Spring & Summer Fashion times

it's become a bit of a tradition here on my blog over the past couple of years that every new season i run a post featuring shots from the latest collection by one of my favourite fashion designers, the very fabulous and super duper Austrian designer Lena Hoschek




i see no reason to break the tradition now so today i thought i'd share some of the gorgeousness that is her S/S 2012 collection!

this is the 4th time i'll have blogged about her designs, to read the previous posts and see the lovely past collections follow the links. A/W 2010 Hats and Happy Times, S/S 2011 50's Fashion for Spring and A/W 2011 Autumn Fashion

anyway on with the new designs! i say this every season but i think the lovely Lena might have outdone herself (once again!) this year

the new collection is divine! super girly and feminine with flirty colours and cuts + pretty nautical stripes, polka dots, florals and funky patterns

Lena's collection shoots are always absolutely fabulous, i'm loving the Italian location for this year's collection, clearly shot on and around the beautiful lake Valvestino in Gargnano in Northern Italy

so far i think my favourite pieces from the collection might just be the peppermint candy striped blouse and skirt (although maybe not together...)

since they remind me of Mary Poppins' when they all go on the carousel, Mary's dress is white and red + Bert has a candy stripe jacket on. (yes so i'm a sad geek, move on, embrace it...) i just love these pieces! i especially love the skirt and i might just really REALLY need it in my life (i wish!)

anyway we all know i'm a big Lena Hoschek fan, so without any further rambling and nonsensical gushing from me, have a little look at some of the glorious new designs for S/S 2012

isn't it all gorrrrgeous! 

once again, the amazing photographs are by the Austrian photography team - Lupi Spuma 

and to see the rest of the collection + to find out a bit more about the lovely Lena, check out her official website here - Lena Hoschek

and to see past collections + to buy your very own piece of Lena Hoschek loveliness,  (+ the A/W 2011 collection is currently on sale... ) you can head over to the shop here - Lena Hoschek Shop

oh and be sure to 'Like' the Facebook page - Lena Hoschek

All images featured in this post are from Lena Hoschek©

* * *

so there you have it, more ridiculously pretty and gorgeous clothes that i can daydream about owning

oh and i know i said the blog was going on mini hiatus but i couldn't resist sharing the new collection with you all 

so until next time, bearing in mind that i genuinely have no idea when that'll be, that's all folks... xX

Train Times

so once again i find myself apologizing for the lack of posts, i genuinely meant to write a post yesterday night but i ended up playing on the Wii so i forgot... i'm sorry!

i had a gorgeous day today though, met my mum and my godmother for lunch + ended up hanging out with my cousin Mandy, my big sister Nikki + her boyfriend Boris as well, in my fave cafe 'the alpine' (of course!!!)

i also bumped into some old friends from college which was nice since it's been aaaages since i last saw them!

anyway that all doesn't matter nor does the fact that i've been absent for a few days because i'm posting NOW which is the main thing

so on Wednesday i got up bright and early, caught a lift into Douglas with my dear mama then walked through town towards the train station because i went on the steam train to Port Erin!!!!

i'll start from the beginning . . .

it was a truly gorgeous day, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and for once it wasn't even windy or blustery which is practically unheard of for the Isle of Man!

i'd arranged to meet my friend Jenny for the day since she's home from University at the moment but she had a hair appointment in Port Erin so i thought, 'why not get catch the train down to meet her'

yeah like i need an excuse to go on the train!!!

it was such a nice day though, on my way to the station i walked right along the Harbour and took a few snaps of the pretty boats and the gorgeous blue sky/sea

since the weather was so lovely the train was quite busy so i shared a carriage with an old local man who was on his way home to Port Erin + a lady from England, visiting the island with her little grand-daughter on their way to Port Erin beach for a picnic

the little girls name was Hannah and she pretty much became my best friend for the entire train ride! she was so sweet, she liked to say the phrase 'super duper' a lot (you can see why we got on!) and her favourite colour is pink! she really was a total little sweetie, here she is posing in her snazzy pink sunglasses (note the entirely pink outfit also)

we had great fun counting the sheep, cows, horses, ducks, pheasants and donkey's we saw in the fields as the train carried us southwards towards Castletown and eventually on to Port Erin

i really love this time of year, everything is so green and lush, it was great seeing so much of the beautiful Manx country side

when we pulled into Port Soderick we stopped next to the other train running that day, on its way back towards Douglas

so naturally . . . i took a few more pictures from my carriage window

it was a gorgeous engine, gleaming and utterly super duper + i've always love the IOM railway company logo/emblem

after that we carried on to Port Erin where i said my goodbyes to my fellow passengers + the lovely little Miss Hannah (who gave me a big hug, bless) before heading off to say hi to my other friend Sarah who runs a hair salon called 'cuts both ways'

it's been months since i last saw her so it was nice to hang out for a bit, before we left for her lunch break i snapped a shot of her gorgeous salon, it's full of antique furniture, pretty wallpaper, little chandeliers and baroque style mirrors! love it . . .

Jenny was still getting her hair done in another salon so i tagged along with Sarah to the beach where she was meeting another friend + her three lovely little kids

the sea was just so blue! it was beautiful, i've always liked Port Erin as a town but i really loved visiting it on Wednesday, it was so sublime 

we sat on the beach for a while and i could not get over how busy it was! the place was packed . . . well, it was 'packed' for a Manx beach anyway!

Jenny turned up eventually so we chilled on the beach some more only with the added bonus of delicious Italian ice creams, the weather was perfect and i could have happily spent all day relaxing on that beach (and i'm so not a beach person!)

anyway, we actually spent the rest of the day mooching around cute shops in Castletown + Tynwald but unfortunately my piece of **** camera decided to give up on life while on the beach and it is now completely and utterly 100% broken!

i did NOT drop it in the sea or in fact drop it anywhere at all but despite this and despite 2 years of careful treatment it has decided to give up on me at last!

the good news is this means i get to buy a flashy new camera

the bad news is . . . i can't really afford to get one!

so this means that for the immediate future i'll have to take all my photos using my rubbish phone so apologies for the 'even crappier than usual' quality of the photos in posts to come!

* * *

in other news . . .

Easter times ahoy!

this afternoon my mum called me into the kitchen where i found this delightful little display waiting for me on the kitchen table

these are my yummy Easter treats, an egg from my cousin Mandy, an pretty 'princess' egg, a bag of my fave chocolates + the gorgeous 'Bernie' Bear from my mum

love them all! i haven't eaten any chocolate since January so i look forward to scoffing these goodies on Sunday

* * *

i also had a 'business meeting' today, now i can't really go into details about it (yet) but i can tell you that it's super duper exciting news for me + my arty stuff

the only problem is it's going to create soooooo much work for me i think i'm going to need an assistant!

hhhmm . . . too bad i can't afford to hire one! anyone fancy being my assistant for free?!

anyway it's fun times ahead so stay tuned dudes and dudettes!

ok i'm off to cook some food now, goodbye my lovelies, hope you enjoy your weekend wherever + whatever you're up to

that's all folks . . .

◕‿◕ ★ xX

Friends and Fashion ♥

Before I get on with the rest of the blog I just want to tell you all about a really great 'shout out' I got earlier today off a certain delightful 'Ms Arscott'. She sent me an email with a link to a blog post and I was surprised to see that the post was all about... me!

'Every now and then I like to call out fellow global bloggers who make my heart soar when I come across their site. This morning I found Jade. 

Based in the UK, Jade is "...a 19-year old aspiring fashion and picture book illustrator/blogger/writer studying for a Higher National Diploma in Art and Design at college..."

I love her - passion and energy shines through. I hope to work with her someday in the future.'

isn't that lovely! It really cheered me up! She put a couple of my illustrations with it as well, you can read the actual post here - http://msarscott.blogspot.com/2010/09/blogger-series-jade.html

what a nice thing to do. I was grateful for the 'cheer up' as well. It's been a bit grim lately what with being ill all the time and having to go back to college while all my best friends move away to uni. But i'm starting to come to terms with it all now. I had an epic skype convo with my friend Mike last night and i've already spoken to Kyren and Jenny a bit as well.

It'll all be 'reet' as my friend (and old partner in crime) Hayley would say.

Right i'll get on with the post now.

So London Fashion Week has started at last. I watched the Topshop show yesterday (online... sadly) and have been doing my best to read up on all the shows so far. To be honest i'm more bothered about New York fashion week, which was last week. So far, between them, London and New York have served up the usual board of fare. There have been some disappointing collections (Ralph Lauren... what WERE you thinking! Wild west theme = bad times! and Hannah Marshall... is that much sheer black and nude REALLY necessary?!) and some inspired ones (Oscar De La Renta, I salute you! + Twenty8Twelve And Henry Holland... well done!) and then some in-between (PPQ, Preen, Sass & Bide, L 'Wren Scott, Topshop Unique) it's been a mixed old bunch so far, but hopefully next week will deliver some more fabby looks for S/S 2011.

so far one of my absolute fave looks has come from the London show of Twenty8Twelve, they served up a fabulous array of flirty, cute and totally girly looks. These are two of my top faves from the collection. Loving the lacy petticoats especially! i would happily wear either of these dresses...

watching some of the shows from the past few days I was beginning to lose faith in the fashion world. Then I watched the Oscar De La Renta spring 2011 show from New York and my faith was restored. (click on the pics for a better look) see for yourself...

The models breezed along the catwalk, each one sporting a more femininely gorgeous look than the last. It's just so good to see that ladylike, 50's/60's Mad Men-esque fashion will still be popular next year! here are some more of my fave looks from the show. so gorgeous!

it's definitely a bit more of a 60's theme this time. many of the collections have had a distinctly 60's-70's vibe about them. so far it seems to be either grown-up glamour or girly cuteness, but either way... it's brilliant!

Fashion just went girly again, and I am loving it!

in other news... i really need to get my arrrrrse in gear and get on with my new College project, painting Pin-up's is a tough job... but someone has to do it! 

ok i'm off to watch the rest of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' now for the umpteenth time. nothing like a bit of Jessica Rabbit cartoon magic to inspire some Pin-up paintings methinks!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX