Elena Miro Milan Collection Fall/Winter 2011-2012

You all know I love me a bit of Curvy Couture... And Elena Miro is one of my favourites. As with recent collections, Elena Miro has paraded her latest designs for Fall Winter 2011-2012 parallel to Milan Fashion Week.

The latest collection is just divine and takes inspiration from the class and elegance of the women of the 1950s; think Lucia Bosé, Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren.

I love this collection for the classic stylings and amazing cuts as well as the grace and elegance obvious in the designs. The fabric choices of lace, satin and macrame work so beautifully with the ruffles, velvet inserts, heart-shaped metal buttons and pearl brooches.

I am offering you a glimpse at this gorgeous collection and suggest you head over to Vogue Curvy to see an exclusive video from Behind the Scenes, as well as more shots from the collection.

Image Credits to Pour Femme xxx.

She likes: Beach walks at sunset...

Do you know what's amazing? 

The OCEAN...

No trip to Australia would be complete without a blog post sharing with you - the gorgeousness that is the Ocean.

Now, while Downunder, my Mr. Darcy and I DID head into the Pacific for a dip or two, but these photos were taken on a romantic day... LITERALLY, a walk along the beach, hand holding, ice-cream eating and a gorgeous sunset. The photo on the left is my favourite photo taken of myself in a very long time. To me, it says LIFE and HAPPINESS and at the moment this picture was taken I really felt like I was experiencing and truly enjoying BOTH.

My skin and hair felt salty after so many days on the beach and much as I love the UK, I do miss sunshiney ocean days - a lot!

Now for my day on the beach, I am wearing the City Chic Floating Flower Maxi-dress, which as you can see  - I have hitched up into my underwear. I actually LOVE hitching up my dresses and walking about in the sun and in Australia, I used to do it a LOT. In fact, I miss days when I used to walk to work, through a PARK - no one around, sun shining, sunscreen on and dress hitched up - letting my arms, chest, face and legs drink in a little Vitamin D.

I teamed my dress with a macrame style bolero (also City Chic), pink Havaiana Flip-Flops and Paparazzi-Huge sunglasses (bought on Santa Monica Pier in 2009). I also took a massive bag with me carrying towels, drinking water and sunscreen. I am wearing minimal make up... my time downunder was VERY MUCH about keeping things very simple! Can you see my freckles?

In any case, it was a very romantic day... and while my blog doesn't really have a place for couples shots of Darcy and I - here's a smidge of romance for you:

Sunset at Glenelg beach.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Simply Be Competition WINNER

This month I have held a fantastic competition on the blog thanks to Simply Be. The prize was a piece from the Anna Scholz for Simply Be range - and to win, all you had to do was follow my blog, friend Simply Be on facebook and also leave a comment on my blog telling me which piece from the range you wanted and how you would style it...

There were some amazing and innovative entries and I love how many of you chose different pieces with different ideas for styling.

The competition winner is Susa Dickerson. Susa chose the Anna Scholz Frill Hem Dress - and described how she would style it for day and night.

Susa, get in contact - and let me know your details. I will contact Simply Be for you with the size you need as well as forward them your details. Perfect! x.

Thanks to everyone who entered... as you can see, I still love the dress I got from the Anna Scholz for Simply Be Collection (SS10) and wore it recently in Sydney... The current collection is versatile and gorgeous - in fact all the new clothes online at Simply Be are looking fantastic, their winter clearance is STILL on - so... what are you waiting for?

xxx

A little Henna LOVE!

On my recent trip to Australia, I had a day long stop-over in Singapore on the way back to London in order to break up the trip. I actually love traveling, but a gruelling 24 hour journey NEEDS a little break in the middle.

Mr. Darcy and I had a full day in town and I knew where I wanted to go! Last time I was in Singapore it was 2002, I spent a week there and LOVED it. The city is amazing, clean and friendly. I fell in love with Little India and the art of henna body painting, I find it stunning - and this last weekend when we were in Singapore, I told Darcy we could go wherever he wanted, so long as I could leave the country with some body art... It was our first stop!

Choose your design and sit back as your Henna artist does her amazing work. I was amazed how quick she was! Quick and precise!



Once completed, you need to leave the henna on your skin to dry for as long as possible - eventually, it will crack and start to peel off naturally...



As the henna starts to come off, underneath you will see the staining from the henna... I used brown henna which was orangey to start - but darkened overnight...

(Try to never use black henna - it is not made from the same natural elements and can render you allergic to all other dyes (like hair colour) for the rest of your life)...


Here you see my completed body art, looking great - a whole TWO days later when I was back in London... believe it or not - henna body art can last from a few days up to a MONTH depending on the kind of mixture used and how long you leave the original artwork on your skin...

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

PS - I will post the winner of the Anna Scholz for Simply Be competition on Tuesday! So tune back then! x.

Laura & Jennifer for Plus Model Mag.

I can barely contain the hotness of this post.

I know many of you already read Plus Model Mag, well the latest issue almost defines plus-size gorgeous. Cover girls and plus size models Laura Wells and Jennifer Maitland not only feature in a completely hot picture editorial but are also interviewed by editor Madeline Figueroa Jones.

If you haven't seen the issue yet - take a look, because it really is something else.

Oh - and if you haven't already entered - head HERE for the Simply Be Competition currently running on this blog.

Smooch. x.

Pictures via Plus Model Mag and Laura Wells Plus Model Facebook page.