Is it me or has Beyoncé completely upped the ante in the style stakes recently? While I've always been a fan of her music, her style hasn't ever particularly appealed to me but that's changed. Like her younger sister Solange, the 30 year-old has really come into her own over the past few years and this outfit is a case in point.
Yesterday the singer was out and about in Paris, where Jay-Z is performing in the French leg of his 'Watch The Throne' tour, wearing this bright yellow shorts suit from Surface to Air. The addition of the Alexander McQueen canvas tiger printed DeManta clutch and Prada flaming wings heels finished off the look perfectly.
Just when we thought that pyjama dressing was the only unlikely trend of the season, you can add peplum to that list too. The silhouette isn't something new but for some reason or other, many women avoid it like the plague but this season things have changed. The style has made a serious comeback and everyone seems to being embracing it.
Everyone from Jason Wu and Giambattista Valli to Alexander McQueen and Givenchy paid homage to the style back in September and it's not hard to understand why. As someone that has suffered with finding clothes to fit around my typically South African pear shape, the waist skimming effect is perfect. As Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian show, it accentuates a tiny waist whilst skimming your hips and celebrating curves. Even for those that are more straightly shaped, peplums help create the illusion of curves like it did for Emma Watson and Emma Stone recently.
When Michelle Williams sported that beautiful statement red Louis Vuitton peplum gown it became clear that everyone was converted and unsurprisingly, the high street has picked up on it too. Not all are good but Zara has created some great styles that are sculptural and structured without the fuss that made many people avoid them in the first place.
With the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations just around the corner, so are the special products available and the latest comes from Georgia Hardinage. The British designer, who is known for dressing everyone from Lady Gaga to Beyonce, has partnered up with Lancôme to create a special limited edition bottle for two of their popular fragrances.
Each bottle of their Visionnaire and Génifique bottles have been hand painted by the designer with theLancôme sceptre appearing on the former and their crown on the latter - and that's not all. All of the outer boxes feature one of four Union Jack drawings and on May 31 and June 7 between 6pm and 9:30pm, Georgia will be on hand in Selfridges personalising bottles with customers names.
I’ve made the mistake in years gone by of showing up a little late to the event, right when the Beyoncés and J. Los of the world are having their moment — then you have photographers screaming for you to get out of the way! So this year I came nice and early.
The Met Gala is known for delivering strong red carpet looks and Monday night's event was no different. It wasn't only about the clothes though because the beauty looks were equally as strong.
While there were a handful of questionable looks (sorry, Rachel Zoe and Christina Ricci), the majority were flawless. With both hair and make-up it was all about contrasts. Hair looks were either really severe and straight and generally tied back or came in Veronica Lake style waves and make-up was either really natural or dark and vampy.
Have a look through the gallery for my favourite looks.
Anyone who paid attention at the S/S12 shows will know that printed trousers were everywhere. Designers like Peter Som and Alexander Wang went all out with bold styles but more than anything, florals were the print of choice. While florals for spring aren't the most groundbreaking trend you can think of (Miranda Priestly's comments in 'The Devil Wears Prada spring to mind), there is no disputing that the latest styles are good.
The red and purple Taylor Tomasi Hill-designedLane Crawford trousers were sported by everyone at the shows last season and Stella McCartney's Hawai-style 'Christine' trousers have been seen on everyone from Rihanna to Beyonce. My favourite styles, though, are the MaxMara 'Lodola' trousers because they are the perfect baby step into the trend with the subtle print and the Elizabeth & James option works because it comes in the slouchy pyjama style that I can't get enough of at the moment.
What do you think of floral trousers? Are you convinced?
When Isabel Marant does something, it catches on and her wedges sneakers are a case in point. Since appearing on the runway the style has become a firm favourite amongst celebrities off-duty like Beyonce and Miranda Kerr. Even more interesting is the fact that many editors have swapped their Louboutin's and incredibly high heels for comfortable variations on the style to attend the shows too and it's clear why.
I have never been a big trainers girl - despite being inspired by Taylor Tomasi Hill to buy a pair - but this is something that I have decided to invest in. Like the pyjama trend that I wrote about recently, the Marant style wedged trainer signals a move even further towards the current concern for functionality and comfort in fashion, which many brands are tapping into at the moment.
While they do have a heel there is no denying that the subtle wedge straddles the perfect balance between an informal trainer and easy to wear wedge and besides, they're perfect for those busy days pounding the pavement. What more could you need?
As I write this post the weather outside is less than pleasant (I blame the good weather from the past few weeks for getting me excited for summer prematurely), which makes now the perfect time to start planning your sunnies before summer really begins. When it comes to shades, nobody does it quite as well as Nicole Richie and the Olsens and with that in mind it comes at no surprise that their respective lines, Elizabeth & James and House of Harlow 1960, are delivering some of the best styles this season.
Over the past year I've been sporting my tortoiseshell wayfarers but Richie's House of Harlow 'Chelsea' shades in black will definitely be my go to pair of sunglasses this year. If you're looking to make an investment the round-framed styles from Linda Farrow for The Row are equally as good, especially if you like the black version that Mary-Kate Olsen has been sported over the last few years. For more wallet friendly styles, head to Topshop who have very similar styles but for less than £30 or if the cat-eye is your shape of choice, Whistles do the perfect reinterpretation of Tom Ford's much loved frames.
It's no secret that Jay-Z and Beyoncé are private so after they welcomed daughter Blue Ivy into the world last month, nobody expected images of the baby to released or an appearance any time soon - but we were wrong. Yesterday the rapper posted these images of him and Bey with the baby on his website, Life + Times.
Terry Richardson's photographs are everywhere at the moment. His latest work includes a full cover shoot with Beyonce in Harper's Bazaar and he all shot V's all-model November multi-cover but in his latest gig, he's turned the camera around in himself. For Vogue Hommes International's Fall 2011 issue, Richard shot himself in a series of portraits in an editorial called, 'Reinvention', featuring brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Tom Ford.
