That’s right, it’s that time again, time for me to show you all the most awkward, unattractive, and downright weird outtakes from more of my blog shoots. Continue reading
Bloopers & Outtakes [Round 4]
5
Tag Archives: fashion blogger
London Edge [SS16 Most Anticipated]
Last year was my first year at London Edge, an alternative and vintage style clothing trade show in London held twice a year to preview upcoming Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter lines from clothing brands. The show exists primarily for stockists to scout out the upcoming season’s offerings so they can choose what they want to stock in their in-store and online boutiques, but London Edge invites bloggers too so that they can bring the news of the show to their readers.
This year I was super excited to go to the SS16 February show, sure that some of my favourite brands would have some truly awesome stuff coming up soon. I was not wrong. Several brands, including Collectif and Voodoo Vixen, released their SS lookbooks online a few weeks before London Edge, so I had seen a lot of what they had to offer before I attended, but there were still tons of companies whose spring and summer offerings were still under-wrap beforehand. Plus, there’s something about getting to see items in person, even if you can’t try them on, which is so much better than trying to get a full sense of them online. Bearing all that in mind, I went up to London this past weekend armed with a feverish sense of clothing curiosity and my camera, with one of my pinup besties, Giselle, at my side to trade off comments, gasps and admiring groans with as we combed through the rails. Continue reading
January Outfits Round Up
It’s been a busy month, catching up with friends after the Christmas break and enjoying a weekend with one of my London friends, Giselle, coming down to stay. And, of course, there was Jenny January, the style challenge event I host in January on social media revolving around the Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny skirts and dresses. If you wanted to read about that event in particular you can find my blog post about it here, but if not you’ll find all my outfits represented below.
Nina Skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing, Black Sabrina Top by PUG from Deadly Is The Female, Magnetic Crystal Starburst brooch from eBay, self-bedazzled shoes (tutorial)
Gorgeous Gigi [Miss Candyfloss]
Everyone should be able to wear whatever they want, without judgement or comment. Saying that, there are certain things I won’t go near personally because I just don’t feel they work for my body and the way I most like to highlight its features. Maxi dresses don’t show off my waist enough with that large expanse of skirt flowing straight down beneath it, and capped sleeves aren’t kind to my chubby upper arms. I store weight on my lower stomach and have wide hips, as well as considerable butt (awww yeaaah,) but those things mean when it comes to trousers and shorts, I just steer clear most of the time for simplicity’s sake, since I can’t be bothered searching for the perfect fit. Playsuits and jumpsuits, therefore, are clothing pieces I rule out, because when trying some on in the past I’ve found they don’t fit my lower body well and make me feel self-conscious about my squidgy tummy. No one really wants that.
However, I’ve been seeing some bodacious babes rocking some amazing retro jumpsuits lately and it made me feel some things. Miss Victory Violet, Simone of Atypical Girl Clothing and Kerry of Audrey Star’s Boutique are all working their jumpsuits like it’s nobody’s business, and it got me wondering.
L to R: Atypical Girl’s Simone. Audrey Star’s Boutique’s Kerry, and Miss Victory Violet
Pretty Pia [Voodoo Vixen]
I have a thing for winter appropriate prints, checks, tweeds and weighted fabrics. They never go out of style, which means when you buy a piece in that kind of fabric you know you can wear it year after year regardless of the passing current trends. This holds even more true when the pieces are vintage inspired, so I was pleased to see that Voodoo Vixen made several pieces in their AW15 line that fit this outline.
The Pia pencil skirt is the one that most caught my eye from the VV workwear appropriate new pieces. It’s a lightweight highwaisted grey pencil skirt sporting a tweed inspired print with kick pleats in the back. From the same AW line I picked up the Sophie top, a black three quarter sleeved top with plenty of stretch for comfort and a great button detail staired neckline.
Twirling in Tulle
I’ve wanted a tulle skirt for a long time. It’s easy to get a super cheap one on eBay for £10 or less delivered to England from China or Hong Kong, but despite the perfectly puffy volume evident in the seller photos for such pieces, whenever I’ve bought one the real life item has always been decidedly limper and less fluffy in person. They’re two or three layers of soft tulle that can’t hold one another up or out, and they just don’t create the fairy princess ballerina shape of tulle joy that I imagine when I get the urge to track down a skirt that will work for me.
I’ve seen pieces from Space46boutique and other online brands that look promising, but I tend to find they often don’t run into plus sizes, which means not only is it hard for me to track down skirts that will fit me but that also leaves me distrustful of whether the few that do go up to my size will actually be comfortable to wear. I tend to suspect I would end up squeezed in to a skirt whose elastic just barely stretches to encompass my girth and thus punishes me with pinches all day as a result. Continue reading
Vendula London Funky Bags
Typically I’m not one for statement accessories beyond a big crystal necklace. I tend to play it safe and classic with my style choices, even though that sometimes means I fall in love with a lemon wedge shaped clutch bag or a handbag shaped like a house and talk myself out of buying it because I’m not sure how to wear it. Every once in a while I realise how silly that is, since my motto in general is to wear whatever you want because life is too short not to indulge in even the smallest of things that make you happy. Which is why today I’m writing about Vendula London.
Vendula London is, in case you couldn’t guess, a UK based brand, who are 100% animal friendly. They offer a range of unique, funky and quirky bags, from clutch bags to handbags, totes to cosmetic bags, luggage tags, tablet cases, you name it. They’re stocked globally, and when I saw some of their book style clutch bags and quaint traditional English building inspired bags I fell in love.
Cover Up In Style [Wingz]
I have a lot of dresses. I love them all, perhaps not equally, but a lot. More than most women love their clothes. So it frustrates me and saddens me somewhat when autumn, winter, even parts of spring (and summer here in the UK, to be honest) come around and require me to either trade in my sleeveless and strappy dresses or else layer them beneath a cardigan. And don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a cardigan. These days they’re a fashion staple, a downright given. I’m sure you, like I, own approximately 20 in different lengths and colours, necklines and sleeve lengths. They’re useful and warm, but there’s no escaping the fact that cardigans cover not only your arms but at least some of your dress too. And on some dresses, that is nothing more than a shame.
I own plenty of dresses with beautiful feature bustlines, gorgeous prints, even embroidered patterns. I recently bought a v-neck sleeveless dress with exquisite embroidery that winds all the way down from the shoulder straps over the bust and waist towards my hips. It makes me think of Christmas and feels especially appropriate to wear this time of year, but the lack of sleeves means that if I layer a cardigan atop it I cover up some of the beautiful embroidery that makes it so special.
Which is why I’m maybe a little too excited that I found Wingz. I stumbled across them on Facebook just a couple weeks ago and was immediately drawn in. Wingz is a line of sleeves that you can layer under almost any neckline dress or top because they’re designed as an under-top with a super low bustline that layers over your bra, creating sleeves you can layer under tops and dresses to keep warm without effecting the lay, cut or style of your clothes.
Deanna Perfection [Chi Chi Clothing]
I’ve developed a bit of a thing lately for Chi Chi Clothing. After getting the Rosa dress, I’ve fallen for their more vintage inspired pieces, all of which tend to be tea length and sport stiffer fabrics and expert pleating that create a full vintage skirt look without the need for a petticoat. It means they’re great pieces for summer when a petticoat can be unwanted extra warmth, and they’re also beautiful evening wear pieces that look classic and stylish year round. I’ve begun stalking their New In section recently to make sure I don’t miss out on anything good, which is when I came across this gorgeous Deanna dress.
A grey-black dress with red, white, pale gold and olive green floral embroidery, this dress immediately makes me thing of Christmas and winter and glamorous dark evenings. The embroidery was designed with Spanish inspirations in mind, and I can see that too, but it’s the winter Christmas feels I most love. I was a bit uncertain when I first tried it on whether I should keep it, as I was splashing out on another one of their dresses for sure and my American trip (and it’s expenses) is right around the corner. But I asked my Instagram followers whether I should get this dress too and their Insta-shouted at me that OMG OF COURSE YOU KEEP IT IT IS GORGEOUS WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT WHY WOULD YOU SEND IT BACK HOW DARE YOU SHUT UP AND BUY IT. And they were totally right. I had a mild lapse in closet-judgement due to focusing on finances. It was silly of me. It won’t happen again. Because lookit!
Viva La Rosa [Chi Chi Clothing]
It’s not often I find a new non-pinup clothing brand these days that I actually like, you know, on account of them being non-pinup. Finding Chi Chi London recently, therefore, was awesome.
A UK clothing brand, they produce clothing with lots of feminine design details: lace, floral prints, embroidery, off the shoulder necklines, sheer overlays, satin finishes, and cinched waists. Most of their dresses are midi length or at least knee length, passably retro to my delight, and they also offer petite and plus size ranges, another bonus. There’s a lot of very pretty dresses on their site currently that I like, but when I saw the Rosa dress I fell in love. A day after discovering Chi Chi, Rosa was on her way to me thanks to the help of a 20% off discount code, one of the many discount codes and sales I’ve seen Chi Chi offer just over the past month alone that I’ve been aware of them.
Miss Amy May 