How To Wear It

 

The midi skirt - in relation to the skirt available here, net-a-porter and friends share their tips on how to wear the midi length skirt. And I concur- heels all the way.

Get The Look

Saw this image over on Elin Kling's website...

A Whyred jumper - lovely I'm sure but slightly above my price range. It reminded me of a jumper I tried on yesterday.

A similar budget version from New Look in yellow but I thought I'd prefer it in a more wardrobe friendly colour and to my surprise they are selling it in navy blue. Its super soft, a great relaxed fit, boxy shape and  its that brilliant fisherman's rib knit. And for only £24.99!!! I might channel my inner Alexa Chung as she loves a navy blue jumper, she recently told Net-a-Porter she can't actually admit to how many she owns. Well this may be my first.

Bold Braids

Loving today's Who What Wear daily beauty board feature particularly Diane Kruger's hair. I love braided hair for that boho-ethereal look - however I look about 5 when I try it. WWW also link to the Charles Worthing website which is definitely worth a look. It has great styling tips and step-by-step techniques to get a variety of catwalk and red carpet hair styles.

The Skirt Of Spring

The skirt of Spring 2011- as coined by Grazia Magazine this week. Referring to the 'Carrie' skirt (below) from cult label Whistles, the knee length pleated number in hot summer colours is a high street smash. In case you don't know about the label Whistles, its from the great British high street - a 'go to' label for fashion industry insiders and turned around by the great Jane Shepherdson who's also worked over at Topshop. 

Pleats were all over the Spring Summer catwalks and with the warmer weather on the horizon they're hitting the high street and the pavement, photographed everywhere by street style photographers and bloggers and  available on almost any budget.

The Carrie skirt has become the sell out piece of the season over at Whistles available in pink, yellow and blue in knee and midi length's. Due to demand and tweeting explosions over at Grazia the stock has run out. I picked up this little beauty (above) which I'm selling over on ebay. A vintage midi length accordion pleated skirt in turquoise green available here - I would wear it with a nod to the Michael Kors version and the Jil Sander colour blocking trend. Here's some inspiration for 'the' summer skirt;

Images from Whistles, Polyvore, Jil Sander, Anon and Michael Kors.

Great Read

My usual browse of the internet resulted in this;

Rediscovered Marta's blog - I read it along while ago and loved this Parisian girls style but lost her website but I am glad to say I have found her again, check her out here;

Life of Boheme

Such inspiring images makes me want to travel and do very Parisian things.

l'elegance du herrison

Wanting to travel lead me to the National Geographic and where to travel for 2011 - hmm where to go? Always such influential photography.

National Geographic

I'm noticing a bit of a theme this week, think I'm craving past traditions - our annual trip to France. We used to go every year, but I have not been for about 6 years now so think a trip to France may be on the cards.

Think I may have got myself some work experience sorted out, in fashion buying! Exciting times and much needed.

And fyi - take a look at my ebay shop and stay tuned in I've got some great bags to sell. Raided my mum's cupboards the other day - and I think its safe to say she was a bit of an oniomaniac at some point, haha, but boy there's some good stuff and all vintage! So if you fancy something one of a kind and rare have a look. Hope you've had a good weekend!

Shu Pei Qin

Absolutely loving this girl - not only is she a great model she's also got great 'model-off-duty' style. Such a natural beauty.

H&M Love

New in from H&M my navy chiffon shirt dress. I'm in love with this shirt, very Acne in style - the details really inspire me and have forced me to put my designing hat on. I'll keep you posted with my developments.

The Same But Different

Lucy In Disguise - FrostFrench. Lily Allen and her sister Sarah Owen bare a striking resemblance to Sadie Frost and Jemima French. FYI - Watch Lily and Sarah try and make it with there new business venture on Channel 4 tonight at 10pm. In Lily's own words she's 'deluded' - lets hope they are more of a success in fashion than their look-a-like counterparts' well documented business struggles, but I think its safe to say so far not so good. However I'm very interested to see how this turns out especially as Mary Portas has decided to be their consultant. The retail guru, is on hand - but for how long? Not sure she was too keen on the new business women's 'nice idea'. I'm hoping the title 'Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags' means just that and is not also a metaphor. I can't wait to tune in to find out.

Luxury. With a Wink

I'm a huge fan of these novelty necklaces and for those of you that loved Katie Hillier's paper clip animal pendants, what I have found should fill you with great excitement. Well, it did me anyway. Found here on Etsy for a mere £2.90 (roughly), novelty paper clips in all shapes of animals! Seeing these reminded me of the novel necklaces and spawned an FYI - Idea. Why not hook them on a chain and create your own necklace? You could even get them gold plated to get the look. Katie Hillier has designed for the likes of Marc Jacobs and Luella and continues to collaborate and design her own kooky collections or as she likes to call it 'Luxury. With a Wink.' But for those of us who can't afford that luxury why not try this diy budget version, with a wink to luxury.

Sale of the Day

"The clutch is huge for Fall" says Brittany Adams of Style.com. The envelope clutch or document wallet has been seen and photographed everywhere on the blogosphere and in every colour - but for the minimalists this will tap into the Celine design format. The bags, minimalism, tailoring, camel - details synonymous with the luxury fashion brand. My latest sale taps into such details in the form of an envelope clutch bag.

Get it Here

 Vintage imitation leather envelope clutch or document wallet. Simple, chic shape, perfect size to fit in all you belongings and a nod to the Celine bags as seen on the catwalk for Autumn/Winter 2011. Use it for anything to add a chic touch to the way you carry things. Here's some inspiration for the clutch bag;

 

 Also for sale Topshop leather bag - Helmut Lang style!

Great Read

Another collection of great reads for you. My usual routine consists of browsing the internet on a Sunday morning and  I came across this article on blog favourite Dead Fleurette, here's the links and other articles relating to this hot subject. Be sure to check out the comments on these pages.... nothing beats a good debate.

Invest in Your Wardrobe

Dead Fleurette, this girls on a mission!

Invest in Your Wardrobe

The Vancouver Sun's say.

The GQ Guide to Dressing for Less

25 Rules by GQ for men.. but something women could take something from.

FYI - DIY

Found these old leather trousers, and I have to be honest I don't think these would have looked flattering on anyone as they were. So I decided to do a little diy project. Plain and simple - I simply cut the leg to the required length, folded them up and secured them with a stitch in the side seams to form turn-ups seams and ta-da! A chic pair of shorts. They are already high waisted and fit me perfect and have a really interesting waistband detail. What do you think of the end result? I think wear them either with a buttoned up shirt, or Breton striped top....

 

McQueen's Royal Order?

So rumour has it that the house of McQueen could be producing the dress for THE wedding of the year  over here in the UK. Sarah Burton who has taken over the reigns at the house of Alexander McQueen is in the running to design the wedding dress for Kate Middleton to marry our  very own Prince William! Now I've really not been that interested in the whole build up surrounding the budding nuptials, but this has really taken me by pleasant surprise. The latest collection for Fall 2011 coincidentally showed what could be the modern brides version of a 'the one' the dresses featured were complete with tulle, chiffons, winter whites and romantic edge. 

Whilst I highly doubt that the traditional Royal wedding will hold such a modern twist, nothing is yet confirmed, it would be controversial to say the least. Remember McQueen said he wrote crude messages inside the lining a suit meant for Prince Charles during his early days on Savile Row, hardly a royal fan. But not to take that away from Sarah Burton 'She is, without doubt, one of the most talented and skilled dress-makers of our time' according to Lorraine Candy, editor of Elle Magazine for the Daily Mail, and 'for her, it is also about the woman in the dress'. She certainly delivered breath taking fashion of couture quality and I agree with Lorraine she could certainly produce something Royal wedding worthy.

1 Jacket, 3 Ways

Clean, simple - classic, courtesy of dead fleurette. Always so chic and consistent in style.

The Panama Hat

Made in Ecuador - The Panama Hat Story from Daniel Gautreau on Vimeo.

This ridiculous! I had no idea hats could be made this way - talk about naive! Its like the most insane French braid, which I am rubbish at doing so this seems like fine art to me. How amazing though, the time, effort and craftsmanship put into this hat is fantastic. I do love to learn about the heritage of fashion and accessories, and this is a great insight to the origins of the Panama hats and importantly its still a tradition continued today.  The Panama hat is essentially the straw hat originally from Ecuador; Trilby like in shape with a wide brim. The Panama Hat eternally chic...

 

Miroslava Duma and Madewell and how they wear theirs. I've got mine, have you? Eugenia Kim at Shopbop has some great ones.