Electric Fashnic

Familiar readers of this blog will know my two greatest loves are fashion and music so when the two come together for a three day occasion where one can frolic through enchanted forests, check  out the world's greatest musicians, sample some of the greatest food and drink the country has to offer and all the while get to wear that questionable vintage purchase you wouldn't wear in the 'real world', you can safely say I'm in my element.

Next weekend brings the festival to smash all festivals, Electric Picnic. With Bjork as headliner, the acts alone will provide a fashion parade but if you still need some inspiration in getting your festival looks together, follow my practical festival style guide and take note from these festival fashionistas who've got it right in the past.

Be Brave The great thing about Electric Picnic is that half the attendees wear costumes anyhow so feel free to don that pink fur jacket you've been too scared to wear until now.

Be Original The denim shorts/wellies/patterned raincoat/headband festival uniform is long gone so be original in what you wear. Try a cute summer dress juxtaposed against heavy boots and an oversized parka for an on-trend look ala Kate Bosworth.

Plan Ahead I've already looked up the weather for you and can confirm it's going to be a typical Irish weather weekend- cloudy, 19 degrees with 50% precipitation chance. As is typical with Irish weather this means it will be totally unpredicatable so bring your wooly hat and parka as well as your shorts and sunglasses.

Be Practical My best advice for festival dressing is to wear your favourite outfit down on Friday. When the exhaustion/ hangover of Sunday kicks in, you'll regret only having your frilly summer dress to wear and will favour a comfier look.

Hats Are Your Friends Hats can hide a multitude of bad hairday sins so make sure you have one that complements your festival look and keeps your hair rainfree. However, Electric Picnic has the amazing 'Pamper Palace' that allows girls to use GHDs, get their makeup done and even have their hairwashed and blowdryed.

Layer Up No matter how sunny the daytime, sleeping in a tent in Ireland is always freezing so bring multiple layers to prevent hypothermia

Have Fun! I can safely say Electric Picnic is the best of all the music festivals I frequent each year and it also marks the end of festival season so be sure to make your weekend one to remember! Watch out for me and my trusty purple camera where I'll be snapping your style all over the weekend for Fashion.ie!

I Adora Manish Arora

Considering I stalk Style.com the way a teeneage girl stalks her crush's Facebook profile there's rarely a designer I let slip through the net so it came as a great surprise today when looking for a specific 'Mannish' coat (of the AW13 'Mannish' trend) that Indian designer -and appointed Creative Director of Paco Rabanne- Manish Arora came to my attention.

Three years after setting up his own label in New Delhi in 1997, Arora took part in the first ever Indian Fashion Week. In 2001, he launched a sportswear label, Fishfry, in association with Reebok. He has since gone on to show his collections at Fashion Weeks in Hong Kong, Miami, London and most recently, Paris.

Using bold colours across a primary and pastel palette, Arora retains accents of ethnic embellishments in his designs, from a tribal print to a traditional Indian headress. His wearable pieces combine the graphic prints of Mary Katranzou with the luxe leather and gold finishes of Balmain. His maximalist approach to design is refreshingly bold and I can already tell this is one creative crush I won't be getting over anytime soon.

Nobody Likes a Copycat

Fashion designers set the trends for the incoming season that fill up the fashion pages of our favourite magazines, adorn the bodies of our favourite celebrities and represent an glamorous ideal of parties, yachts and sunshine that we endlessly aspire to one day afford. I'm all for high street labels taking inspiration from these designers, bringing the seasonal trends into a more affordable price bracket but there is a big difference between inspiration and downright copying.

Primark AW13

Saint Laurent, AW13

I love Penneys as much as the next girl but this exact copy of Saint Laurent's AW13 dress has gone a step too far. Designing a similar piece but changing the embellishment/collar detail/silhouette of the dress would keep everyone happy and still nail the Rebel look- a major trend statement on the AW13 catwalks. The high street need to stick to what they do best- adapting high fashion trends into more wearable commercial pieces for the everywoman. The major fashion houses are already struggling financially- I would hate to see their demise thanks to unfair imitation by retailers. What ever happened to creativity in fashion?!

Think Pink

Pink is THE colour for autumn/winter 2013- from deep shades of magenta to pale blush, the ultra feminine colour has been applied to everything from accessories to outerwear.

Simone Rocha, AW13

A colour usually associated with spring/summer, the playful hue exudes femininity and the great news is that regardless of your colouring- there's a shade of pink to suit everyone. If you have a warmer complexion, opt for pinks with a yellow base- corals and poppy shades work well. If you have a cooler complexion, opt for pinks with an underlying blue tone, shades of pink that verge on purple will suit you best.

Topshop Unique, AW13

To keep your feminine style whilst embracing next season's other major trend- the Mannish trend- opt for a masculine cut silhouette in your perfect shade of pink.

Zara, 199 euro

Zara, 99.95

For an office-appropriate look that similarly nails the pink and mannish trend, team a pair of pale pink trousers with an oversized shirt. The key to avoiding unnecessary bulk is to keep a defined waist, adding a thick belt if the trousers are not high-waisted.

Simone Rocha, AW13

Hor-RI-fic

So the Rihanna for River Island AW13/14 collection has been revealed and will be landing in stores on September 12th. I was dubious about this collaboration from the start, mainly because celebrity fashion lines are usually created by the fashion brand using a celebrity ambassador as the 'face' of the line and then charging double the price of the brand's regular collection. However, when I saw Adam Selman -Rihanna's costume designer and boyfriend of my old boss and Rihanna's stylist Mel Otternberg- was co-designing the line with Rihanna I knew at least her team had full design authority even if the Barbados beauty wasn't fully involved.

Admittedly I thought her debut River Island collection was quite cool- funky verging on trashy as only Rihanna does best- but definitely wearable and moderately priced considering the famous name attached to it. Her SS13 collection saw a more adventurous mishmash of garish yellow -that would only suit Rihanna's beautiful skin tone and is a disaster for Irish colouring- and oversized jeans with knee-high lace-ups but again the collection was carried by wearable stand-out pieces that could be easily incorporated into your existing wardrobe.

Rihanna's AW13/14 collection however has gone a step too far. I'm all for 90s grunge but camouflage leather shorts and baseball jersey maxi dresses scream hoochie mama, and not in a good way. Rihanna can wear virtually anything. Fact. The 20/30 something year old random British/Irish girl that makes up River Island's target market cannot. Perhaps these pieces would work for the American customer I just cannot see -and hope to never see- an Irish woman in PU basketball shorts as she goes about her daily errands. If the collaboration between Rihanna and River Island is to continue for future seasons, Selman needs to look at commercial viability and garment wearability over what Rihanna herself would look cool in during a stage performance.

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