist temptation as much as possible so that shopping can get back to being a fun past-time for you; you want to buy clothes because you love the actual clothes and not the feeling of swiping your credit card on the register.

Always bring a shopping list – You likely bring a shopping list with you when you go to buy groceries so that you don’t miss anything important or buy something you don’t need, and that’s why you need to apply that logic to shopping for clothing too. As mentioned in the budgeting point earlier, it’s very important that you bring a set amount of cash with you so that you’re not tempted to splurge on your credit card. That way, you can enjoy the luxuries you buy in the knowledge that you won’t have spent more than you can afford. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll only have a limited amount of cash, and that means you’ll buy clothes that you feel truly passionate about in terms of fashion because you won’t be able to afford everything you see.

Accept when your problem has become too serious – Whilst a lot of the advice in this article was aimed towards people with a penchant for fashion, there are different levels when it comes to overspending on the high street. Some people buy the odd expensive thing that they probably should have avoided, but some people are in serious debt because of an uncontrollable shopping addiction. You need to figure out if you’re on that spectrum and how much help you may need if so.

If you treat yourself to the odd luxury then you don’t have a problem; if you treat yourself to silly things then you may need to try budgeting and other tips in this article; if you’ve borrowed money just to buy even more things then you have a serious problem and you need to seek help. It might be time to look into counseling if you can’t control your own urges. If budgeting, cutting up your credit cards, or any other method isn’t enough to stop you then you could also attend meetings with other people who have shopping addictions. Solidarity always helps. Shopping will always be there to temps us, the stores want us to buy things we don’t need, that’s your hard earned money they want so take time before handing it over…do you REALLY need that extra dress? Shop well, my friends. x

Hello Art Lovers — Europe’s Finest Galleries Are Waiting for You

Art and Europe, they’re synonymous, right?. Some of the greatest artists to ever pick up a paintbrush (or whatever it was that they chose to use) hailed from the hallowed turfs of a number of European countries. From Pablo Picasso to Lucian Freud, Europe totally and truly has a legacy in the world of artwork. And that legacy lives on at all times through the various art galleries that are dotted around the continent. I adore the different galleries in London and have been a lucky enough gal to have visited them on travels too. If you’re a lover of art like me, then you just gotta visit one of, if not all, of the galleries on this list.

Whitechapel Gallery, London – Shoreditch, London boasts an array of top art galleries, but Whitechapel is at the helm of that rather illustrious list. It’s richness in history is just one of the reasons why. It houses pieces created by some of the greatest European artists ever to live, like as mentioned above, Picasso and Freud. It has truly been a staple of the London art scene for well over a century. But it’s not all about the past. Whitechapel also boasts an array of the most modern pieces of art imaginable. A visit here is a must for all art lovers. But why just limit yourself to seeing style in the gallery that you visit? When staying in this part of the world, you have to do it right. By this it is meant that you have to do it in style. And to do it in style you should stay in a hotel like as the Dorsett City, London, it’s pretty swoon worthy in my opinion. The best thing of all, there is merely an eight minute walks worth of distance between this hotel and the gallery. Boom. Treat yo’self. 

The National Gallery, Prague – Prague’s National Gallery plays host to the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic — a pretty impressive feat when you consider just how artsy and vibrant this country is! In this collection, traditional Czech artwork, Cubism and Baroque pieces can be found. so, ya know that a visit here is never gonna get dull. With all the things to see on offer here there will always be something new to feast your eyes upon around every single corner. And there will always be something for somebody to enjoy, even those who you drag to the gallery that kinda protest that galleries are boring!

The Groeninge Museum, Bruges – For all art lovers out there who have a particular appreciation for pieces of the past, then Groeninge is an ace place for you. The artwork found here dates as far back as the 18th century and gives you a real taste for the local culture and the pieces that originate from this area of the world.

When you plan to visit an art gallery, especially one in a city you’ve never been to before, you have to plan your day. You have to be attentive to the fact that there is simply just so much to see, not only in the gallery itself but in the city in which it stands. Because of this, to save you missing out on anything, you should plan your day to ensure you see just about everything. Go, have an adventure! 

DAVID FERREIRA, MY FASHION CRUSH

 

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Be still my beating heart.

Yeah, I know, London Fashion Week was a coupla weeks ago now, but, I’m kinda still in the honeymoon phase of it all. Because not only did I have an exceptionally ace time over the 4 busy days, I also kinda fell in love. Yup, I fell slap bang, head over heels, heart thumpingly in love with the fashion of David Ferreira. I am totally love sick. I reviewed this dazzling show in detail for PlusMinus magazine but, seeing as (like a love-struck schoolgirl and her heart-throb crush) I can’t stop thinking about it, I wanted to share my love over here too. And, it gives me the sweet excuse of filling my blog with images of all the looks from the collection. Preeeetty! Now, I loved everything about London Fashion Week, truly, even the cold and hangry moments, because the fun and fast pace of it all keeps you thrilled, but, something about the David Ferreira show made it stand out as THE best part of the entire week for me. I didn’t know what to expect from Ferreira, I was a complete virgin to his work so had no clue what was about to hit me. We got reeeally great close-up seats for this show and as soon as the first model came out, boom, my heart picked up the pace and I was giddy with awe! I was fizzy with glee for the whole show, each model showcasing another outfit which made my knees go weak, I mean, wowzers, would ya look at the colours here, not only are they a mix of my faaavourite brights, but heck, they just come up and smack you in the face with their bold lushness. Like a party popper in the face. Ferreira’s designs blur perfectly the line between art and fashion, the theatricality of it all is sublime and, I dunno, I’m still new to fashion shows but I think really, when I see a runway show I wanna be overwhelmed by the sight of it all. I can look at pretty dresses, sure that’s nice, but I kinda wanna be blown away, and Ferreira achieved that fully. This AW17 collection was titled ‘The Freakball’ taking inspo from old freak shows and circus acts, celebrating uniqueness and confidence in being your own true self. These designs aren’t all totally wearable to the average gal, I get that, but loooook at the structure and shape, and the COLOURS!!! Goodness, I cannot stop looking! The dresses I would TOTALLY wear are the two long bias cut 30’s style ones, they are pure bliss. And, if I had an event, well heck yes I’d throw on the pink tulle number. And, ya know what? I reckon I’d feel a billion damn bucks in it too. Oh man, Ferreira is now my full on fashion crush and I cannot wait to see what he brings next season.

I, am super smitten.

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Photos by Simon Armstrong, by kind courtesy of Forward PR

Confectionery Cuteness from Billie Jocobina at London Fashion Week

I got lucky. It made me a happy girl. I got given a DREAM job of attending London Fashion Week to write up the shows for ace new magazine PlusMinus. Woweee. I guess good things do happen, if you put in the hard work and positive vibes. I hit the big smoke for 5 days, expectant, nervy and excited with notepad and laptop in hand, and, maaan, it was even better than I could have hoped for. It was pure ace. The gang I worked with became brand new besties over the week, spending 24/7 together in cold queues, rushed coffee shop eatings, all of us marvelling constantly at what surrounded us… some of the ego’s at Fashion Week….say whuuuut?! Crikey. We musta seen around 22 shows in our time there, each one a thrill in its own right. The music, the models, the damn prettiness and skill of the fashion. Yup, a happy gal was I.

One of the first shows I saw and fell in love with was a presentation by new graduate designer Billie Jacobina. The presentations are a slightly smaller scale affair with a neat and petite collection which packs a punch and basically, the models pose and parade around a room for a while rather than take part in a big boom-boom runway show. They are kinda cute things these presentations, they feel intimate and you can get real up close to the clothes and models. Heart shaped eyes on me, I tell ya. My heart was pumping outta my chest a bit when the Jocobina one began as it was ALL PIIIINK and pastels, pom-poms, faux fur, jumbo doll jewellery; a sparkly explosion of saccharine kitsch, with, hello?… a Hello Kitty handbag in the mix too! Oh my.

As a graduate of UCA Rochester, Billie showed at Graduate Fashion Week 2016, and went on to be awarded The British Council GFW award which gave her the opportunity to collaborate with a brand in Jakarta and show at Jakarta Fashion Week. She sure is on a winning streak, as she also won the Fashion Scout’s One To Watch Award for SS17 which is a certain sign that she’s only just at the start of a shiny future. Her slogan for this collection was 100% SASSY, and that it was, superbly so. This collection tickled me pink and set off my LFW experience with perfection.