Designer Knits for Less

Hello beauties, I hope  you're all well! As we all know (mainly because I wont stop banging on about it) the colder nights are drawing in (dark at 8:30 BOO) and the high-street is currently awash with a complete feast of Autumn/Winter goodies (YAY).

When I was browsing today (including the lovely Mia's website) I came across some really funky knitwear that totally reminded me of Proenza schouler and Missoni's gorgeous patterned designs. Here are some of these designer looks from  fashion week :

 Proenza Schouler 

Missoni

And here are some amazing 'copies' that I've spied on the high-street. They'd look absolutely fabulous as a gorgeous focal piece of any outfit (I especially love them teamed with black skinnies or leggings and long boots) and for an added bonus these babies come at an absolute fraction of the price :

 

1. Dorothy Perkins  £25.00

2. Dorothy Perkins £35.00

3. Topshop £65.00

4. Miss Selfridge £45.00

5. Dorothy Perkins £35.00

So there we are my loves a way to wrap up in super style but without the super cost!
Stay cosy!
<3

Look for less - Winter Addition!

Hello beauties! I hope you've all got that fabulous Friday feeling right about now?! Welcome to the weekend and a couple of days to re-charge those batteries and refresh those feet after a week of rushing around in stillettos.

To further bring you weekend cheeriness I've been on the hunt for some budget replicas of this seasons gorgeous designer winter wear! Can I just say I'm officially in love with the high-street at the moment and can't wait to go stock up on all my cosies for the cold snap!

Here's my top finds :

 Firstly we have these babies. And I dont know about you but in the winter if somethings got fur on it ... I want it ha-ha. I'm all about embracing my inner eskimo and cuddling down in something cosey.
On the left we have the blowout buy - Acne £1200
And on the right - Dorothy Perkins £55.00 

 Next up we have some toasty marshmallow coloured knits - now whilst these might not quite be good enough to eat (imagine the furballs) they're almost there! I love the idea of snuggling up in one of these on a cold winter night.
On the left - blowout - Rag and Bone £180.00
And on the right - budget - Dorothy Perkins £28.00

 This fal I am absolutely obsessssed with shoe-boots I can't even tell you how many pairs I've seen that have literally caused my jaw to drop. These two are definitely examples of how freaking amazing these inventions can be. Imagine them teamed with super skinny jeans and a gorgeous oversized knit -grunge glamour perfection!
On the left - blowout - Miu Miu £515.00

On the right - budget - Asos £26.00

 Berry and wine colours are so in this fall (probably because they encourage red wine consumption and who needs an excuse for that?!) and of course no bag is more covetable than a classic chanel so the mix of the two is every bit as intoxicating to the eyes as a huge glass of vino is to the mind! Despite a few obvious differences the budget bag here isn't too shabby and still has that beautiful pop of colour.
On the left - Blow out - Chanel - Price on purchase

On the right - Miss Selfridge £11.00

 Lastly you all know how cerazzzy I am for leather (yeah ok I know im crazy in general but work with me here) and leather leggings have to be one of my ultimate favourite items. They look so gorgeous teamed with killer heels for a night out or effortlessly chic with an oversized shirt and flats for a casual ensemble.
On the left blowout - Michael Kors £395.00

On the right - budget - Bank £15.00

So there we are my loves! Some winter goodie steals for you!
If anyone is interested in me hunting down budget versions of anything pretty you've seen lately just leave a comment or email:
fashionismyh2o@hotmail.co.uk
Happy weekend!
<3

 

Look for Less - Designer Inspired Pieces

Hello lovelies, I hope you're all well and good - as well and good as you can be on a Tuesday anyway ha-ha.  Today I'm being hassled by a cold-caller ringing me constantly - in the time since I've gotten up this morning (about 2.5 hours) they've rung me no less than 5 times - grrr, I'm not sure wether to pick up and yell at them to go away or just keep leaving it and hope they get the message! Aside from that though I'm having a nice day at home, prepping the house (a.k.a getting stressed at the ironing - I'm such a fail!) for the arrival back of my family from holidays - chaos is coming I can feel it! 

Before the madness ensues though I have a really interesting (well at least I hope it is) post for you today. The subject is 'Look for less - Designer inspired pieces' and by that I basically meen pieces that you can pick up on the high-street that are remarkably similar to much more expensive 'designer' versions. This is a subject I find quite fascinating as A)I always wonder how the budget companies are allowed to create such blatant copies and B)Why anyone would buy the more expensive versions when the knock of pieces are readily available?

Here is just a selection of 'knock off' inspired pieces I have found recently the designer pieces are on the left and the cheaper on the right:

 Left - Leather Jacket £395.00 Coggles

Right - Leather Jacket £49.00 Miss Selfridge 

Now I know I'm always going to be a champion of 'High-Street' fashion as it basically forms the backbone of fashionismyh2o but I honestly, honestly, honestly cannot see a difference in 'quality' in the appearance of these two jackets. I'm sure if I was to pick them up and feel them then there would be but in terms of appearance I seriously think they look like dead-ringers for each other and I'm sorry but at £350 cheaper... It'd be Miss Selfridge for me all the way.

 Left - Boots Guiseppe Zanotti $750.00

Right - Boots MakeMeChic $25.00

Yeah, once again this had me blinking for ages! I can see the Zanotti boots are a little bit sharper in terms of shape but generally overall again purely based on appearance I'm incredibly impressed by the 'imitation' piece again. I'd buy these black boots in a milisecond - how perfect would they look with some grey skinny jeans?

 Left - Yellow Dress  Wren £229.00

Right - Yellow Dress Topshop £46.00

Now I can at least visually notice a difference in the material used for these two dresses - the Wren dresslooks a much lighter fabric, but I have to say ... I think I actually prefer the look of the Topshop dress here - it just looks far less likely to crinkle and I much prefer my outfits to look like they've not been rolled around in ha-ha. Both dresses are beautiful though and I imagine the Wren dress would be a perfect quirky summer cocktail dress.

 Left - Black fitted dress - Ellie Saab £547.00
Right - Black fitted dress - Dorothy Perkins £38.00

Now again with this dress I can see that the expensive version is obviously slightly better cut - the shape of it is just absolutely gorrrrgeous! But the Dorothy Perkins number is definitely a decent contender and for those of us who could only dream of dropping £500 + on a dress it's not at all that bad of a consolation dress. Infact I'd be more than happy to rock it for work or a formal occasion anytime.

 Left - Jeans Veryeickhoff £329.00

Right - Jeans Witchery £49.95

Now I know it's not strictly true that jeans companies 'replicate' designer jeans - most jeans look pretty much the same to me but I think if you're going to be charging so much more for a pair of jeans I would expect to notice more of a difference? I'm sure the fit would probably be better (anyone with a designer jeans habbit want to elighten me?) these both look great to me and once again whilst I'm on such an 'adverage' budget I'd seriously struggle to justify the more expensive jeans.

Left - Printed maxi dress Tibi £270.00

Right - Printed maxi dress River Island £29.99

Lastly this is probably my 'favourite' find when I was creating this post - I absolutely cannot beleive how similar the two dresses are! The print is pretty much exact and the only extra points I can give to the Tibi dress is that the yellow base colour is a lot more warm and soft. Despite that though for just £30 the River Island dress is a complete style steal and I absolutely adore it!

So there we are then honey's what do you think? Can you justify dropping some big ££ on a 'proper' piece or do you head for the knock-offs? What's your opinion on this? I'd love to know as I'm actually fascinated by this side of fashion.

<3

Thursday Trend - Look for less

Hello Lovelies - here we are on the eve of yet another Bank Holiday! They seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment giving me lots of time to enjoy a little internet browsing. 

Today I have for you something that I'm really interested in - designer looks for less.
Whilst looking at gorgeous designer clothes ranks pretty high on my 'I'm bored and I have nothing better to do' radar, I unfortunately massively lack the funding to ever contemplate even considering purchasing anything. I also find the idea of spending obscene amounts of money on a simple tank top... obscene. This has lead to me searching high and low across the internet to try and find some budget friendly alternatives to designer pieces that have caught my eye recently.

I hope what I've found below inspires you that although the quality may not quite be the same it is possible to find High-street budget friendly alternatives to designer delights.

Here we go:

 Firstly we have this Balmain Tank top that whilst undoubtebly gorgeous in a laid back rock n roll chic ways retails at a staggering £845 which is impossible for most budgets.

 However this High-Street option has the same laid back chic feel and despite missing a few of Balmains defining details I feel it's a pretty decent substitute and at an absolute tiny fraction of the orignials price is more than worth a try.Topshop £18.00

 Then we have this absolutely gorgeous camisole which is the perfect pretty shade for Summer but at $310 from The Row it is again far too expensive for the regular girl on the street.

 Which is where this divine imitation comes in - incredibly similar infact I actually got confused over which was which whilst compiling this postTopshop £38.00

 Then we have these super hot platform strapped wedges which retail at £185 from Karen Millen making them less of a splurge than the previous items but still a little pricey for those on a real tight budget

Their High-Street counterparts however would be affordable to literally all and are pretty fierce in their own rightNew Look £15.00

 Then there's this gorgeous simple shirt from Net A Porter whicb although classicly gorgeous is a little too pricey for my taste at £205

 This High-Street replica however is right up my street and almost as gorgeous I think!
Topshop £18.00

 So there we have it, whilst I'm not claiming that these imitations are perfect they certainly offer an alternative to those who really cannot afford to drop hundreds of pounds on one item and frankly I think sometimes especially in the case of the pink camisole it's quite hard to tell the difference!

What's your opinion lovelies?
Do you think the High-street can ever compete? And how do you feel about spending the large amount of £ on designer items?