Images taken from Hugo Boss blog womenswear fitting post; Graphics by Park & Cube

Just a small shoutout to let you know the Hugo Boss AW12 show will be streamed live on their official blog on January 19, 2012, at 01:30 p.m. (CET); during the show there will be a sweepstake on their Facebook. Despite this being a sponsored post and all (sell-out, who me?), I had a looksie at some of the fitting images on their blog and actually quite looking forward to the show. Clean-cut lines, polished metal and candy colours, sign me up anytime. I’m packing – not to Berlin, sadly – but to Florence once again, so I will

be joining in viewing through the hotel’s frail wi-fi connection overlooking the Arno river while chucking breakfast gelato cone at seagulls. Bis bald!

Apologies for the uncharacteristically commercial nature of the post, I’m trying out different sponsored campaign methods and would love to hear your two cents if you had any throw my way. No pun intended. Major credit cards also accepted.

Option 1: 3 24k gold Bracelets by Bijouxbar by Vivien Frank +1 DIY Park & Cube friendship bracelet; Option 2: Peridot Twig Solitaire ring by Michelle Oh, Cocktail ring by Toosis, Silk scarf by Lucy Jay

Giveaways are a bit of a pet peeve but I like to hold one or two every year with a company/brand I really think my you might like, so meet Boticca! Otherwise I tell my doctor about it and he says I have to carry one of those syringes in my sock in case another “Do you want to hold a giveaway in your blog” email lands in my inbox and I die of anaphylactic shock. Or a purplep-ish rash… due to acute-annoyance. It’s not because I don’t want to chuck free stuff at you, I just feel like I’m asking for your souls to collect on a clipboard I’d rather be giving something nice while I’m at it. Plus, it kinda cheapens the blog and you know my blog is, like, soo expensive.

Coat – Anywho x Brics, Dress – H&M, Leather trousers – ASOS, Booties – Sam Edelman, Clutch – Kurt Geiger, Boyfriend Watch – ASOS, Bracelets – Boticca.com

Wo, look at me chuck out posts like a hen with a Tesco egg delivery deadline, have you ever seen me this diligent?… …that’s a no then. Now if only I could sling this spurt of energy at something constructive…  I think I’ll go install Sims 3, the dishes and laundry can do themselves – we’re in the 21st Century afterall, no? I’ve been keeping these hair pieces since April 2010 after wanting to imitate this particular Ashish show and back then I had the right sort of hair, long and loose. They kept travelling with me to press trips in a plastic bag waiting for that window of DIY opportunity to open, but as we all know it opened facing a wall and then painted shut for at least a year. So again it travelled with me to Florence, which after so long it had braided itself into a French weave (see, 21st Century indeed) and now that I’ve untangled it I need to wait for my hair to grow back.

A few tips: 1) You can get these hair pieces anywhere where they sell wigs and Afro hair products, they’re quite inexpensive (these were about £4 a pack) 2) Get  a little more than what you see in the above photo if you want the Ashish effect and clip in multiple places before braiding. 3) Clip it low near the back of the head (aka Occipital bone ish area if you speak Wikipedia) and let it hang longer than your natural hair. 4) Colours like turquoise or blue looks better on dark hair whereas pastel colours look great on light-coloured hair. Damn you blondes. 4a) I know that second to last pic kinda make it look like Rogue from X-men, but the pink does shows and I now have X-ray vision! 4b) Red panties, for me?

[Rings shot] Toolsis Cocktail Ring via Boticca; True Birds Leaf Ring, Courtney Kaye Cocktail Ring,  Michelle Oh Twig Solitaire Ring via Boticca; [Outfit on stairs] Zara Coat; Uniqlo Top & Trousers, Sam Edelman Booties; Kurt Geiger Clutch;  [Outfit ‘red Jeans’] Goldsign Jeans, Coach Bag, Zara Hat, Topshop Boots;

Taking into account that my social skills resemble that of a blind hamster… oh that reminds me, my neighbour now purposefully avoids me after the few occasions I couldn’t grow a pair (of melons, what are you thinking) to say ‘hi’ in the narrow corridor so each time I pretended to be temporarily blind and deaf before shuffling past. Ah, there’s also that time I was giving a uni presentation and thanks to my scrambled nerves (or deadly toxins from the product design studios, not certain) I was known to speak in tongues. (and thus helped the overly abstract project to be even more convincing! (not really)) Anyhow, taking ALL THAT into account and looking back, an event like Firenze4Ever seems sadly not my cup of tea. Granted, I had fun with the girls and a blast trekking Florence with the hubby, but when you put too many world-famous bloggers in one room it’s inevitable that those lesser known (and socially awkward) will eventually end up benchwarming in the sidelines. It reminded me a bit of highschool with all the cliques and gossips, so the hubby and I did what we did best back then, slipped away unnoticed and made out in the bike shed…

Thank you Luisa Via Roma for the invitation & hubby for the photos

Dress – MGSM, Shoes – Casadei, Jacket – Burberry Brit, Rings – Sardo; Makeup by MAC Cosmetics

First StyleLab outfit of Luisa Via Roma’s Firenze4Ever, featuring the worth of mother + brother + this London flat that I don’t even own in garments & accessories. Funny thing is it doesn’t even make you feel more glamorous or particularly important… anywho. At one point during the shoot there was a man with a puffy red jacket that kept peering through the opposite window of the car and the hubby finally yelled HOLY MOZZARELLA, MAN, WOULD YOU PLEASE MOVE at which point I yelled back at him BUT YOU TOLD ME NOT TO MOVE WHEN YOU’RE TAKING BAJILLION YEARS FOCUSING. And of course, while we were bickering the man eventually buggered off to take photos of a naked statue and chuck gelato at pigeons and such…

Thank you Yosi for your assistance and my dear hubby for helping with the photos.