Hit the road in Italian style this summer

Fancy hitting the road this summer in a fashionable piece of Italian design? Let me introduce you to the special edition of the iconic Fiat 500 customised by Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini in partnership with Fiat's Centro Stile: the 500byGucci.

This cool collaboration between two of Italy's most respected brands represents the perfect combination of craftsmanship and style. The 500byGucci was launched on the opening day of Milan Fashion Week.

The black and white colours of the 500byGucci, in unique eye-catching glossy pearl glass paint complement one another: black – with detailing in shiny chrome paired with interiors that contrast sharp black and white – for a contemporary and racy feel; white – with satin chrome detailing and ivory and black interiors – for a softer, sophisticated look. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to decide which colour to go for - maybe both?!
Initially the new car will be available exclusively online, and is another example of Fiat’s use of e-commerce to sell vehicles, having already enjoyed success with cars such as the special edition Fiat 500 Pink and Fiat 500 Matt Black. The fully automated on-line sales scheme allows customers to pay a deposit, order it directly from the factory, track the car’s progress, make a final payment and even arrange special delivery of the car to their home.


“The 500byGucci will enlarge the audience for the already successful Fiat 500, reaching those fashionista customers who want to have a unique car to distinguish themselves,” says Elena Bernardelli, marketing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK. “And the online sales process adds another dimension to the individuality of this special model, creating an even greater sense of exclusivity and exceptional customer service.”


The Fiat 500 - as I have mentioned here before - is my dream car, the Fiat 500byGucci takes the dream and conjures it into something like heaven.

What do you think? Dream car?


*The Fiat 500byGucci will be available in the UK this summer.





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What I Wore for my Birthday

I'm pretty sure you are all aware that it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I spent the day shopping and eating and drinking (lunch at Jamie's Italian) with the boyf. He took a couple of photos of the outfit I wore for the day too:

I am wearing: Gap maxi sundress and Gap straw trilby.

What I Wore for Afternoon Tea

I know I haven't done many outfit posts recently but I had to show off my shiny new shoes on my trip for afternoon tea with my mum at the weekend, so for your viewing pleasure:

After tea, mum and I took a walk in the gardens by the teahouse - in the rain!!

I wore an Urban Outfitters top (reduced from £35 to £15), H&M jeans (£9.99) and Marks and Spencer Limited Collection brogues (reduced from £25 to £15!!).

I finished the outfit off with my Marc Jacobs bargain wish bone necklace.

To check out more photos of my beautiful new shiny brogues, make sure to visit the Sugar & Spice Facebook page.

What bargains have you scored recently?

Monday Morning Pic-Me-Up

In case you missed it in amongst my various ramblings – last weekend I was in Ibiza to celebrate my birthday and to experience the opening parties at Café Mambo and Es Paradis! Both parties were on Friday (20 May) and so we headed to Café Mambo early to catch the sunset – which is said to be one of the most spectacular in the world. To add a little fun to the girls’ weekend I took my Polaroid camera with me and we all got a photo of the sun setting to remember the night. Truly beautiful.


It seems anyone who is anyone is heading off to Ibiza this summer to catch some rays and some music! Are you planning a trip to the party island?

Afternoon Tea: Waterloo Gardens Teahouse

Yesterday afternoon, I took my mum for afternoon tea at Waterloo Gardens Teahouse in Cardiff. It was de.li.cious! But don't take my word for it, let the pictures do the talking for me:

You get to your choice of sponge cake - we chose one slice of Victoria Sponge and one of Raspberry and White Chocolate Sponge - along with a selection of sandwiches and scones with clotted cream and jam:

You are then offered any tea or coffee from the drinks menu. I chose Organic and Fair-Trade Jasmine Green Tea. It was crisp and light and refreshing:

For more photos from our afternoon tea, be sure to check out the Sugar and Spice Facebook page. Remember to "like" the page too.

If you are in the Cardiff area, I strongly recommend paying the Waterloo Gardens Teahouse a visit. The teahouse is set in a beautifully leafy area of the city right by Waterloo Gardens which are perfect for a lazy afternoon stroll, to walk off all of the sandwiches and cakes and scones you've just consumed. What more could a girl and her mum ask for?


Where do you go for afternoon tea? If anyone has any budget options for London - I am visiting my sister next weekend and want to take her out. Any suggestions gladly welcomed.


Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.


Remember to check out the Sugar and Spice Facebook page for more photos from our afternoon tea at Waterloo Gardens Teahouse.


Updated: realise I didn't mention before the price of the tea: £11.50 per person for everything mentioned above, which in my book, is pretty darn reasonable.

Beauty Review: Boots 17 Waterproof Mascara

So when I got up last Sunday morning I wasn’t exactly planning on giving the Boots' 17 Waterproof mascara such a vigorous trial. I had in mind a day by the pool to see if it gave me panda eyes after a brief dip. But instead I found myself on a high-speed boat in the sea off Ibiza being thrown around and then thrown – quite literally – into the sea. And you know what? Not a panda eye in sight!


Do you wear waterproof mascara for water activities? Or go mascara-free? Or just hope for the best?!

Friend Friday #41: Hair care

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This week's topic is aaaaall about the hair and everything to do with keeping your hair in tip top condition:




1. How often do you get your hair cut?



I try to have a hair cut every couple of months but it doesn't always seem to work out like that and it's usually something more like every three to four months.

2. Do you go to the same stylist each time, try someone new, go to the cheap hair cutting chains or live it up in a salon?


I go to the same stylist and have done for the past six years. When I lived at home my mother always sent me to the cheapest salon in town for a dry cut but once I moved to university I began to experiment by trying out some of the salons in Cardiff. In my final year I eventually found "the one": Paul at the Blew Room. I don't think I have ever had a bad hair cut from Paul - now that is something to boast, in my opinion!

3. Do you colour your hair? How often? What’s your natural colour?


Yes. I colour my hair every couple of months or so. My natural hair colour is a mid to dark brown with some red/auburn undertones. However as it is naturally quite dark, I already a good few grey hairs, so I like to cover them. I also love the way in which the colour improves the condition of my hair and makes it so gorgeously glossy. I use L'Oréal Casting Crème Gloss which is a semi-permanent colour. I always used to use Dark Chocolate but recently I have opted for Black Cherry which is a rich dark red colour.

4. The one thing you always do to keep your hair looking great is:


Colour it regularly! Whenever my hair starts to look a little dull, I grab a bottle of hair dye and my locks are looking luscious within half an hour.

5. What hair trend do you love and wish you could rock?


Every few years I decide to go short but for some reason it never quite looks right. I would ultimately love to go for a proper pixie crop and dye it platinum blonde - can you image such a wonderfully dramatic change?! Like these ladies:

Carey Muligan; Kate Winslet in Vogue; and Michelle Williams.

What style/cut/colour do you wish you could rock?


Remember to check out the other responses to this week's FBFF topic over at ModlyChic. And if you fancy being involved each week, be sure to check out all of the information here.

Style Icon: Battle of the First Ladies

As the US President and his wife end their tour of Europe, now seems like a good time to look back at their three day visit to the UK and to the inevitable fashion fight between the two First Ladies, Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron.

On Tuesday when Barack Obama and his wife arrived at Downing Street, Samantha Cameron welcomed the American First Lady into No 10:

Source

Mrs Cameron chose British designer Peter Pilotto, opting for an embroidered floral silk dress whilst Mrs Obama chose a purple wool-crepe dress by Roksanda Ilinic for the occasion.

The next day, on Wednesday, the two women hosted a barbeque in the garden of No 10:

Source

Samantha Cameron chose another British designer for the occasion, this time a short-sleeved, cotton twill mix, pale blue and white print dress, by Jonathan Saunders. Meanwhile Mrs Obama looked glamorous a crystal-embellished black chiffon dress from the pre-fall collection of the American designer Tracy Reese.

Who do you think won this fashion fight?

For more on these two style icons, be sure to check out their individual style icon posts: Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama.

If you have missed the previous style icons featured on the blog, check them out here.

I am seeking for bloggers who would like to write a guest post for this series (see here for previous guest bloggers on this site) about their Style Icon. Please get in touch if you would like to get involved. You can find out more here.

Bargain of the Day: 18AndEast Jersey Belt Dress

UPDATE: This dress now has 50% off at Clothing at Tesco - be sure to grab a bargain before it's gone!

Belt. Check. Abstract print. Check. Gorgeous dress. Check. Bargainous price. Check!!!!!!

This dress has been ALL over the blog-osphere in the past week – and rightly so. Check out the Style It Challenge. 

I should credit the lovely Amanda - aka The Online Stylist - for this find - thank you.

What Was I Wearing: Audrey

I realised last night that I haven't done an outfit post for a long looooong time. So here you go. I was trying to rock a little of the Audrey Hepburn look. Did it work?


The boyf and I decided to make the most of the lovely sunny evening in Cardiff and have dinner at Chapter Arts - after a meeting with a mortgage advisor!! (Scary stuff!!)

I am wearing: Mango dress, New Look heels (ooooold!) and Ted Baker sunnies (a birthday present - more soon).

Guest Post: Monday Morning Pic-Me-Up

I'm back from my holidays today but before I touch down in the UK, another of my favourite bloggers, Jill of Street Style London, is guest posting this morning by showing us some of her favourite photos:

Jill told me these photos were, "from a walk with my husband and the friends we stayed with in Hastings for the weekend - in the most gorgeous park above the sea":

I hope you've enjoyed the guest blog series while I've been away. If you would like to be considered for next time I'm away, why not check out how to become a guest blogger?

BARGAIN OF THE DAY: Marc Jacobs' wish bone necklace

At the end of last year, Suzie of Bargainista Fashionista, wrote about the "Special Items" collection available at the Marc by Marc Jacobs store on South Audley Street in Mayfair. Being a fellow bargain hunter I couldn't resist a sunny afternoon stroll through Mayfair to the aforementioned store when I found myself in London last week. Wherein I discovered some really rather fabulous designer bargains!!

Check out this seriously lust-worthy wish bone necklace - yours (in silver or gold) for just £5!

What do you think?

Guest Post: The Power of being Well-Dressed

I am still on my holidays, so today I have asked another of my favourite bloggers, Shannon of The Simply Luxurious Life, to write today's post for me. You might remember that Shannon guest blogged for me last year - you can see the post here - and she answered my questions for a Christmas series I ran - you can see this post here. I gave Shannon completely free reign over what to write and I am so glad that I did as this post is inspired - the minute I read it, a smile spread over my face. So thank you so much Shannon. Now, everyone, enjoy:



Source: The Glitter Guide



“A woman is closest to being naked when she is well dressed.”

–Coco Chanel

Recently Oprah Winfrey broadcast her last makeover show with her devoted viewers, and in order to say good-bye in grand style, she invited many talented creative artists in their field such as Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Tory Burch and Bobbi Brown.

After watching the show,  I began to contemplate the goal of a makeover. Each one of us is only as beautiful, as deserving of the life we crave, as we believe ourselves to be.  No matter what we wear, that is a fact that doesn’t change simply by slipping into a nicer pair of shoes.  While it may for a moment, the true inner confidence of the woman wearing the shoes will be revealed.

Coco Chanel’s above quote is one of my favorites for this very reason. If a woman is well-dressed, it suggests that she is wearing something that is most flattering on her, that allows her to shine appropriately and allows others to see her as she truly is – thus, being the closest to naked one could ever be in dashing clothes.

Source: Vogue and Coffee

What we wear can say a million things, without a word being uttered. So as you go into your closet tomorrow morning and search for what to wear, ask yourself, what message do you want to convey, what energy to you want to project and thus have returned to you? Sometimes we do have to fake it until we make it, but it truly can all begin with wearing clothing that flatters the beautiful woman we’ve always been whether we've embraced her yet or not.

Source: Musings in Feminity

Here are a few of the most significant lessons gained from Oprah Winfrey’s last makeover show where each of the three designers shared their thoughts on fashion and makeovers in general.

1. Trends are not your friend if they don’t flatter your body type and skin tone. – Tory Burch

2. A makeover can’t truly be successful if the person being transformed doesn’t have the desire to handle the opportunity it may bring. – Diane von Furstenberg

3. The clothing and accessories should highlight the woman that is wearing them to reveal to the world her true beauty. After all, as Michael Kors stated, the most flattering compliment one truly desires is that the person themselves looks fantastic, and then the clothes that are being worn are mentioned second.

Thank you again to Shannon - and please do show her a warm welcome here by leaving her some lovely comments.

Post Swap Friend Friday #40: Blog Pet Peeves

As I am away sunning myself and celebrating my birthday, I have asked a few of my favourite bloggers to guest post for me. Today, France of Oranges and Apples and I have swapped Friend Friday posts - so you can find my post over at Franca's blog. But before you go read mine, make sure to check out Franca's post:

Unrelated photo that came up when I searched
flickr for ‘annoying’ via here.

Hello!

This is Franca from Oranges and Apples. Emily and I are swapping posts today, for Friend Friday, where the topic is top 5 things that annoy us about blogs we read. I’m probably going to come across quite harsh, so I just wanted to say right from the off that none of the things I will be talking about will make me immediately stop reading a particular blog, and I completely understand how and why they happen, but they are things I dislike and will make it less likely that I’ll return. Please excuse any rantiness!

1. Poor grammar, spelling and quality of writing. Writing is hugely important to me and I think any blogger should make the extra effort to make sure that their writing is coherent. I generally try to proofread everything a couple of times before I post. But I appreciate that that’s not always possible and I do post some pretty rushed stuff myself sometimes. I am much less bothered by typos than by mistakes that make me think the author actually doesn’t know any better. Top 3 offenders:

• Would of instead of would have. Where did this madness start, please? It somehow seems to have become acceptable, but it is not. It makes no sense, and it’s not even any shorter. If you can’t be bothered with would have, and even would’ve is too much effort, by all means write wouldve. I use didnt and wasnt occasionally, so I won’t judge. But I will judge people for making up a completely random alternative spelling. Desist.
• Wonder/wander. The world at large (including Mr. Oranges and Apples) seems to not realise wander exist. They’re not even pronounced the same!
• Their/They’re. Obvious.

Ooops, that was quite a lot in a oner! The rest of them are shorter, I promise.

2. Poor photography. You don’t need a great camera to take good pictures, and the internet is awash with outfit photography tips and there’s plenty of easy free editing software out there. Life’s too short for badly lit blurry photos in front of cluttered backgrounds.

3. Pop ups asking me to subscribe to the blog feed before I’ve even read the page. There is nothing that will make it less likely for me to actually subscribe. Follow options should be easily accessible, but pushing yourself onto unsuspecting readers is just rude.

4. No share buttons for posts. I didn’t appreciate just how annoying not having these is until I joined twitter. It drives me mad when I want to tweet a really good blog post, and then I have to go to an URL shortener site, and shorten the link manually, then go to twitter and write the thing. Chances are I won’t bother.

5. Personal bitchiness. I don’t mind people writing about their private life, I really enjoy some highly personal blogs, and neither do I mind people complaining about things (including things people have written on blogs) and having a bit of a rant. But bringing these two together and complaining about a specific person in your life that readers don’t know is just bizarre. It feels like being cornered by a stranger at a party who feels it’s ok to just offload all their weirdness. You have no idea who they’re talking about and you know that what you’re getting only one side of the story, but no idea what they other side might be and it’s just awkward. If you must bitch about specific people, please make it generic enough for other people to relate to. Complaining about people always cancelling plans at the last minute = OK, complaining about a particular friend and how they always let you down = not so much.

And those were my top 5 annoying things! Thanks Emily for having me!

Birthday Style Icon: Lily Cole

In case anyone missed it, today is my birthday!!! It is also the birthday of today’s Style Icon: Lily Cole, model, actress, university undergrad student and humanitarian and environmental campaigner:

Source

She might only turn 23 today but she has not wasted any time in using her celebrity star to its advantage.

Sources: left; and right.

Cole was scouted at 14 and had her break in 2003 when she shot a photo-shoot of Italian Vogue. The following year, in 2004, Lily Cole was named “Model of the Year” at the British Fashion Awards.

Source

Since then Cole has appeared on the covers of many fashion magazines around the world, including the American, Italian, British, Japanese and Korean editions of Vogue.

Lily Cole has appeared on catwalks at Fashion Week’s across the world, including for Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Jasper Conran and Louis Vuitton:

Source

In 2008 Lily Cole commenced her studies at King’s College, Cambridge, reading History of Art. She has embraced student life – even taking to cycling around the city, like many students at Cambridge University. Her easy style proves that there is more to student dressing than sweat pants and baggy tees!

Sources (left to right): #1; #2; #3; and #4.

Lily Cole has utilised her position to gain publicity for numerous charities, particularly those with an environmental or humanitarian angle. She has even used fashion to demonstrate her commitment to these causes:

Sources: left; and right.

What do you make of this student’s style? Who is your Style Icon?

If you have missed the previous style icons featured on the blog, check them out here.

I am seeking for bloggers who would like to write a guest post for this series (see here for previous guest bloggers on this site) about their Style Icon. Please get in touch if you would like to get involved. You can find out more here.

How to Blog: Commenting

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This was going to be just one post but it seems that I got a little carried away and think I'll have to extend it into a mini series which will attempt to tell you a little of how to blog. Hope you enjoy it - and find it useful.


A big part of being a blogger, for me, is visiting and reading other blogs and participating in the blogging community which, by virtue, means that commenting is an integral part of this process:



Last Autumn Amy of Wolf Whistle set herself the target of leaving 500 comments a month. At IFB Ashe Mischief took up the challenge too and called other bloggers to do the same. I decided to follow Grechen's lead and took the happy medium option and challenged myself to leave 10 comments a day.


I wrote about the subject of comments in a recent Friend Friday post, in which I referenced Chelsea's (of Dear Winnie) great post on the same topic in which she laid out her own 4-step plan to writing the perfect comment.


When taking up this challenge I was conscious that my 10 comments a day would not be two-word, "great post" comments that were effectively meaningless. It seemed I was not alone, Amy told Ashe:


"I promised myself when I started this that I wouldn’t leave comments such as  ‘Nice blog!!!’ as I generally feel that these type of comments are a bit of a let down."


While Ashe concluded that she would:


"leave 250 meaningful, thoughtful, useful comments."

Earlier this year, Ashe revisited the comment challenge at IFB and asked:

How did it go?  Was it more challenging than you expected?

Did you find many new blogs to visit? Build up any new friendships, find a lot of duds, or something in between?

Did you sustain the momentum and keep going? Have you built up new blogging habits from doing the comment challenge?  Are you more or less active at commenting now?

In response, I didn't find it challenging so much as time consuming - when I have a quiet week, it is easy to leave more than the target of 10 a day but when I have a busy week or two, it get difficult to leave even 10 comments a week.

I found straightaway that in order to leave enough comments I have had to go on the hunt for new blogs to read. It's been good to have a purpose to find good blogs that compel me to leave meaningful comments.

Like Ashe, I didn't do this to increase traffic, or to get more comments on my blog but that has been a rather pleasant side effect. However, despite it not being my principle reason for undertaking the challenge, if I have visited a blog and I have commented on posts for a month or two and not heard anything back from the blogger (a reply to a comment, a comment on my blog, or a tweet) I do still think twice about returning to said blog.

I'm not so strict as I was about 10 comments a day but I do still comment as much as possible and visit those blogs that I have discovered over the past six months.

Did you take up the comment challenge? How did you find it? If not, do you have any sort of a strategy for commenting on other blogs?

If you have any questions about blogging that you would like to see answered in this series, please let me know in the comments, or by email.

Mani of the Week: Boots 17 Twilight Teaser

It is not only Nair that I have to thank for making sure I am ready for my holidays at the end of this week, but also the lovely people at Boots who sent me a few bottles from the new Boots 17 Supreme Shine collection:

Now, I still haven't decided which colour I will use for my weekend away - although I am thinking something dark and glamorous, like Spiced Plum for my toes and something bright, like Miami for my finger nails with the Crackle Top Coat that was also sent to me. Of course, I will keep all of this for another week.

This week, I have mostly been rocking the subtle tones of Twilight Teaser:

The colour, after one coat, is pretty opaque but I like that. However it can be built up with another one or two coats. It certainly lasts well - this has been on all weekend and endured some pretty hardcore cleaning and is still in tact.

What colour do you wear on your nails on your holidays?

Having it all: an evening with Tabio

The Japanese hosiery brand, Tabio, has it all!

When Tabio tweeted that they were having a blogger event exactly a week before my birthday (did I mention it's my birthday soon?!!) I could hardly ignore it, could I? I admit, it is only since I started reading blogs that I have become aware of the brand but it is safe to say that amongst bloggers, they are a firm favourite. And now I understand why:

From bows to frills and sockettes to leg warmers, from glitter to neon and house socks to thermal socks and toe socks and toe-post socks to heel socks and many other wonderful and surprising combinations in between:

Tabio really are revolutionising hosiery - turning it from a boring necessity to an exciting and coveted accessory.

Not living in London I don't have the pleasure of attending many blogger events and was, thus, duly impressed with the spread of refreshments laid on:

And the kind invitation to choose any one item "as a gift". With so much choice, I was torn - between the pink glitter ankle socks and the bow embellished leg warmers. I plumped, finally, for something completely different; those rather fabulous crochet socks with a flower ankle detail, which I will show you in a post very soon.

Thank you again to Tabio for inviting me and for putting on a fabulous evening.


To see more photos from the event, visit the Sugar & Spice Facebook page. And while you're there, remember to like the page too!