AW17 Hair Trends with Viviscal

I've raved about Viviscal a lot in the past. Like, A LOT. I credit it for my naturally fine and thin hair suddenly being labelled as thicc by hairdressers as of a couple years ago. Shortly after this blog became a fashion and beauty blog, Viviscal was one of the first beauty brands I started working with. I began a round of their supplements and (now discontinued) serum and my hair was changed forever.

Viviscal quickly became my favourite haircare brand and I work with them frequently. Recently, I came away from an event with more supplements and they went into my samples pile for later perusal. When a good friend told me that she was having trouble with her hair due to stress caused by a very bad work situation, I immediately offered the supplements to her and she, too, came to swear by the brand. And, so, when I was told I could bring a plus one to their latest event, I instantly asked Kim along. It was a fashion showcase of hairstyles taken from AW17 runway shows and one of the best organised and most elegant events that I've been to in a while. 

We arrived at the beautiful event space upstairs in the Cliff Town House, which was flooded with late evening light streaming through the big Georgian windows and grabbed some very pretty pink gin concoctions. Arriving with someone was a nice change for me as I don't mind flying solo at events (I often do or only pop in and out to fit them into my schedule) but can sometimes spend the whole thing watching the door and waiting for someone I know to arrive, while I stand in a corner, stuffing my face. This time I had a partner in stuffing my face!

Then came the actual show, done by the team at Brown Sugar and lead by their founder, Mark O'Keeffe. It featured looks from the AW17 shows of the likes of Chanel, Balmain, Paul & Joe, Jeremy Scott, Versace, Balenciaga and Prada. All of the looks themselves were actually fairly simplistic. However, the health and shine of the hair, however, were more important and the key to their success. There could be no better brand to present them, therefore, than Viviscal.

One of my personal favourites was the Regal Pony, as had been showcased at JW Anderson and Alexander McQueen. A long, sleek and exceptionally equestrian pony that must be neatly slicked back, the Viviscal Densifying Elixir proves to be an essential in its construction as it is perfect for taming fly-aways and smoothing the hair. Another look that caught my eye was a loose mid-length waves hairstyle, that reflected what was seen at Balenciaga, Prada and Céline, among others. Pretty but casual, it is a look that is all about an easy-breezy appeal that is anything but easy achieve for me but probably not so hard for others - heated tools and I don't hang out very often so I'm not very good with them. But, if you have been using or are going to use heat on your hair, Viviscal supplements and products are really useful for maintaining the strength and health of it. Natural hairstyles dominated runways and the best way to have naturally beautiful hair, is to take care of it. 

I often like products but I rarely swear by them, however, I readily swear by Viviscal. It really, really works and while trends come and go, healthy hair is always stylish. Check out the pictures below for AW17 hairstyle inspiration but check out Viviscal's range of products for better hair x

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The Zipyard

More and more, I feel smothered by things. More and more, waste terrifies me. More and more, fashion can seem overwhelming.

Don't get me wrong. Fashion is still my first and greatest love but I've come to realise that I can appreciate things, recommend them to you, enjoy them, without owning them myself. Eventually, I'd like to curate a key wardrobe which I switch things in and out of seasonally and if there's a particular trend I like. Until I get to that point though, I've been trying to be better about buying, reusing and waste.

When The Zipyard approached me, asking me to a press day and to bring along an item in my wardrobe that could do with being revitalised, I was intrigued. It was only when I went and saw their showcase that I realised that this collab was exactly what I'd been craving and where my interests had been diverting lately.

The chain of alterations stores has 26 branches around Ireland and offer basic tailoring and alterations, dress-making and, best of all, upcycling of existing garments. They showed us how they bought pieces in the likes of Primark and made them look more expensive and unique, how they duplicated favourite items from customers who wished they had bought multiples as they loved and wore things so much and how they made old, tried pieces into something fresh and new.

Sometimes these alterations were simple; adding length to a dress that someone no longer felt comfortable wearing, turning a coat into an on-trend sleeveless jacket or embellishing an old top to make it more interesting or formal. Other times, this meant making entirely new garments like a coord from a shift dress.

I was fascinated by it all - and so impressed! This is what more of us need to do instead of being wasteful and buying more and more stuff to weigh us down. Or instead of merely throwing perfectly good garments away!

For my item, I brought in an Avoca jacket that I bought with a skirt as a suit in a charity shop for five quid. The fabric was good, and the construction fantastic but it was tired and old-fashioned. I liked the idea of the jacket and wore it a few times but it needed careful styling to work. I wanted something I didn't have to put so much thought into.

So, they patched up the worn areas so neatly you wouldn't notice it. Added length to turn it into a coat instead of an awkward, in-between length jacket. Used the same leather from the hem to trim the sleeves and pockets - to tie it all together. And then changed the buttons into something cleaner to make it look more contemporary.

The result is a McQueen style coat that is utterly unique, infinitely more wearable and very special to me.

I urge anyone looking a piece that they love, no longer wear but cannot part with to pop into one of The Zipyard's branches and see what they can do for you! Their teams are not only tailors but also have been trained in styling and will be able to make sure all garments fit to perfection and look awesome. They'll even be able to give you great ideas on how to change up a piece!

Before

After

(Thanks to The Zipyard for this experience - it was amazing!)

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COS SS15

COS is one of those brands with an identity so singularly well realised that any garments produced by the house are immediately identifiable. We expect certain things of their collections - ease, simplicity, pops of colours, delicate patterns, touches of androgyny and coolness. And all of these things are at play in the SS15 collection but there's something a tad more utilitarian than normal. One is reminded of Danielle Romeril's SS15 collection, of cool girls abandoning civilisation for beautiful surrounds...but not style. Netting and mesh, fish-like or mermaidesque metallics, camo shades, whites, peacock pops of yellows and blues, aprons, flowing lengths abound. Firm fabrics of utility contrast those of delicacy that float gauzily, masterfully, reminiscent of butterfly wings or translucent scales. The manmade imitating the beauty of nature. All the while retaining a sleek restraint and minimalism. Always self-editing, paring back. Never too much. And the overall feeling I take away is of this rustic urbanity. Of old fabrics and constructions and concepts used with new techniques and in new ways. 

The house notes sport-luxe and the photography of Vincent Fournier and the fragmented typography of the work of David Ortiz as influencers on the collection and the styling of the lookbook certainly speaks to this. Which just goes to show that styling changes everything. The lookbook gives us sophistication and an editorial complexity beyond most high street stores but the base garments offer a more simplistic possibility. I'm imagining a summer bedecked in long sheer grandfather shirts from the men's collection over leggings with some Birkenstocks and ripped to all hell jeans with cloudlike tops. I'm imagining the impractical steadied by the ever-practical.

The accessories are perfect simplicity. Monochrome or made a transparent plastic with metal accents. A chunky cut-out heel or an elegant stiletto with elements of runners imbued. 

That the menswear was so daring in lengths, cuts and fabric choices was much appreciated - by me, at least. The perfection of the pure white floatiness wasn't arbitrarily weighed down or diluted. Similar necklines and collars were present for both men and women and most garments were entirely wearable for any and all brave and stylish enough.

Can it be summer now?

The pieces will drop from February onwards in stages and I, for one, cannot wait.

Alexander McQueen AW14 Campaign.

Ugh. So in love.

I'm feeling a witchy vibe coming on for A/W this year. I've gotten the perfect boots, next are the perfect clunky heeled loafers. And a cape. I need a damn good cape.

For this reason, my life-long romance with Gothic and Romantic literature, my deep-seated love for Robert Smith and much more, I'm DYING over the AW14 campaign images from Alexander McQueen. Srsly. So good. Loss for real words.

Featuring the lovely Edie Campbell, they're all my gothiest dreams come true. Siouxsie Sioux me now, this ones a heart-stopper.

What do you make of this? As squee-crazy over it as me?