♡ Vintage florals and victorian gardens ♡

When I think of some of my favourite summer days, I always associated with being outdoors amongst nature. The smell of freshly cut grass, the glorious sight of all the beautiful flowers in bloom with all the beautiful colours, the sounds of wind blowing through the trees...it's a magical time when every seems so lush and full of life. Its an ideal time to really make the most of what nature has to offer and get inspired from all the magnificent beauty the summer brings. 

I recently visited the delightful victorian gardens at Pollock Park to shoot with Kirsty-Anne of Kaizi Photography. This was our very first collaboration and I'm very excited to share some of beautiful images she captured while we were there enjoying the summer gardens and the glorious sunshine. Here are some of the images from the shoot. I'm wearing one of favourite pretty floral vintage inspired dress I've had in my wardrobe for a very long time and I got it from a from Glorious in West End but I don't know the brand.  All hair, make-up and styling by me!

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Inspirational Temple Trip

Sorry for the lack of posts this month, things have been really busy and I've been working on getting some other projects, visiting home and life just gets in the way sometimes but what can you do...! I wanted to share my trip to beautiful Temple and Monastery, Samye Lings as it was so inspirational both aesthetically and personally. The colours, shrines, temple, gardens and the architecture were so beautiful. I want to create shoot influenced from everything I came across when I visited last month, it's truly an amazing gem tucked away in the countryside in Dumfries and Galloway. 

I would recommend anyone to visit and you'll want to go back. Having never been to Tibet or Asia it is so wonderful to experience the spirit of the that part of the world. The use of colour, design, architecture, art, sculpture was a visual feast it will stay with me and continue to inspire my future creative endeavors. I'm so happy to had the pleasure to visit, if you have the time take a trip there! Have a great week and don't forget to visit The Chic Guide on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and like, share and follow.

The cafe was so beautiful, so inspired by the beautiful colours, patterns and space

One of the many utterly beautiful statutes, shown in the brightly against the gray sky

The doors to the temple

From every angle it's mesmerising

One of the entrances...

The cafe

Pretty handmade crafts from Tibet, there were so many wonderful crafts and pieces

Offering the tree a helping hand

The herb garden was so lovely

The outside of the temple was awe inspiring

LouLou's Vintage Fair

Pretty polkadot dress

Sunday morning are always my lazy sleep in days but I woke early and decided popped into LouLou's Vintage Fair to check out the event as I'd not been before and see what it was like. Also I genuienly love any excuse to go look at vintage trinkets, clothes and anything of that nature! You never know what treasures await at vintage events and fairs so I like to try and go along when I can. I went early before the crowds began to come in as I want first glance at everything there and there was lots of goodies! The entry fee of £2 was extremely reasonable as I've been to other vintage fairs and paid more but that's not to say that they weren't worth but I just don't like paying anything above £4 if there are just clothing stalls personally so it was good that it was so unexpensive to get in!

The format for LouLou's Vintage Fair was very similar to Judy's Vintage Fair if you have ever been to one of their events. Tea, coffee, cakes were served while the dj played vintage tunes. There was also a vintage hair stylist and jewellery maker of VivaLaLux so if you fancied getting pin-curled, some victory rolls, betty bangs or any vintage style you could simply popped over, relax and get a new vintage style do! I loved that there was a vintage hair stylist and it would be great for folk attending if you could get your make-up done too as I know lots struggle with winged liner and vintage make-up but I didn't see anyone there but maybe there was later in the say?

Adorable Retro inspired Jewellery

To be honest though, I was more interested in the clothes, accessories and homewares to stop for tea and cake but maybe I will next time!  I was looking for some interesting pieces to inspire me and items for my Spring/Summer wardrobe. I have been lusting over accessories on instagram and esty lately so I wanted to find some cute brooches, pins and hair flowers as they can really transform any look into something extra special.  To my delight while I was walking around the fair I came across VivaLaLux brand picture above have a beautiful range of hand crafted retro inspired jellewery and hair flowers. All the sparkles and vivid colours caught my eye so I was super excited to browse through the many pretty items they had on display. After much browsing I came back and decided to treat myself to a hair flower and cherry brooch, it's so pretty and the lily hair flower also has cherries and a fan attached which I can wait to wear out very soon.

Pretty Pastel Shades

I'm always on the hunt for a new pretty dress and I was super excited to see some of my favourite vintage reproduction brands such as Hell Bunny, Lindy Bop and Collectif Clothing and Banned Clothing, (I'm sure there were more I just can't remember all of them!) which being sold as while I love vintage but I've found recently it's proving  difficult to find vintage dresses or skirts in smaller sizes so vintage reproduction or retro inspired collections are great for modern fit but with vintage cut and design. I fell in love with these pretty pastel dresses from the polka dots to the florals I would happily have taken on of each so I had to snap them to share with you.

They're as pretty in the flesh as they are pictured but alas I wasn't buying this time but I think I will have to get my hands on at least one of these dresses for summer...I just won't tell my other half! I love the mint green polka dot dress from Hell Bunny, it looks like the perfect day dress for casual summer outings or I'd wear it to work with a cardigan and some ballet flats. I adore the baby blue dress from Lindy Bop also, it's slightly more dressey and figure hugging for some summer cocktails!  

There were lots of other great vintage sellers some were very reasonable. It was great there was a nice mix of era's as I'm fond of 40's, 50's & early 60's clothes not so much on the whole 80's and 90's fascination at the moment, I guess if you remember the clothes and that era it's never as fun? Well not that I really remember the 80's as that was before my time but the 90's yes and I'm not a fan as I prefer more classic girly vintage and less grunge these days...however I still think Kurt Cobain is hot! There was something for most tastes at LouLou's Vintage for me there could have been a couple more sellers as the space was so big it looked a bit empty in parts but on the whole I would say it's well worth a visit and it's so positive to support local crafts people and vintage sellers so if there's a LouLou's Vintage Fair near you go and bring some friends, have tea, cake, get some victory rolls and pick up a treat! Here's some more photo's from Sunday. If you have an event or know of fun vintage days out let me! Don't forget to visit The Chic Guide on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin and Google+ and follow for updates! ♡

Rocking reproduction dresses

Cute vintage skirts, leather and sparkles

Vintage and custome jewellery statement pieces

Lots of great vintage menswear

Lots of lovely vintage pieces I spotted

Audrey Hepburn - My Icon!

Audrey Hepburn has always been an icon of mine and to millions of others; what instantly captivated me about her was her sheer elegance, iconic style and timeless beauty. For me, when I think of Audrey Hepburn I immediately think of her pose and grace whether on film or in a photograph; she always managed to look so delicate, beautiful and yet utterly sophisticated; I could only wish to emulate even a fraction of her elegance! She was in my opinion, one of the most beautiful women in the world but then I am slightly biased! Her style has influenced my own personal style in a massive way, I always look upon images of her if I'm in need of some inspiration! Her beauty of course was not only skin deep, she was a humanitarian, activist and such a generous and kind soul devoting her later life to work with UNICEF. She truly was and is, a source of inspiration to remind us all that you need to beautiful inside and out, to be good to others as well as ourselves. In honour of one my favourite icons I wanted to share some of my favourite images. Enjoy!