:: Summer Paradise ::

Well hello there !

    I thought I'd hit off this week with another post :)! Well, as the title gives away.. this blog is a ramble all about summer. It might be the case that I am exaggerating when I refer to the hottest season as a paradise. However the way I see it that anything can be considered a paradise compared to the dreadful last month of the scholastic year, filled with exams and such! I am almost certain that most of you would agree :)!

Comino Island Malta

Cafe Del Mar Malta

       Starting with the changes in the weather itself; from the cold,foggy winter days to the warm summery ones... everything takes a turn for the better. Don't get me wrong, I simply love staying in on a cosy night watching 'Frozen' while having Chinese with a couple of friends, but what could possibly beat the smell of sun screen and the beachy breeze while sun bathing or having a barbeque with friends or family? 

      And what about that point in time when we ditch all the heavy rain jackets and winter boots, and opt for a pair of shorts, a cropped top and a pair of sandals? The warm weather enables the Maltese to do so.. so we should truly light a candle for Mother Nature every once in a while! 

        Ice-creams, fruit pops, slushies, frozen yogurt, milkshakes.. so many fresh beverages to choose from ! Oh, and what about cocktails galore? Everything is presented chilled throughout the summer days, and hence it is welcomed with open arms by everyone, a Pina Colada is exactly what you'll need! 

Slushies

          Another thing regards clubbing on those wild Saturday Nights. Going out, be it clubbing, boat parties, or a relaxed evenings with family or friends is surely bound to get better as the weather starts warming up. The girls barely need to worry about rain ruining their hair( nowadays this is also applies to men ;p) and we could all wear that slightly shorter dress without tights and show our tan! In addition, no more skidding flat on our faces with heels or smudging our make-up.(THANK GOD for waterproof everything in winter! )

          However, some dread both spring and summer due to the fact that more flesh is bound to be revealed. Although it is easier said than done, we should all respect and love our body whatever shape and form it is in. We should never let any type of advertising imbue into our minds what body type we should have. Everyone is born different for a reason and we should be proud of who we are. If something can be changed, we could always work hard towards changing it. However, this point is way too complex to be discussed in a matter of a couple of lines. It surely deserves a post on its own :)! As I had previously pointed out in a couple of blog posts, the most important thing is to wear what suits your shape and highlights your curves while fitting your lifestyle and personality! 

        Whichever way we look at it, every season has its pros and cons, however the key is to strive to focus on the more positive aspects rather than the negative ones. By doing this, we could build up our own Summer Paradise!

I hope you enjoyed my ramble and I look forward to talking you girls soon :)!
Look Good, Be Good, Feel Good.
Kaylie xx

P.S: I realise that this has little to do with fashion and style, and that it is more of a lifestyle related post. I have been thinking about expanding my blog, giving it a stronger touch of personal while still tying it greatly to fashion. Thank you so much for your support! xxx

:: Beach Essentials ::

Hey there fashion lovers :)!

It has been somewhat a long time and I'd like to apologize for that, but now that it's more or less safe to say that most of us have finished their exams, we can shift to more relieving subjects; beach, sand, sun, and sea! 

Apart from the obvious - a bathing suit ( which I believe deserves a whole post on its own! )we need to have a cute beach bag to hoard all of our essentials in. Size and pattern is bound do differ from one person to the next, however the concept is similar!

Now, we must obviously fill up our gorgeous carry-ons with all our necessities. Below we shall have a look at some of the items I personally consider a must-have for a successful day out at the beach. 

To start with, one would obviously consider bringing a towel. I suggest a couple; one to dry oneself with while the other is to use as a pillow or else to lounge on with friends on the sand :)! Any beach towel would do; the cuter the better! xx

I also strongly recommend a light hooded jacket or sweater! Keeping warm when coming up from the water can be slightly challenging, ( at least for this girl) and this will surely come in handy; trust me!

I also find it very helpful to carry a make-up/travel bag with me to hold of my beauty essentials. I suggest a plastic one so as to avoid any mishaps if it had to come in contact with the water :) In addition, it being transparent would help to find essentials quicker when in a rush! 

I suggest keeping a face and body sunscreen, a body spray, deodorant or perfume, any make-up products you would have used, make-up wipes as well as a Lip Balm which has SPF! Anything else such as hair products, bobby pins and elastics among other things are also considered an essential by most!

Another fashion favourite of mine for any beach day are Fedora Hats and Aviator Sunglasses. Although any pair would rock the sandbox ( no pun intended! ), I personally find the combination of the pair above to be epic and intriguing on both males and females!

 Last but not least, the beach is one of the most relaxing places that one could go to in the summer season. Hence, this is also the place where we are all free to read a relaxing book, listen to our new favourite album, or else flip through a magazine at our own leisure! I am currently reading a novel called 'Ice Lake' by John Farrow.. 
All together now : ''Ahhhh.. the smell of freedom at last!''

P.S: Always carry around a bottle of water so as to keep yourselves hydrated! A snack of nuts, berries or baby carrots would also come in handy when you start feeling a bit hungry!

I hope this proved to be sloghtly helpful to some of you! Feel free to leave any suggestions, and stick around for my next blog post to be uploaded later on this week! 

Look Good, Be Good, Feel Good :)!
Kaylie xx

:: Curvy Elements ::

Hi loves !

     I have recently been asked to dig more into the mistaken idea that curvier girls are not allowed to follow fashions, as most trends tend to target skinny women rather then heavier ones. However, I wish to make clear that even though I strongly disagree with this ideology, I am in no shape or form saying that being over-weight is a positive thing or that clothes can cover up ALL imperfections and flaws that one might have. I am a firm believer that, with clothes one can take the eye away from some flaws by highlighting an area which one is more comfortable with.

   I feel that, whereas a skinnier girl could pull off an outfit which is all pastels, a curvier woman could also pull off the trend by wearing a darker dress paired up with a pastel blazer and accessories. Similar to this are other trends such as the Neon trend which was very big last Spring/Summer season, and Graphic Prints, which have gladly been with us for quite a while now! Below one could see some pictures as an example :)!

  In addition, belts are a girls best friend regardless her shape and size. Cinching in from the waist gives us all a skinnier, more defined silhouette. This is another way how wild prints and bright colours, or pastels can be introduced into the outfit. Similarly, this could be implemented when it comes to shoes, hats, necklaces, bracelets and other accessories to enhance the persona's physique.

       Moreover, circle skirts and flowing dresses which are fitted at the torso tend to deceive the eye into believing that the person is skinnier than she actually is. This is because, as pointed out previously, clothing is all about highlighting good-looking areas while taking the eye away from the more negative ones.

With summer fast approaching, each and every one of us are on the look out for the perfect bikini or one-piece for those warm days spent at the beach. Not everyone has the body for that little bikini we saw at New Look or River Island, but all of us can surely make it work. The known secret is to find the bathing suit that truly fits your personality as well as your body shape!

The most important thing is that we all make sure that whatever we are wearing fits us like a glove, so as to bring out the best of our bodies; our perfect imperfections!

I hope this helped some of you :)! Any requests,comments or any other type of feedback is very much appreciated :)! As you have seen, ASOS came up with a great line for curvy women; ASOS CURVE.

Look Good, Be Good, Feel Good :)!

Kaylie xx

:: Spring Prints :)! ::

Spring is the time in which one is more that free to investigate and experiment with prints and bright colours. However, its worth admiring how print designers (and designers in general),  manage to come up with different prints each year :)! In addition, usually they take the 'old' prints and adapt them to the current season; by adding a brand new twist to the print, it makes it new and even more fashionable than the previous one!

For example, right here one can easily see the floral trend of Spring-Summer 2013 rejuvinated and worn again on the runways :) The art of designing in perfectly manifested here, as, contrary to other pieces where print is concerned, the piece of clothing is controlled by the print itself and not its shape. 

In the picture above which is taken from New York Fashion Week,  we can see neutral colours which are paired with similar neutral accessories. Keeping the accessories simple helps to bring out the print more, and so highlight the asset of the dress. Short circle dresses are quite popular in stores this season, and so one can simply expect to find the trendy prints on these shapes of dresses too.

Similarly, in the picture one can see other examples where designers integrated Spring-Summer 2013 prints into their new designs, hence attaching the new to the old to achieve the particular look they were going for.Wheres in the previous the majority of colours were neutrals, in this one, we can see yellows, blues, pinks and greens which help to attract the eye to the piece of clothing and hide any imperfection ( which we all unfortunately have!) and highlight other better-looking areas:)!

However, apart from florals, designers also decided to take geometric prints; mainly black and white and insert them again into Spring-Summer 2014.

Above we could see a more casual pant-and-tee looking style. Also from New York Fashion Week 2014, we could see how abstract prints hit big and strong this Spring, with black and whites paired with dark blue among others. International Runways were filled with it, however Indian and Asian runways were the ones to truly bring out this trend up a notch!

Above, we can once again see a more subtle but( but still considered abstract!) print. The smallest the print, the more busy is a garment. For example, the photo on the right shows a flowing maxi dress mostly using a neutral print. In comparison, the second and third photos show a more colourful print on the maxi dress, pant and blouse respectively. Similar to the fist segment regarding flower prints, they are all pared with neutral accessories so as to bring out to a greater extent the detail of the print.

With a more classy and subtle approach to the Spring and Summer 2014 prints, above we can see a mixture of outfits styled to perfection. In all three photos, the floral print was aptly manifested to fit the mood of the dress. In the first photo, a more casual flowery print was given to the garment, while in the second one, we can see a low-key circle dress which can be either dressed down for a casual day out with friends, or else dressed up for a fancy dinner. This is exactly where accessories come in!

 The third photo, shows a slightly different take on a body-con dress; warm and playful, yet powerful enough for a great night out with collegues or even a day-time formal lunch!

__________________________o____________________________o________________________

Prints are there for fashion purposes, however this idea must not be used as an argument to shy away from such an experimental, beautiful side of styling and expressing ourselves! In the previous blog post about Pastels, Readers were encouraged to always try something new. The most important thing is to know your body type and dress to enhance your assets! 

Until next time,

Look great, Be great, Feel great!

Kaylie xx

Check out my Facebook Page for frequent blog updates! https://www.facebook.com/kayliesfashionparlour?ref=hl