LOOK OF THE DAY: GOLD AND LAYERED

Gold and Layered- T-shirt: My Sister's (found on the floor in a club toilet!), Bag: 80's Vintage, Taupe Maxi Skirt: Topshop, Leggings: Topshop

I've been experimenting more with layering of late...combining oversized with tight, mixing shapes and lengths. It gives a playful experimental vibe that looks cooler than wearing pieces in the expected way. The trick is to make it all look thrown together, even if it took a while to choose. Wear confidently, don't fuss with your clothes, have a laid back attitiude. Attitude, after all, is a key element to how a look comes across.  

The wonderful Gold 80s bag is my go to thing when I need to add an instant trashy-glamorous touch.  

Years ago I got given a copy of the beautiful 'Amelia's Magazine'. In it was a feature about Olanic - a fashion designer, shot by photographer David Poole. The below image from it has stuck with me, and is always at the back of mind when I think of layering. The balance of print, shape and size works excellently.

WHAT I WORE

Three slightly back dated 'What I Wore's'. I have been visiting friends in Brighton and London over the past week, so, I've been living from a capsule wardrobe, hence the same cardi in each outfit. But really, it's the greatest...it's alpaca wool and only cost £5. Anyway, on my trip this was what I mainly covered up with...

Sunglasses: From an Indian street seller, Scarf: Borrowed, Cardigan: Charity Shop, Bag: India, Dress: Charity Shop,  Leggings: Topshop, Shoes: H&M

Cardigan: As before, Dress: Sale at Primark, Lace Crop Top: Charity Shop, Handbag: Vintage, Trainers: H&M

Hat: Found, Sunglasses: H&M, 'Crappy Florida' T-shirt: Borrowed, Cardigan: As Before, Handbag: As Before, Camera Bag: Borrowed, Jeans: Charity Shop, Shoes: As Before

TRYING NOT BUYING

So here I am with Henry Holland. This is in Urban Outfitters changing rooms in Brighton. The dress of dreams (see last post) was £120 reduced to £70 and so, still too much. No harm in trying though, trying not buying. It's the best. P.S sample here is in a medium, as all the others had sold out, so it's bigger than it should be... still good though! The End. 

LUSTING

My lust of the day is this dress by Henry Holland (styled here by Urban Outfitters). I've actually wanted it for about four months now. Lust of the year. It's so divine. 

YES PLEASE, TUT

Lust of the day...this Tut print one piece by New York based designer, Mara Hoffman. Available from Asos (www.asos.co.uk) <3

I AM A SOLDIER BOY

A quick smitten share of my new royal blue cotton waistcoat, covered in sequins (charity shop £1). I think it's actually part of the traditional Polish costume? And it's almost definitely meant for a child. Well, it's mine now.

HOME AGAIN

I've just got back from two months of travelling within India. It was an incredible experience, and I'm still adjusting to the UK. The one thing I really missed whilst away was British fashion, music and art. It made me appreciate how much amazing stuff the UK produces for such a tiny place. That's not to say there's not some amazing style in India, ofcourse; beautiful Hindu women wearing saris and bindis, with long coconut smelling hair and tons of embellishments...anklets, bangles, earrings, nose piercings. The men wearing a suit, shirt and tie on the beach in a 34 degree climate, incredible. 

On my return, I bought Vogue. I don't actually like Vogue, it's a bit of a snotty dictator, but I wanted to know what was going on in fashion quickly, without much effort and 'Elle' had David Beckham on the cover...bleughh. To my dismay the summer trends were uninspiring to put it lightly. In a nutshell...floral, nautical, brights (aka colour blocking), BORING, give it a rest already!? Ofcourse these are just the trends that Vogue chooses to focus on, but really.

But it's not all doom and gloom..Despite this dissapointment, there were a few trends that stood out, and that I'm now reasonably obsessed by:

1) SWAN PRINT

I'm going to ignore the fact that this is obviously a nod to the jubilee, and instead bask in it's prim and proper British-ness. Swans are hilarious too, I was watching a group of them the other day and they looked like they were having an assembley. 

Swan Print Wedges - Topshop

Swan Print Tea Dress - Topshop

 2) TRANSPARENT

The transparent trend was born in the 60's and has been visited again and again. This time it exists alongside classic shapes such as a stiletto or a tote bag. My favourite is the transparent trend circa. 1990's (do you remember blow up plastic rucksacks!?). H&M have some nice little sandals at the moment with small black wedge soles and clear transparent plastic uppers and straps, they're cheap and really cute. 

Chanel Platform Wedges (sold by Aldercy at Ebay: www.ebay.com)

Fluro Transparent Bag by JellyJelly at Asos Marketplace)

3) CHINA
The trend for distsy prints inspired by British china is really sweet and makes for some pretty dresses/shirts/blouses etc, I especially love the sky blue pastel toned prints.

Oasis China Placement Print Dress www.oasis-stores.com)

4) PYJAMA PRINT
This shouldn't work, but does. Pyjama print is all over Stella McCartney's S/S12 collection on mini dresses, jumpsuits and shirts. This trend is eccentrically English; the inspiration being old man jammys from the 70's/80's in deep Burgundy, Green and Navy paisley prints.

Details from Stella McCartney's S/S12 collection (www.stellamccartney.co.uk)

CURRENT OBSESSIONS 3

1) India

2) Getting a job at Beyond Retro

3) Swan Print

4) Birdengine

5) Growing my hair

6) My indian belly chain

7) Trashy 1970's Rockkkk

8) Wedges so big you can't walk in them

9) Summer

10) The ocean

11) Freckles

12) Cat eye sunglasses

PRINTS CHARMING

I want all my things to be covered in print...horses, cats, alphabet, moons and stars, hearts and birds...

1) EQUESTRIAN VINTAGE HORSE PRINT - ConfettiWestern  at ETSY

2) VINTAGE HEART PRINT - TheNightMagic at Etsy

3) VINTAGE CANTELOUPE 60's BIRD PRINT - Alexandria Vaun  at ETSY

4) TEAL LEAF FLORAL PRINT - URBAN OUTFITTERS

YUM YUM.

FIND ME IN A BITCH MOOD

Here is a brief and ever expanding list of my PET HATES in regards to certain modern 'trends'. Feel free to add your own.

-UGG BOOTS (put them away already girls, the world has seen enough of your slippers)

-BOYS WHO WEAR BOATERS WITH NO SOCKS (Do you think you look 'avante garde', 'indie', do you? Well, you don't, your feet just stink) 

-BOYS/GIRLS WHO WEAR T-SHIRTS OF BANDS THEY DONT KNOW (Get a grip...If you're going to advertise/champion a band or a thing, at least know what it is!?)

-FASCINATORS (They look like tiny hats designed for cats that you've decided to clip on to your own head)

                                                                   THE END (for now)

YE RIN MOK

I've had a long term love affair with photographer Ye Rin Mok's work. Her sparse, strongly coordinated images juxtapositioned with off beat clothing make for beautiful photographs. They are minimal in their composition and use of props thus existing as intriguingly calculated snap shots in to a fresh, pastel world where the viewer is subtely and seductively invited in...

 (All images property of www.yerinmok.com)

See more here:  http://www.yerinmok.com/

HOLLER, COLLAR

Hello. I'm going to write about my lust of the day, a collar. These have been around for ages now. But that's fine. Because I like to 'get in to things' late. For example, an album released at a certain time may be really amazing...but all the hype and publicity puts me off, so I wait until it's died down and then I can listen to it nicely. Similarly, I'm now going to buy a collar and will be happy in the knowledge that this ship has sailed. What follows is my favourite collars in no particular order -

1) Erickson Beamon at Urban Outfitters Leather Stone Collar - £80

 (www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk)

2) Light blue Collar Jewel. Swarovski, pearls and leopard by Rainshade at Etsy - £39.00

(Sara Biondi at Etsy)

3) Topshop Graphic Section Collar Necklace - £25.00

(www.topshop.com)

4) Rokit Recycled Black Leather Studded Peter Pan Collar - £25.00

  (www.rokit.co.uk)

I'm after the very embellished type to wear with a plain cotton coral tone t-shirt and peg leg trousers (boy day) or faux leather skater skirt (girl day). I have decided to attempt to make my own. These attempts often start out ok but turn all horrible and make me feel sick then I'm forced to throw the thing Ive been working on under the bed and forget it ever happened. Fingers crossed for this time! I'll let you know.

BOOTS MANOEVRE

A quick look through the street style shots on Elle.co.uk revealed a clear favourite for me...

I like the way in which the outfit has been constructed, the xl sizing of the shaggy faux fur monster coat and midi length skirt with clumpy boots shouldn't work, but does. This outfit's success is in the small details...a fresh face and unfussy top knot stop it from looking too calculated, a fairly plain skirt/tights allow attention to focus on the more extravagant details. The boots add an element of distasteful humour - verging on cyber goth - and a heel steers the outfit away from frumpy. My favourite of outfits are those that look thrown together, bohemian, but balanced, and this one ticks the boxes.

TRASHY TREASURE

TRASHY TREASURE

To continue...I'd like to share my favourite find of the day which is a fluro red stitched waiscoat (£1- charity shop)

I will wear it with a thin gold studded belt from the 70's (which I like to think previously belonged to a glam rock cover band). This will hopefully add to all the confusion between the traditional gypsy-esque flowers and the typically 80's trashy gold buttons. There must have been a transitional time somewhere between the 1970's and 1980's when people got confused about what they were supposed to do. Perhaps that was when some bright spark designed this treat, to please both. The End, for now.

CREEPY

Charity shopping can be a creepy experience, but one that is completely worth enduring for the amazing oddities that can be found. For starters there's the smells...a combined mesh of odours from the donations (like when you mix all the paint colours together and it makes brown). Then there's the anonymous crusts of god knows what on the jumpers, the horrible local radio station, the shoppers who get jealous when you find something and think the rail you're browsing has all the anwsers so push you out of the way to look (this happens A LOT).

Today I decided to go charity shopping down a street near where I live which has 3 or 4 really decent charity shops. I wore my creepers...they are actually faux creepers picked up on the high street for cheap. But I'm broke more often than not...so they'll do. I like the ugly donkey brown colour and the thick sole/pointed toe which gives them an unflatteing/clumsy feel which I really enjoy. Teamed with cigarette pants and black 'school' socks, I felt sufficently creepy and hit the charity shops. I was NOT dissapointed, finding tons of great stuff for dirty cheap, this included...

-An amazing red stitched waistcoat from the 70's (£1)

-An electric blue wool full length granny coat (£3)

-A hand knitted cardi (£1)

and I also really enjoyed bantering with the dears who worked there...thanks, creepy charity shops. I love you.

OXFAM RELICS: GROASE vs. DREAMY

I found this incredible bag that looks like it's about 100 years old in an Oxfam in Cambridge on Sunday. I did an instant swoon, and grabbed it before anyone else could fall in love. I felt like I'd found a relic from an Egyptian tomb, and the fact that it's completely falling apart, to the extent that when I wore it out for the first time on Monday, I was scared that it would disintergrate, makes me love it even more. It smells like a loft (tomb) and feels dusty. It has Camels embossed on the sides, and I'm VERY impressed with it...it's so groase vs. dreamy. 

I feel that everything should have an element of groase about it, to accentuate the dreamy aspects. Creepers, for example, are an essentially ugly shoe. but they are SO dreamy. 

The End. 

ONE DAY

SHOES AND CAKE

Despite the fear that my 'Blog' is turning in to a place where I occasionally come to show you (the reader?) a picture of a pair of shoes that I want and a short statement on why I want them, here are some shoes that I'd like please, thanks. 

(www.matchesfashion.com)

Soo, these kitty shoes are by Charlotte Olympia and cost around £485.00. As well as the above pumps they come in a wedge which is also a complete success, though the stilletto version doesn't quite do it for me. I love these shoes because A) They have cats on them, obvs. B) The cat face is nicely incorporated in to the upper shoe with the ears forming part of the shape C) They have a small chunky GOLD heel, sigh D) The cat isn't rendered in a creepy way, unlike some other efforts i've seen. 

Not being able to afford said shoes, I am forced once again to look at the alternatives...purchase some plain black pumps and get prit-sticking a kitty photo on to the front? 

My obsession with shoes featuring cats and dogs was born when a 13 year old me saw some shoes in 'Elle Girl' magazine (yeah, it was a thing). They were Black patent leather pointed toe  pumps with a kitschy image of a puppy inside a heart frame on the central front. I searched for them for years afterwards and to my delight/confusion recently found them on Ebay! 

 (go-go bargains at www.ebay.co.uk)

But now I'm all grown up and have my own money (sometimes) I don't have such a lust for them. I decided not to buy them, and instead have them preserved in my head as the mysterious dog shoes from yester-year. Similarly, when I was very young I swore that when I was old enough to make my own dietary decisions, I would go to a bakery and eat cake every day. I like cake, yeah, but I wouldn't go for a cake a day. The moral of the story: shoes and cake are the same. The End.

Continued Love Affair With Miu Miu

AH! Miu Miu! What to do, do? You continue to charm me. Last seasons kitty prints still make me feel all good and happy. Referencing polka dot ditsy print, cats, horses, and a hint of 'fairytale' (in the best way possible), the glitter booties and puppy/cat/horse brooches/shoes/dresses/shirts etc. look as if a child has dreamed up an idea of what they want to wear when they're older and then Miu Miu has made it. It's fun and pretty whilst also being fashion forward. Amazing! Here's one of the highlights...

(Image from www.shoeperwoman.com)  These Miu Miu kitty wedge stiletto's have a strong link to those goth/emo shoes that new age 'rockabilly' girls wear. Though unlike them, these aren't over-embellished...the strong statement shape and print is enough. mm.

SUBACULTA in to HIGH FASHION

SUBACULTA in to HIGH FASHION

I am beginning to develop an obsession with the idea that fancy dress/novelty can be transformed in to high fashion. I still get excited when I see those goth/emo and fancy dress shops selling fishnet stockings and stargazer hair dye...and equally excited when I see designer's incorporating such influences in to their collections. Picking out a few trashy accesories to work in to your everyday wardrobe can really refresh it. My main inspiration for this is the character of Enid in 'Ghost World'. Below are some examples of said 'trashy accesories'

1) Skeleton tights - £2.99 

To begin, some nice skeleton tights which could be paired with ankle socks and battered 80's stiletto's for an amazing trashy look which would only hint at the idea of costume. Or, they could be worn with a big wooly jumper and black leather boots for a kind of grungey/punky 'Kurt is dead' look. Either way, I'm going to buy them.

(Available at www.shop4fancydress.com)

2)  Stargazer Products (Hair Dye - £2.60)

 

Stargazer is the beauty range of choice for the young emo. And for me, When I was younger I used to buy the 'rouge' colour every two weeks to keep my hair looking peachy before going to hang with the emo's in cathedral square. Now I think I'd rather opt for the 'hair mascara' which is such an incredibley 90's idea. Stargazer also make fake eyelashes, clumpy black eyeshadow (much better than this subtle Collection 2000 stuff) and black lipstick - at pocket money prices. Yes, and yes. 

(Available at www.amazon.co.uk)

3)  Silver Studs - Around £9.00 for 100

Attach hundreds of studs to your best jumper/coat/bag and it'll look better. It's just a fact. Obviously their popularity has been boosted by the recent trend of fetish/goth and gaga and blah blah, but if you can just look past that and imagine how special you will feel when you are all studded up, then buy some. The best thing about them is that you can remove them if you get bored as most just attach with bendy pieces of metal. In this case putting hundreds on the shoulder parts of a loose knit oversized jumper would probably be the best way. Lovely Sid Vicious reference all over your outfit. 

(Available at www.crustpunks.com)

4)  Goth Boots - approx. £60.00

If you really want to go all out with some 'biker boots' then you might as well get them from a proper goth shop. You will probably have a better time when you buy them, and they will be more HARDCORE. Team these boots with a big jumper dress and you're ready to go!

(Available at www.therallyshack.co.uk)

I'm very affectionate towards this subculture and far from looking down on it and trying to elevate it to a 'higher level' I actually think that it's good the way it is. 'High fashion' or independent designers are also creating pieces that nod towards goth/emo influences. 

Bjorg's range of jewellery at Urban Outfitters embraces the idea of goth with The Craft-esque pieces, and I love it. It's very wicker, 90's, witchcraft. Maybe 'Spike' out of Buffy The Vampire Slayer might wear such things? I think if you're going to buy a ring for that special someone, it really should be this one...                              

Bjorg X UO Grip Crystal Ring - £69.00 (www.urbanoutfitters.com) 

Depicting a skeleton hand gripping a crystal, this one's a real keeper!

Similarly, this Bjorg X UO Caged Sand Amulet - £89.00 (www.urbanoutfitters.com) also has a strong witchcraft element...

Sonia Rykiel and Miu Miu are examples of designers who have also embraced this trend...Rykiel strongly referencing emo (see below).

(images www.fashionindie.com and fashionforlife1 blogspot)