Why I Left Elite Model Look Ireland

On Friday I was contacted by the Irish Mail on Sunday, who were writing an in-depth article looking into the Elite Model Look Ireland competition.  There has been a lot of speculation about why I left, both in my real life and on the internet.  What people are saying is mostly untrue or made up.  People love drama and gossip, I guess.  I truthfully don't...but I felt it was only fair to all of you and especially the young girls who may be thinking of getting involved in this competition to know the truth.  I'm not going to write anything about it here, but if you want to know the full story behind why I left, you can read it in the article here.  I was NOT paid for my interview - I did this purely because I was asked to and to set the record straight.

Lots of love,

xoxo

Anna

The ZipYard Dun Laoghaire

On Thursday I tweeted about one of my favourite dresses being done-for...the zip broke and the slit at the back completely ripped so that my dress actually didn't look like a dress anymore.  I honestly thought it was beyond repair!  

The day before the Elite Model Look Launch Party, Jonathan had gotten his harness for his camera rig repaired in The ZipYard in Dun Laoghaire and it had only taken about 5 minutes.  They had done it for about €2 and he was so impressed with them so I did some research.  A few of my Facebook fans mentioned they had heard good things about the place so I decided to give it a try.  In fashion school, I was the absolute WORST in my class at sewing...I was just awful and I've never gotten anything repaired before so this was completely new for me!  

I asked Jonathan to film the whole experience for fun...and also because I really liked the company.  The owner, Juliet was incredibly sweet and helpful and I love that The ZipYard prides itself on catering to all body shapes...many of which tend to be ignored by highstreet shops, who just expect everybody to fit into conventional sizes.  They fixed the zip on my French Connection dress and changed it to a brassy/gold to match the buttons. I think it gives it an edgier, funkier look!  They also hemmed my maxi dress as it was too long for me.  

So, let me know what you think!  I love what they did to my FCUK dress!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

First Draft Copy of The Style Diet

It's official...today we printed the first draft copy of The Style Diet book!  I am so excited and it's so great to see it all coming together!!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Albi's Last Baby Tooth!

Ohmigod!!!  Look what I found when I was changing the sheets today!  It's Albi's last baby tooth!  He lost all his baby teeth except for this little one which was hanging on till the last minute.  We were waiting for it to fall out and then one day it was just gone.   I thought he'd swallowed it by mistake or something...how cute is this?!  I'm keeping it forever. What do you think...gross?  Cute?  Funny?  Dumb?  Let me know.

xoxo

Anna

Erika's Confirmation Day

Here are a selection of pictures Jonathan took at Erika's Confirmation yesterday.  Doesn't she look beautiful?!  The picture of Jonathan and me was taken by my Oma...she looked so funny holding Jonathan's big professional camera, and she thought she'd mess it up but she didn't!  I think she did a great job, don't you think?!  You can check out the full photo album on my Facebook.

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Diva Charity Fashion Show

I'm so excited to finally show you guys some of the official photos from the Diva Charity Fashion Show!  These were all taken by amazingly talented Dublin-based photographer Philippe Holderied.  My hair was styled by Amazon salon in Bray and my dress is by Fenn Wright Manson.  It's really special to me as my dad bought me this dress a couple of years ago.  My shoes are Zara, the earrings are from A-Wear and my cuff is vintage.  If you want to see the 300+ pictures of the fashion show, check out Philippe's Facebook page!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

My Beauty Secrets on RTE Fashion

Check out my interview on the RTE Fashion website where I divulge all my beauty secrets! What are some of yours?

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Behind The Scenes - Diva Fashion Show

Check out my personal pics from behind the scenes at the Diva Charity Fashion Show!  Georgina and I got our hair done at the beautiful Amazon salon in Bray.  I loved how both of our hair turned out...Georgina got really natural, wind-swept waves and I got voluminous 60's style curls.  I had wanted an up-style first but my stylist insisted I wear it down to show off my long hair...she was so adamant I had to give in!  But I love what she did, I couldn't have been happier.  What do you think?!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Lunch at Diva

What do you think of my new hair?!?  Ha ha!  This is just a sneak preview of what's to come at tomorrow's fashion show.  The final part of the show will feature incredible vintage couture gowns from the likes of Chanel all from The Goddess Room, a fantastic vintage boutique in Dublin.  I literally can't wait to see what magical pieces the models come out wearing and how they'll be styled.  This particular headpiece was custom-made in Venice and is breath-taking to look at up close.  There's so much detail, it's incredible.  Plus it makes me look a lot taller!!

Today we had a delicious lunch at Diva Restaurant in Bray, where the Charity Fashion Show will be on tomorrow night.  I can't wait!  This was my first time at the restaurant and I love it!  It's an Italian restaurant with the most amazing food and beautiful oppulent decor.  I especially love the plush fabrics, red wallpaper and silver gilted ceilings...wow!  Not to mention the fact that the owner, Tara is a truly gorgeous and inspiring woman...I'm so honoured to have gotten to know her these past few weeks.  

I hope to see some of you tomorrow!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Keeping Things Positive

Unfortunately, I have decided to distance myself from the Elite Model Look Ireland team.  There were a couple of reasons for my decision but basically I was quite appalled and shocked at some of the goings on within the competition...nothing personal, I just felt uncomfortable with a couple of things.  Going ahead with this project, I was not made aware of certain "procedures" that I would never have approved of had I known about them.  Example:  Weighing and measuring girls...certain comments about girls' weight, unprofessionalism...etc.  I don't agree with any of those things and would feel uncomfortable knowing I was part of something that I wasn't 100% okay with.  So for that reason, I regret to say that I'm no longer affiliated with Elite Model Look Ireland.  

On a positive note, please check out my blog post for more information on the Diva Charity Show which I am so happy to be a part of!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Ballerina Girl

Today we went to Albi's favourite place to walk, Cabinteely Park.  The weather was beautiful today and it looked so idyllic!  There's lots and lots of grass for Albi to run in and not to mention a stream with ducks for him to chase! (Don't worry, he's not very good at it!)  Look how cute he is munching his apple!  

I wore the sweetest little ballerina pumps from Georgina (she gave them to me at the YOU Magazine shoot) and they only cost €5 in Dunnes Stores...total bargain!  My mom got this t-shirt in size Large but she didn't want it so she gave it to me.  I actually like how over-sized it looks.  Excuse Jonathan's grumpy face...he was in a bad mood!!  Probably because I asked him to take so many pictures.  Ha ha ha!

What I'm wearing:

T-shirt: Benetton

Ballerina shoes: Dunnes Stores

Earrings: A-Wear

Leggings: Vero Moda

Bag: TK Maxx

What did you wear today?  I hope everybody is having a nice relaxing Saturday!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Roadtrip!

Today Albi, my fiancé Jonathan and I took a roadtrip all the way to Limerick...here are some pics I snapped in the car!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna

Comment Moderation

Recently it has been brought to my attention that there is quite a lot of drama being stirred up in the comments section of AnnaSaccone.com.  I do not receive email updates for comments left on my blog or YouTube, simply because of the sheer volume of emails I receive everyday...if I did it would be impossible for me to go through them all.  I do however try to read every comment and message that you guys write me and I try to answer as many as I can.  

While I can't tell you how grateful and happy I am with all of your kind words and lovely comments, unfortunately it seems that recently certain "anonymous" people have been leaving extremely offensive comments which many of you find very rude, unsettling and upsetting.  I have gotten a huge amount of emails, messages and Formspring questions regarding this issue and it seems that it has become a problem as it is ruining the experience of my younger viewers who frequently visit my blog.

I have tracked the IP addresses, which show that the people leaving them actually sit on my website for 3-4 hours at a time, constantly writing vulgar, offensive and rude comments.  These people are clearly quite troubled and my younger viewers especially should not be subjected to this kind of language/content everytime they come to AnnaSaccone.com.

Therefore after some consideration we've decided to moderate all comments on my blog, which means that I will need to review every comment before deciding whether it should be published or deleted.  As I've said before, I regret having to be so strict with the comment moderation but after learning of how upset it's making you guys, I feel it's the best thing to do!  Hope you all understand and that we can return to positivity and sharing the love on this site.  And remember, your haters are your biggest motivators!

xoxo

Anna

Forever21 Opening in Dublin!

While checking my email and sipping on my coffee this morning, I stumbled across something on The Irish Times website that absolutely made my day.  Forever21 is coming to Dublin!!  I could not be happier about this...I love Forever21 but unfortunately I've only been able to shop there when I've travelled to the US.  It just doesn't exist in any other country I've lived in.  So I am totally excited that it's coming to Ireland.  How amazing is that?!  I know that all you Irish girls will be just as excited about this as I am.  Check out the Irish Times site if you don't believe me and let me know what you think!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo

Anna 

Picture taken shopping in Munich, Germany!