3.1

I haven't been too blown away by the collections shown thus far. I was a little disappointed by the lack-lustre Luella collection, maybe I just expected too much because she's been pretty awesome for the past few seasons? Anyway, one collection that I really enjoyed, and would love to own lots of clothes from, was 3.1 Phillip Lim. Lim has produced some nice stuff before that I've admired, but this collection in particular really appealed to me. There were lots of nice surface details, a good dark colour palette, some gorgeous shoes, lots of fur, and a really cool, subtle 60's vibe throughout. Not normally a decade I look to for inspiration, but I ended up really wanting to recreate some of the looks shown. Yesterday I wore an outfit inspired by this collection...I'll put the photos up later on today.   

Love the grey cardigan

Intricate braiding detail on the cream garment, bottom left. Me likey. 

Just look at these boots!

1. they lace up

2. they are black patent leather

3. there is lace

4. they look mega high

5. they (should) belong to me

Love the look of the collarless blouse...and what looks like chain detailing down the placket.

My wardrobe is lacking a fur skirt; must correct this ASAP.

Everyone needs a brocade suit!

all images from style.com

Full length

I bought this dress last summer, wanting a floaty maxi-dress for warm weather, however, I never got round to wearing it. The length is just that little bit too short, and with a maxi dress, unless the length is right, it just looks a bit silly. Thinking about this dress the other night, it occured to me that I could try adding a long skirt underneath...so I gave it a go, and this is the result. Wearing a heavy cotton skirt, and layering a top underneath, the summer dress becomes winter-proof. Obviously the look is rather formal (maybe I've been looking at too many gowns from the Oscars on Sunday)...so in an attempt to make it more casual (!), I wore my tan blazer. I've always had a habit of over-dressing, so wearing a full length dress in the day really didn't bother me. I'm rather happy with how the dress looks, but am disappointed I can't wear it in the summer, as I get the feeling layering the skirt under it would be too hot then.

Vintage blazer, dress (asos.com), skirt (M&S), top (Miss Selfridge).

Bit of eye candy

I love love love these images of Iekeliene Stange shot for jewellers Majo Fruithof. The jewellery isn't to my taste, but with make-up and styling like this...who's looking at the jewellery anyway? I adore the hats, especially the black petal shaped one and the black shell shaped one. 

images from http://www.fruithof.com/ 

To tuck, or not to tuck?...

...not exactly one of lifes more important questions, but one that is encountered quite often. I'm very much a 'tuck in' girl. If a top is long enough, I will inevitably want to tuck it into my skirt or trousers. I just prefer definition at the waist, and don't like to have excess material falling awkwardly at my hips. But today, as I went for a bit of a 1920's look, I thought I'd give the non-tuck a go. If theres one thing I don't like about the fashions of the 20's, it is the boyish straight up straight down silhouette that was aspired to. I see pretty drop-waisted dresses and think they are nice, but certainly not for me or my body shape. There's no harm in trying something new though, and I was feeling a little odd today, so I resisted the temptation to tuck in. On a side note, I've not had much luck in finding a different coloured turban. There's quite a few turbans out there in the usual places, but I want the right shape and colour. For now, I'll have to settle with just my green turban.

Ahh my normal comfort zone of tucking things in...isn't it pretty? I do much prefer this silhouette...

... but I persevered and managed to keep the top untucked for the whole day.

Vintage turban, vintage gloves, fur stole (M&S), vintage fur scarf, shoes (Miu Miu), cardigan (Topshop), vintage vest, skirt (?), black mesh top (Miss Selfridge).

Antique applique

A very good friend of mine gifted me with this pair of antique French jet appliques a number of years ago. As you can see they are not in the best of condition. I often see appliques like this on ebay, etsy, etc. etc. but always wonder what I could actually do with them. I've had these for a number of years on display in my bedroom, until one day it occured to me in a flash of genius that I may actually be able to fix them. So, I had a look through my bead collection, found similar small black beads, and started the fiddly job of making a new tassel for one of the appliques, and making 2 new dangly bits which you can see from the photo above are missing from the top of both appliques.  

This was the easiest bit...

Making a cluster of beads with 3 dangly bits half way down the tassel was tricky...its a very amateur attempt, but looks ok from a distance...

Yay- new tassel attatched

Couple of dangly bits missing from the top - these were easy to replace.

...et voilà!

When I started repairing the appliques, I always had in mind adding them to the shoulders of a blazer, to create some sort of epaulette effect. I wasn't sure about adding them to my fringe blazer, as I thought it would all look too much. But, pinning them on I realised that in fact they enhanced the jacket, as the shoulder area was pretty bare compared to the sleeves...so I went ahead and sewed them on. They've been pretty hard to photograph, but they do add a nice bit of twinkle at the shoulders, and the tassels hang down at the perfect length, mingling in with the fringing.

Belted Volume

I'm still loving the floaty, drapey-ness of this blouse, not something I normally go for in tops. Wearing black underneath it today made me realise just how much of an impact the turquoise vest had on the colours when I first wore it here. In my minds eye, the blouse is a much more vivid blue, but thats just the effect of wearing it with turquoise. Wearing it belted, with a black vest underneath, the blue of the top is actually very dark. I never thought I'd be one to wear leggings, a) because they'd be super unflattering on my less than perfect legs, and b) because they just seemed too trendy/faddy for me, popping up all over the bloody place. However, with a blouse like this, I appreciate that a clean line is needed to counteract the volume up top. I am making an effort these days to try different silhouettes than I usually go for, so its only recently that I have found leggings useful. As long as the bum bum is covered, I'm willing to wear the pesky buggers (I realise that I am about 2 or 3 years behind with the whole legging thing). 

Shoes (Kurt Geiger), belt (M&S), blouse (Zara), vest underneath (Topshop), leggings (Topshop).