WHAT I'M...(September favourites)

I cannot be the only person who forgets how good it feels to not be sick. I am currently sitting in bed, watching an unacceptable number of Youtube beauty videos and dreaming of the day (which will probably be Tuesday) when I won't be bed-ridden with a cold again. This said, this has prompted me to make a post regarding all the things I have been loving so far this month and some of the stuff keeping me going as I lay here wrapped in a raggedy blanket...ENJOY <3

WHAT I'M...Wearing 

The weather has taken a turn for the worse in my eyes and now it is freezing, hence I have ditched the crop tops and mini skirts for turtlenecks and jeans. It sounds standard, I know, but my favourite pieces so far have been a scarlet turtleneck I nicked from my mum (and have since had to give it back) as well as blue flared jeans which I like to wear for a double-denim look. I have also fallen in love with the infamous bumbag. However questionable from a sartorial perspective, they are super handy

WHAT I'M...Listening to

What I listen to is totally dictated by my mood at that time, so my music taste is sort-of a mixed bag. This said, there are four artists who have dominated my playlists are Cigarettes After Sex, Frank Ocean and Nina Kraviz. Cigarettes After Sex's debut album has sent me to a dream-filled sleep more often than I can remember with their slow melodies whilst I have been late to the party in obsessing over Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. Meanwhile, for my less chilled out and more dancing-on-my-own-manically-in-my-bedroom moods, I have been listening to Nina Kraviz's self-titled album. She seems to be one of the few women on the techno and electronic music scene and I have I'm Gonna Get You on repeat.

WHAT I'M...Reading

Being in-between school and uni has meant that I have had a lot of time to catch up on reading which I missed out on during the stress-filled exam period. Luckily I have managed to go through around five books but my favourites have definitely been Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Monica Ali's Brick Lane. After reading the Nigerian writer's novel I became so interested in the concepts of gender roles and culture clashes i different societies, which led me on to Brick Lane which taps in to the mind of a young Indian woman and her experiences within 80's and 90's UK society.

WHAT I'M...Doing

5 more days and I'll officially be a uni student. I am terrified, no, mortified, at the idea but I guess it's just another chapter and am trying to convince myself to go in with the idea that people are not in fact, out to get me and we're all in the same boat. In fact, last week I dropped off my sister in Scotland and if my uni is as beautiful as hers I think I'll be alright...

looklovewear (Arianne)

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OOTD : Notting Hill Carnival

Top - Vintage

Trousers - Vintage

Shoes - Vagabond

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If you live in London, you will know that the highlight of the summer is Notting Hill Carnival. Over two days, the streets of London's elite come together for (somewhat inappropriate) dancing, Caribbean music, jerk chicken and an all-round good time. Despite the sense of fear which seems to loom over us as we go about our daily lives regarding threats like terrorism and acid attacks, it was clear to see that this did not hinder the spirit of carnival and everyone went on whining  and dining as they have been for the past several decades. I went with a couple friends and wore a suede top with red trousers which, at first, seemed like a great idea, but I soon came to know that this + 27 degree heat + people moving and throwing drinks everywhere was not a good combination...

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Oh yes, and I now have Twitter : https://twitter.com/azzafromafrica

looklovewear (Arianne)

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Paris (+ OOTD)

To take some pressure off post-exam and pre-result stress and hysteria, I was able go travelling all around Europe with a bunch of close friends. Whilst train-hopping through central Europe, we encountered castles and monuments, bizarre local cuisines and equal amounts of both casual misogyny and fetishisation (think comments containing the terms 'Beyonce', 'Milk chocolate' and, my personal favourite, 'Nubian queen'. Other than the occurrences mentioned, along with missing trains and going way over budget in certain situations, it was a trip of a lifetime and, in the least Disney Channel way possible, taught me a lot about myself and others. To top the trip off however I went to Paris with one of my best friends, Maria, for a slightly less hectic and more metropolitan end to the trip. We were able to make the most of our trip, seeing almost every sight possible despite making very poor clothing and shoe choices day-in-day out. I only managed to photograph one OOTD on my iPhone so be warned of questionable image quality, but below are also photos of our adventures...

À la prochaine

Oh yes, and I now have Twitter : https://twitter.com/azzafromafrica

looklovewear (Arianne)

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Jacket - Vintage

Top - Vintage

Jeans - H&M

Shoes - Adidas (NEO)

Le Marais

Centre Pompidou

Jardin des Tuileries

L'exposition de 'Dalida'

Le Marais

Versailles

 Pigaille

OOTD: Long Time

 Outfit:

Shirt - Zara (aka ethical armageddon)

Jeans - Topshop

Bralette - Brandy Melville

Sunglasses - Vintage

Shoes - Vintage

I mean it when I say long time no see. I've been crap, no, abysmal at this thing, admittedly and fairly obviously. Exams, constantly plundering motivation in every way shape and form in a creative context and even the temptation to give up blogging etc. can be used to explain my AWOL attitude towards this in recent days but I came to a number of conclusions from my absence
1. I will regret pressing the delete button in the long run
2. No.1 is a fact
3. Posting something - an outfit, a thought, hell, even a rant - is better than wiping my presence off the blogosphere entirely
4. I shouldn't be so perfectionist with this whole thing. Not to say the future of looklovewear will be scruffy with collosal effing and jeffing, but I need to remember that this is not Vogue, just a little site on my 14 inch screen so I should take it easy, no matter how shit (there it is!) iPhone quality photos may be

OOTD: Levi's and Fishnets

Jeans - Vintage (Levi)

Jumper - Kowadakowa

Bag - And Other Stories

Fishnets - Depop

Boots - Vagabond

Earrings - MyAsho

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After losing an SD card and being to pedantic about posting more iPhone outfit/beauty/life photos, I'm back with another mediocre outfit. It's been over a month since I last posted, which I honestly feel quite crappy about, but I've returned. Although I will soon be entering the firey depths of hell, also known as A-Levels, hopefully blogging will become an outlet to share stuff or just rant about this-and-that...I couldn't think of anything worse than teaching myself the logistics of the British Economy for 5 hours daily...

This was a pretty casual outfit, taken from an afternoon in Camden Town. I'll happily admit that I actually like the ripped-jeans-and-fishnets trend probably plaguing your Instagram feed at this very moment, but that it did not keep me from just about freezing :)

A, looklovewear

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OOTD: Red Turtleneck

Jumper - Hugo Boss

Jacket - Burberry (Vintage)

Flares - Forever 21

Shoes - Vagabond

Earrings - DIY

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First of all, apologies for the poor image quality...my camera died so had to resort to the slightly more democratic iPhone 5 for outfit pictures...anyway, today I went to Brick Lane with a friend and, despite the fact that the sun has started to make a come-back appearance (I bet it won't last long), I had to layer up. Here I am unsuspectingly wearing about two more shirts under my jumper but besides that, I have really been in to the colour red recently, hence the scarlet turtleneck. Despite the fact that I don't have a lot of this in my wardrobe currently, I am dying to get more red and colourful items of clothing in the near future (R.I.P. bank account) instead of wearing black, black, and more black...but let's see how that goes...

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Arianne, looklovewear

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Couture Fashion Week : The Round-Up

Obviously, I didn't  cop a ticket, transport myself to Paris, immerse myself with fashion royalty and drown  in champagne and macaroons, but flicking trough photos from online journals and hogging a pack of digestive biscuits did the trick...and here are my favourites from this year's Spring Couture Fashion week...

1. Margiela - The brand's collection was inspired by the notion of disguise which comes along with modern day use of social media such as Snapchat. What I liked the most is how he used this concept successfully without making the collection look childish or gimmicky - LOOK AT THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE TULLE!? (Images: Dazed and Confused)

2. Alexandre Vauthier - Although the designer sent his models down the catwalk in leather and denim for an cooler take on couture, I loved the dresses which combined shape, texture and embellishement to give the pieces an edge. (Images: WWD)

3. Chanel - As per-usual, Karl Lagerfeld pulled out all the stops to produce an outlandish show. Whilst some of the dresses were a bit too 50s housewife or walking cream-puff for my liking, I really liked the power-suits and more understated dresses. (Images: WWD)

4. Jean Paul Gauliter - Never failing to inject a bit of fun and quirkiness into a collection perfectly curated for the feminine physique, the French designer produced a flurry of different outfits inspired by artwork, the 80s, and even traditional Spanish dress...hit up JPG if you have a couple of grand to spare... (Images: WWD)

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Arianne, looklovewear

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