Whoever said that fashion is limited to your clothes and accessories? A true fashionista appreciates style in everything, even in cable TV boxes!

Earlier this month, Sky+ decided to celebrate their 10^th year anniversary by offering a really unique, and very stylish, collection of limited-edition Sky+ HD 1TB boxes. The collection consists of 10 boxes, all beautifully designed by big-name artists and fashion designers including British luxury lingerie retailer, Agent Provocateur, and fashion illustrator and artist, Julie Verhoeven.

The designer boxes are available for sale to all Sky customers for £249 (new and existing), with a whopping £200 discount, with each box priced at only £49, given to existing Sky customers that will upgrade to the HD pack. Existing HD pack customers also enjoy a discount, though not as big as that of customers who will be upgrading their packages. Price of the designer boxes for the HD pack customers is £149 each. Oh, and a free matching remote control comes with each box.

Check out some of the designer boxes. I picked these out not because they are my personal favourites, but because they pretty much cover the whole spectrum of pretty varied box collection.

Box by Celia Britwell

Box by JayJay Burridge

Box by Roksanda Illincic

Box by Solange Azagury-Partridge

Photos courtesy of Sky

Ethical fashion does not necessarily mean goodbye to animal skin and fur. It does mean though that you have to be discriminating in choosing the clothes that you buy to ensure that none of the animal skin and fur used to trim the clothing come from poached animals.

One way you can fuse your love for fashion and exotic sealskin is by buying your clothes directly from Greenland. While there is a ban on the use of sealskin all over Europe, you can shop to your heart’s content for clothes that use sealskin in Greenland without any guilt since the ban does not include Greenlandic sealskin.

Using Greenlandic sealskin is ethically acceptable because none of the seals that provide the skin were killed for the purpose of harvesting the skins itself. The seals are captured and shot in the wild for food, with the harvest of their skin considered only as a secondary reason, after all why waste perfectly good skin?

Two of the rather popular designers in Greenland are the mother and daughter team of Rita and Nickie Isaksen of Isaksen Design. Proud of their heritage, they always manage to incorporate their culture into their designs, not just through their choice of colors, but also with the use of ethically harvested sealskins. Their use of the sealskins is also very smart, using them mostly as accents to make an otherwise plain piece pop. Their Autum/Winter 2011 collection focuses on comfort and functionality using muted grays, blacks, browns, with white and red accents.

Image Courtesy of Isaksen Design Autumn/Winter 2011 Collection

The decision between buying an original and a fake implies that one actually has the power or financial clout to buy a designer handbag if they wish. There are some times during the year when this is true. In the January sales quite a few designer bags are reduced to the price of ordinary top-end, high-quality non-designer handbags and so are affordable. There is also birthday time when payouts from various relatives mean a big cash injection that one can blow on a designer bag. In these circumstances (because they occur so infrequently) one can be forgiven for having that ‘must get’ attitude.

Splashing out on a signature designer handbag is a good feeling. Especially as it’s been a year since you bought your last one. This bag will help define your fashion year and has the power of making you look like your worth a few bob. Carrying round a £1000 Gucci bag gives one an air of respect and perhaps an illusion of financial security to others at the office, on the train or even at the dentist’s. In short, for a women, it is the secret to happiness…..

Fake handbags do not quite carry that same air. If they are obvious fakes, they make the owner look like someone who does not care for accuracy or proper fashion accessories. This is in varying degrees depending on the age of the owner. For a teenager, one can be proud that they are aware of the importance of good-looking handbags at such an early age, despite having a small budget.

For grown women, fake handbags are simply unattractive. Carrying round a Pucci handbag or worse Dukki handbag (as I saw yesterday on the bus) does not look good. Save up and spend or stretch the budget to a better looking fake. Better still, buy a non-branded handbag.

When asked about this change in style,  the Essex-born Victoria told Company Magazine in an article out this week:

“It hasn’t, not at all. I am very British in my style. Think school teacher…..I love pencil skirts and fitted blouses, classic cut dresses and well fitted jeans mixed with classic tailoring.”

Hmmm. Having lived in the UK, I can honestly say that most British girls are actually some of the most relaxed dressers I know, bordering on the scruffy, especially if they spend a lot of time in the Country. Victoria, I believe has a style of her own, purely made for the pages of the tabloids.  Why the woman sold 400,000 copies of her book on fashion, The Extra Half an Inch is completely beyond me. The Guardian newspaper sums it up rather perfectly.  Here’s a bit of it:

I have no qualifications to write this book; that’s why I’ve got someone else to do it for me. But let me share my insights anyway. First I’d like to knock something on the head. The idea that, once you have a bit of money, you start wearing couture and stilettos all day and live on caviar and champagne is just nonsense. They’ve both got far too many calories.

My own inspirations come from Grace Kelly, Jackie Onassis and Giacometti sculpture, but this book is not my attempt to tell you what or what not to do. It’s my last chance to cash in on what remains of my fame before David retires.

I am grateful for the possibility of being close to Victoria’s credit card” – Roberto Cavalli.

These days it all seems to be about the impending holidays, from my friends’ dreading opening the “Christmas List” on Facebook, to stores and malls already decked out in Christmas displays, to signs everywhere telling me its time to shop, shop, SHOP!  Not that I need my arm twisted to do the latter, but it’s a fact of the holidays, and the sooner you start, the less overwhelming the season becomes.

So let’s start with footwear.  Whatever the occasion, be it a party for the office, with friends or a romantic rendezvous, a new pair of shoes will do wonders to put you in the festive mood.  Normally, the word dressy comes to mind, and we all know that dressy usually equals = heels. Yes, we all feel sexier in them, but I’d say that the average woman, would most welcome a break from them – but only if the affair does not entail having to wear a long gown.

Flats, or should I say, “dressy pumps” are perfectly acceptable for all your December affairs, provided they are dressed up with the required sparkly embellishments that scream “holiday season”. Take these oh-so-pretty silver be-jewelled flats ($100) from Zara pictured above.  Unless you’re truly vertically challenged, they should take you through most of the season in relative comfort and safety (think slippery, wet roads due to climate change), and the object of envy from your friends and colleagues in their sexy but pain-inducing (and expensive) golden Jimmy Choo heels. Or for a more flirty look, I’d go for these sweet pink sequined Kate Spades, on sale from $275 to $165 at ShopBop.

While dressy thongs are okay in the summer months, I’d stay clear of them in the holiday season, whether or not you live in a warm climate. I just feel too much foot doesn’t work this time of the year, in the evenings at least.

1970s:

Where do I start? How about I make a list of the words that come to mind: Hot pants! Platform shoes, jeans, bell bottoms, polyester, mini skirts, maxi skirts, Yves Saint Laurent, Charlie’s Angels, disco fever, cat suits, trouser suits, custom t-shirts, three piece suits, and the list can go on…

This is the decade in which my mother was in her twenties and when I was born. I have seen the pictures, and I have fit into her old clothes that still have a special place in her walk-in closet. I definitely like the whole ‘boho’ look that came out of the late 1960s and 1970s and admit to owning many clothes in that style, but I cannot imagine living during this decade. I’ll leave that look to Sienna Miller and Kate Moss.

Jean Paul Gaultier, artistic director of Hermes International SCA’s women’s ready-to-wear unit, is leaving to concentrate on his own label after working for Hermes for the past seven years. He will be showing the last collection he will be making for Hermes in October for the 2011 Summer-Spring collection. The fashion house is going to replace Gaultier with Cristophe Lemaire who has been Lacoste’s artistic director since 2001.

The split is said to be an amicable with Gaultier quoted as saying that it “has been a marvelous adventure which has allowed me to learn about a new ‘savoir faire’.” In a statement released by Hermes International they said that they are “deeply grateful to Jean Paul Gaultier for his outstanding creative contribution during these past seven years.” Grateful or not, in fashion business is business and I guess Hermes knew that they just needed some new blood to take their apparel section to the next level.

Hermes has also releases a statement saying that they will continue to have a relationship with Jean Paul Gaultier since they currently have a 45% stake on the designer’s own label and have no plans of selling their share anytime soon. According to fashionista, Steff Yotka, Hermes’ actions indicate the opposite of that statement and that Jean Paul Gaultier’s label might suffer setbacks, even go bankrupt, like Christian Lacroix did after he left Pucci in 2005, if some other fashion conglomerate doesn’t swoop in to help him bankroll his label. For now that is all just speculation and with more time in his hands we can hope to see even better things from Jean Paul Gaultier’s label by winter.

The exhibit will have three sections with the first section showing the actual costumes used in the movie, the second one showing modernized version of Alice in Wonderland-inspired everyday clothing, and the third one showing Alice-inspired gowns created by FIDM designers. The costume that I would personally be most interested in seeing is Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen dress (will her hairpiece be there as well?). I know Alice’s gown must be divine in real-life but it just hold much less interest to mean in terms of detailing. The Madd Hatter’s hat will also be shown as well as his costumer, which means that movie fans will surely be thrilled with the exhibit since they can see the actual stuff used in the movie. In my opnion though fashionistas and designers will probably be even more thrilled to see the Alice-inspired creations. The modernized Wonderland clothes that will be exhibited were created by highly recognizable names like Avril Lavigne and Tom Binns. It will be a mish mash of established designers and amateur celebrity designers.

The exclusive event with 700 guests showed stars walking the red carpet with wearing big name designers like Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Valentino, Diane Von Furstenberg, etc. Of course the gowns and suits were gorgeous though no one really bothers much to ask about the suits. WHat really stood out for me though was Gwen Stefani’s gown, which is actually her own design. It’s one thing to wear something great and quite another to have taste so great you can create something red carpet worthy. Props to Gwen!

Another stand out for the night, simply because of the label is Jessica Alba with her gown from GAP. You got that! GAP! Who knew GAP had something red carpet worthy? The gown was of designed for Sophie Theallet for GAP so don’t go sashaying in any GAP store and expect to get one RTW.

Some of the other stars that showed up dressed to kill included Sarah Jessica Parker, Emma Watson, Zoe Saldana, Blake Lively, Eva Longoria, Giselle Bundchen, Sienna Miller and Kristen Stewart.

Oh and lets not forget Katy Perry since no one can miss her with her (literally) glowing white gown with LED lights inserted all around. Now that makes for a shining star.

Countless BIG names have carried Dolce & Gabbana over the years. Think about Victoria Beckham, Isabella Rossellini, Monica Bellucci, and Madonna. Newcomers like Katy Perry and Scarlett Johansson have also been poster girls for the brand. That leaves no doubt as to just how esteemed this brand is!

How are they celebrating their quarter of a century mark? Shopaholics, hang on to your seats.

The formula is simple: they will never rest on their laurels and keep supplying us with the latest in fashion! In May, for example, Dolce & Gabbana is launching a new line of sunglasses. Dubbed MDG, this line is being produced in cooperation with La Ciccone. With summer almost here, the launch of the line is certain to be a success!

Of course, there will be more than sunglasses coming out in the next few months. I suggest that you set aside some spending money as this year is definitely going to be a great one for the brand – and your collection!