28 February 2010

OUTFIT POST: Day & Night!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for not updating you all sooner on the second day on fashion week. I've had so much scripting and writing to do for my dissertation this week I've hardly had any time to blog! However I've been taking a few outfit pictures for you guys.

This is a pretty laid-back outfit for me. I hardly wear jeans-and-t-shirt outfits these days. But it was a long day, so I just wanted to be comfortable:

T-SHIRT: Hot Topic, $25.
JEGGINGS: Dorothy Perkins, £10.
NECKLACE: Topshop, £12.
HAIRBAND: Primark, £3.50.
BOOTS: Fenwicks, £25.
POINT OF FASHION: Comfortable for a long day at university.

And the second was for dinner at my friend Michael's dinner party last night. You can read all about it in Michael's fabulous food blog!

DRESS: Dorothy Perkins, £25.
JEGGINGS: Dorothy Perkins, £10.
BELT: New Look, £8.
NECKLACE: Topshop, £10ish.
SHOES: Dorothy Perkins, £15.
POINT OF FASHION: Roses.

To go with the roses theme, I kept my makeup really simple - simplistic lined eyes, and dark lips. I got the lipstick free at The Look Show and it's by Beneift. I can't believe I haven't tried their lipsticks before - they're so glossy and gorgeous!

Michael's dinner was absolutely fabulous. Please check out his blog for his amazing dishes as he cooks his way through Jamie Oliver's cookbook.
He's one of my superfans of this blog, and in honour of this - he produced bottles of Evian Spring Water designed by Jean Paul Gaultier! I was so surprised!

I PROMISE my next entry will be all about Bernard Chandran's party where I mingled with celebrities and met Mr. Jimmy Choo!
Keep your lovely comments coming, follow me on Twitter, ask me questions on Formspring.Me!

Muchos Love,
MessyCarla.

PS: My dad was reading my blog today and even added it to his favourites! My sister is in the process of turning him vaguely-fashionable (he got his first ever pair of Converse for his 50-something birthday in June) so maybe it's rubbing off on him?

25 February 2010

London Fashion Week Part 1: The Look Show!

Hi everyone!

So I was the winner of New Look’s tickets to The Look Show, one of the first fashion shows to feature high street clothing, and perfectly in time to kick off London Fashion Week.

The event was held at the wonderful Saatchi Gallery in fancypants Chelsea. Our taxi driver was hilarious, and was telling us all sorts of funny stories about the people he’s driven around the area – and he loved our Geordie accents, so took a pound off the total fare! Nice!

When we got there, there was a fairly sized queue forming to get in – all featuring gorgeous girls of all shapes, sizes and age, so we knew we were in the right place. There was even a red carpet rolled out, which felt very glamourous!

ME: I'm going to call this one 'Cheap Shoes On The Red Carpet.'(I love how Georgina de-tagged herself from this picture on Facebook as "nobody wants to see my Pricess Shoes!" Oh, George! ;DD)

Inside, champagne was being served which was fizzy and delicious. All the major high street stores were showcasing their new range – one of the best features being they were the clothes currently featuring this season. So I could literally have seen a dress at the show, then went to New Look around the corner and got it the very same day – a big first for fashion shows.


Me and my friend Georgina mingled around and did some celebrity spotting – we spied Liz McClaron (from Atomic Kitten), Keisha Buchanan (from Sugababes), The Saturdays and Beverley Knight (who I also saw at an event the next day – she was so sweet and lovely, and wanted to buy everything for her next television appearance, which was funny!). It completely wasn’t what I expected a fashion show to be like – with people looking down their nose at you. Everyone was very pleasant, and there was a buzz of excitement.

After an hour or so (and a few too many glasses of fizzy pop!) we took our seats. Thank you New Look for securing us such an awesome view – front row at the start of the runway! The models were all provided by Elite Models in London and were all stunningly beautiful – although the show was kicked off by supermodel Erin O'Connor!

My favourite collection was by River Island who closed the show. Very creative outfits for the high street - some of theme wouldn't have been out of place at a high fashion event. Very quirky, a lot of them Alice In Wonderland/fantasy themed. Some, like this, was just punky and festival-chic!

I'm DEFINITELY going to start wearing my party dresses with parkas!

Dorothy Perkins didn't disappoint, and I was so happy when my favourite dress was featured in the show:


The show was also given an extra bit of sparkle when Pixie Lott came out in a cute black dress and performed an acoustic version of her hit single ‘Cry Me Out’. She was amazing!


After the show, pink champagne was served and we got our goodie bags which were designed by Olivia Rubin. Inside were accessories from all the retailers, vouchers and chocolates – yum yum! 

The modelling agency even gave out adorable pink glittery cupcakes! 
I loved the irony of models handing out cake...


I chatted to this model after the show, and she was really sweet and friendly – even nabbing a goodie bag for herself, saying she hardly got them to keep herself in her line of work. 

She was very smiley off the catwalk, teehee!

Oh! And to top it all off – I ended up winning second prize in the raffle. First prize was the ‘Alexa’ Mulberry bag, but second prize was a massive Toni & Guy goodie bag – including a hairdryer, straighteners, products and £100 worth of haircuts.

I was so happy, as I never win anything usually!


Haha WELL DONE if you've made it all the way through this entry - I know it's rather picture-heavy, but I didn't want any of you guys to miss anything!

Next, I'll be doing an entry about designer Bernard Chandran's party I got a last-minute invitation to. Fabulous times! I wish I could do this kind of stuff everyday!


Muchos love,
MessyCarla.


PS: EXTRA special thanks to my childhood friend Georgina for being an amazing plus-one! You'll see more from Georgeface in the next post.


ALSO remember that you can watch the entire show for yourself HERE at Look.co.uk! And complete coverage is going to be in next week's issue of the magazine.

23 February 2010

London Fashion Week: I'M BACK!!

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update to let you know I'm back from my weekend at the launch of London Fashion Week.
I ended up staying an extra day as I got a last minute invitation to another event. I have to do my guest blogs first - writing about The Look Show for Future Fab Fashion (New Look's blog) and Bernard Chandran's party for The Sassy Minx, who have been so kind as to feature this blog in the past. (Author-girl Lisa Clark was kind enough to let me go in her place as she's working hard on finishing her new book!)

So I'm going get my journo-girl hat on today, and knuckle down with some writing - so I can get round to telling you guys all about it. Hang tight!

I got interviewed before I went into The Look Show on Saturday, and found my quote scattered around a few articles. You can read it here - hoorah, exciting stuff! Pity she didn't include the link to my blog though - oh, well, at least I still got a mention, non?


You may have noticed a few changes around here? Do you all like the NEW LAYOUT? It's by the wonderful Janis from PinkSugarIchigo and it's absolutely fabulous! I've loved her scrapbook-style graphics for years now, so it's wonderful to finally have her create something for me. Thanks so much, hun!

And this layout isn't the only thing that's had a bit of a change. How do you peeps like the new hair?
I thought spring is coming, so why not get some highlights in for texture. Also, you can't see very well but my fringe is slightly shorter and easier to handle.

Anyhoo I think that's all for now! Your lovely comments are always welcome and make sure to follow me on Twitter, and I'm going to be starting an official Facebook page soon, so you'll know when there's a new blog post straight to your news feed.
Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

17 February 2010

THE LOOK SHOW - Feb 20th 2010!

Hi everyone.
I know I've been blogging quite a bit this week, but this is going to be my last until after the weekend.

I found out yesterday that I won a blogging competiton for New Look, and the prize is a pair of tickets to The Look Show for London Fashion Week. It's run by Look Magazine (which I LOOOVE) and is the only show to feature high street clothing that will be available to buy immediately, rather than having to wait for next season to appear in the shops.


I was worried I wouldn't be able to go, as I'm all the way up here in Newcastle, but I managed to find a £69 return train, and my gorgeous friend Georgina (who is a bit of a fashionista herself) who studies at Oxford University is going to be my plus-one and also taking me for a bit of a dance afterwards with all her equally clever friends! Hoorah!

I also get to guest write for New Look's official fashion blog Future Fab Fashion, but I made sure that I'm able to report everything here too - and I was told that was absolutely fine, and they'd even link us in the sidebar, so we'll co-exist in harmony!

Speaking of fashion shows, how well did Agyness Deyn handle falling over TWICE at Naomi Campbell's Haiti Relief show? She was so brave to just pick up her heels and carry on - so many models would have burst into tears and ran off!

It reminded me of my favourite ever Sex & The City moment where Carrie falls over:

"I had a choice. I could leave the runway and let my inner model die of shame, or I could pick myself up, flaws and all, and finish. And that's just what I did. Because when real people fall down in life, they get right back up and keep on walking."

So the show is this Saturday, and I'm coming back from Oxford on Sunday - so I'll do a post all about it very early next week!
I promise to take LOTS of pictures, and I'll be tweeting about it - so be sure to follow me on Twitter for all the gossip. Eesh, I wonder if I'll meet any famous people?
Muchos (and excited) love,
MessyCarla.

15 February 2010

Post-Valentines Goodies.

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines with your sweetheart, friends or even by yourself in front of the telly with some Ben & Jerry's!
This is a bit picture-heavy, so KUDOS if you make it to the end...

We were planning on going to a vintage fair, and usually I dress up a bit. But I was coming down with a cold, and just wanted something comfortable and cute. It's actually amazing how cheap this outfit was - my necklace was the most expensive thing about it!


Sorry about the Myspace-y angle. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to set my tripod up.

TOP: Dorothy Perkins, £5 (sale).
SKIRT: Vintage, £3.50.
NECKLACE: New Look, £8.
HAIRBAND: Primark, £3.
TIGHTS: Primark, £1.50.
SHOES: Primark, £5.

Before we went shopping, we stopped at one of our favourite coffee shops to exhange presents. We'd agreed on NO mushy stuff (as I apparently have a heart of cinder, muhaha). I got him:

(Excuse the Pocoyo bedsheets - I have the mind of a six-year-old...)
A Sonic Boom Six t-shirt (they supported Reel Big Fish and he couldn't make the gig) and a mix cd with accompanying mini-zine. I also made him a massive batch of cookies, that aren't pictured here as they were in a tupperwear box to stay fresh!
They were bloody GOOD, though, if I do say so myself.


I made a batch of 45. The boy only recieved 30-odd of them. (I have NO willpower!)

He got me some BRILLIANT gifts too:


My card had a postcard of Cliff Richard inside from the 60s Photography exhibition we went to on one of our dates, the original House Of Wax (Vincent Price!!!) on DVD, a Chocolate Orange, a big pack of Love Hearts, a mix cd (great minds think alike?) and a badge for my collection.
I love gifts that are so thoughtful. *HEARTS*

I also bought myself a present from the fair:


Isn't it cute? It's so shiny and new looking, but actually from the 80s! I got it for £13.
There were a few dresses I liked - but there were no mirrors so I couldn't even hold anything up to myself for sizing. Oh, well! I need to cut down on my dresses addiction anyway. I already got a new vintage one this week.


My cold has evolved, but I'm pumping myself with orange juice, paracetamol, vitamins and tea.
Oh, and I've also bought myself some more presents. WHAT?! Valentines is the time for love, so I have to show myself lots of love, right? Right.


Beauty bloggers/vloggers are going crazy for Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetic's lip tars! They're the most innovating lip product I've seen for ages, as the idea is that you can get a few and mix your own colours together if you want. They go on apparently with the consistancy of paint, and sit like a gloss. I got Hush (a pale nude) and Pageant (a bubblegum pink). I actually can't wait for them to arrive!
You can buy them here. (Only available online to the UK at the minute - they need to come to stores NOW!)

Also, Lady Luck Rules OK are having a big clear-out sale as they're having a big change-around (including halting production of their personalised jewellery - boo!) so I got these beauties.
Be sure to grab yourself a bargain, and also check out their Ebay page as they're selling lots of craft items for cheap.

Whew, that's me broke. Until pay day on the 22nd...woo hoo!
Can you believe I'd forgotten to put in some timesheets from before Christmas?! How dozy!

Right, I'm off for a bath, eating some of my Chocolate Orange and an early night. I NEED to go out dancing with Daniel tomorrow night... (Oh my, your Vlog is so cute - please keep doing them!)

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

PS: I'm currently completely in love with the band Go Betty Go! PLEASE, check them out if you love punky-pop bands with girls.
I think this is my current favourite song:

13 February 2010

Outfit Post & Fame & Newcastle!

Hey everyone. First of all this blog has had a bit of a surge in new followers (on Blogspot, and I know there's a lot of you following via RSS Feed and Google Reader - don't worry I know you're there!) because my favourite YouTuber and homegirl (we're both from South Shields) Lauren Luke aka Panacea81 retweeted this address.



So if you're one of the newbies via Lauren, HELLO! It's lovely to have you here.

Back to business, an outfit post! I wore this when I went for sushi with the boy:


DRESS: New Look, £18.
JEGGINGS: Dorothy Perkins, £10.
SCARF: Primark, £3. (from this video)
NECKLACE: New Look, £Present from my friend Claire.
BELT: Matalan, £5.
SHOES: Vintage.
POINT OF FASHION: Dark colours.


In other news, I was doing a bit of Googling the other day and came across this article from Dutch fashion website FashionNews.NL:




How rather nice?
I don't speak any Dutch, but a bit of help from Google Translator told me it was a lovely, positive article. The boy pointed out that the loosely translated:
"If you know the next time so with the ancient cry for help "I have nothing to do !!!!" for the state cabinet (???) check out http://messycarla.blogspot.com/, for MessyCarla: A Fashion Blog In A Size 16" makes me sound rather God-like.

Which I'm not. I'm a bit of a weird Geordie girl who spends her evenings eating cereal and watching The Office.
Anyway, you can read the original article here, or the translated version here.


Tuesday's a bit of a big day for Geordie fashionistas, as the new part of Eldon Square mall is opening - with brand new Flagship-sized Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, New Look, Apple stores and more. Topshop's event looks brilliant - they're doing promotions, competitions and even giving out free frappes and cookies from the new cafe Chalk & Paper.
Just my luck I have class during this time (where there's a severe lack of girls due to film dissertations, so I have to especially go and represent the sisterhood), but good thing is my sister (who is WAAAAAY more fashionable than me - believe me!) and her friends are going. So I've asked her to take plenty of pictures for you guys.
I bet she won't remember, cause she's a bit useless! Heh.

This is what it's going to look like though, apparently:


It looks like it's going to be great! The Dorothy Perkins and River Island in Newcastle are pretty small, so good news especially for those!
Is anybody local going?


I can feel myself getting a cold, but I'm NOT letting it stop me from doing the nice things I have planned this week.
Tomorrow is Valentines Day, so I'm going to be swapping presents with the boy then going to Newcastle's Affordable Vintage Fair (I LOVE these), Monday is the my Ambassador work night out, Tuesday I'm out dancing with Daniel, then Saturday after the university open day Adam, one of the Ambassadors from Belfast is having some of his mates over from Ireland for his birthday so we're taking them out on the town. Oh, and one of my best-friends Megan is coming home for the weekend so I'll hopefully be nabbing her for a few hours and a cuppa, before she goes back to Leeds and does lawyer-y things...
So I'm overloading myself with tea and paracetamol today. Hoorah!

Again, I'm so happy to have newbies here - I love to hear from all of you by comment, email, Twitter or Formspring.ME.
I love questions, comments or if you'd even like me to review your product! Get in touch, I'm nice, I promise!

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

PS: If you ever see MessyCarla mentioned in another blog/website PLEASE let me know! :)

11 February 2010

Sad News & New Hairstyle & Award

It's such a shame I have to start this blog today with such sad news:

R.I.P Lee Alexander McQueen
(1969-2010)
One of my favourite designers Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London home today. He was so innovative, inspiring and was one of the most exciting British designers. He'll be so missed.

On a more positive note, a big day for me. Today I tied my hair back.
Not a big deal? Well, it actually is for me!
My memories of wearing my hair tied is a childhood where my mam pulled my hair back into two tight pigtails every morning, and her pulling at my tangles while I yelled at her!
I was interested in doing my own hair when I went to Secondary School (High School), and she convinced me that the older girls all wear their hair up. In my first week at the tender age of 11, a boy made fun of my ponytail, calling my "Charver (chav) Head". I cried, and pulled my hair from it's crocodile clip.
I then found rock music, turned into a goth, and wore my hair in two lank, black curtains at either side of my head because I was dead mysterious, or something.

But I fancied something different today, so just pinned the longer parts to the back of my head:

Sorry it looks a little messy here - I had to run for the metro to uni this morning (surprise, surprise!) so this was from when I got home.
Another plus, is that I can finally show off my lovely earrings - I've been hiding my ears for nearly ten years now! - So time to flash them about:

These are my favourite earrings at the minute. They're vintage, and I got them for only £3! They're just too cute and sparkly.

In other news, this blog has got it's first award from one of my favourites Buttons, Bows & Brogues. Thank you so much, Stephanie! I've gained a few new followers from the linkage on her blog, so if you're new - HELLO!! :D


This is a pass-it-on award, where if you are awarded, you have to pass it on to six other blogs!
I watch so many wonderful blogs. But my favourites at the moment have to be:

and
My Stylish Life
(This girl deserves more followers - she's adorable! - and she's called Nadia, like my sister!)
Be sure to check these guys out, they're all brilliant!
Right, I'm off to bake something. Tomorrow I'm going to have a lovely lazy day, work on my dissertation script, then go to my darling friend David's house party he's throwing for his new housemate.

As always - get in touch via comment, email, Twitter or Formspring.Me! :)
Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

9 February 2010

Simply Be - Mini-Haul!

Hi everyone!

Remember that I linked you guys to the Simply Be website a few entries back?

Well some lovely girls from my favourite catalogue noticed, and offered me some free clothes to try! How nice?! I even got to pick what I wanted from their gorgeous range...

So here's what I chose:

Lightweight jacket in Coral (also available in black and grey) - £35.

I love the modgirl/scooter girl look at the minute - I love dressing like a 1960s dolly! It has lovely big buttons, a nice big collar and is very mackintosh-y material, which will be amazing for my summer holiday in New York (OMG! I actually can't wait!) where it can get very sticky during July. (Not something we experience a lot in the UK, unfortunately. Bloody rain.)

I'm loving their spring/summer collection they're previewing. So I picked out something, again, for my holiday:

Print shell top - £21
Sqaure Pocket Buckle Bag - £35


Lately I've been feeling a bit self conscious of my arms (hello, bingo wings?) but I don't mind showing them off in this gorgeous top. It's lovely and floating, and has an elasticated waist, which I think I'll need after a few days in NYC! (Our hotel is three doors down from a Wendy's - my favourite fast food EVER!) And it's floral too, which is still bang on trend.

I love my big bags, and thought I'd get something a bit more low-key than my pink River Island bag I use everyday. It's MASSIVE too, I'm going to be able to fit a lot of books and recording equipment in there for uni - and the sturdy handles will keep it from bursting open!


Going back to the top, you can't see in the picture of me, but it has two adorable bows on the shoulders. See if you can spot them amongst the flora! ;)

Can you see it?

Also FYI, when I was getting my second outfit together, I realised I didn't have a suitable lipstick that would go with the warm tone. So in classic Carla-style, I improvised and made my own!

(God, I sound like Peter's Kay's mum in that skit about ice lollies don't I?
"We'll make our own!")

Hehe, anyway to get this sweet light plum colour, I used a mix of Lime Crime's Cosmopop, a bright pink Barry M lipgloss, and some pink eyeshadow! Genius - I'm going to have to experiment with making my own concoctions, which may either save me a lot of money or it'll end up like George's Marvellous Medicine. We'll see.

Anyhoo, thanks so much to Simply Be. Check out their full collection. They've got some gorgeous stuff this season!

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

7 February 2010

Valentines 2009!

Hi everyone, just a little Valentine's post for you all.
I'm not a big fan of the huge commercial aspect of Valentine's - especially for guys, I think they can be pressured into buying us girls extravagant gifts otherwise we won't think they love us! Not necessary guys. (Although the boy may disagree - I've been hinting a lot at things this week...oh, well!) I'd be happy with something that took care into what I'd really love, than a hundreds-of-pounds necklace. (Again, the boy will say I'm lying if he reads this...)

But I love anything with hearts anyway (I even have a pink vine with hearts tattooed on my foot!) so for me it's an excuse for the shops to be overloaded with cuteness. And chocolate. LOTS of chocolate.

DRESS: Dorothy Perkins, £22.
PURSE: Evans, £3.
EARRINGS: River Island, £4.99.
HOT WATER BOTTLE: Heidi Seeker, £5.
NECKLACE: Junkie Lovers, £12.
SHOES: Vivienne Westwood for Melissa, £70.
SHADES: Heidi Seeker, £8.
RING: Lazy Oaf, £16.
CARD: Tatty Devine, £2.50.

Hope you're all doing wonderful! Let me know how you are in a comment, email or at Formspring.Me!
Some of you have been pimpin' the blog around Twitter and Facebook, for which I'm very grateful, thank you so so much!

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.

2 February 2010

Outfit Post: Nautical #2.

Hey everybody. It's been a bit of a lazy, duvet day for me today as I've been a bit ill with my stomach condition. It's been all about my *I HEART London* hoodie, unwashed hair, dry cereal, hot water bottles, naps and The Office boxset. That show ALWAYS cheers me up. I need to get my hands on series 4 to 6.

Anyhoo, this is my outfit from yesterday when I went to university to run an errand, then me and the boy had a coffee and DVD date:


TUNIC: New Look, £14ish. (bought in my last post)
JEGGINGS: Dorothy Perkins, £Present from my mam.
NECKLACE: New Look, £Present from my friend, Claire.
BELT: Matalan, £8ish.
SHOES: Dorothy Perkins, £12.
POINT OF FASHION: Nautical #2. (Nautical #1 was my first ever Outfit Post here!)

The boy was very good, and admired my shoes. TAKE NOTE, MALE POPULATION! :DD
The only thing that could have pulled this outfit together a bit more was my red hairband, but I've been wearing it SO much lately, I thought I'd give it a rest.

It's been a good couple of days for this blog. I was contacted by the lovely lovelies at Simply Be, and twittered by New Look, so I came over all fangirlish.
My friend Catey asked me on Facebook if I do anything other than shop. I had to admit there wasn't much. Oh dear!

I've also been asked to do an interview about the blog and fashion for a lovely boy called Joe's journalism dissertation. We met at Halloween (where better to meet funny, creative people?!) where he was dressed as Lady Gaga:


He won't mind me saying that he's got a cracking pair of pins for a guy! There were some creative outfits that party, I tell ya. I wish I'd done a post about it then - I kept meaning to, but it was around deadline time. Heh, when is it not for me, lately?!


So tomorrow I'm getting sushi with the boy before Yo Sushi's 40% offer runs out.
For the rest of the week, my Television Studios class begins again this week which I love so much, and I'm showing a bunch of potential Media students around campus on Friday. On Saturday there's an exhibition in Newcastle of 1960s photography that Sam wants to go and see, so I'll be going into art-girl mode and accompanying her.

Don't forget to keep getting in touch. I've had another surge in followers lately, which I'm so grateful! It's what it's all about and I'm so appreciative of all you guys. So either comment, email or ask me a question anonymously at Formspring.Me!

Muchos love,
MessyCarla.


Off-topic, but if you're interested in student projects, this is our television pilot from last year. We created a lunchtime show a-la Loose Women, but for men. The awesome presenters are my mates Dan, Liam and Dane - plus my best-friend Sam makes an appearances as a guest!

Also the boy (who is a graduated film student) has started a film blog over at Obscurity Musings. I know a lot of you on here love your film, so go and give him a read? :D