NYFW vs LFW SS14

 LFW: House of Holland | Holly Fulton | Roksanda Ilincic | Erdem | Burberry Prosum

NYFW: Derek Lam | Helmut Lang | Brandon Sun | J.Crew | J. Mendel

It's the ultimate face off of our two metropolitan loves -- NYC vs. LDN! We meticulously went through the gorgeous collections to determine which was the superior FW. Every neckline, every sample of light blue, every frock was analyzed. The above are our favorite picks from our respective homelands, with Siobhan tackling New York Fashion Week and Miriam handling London Fashion Week. It was a pretty close call, with both cities leaving us yearning for next spring, but we think that this year London had the edge. Let us know your favorite collections in the comments! 

RF Style Barometer #3

A Floral Wreath for the Floral Crown

Image Credit: Style.com

I think that we can all agree that the floral crown has had its day in the sun; when Lana Del Rey first wore it we were enamoured with a capital E, but overuse at festivals has left us bored. What was once an interesting, slightly ridiculous piece of headgear, has become a lazy way of attempting to suggest that one has a "bohemian spirit" - excuse us while we vomit up our lunch, but any hippie worth their organic fair-trade salt, would not be found dead in Topshop and we all know that is where most people have acquired them from.

So with a roving eye, we look to next summer and wonder, what on earth will we top our heads with? Well, it was with some glee that we found ourselves eyeing up the SS14 Dolce and Gabbana collection because there it was - the answer in green and white - the floral halo. Teemed with elegant silhouettes and lashings of gold, there was nothing faux-boho about the floral halo; this was out and out glamour. As it should be.

2013 Emmy's Best Dressed

Claire Danes in Armani Privé | Aubrey Plaza in Marios Schwab | January Jones in Givenchy

Claire Danes has been a firm favourite since she donned those cursed angel wings in Baz Luhrmann’s, beyond perfect, Romeo and Juliet. But this selection is actually without bias; at this year's Emmy's she looked as though she had been transported from Hollywood’s golden age of glamour, while her simple bob and bold lip work to prevent the dress from looking creepily bridal. 

Aubrey Plaza’s demure lace dress is perfect in its understated glamour; the high-neckline and long sleeves appeal to the Victorian in us and, like the magpies that we are, we do so love the sparkly detailing.

Actually not entirely sure whether January Jones’ Givenchy dress is really all that great, but her face is just so amazing, that unless she dressed as though she were a lady of questionable morals, we would always be in favour of her ensemble. Excellent hair too.

Rose Byrne in Calvin Klein | Kiernan Shipka in Delpozo | Kate Mara in J.Mendel

Rose Byrne must be also dealing with the effects of light pink erotomania just as we are, and she went for a sleek Calvin Klein dress in this season's biggest trend color. Despite being draped in light pink she looks wonderfully mature because of the dresses simple lines and sultry cut out. Her glamorous Hollywood waves go perfectly with her minimalistic accessories (those double rings!). 

Kiernan Shipka definitely deserves the most adorable award, in this Delpozo dress. With a bouncy pony and bright smile, she looks just as uplifting as the multi-textured frock. This outfit is wonderfully age-appropriate, but we must commend her ability to rock those barely-there sandal heels at the tender age of 13! Imagining 13 year-old Siobhan and Miriam in those heels, only elicits images broken ankles and broken dreams. But anyway, the nearly naked shoes are a great compliment to the spunky and bright colors of this whimsical outfit. 

Kate Mara makes us want to chop off our hair in a modern bob and run around in multi-textured, head-to-toe white gowns while exuding sex appeal and avoiding red sauces. Kate Mara is pretty much covered up except for the high-rise slit and sheer elements and it creates a beautiful balance of sultry and elegant. We are not the biggest fans of her platform heels, but the fact that this figure-hugging dress has a pocket made us squeal with delight. 

LFW Spring 2014 - Street Style

One of the best things about this, oftentimes bleak, city is the street style. Every single day it is possible to wander, lonely as a cloud, into the crowds of shoving and rushing people and there, like a ray of sunshine, is a wonderfully dressed individual.Well, last week the great and good of the fashion world descended on London like an army of preening peacocks and the city was, despite the rain, brightened for a few days - here are our five favourite looks.

Susie Lau aka Susie Bubble epitomises London's eclectic style.

Miroslava Duma smashes Russian stereotypes one incredible outfit at a time, while photographer Sara Reverberi looks just as comfortable on this side of the lens.

Ink Limpichart is super stylish despite the downpour and Joanna Hillman shows us how to navigate the weather during those typically British in-between days.

Image Credits: Vogue (Dvora), Elle UK (Victoria Adamson), Refinery 29 (Victoria Adamson)

Style Icon: Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba may have been many boys' dream girl in 2006 (Can any of you actually tell me what the plot of Into the Blue was?! Yeah, I didn't think so.), but she is my fashion dream girl of 2013. I get a lot of fashion inspiration from bloggers, models, musicians and fashion magazine editors, but not many (somewhat recent) actresses have given me pause. What I most identify with in her style her dappling in tomboyish look and super ladylike silhouettes. And her accessories -- always delicate but lightly subversive with lots of gold, spikes and small hoops.  Take a gander at some of Jessica's recent fashion hits! And I'll be going off to mourn why they ended Dark Angel so abruptly. 

From her Cartier bracelet to her wishbone earrings, I have been seriously coveting Alba's accessories. While the Cartier nail bracelet's price tag sends me into convulsions, Nico New York's nail bracelet delights me in its clean look and price point! Upscalehare's Etsy shop also offers a cute wishbone-earring that also aligns with Jessica's earring style.

I was longing for florals this past summer, but they are back in action in a darker variety for F/W and Jessica shows just how to wear them. Also, I am very curious to dabble in a little bit of mock turtleneck as it gets a little colder this season. 

Jessica also appears to appreciate how a crop top can really add interest in a more covered up outfit. And how adorable does she look in this 60s inspired Miss Wu dress? RF girls always appreciate a good pert ponytail and we are certainly envious of Alba's! 

Love how this look is absolutely Autumnal without being too trite with overuse of oranges and plums. Jessica is now a guest editor at Piperlime.com and and her choices have a fab mix of casual and chic items.

With another style icon of ours, Solange Knowles! Rocking the heck out of the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection for Target. Any of our readers lucky enough to get any items from it?

NYFW Spring 2014 Street Style

Is New York Fashion Week already over? We were glued to our screens, hitting refresh on style.com eagerly awaiting each new collection like a rat in a Skinner-esque experiment. While we still trying to mentally process the designer collections (Oh Wang, I just can't even...), the street style from the past week was just as exciting as the looks from the runway. Like watching (free) Willy soar triumphantly in the air as he was released into the open ocean, it's always exciting to see fashionistas flourish in their most natural environment. We couldn't help but notice a theme of light-hearted fashion experimentation that was full of whimsy. This will definitely help give us some fashion inspiration as we navigate our wardrobes starboard from Summer to Autumn. Let us know your favorite looks in the comments!

Check-mania and the midi-length skirt wave was at a fever pitch. 

Oh! So that's what it would look like if we turned ourselves into a bag. Definitely a fluffy, pink clutch.

Aimee Song makes me never ever want to put my arms into a jacket again.

We noticed lots of Harajukuian qualities in our street style finds. Those white flatforms cannot be denied!

Amazing hair + loud accessories = mouth-dropping awesome. 

Love you from your drippy nail art to your iridescent clutch, girl! Most seen trend was certainly the sweatshirt + skirt combination.

So many cool girls with bobs... hide the scissors, please!

We adored pretty much every look Mira Duma donned for fashion week, but this one stood out of the crowd with it's somewhat shapeless silhouette. The harness over the white button up is what we would like to call "Advanced Cher Horowitz Style."Expect to give new life to that vegan leather bralette of yours by wearing it over slouchy tees or airy button ups this Fall. 

We know a dino-lover when we see it and this look has just the right amounts of gaudy and great.

If we haven't convinced you by now, Nicole Warne from Gary Pepper will surely show you how big heritage prints are going to be this Autumn. And we love the suiting trend that she pulling off so flawlessly! Can't even remember the last time I thought wearing a necktie was cute.

Again we were beguiled by the accessories but the combination with the African-inspired print dress is what really made the pairing shine! 

Image credit: Refinery 29 (Mark Iantosca), Vogue.com (Phil Oh), Racked.com (Driely S.)

Saint Laurent AW13 - Armoured Unicorns

We're usually more California Love than California Grunge, but Saint Laurent AW13 made our tummies do little somersaults. Hedi Slimane's collection implies a quiet strength; soft and pretty but with a don't f*ck with me attitude. The original grunge girls were anti-fashion, but we think that the juxtaposition between the use of snugly fabrics (mohair, velvet and fur were all featured) and sweet dresses, with sloppy cover-ups, hard accessories and scowling faces actually serves as an exploration of what being feminine means.

Our pick of the collection undoubtedly has the be the boots pictured below, as they personify all of our favourite females - tough and sparkly, like armoured unicorns. 

Image credit: Style.com

HAIM Forever

Image credit: Josh Wool Photography

(From left to right)
Coast Cutoff Shorts - Nasty Gal Vintage

Belita Bootie - Nasty Gal Vintage

London Top - Shop Wasteland

Ella Hat - Free People

Ruby Woo Lipstick - MAC Cosmetics
Wreckless Skater Dress - Nasty Gal Vintage
Frankie B. Metallic Skinnies - Shop Wasteland

Maddie Sunglasses - Shop Wasteland
The Boyfriend Fit Moto Vest - Karmaloop

This summer had Miriam and I falling hard for HAIM but left us feeling a bit like shedding some tears like the men in the "The Wire." The reason being that so many of our friends saw them in concert this summer whether at Made in America or Glastonbury, but we have not yet been HAIM-ed yet. Our last chance for this year appears to be the iTunes Festival in London, so we will be crossing my fingers y'all! But while we are playing ladies-in-waiting, my honey and I will be pretending to be HAIM sisters. We're still waiting for some gloriously long, waist-grazing hair to grow in but the festival-inspired items should help our transformation. And if you haven't yet been exposed to the nu-folk + R&B stylings of Este, Danielle and Alana, you're better off watching the music video below. (Bonus points for anyone who can guess how many HAIM music titles I used in the paragraph above!)

Style Barometer: 90s Edition

With 90's inspiration exploding on the runways for Fall and Winter 2013, we decided to tackle some of the burgeoning trends that bring us as much joy as watching reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or give us as much pain as a mouthful of Warheads candy.