Welcome to A Girl, A Style v.2.0

Hello my lovelies! I’m so excited to welcome you all to my shiny new blog home. In honour of my blog’s two year anniversary, and the fact I now have more readers than I ever could have imagined (I love every single one of you!), I thought it was only right I do a bit of redecorating to match.*

Just a few notes of housekeeping:
1) There’s no way to know if everything on this new version will run smoothly. I’m sure there will be a few kinks (and do let me know if anything seems funny on your browser), but I’ll work to get everything smoothed out as quickly as possible.
2) Unfortunately in the transfer process, I’ve lost most of my lovely subscribers. If you love A Girl, A Style (and I hope that’s why you’re here!), then please do head over to the ‘subscribe’ box in the sidebar and enter your email address to get all my posts straight to your inbox. And don’t forget you can also find me on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Bloglovin’.
3) As most of you know, I don’t get paid to write this blog (I have a full-time day job which pays the rent), and all the time I put into A Girl, A Style is done out of love. That won’t change a bit; I will always write only about that which I love, care about or believe in. But because the new site has (not insignificant) running costs of it’s own, I hope you won’t be too upset if you see an occasional ad or affiliate link pop up here to help cover that. I promise there won’t be anything ugly, intrusive or out of character (I’ll only allow ads from brands I’d shop with myself).

I can’t wait to hear what you all think of the new look! Please do feel free to comment/tweet /email suggestions for what you’d like to see on here. What are your favourite things? What could you do without?

* A huge thank you to the very talented Maya Beus for making the site pretty and generally helping me translate what my new site looked like in my head to a fully functioning new site. Couldn’t have done it without her!

Love (as always), Miss B xx

London Fashion Week via Instagram

The excitement of a flurry of invites dropping through my letterbox. Packing a mountain of shoes, accessories and sparkly things. Off to the beautiful Savoy for the first show. A finale or forest green silks and tweedy lantern skirts at Maria Grachvogel. Taking the scenic route back to Somerset House via Trafalgar Square. Gorgeous twinkly jewels at the LFW exhibition space. An afternoon tea dance at Orla Kiely. A thousand giant padlock balloons line the entrance to the Mulberry show at Claridges. Friendly monsters and furry creatures on the runway at Mulberry. Liquid breakfast (about the only nutrition to be found at Fashion Week).

A beautifully illuminated Royal Opera House for the Matthew Williamson show. The fashion pack have so much love for Topshop and their show space (they feed us before every show). Impossible to beat show venues. The ubiquitous wall of photographers. My friend’s studded Louboutin slippers that made everyone’s feet jealous after days of wearing vertiginous heels. Secretary chic at Paul Smith. The breathtaking sunset panoramic views over London from the Jonathan Saunders venue. Oversized floral prints and a colourful, leggy finale at Jonathan Saunders.

Racing between my desk in Parliament and shows via places like this. Chamber music, chalet-chic silks and white furs at Roksanda Ilincic (surely the most pleasing way to start a weekday morning). Getting waylaid on the way to my next show by a parade of Royal Horseguards leaving Buckingham Palace (only at London Fashion Week). Watching the beauty pros do their thing as the models get primped and preened backstage before the shows. Fun, 60s nouveau at Holly Fulton. Charlotte Olympia heels to make me smile (even if my feet are grumpy about wearing heels). My fashion week essentials: oversized sunglasses (to hide the sleep deprivation) and too many jewels. Watching Australian wonderboy Dion Lee’s first London show (whilst sitting next to Kayne West. As you do…). Beautiful Somerset House is surely the most gorgeous location for Fashion Week HQ.

Do you follow Fashion Week (vicariously or in person)? What do you enjoy the most?

Love, Miss B xx

London Beauty: Taylor Taylor Hair Salon

I’m often asked where my favourite salon in London is and, to be perfectly honest, I haven’t wanted to publicly disclose my secret for fear that everyone would go and then I would never be able to get an appointment. But seeing as 1) that’s just plain selfish of me; and 2) every A-lister in London now seems to go there, it really is only fair that I share.

In the interests of full disclosure, I first discovered Taylor Taylor back in 2010 when they invited me along to try a Brazillian Blowdry for Liberty London Girl (though I’ve paid for every visit since). Then, I had been trying for two years since moving to England to find a hairdresser I ‘clicked with’ (every girl knows the relationship with a good hair stylist is practically sacred), but to no avail.I was basically hooked on Taylor Taylor the moment I walked through the door (all Parisian flea market chic furniture and giant crystal chandeliers and free-flowing rose and lychee martinis), but it was, of course, the service that made me sure.

My hair is not, in its natural (ie. unstyled) state, perfect or well-behaved by any stretch. But after every single visit, it is infinitely more shiny and disciplined and flattering (they know, even when I don’t, just when I need a few more highlights or an extra inch chopped off). And the best part is that even though Taylor Taylor is super and fabulous and pretty, it is cheaper than most of those horrid hair salon chains (which means more money for flowers and shoes, yay!).

So there, I’ll share (just because I love you all). If you’re in London, do pay them a visit for a little primping and preening. I promise you won’t regret it!

Is there any other beauty product or treatment you want to hear my recommendation on? Do let me know, and I’ll try my best to oblige.

Love, Miss B xx

Taylor Taylor: Commercial Street, Spitalfields, London (ph: 0207 377 2737)