Rose Byrne: Oscar's 2012

images Getty

Ok, so I am a few days late catching up on the Oscar's red carpet, but after reviewing all the dresses with Joan Rivers and the gang on the Fashion Police Oscar's Red Carpet Special on E! (#massivefan), the stand out dress for me was Rose Byrne's dress by Vivienne Westwood with Chanel Fine jewellery and Jimmy Choo shoes, no idea who the clutch was by but it melted perfectly in to the sea of jet black sequins. I was torn between Rose's dress and Gywneth Paltrow's Tom Ford white gown with cape, tough choice but this time ebony overcame ivory, both dresses elegant and modern.

Mark Fast AW 12

I very nearly missed this show, I was invited by email last night after chasing up the original request that I had sent in mid January, apparently I had naively send my invite request too early as I found out in a discussion with Joseph Kocharian, Junior Fashion Editor at Rankin's Hunger Magazine, whilst standing in line at Berardi this morning. Anyway, after fighting with security to try and get to the PR I was finally allowed to speak to her and was given my cinema style ticket. After all the drama I had lost my place in the queue and risked being shoved at the back without a good view, not going to happen I thought! I managed to hover next to someone on the end of the front row and suddenly became invisible to security, as the show started I slid onto the floor... excellent place for taking these photos. This was another star studded affair, Kanye West, Grace Woodward, Nicola Roberts (who was completely unrecognisable in tartan get up) and Marina from Marina and the Diamonds. The collection was very low key and casual, lots of classic Mark Fast knits, chunkier and cosier for winter, some pieces made suitable for evening attire with the addition of beaded over dresses. Knitwear for me usually conjures up Windsor and the John Lewis haberdashery department, this collection was not at all mumsy but totally foxy. A highlight for me had to be the Louboutin shoes, spot on perfect, thin ankle strap, slim heel, almond toe and the most explicit toe cleavage you have ever seen.

Antonio Berardi AW 12

Everything about this show was pure class, from the Art Deco venue at The University of London's Senate House Library, to the chic guests. The Communications Store did a sterling job with the entire production of this show. The catwalk was laid out over two floors and the models walked a huge lap which included a very slippery marble staircase, thankfully there were no casualties. The collection was elegant and subtly sexy, the tailoring and craftsmanship exquisite. Attention to detail was breath taking, I wanted to explore every piece in greater detail.

Pam Hogg AW 12

The excitement around this show was phenomenal, celebs being papped outside, people being restrained and carted off by security, guests with standing invites being turned away, extra seats being brought in as there were too many front rowers, photographers arguing and shouting at each other, the show starting late as photographers were taking photos of Alexandra Burke on the catwalk floor, the drama! Once the show started everyone finally shut up (mainly drowned out by ear piercingly loud music) and all eyes were transfixed by Pam's show stopping designs. The models slowly walked down the catwalk with purposeful vacant and innocent doll like painted faces topped off with a Frida Kahlo style mono brows and 1850's American Western bonnets, contrasting against the sexually revealing nature of the clothes. We were treated to futuristic skin tight catsuits, including one which literally had a furry muff, full circle skirts, near nakedness and an amazing baby pink fully sequined embellished gown. Was great to see Jaime Winstone (pictured above right) modeling one of the designs and dragging Pam up the catwalk to a well deserved standing ovation, bravo!

Bernard Chandran AW 12

This was a very exciting show, the atmosphere yesterday evening was buzzing and there was great high energy and enthusiasm from the crowd. The room was PACKED, everyone truly fighting for prime position to view the collection head to toe, I negotiated an excellent view at the end of the catwalk, we were sooo squashed in that I had someones zoom lens resting on my shoulder but I didn't care! Was so happy to be there! The collection was sexy forties, ultra feminine silhouettes with lots of sheer fabrics, PVC, leather and lace with subtle touches of sequined sparkle and rhinestone, not at all girlie, just pure fierce with beefy starched collars and winged heels. The period feel was dragged into 2012 with the addition of exposed zips, transparent plastic cut outs and heavily embellished peep toe ankle boots, I loved the reworking of the classic Mackintosh in a variety of guises.

Spijkers en Spijkers AW 12

There was a definite flapper feel to this collection, with dropped waists, knee brushing hem lines and tailored yet relaxed trousers. The colour palette was very autumnal, mainly black with pops of plum, tangerine, yellow and sage. Feathers featured heavily from the black subtle feathers on the neck ties, hems and shoes to the tropical bright blues and purples of the exotic bird brooches with long flicking tail feathers. Didn't quite get close enough to the catwalk for this one and was annoyingly blocked by someone who wasn't using their camera to full effect, if you are going to use a DSLR please learn how to use it! This pic was taken from my iPhone to get it to you quicker...

Georgia Hardinge AW 12

It was 8pm last night and had been a long day for everyone, the PRs had been on their feet all day, looking gorgeous in their heels but it must have been tiresome, so tiresome that they began letting in people to the show without tickets claiming to be someone's stylist, a friend of a friend, someone even got in just by saying their name and I don't think they were anyone! All was good though as we all fit in. I was very kindly offered 3rd row seating but declined and made a bee line for the mouth of the catwalk, negotiating standing or sitting on the floor with other snappers so that we could all get good shots. The collection was beautifully bright with uplifting hues, lots of blocked primary coloured sharp origami tailoring mingling with floaty printed fabrics. It was lovely to see how happy Georgia was at the end, spending a decent amount of time thanking the audience and the models, she even curtsied!

Snap shots from today

Ok, its really late so only getting time to put up some Bora Aksu pictures that I took on my DSLR, I managed to squeeze right to the front! Forgive me for not putting up the rest tonight (its 00.45am)... I'm knackered! Good night x

LFW Day 1 Peeps

These were my top looks of the day, all evoke a strong reaction. I saw so much tat today I couldn't be bothered to take piccies of the peeps around Somerset house, but, I felt compelled to snap these fashionistas, they made a great effort with their outfits, putting people like me to shame.

Basso & Brooke AW 12

After standing in the cold for an hour outside Freemasons' Hall all those with invites for standing were rejected as the Hall couldn't take the full capacity of everyone invited, for health and safety reasons. The Goodley PRs did try to get us all in but the Hall's guards blocked us!

Maria Grachvogel AW 12

If I was late for Corrie Nielsen then I was waaay early for Maria Grachvogel. After getting a bit lost in the labyrinth of gold corridors at The Savoy I ended up at the crew doors to the Lancaster Ballroom. I was so early that I was lucky to see Maria watching the run through with the models. Soon press, buyers friends and family started to filter in and I noticed that the crowd was distinctly older and more established. I managed to stand right next to the bank of photographers so had an excellent view. Was with a couple of very sweet girls with new DSLRs and gave them a quick tutorial on White Balance, Aperture and ISO settings just before the show started. The collection was very simple and elegant, lots of draping and swishy satins. Colours were charcoal, gold, teal, olive and a multi coloured print that was on the show invite. Absolutely loved the wedge knee high and ankle boots in black and cream, they gave all the femininity a bit of edge.

Bora Aksu AW 12

Orange, magenta, ivory, black, white, pale pink and grey were the only colours at the Bora Aksu show, I say ONLY as if it were a negative comment, not the case here, I think a collection should have a strong theme and reoccurring colour palette. The clothes were elegant and ultra feminine, plenty of floaty romantic fabrics grounded by thick and felted wool. Heavily patterned detailing was present on all pieces, whether is was laser cut, screen printed or flocked. The bright colours were balanced out by black or black and white pattern tights with cute little ankle boots. Credit to my iPhone 4S for taking this brilliant picture.

Corrie Nielsen AW 12

Fashion Week seems to be all about queuing, I think I even queued to queue this morning. Anywho! The Corrie Nielsen show was my first LFW show of the week. After making the silly mistake of barging through people standing on steps I pushed through to the standing section in the BFC Tent, should have stayed where I was and been in the way to get better shots, my DSLR and iPhone both struggled to get a close enough picture. I know for next time. Proper pictures will up tonight in my daily round up... The collection was all about the highland fling and tartan was the order of the day, but, tastefully done a la Alexander McQueen. The clothes mainly hung to monochrome with touches of red here and there. I loved the elaborate feathered hats and full skirts.

Wintour Watch

images Getty

I love to see what the Editors are wearing as much as what is coming down the runway at Fashion Week. US Vogue's Editor in Chief Anna Wintour is always a talking point, as its chilly she's swapped her reliable nude sandals for some knee high boots. Here is what she was wearing each day across New York Fashion Week, notice how she alternates the black and tan boots everyday. I'm personally loving day 3.

Elle Style Awards 2012

I was very lucky to be taken along to the Elle Style Awards last night as a guest. An elegant Audi picked us up at 7pm to take us to the event at The Savoy, as we drove up to the hotel we joined a queue of celebs getting out of the cars for waiting paps and screaming fans, it was a little terrifying but fun! We headed straight down to the bar for a glass of Champagne then were shortly ushered into the ballroom for dinner. I was sitting next to Stylist and TV star Grace Woodward who was very funny and wore an adorable hot pink vintage dress. The starter was goats cheese filled sushi on a bed of wafer thin beetroot with pink ribbons of pickled ginger, followed by supreme of chicken on a bed of mash with irony kale, then a apricot tartlet with vanilla ice cream, was perfect as not too sweet. I was sitting to the right of the stage which was great for getting a close up of the presenters and award winners outfits as they went to and from the stage, above is host Alexa Chung with Naomi Campbell. I also took a picture of the table decorations, which were beautiful, the theme was gold and lilac and pretty little vases of bluebells and roses were dotted around the table. After the awards ceremony we headed back down to the bar for mini bottles of Moet, which we downed like beer, then decided to head off to Soho house for a few cocktails with Make Up Artist and beauty writer Lisa Eldridge who looked very pretty in a lip print Prada dress. Massive hangover today but totally worth it!

Grammy's 2012

Last night's Grammy Awards Ceremony was a tale of two cities when it came to style, classic red carpet glamour versus Halloween fancy dress party. I do like a bit of panto and love that it is always present at these events, (it would be boring without the Gaga's and Minaj's) but, I also love to see who taking fashion seriously. My favourite contenders for best dressed were (from above left) Katy Perry in Elie Saab, Taylor Swift in Zuhair Murad, actress Tamara Braun in a gorgeous sapphire gown, Paris Hilton in Basil Soda, John Legend's fiancee Christine Teigen in a sexy black slashed thigh dress and Rihanna in a dress she co-designed with Giorgio Armani, watch this space for their future collection.

The theatrical element of the evening came from (from above left) Lady Gaga in custom Versace with double sceptre's, Bonnie McKee in a Starlight Express inspired Falguni and Shane Peacock dress, Sasha Gradiva as bride of The Terminator with a full sleeve gun arm, Fergie tangoed by Jean Paul Gaultier, Robyn in a man's T-Shirt, platform builder boots and wedding mini skirt, Nicki Minaj in Versace with the Bishop of pop. All images Getty.

BAFTA's 2012

images Getty

The ladies braved the cold on the red carpet at the Bafta's this evening, risking the chilly weather to show off their gorgeous gowns. It was uplifting to see lots of bold colours and such a variety of styles rather than a generic and formulaic red carpet look. From left: Naomi Harris in Emilio Pucci, Tilda Swinton in Celine, Christina Ricci in Givenchy, Hayley Atwell in sixties vintage from William Vintage and Adler jewels, Fearne Cotton in Moschino and Viola Davis in Valentino.

BCBG Max Azria A/W 12

images Getty

Loving the hem length in this collection. The Mondrian-esque approach to use of colour clevery accentuates the sexy parts of the female form, the waist, the shoulders and the chest whilst elongating the whole body. The outcome is a very flattering, chic and romantic 70's look.

Fab Accessories

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Christian Louboutin and Alexander McQueen for letting me use their gorgeous accessories. I helped style Hayley Atwell for the London Evening Standard British Film Awards 2012 last night and the clutch and shoes helped to make her look fabulous. The rest of the outfit is her own, the gorgeous 7/8 cigarette pants from Stella McCartney.

Chiara Nude Kid shoes from Louboutin and Black Knucklebox clutch from Alexander McQueen. Images Getty, christianlouboutin.com, alexandermcqueen.com.

Recycle your wedding outfit

images topshop.com, anthropologie.com, zara.com

A reader tweeted to me yesterday asking for some advice on what to wear for a wedding in Glasgow in May. She lives in New York but could potentially buy her outfit here in the UK. She is happy to spend more money on the shoes than the dress, I'm guessing she wants to get more wear out of them after they've worked the dance floor at the reception. So, I've selected transatlantic friendly outfits for both our gals here in Europe, and the ladies across the pond, from global brands Topshop, Anthropologie and Zara. All of these pieces will see you through work, evening drinks or weddings. Lets face it, in this tough economic climate we need a flexible wardrobe.

From left: Black Silk Wrap Dress By Topshop Boutique £80.00/ $160.00, Green Suede Podium Cross Over Platform Sandals £100.00/ $200.00, Black Folded Suede Crossbody Clutch £32.00/ $64.00 all Topshop. Red Silk Ruffled Oska Dress £106.00/ $168.00, Multicolour Suede Piled Prism T-Straps £398.00/ $498.00, Orange Leather Fireworks Clutch £112.00/ $178.00 all Anthropologie. Flesh Polyester Draped Sleeve Dress £45.99/ $79.90, White Leather Jelly Shoes £59.99/ $99.90, White Leather Snakeskin Messenger Bag £59.99/ $99.90 all Zara.

Fashion Week is upon us...

images Getty

The Autumn/ Winter 2012 Fashion Weeks have begun! Loving these floral inspired hats, candy floss hair and stick on eyebrows from the Elisa Palomino show yesterday at Madrid Fashion Week. Palomino is a Central St Martins MA Fashion Grad and has worked for Moschino, John Galliano, Dior, Cavalli and Diane Von Furstenberg and now heads up her own label which showed in London last fashion week in association with Vauxhall Fashion Scout. Hope to see more from her in the future. www.elisapalomino.com.