T H E J E T S E T | Release Review

Brand new Jet Set last week, a great surprise and a great collection to be added to our current Plaza offerings. The advertising is great, I love the filtered colouring to the background and I think it sells a modern and range of styles with the very cool-looking models!

Highlights It's the usual one floor release in this store, but it's absolutely packed with so many looks and styles, it's so exciting^ And there's a look for males in this release as well, but it definitely doesn't stand out so impressive as the female choices. I like the continued use of the same interior throughout the store, it adds a nice continuity and this style is a good base for a lot of clothing themes =)

Accessories There's a great range to choose from, but focussed on bags and shoes as there is no jewellery or other additions with this release, but I don't mind so much. There are 4 pairs of shoes, all on the summery theme. The Snakeskin Sandals and Leather Black Sandals are both strappy styled shoes with lower heel heights, which I like. I do think these shoes look much more impressive when you look at them close up, you really get to see the details, but the Leather Black Sandals are definitely the most versatile of the shoes. Then there are the Glitter Platforms, and despite them being silver I just can't love them because of that chunky heel, for me it's one that doesn't work, and I think the shoes could look great without it. Lastly the Faux Fur Sandals, which are flat and actually pretty cute - again I think they look a lot better close up, the fur looks great and the colour is very fresh. There are 3 bags in the store, and they all have great designs - the Celine Inspired Luggage Bag is a modern striped piece, I love the colours and the take on the classic design. Then the Textile Pouch, yet another piece that needs you to zoom in to see those features - the weaving is great and the tone of colours is great for spring and I love the multicoloured zip tassel. Lastly the Belt Bag (the name doesn't work for the piece at all!) which I think has been a favourite among many for the very cool and designer-themed design - I love the overall style of the piece, the size, the sit on the body, and the colour, everything just works for it and I'm excited to wear it!

Clothing Super impressed with the clothing, everything is just on top form^ There's so much to choose from in a great style! There are 3 dresses, all with a darker base for their design, the black and mesh Crochet Black Tunic, a perfect summer piece with the overall design, great for the beach or pool! The Bodycon Stripes Dress and Crochet Dress are more fashion-based - I love these pieces, the first is a great midi dress for spring and summer and will make a great layering piece as a skirt too, the boldness of the blue is fab too, totally what my wardrobe was missing^ And I adore the colours of the Crochet Dress, the navy skirting is fab and the pretty colours on the top are perfect, I love them and I'm so glad they look great on my doll, love the drilling around the arms too, it's an absolutely amazing piece! I also love the trousers on offer in the store, they're pretty fantastic and current - the Cropped Jeans, a culotte style lavender pair of trousers that are so perfect right now. They fit well with the HBs this month and with my Wearing post! The shape and fit of them is great too. Also in jeans are the Rolled Up Blue Jeans, a high waisted straight leg style of denim in a dark wash, they're a surprise piece for me to like, but it's nice to have something just that little bit different in your wardrobe. And of course I like the black High Waist Trouser! They've got an almost velveteen texture, a paperbag waist and a cropped length, they're a flattering pair of trousers and I think they will look good on everyone! There's such a feminine feel to the tops and I love it, they remind me of a few bloggers that I follow^ The Detailed White Blouse has, quite rightly, been an incredibly popular piece. It's in the trendy broiderie anglaise style which is popular and versatile, the overall design is great, I love the tuck to the hem and the frill of the sleeves - it's a solid summer piece! So is the Cotton Knit with those adorable puffed mesh-design sleeves and the high neck, plus the colour, so versatile and the piece will go with so many light pairs of trousers, shorts or skirts! 

Prices Being The Jet Set, this store is an SS-only one, so there is that limitation, the costs range from 12 to 22SD's, which I think is really reasonable for the great styles on offer - not great when you buy everything, it sure adds up quickly, but I think these are some key spring summer pieces!

Styled Outfits I really did buy almost everything from the store! Today (based on the pieces styled in the features below) I've just gone for the dresses in spring summer looks! First up the Crochet Dress, which could really just be worn on it's own because it's so fabulous^ But I paired it up with this yellow over-shoulder jacket because yellow and navy get a thumbs up from me^ The red shoes add another great pop and fit with the colouring on the top half of the dress. Overall it's simple, but it's a classic style! Secondly the Bodycon Stripes Dress which is such a perfect match for this light jacket, they look awesome together^ White accessories look good for a warmer weather look, but darker ones would also suit the dress, maybe for wearing in the autumn. And lastly the Crochet Black Tunic, which I've layered up with a skirt for a more covered style while still showing the meshing in the hem - I think this works really nicely for making the dress more wearable! It's an easy one to accessorise, and they can really transform the piece for either a day or night look =)

Features And the features! I've already shown a couple on the blog because everyone has been loving this collection, but here are 3 more with a focus on the trousers of the release. First up alma1902 wearing the High Waist Trousers in this cool fashion-based workwear look - I love them with the white shirt and the hanging blazer, but the use of the accessories makes it stand out. These mules are perfect and fit well with the tone of the beret and the bag, which has been uniquely styled with belting for added detail, a great idea^

Secondly France25 wearing the Rolled Up Blue Jeans in this cool rebel-esque look using the fishnet blouse, I think it kinda works! I love the red pop with the boots and at the waist too, it definitely works and makes you stop and look at the outfit. Also loving the chunky belt and bag combination, it works out really nicely for the overall style =)

And finally gagapocker going for a more feminine styling with the Cropped Jeans - I love the lace blouse with them, the styles are great together and they fit nicely on the doll! The sunglasses are a perfect addition, tying in well with the jeans. The shoes are great, they are minimal and suit the outfits style, and also loving the pink tone of the lips, it's a perfect beauty addition!

Pink plush

Sugary sweet today with this pastel based feature coming from gagapocker - I just love the infusion of baby pink with denim! I'm a huge fan of pink, these boots work with just about any outfit and they're perfect here with these denim overalls, I think the paler denim of them makes it work out particularly well =) I like the oversized-ness of the sweater and the loose overalls, it's a cool style and looks good here. The bag is perfect here, I love the chic style of it against the casual overalls, and those rose-tinted glasses are a super cute finishing touch =D

C A L L I E S P I C K S | Release Review

This week brought us another Callie's Picks collection, this time with the theme of Pink Ribbon for breast cancer awareness and brought us a whole two floors of goodies with a very lovely pink theme (I love pink, but it's not always a colour I find I can wear well) - so lets take a look at the store!

These two floors are great and absolutley brimming with new pieces for us to get our hands on again! There's a very good mix of items, and not everything is pink, you gotta have something to break it up a little, but I love the range of pinks but am naturally more drawn to paler pieces. There's also a mix between dresses, tops, bottoms and a lot of accessories. I also think there are numerous older classics available with this release, so great to get your hands on if you missed them the first time around. For me the Mami Inspired Top is a fantastic piece to have released and thanks to Callie's Picks recently I've been steadily ticking items off my wishlist! But other great classics include the Open Black Cape, the Dior Couture Black Trousers and the Camel Clutch.

Speaking of accessories the bags are stunning and we're getting a lot of Tribute pieces, so that's wonderful for this release - the Givenchy Ivory Structured Handbag is a timeless piece, and I find myself using it a lot so this opportunity is a good one! With the shoes I wasn't too blown away, the Louboutin Guerrilla Booties are a rock 'n roll choice which I may pick up later, and if you're Royalty then the Fendi Silver Nude Platforms could be a good choice, however they're 32SD's so not entirely an affordable everyday price^

The clothing is pretty decent, I've mentioned my favourite item in the Mami Inspired Top, but there are some other good items among the rest. I have quite a few of the items already and therefore don't need to repurchase, however items which caught my eye include the Ice Pink Robe and the Monique Jumper, both of which are pale/nude and I think could be styled well to stand out or to fit nicely in with the rest of your wardrobe.

Prices of this release range from 8 to 45 SD, with more items really priced in the late teens/early twenties and the few fabulous Tribute accessories in the upper end of the scale. So yeah, some things are a little pricey for what you're getting, but a lot of the Tribute items were in those price brackets when originally in the store, so it maybe should be a little expected.
Anyways, here's a couple of stylings with the pieces I bought in the release:

Firstly the Mami Inspired Top, which I think I covered a little too much with my seasonal looks! Tried to keep it quite light with whites and pinks and lilacs in my looks, I think it looks great with that Lavender Alpaca Coat^

Secondly the Monique Jumper, which I've found is a perfect base for pretty much most looks! The colour is perfect for the season when wearing browns and reds, and I think it would fit nicely into my latest Wearing post =) I particularly love my first look with the use of the Beckham Bell Bottoms.
Lastly a quick feature - gagapocker looks sooooooo amazing and chic styling the Ice Pink Robe, this is totally how awesome I want to look wearing it^

What do you guys think of this release? Pleased to get some of these pieces back? Let us know in comments^

O R I G I N A L F U T U R E | Release Review

Last week brought us a new Original Future release. The homepage ad has a very funky modern feel to it with all those colours, not something I'd classically go for, but often I find Original Future releases can be full of surprises, so let's check out the store:

There's actually quite an abundance of grey items in this release, which I think do stand out well amongst the rest - which have quite an orange-y theme about them, particularly based around the Orange Jersey Dress which is like this releases version of the Minimalist Jersey Dress. Anyways, I love the grey (and versions of grey, i.e. the black and white) clothing in the store and I think with these additions to the release it makes me want to buy pieces from the store. There's also a good variety of items, tops, bottoms, dresses, and a couple of pieces for guys too which are always welcomed. There's also a small selection of accessories - with this I really wasn't impressed at first, but after taking a closer look at the Plexiglass Earrings, I actually really like them, they have a super cool two-part body which is half wood and half perspex, and they're very original for earrings in the plaza, so I'm super happy I took a closer look! Other accessories like the Chunky Knit Beanie and the Chunky Knit Scarf are definitely geared towards a certain taste, it's just not mine and so I won't be purchasing them.

Back onto the clothing, I think quite a lot of the pieces look good and promising on the hanger, but then I definitely feel differently once they're on my doll. I really liked the look of both the Draped Jersey Sweater and the Draped Jersey Vest, but they don't quite look as good when they're on my doll I don't think. A piece I'm on the fence about is the Furry Bomber - it has a great look and it works alright on my doll, I'm just thinking about how often I would wear it. Maybe it'll be a piece I'd buy in a sale though. The piece I'm most impressed with is the Casual Sweater, which will probably be this collections big purchase for most people! And I think it's in perfect time for fashion week (or month really!) as it's the sort of piece I envision people dressing up really well despite it being aptly named with 'casual'. It's also a good autumn winter piece that I looked forward to styling^

The price range seems a little high for a fairly regular release like this, going from 8 to 19SD's, with most pieces above 14SD's, so not really the most affordable collection in my opinion. Which is probably why I really thought about it and only purchased 3 items - the aforementioned Plexiglass Earrings and Casual Sweater, but also the Margiela Inspired Apron Dress, most definitely an unusual purchase for me, but I really like it and really wanted to give a go styling it after seeing all these great FW street style looks which are packed with inspiration for looks =D

Firstly the Plexiglass Earrings, which I stuck to a pretty blue and white look for and I think works effectively for them.Particularly love my first look with them, their light blue shade really stands out against the dark blue of the Navy Silk Blazer.

Secondly the Margiela Inspired Apron Dress, my first look I'm not sure about, I wanted to take into account the ties at the waist on both, but it's not working quite how I was thinking! Love the second and third looks though, very autumnal I think, and the Hotbuys Tirol Sweater is a great match^

Finally the Casual Sweater, which I feel like I've tried to dress up a little^ I like it with the bright yellow skirt, but I think I am torn between the second and third looks as to which is my favourite. It's another piece that goes well with the Tirol Sweater, but it looks totally amazing with the all white look on the end - what do you guys think?

And very finally, some quick features, glass3 looks fabulous in that awfully risque High Slit Jersey Tank, not a piece for me, but I adore it with those sneakers and some Chanel, such a fab combination:

Next CandyStarSmile4 has worn the Furry Bomber in a pretty formal look, I love it combined with the slight sparkle in the trousers, and it looks great with the grey even though it's got similar shades and may blend with the tones:

Finally in the features, another two wearing the Casual Sweater! Both Miver and Gagapocker have styled it with pale jeans, and it looks awesome in both, with either colours from the green, or neutral tones from the sheer tee. And these two look fab in the new Tress Up hairs!

Double denim

Loving this super styled country-esque look from gagapocker in todays feature! Double denim can often look pretty good in my opinion and I totally love this combination^ Plus the rest of the look is super fashionable with this Chanel blazer and glamorous bag and earrings which both bring great style. Also love the simplistic makeup and sleek hairstyle - totally working it =)