I won!! I won the title for best dressed lady at the Dubai World Cup Royal box!!! :D There were some confusion on Instagram about which contest this was. Basically you can get tickets to the Dubai World Cup where you can choose between “normal tickets” and VIP tickets, and contests like best dressed are being held. However, we were invited to come to Dubai by the Sheikh and were fortunate to also be invited to his private box, the royal box, for the world cup. The royal box held exclusive contests as it is no part of the public world cup. So I won best dressed lady of the royal box which is absolutely insane as there were some amazingly well dressed women and I can’t believe I won!! :D
I wore:
Alexander McQueen dress, scored at 85% off here. I knew I would get good use of it ;)
Alexander McQueen clutch, scored 65% off here
Alexander McQueen shawl found at Harrods
Nicholas Kirkwood heels found on sale at Harrods
Marzi hat, found at Harrods
Bulgari ring
Cartier watch
Tiffany necklace
I’m sorry about the quality of the next photos! Normally when we take pictures I am the one who set the settings, and James shoots. When my name was called as the winner I was so surprised and I hadn’t set any settings on the camera so these are unfortunately the best pictures we got.
The actual Dubai World Cup Races were phenomenal! I had such a great time and met lots of lovely people! Sheikh Mohammed came and walked through and stopped at our table and spoke to us, telling us to relax and to have a lovely time. He seems like such a lovely man, and I feel so honoured to have experienced his presence. In three days I have seen him three times, all three times he’s been within a meter away from me and we’ve had eye contact each time. It’s pretty unreal! I haven’t even seen The King of Norway…
Love this last photo! :D
Yesterday was the last of the events, a relaxed beach party with Sheikh Mohammed and all the other guests. I took some iphone pics if you’re interested? I shared some on Instagram of course he he :) Just after Sheikh Mohammed passed me, my sister gave birth to a beautiful perfect little princess in Norway so I’m off home to Norway as soon as possible! Now I need to pack as we’re leaving for London at 02am! And then as soon as I’m back from Norway we’re moving to Dubai!! We found an amazing place yesterday and I can’t wait to live here!! Such a hectic month!! :O
Hope you’re all having a great Monday!! Lots of love xx
EDIT: APRIL’S FOOLS!!!!! :D … As much as we really enjoyed the stay in Dubai we’re not moving there. Some of you cottoned on to my prank, well done you! xx
I’mso behind on updating you guys!! SO much has happend which you’ll know if you follow me on Instagram! I’ll start where we dropped off, yesterday we started the day at the beach and I could finally wear my new beach ensamble by Missoni Mare which I found in the January sale at Harrods. Because I’ve had so little time between the events I haven’t had time to exercise at all, so I decided to combine tanning and exercising in one – my new favourite way of exercising! :D
I often get comments of my wardrobe and questions about how to build a great wardrobe, my best tip is to hit the sales. Some of my favourite items has been things found on sales off season, meaning sandals, bikinis and summer dresses during winter sales and coats and boots during the summer sales. It’s not as fun to buy something you can’t wear straight away, but it’s a wonderful feeling to finally be able to wear something you’ve saved for months knowing you got it half price or less of something that is almost identical in stores now.
Similar bikini at half price here, and similar full price here.
After the beach I had a hair appointment and got ready for the races at the Dubai World Cup where we were invited to the Royal Box with The Sheikh (who actually spoke to me, I’ll tell you more about that later). I have so many photos to go through, and only 15 minuts left until I have to get ready for tonights event so I doubt I will manage to have that post finished, but if you follow me on Instagram you’ll have a pretty good idea of my evening, at least the highlights ;)
Hope you’re having a great day!! xx
After the helicopter ride and lunch in Burj Al Arab we headed back to the hotel in a really fancy buggy which I strongly recommend – you see so much more than from a car seat and for short distances it really doesn’t matter. Around here at our hotel Jumeirah Madinat there are also a Venetian style canal which is great and very romantic, especially by night.
As you probably know it’s important not to show shoulders and knees in Dubai, but if you’re just hanging out around the hotel areas you can wear what ever you want. Even Arabs run around in bikinis. Private events are also much less strict, but you should ask just to be sure. As we were attending an international private event a summer dress was the dress code, but I wouldn’t have worn it to the shopping center or other public places.
More hair pictures, he he, sorry – we’re just finding it very fun at the moment ;) Pictures just become so much more alive and realistic as opposed to the staged and posed pictures I think. And hasn’t James become a great photographer recently? :D
Dress – Mary Katrantzou (bought here)
Shoes – Alaia (similar model here, beautiful white model 55% off here, and a more affordable similar version here)
Bag – Victoria Beckham (sold out in yellow, but a cool monochrome version here, and a more affordable similar version here)
Bracelet – Crocodile Hermès CDC
Rings – Bulgari B Zero1 (same in white here, white gold here) and YSL Arty (other colours here)
Sunglasses – Dolce &Gabbana (Still not available online as far as I know, but similar style from same collection here)
We still haven’t found time for the beach, hoping to find sometime tomorrow before the horse race. The horse race is part of the invitation by the Sheikh so we will be sharing his box to see the race. Could be fun ;)
Now we just got back from dinner with the Sheikh and all the other guests at the foot of the Burj Khalifa. They had decorated the terrasse beautifully and the champagne was flowing alongside finger food on hundreds of trays. It sounds lovely but maybe it was too much champagne, during the actual dinner the woman sitting next to me managed to spill food on my new precious Alexander McQueen clutch. I just got my period and I don’t know about you, but everything gets 500 times worse for me and I could just feel my throat thickened as I saw the orange stains settle in to the beautiful lace… Had she only apologised. Oh well, maybe I’ll go hunting for a new bag, I’ve never bought anything in Dubai besides Zara clothes abd I hear there are a couple of great stores here!
Hope you’re having a great Easter weekend!! xx
Today we were invited to a helicopter tour from the top of Burj Al Arab over all of Dubai – from the old town, over the Sheik palaces, the world islands, the palm islands and across the Dubai skyline. It was magnificent! I was lucky to get a window seat and managed to snap a few shots for you :)
Wearing a Mary Katrantzou dress, Alaia shoes, Victoria Beckham clutch and Hermès bracelet. I’ll post an outfit post later today with some more links to similar items, we took some really nice pictures when we got back from the lunch at the Burj Al Arab! Speaking of, that lunch was absolutely insane! It was a buffet with food for an army, I’m not kidding! I didn’t even manage to go through it all so I just ended up with sushi and caviar which I was planning on having as a starter, but it’s always more filling than you imagine it to be, isn’t it? :)
The world islands are artificial islands made to look like the world map, it’s not finished yet and apparently part of the reason to why they stopped building (only one island has building on it) is that the islands are sinking back into the sea, or so they say.
The Burj Khalifa – the worlds tallest building of 828 meters, you can see our trip up from a previous trip to Dubai here.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s palace
From above the palm tree of Jumeirah.
Beautiful, isn’t it? Tonight we’re going for dinner and drinks at the foot of Burj Khalifa with the Sheikh, very exciting! Need to figure out what to wear ;) Thank you so much for the sweet comments you’ve been writing me lately, especially on the London outfit, I really appreciate it and I wish I had time to answer all your comments but time is quite limited here as I’m sure you understand! I just wanted to say that I read them all and really appreciate you reading and leaving a trace :) I hope you’re all having a great day and enjoying the easter to the fullest wether you’re spending it up in the mountains, in the sofa or on holiday!
Chat later babes! xx
The first day in Dubai was wonderful! Although our body clocks were set to 03am when we arrived at the hotel we decided to jump start the day with breakfast and force our way onto the new time zone. The hotel is really beautiful situated right by the beach overlooking Burj Al Arab and surrounded by a Venetian style canal full of tropical fish, great scenery to start the day with! After breakfast we headed out for a little exploring around Souk Madinat Jumeirah – the place to find traditional arabic treasures. I started the day very bravely with heels, but quickly swapped for flats once we headed out :)
One happy tourist! Besides fashion, travelling is my biggest passion and I just love running around exploring :D
These espadrilles are the best purchase ever, I’ve already gotten great use of them! I keep getting questions about where I got them, so I’ll tell you again. I bought these in Chanel in Monaco where they had three models in stock, though low stock in sizes. As far as I know they are sold out in London. I don’t know where you can find them, but ebay is always a pretty good bet. If you find them online, go a full size up – they are tiny!
I wore:
Top, clutch and heels – Zara
Skirt – here
Espadrilles – Chanel
Watch – Cartier Ballon Bleu
Rings – Bulgari
Sunglasses – Dolce & Gabbana (similar here)
The plan was to have a few hours in the sunshine to get a bit of a healthy glow on our very pale London bodies, but then I decided to go and get my nails done and you know how that is – you end up having lots of stuff done when you’re there anyway ;)
Big day today though! It involves a helicopter, Burj Al Arab and a Mary Katrantzou dress :D Wish you all the best start to the day, lovelies! Chat soon! xx
PS! Remember I update my Instagram pretty often – I’m pretty busy there actually so if you want updates follow me HERE.
We took some photos nearby James’ office in London before we headed off to the airport yesterday, so this was my travelling attire. I’ve had these Alberta Ferretti silk trousers for a really long time, but they’ve been all forgotten about until I rediscovered them when I was back in my old walk-in in Monaco last week. I thought they were perfect to travel in, especially to UAE where rules of dressing appropriately are a little different to what’s considered acceptable around here.
I wore:
Blouse – Mango (similar here)
Trousers – Alberta Ferretti (scored highly discounted here, and other similar trousers here)
Shoes – Christian Louboutin (similar CL model here, and coming soon here)
Rings – Bulgari
Watch – Cartier Ballon Bleu
Bag – Hermès
As I’m writing this I’m sitting in an amazing suite in Dubai looking out over the beautiful water framed by palm trees with helicopters flying around in all directions – easter couldn’t get much better than this! I’ve been to Dubai before, but this time it will be a vey different stay seeing as we’re invited by the Sheikh. There will be so many events on that I will change outfit several times a day for some of the days, and James has very kindly promised to take photos as often as possible! Fun, right? Most of the events are private which means I can’t bring the camera, but I will bring it as often as I can ;) I guess it’s early morning in Europe now, so hope you’ll have a great day!! Now I’m off to the beach :D
What do you think of my outfit?
I’ve found myself drooling over prints a lot recently as I think it’s an easy way of incorporating colour in a stylish way. I’m thinking a pair of printed trousers must be the perfect transitioning piece into spring! Not only are they stylish, but it’s a really easy trend to pull off too and is just as comfortable as your favourite jeans. It’s not a new trend, but it’s one of those trends that tend to stick around because it’s versatile, easy and pretty.
Inspiration to the trend:
I think the most stylish way of wearing them is paired with a plain top in one of the colours of the print, or full on in top to toe in the same print like Olivia P is rocking.
Here are my favourites:
Top Row from left: 1st pair here, 2nd pair here, 3rd pair here, 4th pair here, 5th pair here Second row from left: 1st pair here, 2nd pair here, 3rd pair here, 4th pair here, 5th pair here
Now I’m all packed for Dubai! I managed to squeeze all my stuff into one suitcase, but then again I have 4 pieces of hand luggage two of which are hats though so still not too bad! And yes, I said hats! I’ve been to the hat selection at Harrods (which is fabulous) and found two hats I adored! I’m going to become “the crazy hat lady”! I just love that they come with those large round boxes to be carried the old school way, I feel so classy carrying them around :D I’ll try and post a pic on Instagram later, now I really need to go! Hope you’re having a fantastic day! If I don’t manage to update the blog during the flight (Emirates is supposed to have wifi but from experience with Norwegian air you never know if it’s working or not) I’ll update you once I’m in Dubai. We’re staying at the most beautiful hotel – I’ll tell you all about it later. Weird how you always have so much to chat about when you’re running short on time, isn’t it?? ;D Lots of love!! x
Remember I wrote about Vestiaire Collective
, the best online luxury resale online shop? Seriously, that is one dangerous place to surf around! When I got back to London from Monaco a package was waiting for me by the door and it was my first purchase. I found a stunning unworn new with tags Alexander McQueen box skull clutch which I got for half price and it’s so pretty!! :)
It’s basically a piece of jewellery which you can use as a clutch – I like that ;) And I love that it’s like made to be with the lace shoes from Nicholas Kirkwood ♥
The same seller that I bought this of had a stunning black pearl Alexander McQueen clutch as well for under half price, and I really wanted it but I got greedy and gave an offer despite it already being incredibly cheap and as I waited for an answer to my offer the clutch was sold :( I’ve been banging my head against the wall for that every day! So if you see something you really want, don’t wait just go for it! If it’s something you would quite like to have on the other hand, the offer tool is pretty useful!
There is another beautiful Alexander McQueen clutch there now if you’re interested. And a Bottega Veneta knot clutch which I almost bought the other day – it’s beautiful.
I hope you’ve all had a great start to the week? I’m planning on jumping into my training gear and get my buttom moving with Tracy Anderson, I find that if I have a great start to the week I’m more likely to follow up the rest of the week, and the bikini season suddenly started early too. Yikes! Can’t wait to have some sunshine in my face! I should probably start packing too rather than surf around in online stores ha ha! :)
Oh, speaking of, I noticed Net-a-Porter just got some beautiful black patent leather Christian Louboutin Batignolles which are very similar to the Pigalles I have. I thought I’d mention it as I know how hard it can be to find them.
Have a lovely day!! xx
I rarely like everything from a brand, but I do actually like every single item I’ve seen from Lover. It’s just impossible not to. Despite the fact that I’m quite tired of lace dresses I’m still drawn to these due to the beautiful intricate work and the sexy yet smart and untraditional cuts. I can’t even choose a favourite..
Short sleeved dress HERE // Jumpsuit HERE // Long sleeved dress HERE
I discovered Lover quite some time ago when I saw a beautiful coral lace dress on Norwegian model Hanneli Mustaparta, I searched for that dress for the longest time but it was completely sold out.
Are you able to choose a favourite?
First of all I want to start this post by thanking you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post!! You really are the sweetest, and I appreciate each and everyone of you for clicking your way in here, it means so much to me ♥
On Friday we went to Fontvieille to have lunch and stroll around, it’s so nice to be able to wear only a leather jacket casually thrown over without being cold. If it’s one thing I’ve been missing about Monaco in London it’s the weather! But that’s about it ;)
Leather jacket – Zara (other cool version here)
T-shirt – Alexander McQueen (get it here, or similar cheaper version here)
Black jeans – Acne
Espadrilles – Chanel
Bag – Céline (stunning black second hand phantom here)
Sunglasses – d&g (similar here)
… Ok, I admit I’ve missed palm trees too ♥
Now I’m back in London in the SNOW!! Can you believe all this snow falling over UK at the moment? Insane. I don’t feel I’m entitled to moan about it though as we leave for Dubai on Wednesday and something tells me it will be full of new memories!! But first, I have some shopping to do with a couple of friends of mine who are here from Norway! Yay :)
Hope you’e having a lovely day and that you’re enjoying your weekend :D xx
