Seven Carats - All That Shimmers

Seven Carats is an online store, founded by Layal Chemaitelly. She is also the designer of all Seven Carats items, and they are all her original ideas. Shipping will not be a problem for anyone, as Seven Carats ships all over the world via DHL. You must now be thinking, "that's great and all, but what is Seven Carats?"

My cousin told me about SC very briefly, and I decided to go online and check it out myself. When I did, I have to say I was extremely impressed. It is an online accessory store! Not only are the designs breathtaking (not to mention hand-made), but there is also an enormous variety of items that SC offers. Here is a list of items that can be found at SC:

Divine Scripture Covers – These are covers for Holy Books, customized to suit almost any personality!

Mobiles/Laptops/iPods/Cameras/Cars/Keys/Lighters – SC crystallizes all mentioned items with your choice of colour and design, and in the case that you don’t really know what you’re looking for, they are willing to discuss some ideas with you until you are satisfied with a design.

Other – There is even a crystallized “argeeleh” available online, it’s just too cute!

All crystals are guaranteed Swarovski crystals, and the items and designs vary between different styles and budgets. Definitely check out the site as there are a number of great pieces up for grabs.

Something I’d like everyone to notice is the extra tab at the bottom of the website which reads “Give Back to the World”; this takes you to a page with a form to fill out in order to make donations to the needy. I think that it is absolutely great that people are still taking the initiative to raise awareness about those who are in need.

In conclusion: Ms Layal Chemaitelly is an amazingly creative designer, an impressive businesswoman, and someone with a big heart. Additionally, everyone should visit the site because trust me you will find at least one thing that you'll really like.

Due to my lack of inspiration yesterday, I do not have an outfit shot, but I did learn one thing: You can make ripped jeans and a white tank top look good by simply over-accessorizing, so stock up on that jewelry!

Also, the blogs that I spoke about yesterday are available on my sidebar under "Blogs I Follow", look out for more to be added soon.

"A fashion that does not reach the streets

 is not a fashion." - Coco Chanel

(Note: All pictures obtained from Sevencarats.com, and are copyrighted by Seven Carats)

Fashion Bloggers to Follow!

I personally enjoy reading a lot of fashion blogs, and that's the reason that I'm currently following 20+ of them. I use Bloglovin to stay up to date with all the blogs that I follow, and with Bloglovin, you see the title of the blog and then the beginning of the post. I will click on a post judging by how interesting it looked at first glance. So, over the past few days, I've been keeping track of all the posts that I've read and which blog they belong to, and I've constructed a list of must-read blogs!

So, if you enjoy reading fashion blogs, here are some that I recommend you check out (Click the titles for links!) :

Beauty and the Budget

I fell in love with this blog. It was one of my favorites from when I first started to discover different fashion bloggers. The thing that I love about it is that it targets high school and college girls (therefore making sure to stick to a reasonable budget when talking about fashion) yet does not let the money-factor affect how great the items being shown look!

Tweet

In all honesty, the reason I first took a look at this blog was its name “Tweet”. It put a smile on my face. My smile then grew when I started to go through the blog. It is generally very image heavy, but not in the bad sense where the pictures look like they’re there just to fill up some empty spots. The pictures are not only relevant, but inspiring and very pretty to just look at. It’s a great blog to follow, you won’t be disappointed!

The Clothes Horse

This blog is definitely inspiring. The outfit shots are brilliant and even a lot of the other pictures posted up there will trigger some sort of fashion inspiration from within. It’s a great place to get ideas of what to wear, and generally a good way to put you in a cheerful mood!

Cakes and Lace

Just the name of this blog excites me, come on now… cakes and lace! This blog is the perfect place to check out all of the new, strange, and funky aspects of the fashion world. I am about a million percent sure that if you’re into haute couture, you are going to love this blog.

Not only do these girls have great blogs, but I contacted them and they are lovely people. Usually when I read blogs that are out of this world, the bloggers seem intimidating, but they really are sweethearts.

Sneak Peek for tomorrow: I will be devoting my entire blog post to a certain company that I stumbled across yesterday. All I am going to say is this: if you like adding "bling" to just about everything you own, and love unique pieces of jewelry, you should check out tomorrow's post!

Once again, here's my outfit from yesterday:

Top: Zara

Vest: Topshop

Pants: River Island

Necklace: Forever 21

Bangles: Forever 21/H&M

"I think fashion is about suspense and surprise and fantasy.

It's not about rules." - Wolfgang Joop

Shoes - Never Enough

I decided to focus on shoes today, and this will somehow add to the Beirut shopping guide, as I am going to be telling you the place which I refer to as "shoe heaven".

It's gotten a bit to warm for boots now, and yet still a little too chilly for sandals, so what do we wear? The oh-so-cute "ballerina shoes" come in handy during this time of the year. Of course, one would want to stock up on them, and have them in just about every colour possible, right? Well, at Sport et Loisir in Verdun, I managed to get myself 3 very cute shoes for only LL 49,000 each (not on sale!). I also found a few cute ones next door in Bershka going for the same price. So if you need a pair, get down there as soon as possible! LL 49,000 as a starting price is definitely a great find. Here are some of the ones that I bought:

(Sport et Loisir)

(Bershka)

Now for news that will excite those who, like me, enjoy reading fashion blogs. I am currently following 20+ fashion blogs, thanks to Bloglovin (seriously, a savior in the blogging world!), and have been marking down the number of times each blog has posted something that caught my interest. So, tomorrow I will be posting a list of my "Top Blogs", and I do recommend that everyone interested should check out the blogs that I am going to put up.

Finally, yesterday's outfit, let me know what you think!

Top: Zara

Shorts: New Look

Necklace: Henry's Handmade

Shoes: Sport et Loisir

Bracelet: Diva at Miss Selfridge

"Fashion is very important.

It is life enhancing and, like everything that gives pleasure,

it is worth doing well." - Vivienne Westwood

Crown Outlets, Alexander McQueen and Wikifashion

What is the greatest find for those who are looking to buy more for less? Any store or event that includes the word “outlet”! Luckily, Crowne Plaza in Hamra (the hotel that Roadsters is in) is giving us just that, for 3 days.

The clothes that are going to be available are from the spring summer collections, and include brands like:

•          Bebe
•         Fred Perry
•          Hollister-California
•          Juicy Couture
•          Ed Hardy
•          Christian Audigier
•          Abercrombie & Fitch
•          True Religion

They guarantee prices of at least 50% less than the original price. The open house will be taking place in Crowne Plaza Hotel (1^st floor) on Friday 30^th April (11am – 10pm), Saturday 1^st May (11am – 10pm), and Sunday 2^nd May (11am – 7pm).

Remember, this is an open house event, not a store. So if anyone is interested, make sure you catch it on any of the three dates. I think it would be interesting to look around and see. The beauty of shopping is that even in a sea of clothes that could never be worn there will always be that one piece that fits you perfectly. So go check it out!

I have 2 news items before I end. The first is a sneak peek at Alexander McQueen’s Fall 2010 shoes, only 3 of them are being shown, but they are definitely worth the look. As usual his genius came into play when designing these shoes, it’s so sad to know that his designs came to an end so soon. Here are the shoes. (Thank you for bringing this to my attention, you know who you are!)

The other piece of news is this: Wikifashion.

I’m sure just about everybody in the world is familiar with Wikipedia. Well, now we have something called Wikifashion! To quote the main page would be the perfect way to explain what this site is here for:

“Wikifashion is a project created for and by the fashion community. It is where you can find and catalogue anything fashion related, such as blogs, style icons, brands, and magazines. You can start contributing or editing existing articles by creating an account.”

So, to all the other fashion bloggers or fashion followers, if you would like to see this unlimited supply of fashion resources, sign up and contribute a little. A little bit from everyone will eventually build one of the best fashion encyclopedias online!

And finally, here is yesterday’s outfit!

Sweater: Warehouse

Top: Topshop

Pants: Dorothy Perkins

Shoes: Sport et Loisir

Watch: Toy Watch

Bracelet: Cream

"Fashion is never in crisis because 

clothes are always necessary." 

- Achille Maramotti

Day 3: Saifi Village... and a little extra.

I went to Saifi Village yesterday, for some reason every time I go there I can't help but smile. I think it's all the colours in the stores that I go into! My first stop was Cream, I absolutely love that store. Unfortunately I had put myself on a budget before I went there, because I really shouldn't be buying any more things at the moment, but I did buy 2 small items. If you love bright colours, weird designs, and things that will make you stand out, then Cream is where you should be shopping. It's very funky and up to date with the latest trends. It's technically a high-street fashion store, so the prices are a little but over the average, but the pieces are worth the buy. Along with all the wearables, they sell books and magazines that they feel appeal to their customers. It's a great place to go and check out.
I bought a bracelet from there. I also bought a book, despite all the negative comments among a sea of a 50-50 "yes/no" divide, I wanted to decide for myself whether or not I like the book "Why Men Marry Bitches".

My next stop was a store called Sun Flowers. It's technically the same idea as Cream, very bright colours and unique pieces. There was one thing that stood out for me there though, clutches in bright colours with metal plates of Arabic calligraphy on them. They are beautiful!! I will be going back for one when I've had a long enough break from shopping, haha. I think everyone should go and see these clutches, they're really great.

Now for some news. Due to an overflow of exams, presentations, and projects, I may not be able to check out stores on a daily basis. So, my shopping guide will be spread out rather than come one after the other. Because of this, I'm adding something new that will ensure a daily post from me. A new mission along with this one, except this mission is called:  Mission Dress to Impress. This mission consists of me taking a picture of my every day outfits and sharing them with all of you. The two reasons I am doing this is as follows:

1. I do not want to slack off when it comes to this blog!
2. I feel like my style is getting too plain and boring, and this will motivate me to spice it up!

So, I will leave you with yesterday's outfit, and come back for more tomorrow!

Thursday, 22nd April, 2010.

Blazer: Zara

Tank top: New Look

Harem pants: Topshop

Shoes: New Look

Necklace: Freedom at Topshop

"When a person is in 

fashion, all they do is right."

- Lord Chesterfield

(No more "tweet your comment" link... because I fixed my comment box!)

New Wardrobe Arrived!

After a long, long wait, my clothes have finally arrived!
Despite the fact that not everything I specifically ordered was available, I trusted my mother's taste in clothes and was right to do so. I fell in love with every single piece.
Also, along with my clothes came my camera charger which I forgot back home in February. So now, there will be a lot more pictures to go along with all the writing.

Here is my new wardrobe

Top: Topshop

Shorts: H&M

Dress: Topshop

Overall Dress: River Island

Top: Zara

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

Top: Zara

Vest: Topshop

Pants: Topshop

Dress: Xanaka

Necklace: Freedom at Topshop

Bracelet: Diva at Miss Selfridge

(I'm not sure where this piece is from, but will update when I do!)

Sunglasses: Mirror Lens from Ray Ban

I hope you enjoyed that just as much as I did !!

"The only rule is don't be boring 

and dress cute wherever you go. 

Life is too short to blend in." - Paris Hilton

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Day 2: Hamra

Alright., so I went back to look for those unnoticed stores I was raving about in my post yesterday.

The first one was the dress shop. I personally bought a dress from there in Christmas, and it was beautiful. The quality isn't bad at all, of course it isn't the best, but it isn't bad for a dress that will probably be worn while clubbing, and is therefore prone to getting cigarette burns and vodka stains on it. I got it for only LL 50,000 which was a really good deal for the dress. This place is right next to Nando's on Hamra, and it's called Vittoria.

The next shop was the one that blew my mind. I went back yesterday and was slightly disappointed. Half of the store was filled with fake Louis Vuitton and Chanel purses, which means that you can't really ensure that the quality of the pieces they have will be any good. However, the fluorescent purses that I mentioned yesterday were going for $100 whereas the "better quality" ones (I guess) were going for about $200-$300. So if you don't mind carrying it around for only one season, it's worth buying it from this store. They also have a lot of cute bracelets with leather straps. I think that everyone should at least check it out once, because if you look hard enough you'll definitely find something you like. This store is located across the street from Marrouch, but a little further down from it, it's called Lolita Bijoux.

And that is Hamra street covered. Tomorrow there will be a special post concerning an entire new wardrobe which I will be receiving today (FINALLY!!!) and after that I will continue my shopping guide, next target: Saifi Village.

"Anyone can get dressed up and glamorous, but it is how people dress on their days off that are the most intriguing." 

- Alexander Wang

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Day 1: Hamra

Yesterday I took a walk down Hamra street, looking at all the different stores that were there. I did see a few that I liked, some were the cliche stores that everyone enjoys going to, and others were not as noticed.

A store that I feel all girls should go to is Pieces. It's an accessory shop that everybody in Lebanon should know, since it's the jewelry that is usually found in Vero Moda, except now they have an entire section for themselves. They have a lot of cute things for very affordable prices. I bought myself a waist belt with a little ribbon in the middle for only LL 25,000... so worth it!

Of course, then comes H&M. I worked at H&M for around 2 months in the summer of 2007 (outside of Lebanon), and when I had gone to H&M here during its first month of being open, I noticed that a lot of the items were old season pieces that they were trying to get rid of. Now, though, it is finally in-sync with the branches abroad and are up to date with the latest collections. Again, they have very affordable prices for pieces that are practical to have for every day wear.

Further down Hamra, I saw a few unknown stores that caught my eye. These stores are the kind that you have to go to with a bucket of patience, because you might go through an entire rack of dresses that you would never think of wearing, and finally come across an absolutely beautiful piece. Today, I am going to take yet another stroll down Hamra street and devote my attention to those places, what they're called, and where they're exactly located.

Another store I enjoy going into is towards the end of Hamra street and onto Sadat Street. If you walk up that street, slightly forward from Mashrou7a, there's a little boutique called Catwalk. They frequently change their window display, and every time I walk by there's always a dress that I'm interested in. The price range is reasonable, with dresses averaging at the price of $100. So if you're looking for a dress to wear at night for a dinner or party, Catwalk would be a great place to look.

Finally, the store that blew my mind. I had done my shopping and was walking around, not paying attention to the stores, until I saw THE store. The only problem is this: I cannot remember the name of the store! I do remember where it is though, so I am taking the responsibility of going back today, getting the name of the store and taking my time looking around in there. It is a little hole in the wall in from of Marroush, and I did not expect to see the pieces that were available there. Everything was so bright and so fresh. They had the bright fluorescent coloured shoulder bags that you can just sling on across your chest (going for $100 each). From the window I also saw a lot of interesting jewelry and clutch purses. Seeing as this has been my longest description of a store in this post, it is obvious how excited I got when I found it. I am dragging myself back down there today for a more detailed post about it (along with all the other unknown stores that I mentioned earlier) tomorrow.

In conclusion, it doesn't really seem like it from the outside, but dig deep within Hamra and you will find stores you had never noticed existed. Check back tomorrow for a post on unnoticed stores in Hamra.

"Every day is a fashion show 

and the world is your runway."

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Mission: Where to Shop

I had become accustomed to leaving all of my shopping for when I go back home. I usually travel back from Beirut, do all my shopping for the upcoming season, and come back. This year came as a shock to me, as I was not able to fly back home to do my spring shopping. Because of this, I am going on another mission.

One of the advantages of shopping back home is that I can shop with my mother, and therefore I did not really limit my purchases to essential pieces that can be worn more than once in different ways. So, when I tried shopping here on my own, it was a complete disaster. Over the next two days, I am going on Mission: Where to Shop. I am going to cover Hamra street and Saifi Village, in search of shops with items that university students like myself can make use of.

I will be looking for single affordable pieces that can be worn multiple times and can be manipulated into a number of different looks, along with looking for pieces that I feel are "must-haves". In short, my next two blog posts will be shopping guides for university students in Lebanon, suffering from the "shopping confusion" disease. I feel like somebody should take on this responsibility, and since I have gone through this disease and know how heartbreaking it can be for shopaholics, I am going to carry this responsibility.

Stay tuned for shopping updates, and a special blog post on Wednesday (details about this later).

"I don't do fashion, I am fashion."

- Coco Chanel

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Mission: Accomplished

I went on my hunt for a dress today, and I found one! It was in the store Fifth Avenue in Le Mall. There were so many beautiful dresses, and for all kinds of occasions. To me, the number of really nice dresses overcame the number of dresses that weren't so great, and that's hard to find these days. It's a great store for evening dresses, so if anyone has an occasion coming up, I really suggest Fifth Avenue.
I'm having my dress altered so I'll be posting pictures when it's ready.

Cream - Saifi Village

Before going to Le Mall, I went to Saifi Village. During the summer, I had heard about Cream, a really interesting boutique. I kept trying to find out where it was, never did find out, and forgot about it. Today, I finally found it thanks to a friend of mine who thought I'd be interested in the store. I absolutely loved it. I was in a rush, so I only looked at evening dresses, but I'm going back tomorrow morning to look around more. It was so colourful, I couldn't help but smile the entire time I was in there!



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Reiss

I know I have been quite inactive lately, but that can be blamed on university. I am going to commit myself a tad more to this blog though. I actually felt useless while inactive.

Now that I've said that... on to the fashion related news. I have been looking for a dress to wear at my cousin's wedding, and couldn't find much. The dresses I tried on were either too long, didn't look as good as they did on the hanger, or weren't in my size.

I was planning on continuing my search for a dress on Saturday, and still might, but my mother sent me a picture of a dress that she thought would look nice.

         

Reiss

Apparently it's not as nice in the picture as it is in real life. I like the colour, and since the wedding is going to be in the summer it'll go good with a tan and gold accessories. I'm going to have it shortened, also. According to my mum, the colour looks more like an orange-pearl colour, so I'm excited to see it.

I'm still going to be looking around for dresses though, so I have a feeling either a dress post is coming up, or a rant about how I can never find any dresses!

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D&G : Beirut Souks

A lot of new stores are opening up in Beirut Souqs, Downtown – Lebanon. It is probably one of my preferred places to go shopping here in Lebanon at the moment. Not only are there a number of new stores setting base there, but the collections are finally in sync with the collections being launched worldwide. So, what exactly does this mean? It means that we are finally receiving what the rest of the world is receiving on time!!!

No more of the late season collections, no more looking for items online and not finding them in the stores in Lebanon. Now, more and more things are available, and I absolutely love it. In honor of these up to date stores, I’m going to dedicate this post to D&G by Dolce and Gabbana.

While Dolce and Gabbana is a more high end designer label, D&G focuses on the more casual aspect of fashion. D&G allows us to buy great pieces designed by Dolce and Gabbana, yet are wearable in everyday life, unlike the more formal and couture items found at Dolce and Gabbana.

Here are some of my favorite D&G pieces

I really like the shade of green here, it's very bright and fresh. The black straps are interesting as well, they give the dress a unique look.

This is just adorable. It's very feminine and I'm loving the ivory colour. This is a skirt that can be dressed up or dressed down, very practical!

I love blazers, and I love bows. I own blazers, bows, and blazers with bows on them. So it's no surprise that this piece caught my eye. I like contrast of the pastel colour and the solid black bow.

This is a very cute, very fun dress. It's something to wear when you have a formal event on a sunny day. It screams "spring is here!".

This might look like an odd choice, but I absolutely love this shirt. It's an over-sized, lace up shirt. It reminds me of pirates, which made it all the more interesting to me. I would love to match a shirt like this with a pair of 

 denim high waist shorts.

Floral Print: My Apology

Alright, so I might have been a little harsh about floral print in my previous post. Now that I’ve calmed down from my shopping disaster, I will take the time to fully explain my feelings towards this trend.

I realized that I wasn’t being completely fair after I had posted a poll about floral print on IFB. Most of the responses were positive ones regarding this trend, and one girl said that she was wearing a floral dress at the moment that she was replying. If so many people are interested in floral, then it can’t be half bad, right?

Now for my explanation: I enjoy floral print under certain conditions (no matter what, criticism must come out of me). If the print is big, then I don’t mind the floral being in bold colours against a darker background. If the print is small, though, I would rather the colours be more neutral and subtle. Here are a few examples of, in my personal opinion, the good and the bad of floral.

This dress is something I would wear. The floral print is big, the colours are very bold, and the background is dark. This, to me, is a great way to pull of floral. Forever 21

This is a little bit too much for me. I don't think I would ever pick something like this up. For me, it's too busy. The flowers are everywhere and there's a splatter of colours, it's a little too intense. H&M

This is what I like to call "boring floral". The print is small and almost blending into itself. The colours are dull and depressing. Other than the cut of the top, there is nothing at all appealing or flattering about it. This is a definite no when it comes to floral. H&M

This is an example of small print that I do like. The floral print is in very neutral colours, the background is a vibrant red, which dominates and overcomes the floral print, taming it even more. The belt is a great way to break the big solid block of pattern. All in all, a very cute dress. Forever 21

I don't particularly like this top. I feel that the colour is too bland, and the flowers are too sparsely scattered for the combination of print size and colour. There's just nothing that stands out to me about this top. Topshop

Now, this print on a skirt or even a day dress would look fantastic. Light colours against a white background, it's very fresh and a great way to wear floral. However, this combination of floral and vintage is not working out at all. For me, a shirt like that is in no need of that much pattern. One of them needs to go! Topshop

That would be my honest opinion about floral print. As I had expected, I did get sucked into the trend. Thankfully, though, it happened with limits.

Spring: A Tragedy for Party People and an Invasion of Floral Print

I have spent most of the past 2 days in stores and shopping malls, on a mission to find a dress for my friend to wear on her 21st birthday. It must have been the most frustrating time I have ever gone shopping. She wasn't the one who was frustrating me though, it was actually all the stores.

I love shopping, and I'm a firm believer of retail therapy, but this week's incident is making me reconsider the joys of shopping, or  rather the joys of shopping for party dresses. I am used to seeing 2 sections in stores, one would carry casual wear and the other would carry the more formal wear. This spring all I saw was this: all the stores were under occupation of floral print, with a few party dresses taken hostage.

I was very excited about nude colours being very in, but I barely saw items in those colours. I was literally stuck in what seemed like a massive, overgrown garden. We found 2 dresses at the most, in each store, that would be seen as acceptable to be worn to an evening event. It seemed like the designers of those stores had completely given up on their partying customers. Store after store we went looking for the perfect dress, and all we found were explosions of flowers on garments.

I don't mind trying new things, and am very open to trying out floral prints, but the amount of floral was ridiculous. I didn't see anything that I would personally pick up and try on. Most of the items looked like something you would buy while farming, so that you don't get your good clothes dirty.

This is my first fashion rant, and I'm hoping that as the season progresses, the collections will get better. But until then, I am going to boycott floral prints (until I finally give in and buy something floral).

Really though, to all the stores around Beirut: more nudes, more formal dresses, and a little less floral print. You know what they say, "less is more".

Grey Is For The Young...?

While checking out the latest news on Style.com, I noticed a new trend that I’m not at all excited about. In fact, I think this will actually be the only trend that I absolutely refuse to get into. For some strange reason, a number of celebrities have decided to get some grey (or silver) dyed into their hair. Some designers even got their models to walk the runway with grey tints in their hair. I don’t understand this, because the last I checked a lot of women were getting their hair dyed to get rid of grey and silver streaks. Now, women who don’t need to worry about grey hairs are encouraging it! Here are a couple of pictures, so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Kate Moss

Pink

Pixie Geldof

Kate Lanphear

Daphne Guiness

What do you all think about it? I personally will never understand the need to dye my hair a colour that it will inevitably turn the older I get. I don’t mind the platinum white on short hair, I think it works… but grey? It’s like encouraging wrinkles to appear prematurely.