#TodayImWearing a whole lotta gold

I have a nasty habit of falling in love with really expensive pieces of jewellery I ‘ll never be able to afford (this week I’m worshiping at the altar of YSL and THAT turquoise art deco inspired ring that’s sold out evvverywhere), but where there’s a will theres usually a way, and therefore here are some of my best jewellery steals this month…

Firstly, I can’t deal with dainty, girly watches and would rather be dragging my wrist along the floor like a Neanderthal weighed down by gold than wear a skinny strap any day.  Therefore I channelled my inner Vicky Beckham (I am from Essex after all)  and opted for a new timepiece in rose gold – rumour has it she got Louboutin to colour match the shoes for her first Fashion Week show from a similar watch David had bought her.  And until I can afford to splash the cash on the mac Daddy of all Rolexes, which I like to humour myself that my wrist deserves, my £20 imitation will do me quite splendidly thank you.

Same goes for rings really.  That amber one on my index cost a quid from George, and despite the stone falling out the next day (a glue gun can really be your best friend sometimes) its been as good as (fake) gold ever since.  And with Easter is round the corner, I thought I’d go a tad religious and opt for a long St Christopher’s charm necklace to finish things off at a barginous £6.  I just hope it doesn’t turn my neck green.

Topshop-inspired rhubarb cake

Who says skinny fashion girls don’t eat? Heck, we even bake. Here’s a cake recipe I made last week which was actually inspired by fashion giant Topshop. Well, sort of.

The Topshop show space was a favourite venue of many attendees at London Fashion Week in February, and not just because it played host to standout shows from the likes of Mary Katrantzou and Michael van der Ham. The other attraction was the Topshop Cafe – located in the foyer – which doled out countless flutes of champagne and lots of sweet treats to the audience before each show. At the Fashion East show (you can read my review here) I had a piece of cake which had a gorgeous tangy rhubarb topping and a dollop of sour cream on the side.

I’d been on the lookout for rhubarb cake ever since, so when I was allocated the dessert course for my housemate Alicia’s birthday dinner last week I had a go at something similar. I adapted an American recipe I found online called Mom’s raw rhubarb cake by adding few raspberries, and judging from the dinner guests’ reactions (empty plates; murmurs of approval) it was pretty successful. So here it is, handily translated into British measurements, Katie’s raw rhubarb and raspberry cake.

You will need:

300g brown sugar
115g butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
240ml sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
225g flour
200g cut rhubarb
100g raspberries

Topping:
55g cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

Method:

Cream the sugar, butter, egg, and salt. Stir in sourcream, baking soda, vanilla, and flour. Add rhubarb and raspberries and beat well – don’t worry about the rhubarb being raw, it cooks through in the oven.  Pour into well-greased 9 x 13″ cake pan.  Sprinkle with topping.  Bake at 190 degrees C for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The mixture is quite wet because of the raw fruit so it may take a little longer.

Serve with whipped cream and a few extra raspberries and it should look something like this…

Snippet from London Fashion Week: Christopher Kane A/W 2011

Christopher Kane: 1 Poor models’ feet: 0

But my oh my what a collection. See for yourself here:

It all starts here

Those were the words that Mikey whispered right before he and the rest of the Goonies descended  underground and started their epic adventure. But enough of favourite childhood film references, I’m talking about the start of Style and Then Some, your new favourite blog.

What’s it all about? Essentially, this is a fashion blog. An outlet for all the stylish outpourings of a quartet of writers. If it’s aesthetically pleasing and/or interesting to us you’ll find it in the style category. But even we can’t exist on a diet of fashion alone, so we’re casting our nets wider to fill the other half of the blog with news of the most stylish cultural happenings, places to go and things to do that we can find in London and beyond. Geddit? It’s style…and then some.

And who exactly are we? We are Helen, Katie (that’s me), Kelly and Sophie, four London-dwelling  twenty-something girls united by a love of fashion and writing, and a distaste for fashion clichés and ‘churnalism’. With several years fashion blogging experience between us, and a good few seasons at London Fashion Week under our belts, we’ve decided to join forces to form a style-savvy blogging team.

We’re just starting out, so be gentle with us as we find our feet. If you like what you see why not become a follower of @Style_thensome (can you believe it, no & symbols allowed?!) on Twitter and like the Style and Then Some page on Facebook so you can keep up to date with the latest posts, pics and general happenings. Like I said, it all starts here.