Fashion: Mellow Yellow

The Duchess of Cambridge certainly kick started spring for me, from the moment I saw her in that gorgeous Roksander Ilincic dress I wanted something yellow in my wardrobe.

Colour block from head to toe, accessorise with a popping lemon piece or dabble in a 'hello-yellow' beauty trend. The vibe is cheerful, zingy and all about leaving winter behind.

Here's a round up of some of our favourite pieces, if you're not brave enough to dare yellow in the form of a dress, why not add something in the accessories department (dibs on the Chanel bag)...

Top Left: Halston Heritage, Top Right: Whistles, Bottom: Victoria Beckham 

                  

Clockwise from Top Left: necklace: Zara, Bikini: Melissa Odabash, Trainers: Marc Jacobs, 

bag: Chanel, Clutch: Carvela

                      

Fashion: Perforated is having a moment

What was once only seen on sportswear, perforated is picking up the pace in the trend stakes. Whether pierced, hole punched, or laser-cut, perforated clothing and accessories are having a major moment this season.

It has the stylish edge of leather, with a lighter airy feel, because of the perforated or punch hole design. There's lots of ways to incorporated this trend into your wardrobe. Whether you hit it full on with the statement bag or subtly with a pretty summer dress, a perforated piece will add a touch of sports luxe chic to any outfit.

We have hand picked some of our favourites below, with the Stella McCartney clutch and Chloe Flats being top of our wish list for Spring...

                 

From Top Left: top - Maison Scotch, heels - Nine West, leather jacket - river island, clutch - Stella McCartney, top - Zara, flats - Chloe, shopper - Zara, high tops - balenciaga, dress - m missoni

Fashion: Stradivarius - Zara's ridiculously affordable little sister

Regular followers of the blog will know that here at stylekt11 there is one high street store that we all love - Zara. So you can imagine our delight when we discovered its even more affordable little-sister brand Stradivarius. 

It is a new wave of labels that produce pieces that just work with every other item in your wardrobe. Think denim dresses, leather sleeved parkers, pleated skirts and open knit slouchy jumpers. We have handpicked some of our favourites below:

Parker £69.99, Denim dress £25.99, knit jersey with bow detail £25.99, neoprene pleated skirt £19.99 

stradivarius.com

Fashion: heels and jogging pants - more wearable than you think!

Here at Stylekt11 we love love love our heels. This season we are especially in love with strappy sandals. They can transform even the safest of looks into the coolest of outfits. 

We think Zara has some of the best on the high street at the moment and have selected our favourites below:

Zara £49.99

Zara £69.99

Zara £69.99

Team them with some silk joggers, tuck in your top and pop on a tailored jacket for an instant evening update on the sports luxe look. We love these silk joggers from The Kooples in black and white snake print or plain black ones that are both sleek (for day) and slinky (for evening).  

The Kooples £175

The Kooples £135

Fashion: what to pack for a Spring holiday

Following on from our article about what to pack for a weekend away in the UK, we decided to tackle our next challenge, packing for a Spring holiday. 

So this week I went long haul to a wedding in New Orleans. Long way to go for just a wedding, so given we would be without children for 6 whole days, we decided to make a road trip of it. Flying into Nashville we spent two nights at the home of country music before driving down to Memphis for a quick tour of Gracelands before heading to New Orleans.

One thing was for sure, with 10hr flights, stopovers and a 5hr car journey, whatever I packed had to be comfortable. I therefore travelled in my favourite denim shirt and leather look leggings

Also given my destination, my wardrobe staple just had to be jeans, jeans and more jeans...

So, I started with 3 pairs of jeans, all skinny, two ripped Gap pairs and one smarter J Brand pair for the evening. Next a series of t shirts, I love these wide necked, fluid ones from h&m made from slub jersey. They are super flattering as they don't cling and come in a variety of colours. Plus at just £7.99 each you can afford to buy them in every colour.

I also threw in some denim shorts by R13 (£108) and some smarter patterned silk W118 ones by Walter Baker (£50) just in case the weather was really good. Both currently available from the outnet.com and all to be worn with my trusty tees.

So that's the daytime sorted, onto evening wear. I stuck with jeans as my basis and packed two sparkly strappy tops (a beautiful cream sequin one from Evie Loves Toast, close up below) and a cream leather tee that I picked up in Adolfo Dominguez in Madrid recently (also seen close up below). Finally a grey jumper from Asos with a leather cutout collar just in case the weather turned cooler...et voila...I was done.

Footwear consisted of my trusty cowboy-esque ankle boots and Havaiana grey flip flops. Evening has to be heels, so my nude leather Louboutins were the obvious choice.

A capsule wardrobe for me is all about picking key pieces that go with everything else you have chosen in coordinating colours, so choose your palate and work within it. Mine is almost always neutral -  creams, greys and shades of peach. 

So that's it, I was all packed and ready to go...

Fashion: Patchwork is here to stay

Thanks to Nicolas Ghesquiere's debut collection for Louis Vuitton, patchwork has become big news and it's here to stay.

The obviously way to work the patchwork trend is a pair of jeans in either skinny or boyfriend cut. Below are our pick of the best from high street to designer. OR... why not make your own by cutting up some old denim and sewing patches on your favourite jeans. Remember to keep the top half of your outfit simple, a plain tee , vest or shirt as seen in all these pictures works best. Otherwise it could all look a bit too fussy.

From left: Karen Millen £99, Zara £29.99, Current/Elliot @ theoutnet.com £121

Alternatively why not try a patchwork shirt. Our absolute favourite has to be this Chloe shirt, it's fabric is soft enough to tuck into your jeans or wear outside, undone over a maxi dress. Its is also on sale and is just £88 on theoutnet.com. You will wear it so much you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

Fashion: Metallic clutch - its a keeper!

Black is always the play it safe colour when it comes to clutch bags, but here at Stylekt11 we have been seduced by the allure of metallic. We think this silver clutch will last and last and last. Over time it will then become a great vintage piece for your daughter, niece, baby sister..

This little number will go with most colours and will compliment any outfit.  It will be your go to accessory when nothing else works, because metallic goes with everything. It brightens up a black outfit and works equally well with brights, neons or pastels. It's neither too summery or too wintery and so will carry well through the seasons too.

It's a little bit more expensive than your average high street bargain, but this will definitely be worth its weight in...silver.

Alexander Wang clutch, £313. Matchesfashion.com