Wednesday 25 June 2014

Fantasia

When I was younger I as obsessed the centaurettes from Fantasia (the one who gets a lily pad for a hat was my favourite). They were part animal and spent a lot of time swimming and putting flowers in their hair so in my book they were absolute winners. My parents were always keen not to raise me in a gender stereotypical fashion and I remember my mum trying to get me enthuse over the dancing mushrooms, but I wasn't having any of it.

I really like the colour palette- a background of deep rich shades with their pastel equivalents peppered throughout. Pastels have been coming back for a while now, and whilst I do love that Versace ad and the pastel on pastel metallic action, I wanted to have some other ways to blend pastels in with what already exists in my wardrobe.



Images via Disney Wikia

I have dark hair, but if I were fair I would make like the girl with the rose crown and dye my hair pastel in a heartbeat (though it might have to be with those wash out hair chalks because I'm not sure what my workplace's policy is on pastel hair). As my hair is too dark to go pastel without me having to bleach the hell out of it, I have been looking for ways to mimic the centaurette girls in an outfit. I was trying to capture some of the girly floral details and the pastels mixed with dark colours. I bet my mum will be pleased. 

Zara stone necklace / Topshop Boutique silk camisole / Topshop Boutique patent leather skirt / Tophsop print sandals

Topshop leather floral necklace / COS fine knit jumper / Topshop Boutique floral camisole / Zara harem trousers / Vintage Prada ostrich leather sandals

Handmade jagged rock necklace / Zara pleated vest top / Topshop suede cross body bag / Zara floral pencil skirt / Lanvin pointy toe pumps


Clockwise;

 

Friday 20 June 2014

Lana Del Rey

I really like Lana Del Rey's style. I think that her every day street style can be a bit blah, but her promo shots and video shoots are always really cool.



Images via:  


Lana (or the stylist she works with) references lots of what I think of as the epitomy of 'Americana'; old school Hollywood starlet, classic pin up, wild west frontier ranger, wood stock love child, motor cycle rebel and West coast urbanite. 


Images via:
GQ 
Time Out 


I am kind of fascinated by America. Despite the fact that I speak the language, and I see US TV programmes and films and hear American music on a near daily basis sometimes I feel like I don't understand the culture at all. I think this 'otherness' is probably what I like so much- it's familiar and different all at the same time. I was really gutted when the BBC stopped broadcasting new episodes of Americana, but I've been listening and re-listening my way through the archives. If you are interested in America and American culture I can't recommend it enough. 

I wanted to take a cue from Lana and try to reference some vintage Americana in a few outfits, but I also wanted to make sure that they were really wearable and didn't look like costume so I've tried to keep some of the references a little on the subtle side.

Topshop applique rose necklace / Whistles leather motorcycle jacket / Zara sleeveless top / Asos beetle cuff / Zara tube skirt / Topshop beetle ring / YSL pony hair heels

Topshop fuzzy bomber jacket / hoop earrings / Topshop check shirt / Vintage Levis jeans / Vintage leather bag / Chloe biker boots

Christopher Kane x Topshop sleeveless tshirt / Vintage leather bag / Asos claw cuff / Topshop tuxedo trousers / Tophsop mock-croc sling backs

Topshop tear drop necklace / COS tshirt, Topshop high wait shorts / Asos leather backpack / Nike high tops

 Zara stud collar shirt / Zara pony hair bag / Topshop leather skirt / Topshop ankle boots

Beach huts, Chanel Spring/ Summer 2014


Images via:


There is something really appealing about beach huts. They are quaint, quirky, and so, so, so very British. I love the different colours all in a row. Beach huts allow people to be a little bit more creative and wacky than they can be in their actual home.

Beach huts are all about summer days at the beach. Beach huts, deck chairs, 99 flake ice creams, maybe a sand castle and a quick dip in the sea before you remember that the sea is always freezing because you're in Suffolk, not the Seychelles.

The multi-coloured rows of huts are what I thought of when I saw the Chanel S/S 2014 collection. I really liked the rainbow of colours against a white background.


Chanel ready to wear S/S 14
Images via style.com 

I really wanted to try and create something inspired by days on a British beach and the Chanel collection. I couldn't find anything encapsulating the rainbow spectrum in what I already owned, so I was really happy to find a vintage tshirt on Etsy that fitted the brief really well- white base, rainbow colour palette, and a stripy, colour block type print. 

Topshop tear drop necklace / Vintage tshirt / Vintage Levis jeans / Asos suede creepers

 Vintage tshirt / Topshop suede bag / Zara tube skirt / Topshop buckle low heel sandals

Saturday 7 June 2014

Phoebe Lettice, The Spice Girls

I don't watch Made in Chelsea. I watched an episode once and I really didn't get it. Nothing happened, and what did happen I wasn't sure really happened. It was sort of a Esse Est Percipi type of affair where the distinction between reality and the fake was becoming imperceivable. Stupid TV isn't meant to cause an existential crisis. 

However, despite my numerous reservations something of a guilty pleasure about the show is the style of Phoebe-Lettice Thompson (although I don't think she is part of the show anymore). 

A lot of the other girls in MIC have a pretty and polished, but quite safe (and at times verging on boring) style. They look nice, but they don't have a huge amount of personality in the clothes and I don't know, it's not very exciting and a little meh (although pretty). I don't like everything that Phoebe wears, but I like that she seems to have fun with it and goes for something a little different. 


Images via:

(I'd recommend having a look at Phoebe's tumblr. She's a photographer come fashion assistant by trade and a lot of her work is pretty cool).

With her nose ring and often pastel or braided hair Phoebe's look usually has a funky edge to it. She often has a tom boy streak to what she's wearing, even when it's a dress or a skirt she'll wear stomp-y, boyish boots or trainers, or a baseball cap. I like the almost garish prints, OTT bling, chunky shoes and high-low mix that she pulls off. She has a good mix of high street, designer and vintage as well as mixing more formal looks with influences from urban street style. 

There is something very 90s about her look- she sort of reminds me of my childhood style icons; The Spice Girls. As a child I loved, and I mean LOVED with a capital L and a romantic weekend away in Paris, The Spice Girls. I owned platform trainers, I did my hair in Emma Bunton style bunches, and my love for weird Tammy Girl tshirt and cargo trouser combos knew no bounds. 

Images via:

When I got to about ten I completely rejected anything spice-esq because I was so sick of it and wanted to try something new. Out went The Spice Girls and in came Nirvana (even though I was somewhat late to the Seattle grunge scene); out went the platform trainers and shiny metallic fabrics and in came the corduroy flares and battered converse. Now there is some distance between us (me and 'the girls'), I actually find myself drawn to a lot of their aesthetic. Yes, some of it is extremely tacky, but some of it is really fun and wearable.

I wanted to try and recreate something that was a little 90s and tom boy-ish and fun. I was hoping to create something that was maybe a slightly more refined take on the elements of the Spice Girls' style that I loved as a child by taking some hints from Phoebe's funky look and not wearing my hair in bunches.



 Vintage Versace butterfly print denim jacket / Topshop Boutique draped tshirt dress/ Asos White leather bag / Zara buckle ankle boots


 H&M black and cream jacket / Topshop gold cat necklace / COS tshirt / Topshop Boutique ribbed trousers / Nike Free Run trainers
 Vintage Micky Mouse sweatshirt / Topshop plait necklace / Topshop pleather trousers, Nike high tops


Whistles motorcycle leather jacket / Peter Pilotto x Target long sleeve tshirt / Vintage Levis jeans / Peter Pilotto x Target slip ons

Zara denim shirt / COS side zip ribbed jumper / Vintage Moschino back pack / Vintage Moschino rafia skirt / Nike Pegasus trainers

 Clockwise;

Monday 2 June 2014

Lessons in leopard print from nine stylish people

When I first bought a leopard faux fur coat I was promptly told by a friend that I went to meet wearing it that I looked like a prostitute. I chose to think that this is because he was being small c conservative, and that he also didn't really have a good idea of what street walker attire consisted of as I was wearing jeans and a jumper under my coat. Despite this early set back in my foray into animal prints I haven't been put off.

I love leopard print, and truth be told I probably own too much of it. I justify my cat inspired collection to myself by saying that it is versatile and therefore I'll get enough wear out of everything that I own. I think that leopard print can look quite prim and lady like, glamorous, a little bit punky and rebellious, bohemian rock and roll, coquettish, or exotic. Owning an excessive amount of think means that I have quite a good range of different shapes, styles and fabrics to try different looks with. 

Images via:
Trendy Crew 


The stylish nine (clockwise); Bianca Jagger, Debbie Harry, Miroslava Duma, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Bridgette Bardot, Steven Tyler, Keith Richards, and Anita Pallenberg. 

I particularly like the floaty chiffon print that Bianca wears combined with her deep red lips and chunky jewellery, and Anita's oversized white button down shirt worn over some tailored leopard trousers; the looser shapes stopping the outfits from looking tacky or trashy. I also love how Keith Richards mixes in a few different prints, it looks thrown together but it all works. 

I wanted to create some outfits using leopard print that had different 'feels' to them. So they didn't necessarily copy any of the nine examples, but that they get across there different vibes and are maybe appropriate for different occasions and for day and night.


Topshop Unique oversized shirt / Topshop chain and pearls necklace / Vintage clutch / H&M high waist trousers / Topshop Boutique ankle boots


Topshop faux fur scarf / Zara leather sleeve jacket / H&M fine knit jumper / Topshop pleather trousers / H&M patent leather bag / Topshop mock croc sling backs


River Island ear cuff / H&M cotton scarf / Whistles leather motorcycle jacket / Whistles jersey dress / Topshop spike bracelet / Asos patent toe cut out shoes


Vintage Moschino Cheap & Chic  fuzzy jacket / Topshop Boutique jumper / Asos sunglasses / Vintage Moschino Cheap & Chic fuzzy skirt / Asos ankle boots


Vintage YSL silk blazer / H&M grey fine knit jumper / Blank NYC cargo jeans (via Asos) / Zara leather bag / Topshop patent leather loafers


 Vintage faux fur hat / Topshop Boutique cropped shirt / Topshop fisherman's jumper / Asos White leather bag / A J Morgan cats eye sunglasses (via Asos) / Vintage fuzzy skirt / Asos ankle boots


Clockwise:
Vintage Adolfo Realities faux fur leopard print fedora hat  

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