LuCy LoVeS...........HaRujUkU HeLlO KiTtY!!!!

Hello Lovelies.......


I have a child like spirit that i hope i never lose. Far too often i see people taking life far to seriously, taking "being an adult" to the extreme. Think about the simple things in life that made you happy and excited as a child. I recall many, the noise of the ice cream truck driving down the road, sand between my toes on the beach, making mud pies and macaroni cheese. I often wonder about how different life would be if everyone kept that child like mentality, how much happier we would all be in day to day life.

One thing i simply cant shake is my pure obsession with a cute little kitty cat named Hello Kitty!. Hello Kitty is a fictional character created by a Japanese company called Sanrio. Hello Kitty made her first appearance on a purse in 1974 ( Ha, i bet you didn't realise she was that old).  There has been some suggestion that Hello Kitty has its origins in Maneki Neko, and that the name Hello Kitty itself is a back-translation of Maneki Neko, which means beckoning cat in English. Hello Kitty even as her own character profile:

Official character profile

• Full name: Kitty White
• Birthday: November 1
• Blood type: A
• Height: 5 Apples
• Weight: 3 Apples
• Place of birth: In the suburbs of London, England
• Favorite food: Mama's homemade Apple Pie
• Favorite word: "Friendship"
• Description: A bright and kind-hearted girl, good at baking cookies and loves Mama's apple pie. Very close to her twin sister Mimmy.

The one thing i really want to get into in this post is the fashion side of the Hello Kitty world. Dont think for one minute that Hello kitty is simply for little girls aged between 5 and 10. Celebrities such as Kimora Lee Simmons, Katy Perry and Paris Hilton have all been seen adorning them selves in Hello Kitty.

 If your keen on going Hello Kitty crazy, then get down to Rosa La Gattina (stores in Bedforview and Melrose arch). Rosa La Gattina aim to promote the Hello Kitty brand in South Africa, I must warn you though, the Prices are insane. I am talking around R450 for a tank top. Besides the prices being mad, they really have an amazing store filled with every Hello Kitty merchandised product you could think of. A stunning Store that is really worth taking a look at, even if it is just to look!

I personally believe that the people who have made hello kitty who she is today in the fashion industry has to be the Harushuku scene in Japan. Harajuku is the common name for the area around Harajuku station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan.

Every Sunday, young people dressed in a variety of styles spend the day in Harajuku socializing. The fashion styles of these youths rarely conform to one particular style and are usually a mesh of many. Most young people gather on Jingu Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that connects Harajuku to the neighboring Meiji Shrine area.

The ladies are commonly known as Harajuku girls, and became famous through Gwen Stafanis Album, Love angel Music Baby (LAMB). Gwen Stafani brought the fashion scene to light by using four Harajuku girls as back up dancers during her tours to promote the album. Subsequently Gwen brought out a fashion line called LAMB that is completely inspired by the Harajuku movement. We salute you Gwen, without you, the Harajuku Movement would not have become main stream and most of us would not be enjoying the influence in the fashion scene today!

 

 Hello Kitty is huge in Japan, so its not surprising that the Harajuku scene use it alot in their styling... check it out:

Love the silver hair in this!!!! ah! so cute!.Notice the matching hello kitty jackets.

I mentioned in a previous post that i am a MAC girl at heart and so i went gaga when i found out that MAC has a Hello Kitty make up range! I was lucky enough to purchase some of the lip gloss's at the time and absolutely loved it. The range is not stocked in stores in SA any more but i believe you can still buy it online at e bay.

 And so ladies lets let the Hello Kitty Harajuku little girl style jump into our wardrobes! dont be afraid to let go, mix and match and just have fun!

Until then lovelies................

LuCy LoVeS.................RoYaL HaTs!

Hello lovelies.......

I am lucky enough to have all the wonderful traits of british blood, fair skin and light freckles being some. If you havent already heard about the wedding of the century then you certainly have been hiding under a rock!. Friday the 29th of April is the big day, Kate middleton and Prince William finally tie the royal knot! And so i decided to post a little bit about the lovely bride to be.....Kate.

Kate is such a natural beauty, which not surprising as most of the royal family seem to pick gorgeous wives. I find her to have such a natural elegance, and a temperament fit to be a royal. With a skin of milk, warm chestnut hair and a smile that could knock u down with one slight grin, i believe Prince William has done a fine job. Not only does this bombshell have a natural beauty about her, but her elegant dress is really something to talk about.

Now im sure that being a royal comes with many perks and i can only imagine that the first is a wardrobe fit for a queen. Her latest iconic navy blue wrap dress is all over the net. Simply type Kate Middleton into google and i guarantee that you will find atleast 10 pictures of that dress. Its so form fitting and truly is something to just drool over. i noticed a couple of places that are doing imitations of the dress, so check out the online stores if your keen.

Another really cool trait of royal ladies, is hats!. Now im not talking boring old caps or winter woolies, no no, these hats are something special and i could only dream of having a collection of hat's such as these. Kate pulls each hat off with ease, style and grace.

Kate in a gorgeous Purple & lavender embosed trench coat with a matching hat, Divine!

Simple and elegant, a white netted hat with flowed embelishment.

This one is honestly one of my favourites, feathers, feathers and feathers!

How Cute is this, it looks like a small sparrows nest!

Small black hat with netted veil over the face. 

The unfortunate thing about hats in society is no one is really bold enough to wear them, and why? is it because we feel we not quite as important as a royal to wear one? or maybe its just that we dont go to many events were a hat seems approipriate. I for one love it and hope to wear wear more trendy headpieces, especially now that its winter.Now we must understand that we dont have to be as eloborate with hats as kate is, we dont want to look over dressed.Woolworths in Melrose Arch have just brought in an amzing range of head wear, which all you ladies should check out. However if you are looking for a bold statement piece to wear to an event, why not check out Pam Goldberg. Pam is a hat designer based in Johannesburg, who works with each client individually to create the perfect piece for any occasion or outfit. http://www.customisedhats.co.za/

 So ladies, if you have a fancy doo coming up why not get some royal inspiration. Create a stir and make your new accessory a statement piece that leaves everyone buzzing about your amazing style. Or better yet, create your own reason to wear a trendy head piece, plan a day at the races, or go to a polo match. get out there and dazzle them all.

I hope you are looking forward to the royal wedding as much as i am, as we all anticipate what the dress will look like, what royal jewels will she be adorned with and most importantly.......... what will she be wearing on that gorgeous head?????

Happy Easter lovelies!!!

With love........

 

 

LuCy LoVeS...........EsSeNcE & FoReVeR NeW!!!!

Hi Lovelies..........(this post is truly for the ladies!!!!)

The concept of true feminine clothing has finally arrived in SA, ladies i present Forever new!. Now if your a real girly girl and had dreams of being a ballerina when you were a little gem, then this is the store for you!. This fresh approach to womans clothing is really something, The simplistic yet definitive style is really designed to work with  a womans body. The forever new stores truly provide you with a shopping experience, great lighting. clean lines and shelves filled with gorgeous clothing definately leave you wanting more!

My first purchase was lovely because i received a Forever new gift card as a birthday present. after admiring all they had to offer (and trust me there is alot) i decided on a gorgeous handbag. My new handbag has become like a small child to me! not to be put on the floor during dinner or trips out and certainly handled with care. I think the thing i love most about the bag (besides it being absolutely gorgeous and amazing to look at) is its functionality and durability. There are tons of hidden pockets and zip up sections and its got a really feminine pretty lining on the inside. Sure forever new is pricey, but i think you have to realise that their products truly stem from their brand , and that is that your purchase will last forever! 

The latest store opening is in melrose arch and is really quite something, they also have a branch in Rosebank and Eastgate shopping mall. go check it out girls, just careful not to drool on the clothes, they dont seem to like that very much! hehe. Check out some of the stunning summer collection, I couldn't get any pics of the new winter collection but you can view it on http://www.forevernew.com.au/collections

Now ladies, what would go really well with your new Forever new dress, shoes, handbag, driving gloves, hat, and jewelery is a new make up collection to really complete your look. Im not trying to be a sales lady here, im just sharing one of my new fav make up companies.Now im a MAC girl by heart, but unfortunately my budget doesn't always allow it, so i found the next best thing. Essence cosmetics are really amazing, and the price is even better! seriously ladies u can revamp you make up bag for under R200.  They stock the range at clicks so go check it out.




Anyhoo lovelies, i think thats me for the day, iv blogged my little heart out! Hope you enjoyed it.

With love...........

Blogging, LoVe and Social Media.........

So your probably all wondering why I'm blogging, funny how it came about actually, last night on the way to our epic Tuesday night bowling session , we started chatting about blogging in general, why do people do it and whats so great about it? well i guess its our curious nature fueled with society opening everyones lives through social media, we have this "need to know" attitude about everything lately. who's dating who, who did what over the weekend, and what did you eat for breakfast this morning. Ill be the first to admit, I'M HOOKED!......... although i still haven't cottoned on to tweeting. 


So why blog? A good friend of mine said something that i believe is true when we come to this topic..... " you need to have a level of self importance to blog", and i agree.... who wants to read any more than we have to about peoples boring lives than we do on info sections on FB, everyone knows that you looking at the picture first anyways.Now I am not saying i'm important,  i'm not even saying this thing is worth reading, but lets try it out.


I'm gunna discuss things i love, Body art, art in general, the fashion industry, music, people, and ill throw in a couple hundred other things along the way.


I thought about writing another paragraph here but i want to keep these posts short, nothing fancy just an intro as to why im doing this. I feel like i need to say something witty at the end of this so here it is.......The real trouble with reality is that there’s no background music.


with love........

LuCy LoVeS........EmMa O'BrIen

Hi Lovelies......

I couldnt help myslef but do another post. The LuCy LoVes series has got me excited about a whole bunch of things that i really love and want to share with the ones i love, so here it is. Lucy Loves..... Emma O Brien.

Growing up with a house full of dogs, tortoises, cats, bunnies, birds and even spiders encouraged my whole family to get involved with saving the little guys that couldnt help themselves.The SPCA became our new favourite pet store and saving as many as we could was our mission. Because there is a limit on how many animals you can keep at one time, we adopted three beautiful babies from the sandton SPCA. Bentley is our latest addition, a labradoodle (cross between a labrador and a standard Poodle. dont ask!) with as much energy as four children who have each swolled a KG of sugar. Mopsy was the previous addition, she came from a home of over 30 dogs who were all kept in small cages as the owner (a woman who was about 80 years in age) couldnt handle them all. Mopsy is very timid, and only goes to certain people, but once she has warmed up to she is a real little darling. Molly was adopted around the same time as Mopsy and is a pure breed basset hound, the laziest dog i have ever come across but very loyal and extremly loving (when shes not sleeping, which is about 75% of the time)

                                                                             Mopsy

Bentley

(Unfotunately i dont have a picture of Molly at the moment, but ill add one at a later stage.)

I posted an updated picture of Bentley on the Sandton SPCA page to show them how big he had got since my mom adopted him. A wonderful lady by the name of Emma got hold of me almost immediately, telling me how she was creating a calender to raise funds for shelter animals and wanted Bentley to be a model. Now its not everyday you get asked to have your dog model for a calender, and i wondered how he would do with all that energy. With a small amount of patience and Bentleys chew toy, he finally calmed down and posed for his shot! and what a shot it was............

Emma plans to do photo shoots of many dogs this year, and then create a calender for 2012, showcasing all the amazing shelter animals. All the proceeds from the calender will go back to shelters all over Johannesburg. Emma has a deep love for animals and has thrown her whole live into helping and volunteering. It was such an honour to have taken part in this project, I will keep you all posted on the calender and where to get hold of one.

Emma, you are amazing, your work and deep passion for this project really touched me. If only we had hundred's of Emma's out there, people getting involved in community base projects and making a difference. I know you are probably reading this and thinking about how cheesy i am by saying "making a difference" ( i say this because i felt a bit cheesy typing it) but its true. If we all did something small every now and again, surely it would make a larger change in the long run.

If you are interested in getting involved please check out http://www.sandtonspca.org.za/news.php and to check out Emma's work please go to www.emmaobrien.com

Saving one animal does not change the world; but surely for that animal the world will change forever

With love

LuCy LoVeS........BuNnIeS In ThE RaIn & WiNtEr BeSt!

Hello Lovelies......

Iv decided to start a series of topics about things that i just love, it was the brain child of my wonderful husband Mars who encouraged me to start a "LuCy LoVeS series". Easter is upon us and finally we all get a small break in our year to spend with family and loved ones.With Johannesburg being so cold and rainy at the moment its the perfect time for all us girls to pull out our winter best and strut your stuff. Winter months are really my best time of year fashion wise, finally you can layer up and look fab while doing it.

Iv noticed a couple designers mixing things up with the standard winter boot, Last season it was all about the knee high flat soled embellished boot and this season we are breaking away from the feminine and introducing a military hard edge look that kinda reminds me of the classic dock martin phase. Either way i think both are great, and with the right accessories, a chunky scarf and some sexy boots, you could make a potato sack look sexy. Guys dont think you cant rock the winter boot as much as the girls do, mens combat boots are what inspired the womans military look in the first place, so please feel free to rock out your childhood army man dreams!




Earth tones seem to be making a huge statement this winter, with the lumo trend slowly falling away as the summer months come to a close, warm browns, off whites and rich greens are quickly filling up the shelves in the boutiques and department stores. Big statement pieces like bows and flowers are also a huge hit right now, so get out there and go GAGA for trendy accessory pieces!



Lets make the most of the winter trends and the icy cold days. It doesnt have to cost you an arm and a leg either, places like Mr price, Edgars and Woolies are all stocking up on the perfect winter fashion combos.

Please look out for more of the LuCy LoVeS posts.......

With love