Whether you have a date, wedding, or simply a night out with the girls, there is a Studio 54 shimmery style to suit.Wearing sequins and dressing like a disco ball is thebig summer trend. In fact, there’s no need to save your sequins for Christmas when they can look this good all year round.

Zara have nailed it (of course), and are offering some gorgeous designer-inspired dresses for just over £100 – which is a total bargain for a full length sequin dress. As far as the high street goes, you’ll find them hard to beat.

However, if you’re looking for a fancy frock alternative, you’ll also find lots of sparkly separates on the high street too. Try a stunning sequin skirt and tone it down with a simple tee, or top off your look with a voluminous blouse. Either way disco ball dressing has never looked so good. 

Here’s some style inspiration and shop the trend below…

1.

Sequin top, £49, Zara

Green Satin Full Circle Skirt, £39, Topshop

Manda gold platform sandal, £38, Dune London

Balance out a voluminous sleeved blouse by keeping your bottom half sleek- satin works a treat.

2.

Necklace, £24.99, Pilgrim

Sequin embellished shirt, £20 River Island

Croc-effect bag, £35.99, Mango

Palazzo trousers, £49.99, Mango

Want to keep your sequins chic and classy? Wear with white.

3.

Sequin top, £45, Next 

Mom jeans, £40, Topshop

Silver high heeled sandals, £25.99, Berskha

Try a high/low combo- this means teaming a statement piece (eg, metallics or sequins) with more casual fabrics, like denim.

4.

Ophia Marble Resin Hoop Earrings, 314, Qvcuk.com

Knitted vest, £12.50, M&S

Silver sequin frill midi skirt, £50, River Island

Pink Leather-Look Round Shoulder Bag, £19.99, New Look

Let a sequin skirt be the focal point of your outfit by pairing with a simple knitted vest, or dress it down by popping on a white tee.

5.

Limited Edition Sequinned dress, £119, Zara

Glitz Diamante Green Grab Bag, £27, Topshop

Heels, £30, Asos.com

Sequins in pastel shades make a stylish alternative to florals for that summer party.

You’re either in the closet or out. Are you an Aldi fan?

I am a super fan of Aldi’s Lacura skincare range, which shamelessly imitates all the top designer products, like the Pixie toner and Clarins flash beauty balm, at a fraction of the price. The products even ape the packaging design.

Fans of Aldi’s budget beauty range will be pleased to learn that the low-cost supermarket has just launched a brand new selection of products to combat the havoc that seasonal changes can wreak on your skin.

There are three brand-new Lacura health & beauty items, designed to help one deal with the transition into the cooler autumn weather without falling victim to seasonal dry and dull skin, in store today.

New products include a Lacura 3 Step Skin Care System with a cleanser, toner and moisturiser, which is very similar to Clinique’s own three-step system. It contains oil and perfume-free formulas, so even the most sensitive of skins will be able to enjoy the reasonably-priced benefits.

There’s also a new oil and perfume-free hydrating gel moisturiser, Lacura Moisture Boost (£4.99), containing soothing aloe vera and green tea extracts, which can also double up as a cooling mask.

Another wonder skin hydrator is the Lacura Miracle Oil (£4.99) which can be used on face, body and hair as an intense moisturiser, without leaving a greasy residue.

I’m off to Aldi right now.

Welcome to another summer instalment of Amanda Zips It Up, this week from a rather cooler London and Cornwall.

Having returned to the UK, I’m not coping well with the temperature drop.  Suffice to say, Mallorca and Ibiza next weekend can’t come soon enough.

On the subject of which, if you fancy a trip to Ibiza, then the following competition might just be for you.

Some of you may remember Zips It Up featuring the talented artist Davey Brown, who is taking his latest exhibition ‘The History Of House’ to Ibiza on September 5th. It will be held at the scenic Las Mimosas in San Antonio Bay, with Ibiza legend DK Alfredo playing the opening.

The exhibition, which is also touring the UK, features the early US DJ legends such as Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, iconic clubs/parties, legendary UK DJs and producers, plus the whole Ibiza scene from the beginning, etc.

Davey Brown’s profile as an artist is rising and he counts a number of DJs and Premier League footballers among his many clients. Check out Davey’s work at www.daveybrownart.com

Davey is running a competition to win a VIP trip to the Ibiza part of his exhibition. Here are the details:
Call 0904 5170161 to enter, where you will have to answer a question and leave your name and details. Calls cost £1 per minute plus your network provider’s access charge and will last approximately 90 seconds. (This is Davey’s competition, not mine, by the way).
The winner will get return flights from either Stansted or Newcastle airport, two nights in Sa Clau by Mambo in San Antonio, airport transfers, a goodie bag with CDs, t-shirts and a House music book, a portrait of the winner’s favourite DJ painted by Davey Brown, two guest list places for a club and £250 spending money. 

The competition closes on August 29th at 23.59. Good luck to everyone who enters.

www.daveybrownart.com/competition for full terms and conditions.

And in this week’s issue, we have the answer for those sore feet that have been dancing all night at Amnesia and Pacha, swimming trunks to showcase the bravest of men’s packages and an amazing new handbag designer and her range of beautiful handbags and clutches.

So, you’re off to Pacha or Fabric tonight and you’re looking forward to wearing your new heels.

Forward-wind to early tomorrow morning, when you’re hobbling out of the venue begging for a taxi, with those heels in a spare Aldi carrier bag.

Well it’s finally time to say goodbye to braving cold pavements in bare feet, because a total genius has created a pair of special shoe socks to wear after a night out.

Aptly named “Aftersocks”, the incredible creation comes with a reinforced sole. So you can ditch the heels without hurting your feet.

You can even walk to the kebab shop without shoes – your feet will remain clean and comfy. And the best part? They roll up super-small, so you can fit them inside the tiniest of clutch bags.

The socks have been launched on Kickstarter and are already 568% funded, raising over £27,000.

They’re set to be available in three different colours. The product is made from high-quality nylon and cotton with a PVC sole to make the sock stronger and to provide extra protection.

And you won’t have to sacrifice style, either, with the socks available in black, silver and gold and in sizes small, medium and large.

The campaign will remain on Kickstarter for the next 12 days before the product is developed.

Once on sale, the socks will be priced at £14 for a pack of three.

The Creators say ” Aftersocks is an elegant solution to a problem that most women face. A solution so simple that no one ever thought of it: Aftersocks that have been thoughtfully designed and crafted with an underside constructed from PVC and extra soft layers of cushioning that hug the contours of your feet.”

Why the hell didn’t anyone think of this prior to my rubbing the skin off the soles of my feet every weekend for a decade?

Every summer,Zips It Up brings you a seemingly endless series of questionable swimwear trends.

The internet is going wild for these beach shorts, as there’s more for us to see – quite literally.

MaverickSwim’s Transparent Waterproof Beach Short cost £23.

They come in a sizes medium or large, and there’s currently free delivery to the UK. The clear plastic polyester material features a drawstring opening and fetching neon lime green trim.

With full transparency, we’d recommend that they are worn with underwear beneath, to avoid the risk of arrest for indecent exposure.

According to the brand’s website: “Berlin waterproof transparent shorts are completely see-through and leave it totally up to you if you want to wear a colourful statement Speedo underneath or just go bare for fun”.

“The polyester shorts come with neon lining that makes you pop out of the crowds!”

Unsurprisingly, the shorts have received mixed reviews on Twitter.

One person teased: “A recipe for sweaty junk…”

Another joked: “Better wear nothing to save some plastic.”

A third mocked: “It’s gonna be a hard no for me.”

Every so often, a new independent designer comes along and creates a more than an average stir amongst fashionistas.

Let me introduce you to handbag designer Edel Reily and her Dolly Vegas range. 

This is not just another handbag. When you buy a dolly Vegas bag you are buying into a persona and a lifestyle. The Dolly Vegas customer is glam. She loves quality and wants to stand out. She is unique, free spirited and doesn’t follow the masses.

Dolly Vegas was born from a love of handbags. Edel was an accessories buyer for many years for major UK retailers, who went on to design and develop accessories for most of the U.K. high street stores.

Edel told me “I am creating new shapes all the time as well as sourcing new leathers. 

I have made some fabulous pieces for celebs including Little Mix and the cast of TOWIE, amongst others”.

“I have been designing and developing bags for a years, it is a real passion of mine but have now decided the time is right to try and grow it into a proper brand. I make the capsule ranges but I can also create bespoke one offs with prices starting from £70 for the Tallulah small clutch, depending on which type of leathers I use. Also up to £160 for clients, depending on their leathers of choice”.

Edel is currently in Ibiza where undoubtedly these bags will go down an absolute Balearic storm.

I have my very own Dolly Vegas clutch on its way to me as we speak, and you’ll see me carrying in Ibiza and Mallorca next week.

For more info please contact Edel on:

07946644813

We’re into the second week of August and this week the globe celebrates World Women’s Orgasm Day (8.8.2019). A day when we all concentrate on a toned pelvic floor for more intense orgasms.

Did you know, only 2 out of 10 women claim to always reach orgasm?

Strengthening the musculature of this area helps increase the sensations during sex, being able to reach orgasm more easily.

A Spanish gynaecologist, Arnold Kegel, creator of Kegel exercises in 1940, used to recommend exercising the pelvic floor during post-natal recovery to prevent future health problems. During the follow-up with his patients, he discovered a beneficial side effect of the treatment: women who carried out his recommended exercises regularly achieved orgasm more easily, frequently and intensely.

INTIMINA, a Swedish brand born in 2009 offering the first and only range of tools dedicated to taking care of aspects of female intimate health, wants to raise awareness about the importance of these exercises, enabling more intense sexual relations.

The INTIMINA Kegel Laselle Routine is composed of three spheres of different weights (28g, 38g and 48g) made of medical grade silicone, which recognizes the strength of the muscles, selecting the level of exercise that best suits the needs of the woman and indicating the routine to perform with gentle vibrations.

So, jump on this if you want to celebrate World Orgasm Day.

Onto this week and we discover Victoria’s Secret new transgender model, plus Meghan Markle’s new fashion range and swimwear you can tan through.

Enjoy.

Less than a week after rumours started circulating that the 2019 Victoria’s Secret show was to be cancelled, the brand appears to have hired its first transgender model. Meet the beautiful Valentina Sampaio.

23-year-old Sampaio announced the news on Instagram by sharing a behind-the-scene picture of her shooting for VS Pink.

Less than a year ago, Victoria’s Secret’s chief marketing officer Ed Razek faced backlash for his comments about transgender models, specifying why they wouldn’t be included in VS shows. He said “Should you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy,” 

Razek subsequently apologised for his remarks but, for many, the damage was already done.

“My remark regarding the inclusion of transgender models in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show came across as insensitive. I apologize,” said Razek. “To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it… But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”

This is great progress but the huge VS 2019 isn’t going ahead, which is a shame, because I love watching all the angels strut their stuff on the catwalk. In fact, I adore Victoria’s Secret undies more than any other lingerie brand.

The fashion world is still not 100% sure what’s going on with this year’s show, but let’s not allow all that noise get in the way of congratulating Valentina on her kickass gig – we’re definitely looking forward to seeing more from this bombshell.

When striving for that perfect all-over tan, we all know that it involves a complex and strategic manoeuvring of straps and bottoms, not to mention the need to constantly re-position to the angle of the sun. 

The alternative of topless sunbathing is simply embarrassing, as is a nudist beach. Ever tried to have a full-frontal conversation with someone?

Well not any more. Blankkini’s swimsuits will redesign your tan lines and redefine your comfort in the sun while sunbathing, swimming and doing other beachy stuff.

Bringing together the expertise of professionals from around the world, Blankkini has finally answered all our prayers. A tan-through swimsuit that allows for the penetration of the sun’s tanning rays while offering protection from sunburn and prying eyes.

Sounds perfect huh? Well there’s more! Their cutting-edge Smart Fiber technology makes Blankkini’s swimsuits 20% more elastic and flexible than any other fabric available in a cozzie. The result is a form-fitting and slimming swimsuit with breathable Dry Fit technology that is lightweight, refreshing, and dries three times faster than standard swimwear. Yes, Blankkini is an Israeli swimsuit brand combining high-fashion and style with perfect, line-free tanning. 

They come in a variety of chic styles and prints that will leave you looking gorgeous. This star print is my absolute favourite and I’m ordering this ASAP.

All around £100

www.blankini.com

The Duchess of Sussex– or Meghan Markle, if formality isn’t your thing – has one of the most sought-after wardrobes. In fact, many of the pieces she wears sell out in minutes. So, royalists will undoubtedly be pleased to hear that she’s launching a capsule collection of workwear.

Meghan is partnering up with the charity Smart Works – of which she is a royal patron – which supports unemployed women who are entering or returning to work.

Meghan will work on the project with a series of collaborators from the high street, including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Jigsaw. She’ll also partner with her close friend, fashion designer Misha Nonoo.

The collection will be sold on a “one-for-one basis”, whereby an item is donated for each item that’s bought, and will be available later this year. 

The project was confirmed via a post on the official Sussex Royal Instagram account. Meghan has been a royal patron of Smart Works since January, where she helped style several women for job interviews.

If Meghan’s past influence on fashion is anything to go by, her capsule collection will be an instant hit. Global fashion search engine Lyst previously quantified this influence, quantifying which of the UK’s high profile duchesses commands the greater pulling power.

While both Meghan and the Duchess of Cambridge are style inspirations, it appears that the Duchess of Sussex is the woman with more influence. According to Lyst, Meghan’s outfit choices trigger almost twice as much online demand as Kate’s do. On average in 2019, Kate’s fashion choices lead to an increase of 119 per cent of online interest in comparison to Meghan, who averages at about 216 per cent.

Don’t you just love a stat attack…