Category Archives: fashion

Win London Retro frames from Glasses Direct

LondonRetro-6

Have you ever bought prescription glasses online or do you usually go to the optician to select your new frames?  Up till now I have always tried on my glasses in person.  I am that lovely near-sighted girl who continues to put on and take off different frames in comparison inches away from the mirror.  Which do I like better?  One or Two? This brand or that brand over there? Do I stick with the tried and true Buddy Holiday inspired frames or opt for colour? Continue reading

What to Wear on a Country Walk – Winter 13/14

Country Walk EnglandWe have nine more weeks of Winter and that has not stopped us from going on country walks around our area of Bath, England.  However the shorts, sleeveless shirts, and trainers of our summer attire have had to be replaced by our winter wardrobe. When you are in England I always recommend double checking the weather right before you head out.  Check the temperature, the wind, and if rain or snow might be a factor.  Next, it is always good to plan your route before hand to give yourself a good time reference for how long you will be out.  With your information gathered you can than gauge how to dress appropriately for your country walk.  Remember just because you are going for a country walk, does not mean you have to dress frumpy. There are so many fashionable looks from Peter Hahn you can put together for your country walks from practical footwear to appropriate coats.

PeterHahnWinter

Continue reading

My Vow Renewal Dress

Today is a three day weekend in England as it is a Bank Holiday Monday.  A perk of living the expat life in the UK.  While my husband and I take it easy today (really worked our muscles yesterday on a 5 hour kayaking trip on the canals and rivers in Bath, England) I wanted to surprise you all with a sneak from our Vow Renewal in Wales.  I did end up wearing my original wedding gown for my 10th Wedding Anniversary.  I took out the zipper in the back, sewed in loops, and laced the dress up with ribbon.
 My head piece is something I bought while living in Hawaii for one of my fashion concept photo shoots.  I snagged a whole bunch of props before we left for Wales not sure what we would use or not. I put this on just to play around with the look and everyone really loved it, so it stayed on.  It was nice having a bit of home in Hawaii with us on our Vow Renwal day.  I am pictured here at Portmeirion, Wales by my photographer husband who took a few shots while we were waiting for our party.  It was so rewarding being able to wear the same dress again, ten years later, to say new vows to my husband.  Even more special to do so with our intimate group of family and friends. 

Photographed by Ryan Aherin and Edited by Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk
Q: Would you wear your gown again?


* Photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | http://www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Photography: LookBook Hawaii Pt. I

For today’s Throwback photography post I take you to the LookBook inspired shoot with model Kristen in Hawaii.  You might remember her from the title image on my post Photography and the Lies I Believed.  Kristen was one of several models that partook in my ‘Model of the Month‘ project in 2010, being the cover girl for April.  She also modeled with Alysha, the model of the month for March, showcased in my posts the Living Dolls and Colour Pop.  For the LookBook series the clothing came from selected choices from her own wardrobe and we shot in and around her home with my lighting setup from AlienBees. It became a part one of a two part shoot as we met up soon after to shoot at Lanikai beach.  My favourite moments of the day were making use of the amazing window light coming into the sun room which I used as backlighting against a monochromatic outfit choice. 
Q: Which was your favourite Cover option from the three pictured above?

*All photography (minus the sponsored photo) belongs to Bonnie Rose of Bonnie Rose Photography © 2007 – 2013 All Rights Reserved | www.bonnie-rose.co.uk

Weekly Wishes/2

Today is the second installment of Weekly Wishes with the Nectar Collective with Melyssa.  Last week I mentioned about accents and wanting to soften my American accent.  I have been working daily on it and that is my accomplishment right there.  It is actually a fun thing to practice because my family joins in.  My boys already have a very hybrid accent from going to school here in England.  They go in and out of the local accent of Bath, their american accent (still showing signs of living in Hawaii), and some sort of mix in between.  Then you have my husband who from going to school in Brighton to working now in England has really taken on the local language.  I know other americans who put their foot down when it comes to pronouncing Basil like ‘Bah-zil’ instead of the american ‘Bay-sul’.  Ryan says ‘tah-mah-toes’ without batting an eye and shops for aubergines and courgettes instead of eggplant and zucchini.  It has been fun practicing my accent.  I just cannot wait until it becomes so natural that I do not think about it. For right now I am always thinking about it.  
Weekly Wishes
w i s h e s  t h i s   w e e k 
To finally go through my entire wardrobe and get rid of the majority of my clothes.  I have said I will do this every week for the last few months.  Perhaps I have even said this for the last few years.  I want to finally accomplish this. 
Why I want to get rid of most of my wardrobe
I have had much of my wardrobe for so many years and have just slowly added to it.  Its a huge mix of everything, including some summer clothes from Hawaii.  I have clothes that do not fit. Clothes that need to be mended. Clothes that have bleach or dye on them from working in the salon.  I hang on to things I never wear because of the fear if I do not have it, I will need it. Honestly when I see the wardrobe sizes of other females I feel silly because its not like I have that many clothes. Its the fact that I have so much that I do not wear and so few that I do on a regular basis. 

My Dream Wardrobe
My style icons are coicindentally also the same women I have mentioned before as my role models: Audrey Hepburn and Angelina Jolie.   Basically everything needs to look good on me, tailored, and in the following shades of white, grey, black, beige, nude, or ballet pink. That way I can easily mix or match instead of having a shirt with some pattern in so many colours that hardly goes with anything that I own.  I then want to punch my wardrobe with colour in dresses that I would wear to go out.  I love to wear dresses and I feel like between my dresses and scarves thats a great way to go about accent colours.  I love to shop and if I could get rid of the majority of my wardrobe than I would be able to feel good about slowly adding to it with clothes I will actually wear. 
What is holding me back 
I have a stack of sweaters because England is really cold in the fall/winter/spring. However not all them do I love. Actually one of the ones I really love has a stubborn stain (probably hair colour from the salon) that will never come out. Yet here I have a drawer taken up by the bulkiness of sweaters.  I want to love every item of my wardrobe.  I am also tired of hanging on to things where the seam ripped or a button is missing because I plan to fix it and never do. 

I did get rid of 30+ pairs of shoes
To be fair I attempted and I have gotten rid of a few pieces. However I have not done a mass exodus of my wardrobe since I went through all my shoes last year.  I got rid of over thirty pairs of shoes to prepare for our move to Bath. The problem is I still have several pairs of shoes that I hardly wear and when I do they hurt my feet.  I ‘hoard’ shoes for the sheer fact that one pair may be my only pair in a certain colour, so I certainly cannot get rid of them. Right?  I have a pair of silver/grey shoes that made the cut, though they have a low heel are not very comfortable.  Which is probably do to the fact that I cringe to have to pay more than $20 on a pair of shoes for myself.  However, cheap price means cheap shoes. My sister shells out a lot for a pair of shoes that not only look amazing but feel amazing on your feet. One of these days I will follow suite.  Everything I have stated makes its seem like I must have a room devoted to shoes. I however have probably six pairs including my wellies that I actually wear. I then have a box of ‘ouch they hurt my feet’ cheep heels and boots that perpetually sit in my closet. 
How to commit to Change
I honestly think if I started shopping for myself on a regular basis I would not ‘hoard’ my wardrobe so much.  My husband does not have this problem and he is always shopping for himself. He loves those ‘ending soonest’ auctions on ebay because he can purchase a new shirt  or slacks for next to nothing.  He actually helped me get a pair of shoes yesterday, something I would have put off until Christmas when someone else could gift me what I need.  
Not having a car means we walk everywhere. I wore a pair of wedges to walk into town last week and by the time I got there my feet were killing me.  They did not feel better after lunch with Ryan, so I asked him if he could give me money for the bus. When I finally got home I realised I had blood blisters on my toes from the shoes. This is why my husband insisted we skip our country walk and get me some shoes that would not ruin my feet.
I really dislike having to wear my tennis shoes because even though they are white I feel like it makes me look ‘less presentable’.  The pretty beige shoes pictured above are the solution we found from T.K.Maxx.  I was surprised to see that they fit so well and that the back did not cut into my ankle like some similar ballet flats. Perhaps this will be a start of treating myself regularly.  I am not sure if other mums feel this way, but I honestly forget to do this.  


————————————–


This is my last week with my lovely sponsors, Tara and Rachel for July.  
Please check out their blogs and let them know I sent you. :) 

Additional Links:

Her blog: http://www.withlove-rachel.com/

Additional Links:
Q: Any advice for really getting rid of all those clothes and shoes from the wardrobe for an effective spring cleaning?


Elopement in Honolulu, Hawaii

For ‘Wedding Wednesday‘ an elopement photo shoot and a special behind the scenes look at a Vintage Bridal photo shoot with Sabrina & Daniel. Take a walk with us through China Town in Honolulu, Hawaii and experience the joy through the their look of love for each other.  
Did you see the Behind the Scenes video 
for the Vintage Bridal Shoot?
*Make up by Melissa Hurley and Hair & Photography by Bonnie Rose.
*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography ©2007-2013 All Rights Reserved – www.bonnie-rose.co.uk 

Model of the Month: Ginger & Red Heads

When I was living in Hawaii I was reminded continually that I was on a small island.  You ran into the same people, in the photography world everyone was shooting the same models, and you had to search hard to find anything that in a photograph would not scream ‘I live in Hawaii’.  Perhaps that is why I was surrounded by so many male photographers who shot only young females in their bikini on the beach.  I was on a hunt for something unique and that was when I discovered Alysha.  I believe I was specifically looking for models with long hair and it was her striking ginger hair that caught my eye.  Living in an asian melting pot of cultures you do not see a whole lot of pales skin or red hair.  We found out we were both here because of the military as her boyfriend was stationed on Oahu at the time. Instantly my head flooded with ideas for shoots and that is how my ‘Model of the Month’ project in 2010 began.  I decided I would work with one model every month and see what body of work we could produce together.  I would then release her ‘cover’ shot and my favourite images from the shoots. 
This shoot was one of our last shoot togethers though you might remember seeing her from In the Middle of a Dream shoot,  Living Doll Shoot, the Mermaid Cove shoot, and the Colour Pop shoot.  We shot this series all from my living room with the aid of my Alien Bees lighting.  I pulled out a few props and we worked together for a few fun portraits for an outcome of her cover shot.  I basically chose my living room wall as the backdrop to make sure her hair just popped in the photographs. When our month did come to an end I was quite sad because we had so much fun together.  The best shoots I have done are the ones where the model and I were close or had worked together before.  It is something I definitely miss about living on Hawaii.  The network of models, photographers, stylists, and hair and makeup artists is quite like a family.  I loved having an idea to shoot and calling up someone I had worked with to get together for a shoot.  I did end up calling Alysha again to cast her for a photo shoot for a magazine publication…because of her red hair.  I have to say that is her most distinguishing quality about her as a model and it is why I wanted to work with her in the first place.  
Side note:  I am glad I made use of this wall because I have never spent so much time doing a DIY painting project before.  This was our first home to own and where I could finally paint my walls.  My husband and I of course fell in love with a labour intensive technique that involved not normal paint brushes but a metal spatula of many coats for a faux finish. It looked pretty but took days to complete.

Did you see the Behind the Scenes video 
for making In the Middle of a Dream shoot?
*photography belongs to Bonnie Rose Photography ©2007-2013 All Rights Reserved – www.bonnie-rose.co.uk