Clothes Show Live Fashion Blogger of the Year Award!

We're not sure whether we will have to hand the trophy over to next year's winner, in the manner of a Miss World competition, but the way we feel about it now, you would have to prise it out of our cold, dead hands!

Last Friday it felt as though St Nicholas had appeared a little sooner than he was expected to, as we were named the Clothes Show Live's Blogger of the Year!

We were particularly happy bunnies because the award was judged by a firm favourite of ours, the super lovely Sasha Wilkins of Liberty London Girl, who we are really looking forward to seeing at LFW --we will try to keep our squeals of excitement to a bare minimum but do recommend ear plugs, just to take the edge off.

The Clothes Show was an integral part of my childhood and is definitely, at least in part, responsible for me being a fashion nerd today. I would tune in to see Jeff Banks and Caryn Franklin, with her wonderful shock of silver, talking all things fashion and later, as a teenager, would pore over the Clothes Show Magazine (one edition was particularly well thumbed due to a work wear spread featuring a very fetching Karen Millen inverted pinstripe suit, this was when they made things other than brightly coloured body-con dresses, designed exclusively for attending the wedding of an ex who you're totally over and friends with, so you can stop judging me now) which makes this award all the more exciting! 

I had always wanted to attend the Clothes Show, although it seemed a million miles away from rural Cumbria and it did not disappoint. When I wasn't gazing wistfully at the photo-booths, wishing that my purikura partner was there with me, I had a splendid time; Sasha's interview was truly inspiring, the Fashion Theatre was a lot of fun and it was awesome to yammer away with some of the other lovely finalists, Ann from Edinburgh based Frock Trade and Eshe from YNKE about blogging, vintage and the power of gold lame. 

And so, we would just like to yell  a humongous THANK YOU to Sasha and to Clothes Show Live for making our 2013 as sparkly as a unicorn's mane! 

Even in the excitement of winning, my magpie eyes were drawn to Sasha's gorgeous clutch!

Sasha Wilkins of Liberty London Girl spoke about the importance feeling comfortable and confident in your clothes - as Gewn Stefani sang, "Style is Style, Fashion is Fashion - Girl, you got style"

Have a gander at the ensembles of the finalists!

Eshe of YNKE, whose blazer made my eyes dance!
Blazer: Pink Pigeon Vintage
Blouse: Topshop
Shoes: Step in Style

Ann from Frock Trade with her outstanding collar.
Scarf and Dress: Karen Mobon
Boots and Socks: New Look

Chantel is Eshe's lovely fashion loving bestie and writes for In The Grime
Cream Shirt: Forever 21
Leather Front Leggings: H&M
Cut Out Boots: H&M

Fashion in Motion: Street Style

Before the Meadham Kirchoff show began, us RF girls were buzzing with excitement for the show and our win at Clothes Show Live for Fashion Blogger of the Year (more coming up soon about that!) Currently at the V&A, the main entrance's foyer has an absolutely gorgeous Christmas Tree of Love made of Velvet & Antlers. It certainly made us feel festive! We managed to snap a couple outfit pics of our friends, some fashionable attendees and our own outfits, so have a look below! 

Miriam's Outfit:
Sheer Cream Button-Up Blouse - Zara
Camel PVC Dindrl (If you don't know what a dindrl is, find out here! Miriam just educated me)  - H&M
Shiny Black Flatforms - Topshop
Leather Bomber Jacket - Mango

Siobhan's Outfit:
Velvet Floral Blouse - Topshop
Knitted Coat - H&M
MOM Jeans - Topshop
Glittery Socks - Topshop
Patent Block Sandals - Topshop
Baroque-inspired Earrings - River Island

How did we get such fabulous-looking friends? We're not entirely sure, but we are probably subconsciously seeking them out.


Barney's feminine collar looked absolutely fetching with t-shirt and leopard-print coat!

This eye-catching trio looked so chic and encapsulated the feeling of the Meadham Kirchoff show with their pretty, shiny shoes, pastel fluffiness and cute hairstyles!


Miriam double-fisting prosecco (jk! She's holding mine) and tickets to the Meadham Kirchoff show. Miriam also layered her Berber-name necklace and Dinosaur necklace from one of our BFF's, Esmeralda.


These flatforms went from London to Birmingham and back, all in one day!


Socks and sandals -- the only way to get the most money out of your summer shoes.


After the awe-inspiring show, we were completely high on life with thoughts of face veils and rhinestone makeup swimming in our heads. We decided to be cheeky and take a couple sneaky pics on the set before we exited.


Peek-a-boo!

Check Mates

Friday evening was spent at the V&A for Fashion in Motion, which this time was celebrating the work of Kansai Yamamoto (shiny, explosion of colour blog post to follow). Before the show even had a chance to begin, socks were being knocked off feet by the exciting ensembles of the audience. Everything about the outfits sported by the gentlemen above was awesome, but my pupils were turned to hearts by the oversized gingham jacket and the tartan baseball cap ~ double dreamy!

LFW Spring 2014 - Street Style

One of the best things about this, oftentimes bleak, city is the street style. Every single day it is possible to wander, lonely as a cloud, into the crowds of shoving and rushing people and there, like a ray of sunshine, is a wonderfully dressed individual.Well, last week the great and good of the fashion world descended on London like an army of preening peacocks and the city was, despite the rain, brightened for a few days - here are our five favourite looks.

Susie Lau aka Susie Bubble epitomises London's eclectic style.

Miroslava Duma smashes Russian stereotypes one incredible outfit at a time, while photographer Sara Reverberi looks just as comfortable on this side of the lens.

Ink Limpichart is super stylish despite the downpour and Joanna Hillman shows us how to navigate the weather during those typically British in-between days.

Image Credits: Vogue (Dvora), Elle UK (Victoria Adamson), Refinery 29 (Victoria Adamson)

NYFW Spring 2014 Street Style

Is New York Fashion Week already over? We were glued to our screens, hitting refresh on style.com eagerly awaiting each new collection like a rat in a Skinner-esque experiment. While we still trying to mentally process the designer collections (Oh Wang, I just can't even...), the street style from the past week was just as exciting as the looks from the runway. Like watching (free) Willy soar triumphantly in the air as he was released into the open ocean, it's always exciting to see fashionistas flourish in their most natural environment. We couldn't help but notice a theme of light-hearted fashion experimentation that was full of whimsy. This will definitely help give us some fashion inspiration as we navigate our wardrobes starboard from Summer to Autumn. Let us know your favorite looks in the comments!

Check-mania and the midi-length skirt wave was at a fever pitch. 

Oh! So that's what it would look like if we turned ourselves into a bag. Definitely a fluffy, pink clutch.

Aimee Song makes me never ever want to put my arms into a jacket again.

We noticed lots of Harajukuian qualities in our street style finds. Those white flatforms cannot be denied!

Amazing hair + loud accessories = mouth-dropping awesome. 

Love you from your drippy nail art to your iridescent clutch, girl! Most seen trend was certainly the sweatshirt + skirt combination.

So many cool girls with bobs... hide the scissors, please!

We adored pretty much every look Mira Duma donned for fashion week, but this one stood out of the crowd with it's somewhat shapeless silhouette. The harness over the white button up is what we would like to call "Advanced Cher Horowitz Style."Expect to give new life to that vegan leather bralette of yours by wearing it over slouchy tees or airy button ups this Fall. 

We know a dino-lover when we see it and this look has just the right amounts of gaudy and great.

If we haven't convinced you by now, Nicole Warne from Gary Pepper will surely show you how big heritage prints are going to be this Autumn. And we love the suiting trend that she pulling off so flawlessly! Can't even remember the last time I thought wearing a necktie was cute.

Again we were beguiled by the accessories but the combination with the African-inspired print dress is what really made the pairing shine! 

Image credit: Refinery 29 (Mark Iantosca), Vogue.com (Phil Oh), Racked.com (Driely S.)

Baby, Come Back in Brixton

Hello, dear readers! You may have noticed the dearth in posts over the last month. We apologize for not preemptively informing all of y'all, but M & S spent the last month in the land of the free getting married (to one another and also Siobhan's now-husband -- it's a long story). We have many adventures to share with you and we can't wait to showcase them shortly. In the meantime, we wanted to share an awesome style video we spotted on singer Pharrell's YouTube channel, iamother. It features street style from one of our favorite London hubs: Brixton. The aside from the amazing clothes, the interviews are incredibly interesting as well. We hope you enjoy and stay tuned.