Today I arrived back from my amazing trip to Andalucia in Spain. Brilliant weather, fantastic company and all and all a fabulous way to spend a well deserved break in a beautiful country.
So what did I bring back for you? Well...I didn't have time to make a holiday video (that will come with my next trip - promise!) but I've got something even better - my collection of summer shoes I took with me! Let me know which are your favourites - I love them all!
Who knew clothing could be such a big deal? Yesterday the French MPs overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil (burqa) in public.
The ban has had full public support in the French country with President Sarkozy fully backing the ban. The debate has been heavily covered in the media especially surrounding the debate of French identity.
The bill would make it illegal to wear Islamic garments such as the niqab or burka, a full-face veil, anywhere in public. Anyone caught wearing a burka or a niqab in France will face a £120 fine. Any man caught forcing a woman to wear a burka or niqab will face a year in prison or a £25,000 fine.
Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the ban was a victory for democracy and for French values:
“Values of freedom against all the oppressions which try to humiliate individuals; values of equality between men and women, against those who push for inequality and injustice."
And it’s not just France. Belguim banned the burqa in April this year and Spain are debating similar legislation, with the likelyhood other countries will follow suit.
Schools Secretary Ed Balls said it was “not British” to tell people what to wear in the street after the UK Independence Party called for all-face covering Muslim veils to be banned. Whereas Ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said the veils were a symbol of “an increasingly divided Britain ” that “oppressed” women and were a potential security threat.
So what has spanned the requirement to ban burkas? Terrorist attacks? Immigration? Biased media reporting? Supressed predjuiced views? The list seems endless. We live in a multicultural society and this has increased over the last 20 years due to the large-scale of immigration in European countries. The subject of identity has become a popular topic within European. Open any tabloid paper and you will be fed the usual headlines of immigrant benefit cheats, foreigners taking “our” jobs and notably Islamic terrorists.
At a time when the world is dealing with an economic crisis and there are concerns about Europes changing identity and struggling to manage its diversity, has bias media reporting played an important role in banning burkas?
Despite all the media scare stories of burka wearers concealing bombs under their robes, many critics have pointed out that only a tiny minority of French Muslims actually wear the ful veil.
Many people may not be aware that the Koran does not state that a woman must wear a burka or niqab, which cover the entire face and body in a layer of heavy black cloth. Instead, it states that Muslim women should dress modestly, covering their arms and legs. There are also other clothing that can be worn but only conceals the hair, such as the Hijab, also popular with Islamic women.
French’s Council of State has warned the ban may be illegal because it infringes freedom of expression and may go against the European Convention on Human Rights. Yet Muslim fundamentalists have been criticised for using these human-rights laws to encourage the use of the burkas. Despite burkas not being a mandatory requirement of the Islamic faith, shouldn’t this garment be discouraged by the Islamic community?
Unfortunately, in today’s society there still remains a threat from terrorists. Every country has a duty to do everything in its power to prevent extremist behaviour and protect society. Should we demand to see people’s faces in public if there is a risk of attacks and it breaches security? Yes. Is banning religious wear for the fear of potential terrorist attacks a breach of human rights? Absolutely.
If the western world want to see fewer women in these types of Islamic clothing, that conceals people’s identity’s, perhaps it would convey better if the message came from a respected Imam, rather than critics or government ministers in western attire with no understanding of the religion.
Ultimately, underneath the burka is a human being after all. With or without bad intentions? Well, that is harder to prove.
This weekend was one of the hottest ever in the UK with some areas reaching up to 31degrees! I spent most of the weekend chilling in the garden and enjoying the georgous weather.
Lucky for me I go away next weekend on the first of my two holidays so I decided to buy some last minute pieces. I travelled to Bluewater shopping centre in Kent which has a great range of lots of stores, high street and designer. First, I stopped off in Nike where I saw these georgous trainer/sandals by Nike.
Unfortunately for me they didn't have my size *uber sad face* so my journey continued.
How cute is this Hello Kitty store?!? You might have guessed I love Hello Kitty, can you tell how excited I am?!
Hello Kitty store
But best of all had to be the new Juicy Couture store at Bluewater. I asked the sales assistant when it opened because I certainly would not have missed this beauty! She told me only yesterday..*uber excited!!!* They have some georgous Spring/Summer stock would highly recommend!
Last week I did a photo shoot for a UK Company magazine with my friend Katy - how cool is that?!
We had no idea what to wear, but lucky for us all of that was taken care of. A stylist with a wardrobe full of clothes, (ahhh paradise!) a makeup artist, hair stylist were all on hand to pamper us like celebs. The shoot was set in an exotic garden, like something out of the mediterranean...though it was actually someone's huge back garden!!
Katy's waistcoat and tassle vest - River Island
We had a look at a few of the photos and they looked really good. Though you will have to wait and see what we wore on the shoot - it should be out next month so I will upload the pics on here. ♥
Last weekend I went to the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, London. One word - EPIC!
The weather was scorching hot, the food was delicious (donut stands, noodles, burgers and chips) and the crowd was going mad before any of the headliners even appeared! First we were wowed by the magnificent Missy Elliot and her amazing dancers. Then Snoop Dogg came out and the crowd went even more crazy. I can't believe how lucky I was to have one fantastic artist after the other..how often does that happen..in London?!
Watch my reaction when Snoop comes out..lol..enjoy!
These S/S 2010 runway Fendi nude pink leather sandals are absolutely fabulous.
The sandals have nude sheer tulle leg ties and delicate ruffle detail at the toe and fasten with a buckle at the ankle. The wooden heel is 6 inches and comes with a perspex platform.
Ashley Olsen wore the heels at a red carpet event
It seems see through platforms are popular this season (see Victoria Beckham post earlier!) For some peculiar reason, perspex platforms had always reminded me of stripper shoes, especially if the platform is very high. In this case, the platform is 2 inches! But instead of cheapening the shoe, the transparent heel compliments the nude colour of the heels.
Lindsay Lohan broke down when sentenced to 90 days
It looks like Lindsay's luck has finally run out. The Hollywood star has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.
LiLo will have to surrender herself on July 20 to the Century Regional Dentention Facility in Los Angeles. Judge Marsha Revel blasted her for not taking her probation in TWO drink driving cases seriously.
LiLo tried pleading to the judge..
So what did Lindsay actually do? Well...
repeatedly missed once-weekly classes at an alcohol-education programme
failed to attend the course at least nine times since October 16
crashed her car into a hedge along Sunset Boulevard in May 2007
two months later arrested on suspicion of drink-driving
pleaded no contest to two counts each of drunken driving and being under the influence of cocaine, and one count of reckless driving
failed to show up for a court hearing because she was at the Cannes Film Festival
eventually made it to court four days late, when she was ordered to wear a Scram alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet as a condition of her release on bail
She was also ordered to undergo random drug testing, among other conditions...
The prison Lindsay is sentenced to is the very same place where she served just 84 minutes three years ago before being released due to "overcrowding"...yeah sure.
It is also where LiLo's former BBF Paris Hilton spent several weeks in 2007 after violating her probation as she too was driving under the influence. Tut tut.
What is it with these Hollywood "stars" and driving under the influence?! Drink driving is so not cool.
If you think LiLo will be sharing a cell with the other jailbirds then your mistaken (damn!). It is likely she will be placed in a special segregated cell for celebrities and it's possible she will only have to servce 23 days behind bars, rather than 90 due to overcrowding and the non-violent nature of her crime.
A typical cell at the facility in California where LiLo is expected to stay
So do celebrities get special treatment? I can't help but wonder if I had a crime list as long as Lindsay Lohan's perhaps the justice system wouldn't be as lenient with me. A slapped wrist for bad behaviour just isn't good enough for these "stars". Celebrities are in the public eye for a reason, to be made an example of. No matter how much they doth protest, celebrities are role models, not by choice of course, but by circumstance. With the good, comes the bad, therefore why should celebrities repeatedly get away with criminal and illegal behaviour when the average person wouldn't?
No woman, no cry
So LiLo, Chris Brown, Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty, Paris Hilton and the rest of them can cry us all a River as long as the Nile - I can not emphasise with celebrities who break the law and think they can get away with it.
Perhaps its time for Lindsay to ditch those glitzy red-carpet dresses and reach for the pinstripe tracksuit because that's as glamorous as it's going to get in jail!
LiLo before court (all smiles) and after (head lowered in shame)
