Fit Fashion

FIT FASHION.

Just as the obesity epidemic has increased in figures in the last few years, the same has been happening with sports/activewear. Obviously this seems a touch contradictory - unless obese people everywhere have created a new trend of eating McDonald's in some Nike Dri-FIT - but the activewear market has seen a rise of about 7%; with regular apparel only seeing an increase of 1%. Developers and designers everywhere are seeing this gap in the market, and boy are they making money from it.

It isn't just an exponential interest in activewear that's taking the industry by storm, but the interest in fashionable and aesthetically pleasing pieces that we can all wear and cause envy in the hearts of those next to us in our mid-afternoon Spin class. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr in particular, are bringing images of colourful, attractive activewear to our attention and making it seem 'trendy', or 'fashionable' to be fit, healthy and conscious of what we put into, and engage our bodies in on a daily basis. 

Now, I'm not sure if many of you know this, but when it comes to sourcing those perfect yoga pants or sports bra, you don't actually have to shop at Nike or Lululemon. I know, major shock. Believe me, I was the same when I made the discovery. But with more designers seeing an opportunity in sportswear, new brands are coming to the forefront of our Tumblrs and blogs and getting us psyched for hitting the gym ASAP.

1. Alala // 2. Without Walls  // 3. Koral Activewear  // 4. Without Walls  // 5. Tully Lou

I've come across quite a few brands on my research for this post, however I thought I'd condense it down to about three or four for now. First up is Alala. Founded by NYC triathlete Denise Lee, the brand was created to answer the main issues that women face on a daily basis - clothes that just don't fit well for their purpose, and clothes that do it all; making you look cute enough to run from the gym to the office -  and not wishing the ground would swallow you up whole because of how you looked if you met 'the one' on the commute. The collection is very simple in terms of colour and pattern, but the devil is definitely in the details with each piece. I mean, they even have sports bras with zippers up the back so that you can actually get out of the thing post-workout. Genius. My favourite is the Got Your Back Tank, and at $85/£50 it's around the same price point as Nike. 

Next, Tully Lou. As TL is an Australian brand, I can't kept but just get why the collections are so bloody stylish. The Aussie's seem to get most things right when it comes to fashion - think Triangl and Sabo Skirt - and Tully Lou is no exception to that. Although the website is basic in all aspects, the collections are very colourful and slightly futuristic. Actually, it reminds me on Triangl with the linear concepts and bright block colours. The price point is similar to Alala, and they ship Internationally (obviously just need to watch out for customs tax), so it's worth having a look. 

Then there's Koral Activewear. What I loved most about this brand (other than the fact that they were based in LA), was that it's sports bras actually looked like bikini tops, and not something that a child would wear. They're known for their use of high quality materials which shape and contour the female body, whilst providing support in every way possible. It's stylish workout gear with a difference, and I'm 100% a fan.

And lastly, Without Walls. If the name doesn't entice you in, then how about the fact that their website gives you everything you'd need to live a healthy lifestyle. Not only do they stock their own collections, but they offer activewear from other designers, too. And you can buy your yoga mat and protein shaker at the same time. It's just convenience at its best. I loved how their collection features a lot of mesh and little hints of pattern. It's sports luxe but with practicality. Fab.

Where do you usually shop for your gym clothes?

Photo Credit: Tumblr (top image), Tully Lou, Koral Activewear, Without Walls & Alala websites.

Reppin' | 304#

304#CLOTHING | WE CAME TO PARTY.

I don't know if it was the attractive models used in the lookbook or what, but 304# are a clothing brand that have had me taking notice this week. Born in the Summer of 2012, 304# began when three friends decided to create handmade vests; and as they put it, it was from this that their journey began. From what I gather from the brands twitter account (@304_revolution), website and blog, love tends to be the common theme and they try to keep to this theme integral to the brands core values.

Although the brand started off creating vests, their online store now stocks: jumpers, tshirts, bags, headgear, joggers, jackets and even watches and socks. The designs are simple, yet stylish and are perfect for both men and women. The only female-orientated thing on the website is a crop top, but to be honest, if you're a male and it's your thing then by all means, go for it. Who am I to judge?

There's something about the brand that has an almost Hollister vibe to it; mostly due to the fact that the products are presented with a wooden background, and there are some California/USA beach-y images on their blog. These factors definitely lend a relaxed and fresh take for the brand, and I genuinely hope to see it grow and expand further in the future. To me, it has the potential to become more than just a 'tshirt start-up' - which is a difficult thing to say when these sort of 'brands' are popping up here, there and everywhere. 304# have a story and a purpose, and this is why they'll go far.

These are just a few of my favourite looks off the website, but I recommend checking them out and choosing your own favourites. With the t-shirts only costing £20, trust me, it won't be difficult.

(Left to right)

No Skinny Dipping Tee // SAY YES Tee // Real Eyes Realize Tee // 304# Bag

Photo Credit: www.304clothing.com

Style Moment | Spring Monochrome

NEW LOOK CARMEN BOOTS.

What is a girl to do at 3:23am, when getting blood from a stone seems more likely than getting a little shut eye? Shop. Us insomniac girls, we shop. Especially when it was student loan day less than 24 hours ago.

The websites I tend to hit up include the likes of: Missguided, Daisy Street, Pretty Little Thing, Topshop, eBay, ASOS etc etc. Then, if i'm feeling particularly lavish, Net-A-Porter and The Outnet. It's very rarely that I actually purchase anything from the latter two, but I like to dream. 

Lately I've been sensing a trend and seeing lots of bloggers purchasing boots similar to these from Pretty Little Thing, and although they're a little high and not really something that I would find myself wearing too often, I did want to get in on the chunky sole trend. 

After coming across these monochrome Carmen ankle boots from New Look (found at ASOS), I began to justify them to myself. They would undoubtedly go with a lot of my wardrobe, be comfortable and stylish enough to wear from day to night, and I could wear them on Osbourne Road (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK)  for the bank holiday this coming Sunday; but the point that had me sold, was that they're only £20.50 in the sale. It's safe to say that they were purchased in less than 60 seconds.

Baily Moto Jacket // Giambattista Valli Embellished Top // BLK DNM Skinny Jeans // Chanel J12 Watch // Moschino Violetta iPhone Case // New Look Carmen Cleated Sole Ankle Boots

Seeing as I've been trying to find topics to blog about on a daily basis recently, I thought it would be a good idea to do a 'How To Style' post and show you how I plan on wearing the boots on the bank holiday this week. It's obvious that the items I've chosen are from my dream wish list, but it's easy to replicate the look just by popping up to your high street and seeing what's on offer there.

I wanted to keep the look in tune with the boots and having everything monochrome. Especially seeing as I'm an avid 'all black (and white) everything' fan. I added in the Chanel J12 watch as that is one beaut that I've wanted to get my hands on for years, and the Moschino Violetta bunny iPhone case just ties the look together nicely with a little Easter flourish.

Have you bought into the chunky sole trend this season? If so, leave your blog links below - I'd love to check them out! xo

Get The Look | Designer Sneaks

ATTENTION SNEAKER HEADS.

One thing I love wearing more than a good all-black ensemble, is a pair of sneakers. Seriously, why would you wear anything other than a comfy pair of Nikes, New Balance or Adidas kicks if you have the option? Exactly. One pair of sneakers that I've wanted to get my hands on for a while though, were the patent white croc leather high tops, with gold plating and zip detailing. Priced at around £500, they weren't something that I was going to acquire easily or any time soon. 

But I had a plan.

What do you do when you want to get your hands on designer goodies, but don't have the means to do so? Besides get a credit card and go all Confessions of A Shopaholic? You head to eBay. I knew that genuine GZ sneaks would still be a bomb second hand, so I had the idea to search the Asian market on the website. Free shipping, usually only takes 1 - 2 weeks to deliver and their products are ridiculous cheaper than retailers in the UK. After a bit of a browse and trying different keywords, I finally came across an almost identical (unisex) pair and what do you know? I had options of having them in white, black or navy. All for just a little more than £20. Bargain.

Gold plated patent sneakers & LA Lakers basketball beanie (both from eBay)

I know that the majority of fashion industry insiders the world over will be shaking their heads at me right now, but when you're a student on (what is supposed to be) a budget, you can't really fork out hundreds of pounds for sneakers when you have the little things to pay for; like rent, food and that ever growing social calendar. Seriously though, why does it always seem to be somebody's birthday every week?

After choosing the sneakers in white, I was seriously impressed with how similar they are to the original GZ design. Unless you physically took a magnifying glass to them and really inspected every last detail, you wouldn't be any wiser that they came from a little shack in China, and not the cobbled streets of my darling Italia.

If you, like me, can't afford the originals (believe me, if I had the money then I would have bought the designer pair) then you can click this link here and purchase the wannabe's for yourself. 

You're welcome xo

Current Lustings | Giuseppe Zanotti

Giuseppe Zanotti 

Spring Summer 2014

When most people think of designer shoes, more often than not they'll think of the seductive red soles of a Louboutin heel. I guess it's a bit of a confession time with this comment, but I've never, ever, lusted after a pair for myself. I do think some are absolutely stunning, but there is just something about them that has me repelled. I'm not sure if it's the fact that those red soles have been copied by numerous lesser brands found on eBay or the Asian market, but I just don't want to own a pair.

For me, Giuseppe Zanotti is where it's at. And there it will stay forever more.

I don't know about you, but this season GZ has given me a serious need for some fucking fantastic heels. Leaves, alligators, scorpions and other deadly creatures have been formed in gold and applied to the front and ankles of sandals, and look absolutely killer to say the least. I've put together some collages of my favourites from the Ad campaign, so I really do hope you love them as much as I do. Priced at over £1000 (GBP) per pair, it is with great despair to say that I won't be owning my own any time soon, but I can still lust after them all the same.

Which pair are your favourites? xo

Photo Credit: www.giuseppezanottidesign.com

My Week In Review

Where to start with this week. On Thursday I turned 23 and celebrated the day of my birth with friends for lunch and then later, a night in Newcastle's Tup Tup Palace. Please don't ask me how it was, because I reallllllly couldn't tell you. Shameful, I know. I blame the copious amounts of alcohol thrust in my face as 'birthday presents'. From what I remember it was great, so I can't complain too much. And I had a big birthday badge to wear all day which was fantastic.

Although I can't be as positive about the next thing to happen this week, I'm willing to put my bitterness to the side and just revel in everyone else's photographs of the event. The event in question you ask? None other than Coachella 2014. Weekend #1 kicked off on Friday with OutKast having the headliner spot, but it was the fashion, parties, and fabulous IG pictures that I had my attention on. It does make me feel as though a little part of my soul dies with each passing year that I don't attend the famous music and arts festival, but mark my words, I will attend in 2016 if it's the last thing I do. It's probably the only music festival that I will ever wish to attend - mainly because it's in Palm Springs and there's absolutely no chance of being up to your eyeballs in mud like the festivals we have in the UK. And there's always the chance of running into a hot celebrity or two along the way. There really is no other music festival on the planet that involves music, art and fashion together in such an amazing way. Forever21 even had their brand name hung above the desert via cranes. Even McDonald's threw a pool party on Saturday. Ironic, I know, considering everyone in LA would rather chew nails than be caught dead stuffing their face with a Big Mac or McChicken. But I suppose if it's good enough for Jeremy Scott and Moschino (Fall 2014), then it's good enough for the glamorous lot at Coachella. Weekend #2 starts on the 18th and I absolutely cannot wait to see more #ootd and obligatory pool side/ferris wheel photos on Instagram!

Finally, as the week comes to a close, it was revealed that Alexander Wang will be collaborating with H&M releasing what I can only imagine to be an amazing capsule collection this November. AWang has always been one of my favourite designers, so this announcement had me jumping for joy when I read it on twitter and Instagram this morning. Let the countdown begin..

Don't forget to follow VDM on all of your favourite social networks below! xo

Kim K Takes Vogue

I'm sorry, but I just can't. As you are all so very aware (if you aren't, what the hell have you been doing all day?), Kim Kardashian has been granted her wish and is now the face of Vogue US' April cover; alongside hubby-to-be Kanye. I'm just going to put it out there - I think it's tragic. 

There is no doubting that Kim looks stunning on the cover, but come on Anna. What were you thinking?! Yes, you were the first to feature celebs on your covers, and yes, this issue will probably be the best selling issue of the year considering it's controversy, but still! It's one thing to sell magazines, but it's another to do so whilst keeping your brands value intact. Are we all forgetting that Kim basically became a porn star in order to get her name in lights? It's verging on trashy. And everyone knows what happens when a brand turns trashy.

Not to mention the fact that she probably only got the cover because there was a condition made that meant Kanye had to appear, or she lost the cover entirely. And that hashtag at the end. Don't even get me started. It should say "#MOSTATTENTIONSEEKINGCOUPLE". I'm not going to lie, after this rant about the cover, I still want to read the feature. Just not in Vogue!

What do you think of the cover? Will you be buying or unsubscribing?

Photo Credit: www.vogue.com

Diary of An Insomniac

Just as a heads up - I can already see this post turning into something that just contains a lot of random thoughts, but I hope you'll stick through with it anyway.

After reading the header for this post, I know you're probably thinking that I'm being completely preposterous and potentially losing my mind a little - but I can't help how I feel. I study fashion, I have VDM as a hobby/first and only child and when I'm not doing either of those things, I'm working in retail helping customers at The White Company spend hundreds (sometimes thousands) of pounds in around five minutes or less. It's like I can't get away from it.

You know when you hear a song and it suddenly becomes the only thing you listen to for weeks on end, until one day you wake up and think 'maybe it's time to find a new song before I jam cotton wool in my ears'? Well I think that's how I'm feeling now about fashion. And if i'm honest, I've felt this way for a long, long time. I just haven't really done anything about it. 

The problem is that it just doesn't inspire me like it used to. In the space of a year, I've changed my views on a lot of things. Don't get me wrong, I'll never change my overall career path and steer away from the fashion industry (i'm not that crazy), but I feel like I need another contributor in my life that helps turn my inner creative wheel when fashion can't seem to do it any longer.

Thinking about it, maybe i'm using fashion as the issue, but really i'm just sick of life.

As it turns out, I've been thinking about my career/future a lot lately. I guess that's what happens when you have chronic recurring insomnia and can't get to sleep until the sky has started waking up. As someone who has never been without a to-do list or a plan in her twenty three years so far, going the last year or two without one has probably been the most nerve-wracking and terrifying thing that I've ever done. Let me fill you in a little.

Pre-breakup with my now ex-fiance of six years, I had everything sorted. Which career I would pursue, where I was going to live, how I was going to go about getting everything that I wanted. I even had a date set for when I was to be married and what I would name my kids when we had them in the future. My life was nothing compared to how it is now. Not even in the slightest. I look different, I feel different, - my motivation and enthusiasm has dropped completely - I'm single, I don't want to get married, nor do I want children, and until now I didn't know what the hell I was going to do with my life after I graduate in 2015. 

I read somewhere that we have two sense of selfs. Your present self and your future self. When someone tells you that you're young and to make decisions based on what is going to make you happy, you have to really think about which self you want to make happy. My present self goes out far too much, has wayyyy too many shots of tequila and until now, hasn't really thought about making many decisions based on shaping my future. Yes, I'm a university student and yes, these are the only three years of my entire life that I'm only going to be able to act this way. But it's starting to dawn on me that pushing uni work to the side just so that I can have that extra night out this week, isn't going to do me any favours. It's not going to make my future self happy and that's really what I should be thinking about more. This lifestyle also isn't going to help my love life any. I'm not really the affectionate type, but don't get me wrong, finding someone to share everything with is what I've always had at the top of my 'What Will Make Me Happy' list. 

So as of right now (Thursday, 13th March 2014 @ 03:43am) I'm going to try and make better decisions. Or at least decisions that are going to be a bit more beneficial to my future self overall. Starting with my career. I've decided that journalism is the only career path that I feel passionate about. My best friend has even told me that I'm not "allowed" to be anything other than a journalist. I'm not entirely sure about jumping straight into employment after graduating (unless an opportunity arose of course), so I've decided to look into studying a postgrad (MA) Fashion & Lifestyle Journalism course in London. First of all, the London location would sort where I move to; then the lifestyle integration in the course would broaden things a little and take it away from being primarily fashion all the time. And I've just always loved the idea of writing about the sorts of things that most people would only ever think and never say. I'm not really the type of person who holds back. Let's just put it that way. 

Secondly, I want to feel enthusiastic about writing again. I want to have that urge to sit down with a cup of coffee and my macbook and just write. I was thinking that I could perhaps start writing some more lifestyle-style blog posts on here, but for now I might just keep them in a separate document on my desktop and consider posting them later. Maybe even as a side column at some point. 

My third point has to do with matters of the <3 shaped organ in my chest. Although, if anyone knows how NOT to fall for the guy you can't have then please, be my guest and help a sister out. Alternatively, advice on how to see through BS would be fantastic as well. 

So after rambling on, I think I'm done. Maybe some of you will relate to parts - especially if you're a university student/party animal, or have had to rethink your entire life after a certain situation - or maybe you're just an insomniac like myself and my general ramblings have bored you so much that you're actually starting to feel sleepy. Either way, I'm glad you've made it through to the end.

xoxo