A serious case of the blues ...

Must have been this Sunday morning's rainfall, or the knowledge that tomorrow is another Mo(a)nday, but the realisation suddenly struck me that, over the last months I've slowly fallen in love with all things blue.  It was never my plan or intention to do this, but somehow blue - all shades of it - has taken over my wardrobe and accessories ... and nails! I've always associated the colour with boardrooms ("bored-rooms") and hardly ever included it in my 'going out' garments ... but for some reason, I am now strangely attracted to it in all its shades and forms.  Here's a little insight into all the blues I've accumulated over the last weeks ...

ASOS PETITE Exclusive Dress with Frill Hem and Short Sleeve

Swarovski ring + Gelish nail polish 

KENZO x New Era cap

Even my building has blue apertures ... 

Louche @ JOY Cressida bag

Pantone coaster and business card holder

For more bluespiration, head over to my Pinterest board here.

The 15 minute rainbow post

Right.  I have just about 15 minutes to write this post before I head off to get ready for the Patti Smith concert we're so lucky to have in Malta tonight.

Heading back home I came across a woman dressed - immaculately - from head to toe in blue.  I know, that this is not necessarily the most daring of colours, but the way the shades of blue were put together, with a patterned scarf to create an accent, inspired me to write a quick post about head to toe block colour.  It's more of a question / challenge to you, my dear readers:  have you ever sported / would you dare sporting a head to toe solid colour?  Please don't speak to me about all black / grey / blue outfits! I've had my own love affair with all over grey in autumn (read here).  I'm talking rainbow colours here: the whole ROYGBIV range! Let me know - and if you have any outfit posts of the sort, link them in the comments section below :)

Check out these pins and the rest of the board here for some inspiration!

#ootd: The Double Denim Debate

I'm not sure where you stand on the 'Canadian Tuxedo' issue - I personally, have a bit of a love-hate relationship with head-to-toe denim ensembles.  As a child of the 80s and teen of the 90s, the whole look is a well and truly 'been there, done that' scenario for me, and as opposed to most millenials who find anything hinting at these two decades as hip, I tend to cringe a bit before I grow into loving such looks.

I won't say I have never donned a double denim look in the last couple of years ever since it has once again become a favourite get-up. But I feel I have had my hits and misses, so I'll let you in on a few tips on how to make the look work.

• don't match your denims - go for a dark wash jean and a lighter wash shirt to keep the look young and fresh; 
• keep the Western influences at bay - forego any fringes, embroideries, and seamings which would make people ask you for a Line dance routine.  If you have to do Western inspired, then leave that to the accessories; 
• don't just wear jeans - skirts are truly having a moment right now (much to my delight) and there are so many shapes to choose from! Try a denim shirt tucked in a full midi denim skirt for a fresh take on a classic combo; 
• smarten it up - channel the 70s for an ultimate city look with a fitted denim shirt, flared jeans, blazer in a contrasting material and why not, a fedora or floppy hat;
• but if you have to go casual - soften the all-denim look by wearing ripped or boyfriend jeans with flats or trainers and top with an oversized cardi in the chillier days. 

This morning called for such an outfit, so I reached out for my trusty Zara boyfriend jeans and denim shirt and H&M oversized coral spring coat to break the all-denim look.  Ballerina pumps and a top-knot finished off the casual ensemble, perfect for a Saturday morning full of errands and a raw cocoa - goji berry - banana smoothie treat from The Grassy Hopper.  

For more double-denim inspiration, check out my Pinterest board here: 

Follow Mariel Sacco's board #fs6 the double denim debate on Pinterest.

#ootd: Regatta Monday

This year I decided to continue where I left off last year, that is, by making it a year with a number of 'firsts'.  So today, being Freedom Day and a national holiday here in Malta, we headed off to watch my first ever Regatta.  From the little that I know about this boat race, it is hugely contested by the cities surrounding the Grand Harbour and it takes place both on Freedom Day and on Victory Day (8 September).  Moreover, the beautiful weather that graced the island today called for spending the afternoon out in the sun.

To celebrate the weather, I chose to wear my new Zara yellow blazer which I bought a few weeks ago and hadn't worn as yet.  I don't know why - I'm usually the most colourful thing walking around in Valletta - but I was feeling it was a tad too summery for the last weeks.  I decided to also give my new leopard print espadrilles from H&M a road test - the weather was warm enough to warrant not wearing any socks or stockings.  I kept the rest of the outfit simple with grey, denim and beige neutrals and matched the print on my espadrilles to a scarf I had bought ages ago from Accessorize which has a vintage map print and leopard print trimming.

I was so chuffed with the outfit and with the gorgeous weather that I even got into a bit of a (clumsy) jump half way through the afternoon!

What I wore: 
Blazer - Zara
T-shirt - Zara
Jeggings - Suite Blanco
Espadrilles - H&M
Handbag - Mango
Scarf - Accessorize
Sunglasses - Blumarine
Necklaces - Astrid & Miyu
Ring - Parfois

Wednesday Wishlist

I realise that once again I've been a bit MIA in blogging - the usual excuses reasons come to mind (work commitments, errands, appointments) and added to that much needed quality time with my bf who's finally back on the island.  You don't really blame me now, do you?! To make up for this lack of blogging, I'm making the most of this mid-week public holiday and bringing you a Wednesday Wishlist ... instead of packing for my work-trip / city break starting tomorrow that is! Priorities, priorities ...

Well, these are the items I'm currently craving, pretty badly ... even though practically each one of them comes with a little proviso.  Read on, and help me choose which item(s) I should actually invest in, and which one(s) I should ditch.

A trench coat (it's a Mango vs Zara kind of thing ...)

This has been on my wishlist for a number of months now, but I've always opted for less classic pieces. Blame it on my new work life, or the final realisation that I'm hitting my mid-30s pretty soon, I'm starting to look at more classic items to place in my wardrobe.  I love the texture of the Mango version but I'm a bit miffed it's not fully lined.  On the other hand, the Zara version is fully lined and the perfect length for my height but I'm not so thrilled with the material.  Decisions, decisions ... unless, of course, I decide to spend my whole paycheck on a real Burberry ... mmmm....

Superga classic white sneakers

A throwback to my Physical Edu lessons back in primary and secondary school, plain white sneakers are one of my current 'must-haves' in my wardrobe.  Perfectly adorkable when ditching the daily heels at the weekend, they can look equally cute and on trend with cuffed jeans, ditsy dresses and why not, even with a dressed down trouser suit.  My dilemma on this piece is whether to go for canvas or seek more durable (and easily cared-for) leather.

Kenzo x New Era flower block cap

I fell in love with this topper the minute I laid eyes on it - the coral and aqua colour combination is just perfect for summer, and the pattern and oversized embroidered logo is just such fun.  The problem is, I can't really see me wearing it, nor can I see where / when I would wear it! I'm no longer much of a beach bum, so that's out of the equation already ... Saturday morning markets? Glammed up with heels for the weekend? I'm so confused!

Moschino Jeremy Scott FW14-15 iPhone 5 case

This thing just grew on me.  When the pictures of the Jeremy Scott capsule collection for Moschino's FW14-15 started emerging, I'll be honest with you:  I was scratching my head no end.  I just couldn't come to terms with the whole McDonalds inspiration.  But without realising, my heart started settling on the fries shaped iPhone case.  After my Marc Jacobs 'Shorty' pug shaped case proved to be quite a conversation starter last year, I can't wait to own this one now ...

So there goes.  These four items are actually not letting me sleep soundly.  I'm serious.  Please do help me out in this oh-so-first-wordly decision process ...

My Fashion / Beauty Pet Peeves

Ok, let's just bear in mind that it is Monday, and a rant is always therapeutic on this first, most trying day of the week. Today I bring you my fashion and beauty pet peeves - the things that I just can't bear in any way, shape or form, and that every time I lay my eyes on, I cringe and pray for there to really be a Fashion / Beauty Police to charge the wrong-does.

So let me go all Joan Rivers on these:

• The jacket: bomber

This is the least forgiving of all shapes.  You have to be rake thin to carry it off and it has to sit right on the waist-line.  Cropped versions just make one look like an American football player while longer versions just drown the figure and not in the appealing way boyfriend blazers / coats do.

• The pants: mum jeans

High-waisted, loose around the hips/bum shaped jeans and shorts are a hipster girl's heaven.  But not mine. Possibly because I remember these jeans way too well from the first time they were round.  Dear millennials, you're not doing yourselves any favour with these jeans.  If you really need to go high-waisted, the slim-hipped bell-bottom ones from the 70s are way cooler.  I promise.

Bomber jacket + mum jeans - pinned from vogue.es in this arguably adorkable look, but just doesn't work for me ... sorry!

• The skirts: micro-mini

Anything which is shorter than 2 inches above the knee is a no-go zone for me.  Not because I'm a prude.  It's because of the message lengths impart.  Such short skirts can hardly ever infer an air of elegance and sophistication, unless worn with opaque tights.  And even that is pushing it.

The best - and modesty saving - way of wearing very short skirts is by pairing them with opaque tights and oversized tops.

• The tops: ruffled shirts

Anything with ruffles really.  Despite being a very girly-girl, I'm averse to most things ruffled. Especially when the said ruffles are strategically placed around the placket front.  Busty girls like yours truly end up with a fin de siecle look reminiscent of Downton Abbey's Dowager Lady Grantham ...

• The dresses: body-con

I don't know how many times I've said this, but I just hate body-con dresses.  This is most definitely because, as a curvy girl I can't quite pull them off as well as a skinny (UK) size 4 or 6 girl.  But when I look at curvy celebrities squeezed into such dresses, I just feel they are trying to hard.  And I don't want to be like them.

Body-con might be short for 'body confidence' and Kim K sure isn't lacking of any of that.  But with such a skin tight dress, she leaves little to the imagination (we've seen it all before anyway, whether we wanted or not!)

• The shoes: platform stilettos

I've had a few of these.  And I've managed to fall or trip in each and every one of them.  This may be the basis of my aversion, but for quite obvious reasons, they kind of remind me of the shoes the less savoury characters used to take off just pre-fist-fight on The Jerry Springer Show back in the day.

Not for the faint hearted, and not for me.

• The bag: cheap looking bags

There are some really nice bags around which are of fantastic quality, even in non-leather varieties, which still don't cost a fortune.  Why oh why would one therefore choose to buy a bag made of tatty material that is quite obviously the cheapest of plastics, adorned with some ridiculous glittered chiffon rosette in a matching shade of bubble-gum pink? Why?

• The make-up: matching eye-shadow and nail lacquer

I have to qualify this: I'm an adventurer when it comes to nail lacquer but extremely conservative when it comes to eye make-up.  I like my make-up to complement the outfit by picking up notes from the pattern or contrasting with the main colour.  But having, say, blue eye-shadow and blue nails? Not for me! Especially if the rest of the outfit is of the same colour.

Perfect on an editorial, much harder to pull off in real life.

• The hair: perfectly formed top-knot

Overly-coiffed hair is my nightmare.  And the donut-shaped top-knot, when it's perfectly done, with no stray hairs or straggling ringlets jutting out of it takes the biscuit in my opinion.  What started off as (another) hipster trend has been mainstreamed into ubiquitousness.  And it is not nice.

Top-knots are by nature, relaxed hairdos so the operative word here is to actually keep them relaxed!

Now, now, as a rant, this post is not intended to be offensive to anyone.  I just needed to get these things off my chest - it's only my opinion and I'm sure it counts mostly for just me! I'm also sure that there are other things that make my skin crawl: for instance, the skort and the wedged trainers, but I'm guilty of owning both so I can't hate them as much as I'd like.

Do you have any fashion / beauty pet hates? Come on, I know you do ... let me know xxx

#ootd: I tried to look royal ...

As I mentioned in my last post, today marked the start of a new life.  Well, part of.  The other part - moving to my new flat - should hopefully come pretty soon.

Starting a new job is always a daunting experience, and first impressions are unfortunately the one to last.  And that first impression, mostly comes from what one is wearing.  So I looked to an always impeccably dressed, if unorthodox / unlikely fashion icon for inspiration: Queen Elizabeth II.  Yes, you read it right, the British Monarch herself!

You must admit that the Queen is always so well put together, and I do find her dress + dress-coat combination to be a quintessential effortless chic look, even if it is pretty much always the same, save for the colour (which is usually one from a spectrum of pastels ... she is the top lady in lavender after all!)

So I took a page out of her lookbook and wore my new H&M salmon single-button coat (shown here in black) which I got for Valentine's among other things and paired it with a navy Zara dress which I've had for quite some time and is more or less the same length of the coat.  Navy and salmon might not be an obvious combination, but I accessorised with my Sef Farrugia Delores scarf which has both colours in its pattern, as well as a touch of blood red which matched my new TopShop Kathleen patent pointed shoes.  The finishing touch came through my brand new navy Zara mini city bag which I feel has such a Jackie-O meets Queen E-II look.

The photos here, I must admit, are not of a quality fit for a Queen ... but what do you think of the look?

candy crush valentine

Here I am, blogging away, instead of packing for my all-important trip next week to spend Valentine's Day with my very own Valentine ... but it's all in good faith.  I'm virtually planning my wardrobe for my trip ... or rather, what I want to buy on my trip! 

This time round, I'm doing this through Grabble, a new online platform which allows you to find all your favourite stores in one place.  What's more, you can add garments you like directly from the online store of choice on to Grabble and you'll get notifications when there are offers on your items of choice! Another feature which I'm really loving on Grabble is the fact that you can add items to lists according to styles ... so you'll always have your hipster or girly chic mood-board at hand.  Smiles all around!

My current obsession at the moment is pastel colours, even though I'm not so sure I'd wear them well ... but with Valentine's round the corner, there's nothing better than these candy-coloured get-ups to get you in the mood for lurve.  Don't you agree?  Check out these girly and gorgeous items, all available from ASOS and click here for the full list.

Zooey Deschanel + Tommy Hilfiger collaboration

It is, to me, a match made in sartorial heaven: the all-American, timeless preppy style that is so typical of Hilfiger designs and the quirkiness and unique aesthetic of one of my favourite actresses and undisputed style icon, Zooey Deschanel.  'To Tommy, From Zooey' is perfect - and so much up my stream that it is 'To Mariel' as well.

The minute I read about the collaboration between these two favourites of mine on Women's Wear Daily I almost had to catch my breath.  And looking at the first images from the capsule collection comprising of 16 short dresses, I felt warm on the inside and an immediate connection with every single piece.  The reason for this is that they all reminded me of outfits my mother wore in the late 60s and I always wished she'd kept.  The dresses have a mod London feel which nonetheless carries a certain Americana inspiration in the choice of red, white and blue for colour palette.  The dresses appear easy to wear for a day-to-night lifestyle and are, as Deschanel herself has oft been described, adorkable.  I know that I want more than one of these dresses ... and I'm going to be counting the days until they hit the stores in April, and definitely praying to all the saints that they would be stocked here in Malta.  If not, I might actually have to fork out a flight to anywhere on the mainland too ...

App of the month: Covet Fashion

As you know, I'm pretty equally obsessed with fashion and gadgetry and all the apps that go with the latter.  So whenever these interests come together, I get a bit jelly-kneed and over-excited. Since all this excitement can't always be contained, I've decided to start bringing you an app of the month post every third week of the month.  It's my little way of sending some love back to the apps that keep me company on flights, bus rides and when I just want to zone out!

The first app of the month is COVET FASHION.  Did you actually think I could start with a non-fashion related app!?!

image courtesy of Crowdstar

I actually came across COVET FASHION during my Christmas vay-cay as I was browsing the app store on my iPad in search of games to keep me busy, or rather help me relax as I intended to when I wasn't out and about.  Over the last month, I have become terribly hooked on it, and for good reason.

First off, this app has the blessing of stylist to the stars and designer Rachel Zoe.  The game, which has a paper-dolls concept, is developed by Crowdstar, which have also brought us games such as Top Stylist and Social Girl, among others.  Playing COVET FASHION, users can dress up their avatars with digital renditions of real life clothes which are really available during the current season collections available from real brands.

“Everyone knows that I’m completely obsessed with fashion, style and anything glamorous and beautiful. I think everyone can and should have style, and what better way than to experiment and play with it online?” - Rachel Zoe

I'm emphasising the word 'real' here: yes, because the digital renditions are so fantastically accurate that it's truly as though you are dressing your doll up in real clothes.  Moreover, if you like a look so much, an online interface allows you to find it directly from the online store.  Having said that, I will concede that this being a US-based app, us Maltese may not always be able to get our paws on our coveted items ... unless we actually fly out for them!

Anyway, back to the game: On a daily basis, players are given daily styling challenges with a theme on which other players vote for.  Other challenges include $10K / $25K / $50K wardrobes and feature brand challenges.  Players get to use their own closet items, borrow from friends, or 'shop' for the right items from the game's store to perfect their style.  It's almost like going on a trip to the mall on a daily basis.  In fact, besides Rachel Zoe's own label, users can find gorgeous clothing and accessories from brands like  Rebecca Minkoff, French Connection, Hudson Jeans, Joie, Nanette Lepore, Dannijo, Fallon, Halston Heritage, and a whole host of other names, marking the app's edge over other fashion / styling games.

Another great feature of the game is the social sharing aspect - you can share your styles on your Facebook wall as well as your Pinterest boards (see mine here!); and, for every Facebook friend who joins, you get $1,000 in game money to shop till your finger-tips drop!

The game is available for download from App Store, Google Play as well as Amazon apps.

All in all, having myself tried other gamified styling apps, I believe this to be the one which is most enjoyable, not just for the ease in playing, but also for the realistic rendering of the clothes, making it appealing even to the more seasoned fashionistas.