C A L L I E S P I C K S | Styled By Me / / Styled By You

Callie's Picks 137 brought us an interesting collection of pieces with the theme 'Love Story' - I'm not sure what sort of story this is because there's a whole range of pieces available in this store, which are all older Hotbuys pieces. For a February/Valentines theme some focus February Hotbuys may have been a good idea. But still, the collection has some nice pieces included. Before my own stylings, a feature, mrv93 styles up the Citrus Stud Belt which is a fun neon piece that I'm not sure I've seen styled in a long time! This jacket looks amazing with the belt, the colour is spot on with the trim of the belt and layering more neon green to match with the polo is perfection, what a set of pieces! I also love the addition of this train to the jacket, what a glamorous way to style it. The shoes and one of the bags are a perfect neon fit got the styling and I think the brown trousers work very nicely as a neutral component to the green, plus I love the purple touch in there too^

I actually had quite a number of pieces from this release already, one which I've used quite a bit over the years, the Hotbuys Golden Resort Purse which is such a sweet piece and I can really recommend, and others which I've not styled so much. So first up is the Bilbao Dotted Maxi Dress which has already been re-released into Archive which is where I picked up mine from and I don't think I've styled it before. It's for sure a challenging piece, it's not easy to layer with any other clothing items because there's a lot to the shape with the ruffling and the mixed patterns, and also I want to show those off! I did try out some blue heels which I love with the dress, but for a bag I had better options in red so I switched to some red boots and I'm very pleased with the outcome, I think these pieces work so well together =) I was also able to find some perfect earrings for the look, this red and navy pair are perfect for the dress, I love it! Next up is the HotBuys Brooch Jacket which I've had for such a long time and perhaps styled only once or twice. It's another tricky one to style, the purple is really quite bright which I think is where I struggle. I used blacks and whites for this one which I think works well with the design on the piece. I added some glamour in the bag and I think it suits the styling very nicely. But something isn't quite right with the look, I don't quite love it yet, so need some more time with this one for sure. And the final piece, the HotBuys Gucci Inspired Gown which came out back in April 2016 and has managed to cling on in my wardrobe for that long despite the fact that I rarely wear gown pieces, I'm glad I still have this one though =) I've worn this a few times and think I've always styled it quite similarly and as a skirt rather than a dress, which is much easier for me to work with. This time I've gone for something warm, I love this sweater with the dress, the colours are pretty much perfect together and the base of pink allowed me to focus on some of those additional colours for accessories - I opted for red but the perfect green would also look fabulous (I just didn't have the right pieces to work with the green). These are simple sandals and I love the floral earrings I've used, I think they're spot on for the styling =)

W I L D C A N D Y | Styled Outfits

To be honest I'd kind of forgotten about the Wild Candy store in the Plaza, for me it doesn't generally bring a lot of memorable pieces that I return to a lot. This recent release was certainly more impressive than most! I picked up a couple of pieces to try out:

First up is the Onesleeve Top Black which is a bodysuit with a fun cutout design, that of course had to be shown off in my look. I think the piece looks pretty dressy which is great, and my first thought with it was that I wanted to pair it with this yellow Dior skirt, the two are fab together^ The yellow colour really catches the eye but the top really stands out with its detail. I kept the finish simple, love these pointed mule heels with the look, thought they were a nice balance with the top, and a yellow bag was a must, this one is super cute here! Next up are the Boots Biege which I just thought were great as soon as I'd seen them - I just know they will be great to style and I think they will suit a lot of people! I had set aside this sweater as a piece to remember to style, not intending to wear it with these boots, but I love the combination. The beige tones work so nicely together - I did try and add a beige pair of trousers but nothing quite worked out nicely with the style of the sweater, so I opted for this smart black pair, I love this outfit a lot! The rest of the accessories are super simple on the beige theme and I think they balance well against the black in the look, I'm really pleased with this one =)

V I N Y L B L A C K T R O U S E R S | Styled By Me / / Styled By You

Our last VINYL release was also full of re-colours, with a whole floor of pieces now coming in a wide range of colours - there's a little for everyone here with both neutral and brights and a range of pieces to choose from. For me there was just one piece I was interested in, the Black Trousers. These originally came in White but now you can pick them up in Black, Beige and Red which I think is a good selection for this style of trouser and I'm quite tempted to also buy the beige pair^ I also spotted Millaxx styling these trousers up and I loved it, the style of them really works nicely to pair well with trainers, the length and draping of the leg is perfect to frame the shoes and I really love the outcome of this pairing. The mix of smart and casual is perfect here, the neat black overcoat works well with all aspects, the crop top also looks pretty cute here. The Dior-esque bag adds quite a glamorous touch along with the long locks - I really love this styling a lot =) For my styling I wanted to also work with trainers, but I think I'll save that for another time to showcase these trousers in a different way. I found a lot of black tops and blouses that looked great with the trousers, but once I'd tried this old sweater at the end of my wardrobe I couldn't forget about it, I love it a lot and it needs more attention! It works well here because it's also got a black lining in the detail, with the white overcoat it helps the red from being too much and I think all the colour balance very nicely. I stuck with a little white in the accessories and I think these help to frame the trousers nicely in the look. I decided on some sleek sandals, these square toes look great with the trouser leg design - I'm so excited about this styling =D

Inspired By Balenciaga C O A T S | Styled Outfits

Ok, I promised this post would come in my Balenciaga review - I bought all the coats and now I'm styling them! I think the coats from this collection were pretty popular and I love seeing that, outerwear is for sure one of my top categories of clothing. First up is the Balenciaga Inspired Trench W, which I think is a great Spring and Autumn piece, they're the seasons I associate most with trench coats, and actually I think it's a category of coat I've never styled up on my doll or had in my wardrobe before. I started out this styling a little differently by looking for a bag to wear first, I wanted something brown-toned that would pair well with the buttons on the coat, now I failed in that task but I did love how this little bucket bag looked paired with a more casual piece like this coat, and the base colour of each worked very nicely together. It was quite fun to work with an accessory already in the styling then moving to clothes. I stuck pretty simple but it works complementary to the bag which also has beige tones in it. Such a simple look but one I really love^ Second is the Balenciaga Inspired Oversized Blazer, which is the most 'out there' piece for me, it's a little out of my comfort zone for sure but I was quite keen to give it a try! I actually ended up with a couple of looks to choose between for this piece, I'm pleased I was able to find a number of items which looked good with it as that was definitely one of my worries. I loved this skirt for the blue splash of colour right in the middle that is a good colour-match to the blazer. The rest of the pieces were easy to put together, I love black paired with blue and the little black details in the skirt print stand out nicely too with these accessories added. I think this piece will work well year-round and I have a few fun ideas for Summer stylings already =) And last but not least, the Balenciaga Inspired Suede Coat. This is the coat from the release that I've seen styled the least, I however loved styling it and think it works well with quite a few of my favourite clothing items. This is a classic Autumn/Winter coat, so I think I'll try and get another wear or two out of it before the Spring. I tested this piece out with various belts to add to the already cinched waist, they do look good, but at the same time this piece looks great without that addition. I knew I wanted to add other brown tones to the look and I'm really pleased with how these trousers work out. With other very simple and neutral additions the suede texture of the piece really gets the full focus it deserves in a styling - another look I really love!

I T G I R L S | Original v. Recolour

Our most recent IT GIRLS release brought us another set of re-coloured items of which I was happy to pick up a couple - I thought instead of just styling these new pieces it would also be fun to style up the original item and see how the two compare:

Original: I've had these Simple White Denim jeans for some time and have worn them quite a lot since their release in May 2017 (!!!) - they're an easy piece to style and they look good with so many different items of clothing. I've worn them less recently as I've gone off denim a little, but these are a staple white jean to have in my wardrobe, the straight leg and high waist fit it spot on! There are so many ways to wear these, this time I opted for this bold blue shirt with matching accessories along with a classic white blazer - there really are so many options but I'm feeling the blue right now^ 

Re-colour: The 'new' Simple Black Denim jeans have brought another classic to my wardrobe, a good pair of black straight leg jeans with a high waist. Whilst the raw hem won't always be what I want to include in a styling, I made use of it in this one and it really pops against these yellow boots. This tee has been catching my eye in my wardrobe the last few weeks so I wanted to try it out in a styling, these jeans seemed a good fit. I kept it more Winter-ready with the polo underneath but I think it works out well with the black font on the print. The rest of the look is simple with black added in the jacket and bag, and I love how these yellow sunglasses look against the bag. I'm sure I'll be wearing these again in no time!

Original: This is the HotBuys Printed Skirt which came out in January 2019 in such a fun set of Hotbuys, however I didn't style it until I revisited the collection - I have attempted it and given up a few times, I do find it a trickier piece to style but for this post, I really enjoyed working with it. Trying it with this overcoat was perfect for me, it's completely fitting with my current style vibes and I find with the coat covering some of it, it was much easier to style and I love this look! I decided on a white and black styling, and I'm very pleased with it, I think the added black in the top and the solid white of the coat really makes that printed panel of the skirt stand out in the styling. The accessories are classic pieces, but the bag adds a touch of fun, I really love in there. This look has definitely inspired me to try out this skirt more often!

Re-colour: There are a couple of different colour options for this 'new' piece, I've opted for the Printed Skirt Orange because I thought it would be a super fun Summer piece and this is exactly the sort of style I like in the Summer. This was so fun to style and I found quite a few tops and accessories that I liked with it, so I'm looking forward to wearing it again already. To pair in with the first look I opted for a white shirt, I like this one in particular as I like the twisted design on the front with the gathering of the skirt. I'm so glad these shoes worked out as a perfect colour match for the skirt, again the bow really works well with the skirt gathering, I love these two together^ All I'm lacking is the perfect pair of orange sunglasses for this one =)

I N S P I R E D B Y V I V I E N N E W E S T W O O D | Styled By You / / Styled By Me

Our next Tribute released this season was Vivienne Westwood, this is a brand that I don't particularly look at the collections from, or even think to look at, it's just not my style. So I wasn't surprised that the pieces in this release really weren't items I was interested in buying. I have picked up one piece to try out, but it's not worth a full review post, and I think a lot of people felt the same way about this store as there weren't many dolls styling up these pieces when I went looking for features. I've found a few though and I do think these are pretty great =D First up is DIORian styling the Westwood Inspired Corset Blue and Westwood Inspired Pearls in this very creative way, I really like how it looks! The blue pops so well against the white, and even with other blue pieces in the styling, the tartan design holds its own and stands out well. I love the contrast of the tartan with the delicate lace blouse beneath, the shoulder detail is great and helps draw attention to that part of the styling. I love the accessories added in the look, the jewellery all looks great together and I think the socks with the mules are a quirky but cute touch, I think it works nicely^

Next up is kiedis who wears the Westwood Inspired Tee Black in this very cool styling. What I particularly loved was the pairing of the top with these trousers, the two have the same vertical ribbed detail and really look like a set. I also love the use of the tights, love the sheer effect at both the feet and the waist, it's really effective in the styling. The pieces have been added to well, this jacket is pretty stand out but the open design leaves for the top to be highlighted, and it still stands out against those cool shoulder details. Also love the belting, that's a very nice touch to the look =)

And for my stylings, the piece I bought was the Westwood Inspired Tee Black, perhaps the most minimal piece in the collection. I do like the idea of some of the other pieces, but how they look on the doll just didn't work out for me. So I've styled up two looks with the Westwood Inspired Tee Black - at first I was a bit worried that I'd be able to go for two quite differently styled looks, but I did and I'm quite impressed with myself, haha! First up a more casual styling, I wanted to make sure the hem design of the shirt was on show which definitely needs a lighter colour on the bottom. The style of these trousers worked really well and I think the two pieces go nicely together. Since styling some trainers in another recent post I wanted to try them out again and I really thought this was a great opportunity, and I'm really pleased with the outcome of that pairing! I chose this specific pair for their white base but also their black details, the brown tones made a perfect opportunity for adding in the accessories and I just adore this bag added to the styling, really it's so perfect in there and I love this look as something different for me =D Next up is perhaps more 'classic me' and this outfit came together very quickly and was super easy to do. I wanted to try something striped to make use of that detail in the top, and I just loved how this skirt looked and fitted with the vibes of the top - I quite like the black and navy pairing, and actually the navy is quite dark, so the colour difference isn't too obvious. I went with black for the accessories and I think the pieces work very nicely with the clothing combination. It's smarter than the first look and I think shows that this top has more versatility than I was first expecting, I'm quite glad I bought this now!