Tartan for Christmas

I'm back home for the holidays and whilst here had my usual snoop round the charity shops to see if I could pick anything up for the party season (all my sparkles and winter clothing is still in storage since leaving uni, boo). When I was browsing I saw this gorgeous cream and red tartan peeking out at me on a rail, I pulled on the skirt and realised it was ankle length and a fair few sizes too large. However because of the amazing quality of the wool and the shape it was easy to take in the sides and make into a shorter length on the sewing machine, this was just £3 and I'm going to use the extra material to make a cushion cover for when Becky and I move into our new home in a few months time.

I was particularly thrilled with this tartan pattern because I've always loved F.R.I.E.N.D.S and particularly some of the looks Rachel is seen wearing in the first couple of seasons (first aired in the early 90s). I've always wanted to recreate this tartan skirt look with a cream and red patterned skirt and this skirt is just the ticket! 

I also paired the skirt with this cream velvety top with a flattering sweetheart neckline (also a vintage find- St. Michel) which I also found on my trip to the charity shop for just £1. What did you wear this Christmas? 

On Point

Despite my many posts on charity shopping, I will happily splash the cash on high quality and long lasting footwear (after the sole of a boot fell off whilst I was scaling a wire fence in Berlin last year and I had to hobble back to the train station in the rain). I always gravitate towards black shoes and so I will always make sure I have a nice pair of leather low heel boots, leather heeled boots and leather flats in black. It's come to a time where I need to spend some dollar on a nice pair of new flats.

This season I am in love with the pointy loafers that have graced many a catwalk. Reminiscent of mens winkle picker style shoes, the pointed loafer offers a durable winter shoe and adds a bit of edge to any outfit. My favourites are as follows...

Phillip Lim 

Proenza Schouler

Ivanka Trump

Acne

H&M

River Island

That's my round up of my favourites, (I tried to add a smattering of non-black shoes to the equation), I personally adore the Acne suede loafers- with just a hint of a heel and almost completely enclosed upper these are perfect for the winter, the $500 price tag is a bit of a down side though... 

Proenza Schouler was my absolute favourite label when I was about seventeen or eighteen and I used to borrow inspiration from their clothes all the time. A few years later and I am still enamoured with their collections. Their ponyskin cross over shoes are gorgeous, and, although highly impractical for the puddle-ridden streets of England, would add some gorgeous texture to any outfit. 

Luckily there are some other less pricey options such as these River Island and H&M beauties. Although these shoes are likely to only last a season quality wise, they'll put you at the front of the fashion forward and are a great alternative to the classic pump. 

Charity Shop Finds IV

Yes, you guessed it; it’s another Charity Shop Finds post from me! The urge for bargain hunting remains strong as I try to seek out all of the bargains to be found on this island before heading back to the mainland (England) next week. This post features a few things I've found over the past few weeks…

This cute vintage button down dress was £4. It was originally a size 16, unflattering, above-ankle length dress so I whipped the sewing machine out and took in the sides and shortened it to a more flattering length. I absolutely love the print and the style of this dress (reminiscent of some of Motel’s recent cuts) - it will look great with some low denier tights and black boots. (Excuse the poor ironing). 

This silver engraved collar necklace was only £2 and has absolutely beautiful detailing which makes me think it’s probably vintage costume jewellery- perfect for minimal accessorising.

As we all know, winter is now fully on the way and making its presence loud and clear. Never one to shy away from knitwear (more like run round a shop with armfuls) I bought two quite similar high necked wool jumpers in a deep red and cream for £4 and £2. The red one will be great for December and cream really does go with anything so will come in handy for layering. I also got this grey silvery cropped eyelash jumper for £4 (originally from Miss Selfridge) which is on trend for some 90s glam and will be something a little different to my usual leather jacket cover up for evening drinks.

Other recent finds include a See by Chloe blouse £3, boucle pencil skirt £4, black work trousers £2, boxed Pretty Polly stockings £2 (so expensive normally and they ladder so easily!), gold plunge top £3, blue sparkly backless dress £3. 

Exposed Brick Inspiration

With plans to move to Manchester in full swing, it’s time to think about interiors for our new pad. Manchester is famed for its red brick architecture (part of the reason I love this city so much) and the city is awash with converted mills and factories that feature gorgeous red brickwork complete with huge windows in many a flat.

Take a look at these images from Pinterest that offer some red brick inspiration.

Red brickwork had me at hello on first viewings of ‘Gossip Girl.’ Dan and Rufus (and Jenny) Humphrey live in a gorgeous converted loft in Brooklyn, NYC on the show and the place oozes bohemian style with stacks of records, guitars and worn in furniture.

Brickwork adds warmth to a room and gives it a traditional ‘rustic’ feel. I personally prefer brickwork in open living spaces in kitchens but as these photos suggest- red brick really does work for a bedroom too.

Sourcing iron furniture to go with the walls will complement the traditional industrial feel to the room but plush sofas, rugs, warm lighting and wooden accents will make a converted loft feel more like home. 

Charity Shop Finds III

A free September morning meant that I was free to roam around my favourite places once again- the charity shops of Guernsey. Les Bourgs Hospice charity shop had half price on all of their items and so it meant that my picks were even more bargainous than usual. I first started shopping in charity shops when I was at Sixth Form to hunt out one of a kind bargains on a student budget- this shopping mentality saw me right through university, and, although I’ve now graduated, I can’t see bargain hunting becoming any less thrilling as I make the transition from student to (gulp) grown up. 

I managed to buy a TONNE of bits and bobs for about £24 and here they are if you can sit through this post…

On this particular trip I was trying to source more ‘workwear’ friendly clothing and (although being mostly unsuccessful in this department) I found these tops for £1.50 each. The lemon yellow top would be perfect tucked into a smart skirt and the check grid print keeps it on trend. This polo neck (the name ‘turtleneck’ makes me cringe a bit) basic is ribbed and great for layering over winter- you can get the same on ASOS for around 14x the price ;)

This coat is vintage Charlotte Halton for River Island and was £2.50, 50% wool and super cosy. This furry collar was just £1 and can be pinned to any coat or jacket to give it an instant winter update. This Chiltern bag was another vintage find at only £3.

 These Levi jeans were only a measly 50p and are the correct waist measurement for me but are quite an odd length and cut. I’ll cut these off into some shorts or sell them on eBay. These light blue jeans are vintage Next ‘Mom’ style tapered jeans. They’re a little too big for me so I may have to get the sewing machine out! They’ll be great to add some pastel hues to my spring wardrobe next year- these were £2.

I found (surprise) some more velvet delights in the way of this vintage St. Michael (M&S) jacket. This was £1.50 and I decided to jazz it up a bit by sewing some black fringing onto the sleeves. I also found this velvet devore Frank Usher mini dress for £6, it has some serious side splits on it and is a few sizes too big (and is probably meant to be worn as a top!) so falls in a nice swing style- I’ll be wearing this for drinks and on a night out come December.

This red coral embellished dress was something I picked up on a whim to try on in the changing room, but once it was on I absolutely loved it. It’s Libelulu and 100% silk and so would have cost a couple of hundred pounds brand new but this was only £3. In my mind this would be perfect festival wear with a bandeau underneath, boots, belt and a hat (does anyone else have a mental list of would-be Coachella outfits or is this just me?) but would equally look great as evening wear with a belt and some serious cleavage.

Lastly I picked up this beautiful choker necklace for £1, I was unsure about getting this as I’ve not really jumped onto the choker bandwagon but this was too pretty to resist.

That’s about all my bargains. Thank you for reading through them- the charity shopping fairies were seriously helping me out on Saturday! Have you found any goodies in the charity shops recently?

P.S Sorry for the poor quality photos, they're all pink-tinged because the sun was setting and the light wasn't at it's best! 

Picture Wall Mural

A fair few summers ago I got completely inspired by photos of mismatched picture frame walls that seemed to crop up on Pinterest and Tumblr every now and again. I’ve always loved sketching and decided to start a project to make a frame wall of my own filled with sketches. Here are some images from Pinterest that show the photo wall in action, a great place to display the photo wall is on a staircase and another twist is to hang the frames old fashioned-ly by tying some ribbon or string to the top of them to visibly show them hanging: 

I began my quest for the perfect photo wall by going to various charity shops every now and again to find interestingly shaped wooden frames of all sizes which I then decided to sand down and paint black. If you want to do a similar project, be on the look out for interesting shapes, frame textures and frame thicknesses to give your photo wall a mismatched feel to it. Here are the frames I’ve collected so far:

I sketched a butterfly for this tiny square frame and Andy Warhol and Edie Campbell in this rectangular frame. If you don’t fancy your hand at sketching then black and white prints and photographs will equally do the job. You could have one large print as a centre piece and work around that if you are lucky to have a particularly large space to fill. I got this huge framed print for just £1 from a car boot sale!

I'm hoping to find some frames to home these half-finished sketches and some ornate oval mirrors would finish off this wall mural perfectly... I'll be sure to show you the finished result (eventually!)

Normcore

Like postmodernist, self-conscious metafictional writing that tries its best to move away from the conventional story, the Normcore clothing ‘trend’ is somewhat similar. The ‘trend’ moves away from the conventional idea of fashion trends and peacocking by deliberately wearing basic unassuming pieces. It’s a ‘non-trend’ that tries to avoid pretension- a move from 90s grunge to basic normality- the deliberate pursuit of the ordinary.

To me this is reminiscent of my Dad in the late nineties always pairing jeans with a white tucked in T-shirt, a black belt and trainers. Which, in all honesty, is exactly what he wears now- who knew Mr. D was so stylish? He mixes it up a bit in the winter by wearing fleeces- something else in the approved list of clothing that constitutes as Normcore. I might start calling it Dadcore.

Personally, I do live in a pair of denim cut offs that were once my Mums, and would definitely wear them with a plain top- but not in the deliberate avoidance of trends. I would also have to throw something garishly over-embellished on top. I don’t think I could stand a vague array of basic greys, whites, blues and blacks staring back at me from my wardrobe, or, (snob warning) feeling so damn average! My personal clothing thrills come from seeking stand out one-of-a-kind pieces that I know no one else will have- the opposite of the desire to blend into the crowd.

Normcore is supposed to be a symbol of anonymity, and the slightly fluffy notion that ‘difference comes from within’ and that difference should not have to be translated through clothing- I’m not convinced. Will this really catch on? Since (pretty much) the dawn of time people have used clothing to convey difference and to denote subcultures. There’s a reason ‘Highschool Stereotypes’ is a fancy dress theme. 

Charity Shop Finds II

So yesterday I went venturing out for a snoop in Les Bourgs Hospice charity shop once again to try my luck in finding some new bits and pieces. They had half price (half price at charity shops?!) on all of their woollens and so I made the most of this and stocked up on some amazing vintage finds for the winter. Firstly I found this lovely ribbed, high neck jumper which is also 70% lambswool which I think will definitely keep me toasty when moving to Manchester comes along this autumn! I love the pearl embellishment on the shoulders and the ribbed knit keeps this on trend, this cost just £2!

My favourite find was this absolutely incredible vintage navy wool jacket/cardigan with a black velvet collar and pocket flaps. This is fantastically made and, again, the knit is 100% wool. I love the gold buttons which add a bit of brightness to the jacket and, although a size L, this will look great unbuttoned as an oversized piece this winter. Again, this only cost £2! The velvet definitely drew me to this when I first saw the collar peeking out of a jam-packed rail, I’d say I’m somewhat of a velvet magpie when it comes to clothes which you shall see by my other finds…

This jacket is another unique velvety vintage piece which I snapped up for £6. I think I will take out the shoulder pads as they make the shape of the jacket just a little too boxy on my petite frame. I love the maximalism of this (just love channelling Henry VIII)- the all over gold and burgundy embroidery, the gold knot buttons, and the black velvet background; this is opulence and OTT at its best. Perfect for this seasons winter wardrobe.

Lastly I got this dusky pink velvet (again!) turban type thing which will be great for when I eventually am a grown up with a well-paid job and I go on a skiing holiday. However, for now it might be best for the harsh Northern winters that I’m going to have to get used to and will do as an alternative to some earmuffs. I don’t usually ‘do’ pink (and I don’t think I actually own any pink clothes!) but I got talked into this by my Mum and so we shall see if it actually gets any wear. If not, I’ll give it to my friend Kate who loves a nice bit of winter headgear (I’ll refrain from posting any photos of the woolly pompom headband circa Fresher’s 2k11).

This trip to Les Bourgs was perhaps my best trip yet- all my finds were incredible vintage quality for virtual pocket change. I’m a massive advocate for self-sourced vintage items, my boyfriend would call me a style snob but don’t we all love having a few things hanging in our wardrobes that no one else is going to have? And at such good quality? It’s so true when your grandma says that they don’t make clothes like they used to… ;) 

Saint Laurent: A Short History

After finding a beautiful Yves Saint Laurent (now known as Saint Laurent) blouse in a charity shop, I decided to delve further into the history of the designer and the brand. I volunteered in Morocco last April with Alice (here's her fashion blog) and we took a visit to the The Majorelle Garden in Marrakesh. The Majorelle Garden is a botanical garden and artist's landscape garden, designed by the expatriate French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 30s. Yves Saint Laurent owned the garden with his partner Pierre Bergé from 1980 and he often visited to find inspiration and refuge. I personally found the vibrant gardens inspiring and they made me more curious about the brand than ever. Here’s a few photos from our trip…

To further power curiosity about the French designer, the film Saint Laurent made its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Saint Laurent is co-written and directed by Bertrand Bonello, starring Gaspard Ulliel as Yves Saint Laurent and Jérémie Renier as Pierre Bergé. The film focusses on Saint Laurent's life from the late 1960s to 1976 during the peak of his career. The film competed for the Palme d'Or in the main competition section at The Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for release on 24 September 2014. Here’s the trailer…

At the age of 18, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture and soon after, in 1957, aged 21, Saint Laurent was appointed as the head designer of the House of Christian Dior. "Dior fascinated me,” Saint Laurent stated. "He taught me the basis of my art.” Saint Laurent went on to found YSL in 1961 with his partner Pierre Bergé. YSL has been long considered one of the world's most prominent fashion houses- renowned for iconic pieces, such as the 1966 Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women. This piece was a unique design that gained mass recognition in fashion and popular culture- igniting and popularising minimal androgyny for women and leading the way for eighties power dressing and the trouser suit. Saint Laurent was also a leading figure in mainstreaming the idea of wearing silhouettes from the 1920s, 30s and 40s. During his career peak in the 1960s and 1970s, Saint Laurent was considered one of Paris's elite and enjoyed a hedonistic lifestyle filled with partying and recklessness. To balance out his time in Paris, when he was not actively working on a collection he spent time at his villa in Marrakech, Morocco.

In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition but soon afterwards became reclusive and lived with poor health until his death from brain cancer in 2008. In more recent times YSL’s ready-to-wear line was rebranded Saint Laurent by newly appointed creative director Hedi Slimane. A look through the Saint Laurent 2014 a/w collection shows the brand is ever strong with awe-inspiring pieces- I personally love the 60s inspired embellished mini dresses and cape combos polished off with a pair of black opaques (my go to on a winters day). Check out my favourites... 

Photos by Isidore Montag