iPhone Pics - October '12

1. Toy Toon; 2 & 3. Drinks at Lui's in Tynemouth; 4. Good things come in small (Chanel) packages; 5. The Baltic, Gateshead; 6. The Sage, Gateshead; 7. Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Latte; 8. Emoticon texts; 9. Lunch at Browns

10. Icon Leith Clark re-tweeted one of my tweets; 11, 12, 13. Diamond Master Class; 14. A cup of tea and Lula magazine; 15. Chanel nail enamel in Firenze; 16. Lula magazine; 17. Le Petit Prince 2013 Diary; 18. Haagen-Dazs Secret Sensations Mini-Tubs in Meringue & Raspberry Fondant

Halloween Style

In celebration of all things Halloween, today I have spooky inspiration by way of some iconic characters that I'm sure you will already be very aware of, provided to me by Simply Be...

One of my favourite characters, Cruella de Vil has a very strong look, featuring a huge (faux of course) fur coat, tight figure-hugging black dress, elbow length gloves with some statement rings to wear over the top. Her main feature is her two-tone hair - easily achieved with some spray-in hair colour, or a quick visit to a wig shop. Add some thick dark eyebrows and sexy red lipstick - and you have your look!

A simple outfit suggestion - black leggings, matching polo neck jumper and the most important cat-ear headband or similar (easy to make, as well being currently very on-trend). Equally, a self-made eye-mask to create some mystery, with a couple of flicks of cat-eye eyeliner to complete the feline look.

An ethereal white dress and bandages wrapped around the arms could be the basis for this look. Hair swept up with old favourites, the hair crimpers, to provide a frizzy up-do. Pale, pale skin with super dark eyes and lips, is all you need to appear this ghostly.

Sexy Elvira is an easy character to emulate this Halloween. Choose a long black skirt, preferably with a thigh-high split, together with a low-cut top. If the top has long sleeves, all the better to attach some floaty pieces of chiffon. Add some semi opaque tights and lashings of eye make-up - liquid eyeliner, blue and purple eyeshadows on the upper lid together with some white eyeliner on the inner lid to open up the eyes. A dark strip of maroon blush to accentuate the Elvira-cheekbones and a slick of dark blood-red lipstick, for a darkly seductive pout.

Finally a Halloween character for the blond-haired ladies. An icy cool (pre-Christmas) shimmering dress teamed with white faux fur bolero or similar, for etheral beauty. You could try plaiting or twisting the hair to follow the white witch's long dread-lock style. Topped with a silver hair accessory or tiara and super pale make-up. All that's left, is to perfect the bone-chilling gaze.

An Extra Hour

Today our English clocks moved back, giving us an extra hour of time. Yes I spent some of the time having a Sunday morning lie in bed but I also got up and went for a walk around my favourite Victorian park. A typical Autumn day - cold, dark and damp but with the most amazing rich autumnal colours to enioy. It seemed only fitting, with the winter clock change, to wear my new watch from Daniel Wellington. I really love the simple and timeless design of this watch with its' plain black leather strap, rose gold detail and cream pearlised face. Also, I managed to snag another bargain from TK Maxx in this coat by Gharani Strok which I wore with my surprisingly warm and comfortable bow ankle boots from Kat Maconie, my favourite shoe purchase of late.

* Daniel Wellington are offering PinkBow readers a 15% discount on their selection of watches - just enter pinkbow in the discount code field at checkout.

Wearing: Top Shop Leopard Hat ~ Gharani Strok Coat via TK Maxx ~ Zara Jumper ~ M&S Skirt ~ Tabio 110d Tights ~ Kat Maconie Boots via Spartoo ~ Sonia Rykiel Domino Bag via Vesiare Collective ~ Daniel Wellington Watch

(photos of me by Ian)

Style Icon ~ Costanza Pascolato

I have discovered, through the amazing lens of Garance Doré, a new style icon to adore. Italian-born, Brazilian Vogue contributor - Costanza Pascolato is the most stylish, charismatic and graceful lady I have seen in a long time. With a talented natural eye, she knows exactly how to dress for herself and what suits her. Looking back at some of her old photographs, she seems to have reached her most stylish peak so far, at the remarkable age of almost 73 years of age. I say remarkable, because for one she does not look her age and for another she dresses so perfectly. With her trademark glasses and coiffeured hair, she doesn't hide anything and doesn't try to look younger but celebrates the poise and grace of a mature lady. This is how I want to look now, never mind in another thirty years time. 

See also the interviews from Garance's Pardon My French feature, which I have included below, (just in case you haven't seen them already). * Edit: I have removed the videos as the links keep changing, but please do check them out on Garance's YouTube channel.

Sunday at Home

Harney & Sons Earl Grey Tea with a copy of the latest Lula magazine

Cosy wool blanket and cushion for snuggling on the sofa

(Laura Ashley cushion & National Trust blanket)

Admiring the woodwork on my bedroom cheval mirror

An afternoon dvd, my film of choice 'Darling'

Jewellery laid out from the day before 

(Laura Ashley pearl necklace, Zoe & Morgan Love Lasso ring, Etsy twist ring & old Accessorize square ring)

Favourite framed pictures

Shoes kicked off from the night before

(House of Harlow platform sandals)

Dreaming of travel

Pasta supper made from the Nigelissima iPad app

Diamond Masterclass

This time last week, I was preparing to head down to London to spend the morning in a Diamond Masterclass presented by Vashi Dominguez, Owner and Founder of Diamond Manufacturers. I, like many other women, adore diamonds. But actually I know very little about them, so I found this introduction extremely informative. Here is some of what I learned...

Vashi brought along some diamonds for us to inspect with the tools of the trade. In a small group of only myself and a few other bloggers, we had the luxury of having time to carefully study the diamonds, listening intently to Vashi's presentation and with a lot of time to ask many, many questions. We firstly studied the four C's - Cut, Clarity, Colour and Carat. Through the loupe it was actually possible to see the differences between the flawed and not-so-flawed diamonds. We had chance to look at the different sizes of diamonds, the brilliance and colours of diamonds, the cut of a diamond and the ideal shape. It was interesting to be able to analyse diamonds up close without them being part of a jewellery setting.

We learned the differences between independently certified and self-certified diamonds. Having certification of an investment-purchase such as diamonds is so important, as is having the confidence of buying them from a reputable dealer. Diamond Manufacturers pride themselves on their Ethical Policy and as a company help in every way possible to assist with the diamond buying process. Diamond Manufacturers are very strict with their choice of diamonds they accept and sell, rejecting around 90-92%, only the most beautiful and brilliant diamonds they are interested in. Being hand-selected, only around one in ten make it into stock.

In my mind, buying diamonds is a joyful, momentous occasion where as much of the pleasure can be found in the research and build up to the event itself. You can have a play around on the website creating your own individual piece to suit your own budget. Certainly with Diamond Manufacturers you have the chance to obtain more diamond for your money. Dealing direct online, you are cutting out the middle man and saving yourself money.  

A selection of pieces were brought along for us to admire and try on - eternity, wedding, engagement rings, pendants and ear-rings. When buying from Diamond Manufacturers you can also have the same option, to make an appointment and receive your diamond advice first hand in a private viewing room. At 80% cheaper than the high street, why wouldn't you? You can find out more about Diamond Manufacturers here - http://www.diamondmanufacturers.co.uk

Grey Days

Apart from a few foggy early morning starts recently, the days aren't really that grey. This has to be the most vibrant time of year with an amazing array of rich autumnal colours. My outfit yesterday however was rather grey, based around a new winter coat from TK Maxx. One of my favourite items of clothing is a cosy woolen coat and this is the perfect season to indulge in what is currently on offer in the shops. I don't always have the best relationship with TK Maxx stores, I appreciate it's all about the rummage but I'm not always that lucky on my finds. But on this occasion, I spotted this 100% wool coat by Fenn Wright & Manson, I especially like the large collar and cuff details and wore it yesterday for an afternoon in Corbridge with a new Whistles dress to compliment the grey tones. 

Wearing: Fenn Wright & Manson Wool Coat via TK Maxx ~ Whistles Dress via ASOS ~ Tabio Dark Grey 110d Tights ~ Isabel Marant Boots ~ Chanel Handbag ~ Zoe & Morgan, Accessorize & Etsy Rings ~ Links of London Silver Bangle ~ Laura Ashley Pearl Ribbon Necklace (old) ~ Chanel Nail Enamel in Kabuki (old) ~ Nars Lipstick in Funny Face

(photos of me by Ian)