… a word from the Editor

by Amanda // September 15, 2017 // Comments off

Welcome to Mid-September and it’s time to talk about New York Fashion Week. It’s happening as we speak, so in this edition I bring you a sneaky peek – quite literally – of the latest trend to come out of the Big Apple.

As well as NYFW, this week was also all about the super stylish GQ Awards. An awards ceremony where British male talent comes out to play in the most dapper suits to an ultra sophisticated event.

I always like to see who wins the GQ Best Dressed Man of the Year, and 2017 didn’t disappoint.

Thoroughly deserving winner Zayn Mallik wins hands down. He is the full package, in my book and if I was 20 years younger…

Rock & Roll Star of the year went to mean and moody Liam Gallagher who I love, especially when he’s drunk and game for a brawl.

Garage Act of the year went to the brilliant Kurupt FM, who looked incredibly smart on the night – a world away from baseball caps, tracksuits and Nikes.

Spot on again, Solo Act of the year went to Stormzy. No need to explain why.

But my guilty pleasure category is GQ’s Comedian(s) of the year, won by Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, following their ‘food and wine travelogue’ series ‘The Trip’. Very funny.

Most guys attending opted for the white tuxedo this year, which is always a winner.

Onto this week’s instalment of Amanda Zips It Up, and as well as New York Fashion Week, we explore Primark’s latest novelty range and how the fashion emoji is about to emerge.

The Underboob At NYFW

by Amanda // September 15, 2017 // Comments off

It’s every fashion lover’s favourite time of the year. September kicks off the Fashion Week season, commencing, as always, in NYC.

New York Fashion Week is underway and there has been no shortage of sexy style this season.

We’ve seen the ‘side-boob’ look before, but make way for a new trend. Italian sportswear brand GCDS’s show is one that everyone is talking about due to their boob-bearing garments.

The designer has decided to show-off under-cleavage with an extreme crop top, rather than a plunging neckline. The theme was described as a “wet dream” – and it wasn’t hard to see why.

The designer’s collection featured a colourful mash-up of mesh miniskirts, thigh-high boots and skimpy bikini tops styled with bum bags and glittery chokers.

If this wasn’t enough to keep the audience interested, multiple models wore extreme crop tops, revealing a lot of skin. As well as showing off the toned torsos, the statement shirts left their underboobs on full display.

And now underboobs, is a thing.

One model struggled to protect her modesty as she worked her way down the runway. It’s impossible to lift your hand and speak on the phone or apply your lip-gloss without revealing a whole boob.

The torso-bearing clothes were the talk of the show. A look some of us can carry off, as long as we’re not sagging in that department.

Here at Zips It Up, we suggest a sheer bra if that is indeed the case.

Fashion Emojis

by Amanda // September 15, 2017 // Comments off

Just as texting has replaced phone calls, so too will emojis eventually replace alpha numeric texts.

The number of digital icons on Apple’s keyboard has increased tenfold, not to mention that the “Face With Tears of Joy” emoji was dubbed Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year. Yes, really.

Now, fashion brands are hopping on the emoji bandwagon, with 3 of my favourite designers Chanel, candle experts Dyptique and make-up giants Sephora all launching their own mini illustrations for your enjoyment.

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

DIPTYQUE

Diptyque’s love-themed emojis include flirty winking eyes and the brand’s limited-edition Rosaviola candle (Xmas prezzie alert).

SEPHORA

Sephora’s emojis—appropriately named Sephojis—let you personalise your own emoji by specifying your skin and hair colour. Then you can let your friends know you’re busy braiding your hair or taking a selfie.

CHANEL

Ahead of Karl Lagerfeld’s Autumn 2017 catwalk show, Chanel released its own emojis featuring the brand’s signature double C logo on sweets, coffee cups, and airplanes.

Harry Potter at Primark

by Amanda // September 15, 2017 // Comments off

Primark is fast becoming my favourite low cost High-street go-to.

Always first to jump on the latest bandwagon, this week they unveiled a new Hogwarts nightshirt, and Harry Potter fans are desperate to get their hands on one

Now I’m not a Harry Potter fan but I’m well aware that I’m in the minority. The budget-friendly store’s range has been going down a storm with shoppers.

Earlier this month, fans of the boy wizard were going mad for Primark’s ’Battle of Hogwarts’ T-shirt.

Now Primark is selling this cool, striped nightshirt emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest.

Even better? It retails at a bargain £10.

Potter-mad fans are desperate to grab the spell-binding shirt, after the store posted a snap of a model wearing it on their Instagram page this week. And whilst she does make it look appealing, I still wouldn’t.

The post received 15,000 likes and hundreds of comments in only four hours.

Primark’s Harry Potter Collection starts at just £2 and also includes Pyjamas, cushions and fairy lights shaped like potion bottles, for just £8.

I say a must for young Potter enthusiasts everywhere this Christmas.

… a word from the Editor and Blogger

by Amanda // September 8, 2017 // Comments off

Welcome to this ‘Back To School’ instalment of Amanda Zips It Up. It’s the happiest time of the year for parents. And probably the most miserable for kids.

I’ve just been uniform shopping with my daughter and not only am I now completely broke, I can safely say I’ve reinvented her for the new term, with new shoes, bag and brand new everything. You can bet there’s plenty of “new shoe envy” at the school gates.

But does anyone care about what the adults are wearing at the school gates as the new term kicks off?

For mums on the run, time is of the essence. So fast fashion and rapid beauty solutions are essential for anyone who wants to look remotely decent and not “chavvy trackie” for the 8am drop-off.

It’s all about strong outerwear, which will lift any outfit with minimal effort and at maximum speed. A new coat is always a great investment. This year it’s all about the leopard – although I can’t say leopard print ever goes out of fashion for me.

Here’s my style icon Kate rocking the school run mum look. Simple black jeans, black tee, biker boots, and if you really want to get the other mothers talking – a timeless fedora, for maximum glam.

Onto this week’s instalment, and we check out the latest brow trend, sexy denim and Pacha fashion.

Suspender Jeans

by Amanda // September 8, 2017 // Comments off

Just when you thought you’d reached style saturation with denim trends…. Enter Suspender Jeans. Yes, you read that right and they’re exactly as you imagine.

The RIDLEY high waist skinny style features denim suspender detailing to show off your thighs, and retail at £38.

If you have great legs then here at Zips It Up, we say it’s a thumbs up. Well done ASOS. There’s also a tall version for the Elle MacPhersons amongst us.

But ASOS are not the only ones to pay homage this bizarre style. My go-to High Street favourite Topshop have also got in on the act with their MOTO Suspender Mom Jeans in indigo. But they’re not cheap, at £85.

Now those are two words that shouldn’t go together – ‘Suspenders’ and ‘Mom Jeans’. They’re just not as sexy as ASOS’ version.

In one way, the suspender style is handy if you’re indecisive about whether to wear full-length jeans or shorts – problem solved with two-in-one.

They scream early Noughties to me, and if you’re ever stuck for a fancy dress idea, look no further than Christina Aguilera in her 2002 Dirrty video.

Sorry, but from a practical and wearable point of view, unfortunately, I can’t see them taking off.

Squiggly Brows

by Amanda // September 8, 2017 // Comments off

It’s been an odd year in the beauty world. We’ve seen unicorn hair and holographic make up, and now there’s an eyebrow trend that’s definitely the strangest of the lot.

Squiggle brows. For some reason, unbeknown to me, bloggers and amateur make-up artists have been painting their brows into waves above their eyes. The finished look is definitely eye catching.

Though it might look stupid, it takes some degree of skill to perfect this trend. First, you have to create the wavy shape using washable glue (because you don’t really want to permanently pluck them into squiggles), colour them in and then intricately paint on concealer around the edges, to give the squiggles defined shape.

To add to the shock factor, the look wouldn’t be complete without matching lips.

However, I’m not really sure if this is wearable outside of Instagram. One particular Instgramer tells her followers to ‘bring on the hate’ because the look draws huge attention, not always positive. As silly as she looks, she’s not wrong and it’s most certainly ‘a thing’.

What do you think – a brave new beauty trend or sad desperation for internet fame?

Pacha Fashion

by Amanda // September 8, 2017 // Comments off

1973 was a good year.

I was born and so was Pacha Ibiza.

I read somewhere that, back in the day, if anyone asked you for directions to Pacha from Ibiza town, you simply pointed to the lights on the other side of the harbour. They were the only lights.

Back then, it was surrounded by fields. The Urgell brothers, Ricardo and Piti, had a small club in Stiges, Barcelona and made the move to Ibiza to try their luck on the white isle. The word nightclub hadn’t even been invented then… God, I feel old.

It was just a small farmhouse with a bar and a dancefloor surrounded by cushions. There were no multimillion sound systems and strobe lighting no superstar DJs, although the go-go dancers were a regular fixture from the start. For the locals and young Spaniards from the mainland, Pacha was an abnormal diversion from reality. Decades of living under the cultural void of the Franco regime had left an enormous gap in how young people had fun. Stepping into Pacha was like a threshold right into freedom, and the minute you crossed you started to dance.

When Franco was still alive Piti Urgell used to smuggle records in from Paris. Nowadays record companies are falling over themselves to get tracks to DJs playing Pacha. The DJ booth is kitted out in the latest technology and the little farmhouse has been transformed into a megaclub known the world over, recently sold as a business for hundreds of millions of Euros.

Pacha is now a brand that covers fashion, perfumes, hotels, restaurants, resorts and 25 franchises all over the world. What started as a little local nightclub has become the unofficial global ambassador for Ibiza clubbing.

The fashion range, featuring the whole ‘Flower Power’ scene is a huge fashion force to be reckoned with too, and those infamous cherries on tees and sweatshirts are recognised the world over. Here are a few of the latest ranges to stand out from the current collection.

All at www.lostinsummer.com

… a word from the Blogger

by Amanda // August 31, 2017 // Comments off

Welcome to this week’s Zips It Up and I can regretfully announce that Summer is OVER. Welcome to Autumn term.

I’m back home in London, and after a beautiful bank holiday weekend, the heavens have well and truly opened. So it’s back to business as usual. I’ve gone from 30 degrees to 12 in the space of two days. Brrrr.

But it’s not all negative at this time of the year because A, The kids go back to school, B, The X Factor starts and C, Fashion Weeks begin.

Plus, it’s fashion awards season too. More about that in this issue, but on the subject of fashion and awards, did anyone watch the MTV VMA Awards last weekend?

No, me neither, but I did check out the red carpet for the usual fashion hits and misses. Nobody did well, it’s fair to say so my winners for ‘worst dressed’ of 2017 go to Calvin Harris and Nicky Minage.

Calvin looks like a cross between Noel Edmonds and a 70s Nerd. Nicki looked fabulous, except for chronic camel toe, made obvious by squeezing everything into this pink latex number.

Always a giggle though.

And with that, this time round we check out who is the Model of The Decade, Topshop’s collab with Skinnydip and how Grot burgers and Muccy D’s suddenly became very fashionable.

BLING MAC

by Amanda // August 31, 2017 // Comments off

McDonald’s has unveiled its new designer burger boxes.

I never thought I’d be typing those words. But if a fashion designer was to take on a MacDonalds project – guess who it would be? The clue is in the name.

The fast food chain has teamed up with fashion designer and Britain’s Next Top Model judge Julien Macdonald OBE, whose red carpet gowns have been worn by A-list celebs like Jennifer Lopez, Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian.

The premium Signature Collection burgers come in three flavours – The Classic, The BBQ and The Spicy – with the box designed by Julien Macdonald. He crafted the luxury boxes, which will be available in over 900 McDonald’s restaurants across the UK by the end of the year, following a successful trial. The recipe twist? They all include ‘fancy’ ingredients and 20mm thick beef patties.

The bling containers are printed with Julien’s trademark crystal detailing and embellishment, along with the restaurant’s iconic golden arches. He unveiled his “sumptuous” creation at the McDonald’s flagship restaurant in London’s Leicester Square.

One special bejewelled box, hand-crafted by Julien himself, will be auctioned to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

Emily Somers, vice president of marketing at McDonald’s, commented: “This is our first ever UK packaging collaboration, it’s a brave and exciting move and it’s like nothing we’ve ever done before.

If you’re desperate to get your hands on one of the limited boxes, sign up to one of a series of McDonald’s showcase events around the UK.

This is the ONLY time I will be willing to eat MacDonalds, I suspect.

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