Alice & Grace Love: Mallzee's New App

Regular readers might remember our feature on Mallzee a few months ago (if not take a little look here). Both of us loved the concept & things just got even better; you can now download their brand spanking new app straight on to your phone & have a personalised  shop on the go - fitting in fantastically with our hectic third year lives at the moment.

Not only has this made the whole tailor-made shopping experience even easier you can also connect with your Facebook which means no time wasted filling in questionnaires & forms (& therefore gaining some valuable extra shopping time, perrrfect). Just like the website you can pick & choose your preferred styles & brands as well as asking your friends what they think before purchasing or simply buy straight from the app.

Our favourite bit? Just like before the app is completely free. You can download it here! Mallzee have really grown as a company in the past six months & you can really tell, especially on the app. Lets be realistic, anything that makes shopping easier for us we're in.

It fits in perfectly with our other shopping apps...

Check out the new app & let us know what you think…

Alice & Grace xo

Guess Who's Back, Back Again

You'll all be relieved to know we've been reunited at last after a rather hectic start to third year involving a lot of interning & editing! 

We put together our favourite looks for winter, although we seem to be stuck in time warp of the 90s and 70s; what can we say, we love a bit of nostalgia-we are historians after all! If there's one piece of advice we can give you when in Newcastle is to wrap up. Temperatures have plummeted & we have to stay looking fabulous..ahem. Here we're sporting our current obsessions (scrunchies & statement hats obviously) in Jesmond Dene, ultimate beauty spot in Newcastle - graffiti & all…

Scrunchie: American Apparel, £4.50

Knitted Dress: Missguided, £14.99 

Denim Jacket: Topshop, £55

Necklace: gift

Tights: Marks & Spencer, 5 for £ 3.50

Ankle Boots: River Island, last season

Bag: Zara, £79.99

Hat: Primark, £8

Turtle neck: H&M, £5

Tank top: H&M, £15

Cape: Cejon, £40

Leather jeans: Primark, £10

Boots: Primark, £15

It's good to be back,

Alice & Grace xo

Behind the Scenes: The Courier Christmas Shoot

As you might have noticed we've been a little quiet lately…sadly this is due to third year woes and dissertation deadlines but we're back on form with loads of exciting things coming up!

This week we were both working on The Courier Christmas fashion shoot which was really exciting and slightly wet (Newcastle isn't famous for it's fabulous weather). We were shooting at the ice rink at the Centre for Life which was getting us in the Christmassy mood. 

The theme was all about wrapping up in winter with the ladies sporting smokey eyes and nude lips. Here's a little sneak peak from behind the scenes…

Make Up: Safiya Ahmed & Amy Macauley

Directors: Fran Stephenson, Bex Finney & Amy O'Rourke

Models: Hannah Bullimore, Sara Macauley, Holly Shuttle, Paddy Walsh & Peter Thompson

Behind the Scenes: Kathy Davidson

Watch out for the shoot in print near Christmas!

Alice & Grace xo

Diary of a Fashion Intern: Part IV

I'm sure you'll all be deeply saddened to hear that my time as a fashion intern has come to an end... although on a more positive note I'm back in Newcastle & reunited with my partner in crime Bex aka Grace! This can only mean one thing; there will be some fantabulous posts coming very soon from Alice and Grace! (I can almost hear the cheers from here...).

As sad as I am that I'm no longer living the high life in London (did I mention I met Gok Wan?) part of me is actually relieved. Shock horror! Interning is extremely hard work & I recommend really thinking about whether you're ready to committing to the work load before applying. If you get a bad reputation in one magazine or newspaper it can make it ridiculously hard to get another internship within the same media company.

However (and that's a big however), I haven't been put off of my dream career in the process of this blood, sweat & tears regime...okay, there was no blood. But in all seriousness it's taught me a lot about the industry & the amount of work that goes into a magazine. Something I admittedly never thought of when I picked up a copy of Look in my local Tescos every week. 

For all you keen bean supporters (I know you're out there somewhere...) if you pick up this weeks copy of Look & flip to the High Street Catwalk page then look at the teeny weeny credits down the right hand side you will see yours truly! That's right, I dressed those lovely ladies & enjoyed every single second of it. 

I'm famous!! (In the small print world...).

Kathy xo

Gok Wan for Simply Be: Blogger's Goktails

My last week in London before I venture back north to Newcastle has been pretty amazing & this is one of the reasons why...I was invited to the Gok Wan Shapewear for Simply Be Blogger's event and yes I got to meet the man in question (I have a picture to prove it and everything). It was held at the super swanky Covent Garden Hotel & we were served cocktails & canapés while we had a look at the new collection...

Left: The lovely new range

Top Right: Me & Gok

Bottom Right: The contents of my super cute goodie bag

Shapewear can be quite a touchy subject for a lot of people I know, you immediately think of the rather offensive flesh coloured pants & having a 'Bridget Jones moment'. After this event I can honestly say there is no need to ever return to such monstrosities! Shapewear can be pretty & make you feel sexy (ask Gok, he knows exactly what he's talking about). 

Starting at size 12 his new range is colourful & easy on the eye. Shapewear is always something worth investing in, cheap pieces will just push the lumps & bumps somewhere else which is defeating the object ever so slightly & not to mention extremely uncomfortable. The most important thing for me when wearing anything like this is the comfort factor & feeling like myself. I don't like the idea of Granny pants, I'm only twenty after all, but this is something Gok has most definitely avoided in this new range & understands about women. As well as Gok's new range which is lovely & lady like I'm also a fan of Next shapewear as they keep things looking sexy & classy but produce the streamline figure we all wish we had!

Apart from getting to see the gorgeous new range (my favourite bits were undoubtedly the coral selection) I got to meet loads of other lovely bloggers which was fantastic - it's not something you get to do a lot in blogging as it's quite an independent thing. It's a bit bizarre as you're used to reading their blogs then meeting them in real life is rather surreal (in a good way obviously!). 

Top: Anne, Gemma & Hollie

Bottom: Me (after a couple of glasses of wine, Gemma & Hollie

I can also confirm to you all that Gok is exactly the same in real life as on screen; bubbly, friendly & fantastic at dressing women. Make sure you check out his new range & his new Chinese cookery book Gok's Wok which is out now.

Kathy xo

Behind the scenes: Courier Halloween Photo-Shoot

Directing our first photo-shoot was scary but oh so exciting! And not to mention it was halloween themed, my second favourite holiday (nothing to do with the fact my birthday is around this time)...

Our vision for the setting and look of the shoot was 'These girls are beautiful...but they will kill you.'

Each look had its own inspiration; A mix of black swan, urban vampire and Dracula's daughters.

Check out these behind the scenes shots and let us know what you think.

Directed & styled by: Bex Finney, Frances Stephenson and Amy O'Rourke 

Beauty & hair: Amy Macauley and Safiya Ahmed 

Photographer: Katie Dyer 

Models: Sara Macauley, Holly Suttle and Rachel Aspey 

*If you haven't checked already check out more from the photoshoot online*

Bex 

Diary of a Fashion Intern: Part III

As my third week comes to an end I've started to realise something: you need to really want this if you aspire to make it in this industry. I'm tired, I'm sick of returning clothes & I'm sick of soup but I've also had one of the best weeks of my life. Another week, another photo shoot. This time it was hands on & I really had to pull my weight.

While I don't think I've ever been happier it's a Friday (yes, I have had Katy Perry stuck in my head all day) I've learnt a lot this week. I think the more the fashion team & stylists get to know you the more they're going to trust you with the more challenging jobs. I was admittedly told by one of the lovely stylists, Chloe, 'It's hard to shine while you're stuck in the fashion cupboard' (to be honest it's hard to do anything in the fashion cupboard it's so full). But on a more positive note interning is the way you make contacts and network - the important thing when it comes to journalism. In the past three weeks I've managed to pick up five numbers from the Look team - & one of the stylists (Lucy, who I went on my New Look shoot with) is moving to Stylist Magazine which means if I ever find myself there I already have a contact. See how this is starting to work? The best advice they've given me is even if it's just a week or two snap up any interning or work experience you're offered - you don't want to be that girl who turned them down (yep, it's pretty cut throat).

Don't get me wrong, this isn't my attempt to put anyone off achieving their dreams & eliminate some of the masses of competition (joke serious) but this is the kind of invaluable tips & tricks the text books won't tell you. If you really have your heart set on a career in the fashion journalism industry my best advice (after pestering the life out of anyone in the office who will answer my questions) is: have a thick skin, people can be mean (especially girls) but don't take everything personally & most importantly be persistent - if you don't get a reply from your first application don't freak out, people are busy & easily forget to reply to e-mails...send it again!

Top: Amazing view from this week's shoot in Shoreditch

 Bottom Left: Working with this view isn't too bad I guess...

Bottom Right: A surprise parcel from my best friend Georgie - a framed copy of the first ever magazine I've worked on (there were a few tears)

Kathy xo