Rock & Runway: nail polish

The idea for a collaboration between nail gurus OPI and the beautiful Gwen Stefani occurred to Suzi Weiss Fischmann (OPI Co-Founder & Executive VP) after a visit to the Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibition at the Met in New York that I wrote about last June. She wanted to create a collection of shades that celebrated music's influence on fashion, and who embodies the two better than a trend-setting musician and fashion icon/designer like Gwen?!

I was always going to be excited about this collaboration. I'm an incurable nail varnish addict (I tried to go cold turkey last year and only managed two days with bare nails before caving and reaching for the bottle...) and Gwen Stefani has been a beauty crush of mine since the nineties. I'm also a big fan of OPI nail polish as it is incredibly opaque and long wearing – I can't be doing with wishy-washy shades that require three coats!

OPI's Gwen Stefani collection comprises seven new shades, including several of my favourite nail colours – black, red and hot pink – as well as a few metallics. It's been a while since I've gone down that route but it might be time to take a break from the old favourites and try them again. A couple even have a rather beautiful matte finish.

Left to right: Love. Angel. Music. Baby; 4 In The Morning; In True Stefani Fashion; Hey Baby; I Sing In Color; Over & Over A-Gwen; Push and Shove.

They retail at around £11 each (apart from Over & Over A-Gwen, which is a little more expensive as it comes complete with studs and crystals for those with the patience for nail art) but having been available for a little while now it's possible to pick up a bargain. I've found them reduced to £7.75 over on Nail Polish Direct.

I'm going to leave you with a little reminder (as if we really need one) of why we all love Ms Stefani so darn much. And why I love No Doubt. And Clueless.

www.opi.com/gwen

Well my holiday is officially over and I must admit I have a touch of the post-holiday blues. It's never much fun coming back to reality, but for a sun-worshipper like myself, it's even harder to make the Florida to England transition at this time of year. I swear I left England at the end of summer and returned two weeks later in the depths of winter! Returning to this country's heavy rain and arctic temperatures (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating a little) has been pretty painful, so in an attempt to cheer myself up, I’ve come up with a list of my top 5 sartorial reasons to appreciate Autumn/Winter.

1. COATS

From left to right: Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Biba at House of Fraser

Particularly fur coats, or should I say faux fur coats (the real deal is neither financially or morally appropriate for me). These take up a large portion of my wardrobe space and I’m always happy when I can start wearing them again. Admittedly I’ve been called Bette Lynch for wearing my leopard print coat and asked whether I skinned the polar bear myself for wearing my white one, but I couldn’t care less! Fashion will continue to fall in and out of love with them but I remain faithful – fur coats rule. And Alabama would agree. Alternatively for the best military coats this season look to Burberry and for a classic style with a splash of colour try Alexander McQueen or Zara.

2. BOOTS

From left to right: Zara, Alexander McQueen, Dr Martens

Oh how I’ve missed my Dr Marten's over the summer, and that fabulous smug feeling I get when it rains or snows and my feet are warm and dry. I’ve been that girl wearing ballet pumps in a torrential downpour many times before, so you’ll have to allow me a little smugness. Also on the wish list this season are a pair of biker boots and some new shoe boots, of which a girl can never have too many pairs!

3. NAIL POLISH

From left to right: Chanel Extreme Shine Nail Laquer, Dior Vernis in Purple Revolution,
Yves Saint Laurent in Rough Pop Art, Nails Inc. London in Mount Street

After a happy summer of corals, pinks and oranges it’s time to return to my winter wardrobe of black, plum and classic red. There’s a bit of a goth revival going on at the moment which suits my addiction to black nail varnish perfectly. My one rule is to reapply regularly – chipped black nails just aren't appropriate once you've left school! Chanel, Dior and YSL are always good quality and up to date with the new season's most desirable colours. But I'm actually a big fan of cheaper brands such as Revlon, which always has a nice range of colours that generally only require one coat to stay chip-proof for days.

4. HOSIERY

Left to right: lordandtaylor.com, boohoo.com, Jonathan Aston, modcloth.com

The unpredictable English weather and a refusal to spend every day in jeans means that good hosiery is often a girl’s best friend, and it is something that the great British high street is actually very good at – I’m thinking Pretty Polly, Jonathan Aston and good old Topshop. If you can brave the Oxford Street store madness then the selection available is well worth the effort. Topshop are a real favourite of mine as they actually make tights in a small, medium and large rather than limiting you to just a small/medium and medium/large option like most brands. And don’t even get me started on ‘one size fits all'! It just doesn’t.

5. KNITWEAR

From left to right: Coral cut-off gloves and teal snood from Accessorize, grey beanie from oliverbonas.com

It’s quite possible that my obsession with scarves, gloves and hats stems from a job I had in Accessorize ten years ago – a discount of up to 75% meant that my wardrobe has never been filled with so many accessories as that era. Accessorize are still great for winter woolies and this season my favourites from their Winter Shop include the very cute coral bow cut off gloves pictured above and their chunky snoods.

Finally as a bonus I’m going to add sunglasses to the list. There are still opportunities to wear them in winter, even in England, and they are a nice reminder that summer will eventually roll around again. Plus I broke my own cheap sunglasses rule on holiday and brought a beautiful pair of Ray-Bans, which if I can avoid breaking or losing, will be in my wardrobe for many years to come.

So there you have it! Five very good reasons to appreciate the changing of the seasons. I may be happiest in hot climates, but having spoken to a girl in Orlando about how she never gets to buy nice coats, I must admit I would be a little sad not to have the chance to adopt autumn/winter’s finest. And anyway, there's nothing quite like a good old British winter to make you truly appreciate the sun.