What I'm loving this week :)

Omg its couture week! Ive been watching with drool running down my face imagining ever owning a piece of couture. By far Versace blew me away and so did Ellie Saab, it was a deep contrast to the modern woman and the nostalgia of old glamour when women needed a ball gown for a special occassion. So jealous!

Also I got a few wee bargains in the zara sale. I called in to collect an order so I wouldnt get distracted, I got distracted regardless and ended up leaving with a beautiful pair of jade green trousers with the most amazing gold zip detailing along the top. The fit is perfect and it is just that extra attention to detail that makes the whole difference. The very soft and comfortable grey loose fit jumper is just perfect for what I was looking for, it can be worn both up and down. The shoes are killer! Omg I am in love with them! They make me feel so powerful and in control, if I was a businesswoman then I would wear these to the boardroom to show that I mean business, adore them! The shoes were £19.99, the trousers £17.99 and the top only £7.99.

What would complete this look would be this amazing knecklace from Sugar and Style that you can find here. Sorry I couldnt get an image, either my phone or the blogger app is playing up. Actually the new updated blogger app is rubbish!

Has anybody else been shopping at the sales? What did you pick up? I'd love to hear :)

Niamh xx

Lana Del Rey outfit

Lana Del Rey outfit by niamhgoodwin featuring christian louboutin shoes
 

This outfit has been inspired by the one and only Lana Del Rey. I am going to see her on monday 27th May in Dublin's Vicar street and I cannot wait! I have never been so excited to see hear somebody in my entire life, I have a majassive girl crush on Lana, I like to call her 'my girl'. So I'm hoping that she comes out in a long vintage dress, perfect waves and red lips and just be the old Hollywood-esque siren that she is! I will not be amused if she just sticks on jeans and a top, no Lana let me see glamour! So this is my dream outfit to wear for the night, I actually am in a style rut as to what to wear, I want to make an impact yet I will have to keep in my mind I will be travelling by train and bus so comfort is needed. Ah well, this is my dream outfit complete with diamonds and Christian Louboutins (that I only own in my dreams!) The only part of this outift that can become my reality is this beautiful China Doll Boutique dress at only £45. I love the optic illusion element to it, and obviously its very detailed neckline, it is stunning! And very Lana :) and you can get it right here

what do you all think about my outfit?

Niamh xx

Benefit counter-Debenhams Belfast

Today I had to lovely encounter to get my make up applied free of charge by Benefit in Debenhams Belfast by the lovely Megan. I was browsing the aisles whilst waiting for my mother to hurry up when the lovely Megan approached me. After a friendly conversation and with me inquiring about some products she offered to do my whole make up and to give me some handy tips for skincare and make up application.


She asked me what type my skin is and what products I usually use, and gave an in depth consultation about what I should be using as I am only 20 and to make sure I'm using a mosituriser that will give benefits. All pretty mandatory but in light of what she has said, maybe my usual moisturiser is too rich and heavy.


For the prep she used the triple performing facial emulsion moisturiser which I adored! Very lightly scented, felt so creamy and light on the skin and give a beautiful sheen to the skin with light reflecting particles. Megan gave me the mirror to look at after applying this and I couldn't believe the difference in my skin with just moisturiser alone, I need to buy this at the end of the month! Even better that it had SPF and PA + + (to protect from UV rays) which she told me no other brand except Dior have in their products as they are all part of the LVMH brand.


Next, she applied the Porefessional primer which I am very impressed by. It definitely created a smoother base to my skin and didn't feel heavy on my skin, I'm always conscious of applying too much cosmetics and blocking my pores. She matched the 'Hello Flawless' foundation to the shade of 'Ivory believe' (or 'i'm pure lighter' if I wanted to go down a shade' and mixed the foundation with highlighter to give extra radiance. Megan applied the foundation with a normal blusher brush to buff into the skin and this was to avoid any tell tale brush strokes usually with foundation brushes. Skeptical at first, the finishing look was flawless! A final dusting of Ivory Hello Flawless powder and Hervana blusher and I was good to go :)


Amazing wee surprising treat for me as I had to go shop to shop with the ma, and that is a punishment I wouldn't wish on anyone! Megan was so lovely to talk too, highly informative and was really aiming to please to create a look that I would usually go for. There was no sales pitches being shoved down my throat, which I was originally intimidated by when she offered to do my make up, so it was an amazing experience!


Here is just a snap of the products used and I will go back at the end of the month to buy the moisturiser and perhaps the foundation. (I don't need anymore foundation but you can never have enough!)

Thanks for looking!

Niamh x

Lana Del Rey in L'Officiel Paris

I just seen these images from the L'Officiel photoshoot with Lana Del Rey and my jaw just dropped! I adore LDR, pure girl crush and naturally of course, I love her style. This photoshoot has taken it into a new level though, making her look like a temptress from the Mediterranean with the smouldering looks and the all too familiar religious imagery seen in Dolce & Gabbana.  I know that she was styled in Roberto Cavalli for the shoot on the bed, stunning!

I cant cope with how beautiful she looks!

What do you all think?

Niamh x

 

 

Oscars 2013 Jewels

Hello darlings!

 

 

So another quick post on the Oscars 2013 only this time its on the jewels! As all of the dresses were magnificent, you could barely get a sneaky peek at their shoes, which is always a shame so instead I've decided to focus on the diamonds! The lucky things not only get to wear custom made gowns or dresses straight off the catwalk, but they also get to wear hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions worth of jewels!

 

 

So here are my top pick of last nights sparkle:

 

 

Jennifer Aniston wearing Fred Leighton, and a cheeky wee glance at her engagement ring, oh! But in love with these bracelets, beautiful.

 

 

Both Oscar winners of the night, Ann Hathaway and J-Law, opted to wear their chains backwards and this is a trend that will catch on. As somebody mentioned on twitter last night, the sound of clinking is everybody turning their chains backwards. I oddly like it. It adds drama. Drama is good. Ann wore Tiffany and J-Law (loving this name!) wore Chopard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoe Saldana's beautiful pearl dropped earrings on a string of diamonds add the right amount of glamour, sparkle and sophistication to that beautiful dress of hers. Drop earrings are always a must to ensure they will be seen and draws attention to the best proportions of your face; the jaw line, lips, cheekbones and eyes. These are Neil Lane.



 

 

 

Jessica Chastain's vintage Harry Winston diamonds just add to her overall old Hollywood glamour that she was emulating, and successfully if I may add. She was my favourite look of the whole night and could not get over how beautiful and dreamy she looked. I think this will definitely go down in Oscar fashion history. Stunning!

 

 

Now this I LOVED! Jen Garner has never really 'wowed' me in the past, her Gucci dress was gorgeous if a littly tricky on the proportions as the rouching at the back could have looked disastrous or that she was trying to be a butterfly, but somehow she made it work. this necklace however took my breath away. Look at it! Look at it in all of its glory! A proper princess necklace that looks like it has been borrowed from the vaults of Grace Kelly, it combines both the elements that is needed for royalty and a movie star that would have suited the late legendary icon perfectly! Good call Jen, good call!

 

 

 

 

So that is all for the Oscar 2013 talks. I havent seen much of the after party outifts but over all I have been somewhat underwhelmed by it all. Except for Jessica Chastain. It's all about her, shes the one! New style crush heeeeeey Jessica!

 

 

Bye lovelies!

 

Niamh x



Style inspiration Ava Gardner

Ava Gardner is a truly inspiring woman!

I became intrigued with her after watching her biography on E! And immediately was captured with her beauty, her ability as an actress and her fiery personality. As a fashion icon she was like no other of her time, with a stunning hour glass figure, creamy skin and thick wavy hair she truly was a natural beauty. She contributed her flawless complexion to her Irish and Scottish heritage and always took care to cover up in the sun. Her beauty captured Hollywood and the worlds leading men such as mickey Rooney (husband #1) and frank Sinatra (hubby #3) who was her true love. There was always whispers towards her close relationship with the aviator Howard Hughes but she always denied this, despite his many proposals and said that he always stank of BO. So being a multi-millionaire can't buy personal hygiene?

After reading her autobiography I became even more in love with her as she led such an interesting life, and for quite a conservative society of the 1940's/1950's she broke out of the societal norms and was a true hell raiser with her drinking, smoking, swearing, the men and generally not given a damn about what anybody thought of her. Living in Spain with the one and only Ernest Hemingway led to her love for the bull fights, dancing and matadors who she had many affairs with.

She was never the 'darling' of Hollywood as she refused to live up to the squeaky clean persona that was expected of her and her contract of MGM, in fact once that contract was over she felt that was the only time she could truly flourish as an actress instead of playing the traditional femme fatal role. This period in her life she lived the way she wanted without rules and people watching her, and famously turned down the part to play Mrs. Robinson in the legendary film 'The Graduate' that would have cemented her place in cinematic history, but its a decision she never regretted.

A long time friend of Grace Kelly she was present at her wedding to the Prince of Monaco and these two women were defining the most stylish of her time. Her Spanish influence definitely shows throughout her fashion choices, although she was never too fussed on her appearance choosing not to wear make up or shoes whenever she could. Dior, Balenciaga, Chanel all the leading couture fashion houses loved to dress her for her fabulous figure. In her hometown of North Carolina there is an Ava Gardner musuem dedicated to her with some of her iconic outfits on show, this is something I need to see in my lifetime!

She is immortalised however, the famous song written by Frank Sinatra 'Im a fool to love you' was written for her to explain their passionate and tumultuous marriage, that ended in heartbreak.

Personally, I dont like to mimic stars for the simple fact that I like to have my own personal style but her classic glamour, jewels, wavey hair and make up has inspired stars after her such as Lana Del Rey today (another fashion love) and her personality has been likened to the infamous Samantha Jones due to being an independent woman who never depended on anybody but herself to get where she wanted in live. These are the type of women that I adore and look up to, they may not be traditional role models but they are the most realistic in the sense that they make mistakes and learn from them but never allow them to hold them back, it helps shapes them and this is what I find truly inspiring. Young stars today are awashed with publicity staff, PR people who have their conversations carefully planned out and in a world that is too concious of being politically correct, these sort of women are truly inspiring.

What do you think?

Niamh x

Dolce and Gabbana Couture show 2013

I just had to write a piece on this Dolce & Gabbana's private couture show in Milan, with only the elite of the elite were present. The audience was mainly filled with Russian Oligarchs, European royalty and Chinese millionaires as the Telegraph reported mainly due to that this collection is strictly for customers and not for celebs to be seeing strutting on the red carpet. In one sense I applaud this, as Jennifer Lawrence showed at the SAG awards last week she was able to wear couture Dior that was fresh off the catwalk only after a week, so celebs have the hottest picks of the latest collections, trends and even the fashion vaults such as when Lady GaGa was able to wear vintage Gianni Versace, I die!  So for the chance to for the exceedingly rich to own some couture without the risk of being caught dead in the same dress as an Oscar winner, its a no-brainer! First world problems eh?

But I do have to comment on these two dresses in particular, mainly this beautiful white wedding dress. I can only dream to get married in a dress like this, it is beautiful. And knowing the philosophy of Dolce & Gabbana it was only the finest Milanese lace made by the finest seamstresses hands to ensure absolute perfection! I mean look at it, its beautiful! Its very traditional in the sense that there's hardly any skin on show but look at all the detail, it really is an artform. The shape is very modern though and is quite sheer at the bottom, it took my breath away!

The gold dress is another masterpiece on its own that I can only imagine 16th and 17th century royalty would have worn. Everything about this dress screams imperial wealth and power, it truly is magnificent. The jewels on show was apparently diamonds and pearls fixed in gold as chandelier earrings and cocktail rings. Truly stunning. The types of pieces that will have its own place in an exhibition at a museum or for future designers and fashion historians to study for inspiration.

The Telegraph also notes that only a few fashion editors and newpapers were actually present. Of course, some press would be needed after the shows at Paris but this was stripped down in comparison, yet was distinctively Dolce in the surrounding with regal Milanese architecture. So only a few people in the fashion world got to see these beauties up close to wonder in its marvel, and only a lucky few will be able to afford this collection.

So stunning!

Do you agree?

Niamh x

Fashion inspiration

My Fashion Inspiration

So today I have decided to dedicate today's post to one of my very many fashion inspirations. Albeit a tad strange, but isn't fashion? Isn't that the joy out of it, to seek inspiration from the most unusual of sources? So, if you are a follower of my twitter (@rebelroseblog) and as you can tell, the background of my blog it is indeed Cruella De Ville! I adore her! Well, lets clear up one thing, I do not skin puppies and I do not have henchmen! I am against animal cruelty, although I do believe that Cruella is a strong independent woman who isn't afraid to exercise her right to boss people around, I do admire her for that. I have a thing for women tyrants, they're somewhat bearable when wearing heels. 

Of course I take more inspiration from the 1996 film adaption of 101 Dalmations with the stunning Glenn Close as Cruella, and seeing how she was head of a Fashion house within the film (our very own Donatella) it was only fitting that she would swan gracefully around in couture ball gown dresses and elaborate head pieces that would put Lady GaGa to shame. 

As these stills from the movie show, she is indeed a fashion icon! Look at the hair, the make up, they way she is poised! She has style, confidence, and the gracefulness (or wickedness) to pull it off. Another admirable thing I love is that nobody would think of her age. Nobody would think that she dresses too old/ too young/ too mainstream or that she even looks old, because she doesn't! She has the traits of knowing who she is and dressing for herself that I can only hope to acquire someday. And I LOVE how Cruella does Chanel! 

Here are some sketches that I just adore of her outfits that can easily be made for the catwalk, everything about her just screams glamour!

Recently, for a friends birthday who held a Disney themed night, I dressed up as Cruella, who better else to dress up as? If only I had some henchmen to do my dirty work for me....

The outfit was really easy to come across, just a figure hugging LBD that everybody basically has in their wardrobe, a fur stole that I took off one of my winter coats, red shoes and gloves, vintage style jewellery, a toy dog  and a hat with 1940's vintage style netting in dalmation print that I got off eBay  So easy to do and barely spent a penny!

Here are some images although the are not the best so I apologize for the quality.

So what do you think? Is she a style icon or just a hate figure in children's fairytales? I'd love to hear what you think :)

Niamh x

Strawberry threads

http://strawberrythreads.bigcartel.com/

This is just a quick post to tell everybody about the fabulous and cutest online shop in Belfast! It is called strawberry threads and it is owned and administered by Miss Deirdre O'Connor and every last detail is done by her hand, there is no beating the quality and service. I have had the pleasure of owning a few bits and pieces from the collection and will be back for more! I got a new delivery today, a wee treat for myself and wanted to share just how lovingly packaged each personalised piece is which would be a great present to give to a friend or family member. Being a fan of retro pin up girls this chain just screamed out to me straight away and a choice of three, it was difficult to choose and it was only £9.00!

There was a choice of a laser cut out girl or two choices of glass plated images (girl in black or nude corset) and I have chosen the girl in the nude corset with the glass plated front and the added bow which I asked for and Deirdre did it free of charge and with the option of an added red heart, but I preferred just the bow :) even the card that each personalised gift comes with is hand made and individually decorated, it truly is one of a kind and a real wee Belfast gem! I'm going to try and get more images of what I have bought so far from Strawberry Threads and down the line I hope to ask Deirdre a few questions and maybe even a profile on her. Keep an eye out for her as she does be at local craft fairs and especially the Fashion Souk, which I just love!

Have a wee nosey on her website and facebook here:

http://strawberrythreads.bigcartel.com/

http://m.facebook.com/strawberrythreads?id=159716364151160&_rdr

Let me know what you all think!

Niamh x

Hello!

So, this is my very first Blog post!

I think that I should introduce myself a little, I am currently 20 years old from Belfast in Ireland and I had previously worked for a small and local handbag company as their editor and blog manager. The name of the  company was www.handbagfairy.co.uk where you can access the blog. During that time I was able to flourish my writing skills, talk to some fabulous people from around the world who were contributing writers and gave me a taste that writing is something that I definitely want to do. Since leaving the post and starting university I've allowed this passion to dwindle and haven't been as strict as I should, so the time has came that I have now decided to start up my own blog :)

I must admit however, trying to create this has been confusing and I hope that this works and comes out fine. Hopefully.

A wee taster of what you are more than likely will expect off me in this blog: fashion, local designers and the fashion scene around Belfast, street style or my own personal style, some DIY tips, beauty, shopping, and as a way to promote Belfast for the beautiful city that it is there will also be a good few guides to my Belfast as I know it, with the best pubs and restaurants to eat in and some wee stories from yesteryear.

So that's about it for now! Thank you for looking and hopefully you will continue reading :)

Niamh x