Doing it white

I am not a huge fan of white clothing. It seems to be the preserve of those impossibly chic people who call white shirts a "staple" and holiday on yachts. Besides, and despite what the many washing powder adverts would have you believe, it's hard to keep whites white.

In other words, white clothing is a faff and I try to steer well clear of it. So I can't believe in the past week I have bought not one, but two white items of clothing. The first, is a white long-sleeved t-shirt in the Zara sales. It's the shape that drew me to it - sort of slouchy up top and fitted towards the bottom - a great shape for wearing with big slouchy trousers.

The other item is a pristine white TM Lewin shirt, thrifted for £1. I like the long tail at the back and the fact that it has holes for cuff links. I used to collect cuff links when I was younger and still into my Drag King look but I have no idea where all that stuff has ended up, so I had to make some new ones out of metallic elastic and mismatched metal buttons to wear it.
As I mentioned, I've also been getting my DIY on with with a beautiful grey cashmere sweater, that I cropped, altered the neckline and shortened the sleeves. It's now a crop sweater with matching snood. It looks particularly good with both the white shirt and t-shirt.


Click on any image to enlarge.

Happy shoe year

I love shoes and I have a lot of them but shoe storage is always a problem. I mean, it would be great if my wildest dreams came true and I suddenly discovered a fourth dimension of infinite storage in my current wardrobe but while the boffins are trying to figure out that particular scientific conundrum, I've hit on an interim three-dimensional solution.

I managed to procure for myself (and let's just take a moment there and bask in the beauty that is the word "procure"... Aah. Lovely). As I was saying, I managed to procure for myself - through a measure of charm, guile and elbow grease - one of those rotating card/book holding units that you might find in your local charity shop.

I immediately saw the possibilities: tall and relatively thin, with lots of little holders to hang things off, casters for rolling around and the rotating feature. Would make and excellent shoe tree, I thought to myself. And it does (click images to enlarge).

Neutral territory

In the red corner

All the pretty colours

I've hung all my heeled shoes off it, freeing up shelf space for my flats and boots, and it looks like a real tree with shoes growing of it like leaves. I've even got it colour coded. It's arty and practical. Love it. If I have the time, I might spray paint it gold. Just for fun.

Been there, done that

I thought this armour dress by Hannah Marshall that I spied on Amelie Boutique looked rather familiar...

Then I realised why. Remember this? Note the similarities?
I'm saying nothing until I've talked to my lawyers. Heh!

Hard shoulders

Fueled by my ongoing obsession with the structured silhouette, I set about turning a common or garden variety sweater (I forgot to take before pictures so you're just going to have to take my word for it) into this (click on images to enlarge):I cut the tired old sequinned sweetheart neckline into a scoop. Then I cut some felt up into circles, which went on the arms. Cut off bra cups added some structure and the padded wonder-bra cups went into that.

I tried it on with my All Saints military harem pants, mongolian neck wrap and some shiny peeptoe shboots, and felt very urban warrior princes but in a nice way:
But when I put on my stomping, military lace-ups, I came over all queer:I wanted to smash something but decided it would be safer to pull faces instead:Grrr-AH!

Neccesity (and being a doofus) is the mother of invention

I'm just back from an abortive trip to John Lewis, Oxford Street. That's a pointless three hour round trip, if you're coming in from The Nethers. I am such a doofus.

It's nothing that JL did. I love John Lewis. They have the most polite knowledgeable staff anywhere on the high street. When you ask them a question be it regarding their own stock or even getting something somewhere else, they have the answers. If I could - and if it were legal - I'd marry them all. That is how much I love John Lewis. They can do no wrong.

Anyway, as I was saying, it was my own damned fault. I'd just got to the nice lady at the till with my haberdashery supplies when I realised I'd left my purse at home. Major bummer. Basically I was after some felt (can't have too much felt) and some shoulder pads. I have become obsessed with getting that high shouldered, structured look that's been about this season, and I thought I could do a DIY project around that.

On my abject and empty handed train ride back it occured to that I probably didn't need the shoulder pads anyhow because what I do have is a worn out push-up bra that I'd been wanting to get rid of. The cups are the perfect rounded shape and I could fill them out with some wadding that I just happen to have handy. What's that? Yes... I hoard wadding. Your point?

So, I cut out said bra cups and filled them with wadding and they look pretty much exactly how I wanted. Phase 2 will be finding the lucky unloved top that's about to get a major makeover. There's one around here somewhere...

Tee and cake - DIY slogan t shirt

I've been seeing a lot of of oversized white tees around this summer and coveting that whole slouchy tee over leggings/shorts/jeans look.

I really like the one's with some sort of funky line drawing. I saw a huge blouson-ey Betsey Johnson one in Urban Outfitters for £200 and for a hot minute I actually considered buying it - such was the awesome power of its loveliness. Thank God I came to my senses!

I also like the idea of a slogan tee - a la Katherine Hamnet - but I also have a problem with slogan tees in that, well, you just end up wearing someone else's slogan.

Some t-shirts I like (clockwise from top): Betty Jackson for EJF; Smiley face, Religion;
smiley face, Topshop; face print, Lanvin

So, how to get the white, slouchy slogan tee, with a personalised slogan, written exactly the way you want it and decorated to your own exacting standards? DIY.

I got a large white tee in the H&M sales for £2 and set to work on in with some Dylon fabric paint pens that I've had for freakin' ever. I got them from John Lewis, so long ago now that I don't even know whether they sell them anymore. But you can get good fabric paints from any art shop/haberdashers.

I then went to a website that let's you download some funky fonts for free, the font I used is called Cheri Liney and you can download it and others here.

I wrote my logo in Word, set it to the size and font I wanted and printed it out. Then I traced each letter individually onto the t-shirt - you get more flexbility on your layout that way. Needless to say, you need a transparent white tee for this, although if you get a line font, you can cut it into stencils, if your aiming to paint on a coloured/not transparent tee.

Here is my DIY slogan and line drawing tee, I drew the cup cake free-hand but you can also print out a drawing and trace it:

I love the way it's come out

"Feel better eat cake" - it's full of yummy wisdom

hand-drawn cup cake

Doily good fun

A while back someone* did a post about designers using doilies as embelishments in their work (don't ask me who, cause I don't remember and all my searches have come op with zilch. If it was you, let me know and I'll do a link).

I do remember thinking it would be cool to do some doily DIY. So I went off to my favourite charity shop in the outer Nethers to see if I could procure for myself some fine doily-ware. And wouldn't you know? They had loads. I got about 1o for £1.50!

Since I have now developed a full-blown passion for , um, "interesting" headware, I thought I'd set to work making myself a doily headband.

Here are the results:

Huzzah, I finally found a use for one of my hundreds of buttons!

Yes mother, I do appear to be wearing a load of doilies on my head

Cool huh? It's totally impractical, as that many doilies is quite heavy and the headband they're attached to is quite light, so I have to balance my head just-so to keep it from falling off (band, not head).

My social life has very little call for a "mad hatters tea party" type shindig but if that ever happens I'll be ready. For now, I'll just wear it in the garden with a pretty frock while channeling a slightly less crazy and decrepit Miss Haversham.

*UPDATED TO ADD: That someone turned out to be Rowena at Rosiepop, check out her doily post here

Bow Wow!

You could probably slap a bow on anything these days and I'd instantly find it more appealing. Such is the power of the subliminal bow messaging that I've been receiving all summer. It would go a long way to explaining why I find these lovelies totally irresistible (click on images to enlarge):

Big bow Alice bands and bow shoes, Topshop
PVC bow hair pins, Urban Outfitters
Clip on bow with veil, ASOS

But I have no excuses for my growing collection of "Bowrabilia":Silver Mary Jane, New Look
clip on PVC bows, Topshop
Bow ties, thrifted
Bow belt, thrifted

Or the fact that I have recently made a bow Alice band of my own with not one, but two wonky bows:DIY Alice band

Flapperlicious!

This gorgeous corsage headband, £14 from Warehouse, will look great with a pretty flapper style dress and could also work with your trendy new Goth chic wardrobe for A/W 2008. But more importantly, it could be totally "Gok-ed"*. You just need a length of stretchy lace and an old corsage. One for my DIY list.

*From Gok Wan (seen virtually everywhere at the mo and consequently getting slightly irritating). The DIY style god, is currently making my head buzz with all the alterations he's doing to high street garments to make them individual and irresistible.

Status update: D&P is sewing

Well, cussing a lot, actually. And sewing. So I've moved on to a slightly larger DIY project - the summer skirt - this week. One that requires the use of a sewing machine.

It's been a while since I dragged out the ol' faithful, so I'd forgotten just how exasperating setting it all up is. Not to get too technical:

First you have to spool thread on the little doo-hickey that goes in the hidden undercarriage bit of your machine. But before that you have to take it out of this hidden undercarriage which - if you're as rusty as I am - could take hours.

Then, when said doo-hickey is full of thread and safely replaced (another five hours of fiddling) you thread the sewing machine's needle - which, of course, is infinitely more complicated than it sounds.

When all that is done, you can sew your skirt by fitting the pieces of cloth together inside out - unless you're me - in which case you will sew the wrong sides together and have to take them apart, just as you're running out of thread from the little doo-hickey in the hidden undercarriage compartment...

Gah! I can hand sew faster than this! Give me strength!

The good news is, I'll have a lovely summer skirt to play with at the end of all this. Photos then.






Sewing machine. Torture device. Whatever.

First rule of DIY: start with the small stuff

Success! I got round to finishing my DIY ruff project.

In the end it didn't take that long at all. Most of the work was carefully unpicking the ruffle at the buttom of the child's dress.

Then I measured and sewed in ruffles to fit round my neck, added some black grossgrain ribbon from my bag of bits and pieces, and here's the result (click on images to enlarge):
I think it came out alright, although it's not as bouffy as I would've liked. But it it transformed my plain black and white, floral, sleeveless top:
And the great thing is, if I wear it back to front it looks like a little capelet with a natty bow.

DIY is it taking so long?

This post by Susie Bubble on Johnny Loves Rosie has just reminded me of all the DIY projects that I've got brewing that I've still not got round to.

Johnny Loves Rosie - if you didn't know - do these quirky, totally DIY-able accessories, which are not exactly expensive but not really that cheap either. Seeing their bows and things just made me itch to get to work on some stuff.

However, between the work life and the social life and the blog life and the life life, I just can't seem to find the time to squeeze in my projects. To recap, I want to:

• Make a ruff and a large corsage out of a child's dress
  
• Make a playsuit out of some African print material that I brought back from my trip home
  
• Make some harem pants out of an old sweatshirt(well, actually it turned out to be a dress but that's another story)
  
• Make some pretty summer skirts out of the material I found at my local-ish charity shop
  
• Do something with my motherload of buttons
  

In addition to these, I want to:

• Make some cute hair accessories from my bits and pieces of ribbon, felt and random other found and habberdashed things
• Make a summer dress - I found the perfect ditsy-print material with yellow, red and green flowers, for £1 during a recent thrifting expedition. It is currently draped around my tailor's dummy in the hall and everytime I see it my palms itch with anticipation.
• Try my hand at transfers - I bought some Dylon product called Image Maker, which apparently transfers pictures onto fabric "in three easy stages"! I simply must try it out. I'm thinking a collage from fash-mag images onto a t-shirt would look totally cool. If anyone's ever used this stuff, I'd really appreciate some tips!

So, anyway, this weekend's already looking like a bust as I've got friends and fam cropping up everywhere but I will get started soon and then you can see the sweet - or possibly rancid - rewards of my labour.

And another thing about harem pants...

I've just realised how much the H&M ones look like an upside down sweatshirt... Hmmm... I wonder if I have a sweatshirt that might just work. Or maybe even a sweater. Must go away and think about that one.

The opposite of Koumpounophobia

Koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons. Apparently, one in 75,000 people suffers from it. I'm glad to say that I am not one of them. If anything, I'd say I'm a koumpounophilliac (but hopefully not in a kinky way). Which is lucky because this weekend I scored the motherload of buttons courtesy of my local-ish charity shop (above).

Almost a large sweet tin's worth of buttons for £3, I am over the moon. As you can see, they come a variety of colours, sizes and shapes.

My favourites right now are the heavy metal buttons with New York Paris Milan etched on them. I think they will make cute accessories with some ribbon or felt. And I can't wait to start decorating items of clothing of mine with some colourful and mismatched button action.

Other finds included:

• a pretty shift dress with drawings of pin-up girls all over it by Betty Barclay, £3! I wore it today with my thin, mint blue, double-buckled belt and my mint peeptoe flats and here's a photo. Yes, I know, not an everyday occurence round here. And I still suck at taking photos, so sorry if it's a little blurry. Click to enlarge.
• two different bundles of material, £1 for both. As the bloke pointed out, they look like curtains at the moment -ones an abstract garish print and the other a sweet, pale yellow floral - but I have high hopes for them becoming a pretty summer skirt and something else that I'm not quite sure of. We'll see.

My mind is buzzing with the possibilities. No doubt another DIY marathon is on its way soon.

Just call me Cruella

While doing the shopping for dinner this evening (green Thai curry and rice, mmm-mm good) I found out my one of the local charities is doing a closing down sale - hard to resist when everything is on a 75 per cent mark down.

As is the way with these things, most of the really good stuff was gone but I did find a darling child's ivory smock dress for 75p. It is so cute, all scalloped ruffles and ribbon and domed buttons down the back. Any baby would look even more cute than usual in it.

Coochie, coochie, cut - enjoy the cute while it lasts

But no, I'm not getting broody or with bun in oven. I intend to cannibalise it's pretty ruffles to make a cute ruff for moi a la Susie bubble. The smaller ruffles around the neck and wrists will be turned into a big corsage-ish brooch and I'm sure I'll find uses for the rest of the material.

Like stealing candy from a baby - The bits I'll be using

I feel so evil... I rather like it. It'll be puppies next, I think. *cue evil cackle*

Perfect pin-up

Glamourous, retro and highly stylised, the pin-up look may not be for everyone but when properly pulled off, I have to say I love it's sassy, stylish ways.

The look is characterised by nipped in waists, vampish silhouettes, high heels and ladylike accessories. Add a slash of red lippy, a dash of eyeliner and big hair and you're ready to go.

Modern style icons: Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith, Jessica Rabbit

Style inspiration: Pin ups of the 40s and 50s

Where to find the look: PPQ, Rare Fashion, Alice McCall (diffusion line coming to a Topshop near you from May 5), Fever

Pick up some pieces and accessories: H&M, River Island, Coast

In the image (click to enlarge):
black and white bow dress, PPQ at Oli
Neon yellow fascinator, River Island
Red wedge sandals, Kurt Geiger
Yellow envelope clutch and black peeptoe shoes with bow, Topshop
Bow clutch, Foirelli at Oli
Navy blue cardigan and blue print halter, both Fever
Lace bodice dress with pink corsage and gingham dress with red belt, both Rare
Pin up images courtesy Celebrity Smack and Bedazzled

See more vintage

Results of my DIY marathon

As promised some pics of my little DIY-athon from the past couple of days. Apologies for the less than great images, I still can't find my camera, so I used the phone-cam. Click on images to enlarge.

Customised vest

Primark vest customised with chunky zips. I appliqued a short red chunky zip customised with frilled blue netting to the front. On the back I've added a long blue chunky zip, which can be left undone or done up for a tighter fit.

DIY net skirts

I love a good net skirt. They're perfect for adding volume to a pouffy skirt and also great for layering over clothing for some added glamour. Unfortunately, it's really hard to get one that's not too full or too flat, so I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that I'd just have to do it myself.

The blue net skirt was made by using three layers of netting of different lengths, sewn on to a thick elastic band. The black net skirt , is longer (about calf length) and double-layered. I thought it would be fun to add a long zip in a contrasting colour for interest. (And it also saves me having to squeeze the skirt over my hips).

Outfits

I'm determined to do the sheer look in a pretty, romantic way this summer. The two outfits above are just me mucking around with the idea.

Left: Sheer floral tee from Zara, sheer slip from Karl Lagerfeld for H&M, diamanté ruched belt from H&M, black net skirt with contrasting zip, mine.

Right: Floral, strapless, bubble-skirt dress from Oasis, blue elastic belt from Primark, three tiered net skirt, mine.

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Eternal boredom of the sunless mind

So, yeah. I've not been regular with the ol' posts of late. There are reasons for this (aren't there always?) suffice it to say that I am having a bit of a time of it of late. For starters there was the move to the new place (also known as the the nether reaches of the seven rings of hell - the Nethers, for short). Lord! If only I had know how far from the centre of town this place truly is. Why, I might have just decided to stay where I was.

With the move to the Nethers come the daily calls to the ISP guys with much pleading, wringing of hands and sobbing for (please God) a transfer of the internet connection sometime in my future grandchildren's lifetime.

Other annoying things include:

• trying to get from A to B ("A" being the Nethers) without recourse to a flashlight and food supplies for the inevitable overnight stop-over in a cave somewhere between A and B

• the continually crappy weather, even though I am reliably informed that it is indeed springtime, which should mean at least a little frickin' sunshine already

• a combination of no sunshine and just returning from a country where the weather is reliably above 30 degrees centigrade at all times, means that I have also become touched by a major case of the SADs, which in my case manifests itself as being incredibly bored, depressed and antsy at the same time. This led to me embarking on a series of rather questionable DIY projects, one of which is adorning my perfectly lovely patent red wedge courts with stickers from paperchase (they look like the bastard child of a Prada shoe and pearly queen, the horror! picture below) and trying to make various things out of the Ankara material I bought (no, you will never see the pictures)

Spot the difference: above - when bad DIY happens to good shoes, below - Pearly Queen

• Oh and I'm also broke, so whoopee!

Needless to say, I am not a happy blogger and an unhappy blogger is a bad blogger. Apparently. But I'm hoping to have internet up and running in a couple of days so I'll be able to blog from home, which will make things easier. I've also got a desk lamp with a bulb that will blaze with the light of a thousand suns. I hope. That and my extra chunky duvet and a bumper packet of Haribo jellies should see me through.

Here's one I made earlier

I really, really loved this beaded silk collar by Day Birger et Mikkelsen. I thought it would look cute on a simple shift LBD but I had to do a double-take at the £140 price tag. I mean, in the end, it's only arts and crafts. Surely they can't be charging that much. I could make it myself, I thought. And so I did.

Here's my effort:

Okay, I'll admit, it's a little wonky (although my first effort, so, you know) and there's less beading. But it does look pretty cool and with materials (I've got plenty of sequins and beads left, by the way) came in at under £25. Add to that, the therapeutic, zen-like effects of beading and I think it was well worth my time and money.

I think it's plenty cool and I'm wearing it to a party tonight with a sequinned shift and shiny tights from H&M. I will also, finally, be wearing these shoes' so I'm gonna be hella shiny. I'm already thinking of my next bib design which will have way more beading. I'll post it when it's finished.

Materials: Black felt, seed beads, applique butterflies, applique flower, sequinned edging, single sequins, diamante buttons, flat buttons, all from John Lewis. Silk tie (found) and arrow pendant (left over from last DIY project).

Too much of a good thing?

Long ago (oh, so long ago) when I was a spotty teen, hopped up on hormones, with far too much time and far too little disposable income, I used to be creative. I thought nothing of turning a pair of jeans into a skirt, finding some fascinating and cheap scrap of material and turning it into something even more fascinating and wearable or snaffling my mum's old clothes and reshaping them into something wonderfully short and teen-ish.

That was then. Now I'm too busy, I get paid and there's a shop on every high street corner where I can buy an entire outfit for less than £50. What's the point?

This, my friends, is the beginning of the end of my creativity.

I just don't do that sort of thing anymore. I own a sewing machine but I can't remember the last time I sewed (no, wait. I can. It was 1999. A skirt. It rocked.) Or altered a dress or nipped in a waist.

Fast fashion, disposable income, work and age have stolen the playful experimentation and imagination with which I used to approach fashion and replaced it with the grasping soullessness of a shopaholic. I want all the latest looks and I want them yesterday.

I don't know exactly how I came to this realisation but I don't think I'm alone. Up and down the country there must be women who could just as easily turn a old pair of slacks into this season's shorts who, instead, just go out and buy them for a fiver at Primark.

I'll bet that if we all spent as much time and energy creating the next big look as we did shopping for it, we'd have a lot more fun and probably a lot more money and the feted fashion designers who charge far too much for their exclusivity would be quaking in their It boots as their empires crumbled around them.

Or maybe not. Maybe not everyone is or wants to be creative that way. Maybe it's just easier to pick up a bargain on the high street, wear it once and chuck it to the back of the wardrobe than it is to actually make something. Sewing is, afterall, a pain. It's complicated and time-consuming. Sometimes it doesn't even work. Why go to all the trouble when you could spend a few hours shopping for instant style gratification?

Wouldn't it be great though, if you went out in an outfit of your own making and everyone wanted one just like it? You could tell them "It's one of a kind. I made it." I think that would totally be worth it. Maybe it's time I dusted down that sewing machine.

Antique Singer sewing machine image courtesy of The Smithsonian