THE SPRING FASHION FIX

I love a good fashion show and so it came as no surprise that I was super excited for this years Highcross Spring Fashion Fix! I have been to nearly all of the fashion shows at the Highcross Shopping Centre and I love how they tweak the way they do things each year to keep things fresh and interesting. Hosting the show this year was the fabulous Sophie Robertson and the glamorous Sarah Tankel Ellis. The concept of the show was really interesting this year, both hosts *who I think did an amazing job!* explained how to style simple everyday outfits and transform them into trendy and fashionable runway looks! Inspired by some of the most popular trends for this year they showcased some amazing looks! From Monochrome to Tribal and Pastels to Colour Blocking. Below are my three favourite trends from the day, Enjoy!

The two beautiful models came out in head to toe white, which can be seen as a trend in itself! Now I'm not brave enough to try and pull of an all white outfit but if you have the right attitude you can really rock this trend! My favourite of the two looks is the one on the left. The sleeveless collared chiffon shirt works really well on top of the tailored trousers, I also really like how the cuff sits just above the ankle. Sarah then explained how this look can be easily transformed into the well known pastels trend.

The girls picked up some beautiful jackets from the rails, along with some jewellery and accessories. I really loved how the trend worked on top of the outfits they had on before, they were styled really well using layering techniques. The first two are definitely my favourite looks! I really love how the first outfit plays on different shades of blue tones, which is also a very popular trend at the moment and I love the candy pink jacket on the second look with the blue jewels!

The next trend they showcased was Monochrome, anyone who knows me will tell you that I love monochrome! So I was super excited to see what would come down the runway and I was not left dissapointed! The first look was very 'Chanel' inspired, I really like the use of blocking in the blouse and also where it sits off the shoulders. This look is extremely versatile, it could work as an office outfit or even as an evening look! I think my favourite look out of three is the one on the right, the bold graffiti-esque print is very on trend this season and it seems to be quite popular with our fellow celebrities, with the likes of Rihanna being spotted in something very similar!

Tribal was the next trend that Sophie and Sarah presented and I have to say this was my favourite trend of the day! Again each outfit was based on the first 'all-white' look to show how easy it is to incorporate fashion trends into your wardrobe. The first look was based on an amazing kimono! The tribal print worked so beautifully against the simplicity of the shirt and trousers. The second look was a safer take on the first look but still equally as effective. All three outfits were accessorised to perfection, chunky neck pieces are everywhere at the moment and are a perfect way to finish off any outfit!

So! That was my top three! There were many more amazing looks included in the show but that would have made a very long post so I tried to my best to cut it down a little! I really enjoyed myself at the show and I even had a cheeky colour consultation after the show! It was quite interesting to learn what tones and colours worked well with my skin tone! Hope you guys enjoyed this post and let me know if any of you guys had the chance to see the show! 

*By the way I am super excited for the next Highcross Fashion Show! Yay!*

THE BEDROOM MOODBOARD

The Bedroom Moodboard by primal-m featuring a lime green vase

Happy Sunday Everyone! So last time we spoke I had just cleared out my studio *sad times* However it was time to get my act together and figure out where I was going to carry out my Prim and Propa duties! Unfortunately I could not afford to rent out another office space, so instead I have decided to re-decorate my bedroom to incorporate a small studio space! Now, my bedroom is not very big so I am having to be really space conscience. A classic trick to make any room look bigger is to use lighter colours and so I am sticking to a white and green colour scheme to keep things airy and fresh! Above I have created a small mood board to help show you guys what is in my head! I have already bought a few bits such as the desk and a ceiling light! I wanted to keep things really slick and modern and so I chose a high gloss white desk, trust me it is absolutely beautiful! For lighting I knew I needed something that would allow light to shine through and so I chose this fishbowl-esque hanging ceiling light! It is made completely of glass, half of it being clear glass and the rest a reflective chrome! My room needed a lick of paint so over the last few days I have been in touch with my inner DIY persona and have been painting and glossing my room! It was a lot harder than I had expected but it needed to be done! Because my furniture was all white I chose a light magnolia colour for the walls to add a touch of warmth to the room. The carpet is going to be a lovely grey, almost gunmetal to tie in with some of my grey furnishing like the fluffy cushion from Matalan! I am yet to choose out a wardrobe and a bed but I am sure it will be white and hopefully in a gloss finish! I am getting super excitied to see what it looks like at the end and I cannot wait to share with all of you lovely people!

Darlington Crystal Flower Vase | Mirror Ball Globe Pendant | High Gloss White Office Desk | Coro Leaf Tealights | Mongolian Faux Fur Cushion

THE ROOM THAT STARTED IT ALL

A year ago today Me and Two of my dearest friends rented an office space at The Innovation Centre, we needed a place where we could run away to and just lose ourselves into our creativity! Priya and Suki are both students and they needed a space where they can concentrate on their work, and I had aspirations to begin my own business! We searched for a few weeks before deciding on The Innovation Centre which is part of DMU, it had everything we were looking for and more. 

We moved in on the 31st of March 2013, I remember I had packed up what seemed like my entire life into white cardboard boxes ready to be shifted into our room. All of my art supplies, folders, portfolios, sewing machine, sketchbooks and even small photo frames and trinkets that meant something to me came along with me. We wanted this room to feel like a second home, we wanted it to breathe colour and inspiration into our lives as we walked through those doors. Most office spaces were kept as they were but we were different and I think in some way we wanted people to know that! We went through our portfolios, picked out some of our best work and tacked them to the wall, M1.5 seemed like the only room to have any sort of colour on the walls and it really caught the eyes of people wandering the hallway. When we had settled in I had decided that I wanted to design and hand craft jewellery and so I spent the first month thinking of a name and designing a logo. This is where Prim and Propa was born, I took the simple saying and turned it on its head, I knew that nothing about my jewellery would be 'prim and proper' in fact it would be quite the opposite! My designs were edgy, quirky and dramatic and I needed my logo to fully represent the designs I had on paper. Priya and I spent a few nights scribbling down some ideas and one night we sketched out a logo and in my heart I knew that this was the logo that would represent my brand. I knew it was a little controversial but I wanted my logo to create a lasting impression and that is exactly what it does!

Prim and Propa launched in June that same year and I swear it was the best feeling ever, to have something that I had created for the world to see was extremely frightening but the feedback from friends and family made it all worth it. In the year that we had the studio I launched six collections and I couldn't be more proud. Sadly all good things come to an end and today we cleared out the room that started it all *sad face* Even though I no longer have the studio, I wont give up on my dream. I haven't been able to give any time to my jewellery line for a while due to the fact we were moving out however I am trying to convert my room into a mini studio! I'm sure I will keep you guys posted on that  but I will be back with my jewellery line and I promise it will be bigger and better than ever! I want to give a very big thank you to everyone who has supported me with the studio and my dreams! And  a special mention to Priya and Suki for being on this journey with me, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you guys.

Suki, Priya and I have many memories in that wonderful little room! Here are a few we would like to share with you :) 

1. For the first few months I had very early shifts and then would head into the studio, I was so tired once I set up camp underneath my desk so I could have a quick nap!

2. One evening we stayed quite late so there was no-one in the building, so we thought it was a good idea to crack open our lush face masks!

3. We bought in the Lion King on DVD to watch while we were working, however we upset our neighbours by singing way too loud to the songs! 

4. We loved playing tricks on each other so we would always hide behind things and jump out at each other. There was one time that I had popped out of the room for a moment and the girls locked the doors, shut the lights and hid in the room ... I actually thought they had gone home! 

5. Being the little nuisance I am, I decided to go in to the disabled lift thinking it would be funny, I ended up getting stuck inside! I was so scared!

If you would like to have a look at the collections so far head over to Prim and Propa Official now!

THE WEEKEND IN STOKE-ON-TRENT

Hey everyone! There was no blog post last week but that's because I was on a mini-break! Over the weekend I was visiting a very special little munchkin! 

I hopped on the train on Friday afternoon and may I just say that train stations are super confusing! I don't use trains a lot so I was scared of getting lost and it does not help that I have a serious problem with over packing! Once I was on the train I settled down and took out my crochet work, I'm working on a crochet blanket for charity and I know it makes me sound like an old person but I absolutely love it! I have taught myself a new skill and I'm doing a good deed. I ended up teaching Arti *the little munchkin* how to crochet too! Once I got to her room we had a good old catch up, put on a Disney movie and ordered a chineese takeaway! To finish off a perfect night in we did a face mask! We used Brazened Honey from Lush, It is a really good exfoliating mask that leaves your skin feeling fresh and glowy! The next morning we walked into Hanley because my phone charger had stopped working and I'm the kind of guy that feels lost without his phone! No trip into town is complete without a visit to Superdrug, and like always I bought way too much! We then met up with Hannah, who is just the most awesome person in the world! We ended up doing a huge shop in Tescos and we had a to get a taxi back. We spent the rest of the day doing another face mask! Yep another one! And getting dressed up for a night out! The night out was kind of a fail, however we ended up back in Artis room in our pj's and just spent most of the night talking! Sunday was going home day *sad face* I didn't end up leaving till quite late because we spent the day watching lots of movies and eating pizza!! Overall my weekend away was the perfect break, I got to spend time some the amazing people and just got some time to be stress-free! 

What have you guys been up to over the weekend? Let me know in the comments box! 

THE PASTEL TREND - WOMENSWEAR

Like clockwork pastels have hit the high street for spring, each year retailers release pastels and neons to bring some colour back into our lives after a cold winter. Pastels are a great way to add a spring back into your step and this year I am spotting a lot of ice-cream pastels! Below I have presented a look that I have put together to represent this trend.

THE PASTEL TREND - WOMENSWEAR by primal-m 

Whenever styling an outfit I always use a particular item to use as the foundation and in this case I used the statement necklace that I spotted in River Island. This was the perfect base as it had the right ice-cream tones that I was looking for, using the necklace as a guide I began searching for some jeans and a top. I found some jeans from Topshop that were an amazing pastel bubblegum pink, it is a very similar hue to the rope used on the necklace! Because the bottoms are a pink tone I knew I wanted to the top to be a blue and I ended up seeing this beautiful chiffon top in Topshop, now the top was in mint but I actually preferred this colour because it made the blue in the necklace pop! To finish the outfit off I thought I would incorporate another popular spring trend, neons. I love using neons to add some depth to an outfit but I think it has to be done in a simple yet effective way and so I thought to use an acid yellow pointed court shoe from Aldo and a lime shopper bag from Miss Selfridge! Now I know sometimes this amount of colour can seem a little frightening and so I made sure that each piece featured can be used individually to add a small touch of the trend!

Yellow High Heeled Pointed Court Shoe | Pink Joni Jeans | Lime Slouchy Shopper Bag | Light Pink Rope Statement Necklace | Split Side Chiffon Tee

THE MONTHLY CATCH UP - FEBRUARY '14

So it has come to the end of February and I thought it would be quite nice to let you all have a peek at what I have been upto! February was quite an interesting month, the highlight being my 22nd birthday! Now I'm thinking of doing this kind of post at the end of each month so let me know what you think of them!

1. My amazing birthday presents! I got a Gift Card for River Island and the Versace Scent that was on 'The Birthday Post' I am completely in love with this, it is a very fresh scent with a gorgeous vanilla undertone!

2. Birthday Socks and the cutest card! I really am quite a geek!

3. Me and the mascot for Frankie and Benny's! He was extremely fluffy!

4. Pre-Birthday Facial! I am the kind of guy that has a load of beauty products and so I had to break out the old favourites to beautify my skin! I used the grapefruit scrub from neutrogena, 'Love Lettuce' face mask from lush and a Blackhead Cleanser!

5. I love a good quote and this month my favourite is this amazing one from Alexander McQueen, McQueen is my idol designer I love what he created and what he stood for!

6. Me and some friends eating dinner at Frankie and Benny's!

7. Okay, so this was the day that Topman sent me an email to say that the shirt I ordered was out of stock! I was devastated ... as you can probably tell!

8. Valentines meal with the bestie! We do something every year for valentines day, it has become a very special tradition for us!

9. The Boozy Truffles I got for my Birthday! They had a real kick to them but they were so tasty!

What have you guys been upto this month! Leave a comment! 

THE BIRTHDAY OUTFIT

The Birthday Outfit by primal-m 

It's that time of year again! That's right folks its my birthday! *yay* To celebrate, me and a few friends are going to hit the town! Now my Birthday isn't for another week but these things need to be planned in advance! Above I have selected a few bits that I shall hopefully be wearing that night! The shirt I want is from Topman, It was featured in an earlier post "The Printed Shirt" and out of all the ones I chose this Burgundy Aztec Print was the one I fell in love with! Now normally when I plan an outfit I try to have a statement piece and in this outfit it is most definitely the shirt!! And so I have tried to keep the accessories quite minimal, the key word being tried! I love accessories! I've chosen a simple black band ring and a thin gold necklace, and then there's the bee brooch! Now this is a real quirky piece ... and that is exactly why I have to have it! I'm going to wear it in between the collar where the top button sits, now in my head this looks really good but I honestly have no idea what it will look like until I order it! I've seen quite a few people working 'The Chelsea Boot' and I love how it finishes off an outfit, this pair is from River Island and at £35 I think its a real bargain! Finally, I always need a good scent on a special evening and ever since I sampled 'Eros by Versace' I knew I had to add it to my collection! Its quite a sweet scent but also quite fresh ... I'm really no good at describing smells, but it smells good!!

Burgundy Black Aztec Print Shirt | Black Clear Glasses | Gold Bug Brooch | Stooki Ascension Necklace | Black Chelsea Boots | Versace Eros | Black Band Ring