A Hint of Spring at the Screen Actors Guild Awards

Tuesday 29 January 2013


Hello lovelies!

Happy mid-week to you all who are definitely having a better week than I am! Mock exams for the Leaving Cert start tomorrow and instead of studying for English and Maths like a good student I'm writing a post about clothes. Oh well who needs to know about complex numbers and De Moivre's Theorem anyhoo!

The Screen Actors Guild Awards were on last night and I have to say I was very much impressed by the standard of gowns that were worn. A fair amount of blacks, navys and whites were to be noted but as Spring time rounds the corner stylists were very much taking advantage of bright colours too.

Looking very elegant in a Christian Dior gown is the winner of best actress, Jennifer Lawrence.
Despite a brief wardrobe malfunction while making her way towards the stage to accept her award she was picture perfect the whole night.
 

Winner of best supporting actress, Anne Hathaway looked gorgeous in a midnight black Giambattista Valli gown.



From across the ocean we have Michelle Dockery from the series Downton Abbey in Chado Ralph Rucci. 



Amanda Seyfried in a youthful navy Zac Posen gown.



 Marion Cotillard supported her French roots in a gown by Christian Dior.



One of my favourites from the night was Jennifer Garner in dazzling gold Oscar de la Renta.



Shout out to Elie Saab and his talents with the gorgeous Nina Dobrev in this bright pink number.



Pink once more this time on Lea Michele in the satin form of a Valentino piece.



That's it from me on the SAGAs. Take note of fresh bright shades of colour whist doing you Spring shopping to add some life into your look.

Thanks for reading,
Ciara.


Source for photos http://www.huffingtonpost.com. 

Super Sticky Toffee Pudding!

Sunday 27 January 2013


Hello lovelies!

Hope you're all rested and well and enjoying the last of your Sunday. I've been busy cramming for exams but have now given up because I've come to accept that no matter how hard I try to learn probability it just wont stay in my head.

Yesterday my friend and I decided to cheer ourselves up with an evening of baking and enjoyed our fair share of sticky toffee pudding whilst planning our summer holiday.

If you want to try out making this delicious pudding yourself here's what you'll need;

For the Pudding
3 medium eggs
225g (8oz) of self raising flour
150g (5oz) of sultanas or chopped dates (these are optional)

300ml (1/2 pint) boiling water
100g (4oz) room temperature butter
150g (5oz) soft, light brown, muscovado sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 


For the Toffee Sauce
125g (4oz) of butter
175g (6oz) of muscovado sugar
170ml (1/3 pint) cream


Method for the pudding 

Step 1 
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius (350 Degrees Fahrenheit) / gas mark 4 and grease the sides of a roughly 22cm (8in) X 22cm (8in) square baking tin or glass bowl with butter.

Step 2
If you want to use sultanas or dates you must soak them in simmering water for about 10 minutes. And then add them to the mixture later on.



Step  3
Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until the mixture is pale and soft. (There should be no large bumps of butter left) For this step it's a good idea to use the tips of clean fingers to crumble all the sugar and butter together.
Step 4
Next up is to beat three eggs in a cup with a fork and add them into your sugar and butter mixture. You can then beat the mixture all together with a fork or use a trusty electric whisk.







Step 5
To your mixture add the sieved flour and 1 tea spoon of bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.


If the mixture seems too think you can add a few spoons of boiling water to thin it down. But be careful; you don't want it to look like runny soup!



Step 6
By the end of all that mixing your mixture is ready to be spread evenly into a baking tin and placed into the oven for 50-60 minutes.






Method for the Toffee Sauce
While you pudding is baking away in the oven you can move onto making the delicious sweet and buttery toffee sauce.

Step 1
Place the sugar, butter and cream into a heated pot.


Step 2
Melt the contents completely on high heat and at first it should turn a dark brown colour.


Step 3
Turn down the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir regularly. It will begin to thicken up and go a delicious light brown colour.

(excuse the terrible quality of this photo!)

When your sauce is finished all you have to do is sit and wait eagerly for the timer to buzz telling you the fluffy pudding is ready. To make sure it's completely baked all the way through insert a sharp knife into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean you know you've got a winner!

The only thing left to do now is serve it up on a plate and dig in!



If you do try this recipe out I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Thanks for reading as always,
Ciara.

P.S I have to excuse myself in advance if I go M.I.A for the next two weeks. It's only because I have mock exams until Friday the 8th and I know I won't have the time to upload as frequently as I'd like to, so forgive me!
However I will try to do my best.

Hellllo Haute Couture

Wednesday 23 January 2013


(Dior Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week)


Hello lovelies!

Happy Wednesday everyone hope your week is going better than mine! With a week left to mock exams I'm trying to cram as much pieces of information into my skull as possible and it's not really working.

Today I'm getting straight into this post because my stomach is about to explode with excitement/happiness. I'm here to write about some of the new haute couture collections this year and as many of you may know haute couture is any designer's excuse to be as lavish and as extravagant as they can.

I tend to prefer haute couture to just the average Joe F/W or S/S collections because not only are the gowns incredible but they are the complete representation of the designer's creative thoughts due to the fact that they are all hand made and constructed freely often without a financial budget. 


I'm starting with my all time favourite designer in the entire world, Elie Saab. As per usual all I can say is; wonderful, beautiful and just perfection. Perfect visions in silk, lace and shear fabric.

 













My heart is beating so fast. I can't explain how much I love Saab.







I am completely aware of the large amount of photos just for one collection but I don't care. If I had the money I would wear Saab at my wedding.

Although I have to admit I don't quite like Chanel as I feel the collections appeal to a more mature woman but I was impressed by the youthful and almost 'Channel-ified' vampirical lacy yet pretty prairie styled gowns. 







Really youthful and appealing cuts, materials and colour palettes.









Funnily enough I would be tempted by wear some pieces of Lagerfeld's collection if it didn't set me back a couple of thousand euro. 

Though slightly more modern than his previous couture collection with clear cut panels and simple cuts I was still highly impressed by Valentino's pieces.



(Also note the brilliant Cara Delevingne) 









So as I recover from a wobbly heart I hope you enjoyed this little post about just two collections from this season's haute couture collections.

Have a great rest of the week and thanks for reading.
Ciara. 

Photos sourced from www.style.com

For the men....London Fashion Week F/W '13

Friday 18 January 2013

Hello lovelies!

Happy weekend everyone hope you all had a wonderful week. With all the snow forecast for Ireland and England I thought I'd warm you up with a review of London's Fashion Week's men's collections for Fall/Winter 2013.

First up is Topman. I have to say although it's their high fashion collection and its therefore supposed to be weird and out of the box the loose trousers and parka material reminded me of new age astronaut uniforms. Not really attractive if I do say myself. 

  







I'm all for kilts but really?

However they were saved by just a few pieces.


This knit jumper teemed with rough brown leather boots. 



And I have to say I'm in love with this straight edge jacket and well fitted suit.

Now if you're into clean cut and well fit suits Lou Dalton is your girl. I was very impressed by the modern aesthetic brought about in these looks.












And of course the classic tux.




Hackett London didn't fail to produce some handsome pieces of classic English gentlemen-ship. Tweeds, wool blends, suits, bow ties and even velvet. 









 


And lastly Jonathan Saunders came through with a pop of colour and youthful designs for guys who don't necessarily want to feel like they're walking down Saville Row in the 1800s. 

 



 








So that's it from me about some of my favourites from London Fashion Week Men's F/W '13.

Enjoy the weekend,
Ciara.


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