Brooch Attack

I've been thinking about attaching a load of brooches to a top for a while now, but finding the right top to accommodate said brooches has been hard. I tried the brooch attack plan on the outfit in the previous post, attaching the brooches to the silver top worn underneath, but felt the sparkle of the top was too much, competing with the brooches. So, after trying out a few more options, I settled for this black lace top, as the lace panel provides a nice canvas for an array of brooches (and earrings, but make sure they are safely attached!). I'm rather pleased with the result, but it took a bloody long time to attach and remove all the brooches. Speaking of brooches, this past weekend I bought two amazing antique brooches, which I'm sure will be showcased on the blog in the near future.

Shoes (Ravel), vintage skirt, top (Miss Selfridge)

Old dress, new look

This is a dress I've had a number of years, and wear on a fairly regular basis. It's a pretty standard dress, easy to dress up or down. It occured to me the other night that I could layer my stripy skirt underneath the top sheer layer of the dress. So I gave it a go, and was rather pleased with the results. Its nothing too spectacular, but its nice to have a new way of wearing both the skirt and the dress. 

Shoes (Kurt Geiger), jacket (Miss Selfridge), dress (Topshop), vintage skirt, vintage belt.

Feeling Colourful

...Well...just about as colourful as I get. Inspired by the colours of my new antique bar pin, I wore black, white, yellow and green. It's a pretty little thing, with slight damage to the enamel, but still very wearable. Yellow and green are colours I can't normally stand together, but the pin is too nice to dismiss, and this particular shade of mustard yellow with a dash of green was just about bearable for me to wear today. 

Vintage black jacket, leather gloves (M&S), fur stole (M&S), shoes (Kurt Geiger), vintage belt, blazer (John Lewis), vintage skirt, vest (Ted Baker). 

Harlequin

I'm a big fan of Viktor and Rolf. Their shows are always interesting; you could certainly never accuse them of being boring. One of my favourite shows of theirs is the Harlequin show from ss08. There's not a lot I'd actually wear from the collection, but it was full of nice ideas, not to mention the fabulous shoes. I loved the use of mini violins and violin features throughout the show. I'd definitely wear the black violin necklace below given the chance. I'm not a pink person at all, but would also love to own the pink top with lace violin and pom poms, shown below on the catwalk. Thats pretty much the only article of clothing from the collection that I would like to wear, which is pretty frustrating because the show is full of nice details/ideas I'd like in my clothes, but I just don't like the way they've executed the ideas. Something about their silhouettes is a little off. Anyway, I have no complaints about the shoes! Ever since I saw the collection all those months ago, I've been crazy about the diamond black and white heels. I've also expressed my love of shoes which lace up before, so the patent booties with the dream heel were particulary attractive to me. I came close to buying said boots in black patent (just like the pink ones above left), but was too slow and they sold out. Probably a good thing as they were preeetty preeetty expensive. 

In the end, I did purchase a pair of shoes from the collection, with the all important heel I was after. The shoes I did get are a little more sensible, and were a better price than the booties. I love the fact that they're half white half black, at certain angles making it look like I have 2 different pairs of shoes on. Plus, that heel is just spectacular. I looked to the collection for outfit inspiration....ignoring all the pink going on, I mimicked their use of lace, black and white, and little pom poms. The pom poms were provided by the scarf I talked about yesterday, which was actually listed as a belt/sash, not a scarf, so I tied it around my waist, and proceeded to enjoy swishing the tassels about all day, whilst gazing adoringly at my beautiful new shoes. 

Shoes (Viktor & Rolf), vintage blazer, top (Miss Selfridge), vintage skirt.

Cowboy Jockey?

I'm not sure what my thinking was behind this outfit...all I know is that I wanted to mix deep burgandy red with a brighter turquoise. I think my desire for this pairing possibly came from this look where I had dark red on my lips, and turquoisey colours throughout the outfit. For some reason the colours and possibly the stripes too are reminding me of a jockey? I could be alone in thinking that. The cowboy element comes from the shirt, which is by the now defunct Copenhagen label Camilla Staerk. Before the label ceased trading, Camilla left the company and started her own label again under the name Staerk. I've not seen much of Staerk's work, but the clothes by Camilla Staerk (this is getting confusing), were pretty interesting and worth a look. The lady herself is actually pretty damn cool. Go on...google her, she's usually wearing all black with a well tied headscarf. My shirt is from the aw06 collection, which first brought the label to my attention. The collection was full of nice little details, bits of lace, different textures and unusual shapes/execution of quite classic pieces. Plus, the accessories, in particular the buckle boots, were desirable. I liked the addition of a different texture into the shirt, in quite a subtle way, with the shiny material, and of course, the little neck tie is cute. I think next time I wear the stripey stockings I'll wear darker tights underneath so the contrast isn't as noticable, and the stripes more subtle.

p.s. I acknowledge the fact that my skirt needs ironing.

image from camillastaerk.co.uk

Bag (Vivienne Westwood), blazer (John Lewis), shirt (Camilla Staerk), vintage skirt, shoes (ebay).

Avoiding the emo

The other day I bought myself an early Christmas present, and today it arrived. It was quite naughty of me, I just couldn't resist though....I had a discount code, thus my purchase of (another) Liberty handbag is justified! I had planned on wearing this outfit before the bag arrived, but the bag fitted in with it quite nicely and I just had to take it out with me asap! The bag is pretty roomy, useful for me today as I was shopping, and I managed to fit all my purchases in it (see, I'm also saving the planet, as I didn't need the plastic bags offered to me in each shop). I really wanted to wear my stripy trousers, as they are rather neglected. My boyfriend said they were emo, and ever since I've been wary of wearing them and looking emo. However, when I bought these, the look I had in mind was less emo, more 19th c. dandy in his breeches and boots, and I think I've managed to avoid the emo trap so far. I debated whether or not to wear my riding boots, but opted for these burgandy shoes, are they echo the dark red on the scarf, and my boots have been getting a lot of love recently. The bag is perfection; Ianthe print tooled leather, with silver plates at the top which double up as mirrors, yeah!

Vintage black blazer, silk scarf (Tootal), shoes (M&S), vintage blazer, trousers (H&M), t-shirt (Zara), handbag (Liberty of London).