MCM // The Brand To Watch

Before I moved to Korea I'd never even heard of MCM. From the day I first arrived I remember the MCM logo print catching my eye and I'd see it around every now and then. Nowadays, MCM's popularity has sky rocketed here in Korea and MCM bags are as popular and desirable as some of the top designer brands. 

It's Korean owned, but began in Germany. It was bought a few years ago by a Korean woman who's working to build it into a world-recognised luxury brand. Since I live in Korea I take a particular interest in Korea-related happenings and I've noticed the brand getting more and more exposure by celebrities like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber (no less!), he apparently dropped $7000 on a few items for himself and girlfriend Selena Gomez. I also heard that an MCM store just opened in Harrods in London this August. Despite all this though, some of my friends back home still haven't seen or heard of MCM.

Well known or not, I've been wanting to make an MCM purchase for a while since I love the style of their goods and the feel of the leather is so beautiful, plus, I like the Korea link. When I saw this wallet I knew it'd be my first purchase; an easier on the bank balance 'ice breaker', so to speak! You all know the hot pink interior is what really sold it to me! Next on the list is one of the Cognac Visetos bags from the Heritage Line, they're the most iconic pieces from MCM and quite timeless, I reckon they have the makings of a classic!

I hope that in thirty years I'll be proudly toting around my vintage MCM pieces and telling stories about when I lived in Korea and MCM wasn't really that famous. I'll probably enjoy a little laugh about how obscene the prices are too! ;)

I'm interested to know how popular MCM is where you are? Does anyone else like/own any MCM stuff?

xxx

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eBay Finds: Rhinestone Collar Necklace

eBay is like a treasure hunt to me. I know there's good stuff out there I just have to find it. I've got to admit I waste a lot of time searching through the endless array of other people's unwanted items and the cheap junk straight from China that you just know will fall apart within a week! Once in a while I hit on something that makes it all worth while though.

I'd had a crappy day at work today, one of those Monday's you just will to be over. It doesn't help when I know all my friends and family in England will be enjoying a nice bank holiday today either. On returning home my spirits got lifted though when I saw that a package had arrived. 

Cue excitement! 

It could have been any number of things (lately I've been doing a lot of treasure hunting - usually on my phone in bed when I should be sleeping!) but I was surprised to find it was this necklace that wasn't due to arrive for another two weeks. 

Unlike most things I buy on eBay, this necklace didn't spend any time on my Watch List. As soon as I spied it I had to get it, even if it was coming from Shanghai. 'Buy It Now'... click!

I knew the quality wouldn't be great especially since the price tag was under $20 but the mix of cream enamel, rhinestones and cute collar design won me over. Despite loving the look of the detached collars that are everywhere at the moment, for some reason I just feel ridiculous whenever I try one on. Does anyone else feel that?! 

This necklace is a great alternative to those but still has a similar aesthetic. I love how it looks a little bit vintage but the chunky cream enamel keeps it bang on trend. As expected the quality isn't great, the chain seems a little lightweight, but I think it'll survive the summer at least. I can't wait to wear it! Collar necklaces are already available in a lot of different stores and I'm sure they're going to be huge by summer.

Here's a few more (not from eBay) that I wouldn't mind wearing:

1. Miss Selfridge 2. Modcloth 3. Topshop 4. ASOS 5. Dannijo 6. Dannijo 7. Topshop 8. Miss Selfridge

If you like then one I found on eBay you can click here to see the listing. They also sell it in black and the postage is free worldwide.

Have you found any treasures on eBay? Tell me where, I'm always on the hunt for more! 
What do you think of collar necklaces, do you own any?

Pastels // The Face Shop & Zara

So you know when you keep seeing something you want and then you can't stop it playing on your mind? 

Well this has happened to me, with not just one item, but a whole spectrum of colours instead - pastels! 

I already own a few pastel things but I've been loving a lot of items that are (given the current trend) popping up all over the Blogsphere at the moment. So, when I went shopping a few days ago there was one thing going through my mind... 

..."MUST OWN MORE PASTELS! MUST OWN MORE PASTELS! MUST OWN MORE PASTELS!"

Every minty green and pale sherbet yellow I passed evoked a little 'ooooh' or 'aaaahh' in my head, some even prompted an out loud one, which must have been strange to nearby shoppers. I pretty much wanted all the pastels I saw and believe me when I tell you, there is no shortage of them in the shops right now!!

But....I reigned myself in, calmly reminded myself that I do not need more clothes and walked away with only four new things. Yes, four! Now, I appreciate this may not seem like an achievement to you but trust me, it could have been a lot worse, I could have looked like Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony threw up on me.

Mint green crepe t-shirt - similar!, sherbert yellow clutch bag - here!, pastel coloured aztec print scarf - here! - All Zara.

Pastel Nail polishes 'GR501', 'YL701' & 'PK106' - The Face Shop

Okay, so I did get three nail polishes which technically means I bought six items but the The Face Shop nail polishes are seriously cheap here, about $3 per polish, so I'm counting them as one. Surprisingly, they're good quality too, they're a breeze to apply and I find they don't chip very easily.

The Face Shop isn't in England as far as I know, but they do have stores in the U.S and some other countries. If you haven't tried any of their nail polishes then I'd definitely recommend you do, you can find your nearest store using their store locator.

Has anyone tried any of their other products? Would you recommend any of them? 

Happy Friday everyone, I hope you have a great weekend!

Lust Haves: Spring Colours

If you haven't already heard, which is pretty unlikely, pastels are big this spring. Magazines, blogs and shops are brimming full of pretty pastels. What I can't help thinking though is...it's hardly really groundbreaking stuff is it?! Shock horror...pastels...spring....NO! You don't say! I feel like pastels are always 'in' for spring, maybe not quite so predominantly as this year but no-one's about to start wearing blacks and browns are they?!!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it...in fact, I love pastel colors. The soft sugary shades are sweet, feminine and flattering on almost every skin tone. I can't help still loving some bright colours too though. I think a pop of bold colour helps to really make a pastel outfit. Plus, it's a good way to ease in to the really bright and bold colours you just know are going to be the 'summer trend'!!

I've got my eye on a few pretty 'spring' coloured things and despite not yet having any spring weather just yet I think a purchase of one or two may be imminent!.

Essie Spring 2012 'Navigate Her' Collection - Amazon

Pale Blue Blazer - Topshop

'Beth' Peep Toe Heels - Kurt Geiger

Assorted Friendship Bracelets - Links of London

In my fantasy world money grows on trees and I buy all the Links of London friendship bracelets and wear them as a colorful stack with my mint blazer. I'd have to buy the whole Essie set because I couldn't choose which one I'd want. Also, half of the appeal to me is how the set looks together, haha!

Of course, if money grew on trees I'd also buy both pairs of shoes and then get to work on finding the rest of the rainbow!

What would you buy if you had unlimited funds? Have you bought many pastels items (in reality) yet?

xxx

Five Things From This Week.

Once again, we made it to the weekend. Happy Weekend folks! It wasn't such a tough week in the end. Yes, Tuesday sucked (I didn't really talk about it, here) and there was the stress of getting my hair done (that's here) of course but other than that it's all gravy baby. Yep, I did just write that.  So here's five things from my week.

OOTOD (Outfit of the other day) - More metallic jeans.

I'm a little worried I'm starting to become obsessed with the metallic trend. I bought another pair of metallic jeans, super skinny ones this time. You know the kind...where you can't even bend over they're so tight. But they were just so shiny and silver and...shiny!

Silver Metallic Skinny Jeans - H&M. Black & Silver Studded Boots - Zara. Bracelet - Vivienne Westwood. Silver Bangle - Mont Blanc. Heart Necklace - Swarovski. Other Necklaces - F21.

'Eyelash Styling Tool'

Korea has an unbelievable amount of random beauty implements which usually I have no idea what they're even for! This though, I understood and loved. It's a tool to separate your eyelashes if they get clumped together when you put on your mascara. I don't have this problem often thanks to awesome MAC mascara but occasionally a couple will decide they want to hang out. Annoying. Previously I used a small pin to separate them but thankfully now I have a much easier and safer way of doing that. Ingenious invention.

I would like want need this Yves Saint Laurent Leopard Print Belt.

Saw this when thumbing through a Korean glossy. Leopard print YSL belt, love it! Want it. Need it? Probably not but still....it's pretty isn't it!

God damn Auto Captcha.

Dear Auto Captcha,  I. HATE. YOU. That's all. Ax

Does anyone else ever have serious problems trying to read auto captcha? This week I seem to have struggled more than ever before. I cannot tell you how many times I've got it wrong. I mean, what does that even say??

This week's MAC purchases.

I had to visit MAC to pick up a gift for a friend's birthday. And of course once in MAC, some gifts for myself. Those shop assistants see me coming, I'm sure. I needed the mascara. MAC's Zoom Lash mascara is all I ever use, it's awesome. The other two things I got tempted into buying by the pretty but persuasive shop assistant. I usually use Studio Fix Foundation but Pro Longwear turns out to be a pretty good foundation for everyday wear. The last thing is 'Pink Venus' lustre eyeshadow. I may swatch it one day but to be honest it looks awful on me, gives me a puffy eyed look. I don't know why I bought it. I was tricked. Darn her!

That's my week in pictures. I'm thinking about making this a weekly feature if you guys like it, so let me know what you think. Going out for my birthday tonight so I'm going shopping now to try find an outfit now. Wish me luck! Have a lovely weekend everyone!

xxx

I Wore: Simple Snakeskin

Good Morning!

It's unusual for me to be posting on a Sunday morning, okay, I lie, early afternoon. It feels like morning to me since I rarely manage to motivate myself to post anytime before 8pm on a Sunday. I've been sick all week but finally feel like I'm almost well again. It's given me a new lease of life. I actually felt well enough to go out to dinner last night with my boyfriend; getting dressed up always helps make me feel better. Snakeskin print is a big trend of this fall. It's in a lot of the shops and I've seen a lot of celebrities wearing it. Although I'm not brave enough to do head to toe snakeskin like the celebs I picked up a cute snakeskin dress a couple of weeks ago. 

 

Snakeskin Print Dress - H&M

Vintage Black Clutch with Gold Chain Detail - Stuart Weitzman

Black Patent Shoe Boots - Moda In Pele

Gold Cuff Bracelet - F21. Ring - Accessorize. Gold Pendant - Vivienne Westwood.

Since the snakeskin is such a statement print I let that do the talking and kept the rest of my outfit simple. Black leggings, black shoe boots and my absolute favorite vintage clutch bag.

The weather here yesterday was unseasonably warm so we headed to a great restaurant we love that has an open air courtyard you can dine in. I think it's possibly one of the prettiest restaurants I've eaten in. The food is incredible too. It serves a course menu comprising seven courses. I only took three photos because I was too busy enjoying the evening (and eating all those courses) to remember to photo them all, sorry!

Although the weather was mild and the courtyard is heated I still took my snuggliest knit to keep myself warm. Don't want to catch a cold now that I'm almost better do I!! I picked it up in Mango last week. I'll do a post that you can see it clearly in soon (it totally deserves full recognition, it's so cozy). Also, isn't the entrance to the restaurant pretty, very romantic, I love it.

Chunky Knit Cardigan with Fur Trim - Mango

Today I'm venturing out for brunch and possibly a cupcake and coffee later, I'm so addicted, it's bad!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!

xxx 

What did you do last night? Feel free to leave a link if you've written a post about what you did, I'd love to read it!
 
Oh, almost forgot, remember to enter my giveaway if you haven't yet! :)

I Want to Wear: Gold Metallic Effect Skinny Jeans.

This is a new kind of post I'm going to be doing - items I spot and want to wear. It's kind of like a trend alert type post too as...lets face it, my taste is just impeccable, awesome, perfect, flawless! Ha. I'm joking obviously! Except in this case these are actually going to be a big trend. Metallic jeans will be a huge fall/winter 2011 trend I reckon. No doubt you've already spotted some metallic jeans in the stores. I saw this pair that I'm dying to go back and buy. Do not know why I didn't just get them there and then.

Gold Metallic Skinny Jeans in H&M.

They were in H&M so they were pretty cheap, which is great for bold trends like this one. It means you don't feel so bad when you can't really wear them (fashionably at least) anymore.

I spotted this pic of Elle Macpherson on Grazia's website wearing silver metallic jeans. I love how she paired her silver metallic jeans with a simple loose sweater.

Elle Macpherson in Metallic Jeans Via Grazia

Although metallic jeans might not be for everyone, if you dare to try then they'll add a fashionable level of bling to an outfit. The easiest way to wear these is to keep the rest of your outfit simple, let the jeans do the talking!

Here's the info of the six pairs shown in the set I made at the top:

Mango skinny jeans
£55 - mango.com

TopShop super skinny jeans
$120 - topshop.com

River Island super skinny jeans
£45 - riverisland.com

Zara short pants
$60 - zara.com

Nicole Miller denim pants
$275 - nicolemiller.com

Zara short pants
$80 - zara.com



So what d'ya reckon? Will you be trying to rock a pair of metallic jeans or is this trend a bit much for you? 

Leave a comment to let me know what you think and as always please make sure you follow my blog! :)

xxx