The Shoot: Tropic Thunder

Hello world,

Yep, my tropical print obsession is back in full force. Although with the passing of the years, I seem to be more into jungle prints than the bright colours of a few years ago. Take this graphic jungle print dress from Karen Millen; so fantastically colourful and the skirt is so flattering, yet it’s not too over-the-top. All you would need is a pair of black court shoes and black blazer and this daring dress turns into the perfect office-wear outfit.

The setting on this place was just perfect as the creeping ivy, gothic arches and palm leaves added a real exotic touch to the middle of the city of London. The lighten was also so soft and fantastic I didn’t even need to do the usual lighting touch-ups on the images before I posted them. I love it when you need to do so little retouching work on images. Makes life so much easier! 🙂

I decided to lighten up the outfit a little, so I focused on all white shoes and bag, steering clear of all accessories as it would just take away from the fabulous print of the dress. I also thought these amazing ASOS shoes would keep the outfit youthful. I love these sandals so much and they remind me of Alexander Wang spring/summer 2012, which just makes me want to buy the real deal. For now though, these heels will do and I think they’re a brilliant substitution.

The bag is a more formal style in backpacks and I thought it would be a cute addition. In all honesty, I haven’t owned a backpack since I left school, so it was a little odd to carry my bags on my back. you really don’t know what to do with your arms if you’re not holding onto a bag.

I wanted to say a little bit about the location that I shot this at, because the place is absolutely magical. It’s called St. Dunstan in the East, and is an old Gothic church that was hit during the Blitz. Instead of rebuilding it, the City of London decided to leave the ruined church as is and build a garden in it. So that’s what’s happened for the last sixty years and in the meantime it has gotten all manner of exotic plants. There are a few palm trees, some small banana trees and other exotic fauna that really makes the entire garden come alive in the summertime. I managed to catch it just as the leaves had sprouted, and it was just a sea of green everywhere I looked.

I’m a huge history fan, so seeing exotic trees sprouting in between the ruins of window arches is an extra nice touch. If you’re ever in London, I would recommend a visit, even if it’s just for a respite.

So that’s today ‘Look of the Day’ post. What do you think of the dress and the garden? Think the two were a good match?