The accessories edition!

THE ACCESSORIES EDIT

Hey y'all,

So I was thinking to myself this week that I need to add more consistency to the blog, so I've decided to keep things simple yet effective (much like a Saint Laurent collection!) by doing a weekly list of the top 5 things on my wishlist. (Christmas is nearly here guys so who knows, maybe Santa will be extra kind to me this year!)

5) Acne Studios Cardholder- Recently I've been feeling very affectionate towards Acne Studios and I find myself wanting everything from their website. Whilst browsing, I saw this chic card holder and well, everybody needs a place to hold all their cards.

4) Moncler chunky knit wool hat - Being London based, the weather here is pretty bipolar. One minute you're slapping on the sun-tan lotion and before you know it, you're wrapped up in your Christmas jumper your nan knitted you, but hold the phone, I think this Moncler situation may be the perfect way to withstand the cold this season.

3) Smythson leather bound journal - I've always been a journal person, however with the internet age being what it is, blogging is the new journal! After seeing this leather bound 'perfect for a fashionista' journal, I may just have to revert back to the old traditional way of keeping account of my adventures!

2) Karl Lagerfeld stainless steel watch - From the man that can do no wrong, comes a watch that I think will be the cherry on top of the icing of the cake that is your outfit! 

1) Adrienne Landau X BryanBoy Mink Camera Strap - Last but not least, a piece from my favourite blogger, instagrammer, tweeter & oxygen breather, BryanBoy. This isn't a traditional piece, however when I saw it (via his own personal social media outlets), I knew it was something I not only wanted, but NEEDED. 

image source: https://www.adriennelandau.com/products-page/bryan-boy/mink-camera-strap/

So that's a wrap on the accessories edit! Drop me a comment or tweet me, but most importantly...

STAY FABULOUS,

Z xx

I deserve new shoes!

“Shoes transform your body language and attitude. They lift you physically & emotionally” – Christian Louboutin.


Ahh shoes, the envy of every fashion conscious soul on the planet. The source of much joy, happiness and eventually despair when the seams of our favourite pair of shoes become to undone. 
Boy were we in for a treat as Spring/Summer '14 gave us a whole army of beautifully designed shoes to really turn us a weird shade of greeny yellow (green with envy. yellow for excitement...you know it makes sense...)
Check out my favourites both on and off the runway!

1 - Zadig & Voltaire SS14
2 - Moncler Rouge SS14
3 - Valentino SS14
4 - Celine SS14
5 - Gucci Monk Shoes
6 - Balenciaga Ceintures
7 - Balenciaga Derby Shoes
8 - Converse X Maison Martin Margiela

Leave a comment and don't forget...you always deserve new shoes!

Stay fabulous 

Z xx

UPDATE

Hey y'all!

KARL.

So, I was casually browsing the internet one night and I came across possibly the best news that I heard all week...KARL LAGERFELD IS OPENING A STORE IN LONDON. The fashionista god himself, creative director of Chanel and Fendi, will open a store in under his eponymous fashion line 'Karl Lagerfeld' on the glamourous South Molten Street...which fortunately for me and unfortunately for my credit card, is situated right outside work!

Model Advice

As many of you who follow me on Twitter know, I am very passionate about models. Having worked in the past with them, you begin to develop a relationship with them and become very passionate about them, so whether by happy coincidence or a stroke of luck that the lovely people at Model Advice happened to stumble across my profile/blog, they contacted me and asked me to be a contributing blogger! I'm so excited to share some of my experiences and views on the modelling industry and work side-by-side with Model Advice!! Check out their profile and their  blog!

Stay fabulous!!

Z xx

WARNING: Cuteness Overload

With the craziness and the brilliance that is the fashion industry, it takes something extra special to cause such a stir and nothing quite sets the fashion world off than a 'fashion baby'. The precious, well dressed infants are a rarity, but with all the A-List celebrity offsprings, there's sure to be an influx in the adorable department!

Aila Wang, the niece of American fashion designer Alexander Wang, has been causing a stir ever since she walked down the catwalk for his FW11 show in New York. She's a street-style favourite, having been seen in everything from custom-made Alexander Wang outfits to mini-Chanel bags.

Harper Seven - With a footballing legend and arguably the most handsome man in the world as a father, and an award-winning, internationally renowned fashion designer as a mother, it's no surprise that Harper Seven is destined for a career in fashion. She certainly doesn't need to gain approval from the Queen of Fashion, Anna Wintour, who managed to crack a smile as she sat next to her at her mothers 'Victoria Beckham SS14' show at New York Fashion Week. Who knows, maybe she'll follow in her mum's footsteps and become a designer, or maybe go down the path of her brother Romeo, who is part of Christopher Bailey's Burberry campaign.

Maison Martin Margiela sent an adorable 'lab-coat-esque white dressing gown whilst Alexander Wang sent a custom made leather dress.

Alber Elbaz of Lanvin sent a number of outfits, from cute skirts to dresses and Phoebe Philo of Céline sent a pair of crocodile skin pumps and not one, but 3 v-neck jumpers

Riccardo Tisci sent a signature black Givenchy tee bearing the Bambi motif.

(images via instagram.com/kimkardashian)

North West - being just a few months old, she may just have the most envious wardrobe in the world. Both Kanye West & Kim Kardashian are no strangers to labels, in particular that of Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, who, amongst leading designers such as Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, Phoebe Philo of Céline, Maison Martin Margiela and Alexander Wang, sent custom made outfits to Kim & Kanye.

Has reading this left you feeling as jealous as I did whilst writing it? Probably not. But take salvage in the fact that when we all have our babies, we can dress them up in a number of cute outfits...that is after all, the whole purpose of having children right? So you can dress them up?

Keep in touch via Twitter and Instagram! 

Stay fabulous!

Z xx

Always wanting what we can't have.

"The best things in life are free, the second best are very expensive" - Coco Chanel.

That phrase is all too true even to this day and for someone like me, expensive taste + a student budget mean the second best things in life are hard to get hold of.

BUT A GUY CAN DREAM...

1: Burberry Prorsum - Heart Print Cotton Shirt - £350

2: Gareth Pugh - Overlay Wool Trousers - £650

3: Balenciaga - Ceinture Ankle Boots - £765

4: Vivienne Westwood - Leather Man Bag - £280

5: Alexander Wang - Leather and Wool Bomber Jacket - £900 

So, there it is, the outfit that I hope to one day be snapped wearing by street style bloggers in front of the Eiffel Tower during Paris Fashion Week. 

Keep in touch via twitter and instagram: @zaynalijaffer

Stay fabulous!

Z xx

LIFE = CRAZY.

There's only one word that I can use to describe my life at the moment: CRAZY.

From new beginnings to farewells, where do I begin?

Let's start with: Leni's Models

I was given the chance to rejoin the loveliest of people at Leni's Models for the upcoming London Fashion Week Spring/Summer '14. Having interned before at Leni's a couple of months back, it was SO good to see the team again and they welcomed me as one of their own! I mainly worked with Livvy Smith (@LENIS_Livvy) and Matthew Bell (@mattbell2194), who were the Leni's Fashion Week team where we put together the LFW show packages and sent them out to the clients. It was such a great experience for me as it showed me the highs and lows of the fashion industry, from the stress of trying to get as many of the models to as many castings to being able to see one of our very own girls on the runway and being able to say, "I booked that!, and for that, I'm thankful!

No doubt I'll be seeing them again, hopefully soon!

Check out their blog: http://lenismodelmanagement.blogspot.com/

Victoria's Secret

Having a twin has many advantages, one of which is being able to get me a job! I am proud to say that I am a Victoria's Secret New Bond Street Angel! Yes, I have recently been offered a job at the beautiful New Bond Street flagship store. I've only been there a week so far and I'm loving it so much! The customers are friendly, the people I work with are even friendlier and there's something about working in such an elite store that never gets old. I know what you're thinking, "working in retail at Christmas?! You must be crazy" but honestly, I can't wait. The hustle and bustle on the London streets, the lights, the crisp cold mornings and the illuminated London nights.

Keep in touch via Twitter & Instagram (@zaynalijaffer)

Stay fabulous

Z xx

Counter-productivity can be the most productive.

FACT: Did you know that Tuesdays are the most productive day of the week? Nope, neither did I until I ironically found out whilst being counter-productive.

I chose to spend my long, overdue day off in style...by re-arranging my wardrobe in accordance to the change in the weather. (That's what all the cool kids are doing right?).

In amidst all the re-arranging fun I was having, I realised, I'm not satorially prepared for Winter...which can only mean one thing. One beautiful, stress-relieving thing: SHOPPING...or a substitute for a cardio work out as I like to call it.

WISHLIST:

The first thing on my shopping list was always going to be a cape. Reason? To fuel both my desire to be a superhero but also to distance myself from years upon years of wearing standard coats and jacket to keep me warm. 

Checked Studio Cape - Zara

Acne Slogan Sweatshirts - Harvey Nichols

Marni Mohair Blend Sweatshirt - Mr. Porter

 Checkered Trousers - Zara

 Raf Simons X Eastpak Rucksack - Mr. Porter

Stay fabulous!

Z xx

London Fashion Week SS14

London Fashion Week - Spring/Summer '14.

Well, here we have it. We've already said goodbye to New York and although I'm nowhere near ready to say goodbye to London, Fashion Week has come and gone as in on it's way to Milan. There's been an atmosphere around this beautiful city that nothing can compare to, we've all got 'fashion fever'!! 

I feel as though I should let my fellow bloggers on the other side of the pond share their wonderful insides on what can only be described as an INSANE New York Fashion Week and give a few highlights on a couple of my favourite shows. Short and sweet!

Daks - Clean & Sophisticasted. 

J.W. Anderson is miles ahead of many designers and his SS14 collection really showed his futuristic mindset.

Ashish - Slogan vests over ripped denim. Ashish provided the perfect mix between reality and fantasy with tribal headwear and grocery accessories at his SS14 show.

House of Holland - If there's two things you can count on Henry Holland for, it's a colourful, quirky collection and a celebrity packed front row. The fun mix of colours brought the likes of Harry Styles to view the collection.

Mulberry - Emma Hill's final bow as creative director of Mulberry as she sent her signature pieces down the runway in the form of floral dresses and stripy nits...oh and of course a dog in a flowery one piece.

Topshop Unique - Possibly my most anticipated show of LFW with each piece making every girl's (and obviously my) heart skip a beat. From short shorts and matching accessories to gowns paired with sneakers, there wasn't a single look I'd say no to.

Burberry Prorsum - Christopher Bailey is a visionary and his latest collection showed just that. From beautiful lilacs to hot pinks, the colour palette was as breathtaking as the finale. Confetti canons firing over as the models strutted down the catwalk.

Although fashion week may be over in London, I'm 100% sure that the buzz around the capital will still be visible...and well, it's not all bad, we have the Prada, Cavalli, Versace, Miu Miu, Gucci, Max Mara, Fendi and many more shows still to come next week. Talk about glass half full ey!

I'd love to hear which shows you enjoyed the most so leave a comment :)

Z xx

APOLOGIES, READING FESTIVAL, FASHION WEEK & A QUOTE BY DEREK BLASBERG

Apologies for the severe lack of blog posts recently, however it was for a few good reasons (laziness only played a 5% part in it!!)

1) READING FESTIVAL

As many of you who follow me on Twitter saw me rambling on about my excitement, I went to Reading Festival last week with some of the best people I know as well as being introduced to new, extremely beautiful faces. To quote Mr. Chow from The Hangover, "WE HAD A SICK NIGHT BITCHES"

Friday 23rd September a.k.a The night I will never forget. Yes people, I got to see my current favourite rapper, A$AP ROCKY (alias LXRD FLVCKO) in the flesh. Not only did he play all my favourite songs of his, bar Fashion Killa, but he also dressed to the nines in tradition A$AP style rocking a custom made Supreme hoody, t-shirt and matching headwear.

2) Illness

Illness also played a part in the lack of blogging and on behalf of my body, I apologise. Reading, as fun as it was, left me in pieces and after a few days, I'm finally back to myself!

3) EXCITING NEWS

Now, onto the exciting part.......FASHION WEEKS ARE UPON US. Having spent the majority of August interning with my honey's at Leni's Model Management, I got the chance to experience first-hand what it's like working in the fashion industry during fashion week...and I loved it. I gained a wealth of knowledge and experience and got the chance to work first-hand with the models who are going to be strutting their stuff up and down the runways. 

I have also decided, mid-blogging, that due to my absence, I will create a blog post each day, with my personal opinions on the shows, the high's and low's, as well as general happenings in my life.

Up first...NEW YORK FASHION WEEK...and to end on a humorous tweet my one of my inspirations Derek Blasberg (@DerekBlasberg)

STAY TUNED LOVELY'S

Z

xx

Oh so Kyle.

There are many people I cite as my style inspirations, but  none of them truly compare to the fabulous Kyle Anderson, Accessories Director at Marie Claire. It is for this reason that I thought I should post a few of my favourite outfits. I decided that this post is going to be predominantly pictures as I feel my words will not be enough to do justice to how #GLAM Kyle Anderson (@KyleEditor), Stay fabulous!

Kyle looking ultra GLAM in metallic Burberry

Kyle - Street Style in Paris

Kyle with the iconic Chanel Hoop Bag

Kyle in Givenchy & Givenchy nose-ring

Kyle a la Prada sunglasses