Orla Kiely | iPhone Case | Review

Known for her bold vintage style prints and that unforgettable Mad Med-esque presentation at London Fashion Week 2013 with those impeccably dressed 'office girls' and the messy beehives that i've never quite managed to recreate, Orla Kiely is absolutely iconic. She's been coined as the 'Queen of the Prints' and her designs are that enviable mix of contemporary cool with more than a hint of the retro, the perfect tipping point between gratuitously kitsch and effortlessly chic.

Kiely's stylised graphic prints, which take inspiration from 1950's, 1960's and the 1970's, are no longer reserved for the catwalk and now appear on everything from notebooks to cushions, mugs to suitcases and almost everything in between. Short of switching up my entire room in favour of beautiful sixties prints and swapping my usual messy topknot for a statement beehive, i've been pining for a little slice of that Orla Kiely magic for months and months. Aside from being a strong believer that every thing is just a little bit better when it's just a little bit vintage, one of the main things in my life that I would be simply lost without (although, perhaps slightly sad to admit...) is my iPhone 5. Mix these two things and you have a pretty heady combination.

When I discovered that the lovely Orla Kiely had teamed up with Belkin to create some pretty lust-worthy phone based fashions, I was smitten and when I was very kindly offered the opportunity to review one of them by the lovely people at 3 Mobile I was more than a little bit chuffed. I opted for this rather lovely style, the Orla Kiely Multi-Stem Case, with it's creamy background and iconic Kiely stem pattern in a mixture of navy blues, oranges and leafy greens, it's the perfect antidote for those soggy autumn days while still being suitably autumnal. While i've always loved the vintage-loveliness of Kiely's designs, i've also always admired their simplicity. I'm not a fussy person whatsoever- I grant you, I love myself a floral pattern but over complicated, geometric patterns and overly vibrant colours most certainly don't float my boat. I'm a muted pastel girl through and through, so theres always been something about those big but simple florals and the graphic patterns in simple colour palettes thats appealed to me.

The first thing I noticed on opening the case was how sturdy it was. A lot of the cases, especially for iPhones, that clip only onto the back are more of a fashion accessory than a protective measure for those of us that are perhaps erring on the side of clumsy (or in my case, completely, unashamedly accident prone). This one on the other hand seems really quite substantial, in a much thicker plastic than other cases i've tried meaning that although it doesn't cover the screen portion of my beloved mobile, it does feel as though if- more like when - I inevitably drop my phone on the floor in some half woken state, that it's going to be pretty protected. The fact it's a little chunkier does also help out when trying to find it in the depths of my handbag which can never be a bad thing! 

I love the green edging as I think that it gives it an even more 1960's feel and like the fact that all of the ports and buttons are still easily accessible. The only downside that i've found, which is a little annoying but definitely not enough to be a deal breaker is the fact that due to the plastic being a little thicker than others that i've used, my phone does struggle slightly to connect to the WiFi as quickly as it might have done with my old case, although having said that, I do live in the middle of the countryside so WiFi can be a little iffy at times plus, it's really not too much of an issue to unclip the case, connect to the WiFi and pop the case back on again. Aside from that, I am absolutely in love with this case, it's the perfect combination of sturdy and stylish (theres two words I never thought i'd use together!) and provides all the phone protection I need without the bulkiness that comes with some of the more heavy duty cases out there.