Guest Post- Top Animal Friendly Fashion Brands for Every Fashionista!

Top Animal Friendly Fashion Brands for Every Fashionista!

Leading a healthy lifestyle is not just about opting for the right diet and leading a happy life, but more than often, it’s more about how you care for the planet. Many fashionistas have turned vegan for their own reasons while some have chosen to show compassion for their fellow animals. If you really want to stand for the causes of environment, a healthy life on the planet, and for those defenceless animals, you can pick one of the brands mentioned below as your next shopping choice.

[Image Source: www.popsugar.com.au]

Stella McCartney: Talking of the most famed and luxurious fashion labels of the globe, Stella McCartney is a name taken by many with pride. Choice of many celebs, she is known for being a designer with value. All of her fashions and designs are animal-free, and she is an ardent PETA supporter. Of course, her clothes don’t come in the budget of most ladies, but when you want to pay; you must opt for better value!

Loomstate: This is among the new brands on the block to join the animal-free fashion world. Established in 2004, this New York based brand offers a cool and casual line of clothing with everything made from organic cotton. Yes, you heard it right, using 100% certified organic cotton, they don’t just make stylish clothes, but they do their bit for the better life of those animals killed in millions of numbers for their skin.

Alabama Chanin: Another designer brand that believes in show fashion, and only creates a clothing line that’s consists of handmade products. What makes the range unique is the use of recycled, sustainable, and organic material for their line. The products are made by hand, adding to the value.

Olsen Haus: Now this is not a new brand for anyone who follows fashion, but what you may not know is the unique vegan theme behind Olsen Haus. They use a whole lot of organic and alternative fabrics and materials for their products and like to educate people about fashion with sustainability.

Beyond Skin: Looking for vegan shoes? This UK based brand can offer you non leather shoes that are 100% vegan. What's good? Well, they sell their products to any part of the globe. If you are someone who loves shopping clothes online from international brands, this is something you must own, like right now!

People Tree – Another UK based brand that has joined hands with none other than Emma Watson for creating a complete line that will boast of being animal-free. Watson will be endorsing the line, named as “Youth Collection”, which is expected to raise consciousness towards sustainable fashion.

Fashion is much more than what you see in magazines, as well as, runways, and it makes sense to care for fellow planet members in the right way.

Author: Heidi is a fashion blogger and style counsellor who has worked with numerous online blogs. Known for witty and smart styling tips, she is also a supporter of PETA and truly believes in a sustainable fashion. 

For more articles likes this please visit thesportsdollar.com. I would like to thank Heidi for writing such a great guest post for my blog. I've never really thought about being green when it comes to fashion. This has opened my mind! 

Graduate Ball

Hi everyone, hope you all made the most of the sunny week because it seems like the temperature is dropping and the sun is going again. But thank God it was nice on Friday, the day I went to a graduate ball.

Here's my outfit. 

Dress: Jane Norman

Clutch Box: Nine West

Jewelleries: Topshop and Ladies Street (Market in Hong Kong)

Stilettos: Office

This photo was taken the night before, I wanted to do a dress and hair rehearsal, lol. I was thinking of going to hairdressers and get my hair done but thought 'There's Youtube!' So I watched one of Makeupwearables' video, 'Formal Half-up Updo Twist with curls', to get some inspiration and of course learn the techniques. The hair she did was slightly different to mine.I created a mini beehive using my own hair (I was careful not to make it too high as I will end up looking like Amy Winehouse lol). My mum asked if I had a wig on or did I put anything underneath my hair to create the volume lol. I just did a lot of teasing on the crown of my head, then rolled the teased hair into a ball and covered it with the hair at the front of my head. Does that make sense? 

I got ready 4 hours before the event lol because the hair took over an hour and I wanted to take my time doing my make up. Initially I thinking of going to the make up counters in House of Fraser for a free make over. But thought it's a bit risky as most of them are not proper make up artist. I've had a bad experience with Benefit in the past; the "makeup" artist did a terrible job that I had to go home and wash it off.

The graduate ball took place at the Royal Horseguard Hotel.

The Menu for the night

I was quite disappointed to see the menu being so short. They tried to make it appear longer by adding the coffee at the end. I was expecting 4-5 courses lol. 

3 course meal

The portions were very small however I'm glad it was and glad there were only 3 courses because my dress was quite tight and if I ate loads my stomach would have popped out lol. The starter was the best, really liked the toasted rye bread and there were the right amount of smoked salmon but I didn't really enjoy the dessert though. 

There's me posing on the couch in the toilets! The toilets were amazing. There was a separate room with a few make up tables. 

After the dinner at around 10pm, we went to the hall next door to dance. In the photo above of the meal, you can see a "dollar" next to the plate of dessert. That was for the mini casino, I didn't play though I just danced. The night was £35, not bad at all and well worth the price. I had a great night and everyone looked amazing! 

Have you been to a graduate ball? How was it? Did you do your hair and makeup yourself?

Valentino Master of Couture- The Catwalk

Hiiii!! Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  On Tuesday, I went with my friend Patrycja to the Somerset house to see the work of Valentino showcases over 130 exquisite haute couture designs.

Signs on the floor

The exhibition was divided into three sections. The photo above shows the first section that we entered. There were archives of his work; a few sketch designs of his work, fashion magazines that Valentino have appeared in, letters and invitation designs that he sent out for his fashion show.

On the walls were timelines of his personal archive. 

Moving on to the second part of the exhibition known as The Catwalk. This programme was given to us at the reception, it gives information about the 130+ couture on display. 'It reflects the convention for identifying designs in a couture presentation, first established in the early twentieth century in Paris and London. There's a twist to this section of the exhibition, visitors will be walking the catwalk to view the couture designs displayed on the seating area of the viewers. 

The picture above is taken at The Catwalk, there were loads of people as you can see. The mannequins are on both side of the "catwalk". Visitors weren't allowed to take photos but I sneaked a few lol. Below is a few pictures I took of the couture designs and I will give some info about them that was provided from the programme.

Don't remember which year this was made.

A/W 1989/90
White candy jacket and dress ensemble with silk embroidery and sheepskin trim at the collar and cuffs.

A/W 1967/68
Red crepe evening dress embellished with sequins and rhinestones.
This is one of my favourite, I love the pink. ^.^

A/W 1966/67
White crepe evening dress with beaded embroidery detailing
I love the back of this dress!!

Designed in the 1950s, realised in 1990.
White wool crepe day dress with cashmere leopard print cape

The animal print collection

S/S/ 1966
Zebra print cotton ensemble with crepe bow detail

Some very elegant red carpet dresses

Kate Moss' seat at The Catwalk

As you walk out of The Catwalk, there was a wedding dress worn by Queen Elizabeth II.

I couldn't take a good picture of it as there was a staff standing there. I was hiding my phone behind the programme. Lol

This is some cool outfit, but no one would wear this on the street. There were videos showing how this was made. Every stitch was sown by hand. I wonder how long it took them to make this. Anyways, that's all.  Overall, it wasn't that impressive, it was kind of boring. lol. The best part was the catwalk though.

A business Idea I'm working on

Hello everyone, I've written a post in my other blog about a fashion business I'm working on with two girls. Please check it out! xxx

Share N Wear- Our Business Idea

Hi everyone, as promised this post is about the business idea I am working on with Roxy and Nele who both are from my TE class. As this is the first post about it I will start from the very beginning, and I will update you guys on this blog as we progress.

What is it?
Share N Wear is a social fashion network, where users can give and receive styling advise from friends. Each user will have a virtual wardrobe where they can upload images of the clothes....

Read more

Melyssa and Ho Man's wedding

Mr and Mrs Li (Left to right lol)

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a great Bank Holiday weekend. I did. I went to a wedding with my boyfriend on Saturday; both the bride and groom were my university friends. It's always so nice to see someone get married, everyone's happy and smiling. Just so beautiful.

The wedding ceremony was held at a Catholic church. I was suppose to do a reading but didn't make it on time because we were stuck in a massive traffic jam. The journey was supposed to be 20 minutes but instead it was 1 hour plus. When we were parking up it was pouring down with heavy rain, so that delayed us from going in. We didn't have an umbrella, we waited in our car for 5 minutes. The Chinese says, if it's raining hard on the day you're celebrating something that means you're a very important/special person. Melyssa and Ho-Man were definitely the VIPs of the day. Anyways, my reading part was just finished when we walked in, it was read by the priest instead. Oh! And of course I did tell them I was going to be late.

Exchanging vows

Signing the marriage certificate

My outfit on the day:

Peplum dress from Boohoo. £20.

Shoes from Shoe Dazzle, £39.99

Karen Millen Clutch Box, £48- originally £80 I think.

The reception took place at Yi Ban restaurant in Royal Albert Docks. It had a nice view of the River Thames which made it a perfect venue for an occasion like this. Just before the reception we all gathered outside to release balloons and for the confetti.

Holding the balloon

Everyone getting ready

Kissy Kissy 

At the reception we waited for 2 hours for the food to come but it was worth the wait though. Because I was so hungry and I ate loads, lol. It was the same usual traditional  Chinese wedding meal, 13 courses. Starters; roast pork with jelly fish, shark fin soup, stir fried scallops with asparagus, deep fried stuff crab claws. Main course; lobster, turbo fish, stir fried abalone with Chinese mushrooms and pak choi, roast pigeon, glutinous rice and noodles. Dessert; yeung ji gum lo (sweet soup made with mango, grapefruit, jelly pearls and some milk I think), Chinese doughnuts ( I think that's what they're called) and fresh fruits. Sorry didn't take pictures, was too into the food.

The wedding cake and the champagne glasses

Newly wed couple cutting the cake.

I had a nice time and I can't wait when it's my turn. Lol. I will show you what gift I bought them later. 

Kardashian Kollection is coming to the UK!

Source from officalkourtneyk.celebuzz.com

Hi Everyone! How are you? If you're a fan of the Kardashian's or Dorothy Perkins then you probably already know this. The title says it all. The Kardashian Kollection is going to be available in over 250 Dorothy Perkins across the UK very soon. I am actually quite excited about it because I've always loved their collection; their style is so chic and feminine.

A couple of days ago, the Kardashian sisters were teasing their fans on Facebook with numerous statuses; Kim K said, 'The Olympics have been so incredible. Makes me wanna go back to London...if only I had a reason to a visit.. ;)', and 'Hey Khloe Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian, can you think of a reason to visit the UK? ;)'. 

Khloe K said, 'OMG Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian -- BEYOND excited! I wish we would tell everyone now...but not long until we can reveal the news!' Most fans including me thought she was pregnant.

Kourtney K said, 'Me too Kim Kardashian!! I can't wait to reveal the big news to our UK dolls! Lets just say we'll be seeing you soon.' When I read this, I thought they were going to open a DASH store in London which would still be awesome.

They also revealed that they will be launching their line in 12 other countries; Turkey, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand, Israel, Qatar, Malaysia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Source from Kimkardashian.celebuzz.com

Not quite sure what Kardashian Kollection is? The picture above shows some of the items that Kardashian Kollection features; lingerie, bags, all sort of clothing items, jewellery, shoes, they even do glasses. By the way, the offers and advertisement in that image is not for Dorothy Perkins, it's just a picture I found for an American department store, Sears.

Last year September, Kim K launched her shoe line Shoe Dazzle in the UK but closed down after about 3 months. I was gutted, lol. I hope this will last.

Have you got the right Peplum Dress?

Hi everyone! Which of you ladies own a peplum dress or skirt? I decided to blog about the peplums after I read an article in this month's Elle issue. From the article I learnt that peplums were a big trend back in 1980s and were accompanied with big shoulders. Princess Diana wore one too. The article also debates about whether a peplum dress is suitable for everyone or not. 

You must have seen a peplum dress if you don't know what I'm talking about, its everywhere and see below. I love it, it can be smart at the same time glamorous and sexy.  Also it gives you that hourglass figure that every girls wants. 

Celebrities in Peplum Dresses-Source from whydoyouwearthat.com

In the article, Roland Mouret said 'It is a modern way for a woman to disguise a part of the body that she might not love. For some who doesn't have a lot of hip, it gives you a bit more of that attitude and for someone who's got a little stomach, it hides the situation.' I totally agree with it but it doesn't mean if you have wide hip you would look wider in it or out of proportion. I know this because I'm quite hippy (my hip is about 38" wide) instead of looking wider, I think it just accentuated my waistline (my waist is about 26").  But the editor of the article in Elle isn't convinced with the peplums and would definitely disagree with me. She said '...adding a thick ruffle around what is potentially your widest part seems a dubious way to diminish it.' So...Does any of you think I look really wide in the picture below?

Me in a peplum dress from Boohoo

The editor also says '...proceed with caution if you have a bosom or don't have a waist...' I agree with being cautious when choosing your peplum because recently I've seen some pictures of a girl I used know wearing a peplum dress who has a reasonably generous bust. (oh gosh, I got to be careful now. I hope she doesn't know I'm talking about her lol sorry!) I'm not sure if she has a waist but her bosom looks way out of proportion in that dress making her waist no where to be seen. I'm not going to say any more lol but I think she just didn't find the right one. As Sophia Neophitou (who was mentioned in the article) says, 'It's just a case of finding the right one.' Look at Beyoncé (image above), her curvaceous & bootylicious figure looks great in that dress. So she must have found the right one lol. 

I think if you're heavy on the top, look for a peplum dress where the flares are around your hip rather than around your waist/ just below your ribcage area (hope you know what I mean) or even wear a good push up bra. Let me show you some examples:

Images from Asos & Company.co.uk

The flares on those dresses  above are quite high, can you see how they are above the hips?

source from Asos.com

This one the flare starts around the hip. Although its only a couple of inches difference but makes a big difference.

My Peplum Skirts from Jane Norman

Bought those skirts from Jane Norman when they were on sale last summer, don't quite remember how much though. My black skirt looks like the one above from Asos lol. 

Below is a picture of me wearing the purple peplum skirt to my friend's daughter's christening. Matched with a white ruffle shirt and a navy blazer also bought from Jane Norman. Yes, I love Jane Norman lol. I know both of them look like they don't any shape to them but once worn the flares looks better. 

So ladies, what are your opinions? Do you have one? And thanks for reading! xxx

June Haul

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is great! I was meant to blog this a couple of weeks earlier but never got round to it. Last month, I took a trip to Zara and bought two items; a top with Braided collar (that is what Zara calls it) and dip hem dress. I must have been feeling very blue that day because both items happen to be blue.

I have always wanted a top like this but either the price wasn't right or it the style was exactly what I wanted. This was £29.99 but a week later Zara started doing their summer sale so it is now £19.99! Click here 

Never mind. I was lucky to even find my size because there wasn't many small left, and most of them were faulty on the back of the collar. Actually, I'm lucky to find a non faulty one. It comes in white too, I wanted to get it too but all the whites were faulty on the back of the collar-the hooks were made from threads and were coming off. I tried to be cheeky and ask the sales lady if I could get a discount since they didn't have any other that was non faulty. But no, she said they don't do discount, if its faulty they will just send it back to Spain. Fair enough! So, I just bought the blue one.

Initially, I went Zara just to get that top for the video I made for a casting role (Click here to watch it). On my way to the fitting room I saw this beautiful dress.

I have been looking for a dip hem dress for a while now- Zara calls it, 'Dress with front opening'-, I've seen a few but either the pattern/colour wasn't right, or it was the price. This is also on sale right now, I bought it for £29.99 and it is now £17.99. This also comes in white, the thin brown belt is included. On the website, you will find this dress under TRF and not Woman section. Check here

Zara Summer Sale free shipping if you shop online- Zara online sale

Flash those sexy shoulders- My first video!!

Hi everyone! Yesterday, I made my very first video blog (vlog). The main purpose of the video is actually for a casting role, a female fashion video blogger, so not officially my first vlog. The brief of this project was to create a 1-2 minute video blog talking about one the following topics; fashion, Hollywood gossip, latest technology and gadgets, cars, games & other cool products. I obviously chose fashion.

I chose to talk about clothes that shows off your shoulders. I got this idea from Vogue, it had a mini article about exposing shoulders this summer for an elegant look.

It took me 2 hours to make a 2 minute video because I kept messing up and I kept starting over and over again. I'm pretty sure I did 50 or more takes! I think you can tell that I'm not used to talking to the camera, lol!

It's so weird watching myself, I couldn't watch the whole thing. I had to stop it after 10 seconds. Lol!
Anyways, I've attached the video below. Hope you like it!




The top I'm wearing is from Zara, £29.99.
Ear rings are from Aldo. Forgot how much they were.

Cheryl Cole's come back is FIERCE!

"How do ya think I feel when you Call My Name?" 

We've all seen Cheryl's new video by now if not the video is at the end of this post. What do you guys think of it? Everything about it is just fierce and definitely a good comeback after all that drama she went through.

Lets begin with those platforms that we saw in the beginning of the video. How gorgeous do they look?! Those are Brian Atwood Alima Tri-color platorms, £504.

Although those leopard hot pants, blazer, platforms and the bra top don't match in colour wise but it all goes really well- she's doing that colour block trend.

A screen shot from the video

I love this outfit too, it's edgy, it's feisty, it's hot! She makes those tribal tapered trousers look so stylish. However, if I saw someone wore that out on the street, I would be staring and be like 'OMG! What is she wearing?' Or maybe it's just me not very daring with clothes. You know what? I can see Rihanna wearing them, doing all those erotic dance moves.

Judging from that screen shot above, her body looks a lot better. Not that she didn't have a nice figure before, but she looks more toned and shaped. I think she was too skinny before. Another thing, she looks like she has a back side now especially in those trousers- sounds like I was really examining her body. *laugh out loud*

Choreography was fierce. I don't know if its me or what but somehow I feel the chereography reflects her comeback as a brand new her that is stronger and more feisty.

Good job Cheryl! xxx

Versace for H&M hit the street today!

Window Display of Versace for H&M

Today was the launch of Versace for H&M collection and yes, I went but no I didn't camp outside the night before. This is my very first time to go to something like this, queuing up for exclusive products.

I went to the H&M at Westfield Stratford City, I arrived about 9am- yes that's late. I saw the queue but it wasn't very long though. I was getting happy, thinking no need to queue for so long. Then I realised it's because people have been given wrist bands with a time slot on it. I went to collect a wristband and my time was 11:33am! I was thinking 'are you joking?' in a way that I have to wait for two hours and not everything will be gone. 

I got the Silver time slot

On the wristband it states that everyone is only allowed to purchase 1 item of each product and can only shop in there once. But for some reason, people in the queue were carrying some clothes from the collection already. Hm?






At first, I thought H&M had a certain amount of stock for the early birds and once it's open for public they will restock everything. And of course it's not like that, once it's gone it's gone! 
I really did underestimate it. I mean I knew there would be a lot of people but didn't think time slots would have filled up so quick-almost filled up anyway- by 9am. So I guess I was lucky to even get one because when I was queuing up (11am) there were still people wondering how to get the wristbands. 

The queue

While I was queuing I still didn't fear about items being out of stock. Only until a security guard said to everyone in the queue that 'there is not much stock left'. That is when I started getting angry and impatient. A late reaction, I know. Finally it was my turn and this is me thinking 'is that it!?'. I was expecting it to be a small room packed with clothes or at least a bigger section filled with the collection. It was literally four shelves of Versace. But that's because the rest are gone and that was what was left. All the big bags were gone, only the little ones were left. No jewels either. I was going to take pictures of the collection but too many people hogging the clothes, really hard to take a picture. Also, it was such a rush didn't have time to do SO. We only had 10 minutes to shop and it was timed. It was like a game, we were constantly being informed about the time by a staff.- 'You have 10 minutes to shop...You have 7 minutes left...You have 2 minutes left'.

So what did I buy? I didn't managed to buy what I wanted- the furry gilet waist coat, it was out of stock! But didn't want to queue for nothing so I had to get at least one item which I could probably sell on eBay even if I don't like it. I bought the Stampa dress, not usually what I would go for but I thought I'll wear something out of my comfort zone for the very first time.

Stampa Dress £79.99, came with a nice hanger  with Versace written across it

Model wearing the Stampa Dress and Stampa Leggings

Tried it on and you know what? It was not bad, quite nice actually. But definitely it's a summer dress.

The shopping bag had some colourful prints on it with an image like a Caribbean Island, the handles were made from silk or whatever you call it (don't know my materials very well lol). The dress was put in a separate bag, this bag was also very sophisticated; leopard print in green, a very 70s style. 

Shopping bag

Bag for the dress. The Versace logo is printed on  top right hand corner

When they gave out the wrist band they also gave out some free samples of Versace perfume.

A sample of Versace perfume- Smells good!

They have a strict refund policy. Everyone has 7 days to refund, must have; the receipt,the hanger, all the bags. Wow! Won't even let you keep the bag, a bag that is made from paper. (LOL)  

Would I go again or earlier when there's another collaboration? Hmm...most probably would and probably go an hour earlier.