East Side! West Side!

No, despite the title, I am not about to 'big up the Staines massive' because this post isn't in fact about Ali G!....So I don't really know why I went with the title: sorry about that!

It is (vaguely) relevant though, because this post is about the most exciting local news story of the week. More exciting than elections, credit crunches, or russell brand's potty mouth. This post is about the new Westfield Mall in West London (the westside, get it?)! Yay!

The whole "doing all your shopping in one custom made location" concept is more an American one than a European one, and the new mall is officially the largest in Europe. It comprises over 265 stores, nearly 50 "eating concepts" (I think that means restaurants!) and soon a cinema, gym, and spa. Here are some more facts about Westfield:

- It took 13 million man-hours to build

- Construction used enough concrete to fill 117 Olympic swimming pools

- There are 96 escalators

- Some 7,000 jobs will be created

- 80% of shops specialise in fashion

- Retails come from at least 15 different countries

- And over 20 million people are expected to visit each year.


Don't you feel better for knowing all that!? No, me neither! 'The village', which is what they are calling the premium shopping area, isn't open yet, which is a shame. This will comprise such stores as Dior, Louis Vuitton; all the premium stores you'd get in an american mall really! However all your highstreet favs are open and alot of the stores are bigger than their oxford street counterparts, meaning more choice for your money!

Yesterday was the opening day of the centre, and Leona Lewis (of Xfactor "fame") was the star of the show. There was also a fashion show on the main stage, and a plethora of famous faces turned up to snip the ribbons in some of the flagship stores:

Danni Minogue in Next

Twiggy and Erin O'connor at M&S

I haven't been yet (my sister and I are going on Monday) but for those who can't wait for a sneak peek, here is a "walk around" of the inside of the mall:


I particularly love this guys bitter grumbling commentary: it reminds me of my boyfriend shopping on a good day!
Roll on Monday, when I get to experience all of the magic firsthand!

Love, Tor x

Feeling Beautiful

This is the first beauty post I’ve written on this here blog, because if I sometimes feel like I don’t know much about fashion, I know I know even less about beauty! But I felt compelled to say something, because, without sounding really advertorial (which I hate!) my boyfriend, god bless him, brought me a fab gift on Saturday whilst we were out shopping for new electric toothbrushes (it’s a glam life isn’t it?) Basically it’s a A4 sized palette full of eyeshadows.

Here’s the blurb from the Boots website, because they say it as well as I could:

“Front Cover Rainbow Eyes has all you need to create amazing eyes. With expert instructions to show how you can dare to wear any shade. Includes:-
25 eye colours
Solvent that turns eyeshadows into eye liners
2 double ended eye brushes”

So why is this such a good thing, I hear you asking. Its just eye make up right? Well this is where you’re wrong! See, I have a series of strict eye make up criteria, which means that my eyeliner and eyeshadows (including the crazy glitter stick I bought on a whim) are from urban decay. It’s the only stuff I’d ever found that I could put on at 7 in the morning and it would stay on all day and night (and id still look like a drunken version of my glamourous self at 3 in the morning!) Brightside this may be, but at more than £10 per colour, I only own three (black, blue and green, in case you wondered!)

Five days into the “Rainbow eyes” experience then, and I’m a convert. This week the palette is half off at £15 from boots (which, a quick google search has shown, is the only place you can buy it) That means each colour only costs 60p!! They last all day and you can literally try anything that takes your fancy.

On Sunday night whilst playing like schoolgirls my sister and I experimented with a jungle theme (every shade of green you could imagine) nu rave (acid pinks and yellows) and what my sister called the unicorn (whites and pinks and, finally a brown horn splaying halfway up my forehead!)

Today I’m sporting what the ‘how to’ instructions call the wow factor; electric blue eyes that I know will look as good in the pub tonight as they do today. Result!!

Basically, this pallette means you can try anything. Like the gothic black eyes everyone is saying are 'hot' this year, or these fabulous colourful 'eye-deas' I found on flickr this morning and am eager to try to replicate tonight!

So this is what I think about eye make up; sorry for the detour from my normal highstreet fayre, but don't worry! Normal fashion service will resume tomorrow!!

Love,
Tor x

And our survey says....

.....Eh Ehhh! (Ah, god bless family fortunes!)

Yesterday I told you I was going to the Topshop sale and I would report excitedly on what I found.

The results?
NADA!!

Sorry about that folks, but I promise that (after I traipsed through hailstone and frost) you can't be as disappointed as I was!

Love Tor x

Horror Show!

Hey all,

With Halloween fast approaching, and my love of dressing up in stupid costumes well documented, what better time to chat about the gothic revival the fashion industry is experiencing at the moment. I believe the music industry and all those who are 'down with the kids' are refering to the phenomena as "nu grave". The difference between this look and a halloween witches costume is....well actually, I don't know what it is! Hence the timely posting- i'm full of smarts, me!

As I apply my eyeliner fairly liberally every morning, and my favourite colour is black (for everything) this is a look i'm all for. But how far can or should you go? When does your look stop being fashion and become costume party/caberet?

I'm always full of these important life changing questions, aren't I?

The gothic trend (officially named gothic lolita) has been massive in Japan for a long time. I'm a big fan of Japanese fashion (Fruits is my favourite coffee table book) and this is the look an 18 year old Tor spent years trying to perfect.

But now it's hit the mainstream: my favourite designer de jour (and every jour, if i'm honest) is particularly into the trend at the minute: oh Betsey I love you and your bizzarre yet wearable clothes!

Betseyjohnson.com : $425




How fabulous is the yellow dress at the start of this video?? Make that in black and you and I are in business Ms Johnson. All night long!

And its not just my beloved Betsey who's given it a go! You'd have to be blind or not live near a high street not to have noticed the explosion of black lace, leather and erm, pvc all over the highstreet.

Dress and gloves by dahlia @ asos.com

Believe me as a high street addict extraordinaire (this is my new self appointed title!) I know how much cheap lace a tenner will buy you in primark! And we all know highstreet trends come from somewhere. Namely:

Chanel

Givenchy

Alexander McQueen

So what do I think? I think my ass would look like two fighting fat puppies in PVC leggings. I think chiffon is an often underestimated fabric. And I think the subtle nod to the gothic trend is fabulous. (I even wish I had the balls to dress up as a fully fledged gothic lolita) I'm just scared if the trend goes too far, the boyfriend and I will end up looking like this;

Scary!

Love Tor x

What time is it? Why, it's mid-season sales o'clock!!

Hey everyone,

It comes around so fast, and now it's here again: it's mid season sale time!! I'm not afraid to confess i'm a sucker for the highstreet: maybe it comes from not being able to afford anything that costs more than £19.99, but I love looking through magazines, seeing things I like then buying "in the style of" gear for a fraction of the price. And I love taking this stuff and making it my own. Would I take scissors to/stick sequins on/raise the hemline of couture? No I would not! Do I spend most of my weekends doing just that to the crap I pick up from Primark? Yes I do! And I love it and I wouldnt want it any other way! (unless someone wanted to give me some couture...then i could be persuaded to change my mind!)


With this yay for the highstreet attitude in mind, I headed to the river island sale which was both encouraging and disappointing. Disappointing because there wasn't a massive range of stuff in the sale (only 3 rails worth in the big oxford street store) but encouraging because the items that they were price slashing were of a really good quality.

In standard fabfrocks format, here's my "3 of the best":

Dress 1: Dip dye fabulousness


I wish I was better at the slow reveal, but this was my favourite dress of the 3 I tried on. The fabric was really soft against the skin (I know I sound like an advert for fabric softener, but it's true!) and the little jewels and details on the waist band were adorable. It squished my boobs a little but I loved it anyway. The merge into black was very flattering on the chunkier thigh, and the gathering at the neckline was a nice extra detail.

Dress 2: A mesh up

Yikes! Thats waay more breast than anybody needs to see! The puffball skirt on this dress was very cute, as were the details on the shoulders. Both things were also quite slimming and flattering, which is always a good thing. But for me, the see through mesh revealed a little too much. In fact, I think it would reveal too much of anybodys breasts, unless you were 10 feet tall with a particularly long collar bone..or something....

Dress 3: Ditsy Pretty

The title I have bestowed upon this dress probably says it all. It's ditsy, it's pretty, it fit quite nicely and that's about it. It did have a cute button up detail at the back, but I just didn't find it that fabulous. Maybe it was the mauve colour, which is one i'm not overly keen on, but this just didn't excite me. Although having said that, it fit nicely, and what do you want for £15? Wait a minute....this is why my wardrobe is so full of stuff I never wear...suddenly it all becomes clear!

Tonight i'm meeting my sister to devour the sale rail at topshop, oxford circus. Believe me, if there's anything worth trying on, I'll be reporting back tomorrow.

Love,

Tor x

Running fashionable late!

OK, so when I said I would post this weekend I lied. I’m sorry I lied to you dear reader. I didn’t mean to. My weekend was filled with movies, over indulgence and Halloween costumes and I forgot all about you. My bad.

But I’m back now, and I am ready to talk about parties. Oh yes.

Firstly, because I made a ruddy great fuss about the whole thing, here's what I wore:

And without the jacket (plus some rather disheveled hair) with the hilarious Dressed and Pressed:

The dress is from a stall on the east street market (it was only £20!) the lace top is from warehouse, I made the head band myself, and I went with curly hair and leather jacket. As you can see no doubt. Of course, I desparately want to show you Beckys fabulous outfit too, but I think her soul might weep if I ruined the reveal. You'll have to wait, sadly. As did I.

The event was blogger heaven with folks like disneyrollergirl, the recently renamed make do, and the above mentioned dresses and pressed in attendance, and everyone was uber friendly and cool (in a non-intimidating way, thank god!) The combo of free vodka and fabulous vintage dresses, hats, shoes, and anything you wished you had in your dressing up box when you were a kid was intoxicating. It was a feast for the eyes. Never before have I seen so many people dressed so imaginatively all in the same room. But don't take my word for it. Here is the photo evidence (which sprinklings of dressing-up box Tor and Becky to stroke my vanity of course!):

I think I can safely say a good night was had by all.

Much love,

Tor x

I'm an Absolut tease....

Becky and I will both be writing up our first free fashion party experiences like queens this weekend, but in the meantime here is a teaser in the form of the professional snaps that were taken on the night:

Vintage clothes courtesy of the fabulous Mint Boutique. These weren't the outfits we wore: more on those delights later!

Oooh, get us!

Love,

Tor

Primark Pick of the Week #1

Hey Everyone,

I'm in a post-lunch mid week slump, and only a spot of retail therapy can cheer that up.

I for one am sick of hearing about the credit crunch, but it's here, the recession is fast approaching, and as the balance of my bank balance declines, so does the cost of the objects I lust after, but still don't buy.

As your all surely aware, I love primark. I think it's an amazing way to try trends that you know will only last 5 minutes without having to spend your precious salary on it. And where else can you buy a gorgeous Christmas party dress for £14? This is my "lust have" object of the day!

It comes in 3 colours: blue, mauve, and black, and the gems actually seemed reasonably well attahced: something you dont often find in these cheaper bling-bling magpie designs.

Blue

Mauve

And black. See, I told you?

Christmas always means tons of parties, and I for one can't afford a "fab frock" for all of them. if you can then I'm sorry for hating you a little, but hey, at least you have a wardrobe full of dresses! Even with my shitty budget, I love looking fabulous (yup, i say that like its a new thing and most people adore looking like shit!) For those parties that are slightly less important (and particularly boozy ones where your favourite expensive dress is likely to be ruined by spillage aplenty) this dress is perfect. Red wine spilled? No worries: keep dancing and throw it away: it cost less than dry cleaning that old black thing your not even sure you still like from last year anyway! I think we should all pick it up in every colour. Quick march!

Pause for obligatory salute,

Love,

Tor x

What am I wearing today...

...Well the answer is just below actually, so I don't know why i'm making it seem like such a mystery!

We don't usually do "daily wear" posts, but I love reading other peoples and liked this outfit so much I wanted to share it. Working in an office is a new thing for both me and my wardrobe, so I don't own (or want to own) a suit and generally throw on something black and hope I don't look too scruffy.

Today I really liked my "going to work" outfit though. The skirt and shoes are from topshop, the hat is a "lend" from my lovely little sister, the leggings are chopped up M&S tights, the bag is from a carboot sale (50p bargain!) and the coat from primark was a birthday gift from Becky. Because the coat has half length sleeves and is a pretty flimsy cotton this is probably the last time I will be wearing it this year, so all the more reason to play "show and tell".

I feel like a posh witch from the 1940's, a little bit prim and a little bit mysterious. I love it!

Photo credit goes to my boyfriend who took these outside MacDonalds where he took me for lunch: the charmer!!

Lots of love,

Tor

Bad wardrobe! Bad, bad wardrobe!

As you can see from Miss B's rather hilarious post(s) below, we ladies are going to a party-thingy. The eternal quest for glamourous free stuff has finally paid off and as long as noone reads the blog too closely, we might just get away with pretending to be cool, hip, with it.

Endless supplies of vodka, vintage clothes to play with like a kid in a dressing up box: all these things I like. Having to decide what to wear, commiting to an outfit, and knowing i'll still like it when I have to throw it on in the office on Thursday night? These things I do not like!

See, I suffer from severe wardrobe anxiety. It's a crazy, irritating self-induced syndrome which means that if I don't like what I'm wearing I won't leave the house. Example? Last Saturday Mr Tor and I were supposed to be clubbing like Gods. We had planned to leave the house at 8ish to hit a few bars before descending on a club all drunk and happy like dancing monsters. Time we left the house? 10. Time we came home? 11.30. See, everytime I took my jacket off I was convinced people were looking at me. My dress didn't look good, my arms looked fat (its a pet hate, and I know it's irrational...), my lipstick was the wrong colour (yup, because i'm this crazy) and it distracted me so much I just couldn't have a good time.

But this Thursday will be different. Oh yes. Because i've been wardrobe raiding, shopping to fill the gaps, convincing myself it doesn't matter anyway, and one half of a free promotional bottle of vodka which is often the way to turn into a happy (and mostly karaoke loving) queen. And as well as all this, I have the greatest weapons in my armour: time to plan ahead and you, dear bloggy friends!

See, I am a lady with questions: important, life changing questions. How should I wear my hair? Which dress looks better? Do my boobs look too big in this? This stuff is bigger than the American elections right now. Oh yes. And only you hold the answers.

Question 1: Hair curly or straight?

With my naturally frizzy hair (thanks mum!) each has its merits. Straight is easier to do, but since when has easy been the fashion-way!

Question 2: It has to be a dress. But which dress?

Some people look rocking in jeans. Skinny jeans, killer heels, slinky tops: the outfit a rock chick goddess is made of. Me? I struggle to find jeans that fit at all, so they either fall of my waist, cling so tightly to my hips they cut of the circulation and they are always, always 2 feet too long. A dress it is then. But which one?

Dress1- the dress I wore to my birthday party. All floral and Luella and boobs. I'm inclined to think not the right kind of boobs? Maybe too much volume and not enough cleavage?

Dress2 - Vintage 80s craziness. I loved this dress when I saw it in Rokit on Sadturday, I nearly bought it, but the bf said it made my bum look massive. Is this a bad thing? Should I be dashing back to pick it up?


Dress3- Simple and Black. If only I had a better picture of this dress, but its having a tear down the seam repaired, and I can't pick it up until tomorrow. Its a simple silk tiered number from warehouse. Is it too simple?

Dress 4- Sophisticated and full of breasts. The title says it all. This "fab frock" from beyond retro covers my arms, shows off my cleavage: both good things. I bought this dress because the bf loved it (Hmm, I wonder why!?)But is the plain black dress thing playing it a little too safe?

Final Question: Leather or fur (Obviously it's faux!)?

They are both "Go with everything" jackets. But which one goes to the party?

So what do you think? Help!! (As the famous Beatles song says)

Much love,

Tor x

Competition! I feel like just "Smash Hits"

Blogosphere, have I got a deal for you.

Absolut e-mailed today with extra pimpin' goodness. If you (yes you) want to attend the House of Masquerade with a Priority Guest Pass on Sunday 26th October, you should fo' sure and totes e-mail me. Me and Tor have 2 guest passes to give away to our precious little readership.

So: e-mail fabfrockspimpsforyou@live.com with your name and a vaguely good reason why you deserve such nice things. I also want you to include a picture of a pony.

Y'know, you can still attend regardless. Yup, vodka for everyone - it's a fine philosophy. Embroider it on a pillow and believe it. Just go to the Facebook page with all the details:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52789504072

whore-whore-whore-whore.
Becky.