#OscarsSoWhite

This post is definitely not what you're thinking based on the title.

(from l-r) Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell, Olivia Wilde in Valentino Haute Couture, Rooney Mara in Givenchy, Priyanka Chopra in Zuhair Murad.

White/Off-White/Cream was definitely my favourite colour of the night at the Oscars 2016. It's not what I'd usually be drawn towards but it was a total winner for me last night. These four ladies above were my definitely favorites. 

-Lady Gaga was sleek and modern in this stunning creation by Brandon Maxwell, zero complaints here. I loved everything about her look, the structure, the drapes of the skirt and of course the fact that is was actually a pant suit. 

-Olivia Wilde was sort of a hit and miss in this Valentino Couture dress. Plunging necklines are always triky, broaching the lines of inappropriate and sexy, personally, I think she pulled it off well (most fashion critics that I read didn't think so). It's not something I would go for for The Academy Awards but I don't think it was a fashion fail, also it's very Daenerys Targaryen. 

-Now for another of my favourites, Rooney Mara, who has not missed a beat in a long, long while. Ever faithful to Givenchy, she pulls off another spectacular creation flawlessly, and can we talk about that makeup?! Perfect fresh faced look, very Audrey Hepburn, love the bold lip. The style of this dress itself is so unique, drawing from various places, the buttoning down the neckline and half way down the dress is very reminiscent of some Middle Eastern Kaftans (see Moroccan and Jordanian style), the cut-out sticks to the ever growing trend, and the lace fabric and high slit are always a classic.

-And for my absolute favourite, my bae, Priyanka Chopra. The only Indian actress present at the Oscars and I couldn't be prouder. Even better is that she's wearing one of my top 3 favourite designers who can rarely do wrong, Zuhair Murad. My girl did me proud in this stunning sheer lace gown. There's really nothing bad for me to say really, I'm still fangirling tbh.

Extremely special shout out to Derek Blasberg and Jessica Alba who both got it spot on. I am so obsessed with Derek's suit, that oxblood colour is EVERYTHING. My weakness, along with just about every other woman I know, is a well fitting suit, so Mr. Blasberg pretty much made all my dreams come true in a well fitting suit in my current favourite colour, 10/10. Jessica Alba pretty much stunned me in this Roberto Cavalli gown. I was surprised at how much I liked this dress as I usually fall hard for the embellished, couture pieces, but this chic flowing gown wowed me with its crisp simplicity and elegance.

I am so upset that I can't find a proper high resolution, full length shot of Elizabeth Banks' gorgeous Ralph & Russo couture gown. I adoreeee the cape dress trend and R & R have some of the best pieces I've ever seen, this dress is so regal, perfect Oscars material.

The whites have done it for me this year. Definitely not my colour of choice and I was taken aback by how much I liked the way these actresses rocked the white. The Oscars were definitely, so white. 

Special attention must be given to how perfect Rachel McAdams and Michael B. Jordan looked together whilst presenting. Can y'all get together and have babies now please? :D Also, big congrats to Leonardo Dicaprio who finally got his Oscar! (Though I'll never be able to stomach watching The Revenant.)

xoxo, Shantilly.

Oui Oui, Paree! Paris Fashion Week!

Forgive me for the wait, it's been a long, hectic past two weeks, I'm literally writing this post from my couch because I'm sick, contracted some weird stomach bug and it sucks. I never thought I'd WANT to go to school until now. Yes, I'm missing school, mainly due to the fear of falling behind. Rule Number One of Law School: Don't ever fall behind. It will kick you in the ass.

On to the post, admittedly this might not be one of the best even though I absolutely adore Paris Fashion Week, it's my favourite of them all. I feel like I didn't get what I wanted out of it, everything was too rushed and I have so much work piling up, I really need to manage my time better. Doing a Literature degree is VERY different from doing a Law degree, Law requires much more of your time to get proper grades, or even to just pass. Of course I took a quick look through of all my favourites (Elie Saab, Givenchy, Balmain, Saint Laurent) and they unsurprisingly did not disappoint, thankfully. So here are my picks from Paris Fashion Week S/S 2015.

BALMAIN

Let's start with my number one favourite fashion house since I got into fashion probably about 7 years ago. Yes, my love affair with Balmain is a longstanding one, even more so now with the incredibly talented Olivier Rousteing at its helm. His work completely blows me away and I'm always in awe of how young he is. Of course, being the person I am, I'm not afraid to criticize, it's part of life, Balmain has always been so high fashion to me until recently seeing the Kardashians dragging it all around is literally painful. Stop, please, I beg of you. Anyway...the gorgeousness:

Definitely my favourite piece of the collection.

ELIE SAAB

Who doesn't like Elie Saab? Seriously? I have yet to meet someone that doesn't. I don't think it needs to be explained why this is so, everything this man creates is perfection. Every single thing. This collection looked like paradise with gorgeous prints and Saab's signature flowy gowns and beautifully structured suits. Did I mention that I love when designers use black in their Spring/Summer collections? (favourite colour alert) especially when they're able to actually pull it off. It was so hard to pick favourites to post on here but I did anyway.

GIVENCHY

Unfortunately, another amazing fashion house hit by the Kardashian disease, at least Kim's wedding dress looked good, not sure about the floral Met Ball disaster, I knew it was downhill from there. Nevertheless, Ricardo Tisci is an amazingly talented man and thus, I still love Givenchy and most things he creates. If I could've uploaded this entire collection here I would've, leather and lace are two of my favourite things in the world and Givenchy just does it so so well. Oh, and, All Black Errythang.

CHLOE

Chloe is one house that over the years I've come to rely on for not straying from their aesthetic, normally this would bore me but they're too damn good at this. Bohemian chic at its best, I especially like the utility looks in between the whimsical ones, let the good times roll.

HAIDER ACKERMANN

Another one of my classic loves. It's hard to hate much about any of Haider Ackermann's collections, I love love loveeeee the structure and drapery of the clothes, also the colour palettes. I would pretty much wear everything in this collection as well. 

This suit gives me life.

ALEXIS MABILLE

Clean, fresh, simple, spring. Adore. 

SAINT LAURENT PARIS

I love Saint Laurent but I much prefer their F/W collections, this one didn't quite do it for me. It was a bit tacky. These were pretty much the only looks that I liked. 

I may add more to this when I actually get time to look through every show in PFW.

xoxo, Shantilly.

MILAN FASHION WEEK FAVES

DISCLAIMER: Once again, none of these photos belong to me, if they do belong to you or someone you know, please alert me and I will provide credit immediately.

On to the second one, Milan Fashion Week! There was a point in time when I was completely and totally obsessed with Italy and everything Italian, especially the fashion, so MFW holds a special place in my heart. The collections I'll be reviewing are the ones that I liked and caught my eye as usual. So first up: 

BLUMARINE

I love the sheer dresses with the floral patterns on them, so summery and pretty, just PRETTY in every aspect of the word.  The second gown being worn by one of my models of the moment, Cindy Bruna is my favourite, definitely gonna take some guts and a super rocking body like hers to pull that one off, nevertheless, it is beautiful. My obsession with leather is never-ending hence, that striped/seethrough/floral piece caught my eye immediately. It's the perfect combination of tough girl meets dainty floral lover.

BOTTEGA VENETA

I've never been a big Bottega Veneta fan but this collection was so lovely I couldn't help it. It's an "Ode to the Dancer," and I think they captured the essence perfectly. It's super chic and simplistic and the muted colours aided in it's execution. Personally I think darker colours would not have done this collection justice as the lighter tones have. These are clothes I can easily picture myself wearing, dressed up or down and that does it in for me, when clothing is that versatile.

THAT BOW.

ROBERTO CAVALLI

Cavalli, Cavalli Cavalli, need I say more? Perfect. Black and Leather, instant love. Not so much a fan of the shoes in this collection but the fantastic clothing makes up for it, and the diversity of the models as well, seeing as that is such a big issue these days in the fashion world (no really, it is). I love the exotic leathers and the black in general but can we talk about that gorgeous, embroidered, cut-out dress on Malaika Firth please? Absolute genius, you can see the art meets fashion on the piece and I think that was what made it my favourite piece from this collection.

DOLCE AND GABBANA

This Spanish influenced Dolce & Gabbana collection as usual, came out swinging with gorgeous patterned fabrics, signature shorts, embroidered and crocheted to perfection. Domenico and Stefano just know how to do it right. But let's talk about hair and makeup, absolutely F L A W L E S S. Deep burgundy/berry lips, muted eyeshadow, and fierce winged liner, ahh! Yes! And the hair, weaved in with roses and D&G's signature statement necklaces, earrings and headpieces made for a show to remember, especially the anticipated finale. Zhenya Katava aka the model in the upclose photo was EVERYTHING. I love her face, I love her everything, can we give her some credit please? Cause Kendall Jenner doesn't deserve half of what she's getting but Zhenya certainly does.

FENDI

Fendi's shoe game was on point, so were their feathers, that gorgeous cutout piece worn by Joan Smalls was my absolute favourite. Beautiful and elegant as always, Karl Lagerfeld did not fall short with this collection, especially the shoes, did I mention the shoes? Yeah, the accessories did more for me with this line than the actual clothing, alas, I do love the feathers.

EMILIO PUCCI

Pucci, always a classic. Those flowy gowns looked very resort-ish but I loved them nonetheless, hey I am from the Caribbean after all. I'm usually not a fan of the tie-dye looking fabrics but these were tastefully done and did you guys see that show? Did you see the fierceness of Empress Naomi Campbell and Queen Natasha Poly stomping down that runway? Natasha was fabulous and fierce and everything she ever was and she's back, I almost squealed. Almost. I was too busy staring with my jaw on the floor. My favourite from the collection though was this perfectly tailored, uniquely coloured tangerine/pumpkin suit. Ondria Hardin, my love, did it justice, how perfect is it though? And I love those oversized sunglasses. If only I could afford this level of fabulousness. One day, one day...

PHILIPP PLEIN

The dresses, oh, the dresses, I loved them so much, the corset top and flared dresses were so very Dior-esque, but with a Plein touch. I really liked this collection I think my affection is self-explanatory when you look at the photos. And wow, Izabel Goulart was totally slaying on the runways this season. My favourite from this collection is the striped, flared dress, that's why it's there twice, because I can ;)

GIAMBA

I think this is one of the collections that I've anticipated the most, the sister line to the almighty couture powerhouse, Giambattista Valli. I was not disappointed and I am so happy I could shed a tear. The collection encompassed many of Valli's main features, whimsical florals, light colours, bold patterning (mainly floral), gorgeous crocheting and oh my gosh those cute tights! Ahh! I loved it all, so sophisticated and everything I would expect from the sister line of one of my favourite haute couture houses. 

Stay tuned for the big guns up next...PARIS FASHION WEEK!

xoxo, Shantilly.