Attentionnnnnn!

Military has been a trend lingering for some time now, developing from an extremely masculine, serious feel to a now luxe, fun, chic look! Gone are the bog standard camouflage army pants and in has marched military with jewels, fur, leather and peplums....there are no limits! 

It's not the most feminine of trends however it is super cool and you can easily glam it up or pare it back as much as you wish. 'Stand at ease' and wear with skinnies, denim shorts and graphic tees or layer over a cute dress and cinch in with a waist belt - both combinations work! Take a look below at some celebs and street style snaps rocking this trend....

Image via www.styleitlight.com

Image via www.reveal.co.uk

Image via http://lifeloveshopping.com

Image via http://carolinesmode.com

Image via www.elbowsandkneesblog.com

Image via http://25.media.tumblr.com

Image via www.bjonesstyle.com

A few months ago on one of my many Zara trips I found this beauty and fell in love instantly! My ideal outfit is almost always slouchy, over sized and layered - I then pile on the accessories...studs, bangles and rings to add that extra something different! So when I found this jacket it was love at first sight...plain, boxy and comfy with embellishment at the ready! Perfect combo of quirky yet practical and I think, super cool! It's currently sold out but flags up as 'Coming Soon' online - Top Tip - click on a size and it'll let you enter your email and as soon as it's back in stock they let you know! Easy peasy!

Image via www.zara.com, £39.99

If that number doesn't command your attention, I have scoured the rest of the high street and bring you the best of the rest...

Topshop, £120...

Image via www.topshop.com

Zara, £69.99...

Image via www.zara.com

Topshop, £58...

Image via www.topshop.com

River Island, £55...

Image via www.riverisland.com

Urban Oufitters, £95...

Image via www.urbanoutfitters.com

On the 3BM Ipod: Lucy Rose Updated!

Here at 3BM we love nothing more than finding new artists...last week we brought you posts on both Willy Moon and Blacks& and yesterday it was all about the incredible Ms Mr, which I have on repeat as I write this! Back in June we wrote about the fantastic Lucy Rose, since then her debut album has been released and we love it so much we thought it was worth another post to remind you all!!

Image via www.lucyrosemusic.com

A 23 year old singer / songwriter from Warickshire with the most beautiful, enchanting voice. Perfect for those lazy Sundays whilst blog writing, flat tidying, cooking, or even to just to soothe a wine hangover!!! 

She left home at 18 years old to come and break London, however the next 4 years were full of hard grafting at open mic nights and pubs and bars doing endless gigs. A big break through came when she was asked to to record backing vocals for a Bombay Bicycle Club track and since sang on the majority of their last two albums, touring with both them and Noah and the Whale earlier this year. However she is now becoming a talent in her own right with her debut album 'Like I used to' released earlier this week. I listened to it once and loved it straight away and haven't stop since, perfect background to bring stress levels down whilst commuting and at work I have found!!

Her vocals are beautiful - very soft and fragile yet still confident, creating a perfect mix of heartfelt but catchy songs. She has established a clever music style which is an edge of easy listening pop with a large helping of folk on the side...perfect radio play. Fearne Cotton and Edith Bowman are already huge fans gushing about her on Radio 1...friends for life I would say!! 

Check Lucy Rose out below...

All I've Got... 

Bikes...

Shiver...

And still my favourite track has to be... 

Place...

This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Friday at last! 

This week the London Mice have been reunited after Middle Mouse's trip to the Big Apple (more to come on what she did, where she stayed and all the presents that she brought back for the spoilt Baby Mouse in the next few days...watch this space). While over in Hong Kong, Mouse Major has been preparing for a bit of an adventure next week in Burma. After months of planning and reading and researching, there'll be a full Burma trip report along with all her photos (or maybe just a few, given that she's likely to take hundreds) on her return.

In the meantime, a speedy round-up of the week gone by, this week the Mice have mostly been...


Practicing our very best Dowager Countess one-liners in celebration of the return of Downton Abbey and Maggie Smith's win at the Emmy Awards this week. The absolute highlight of every episode of our favourite period drama and the very deserving winner of the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy - no one does cutting quite like the Dowager Countess Violet Grantham. Here for your Friday afternoon time-wasting pleasure are Maggie's best lines from Series 1 & 2 (we can't wait to see what other gems Series 3 brings...)

Counting Down to a very, very exciting day... Only six more sleeps until the 4th October, a day that all three Mice have been thoroughly overexcited about for a long, long while now... 

So first of all, next Thursday heralds the launch of the hotly anticipated Anna Dello Russo x H&M accessories collection. We blogged about the collaboration back in May and ever since then, have been lusting after the sneak peeks we've had of the line making mental shopping lists of all the pieces we'll be snapping up at the launch. Top of our ADR for H&M wishlist?

ADR x H&M Crocodile Sunglasses
GBP29.99/ HKD399

ADR x H&M Cuff

GBP29.99/ HKD399 

ADR x H&M Necklace

GBP29.99/ HKD399

Images via: www.hm.com

Not enough excitement for you? How about an evening date with Cosmo?! Yes, Thursday is the big night when the winners of the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards will be announced! We were beside ourselves with delirious glee when the nominations were announced back in July and we found out that we'd been shortlisted in the Best Lifestyle Blog category. Two months on, and its time for the London Mice to get all dressed up and head on down to the awards with all the other lovely nominees for a few cocktails and lots of blog chat. Expect a full report next week on what we wore, who we saw and who won what! 

Poring over the bumper tenth anniversary collectors' edition of The Sunday Times' Style Magazine. Packed to the brim with reviews of the decade's fashion and popular culture, interviews with the decade's top models and lots of glossy gorgeous photography as well as all of the usual Style awesomeness, we've been rationing ourselves to a couple of articles a day to make it last as long as possible.

First launched back in 2002, Style has gone on to become a total Sunday staple. In those days, HK Mouse was a penniless student scraping by with only enough money to buy VK Apple, Heat magazine and pizza. Not too keen on spending the equivalent of a vodka & red bull on a newspaper every week, she cunningly told her Dad she'd need him to pay for a subscription to the Times so that she could keep up to date with current affairs - essential to ensure that she passed her degree... Little did he know that everyday when the paper arrived on the doormat it was shoved on a pile in the living room - front page unopened, completely unread. Well there's only so many hours in a day - how's a student supposed to fit in studying, watching Neighbours (at 1:45 and 5:30), an afternoon nap AND reading the paper? 

However, every Sunday it was a totally different story. As soon as the paper arrived it was eagerly snatched from the mat, opened and then rifled through for the ultimate prize - the Sunday Times' Style. An hour later, Style devoured from cover to cover, the rest of the paper was tossed aside, consigned to the living room newspaper pile with the rest of the weeks' news. And not much has changed in ten years...(except that she's swapped Nottingham for Hong Kong and a paper copy for the iPad version).

If you're also a bit of a Style fan (and even if you're not), the ten special Birthday issue front covers, each featuring one of the decade's top models, are available for you to snap up here for the bargain price of just GBP4.99 (plus p+p if you live outside of the UK). We think they're look great framed and hung on a wall.

Here are our favs...

Images via: thesundaytimes.co.uk

Raving to anyone who'll listen about the latest Ms Mr track - Dark Du Wop. We first posted about Ms Mr back in July and since then have been listening to Bones and Hurricane on a loop. Not since Lana Del Rey's Video Games have we loved a track so much. Gorgeous melody, hauntingly beautiful vocals and a video that makes your heart hurt (did we mention that we loved it...). If you haven't already heard it, we order you to check it out immediately... 

Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend!
x
The Mice

Castelo's Brand New Baby: Sushi O

In my four years in Hong Kong I don't think that anyone's taken more money from me than Castelo Concepts.

If I added up the cash I've dropped on the numerous glasses (make that bottles) of Prosecco sipped on the pavement outside Wagyu; all the seabreeze-soaked Jaspas junks; the hungover morning-after brunches in Oolaa; the lazy Jaspas Beach Club bank holiday lunches; the cous cous salads gobbled and the cocktails downed in Wagyu Lounge and the Sunday roasts gorged on at Harringtons, I think we'd all be pretty horrified at the grand total. I have a feeling it could buy an obscene amount of ridiculously beautiful shoes (even at over-inflated Lane Crawford prices...). And having just tried out the Group's newest opening, Sushi O, I reckon by this time next year we can probably chuck in several extra pairs of Louboutins and a Celine Luggage Tote to boot...  

I don't want to hype it too much, but Sushi O really is that good.

Mid-week last week, having seen an advert in the loos at Wagyu (super glam but very effective advertising!), I googled Sushi O, but couldn't find any information anywhere... Did it really exist or was it just a fantastic myth?! Two calls to Harringtons and another to Ooola later, I got confirmation that it did indeed exist and although they weren't currently taking bookings, there was a bar table in my name reserved for 8:30pm on Friday evening - Score!

Nestled snugly between Oolaa and Yardbird on Bridges Street, Sushi O is a small space with just a handful of seats (mostly at the bar) centred around a large open sushi kitchen. The decor has a touch of the Castelo cookie cutter about it - lots of gleaming stainless steel and marble, softened by low lighting and dark wood paneling on the walls. But quirky touches liven up the space and give it a little twist - a neon pink Japanese pinball machine glows in the corner and a slatted wooden screen reminiscent of a railway departures board is set above the kitchen displaying the menu.

Dashing between taxi and doorway to avoid the pelting rain, we were ushered into the restaurant and seated straight away despite being twenty minutes late. The Australian Sushi Chef, Percy, immediately introduced himself while chopping and slicing behind the counter. Meanwhile Percy's girlfriend and uber-efficient front of house, Kate, was pouring us both large glasses of perfectly chilled Sauvignon Blanc. It was official, the weekend had started. 

After some serious chat with Percy and Kate about their favourite dishes on the menu we glugged on our wine and wildly over-orderd (as always).

A procession of incredible dishes followed - crunchy crab and mango rolls; paper-thin slices of kingfish with a fiery chili kick; finely chopped tuna tartare with a side of crispy tacos; meltingly tender scallops pan-fried to perfection and served in their shells...Japanese with a little Aussie twist. There wasn't a single dish that we didn't devour with gusto. Even the eel sushi, which we would never usually order, was plate-lickingly good.

If you're thinking that it doesn't look like that much food, rest assured that there were plenty of dishes gobbled far too fast for photography and that a few too many glasses of wine were supped to allow accurate recall of exact components of each creation that the camera wasn't quick enough to capture. Booze haze aside, what I am absolutely certain of is that every last mouthful was delicious and that we'll be back very soon indeed. In fact, I may just go and spend a heel of Louboutin in there this evening...

Sushi O

Ground Floor,

CentreStage,

Bridges Street,

Soho,

Hong Kong.

Tel: +(852) 2480 0009

Getting fruity with Jo Malone's Blackberry & Bay...

There is one thing in life that never fails to cheer me up ... no not pictures of fluffy bunnies or the smell of home-made apple pie and custard BUT the joys of Jo Malone!

I am currently the proud and greedy owner of the English Pear & Freesia, the White Jasmine & Mint, the Wild Bluebell and the Red Roses colognes. So that's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday sorted but what about my most favourite day of the week - Friday? 

Well you can imagine my delight last Monday when I arrived at Heathrow airport to find a sparkling Jo Malone store standing right before me. I pondered for a mere moment weighing up if I actually NEEDED any more perfume but after half a second of deliberating I decided that yes, yes indeed I did. Like shoes a girl can never have too much Jo Malone!

Well the next part of the story is the best part. It had totally slipped my mind that the brand new Blackberry & Bay fragrance had been launched a few weeks ago until I saw the deliciously fruity advert blazed across the in-store wall. 

That was it. 

Game over. 

I just had to have me some! Storming over to the counter, alarming the shop assistant somewhat with my confident conviction to find the new cologne, I asked to be pointed in the right direction of the Blackberry scent. I picked up the bottle and instantly disappeared into a mist of nostalgia evoking memories of blackberry picking as a child. The combination of fresh blackberry and earthy bay with a undertone of grapefruit really zings The stresses of queues, passport control and security frisking a distant memory!

Image via www.style-and-beauty.com 

Image via www.reallyree.com 

You guessed the next part, my poor credit card got a battering! Totes worth it though - I know when it comes to Jo (like children) you shouldn't have favourites but...  

The Blackberry & Bay fragrance also comes in a body & hand wash, a body crème and a home candle, all of which will be appearing on my Christmas wish list 2012! 

3BM Best Bits: MFW SS 13

So it's Ciao Milan and Bonjour Paris as we move into the final few days of a bumper month of fashion fabulousness. 

Following hot on the heels of our NYF round-up and our LFW favourite moments, here are our best bits from the last few days of catwalk shows and super chic front rows in Italy.

Models Dressed in Sacks at Dolce & Gabbana
While we often jealously eye the willowy beauties stalking the catwalks, all coltish limbs and enormous eyes, bitterly thinking that they'd look good even if they were wearing sacks, we didn't ever actually think that we'd see a designer showing hessian. 

But last week in Milan, that's exactly what Dolce & Gabbana sent out on their runway. And we can confirm that we were right. The models still looked incredible...sigh.

We'll be interested to see if the sack trend catches on, we'd just love to see Scarlett Johansson in a sack on the red carpet at the Oscars next year...

Sacks aside, Dolce & Gabbana was as sumptuous and gorgeously Italian as ever. We loved the wicker corsetry, deckchair stripes and oversized raffia jewellery - pure, unadulterated drama and excess - exactly as a Milanese fashion show should be.

Images via: www.style.com

Shiz in Sync at Cavalli
If three years ago we'd told Shane Warne he'd be sitting front row at a fashion show in Italy, fake tanned to David Dickinson levels, wearing an outfit that matched his girlfriend's, I'm guessing he'd have punched us. But last week Shane made his front row debut at Cavalli in an outfit that was suspiciously colour co-ordinated with his girlfriend, Liz Hurley's. However, when asked by the Telegraph about their matching style, Liz reassured us: "I have never gone shopping with Shane...So he's actually chosen all his own clothes always". 

We stand corrected, Shiz clearly have their own minds after all... 

Image via: www.mydaily.co.uk

Farewell Raf, Hello Again Jil
Jil is back.

After an eight year hiatus, Jil Sander returned to the helm of her eponymous label and last week's catwalk show was the hot ticket of the week. Fierce speculation preceded the show. Could Jil still cut it? Would she be able to fill the rather large shoes that Raf Simons had left behind after his stint at the label? But Sander quieted naysayers with a clean, sharp collection which proved a runaway success, garnering rave reviews. 

Crisp white shirts paired with soft polka dotted balloon skirts; warm mulberry pieces clashing deliciously with fiery lipstick reds; and lots of strong architectural lines in uncluttered, block colour proved that minimalism is as current and chic as ever and that Jil has definitely still got it. 

Images via: www.style.com

Beth Ditto at Versus
It's not often that anyone bigger than a size zero graces the runway but this week at Versus, Beth Ditto was strutting her stuff on the Christopher Kane catwalk. Donatella Versace told WWD: "I'm a big fan of Beth's voice and energy, Beth has an absolutely fearless attitude, the same animating Versus".

Image via: www.standard.co.uk

Ex-WAG Walks For Swimwear Show Six months Pregnant
And Beth wasn't the only plus-sized girl on the catwalk. The ex-girlfriend of Manchester City striker, Mario Balotelli, caused a stir when she walked for swimwear designer, Pin Up Stars, at six months pregnant. Accessorising her bump with big hair and a pair of gold stilettos, 24 year old Rafaella Fico insists that her baby is Balotelli's while the Italian footballer currently maintains that he will only take full responsibility once a paternity test is carried out.

Image via: www.dailymail.co.uk

Anna Wintour Smiles
When the icy queen of fashion not only removes her sunglasses, but also cracks a smile, it's a fair sign that something pretty special has just taken place. Last week in Milan, the Vogue Editor was snapped practically grinning perched front row at Bottega Veneta and we can definitely see why. 

Image via: www.graziadaily.co.uk

One of our favourite shows of the week (in terms of showing the most pieces that we'd love to grab right off the models and wear immediately), the runway was awash with beautiful dresses with a forties feel. Lots of wispy floral fabric, structured shoulders and intricate detailing - these are the sort of heirloom pieces to be handed down from generation to generation, time to start saving, let's do it for our granddaughters...

 Images via: www.style.com

Emmys Red Carpet: Rainbow Brights & Megawatt Glamour

Last night the stars of the small screen were out in force in LA for the 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Homeland and Modern Family cleaned up but our favourite win of the night was Maggie Smith for her role in Downton Abbey as the Dowager Countess.   

As interesting as who won what was, what we were really watching for was who wore what...

The red carpet was a veritable riot of colour with an abundance of high octane glamour - think rainbow hued gowns with plunging necklines and skirts slashed to the knickerline. 

Top of the best dressed list for us was Hayden Panettiere in hot off the runway ss 2013 Marchesa and Julianne Moore in canary yellow Christian Dior Couture. We're also loving the mermaid gowns that Heidi Klum, Sophia Vegara and Julianne Hough were rocking.

See the full spectrum of fashion for your viewing pleasure below...

Oxblood

Julie Louis-Dreyfus in Vera Wang, Kat Dennings in J. Mendel and Jena Malone in J. Mendel.

Images via: www.huffingtonpost.com

Sunset

Ginnifer Goodwin in Monique Lhullier, Padma Lakshimi in Monique Lhullier and Cat Deeley in Tadashi Shoji.

Images via: www.huffingtonpost.com

Canary
Claire Danes in Lanvin; Julianne Moore in Christian Dior Couture, Leslie Mann in Naeem Khan and Julie Bowen in Monique Lhullier.

Images via: www.harpersbazaar.com

Mermaid

Julianne Hough in Georges Hobieka Couture, Sophia Vergara in Zuhair Murad and Heidi Klum in Alexandre Vauthier Couture.

Images via: www.harpersbazaar.com

Bluebell

Michelle Dockery in Louis Vuitton, Hayden Panettiere in Marchesa and Sarah Paulson in Reem Acra.

Images via: www.huffingtonpost.com

Shades of Grey
Lucy Liu in Versace, Kate Mara in Badgley Mischka, Morena Baccarin and Emily Vancamp in J. Mendel.

Images via: www.huffingtonpost.com

Purple Rain

Tina Fey in Vivienne Westwood, Kelly Osbourne in Zac Posen and Ashley Judd in Carolina Herrera.

Images via: www.huffingtonpost.com