Fun Cropped Jackets
For something more trendy and fun this season (even though they will be dated after a season and will probably not quite as versatile), here are a few suggestions:
Bold Colors: Adds instant oomph! This electric blue (right) is especially hot this season! (Both: Anthropologie) 
Plaid: Yes, plaid is still hot. Plus, it fits right into the Christmas mood! Here we have the more classic cut crop by J Crew (left) and a more edgy crop by LAMB (right). I especially like the wide plaid on the J Crew jacket. 
More Plaid: For something a little bit more subtle, versatile and less festive I am loving these two plaid crops from Vince (left) and Marc by Marc Jacobs (right). 
Patent: Well they are everywhere for shoes, so why not for cropped jackets? Yes, it may look like a raincoat, but styled by this way by Robert Rodriguez (left), its a very chic raincoat. And I just thought I'd throw in this crop by Ella Moss (right) even though its not patent just because I think the design looks so smart, simple and CUTE! 
Metallic: The perfect cover over your party outfit! I LOVE these two by Walter (left) and Express (right). The color and print is subtle and versatile, but the material gives it an extra shine that lends it a more night-time feel.Image Sources: J Crew, Shopbop, Anthropologie, Express and Saks Fifth
This tiered hemline dress was the first dress that caught my eye this season. I love the hemline layers. The design combines 60's style (mini dress) with a hint of 20's style (the details concentrated at the bottom). It's cute and very modern -perfect for events like dresses-up house parties.
These two dresses are so cute and classy. Imagine yourself going out to a fancy dinner in winter, wearing stockings with platform heels. Fabulous scene huh?
While these two dresses won't flatter short people at all, I like how the designs are good to go from day to night. 
For day, you can layer a long-sleeve t-shirt/ sweater and leggings underneath the dress. And for night, wear the dress by itself (in a hopefully warm venue.)
For office parties, this long-sleeve silk dress can take you from the office to the party without looking inappropriate but still chic.
Contrast these two dresses -the black dress is another office party dress choice, while the vibrant pink dress is great for any holiday/ beachy parties if you're spending your holidays at some beach resort.
For something very party-perfect, this black sequined dress and silver dress is sparkly and oh-so-trendy. 
If you want a dramatic flair to your dresses, these two dresses are 'omg, so cute!' (As overheard by two girls exclaiming at Neiman Marcus in LA last August.) I'm not sure how practical they are though. They look like dresses that can only be worn to events once or twice.
The Nix Check Halter dress looks versatile enought for many occasions, (think from bars and clubs to restaurants and house parties), and can be worn many times. I'm definitely keeping my eye out for this dress.
These dresses are the other two I'm looking out for. I love how chic, classy and cute the sleeveless dress (left) looks. And the red dress has a nice flattering A-line silhouette with the purple silk tie high up the waist. Plus it's nice to be in a colourful dress that doesn't look like it's from the 80's.
When I first saw this Kate Moss Top Shop dress I thought, 'Oooh, I really, really like it.' I liked how only the top had sequins (instead of the whole dress,) and that the dress had a bit of an A-line shape to it instead of a huge T-shirt shape (which a lot of sequined dresses seemed have.) It was a glamorous with an edge, but without being too sparkly. I like the chiffon skirt bit because it meant it will swirl around with you when you walk and dance. And so I thought the dress had a good balance of style and trend. But the more I stare at the design, the more I thought of one thing: showgirls. For some reason, the dress really reminded me of dresses that showgirls in cheesy movies would wear in bars, dancing around poles and entertaining sleezy guys. 
This is another dress that I was thinking of awhile back (from Top Shop). It's a 50's style dress and it has a slit-like hole at the back. I've never tried or owned such vintage-looking dress before, and was thinking that I lacked stylish, unique dresses. The dress fit well, and the length was just right. But one thing I was debating about was whether the dress was unique in an old-fashioned way, or in a fashion-foward way.
You will notice that the shoulders of the Top Shop dress is really wide and the waist part fits well. Doesn't it just remind you of the Balenciaga SS08 shape? I mean, obviously it's not as structured as Balenciaga's, but it looks like a more casual design of Balenciaga's, doesn't it? But I was also concerned with the print. It's not the most modern print around and could easily be seen as a print that's too 'old' and 'grandmother-y'. On the other hand, if you can carry it off and accessorise well, then you can pull a really fashion-foward outfit together. Thus, the line between fashion-backward and fashion-foward is really really thin.
A large comfortable scarf has always been a staple to one's winter outfits. In the past few years, the trend seemed to be of plain, mono-coloured scarves. But ever since Balanciaga's FW07 show, ethnic-looking scarves have become more and more popular. Walk in to any high street store, Zara in particular, and you would notice that they have been selling a lot of Balenciaga-inspired scarves. Think tie-dyed, or coin/ round metal pieces-embellished scarves. I actaully bought a tie-dyed silk scarf from Zara when I was in a runway-fashion haze, but I returned it later becuase I decided it just wasn't practical. Speaking of Balenciaga, if you haven't seen one of the Balenciaga scarves in real life, go see it and feel it! Your brain might just irrationally equate the quality to the huge price tag.
Anyways, I usually buy myself one to two scarves per FW season. This season, one of my scarves is this green printed scarf. (Excuse the crappy styling and photography.) It's half silk and half wool, so it's not the thickest, warmest scarf around, but it's good for those not-too-chilly days. I especially like the purple and green blocks of colour at the ends of the scarf.
A few weeks ago, I had a party to go to and no new dress to wear. My friend told me to check out asos.com, which if you don't know, is a site famous for selling clothes that are 'in the style of x celebrity' and also clothes from a few UK high street brands (like Oasis, French Connection and Mina). 
These two black dresses are classy and stylish. The quality looks decent too. I especially like the sequinned one.
The red dress is quite cute, and the silver, sequinned dress is perfect for this party season!
Now these are examples of what I think are poor quality and design. The black dress's material looks cheap and the gems a bit too plastic-y. OK, I know the dress doesn't actaully cost a lot (38 pounds), but I have no desire to wear that material. As for the cream-coloured sequined dress, the design is just not very flattering. 
This is the dress that has got me seriously thinking to give ASOS a go. I really like this dress. It's stylish, pretty and very youthful. 
And on a closer look, even the beads and sequins look ok in quality. So should I dive in and get this dress?
Another dress I'm liking is this waistcoat dress. It's cute and cool. It's made of all polyester though, so I'm not sure how it'll look in real life.
