FAIIINT

Holiday Dreaming

Covet

holidaywishlist

Topshop Lace Trim Dress / Motel ‘Sugar’ Bikini / Blue Vanilla Crochet Kimono /
New Look Woven Floppy Hat / New Look Belted Shorts / New Look Wrap Maxi Skirt /
Topshop ‘Favourite’ Gladiator Sandals / ASOS Backpack

If you follow me on social media you’ve probably seen me squealing about having just booked flights with one of my best friends to visit Thailand, Cambodia and China for the New Year. We’d been planning to go for a while, but now that things are finally booked I can barely contain my excitement! Naturally, this has translated into hours of window shopping, excitedly planning outfits and things I need to buy.

I never take favourite pieces or items I treasure on holiday, instead I always like to travel with things that I wouldn’t mind losing, just incase the worst happens. This means that usually I end up buying quite a few new, cheap pieces to see me through and the high street is an absolute godsend for this. As it’s quite a way off yet, I’ll have plenty of time to stock up on things in the sales before we go. But for now, these pieces are already such a reasonable price that I couldn’t resist getting myself a few things.

Top of my need to buy list are long skirts and trousers, plus a few wraps in light and airy natural fibres to beat the heat. It’s so important to be respectful of the local culture when travelling and we aim to see a lot of temples whilst we’re there, so that means knees and shoulders covered. The gauzy, crochet trimmed kimono from Blue Vanilla is pretty much exactly what I had pictured when I started searching for one, so it was an instant buy. The flowing wrap skirt was also another obvious choice, made from viscose it’s perfect for the hot weather.

I’m sure you’ll all be hearing lots more about this trip in the run up to it. If any of you have been to Thailand, Siem Reap in Cambodia or Beijing in China I would love to hear any tips, favourite places or things I must see or do!

Layered

Style

Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10, H&M maxi cardigan, FAIIINT Splice layered dress, Kurt Geiger Saturn lace up boots, Bracher Emden bag. All black everything dark goth street style outfit. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10, Wolf + Sadie Theurgy crescent silver ring, Birds N Bones Taxidea silver claw ring and Mus Hip bone knuckle ring. All black everything dark goth street style outfit details. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10, Wolf + Sadie Theurgy crescent silver ring, Birds N Bones Taxidea silver claw ring and Mus Hip bone knuckle ring. All black everything dark goth street style outfit details. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10, H&M maxi cardigan, FAIIINT Splice layered dress, Kurt Geiger Saturn lace up boots, Bracher Emden bag. All black everything dark goth street style outfit. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10 with asymmetric collar. All black everything dark goth street style outfit details. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10, Wolf + Sadie Theurgy crescent silver ring, Birds N Bones Taxidea silver claw ring and Mus Hip bone knuckle ring. All black everything dark goth street style outfit details. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens draped back cropped leather jacket fw10.

Rick Owens Drape Back Leather Jacket / H&M Maxi Cardigan / FAIIINT ‘Splice’ Dress / Wolf + Sadie ‘Theurgy’ Ring /
Birds N Bones ‘Taxidea’ Claw Ring & ‘Mus Hip’ Knuckle Ring / Kurt Geiger ‘Saturn’ Boots / Bracher Emden Bag

I promised myself I wasn’t going to be a cliché Brit and talk about the weather for the third outfit post running, but as you can see, after our brief bit of summer weather I’m right back to being wrapped up again. The upside to this is that I get to wear this beautiful jacket for a little longer, before (hopefully) it gets way too warm to be wearing leather.

When I brought this jacket I was originally intending to buy the Naska style. The Naska jacket has been my dream ‘one day’ jacket for the most ridiculous amount of time, so when I convinced myself that I deserved a treat after working so hard and achieving some things that were important to me, I decided that would be the perfect big treat. That was until I stumbled upon this beauty from the Autumn Winter 2010 show as I was browsing Vestiaire Collective for a nice second hand one – because who am I kidding, I could not afford to buy a new one! I couldn’t decide which to go for, so I asked you guys over Twitter and it was pretty unanimous in favour of this more unusual one.

I’m so glad I went for this one in the end, because as so many of you rightly said it’s a total showstopper and every time I wear this I get people staring at me. Sure, some of them aren’t looking in a good way and I’ve had my fair share of “it’s not Halloween yet!” comments, but I feel like that’s what good pieces do and I always get a weird kick out of wearing things that really divide opinion like this. There are so many things about this jacket that make my heart skip, from the wonderful mixture of different leathers and textures to the padded shoulders, asymmetric collar and the beautifully draped back. I know this is a piece that I’ll have and cherish forever, and that even in years to come will still be making me sigh a little at its beauty every time I pull it out of my wardrobe. If ever there was a case for investing well in forever pieces, this is it.

Vision Express Brands Launch

Life

Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Vision Express black Heritage glasses frames eyewear Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Vision Express black Heritage frames eyewear Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT with stylist Gemma Sheppard choosing Vision Express glasses frames Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT choosing Vision Express glasses frames Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Vision Express black Heritage frames eyewear

Heritage frames from Vision Express

Last month Vision Express launched a brand new, exclusive collection of in house brands. I was invited down to the Oxford Street store for the launch event to check them out and for a personal styling session with the lovely Gemma Sheppard to find my own perfect pair.

As I arrived I had a quick browse of the store before being handed a glass of bubbles and taken upstairs to have my eyes tested. The last time I had an eye test I was told that I really ought to start wearing glasses for computer work and reading. I feel a little bad admitting it, but I didn’t think they seemed all that bad and so I just never got around to getting myself a pair. That was two or three years ago now, but over the past year I’ve noticed them getting quite a bit worse. As I expected, my eye test confirmed that one of my eyes is long sighted and one is short sighted. The optometrist also told me that this is something that could really be contributing to my frequent headaches and I suddenly felt pretty annoyed with myself for putting off getting a pair for so long.

Once it was clear I needed glasses I went downstairs to see Gemma, who had already laid out a good selection of frames she thought would suit my face. It was lovely to see Gemma again and have a little catch up, plus a quick play around in the photo booth! I’d met her before when I went to check out the Zatchels factory in Leicester way back in 2013, and it was so nice that she instantly remembered me, even despite how long ago that was.

We both agreed that a black pair of frames were obviously most suited to me, and so we tried on a few different styles from the Heritage and In Style ranges. As soon as I tried this pair on, it was clear to both of us that they were the frames for me. The slight cat eye shape is super flattering on me and the oversized lenses make a great statement. I love that they are kind of like a hybrid of my favourite cat eye and wayfarer sunglasses too, meaning it took me no time at all to get used to seeing them on my face and adjust to wearing them.