How to dress like Melanie Masson from X factor 2012

I'm really loving X Factor this year.  The talent is phenomenal and I'm especially loving the fashion.  I was gutted when Melanie Masson got voted off in the second week as her natural bohemian 70's look really appealed to me.  From the colourful earthy toned, hippy look in week one to the understated  but equally stately white suit in the second week all complimented by the big hair was a big hit with me.

Achieving Melanie's bohemian chic is easy if the seventies look appeals to you.  First of all wear lots of scarves as this is Melanie's signature look. If you've been following the X Factor you may have noticed that from the auditions stage, Melanie always wore a scarf around her neck.  Not a bulky scarf but a thin scarf looped once around her neck.  At the judges' house stage of the competition, she added even another scarf to her look wearing it around her white jeans clad hips.

Melanie's 70's look is made up of bell sleeved blouses and tops, kickflare trousers and lots of scarves like this ruby rich   patchwork velvet scarf which is just perfect for achieving the Melanie Masson look.  The colours in this scarves are bright and rich but then again there is nothing conservative about Melanie's style including her booming voice which, if you've heard her sing, can certainly fill a room. She also adds further detail and colour to her hippy style with rings.  Munique's copper jewellery ring with accented pink and blue is just what you need to carry off that bohemian fun and fancy look.     

Sketchers Twinkle Toes Shoes

Light up your daughter's life this christmas with a pair of twinkle toe shoes from sketchers.  I finally bought my daughter a pair last Saturday as she had been going on and on and on about not having enough shoes.  To be fair she was due some shoes as her last pair were quite worn But prepare yourself it is like buying a good pair of school shoes as they retail at between £35 to £40 - that said the look on daughter's face was priceless.

No way were we boxing these to leave the store as she was not taking them off; maybe for fear that I would change my mind.  But it is worth getting the box to take home as there is a little magazine in there and the box is pretty so a definite keepsake box if nothing else.  Deciding on the colour and style was a bit tricky and worth some deliberation but in the end she decided on the Skechers girls groovy baby purple with flower print and sparkly laces.

These shoes are simply magical as they light up like a christmas tree when walking.  When she's not wearing them even I find myself giving them a little nudge just to see them light up.  The ideal christmas gift without a doubt for young girls - the new it shoe for young fashions lovers.

These boots weren't made for walking

What category of shoe lover are you?  Do you do go for comfort, style or a little of both?  Like Cinderella's wicked step sisters we women are prepared to shove our feet in stiletto heels, narrow toe squeezing, bunion burning heels all for the sake of what? - elongated legs and a sophisticated look?  Sounds like a good trade off to me because I know that I am definitely guilty.

These All Saints boots weren't made for walking but they certainly fit the part if you're looking to pull off stay at home mum come fashion diva.  I'm fast becoming a comfort queen as far as shoes are concerned but a girl must have some designer accessories in her wardrobe. The big, chunky wooden heels on these designer knee high boots are so reminiscent of seventies fashion..  Plenty of kudos from me for the solid design and aerodynamic elements that makes these boots so unique and desirable. If heels are your things then these are right up your street.

When I'm buying any expensive item I usually need some endorsement that it's absolutely worth it.  That's where my kids come in as they are the most honest and downright brutal critics pointing out my wobbly bits far too often for my liking.  But I have to say when I slid my feet into these sleek platforms they both gave me the thumbs up.  That was all the convincing I needed that these were the boots for me.

I can't deny I had my suspicions that I would fall over trying to walk in these leather boots but I haven't so far. Been walking around at home in them before eventually taking them out last Sunday for a test run on a  night out with friends with little walking involved. They looked fab but they are high so you won't see me prancing around in them like everyday shoes - totally occasional footwear for me which I pop back into its box when I get home.  I could just imagine that if my wardrobe came alive at night like Woody and Buzz in Toy Story then my other fashion accessories would simply be jealous.

Designer wear is by no means cheap but if you want to look like a fashion diva on a budget then online stores like dress for less must be on your list of stores to visit.

Fashion Today by Colin McDowell

"Raindrops keep falling on my head" is the refrain that sounded in my head all of last week as we were treated to torrential rain.  The perfect time for some internet shopping, you would think but as luck would have it, I had to hit the high streets in desperate search of a new pair of school shoes for my son who only discovered that his shoes were leaking once the downpour started.

Since I was already out there I could not resist as you would imagine a bit of retail therapy for myself though not for clothes and unique fashion accessories on this occasion.  Instead I popped into a newly opened OXFAM bookshop and found a massive, hard covered 511 page book entitled Fashion Today written by Colin McDowell.

It will certainly take me a while to get through this detailed interpretation of fashion but short of taking a speed reading course, I intend to slowly engross myself in the subject of fashion over the past 50 years starting with "The Newlook" featuring Christian Dior and other fashion designers and working my way to the last chapter entitled "Fashion, Protest and the War from Within". 

Fashion according to McDowell has been at the forefront of the ideological wars, frequently used to clothe radical attitudes and instantly signal a rejection of the past" (pg 6).  I'm intrigued to find out how social change influences fashion and explore the cultural shifts in fashion which has seen it become part of popular culture globally. Why we wear what we wear and the importance of bending, yielding and adopting fashion trends are all issues that fascinate me.  Hopefully this fashion bible will provide me with some answers.