Welcome to the Jungle.

The favourite high street label's latest drop, Urban Jungle, is chock-full of attitude packed pieces – think studs, leather and neon on everything from hot Saturday night frocks to cool printed cut offs. 

I'm particularly smitten with the tropical florals. Think Cheryl Cole's tropic blazer that she sported in her Call My Name video, but maybe leave the knicker shorts to her and rock it over LBD’s or skinnies instead.

High on gothic glamour and rich with suggestion (50 shades of grey), glossy black leather offers a sleek take on this autumn's new decadent air: Urban Jungle.

Go printed and peplum for dresses and crops or let animal print prowl on back into your wardrobe in leggings and shorts a-plenty. 

Fierce collars have also proved to be insanely popular with female fashionistas everywhere. Sequins, studs and embellished collars - this look will give us a far more star-studded selection of shirts, dresses, shoes and coats too!

From tie-dye grunge to Hawaiian chic take on this look for your Summer/Autumn crossover. 

Fashion goes fierce, and I love it!

-ZB

Sporting the newest trend.

" For Marc Jacobs it was baseball, for Peter Pilotto it was diving, and for Acne it was motocross. This isn’t about looking like you’ve just stepped out of the gym – instead, aim to capture the natural, organic style of dancers, gymnasts and athletes, and give it a high fashion twist."


Find out more at:


http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/26/sport-luxe/


-ZB

How to wear Baroque

"Once upon a time baroque prints were exclusively synonymous with the vivid Versace print or Marie-Antoinette’s ‘Let them eat cake’ flamboyance, but its decadence has riddled into 2012's fashion bill; it’s not just one for summer, but for fall too."


Read the rest at:
http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/09/rocking-baroque/


-ZB

The Amazing Spiderman

"The Amazing Spiderman spins a web of emotional depth, a plethora of comedic touches and that eminent marvel action."


Read my review of the webslinging flick at:


http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/06/amazing-spiderman-review/


-ZB

If the Shoe Fits: Top Ten Shoe Trends this Summer.

From mules and mary-janes to perspex heels and metal toe caps, there's a lost sole for every fashionista this season. 


1. Neon.
Amplify your shoe rack with electric heels and vibrant neon kicks. Treat your feet like Roskanda Illincic with zingy, neon hues to adorn your court shoes. 

1. Krazy paving neon multi shoes, £34.40 at Office 2. Neon pink high heel courts, £22.99 at quizclothing.com 3. Jeffrey Campbell 'Tanya' in black white and yellow, £102.

2. Perspex.
Think glass slippers like Cindy and find the perfect fit with the summer fling to boot. Phillp Lim made over the simple, high-heeled sandal in perspex transparency for you this summer.

1. Nude Percy Perspex Heeled Ankle Boots, £29.99, New Look 2. Whistle Leather Perspex Flatforms, £65, ASOS. 3. Buckle high sandal, £99.99, Miss Sixty.

3. Stripes.
In the spot versus stripe ongoing contention Burberry confirmed stripes would come out on top this Summer. From Breton tops to wedges and espadrilles, striped has become a firm staple.

1. Black stripe heel strappy wedges, £47.99, London Rebel 2. Kimchi Blue Tribal Striped Lace-Up Sandals, £20, Urban Outfitters 3. Woven striped wedges, £35.99, AX Paris.

4. Metallic.
Sterling shades and sea-inspired mermaid flippers; Chanel bolstered the trend for shiny feet this season: wear it well.

1. Wait in line wedge silver hi shine, £25, Office 2. Metallic Bow Flats, £12, Forever21.com 3.Olbia prince metallic leather sandals, £38.40, CLARKS.

5. High Tops.
Sneakers have never looked so sneaky; Marc Jacobs takes the flat out of trainers by incorporating a hidden heel. Get Olympic style sporty and pop on a pair.

1. Blink Black District Women’s Wedge High Top Trainer, £64.99, Daniel Footwear 2. Leopard high tops, £76, Michael Kors 3. Cool wedge high tops, £149, Ash.

6. Wedges.
A favourite summer staple; wedges were given a nature-themed makeover at Moschino. Ethnic prints and espadrille blocked beauties are an essential to pack for you jet-setters.

1. Feud Womens Whip Wedge Shoes Natural Raffia, £39.99, mandmdirect.com 2. Yellow Julian J Smith wedges, £55, River Island 3. Patterned wedges, £84.99, Chinese Laundry at New Look.

7. Toe Caps.
Apparently it's not just guys that can wear steel toe cap shoes; Louis Vitton dares us ladies to try them too.

1. Pocket Pointed High Heels with Metal Toe Cap, £45, ASOS 2. Sidney Pointed High Heels with Metal Toe Cap, £45, ASOS 3. Sidney shoe boots, £120, KG by Kurt Geiger.

8. Mary-Janes.
One for the summer-workaholics, choose a pair of Marni inspired office-ready Mary-Janes.

1. Wide Fit Cream Patent Mary Janes, £19.99, New Look 2. Pickle Heart Print Platform Mary Jane Shoe, £15, ASOS 3. Gabrielle toe cap mary-janes, £79, Reiss.

9. Mules.
Not the easiest thing to saddle up in, but as long as they look exquisite that's all your feet will care about. Get your Ped-egg though this look is only for sensational soles.

1. Drea Mule, £95, Jeffrey Campbell 2. Dora, £35, Kurt Geiger 3. Unze Women's Mules Flats, £35, Javari.com

10. Pastels.
Palatable pastels should be making footsteps in the sand this summer so think nude, rose, aqua and pale green.

1. Mint suede mid heel courts, £38, Next 2. Tan Pastel Multi Macrame Lita, £98, Jeffrey Campbell 3. Lula Ballet Flats with Colour Block, £25, ASOS.

Go ahead and heel yourself from your rainy summer blues with some of these beauties.

-ZB

Bright eyed and bushy browed.

Whether the sun shines this summer or not, the flashes of bold colour on make-up fanatic faces will be enough to brighten even the drabbest of days; with looks veering from the riotous crimson glows to the subtlest cheek contours.


See more at:
http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/03/rainbow-brights/


-ZB

Lullaby Lane.

A new designers' business is topped to lull even the hardest of critics as we watch the elephants go by, and join Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue at Lullaby Lane.


Read more at:
http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/01/coming-lullaby-lane/

-ZB

Nick Malenko talks Braiding.

I interviewed Nick Malenko, one half of the Royston Blythe duo, to get all the goss on this seasons hottest hairstyle. Instead of styling the trestles of regulars Katy Perry, Antonio Banderes, Katie Price and One Direction today he's weaving in amongst US with braiding tips.


Read more at:
http://www.yuppee.com/2012/07/01/nick-malenko-talks-summers-biggest-hair-trend/


-ZB

The Muppets (DVD release)

It's time to start the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to meet the Muppets for...a flat and forgettable film. 


Under the new reign of Jason Segal, co-writer Nicholas Stroller and director James Bobin the Muppets are back - but are guilessly useless. Fozzy's farting shoes are not funny. Gonzo and Rizzo are seemingly non-existent. And our lovable Kermit the frog was made supporting role to a fuzzy, Muppet newby: Walter.


Now - don't get me wrong there is something charmingly relentless about the felt faced animals, vegetables and indescribables resilience, but the overreaching storyline in The Muppets isn't the most imaginative in the great Muppet franchise. 


As plots go, this one is almost as old as 'one day a boy meets a girl and they overcome an obstacle of some description', but really it's just a rouse for a reunion. Jason Segal teams up with Amy Adams and new-kid-on-the-block Walter as the films protagonist threesome.


Now- musicals magically move me and anyone who knows me knows I love things as camp-as-Christmas, but the endless musical outbreaks by the human quota are cringe worthy and detract from the Muppets' screen time and gay-abandon.


Some of the unnecessary numbers shroud the fun and fall short of the Muppet name. The same can be said for the drawn out duds along the way with the majority of the film's gag set-ups, once again, falling flat.


The felty Muppet favourites weren't shown enough but when they were their boundless enthusiasm carried them stubbornly on, life's a happy song they remind us- yes, Muppets, yes it is, but not from the lips of Jason Segal.


Take out the human limelight-hoggers, slap a feather bower on Miss Piggy, exaggerate the underdog storyline and bring back Rizzo and you've got yourself a show.

-ZB

Dress like a Darling Bud.

Florals – the perennial Spring/Summer trend – but with a delightfully mixed bunch of new season florals taking over our favourite Highstreet stores it's high time I sewed some seeds of advice on how to wear the floral trend.

Find out how to wear this seasons appliqué blooms:

http://www.yuppee.com/2012/06/28/darling-buds-julyaugust/

-ZB

Snow White and the Huntsman

Once upon a time, director Rupert Sanders and his band of merry writers began their quest to create an updated version of the family classic Snow White. It was a noble quest; they ditched helpful woodland animals and bobbed Disney princess' and opted for a darkness that seeps into the soul.

A modern fairytale was spawned, Snow White and the Huntsman, injecting the story with a darker tone that has long been missed. Yes - Sanders breathes life into the chirpy, witless, post-card-ready classic. He treats us to the "Once upon a time" voice over but quickly sets-up a jarring and haunting movie.


Much like its predecessors in the Snow White branch the tale follows a Princess whose wicked step mother Queen wants her guts-for-garters. But soon with the help of several dwarves and heart throbs a-plenty the Princess ascends to take on mommy dearest.


The cast is star-studded; from Kristen Stewert's tentative "Snow" to Charlize Theron's sensually terrifying performance as Queen Ravenna. In the contest for who's fairer - here, Theron comes out on top. Her presence is magnetic - she embodies the role of evil queen and still manages to look beautiful when ageing by the CGI-minute. While Kristen is left with little to say quite literally as the directors clearly cut her lines so as not to divert from the foolery of the American-English accent.


And not unlike the Twilight franchise Snow White and the Huntsman offers up two male leads: Huntsman Eric (Chris Hemsworth) and childhood sweetheart, William (Sam Clafin). Both play admirable roles but are quickly over-shadowed at the emergence of 7 very small but lovable characters - the dwarves. Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Ian McShane, Eddie Marsan, Nick Frost and Ray Winstone took on the roles of vertically challenged forest dwellers who come to our heroine's aid. And while they were engaging and amusing, I found myself trying so hard to work out each actor that I was completely taken out of what little story there was at their point of arrival.


However, this is a bold rethinking of a familiar old-story which is alleviated by striking design elements and arresting visuals. The astonishing hallows of the eidolic forest with its cloaked ghouls and phantom mists stand in stark contrast to the faerie sanctuary. While the fairy grotto looked like a scene straight out of Avatar, with Aslan the Lion-king showing up mid-film in the shape of a CGI-stag, Sanders proved his below par visuals in Alice in Wonderland could be rectified in this startling screenplay.

Snow White and the Huntsman proves you don't need a magic mirror to tell which summer release is the fairest of them all. 

-ZB

Prometheus.

 

A poor man's Alien - Ridley Scott takes us on a voyage to another planet to meet our maker, we float over silver-grey vistas and ironically as the characters are woken from their stasis pods we are slowly lulled into slumber. 

What was promised was a film to rival Prometheus' predecessor: Alien; with Scott having dabbled in the sci-fi pit of extraterrestrial life and tentacle flailing facehuggers Prometheus was tipped to be a success, but what ensued was poor plot and even poorer acting.

Archaeologist couple Elizabeth and David Shaw head up a ship of tech-savy space geeks in a bid to meet the "engineers" who made them. Really there's not much plot from here; the mission results in a wipeout of the cast and a second journey which takes us full circle to everything we asked at the start of the film. 

Basically, while Prometheus asks "the most meaningful questions ever asked by mankind," in the words of one character, it really fails to answer any of them. We are as clueless at the end as the start.

The defunk of the plot was let down by the appalling acting by Noomi Rapace who plays a very unconvincing Elizabeth Shaw. Her character falls flat on all hurdles; her soul search was half-hearted and her love scenes were scarier than the creeps Scott attempted to stage.

Characters perish, but without great wit or design, and in fits and starts until we are just left with Rapace. The film can't fix on where it wants the action to occur, dragging the cast between the Apple-elegant fixtures of the good ship Prometheus and the dullened bio-horror chambers of the 'temple'. 

In fact, none of the characters were really likable its hard to empathise when the "heroic" characters are shrouded by bad acting and poor script.  It's plain to see the purse strings were tightened when it came to casting and script.

Evidently the $130 million budget was spent on the special effects; but the stunning visuals, gloopy madness, and sterling Fassbenderiness can't prevent Prometheus seeming like Alien's poor relation.

What Prometheus lacks in style and substance it makes up in special effects but unlike Alien's moniker "in space no one can hear you scream" Prometheus was stilted. I didn't scream. I didn't jump. I barely cringed.

I won't call this a space odyssey but to paraphrase the Alien campaign "in this space no one can hear me eulogize."

-ZB 

Avengers Assemble

Six superheroes for the price of one ticket, all with specific personalities, abilities and back stories that need to be wrangled into a cohesive fighting force. Yes - it is a task that Buffy creator Joss Whedon has taken on in bringing Marvel’s Avengers together at last with what is essentially a massive comic franchise toy box in which Whedon embarks in dollplay. And Whedon has used every toy in the box. 


Let's cut to the chase: Marvel's The Avengers is the movie comic book fans, who have been curled up in their parents' box rooms surrounded by the package bound figurines of Captain America, have been fantasizing about for half a century. The iconic six: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk have featured in a string of recent solo summer movies priming the pump for the film that would bring them all together. But don't be fooled by this Marvel mash-up it is no sequel to the others; it's its own thing unto itself.

The plot is merely a side line to the legends. The world is about to end because of banished demigod, Loki, and so the heaviest hitters in the superhero circuit unite with a rep bigger than the West Side to defend the mere mortals. In essence a getting-the-lads-together story, The Avengers opens with a threat and ends with happy heroes and a devastated New York. 

Each of the characters are perfectly cast, from Samuel L. Jackson's sullen performance as Laden Fury to Robert Downey Junior's sharp-tongued Stark. Captain America is as ever pleasantly retro and Johanson's Black Widow unleashes some marvellous stunts. But the stand out performance is almost indefinitely Mark Ruffalo as Banner. His depiction of a man deftly controlling the tempests of his Jekyl/Hyde reality evokes stirring poignance and his slapstick humour is flawless.

All of this is spiced up by Whedon's engaging script; from witty lines and wise cracks to unexpected moments of action, the screenplay proved to be almost as legendary as its protagonists, adding levity from an otherwise storm and stress plot. Whedon proves he can combat wrenching emotion with effervescent lightness. This thematically resonant big-screen mythmaker ticks most of the boxes.

But, this isn't to say that The Avengers is without its weaknesses. While the character of Loki is gut wrenchingly detestable he hardly compares to comicdom's more legendary villains. Loki really doesn't compare to Marvel men like The Joker. And the dark and philosophical layering of Dark Knight seems a far cry from what we see here. However, when it comes to the true clichéd superhero movie great Odin's beard this film has got it!

-ZB 

We've had burns, we've had buns, we've had seasons in the sun.

We’re not famous for our tans, apart from some of the formidable orange glows brought to our attention by the cast of TOWIE and David Dickinson; but we rip off our tops and unleash our beer bellies and blinding white skin on the world as soon as the sun shows it's gleaming face.


With our beaches, beer gardens, National Parks, and endless supply of things to do in Britain, the sun poses as a beacon of freedom - probably connected with the touring Olympic flame at the moment - to finally get out and enjoy the world outside our rain stained panes.


Yes - there are plenty of things to do in Britain when it gets sunny, but as a nation we tend to go ever so slightly mad, maybe in shock, maybe it's sunstoke, but when we see that great burning ball of fire in the sky it's not long before clothes are off and chubby Brits sporting red tans enough to make a tomato blush are EVERYWHERE.


Go to Greece and see locals fashioning jeans in searing 35 degree heat. Come to Britain and see a Fat bloke with a perfectly imprinted vest on his pasty body in 16 degrees and light drizzle. Let that be a lesson to you, Greece [if not the only lesson at the moment *cough* euro's *cough*].


And as the ‘BBQ’ invites fall from your letter box to the dog's drooling face, groups of livestock around the UK are beginning to sense their impending doom. We’re rivalled only by Australia and America as a barbeque nation, if the sun is shining then we’ll invite the whole neighbourhood around for some burnt food. Most of the food comes out as a crispy molten hot lump of coal, but put it between two burger baps and you’ve got yourself a staple meal; we WILL smother it in our best friend: ketchup and we WILL insist on making a salad that no one will eat.


The suns comes out, the stereo volume HAS TO go up, and the windows, for the first time this year, are opened as wide as they can possibly go. Oh how the world has been waiting so long to overhear your music and now you finally have the chance to show us why you love Barry Manilow or that drum beat that goes on repetitively for 20 minutes (yes- I'm talking to you next door!)


But, a Brit would not be complete without a good moan about the weather. Sure, it's not pelting 5cm balls of ice or flooding our roofs but sure enough the novelty of the "glorious" weather will inevitably lead to cries of "it’s too hot now - it’s getting ridiculous" or nana gossiping with neighbours about how we'll all be "dropping like flies" soon.





Never-the-less we'll grab our flagon of Bow, we'll suffer the stifling heat and aid Dehydration in our bid to drink the beer garden empty for: this is England!




Enjoy your early summer Britain!
-ZB