Some new reading
| May 30, 2012 | Posted by Lizzy under Fashion thoughts, Things in my brain |
These are just two of the magazines that are top of my reading list these days, and are part of the legion of new publications that are sweeping aside the mainstream magazines that I usually read each month. I expect that most of you will be no stranger to Oh Comely magazine, the quirky quarterly whose thought provoking opinion pieces and absurdly beautiful photography command you to “keep your curiosity sacred”. The other, possibly less familiar to you all, is Handmade Fashion. Whilst I know not all of you are DIY fiends like me, I think there actually is something in here for everyone: interviews with independent designers, features on sustainable fashion in collaboration with Oxfam and craft projects that span the full range from first time creator to die hard sewing fan. At £7 it is a little pricey, but there are only two a year, and compared to a monthly or weekly mag the ratio of ads to content is great!
As I mentioned a few posts ago, when writing about the launch of Wish magazine, I have fallen out of love with traditional women’s magazines. A very fine example of why I feel like this can be found on Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: I do not want to read articles about “celebrities” using drips to stay skinny or beat hangovers, they are boring at best and downright disgusting at worst. As the day to day ugly antics of the world’s beautiful people are played out and dissected more and more in the mainstream media, the less I want to do with it. I don’t want to be involved in bashing my fellow women when they make mistakes, or examining their terrible acne and meteoric weight gain when they are doing well (sure, she can win awards, but step away from the pie fatty). In fact I think a recent article in The Guardian sums up why I am not the only one falling out of love with her monthly dose of glossy; opening one can feel like stepping back to a time when Sex and the City was the definition of woman.
So if anyone needs me, I’ll be hiding out in happy land, where the focus is always soft and flattering, an article about vintage buttons takes precedence over how to pleasure your man, and I can have a go at learning something new if I like. Handmade Fashion taught me how to crochet this month; the only thing Cosmo ever felt the need to try and teach me probably shouldn’t be repeated here!
Primary colours
| May 28, 2012 | Posted by Lizzy under An outfit or two, Clothing and accessories, Fashion thoughts |
Louche “Trinity” blouse – Joy | skirt – Zara | clutch – Warehouse | sandals – Lotta From Stockholm | straw hat - River Island
These fantastically vibrant pictures were taken in glorious sunshine during a Saturday trip to Crystal Palace Park. Whereas the arrival of sunshine like this normally result in vest tops, short skirts and little dresses, so for contrary blogger reasons I decided to wear midi-length chiffon and a long-sleeved blouse. I bought the blouse for a job interview earlier in the week; I realised that all of my blouses have polka-dots or cats on them, which is not necessarily the best way to make a professional impression. Unless you are being interviewed for a job with Miu Miu, but I wasn’t. I spotted this blouse through the window of Joy on Tottenham Court Road whilst on my lunch break, and decided that it was plain enough to be conventionally smart, but with enough colour to still be “me”.
Honestly, I suck at conventional work wear. I’ve owned one suit in my life, and hated it so much I swore never to wear another one! And wearing too much black makes me feel very uncomfortable. But after eight years of student fashion freedom (four as undergrad/masters and another four as PhD) I am finally going to have to embrace a sensible work wardrobe, somehow incorporating my no suits and no black requirements. So clothing-concious friends with proper jobs: how to you keep your workwear fun, professional and most importantly, true to your personality? x
Lepidoptera rotations (and DIY trousers)
| May 25, 2012 | Posted by Lizzy under An outfit or two, Clothing and accessories, Fashion DIY |
Trousers – handmade by me | Lace top – Dorothy Perkins | Ballet pumps – Butterfly Twists
…aka Butterfly Twists!
Sorry, the title of this post is a geek joke but I couldn’t resist (the lepdioptera is the order of insects that contains butterflies). Butterfly Twists is a footwear company specialising in folding ballet pumps and boots that can be tucked into a handbag to save you from high heels. I was lucky enough to win a pair in a recent giveaway of Sherin’s, and they are super comfy. What with the ballerina print on the trousers and the ballet pumps, I couldn’t resist busting out a few silly one-leg poses!
I’ve been wanting to have a go at making trousers for ages. Skirts are very easy, simple dresses are also a reasonably straightforward dressmaking challenge. When it comes to running up a garment I like to freestyle; I pick a fabric, get a rough idea of what and how to make it I want in my head, and then go for it. This approach has resulted in several dresses and a multitude of skirts. But is it possible to freestyle a pair of trousers? They tend to be a bit more fiddly, requiring a degree of precision and infinitely more pattern pieces than a skirt. Nonetheless, I thought I would have a go. I dug out the ballerina print fabric that had been knocking around my stash for a while (I do love printed trousers), used a really simple pair of PJ trousers to make a pattern, and got to work.
This is my “standing on the patio wearing pyjama trousers” look. These trousers do still look a bit pyjama-ish; I’m thinking of tailoring the legs a bit more so that I don’t look quite so much like the student I used to be, off down to Tesco in my jammies. However, on a day like today a pair of loose cotton trousers are definitely a winner!
Do you have a project in mind that you haven’t had the nerve to start yet? This weekend, go for it, I dare you 
. I plan on enjoying a lot of barbeque food and motorsport this weekend (Indy 500, Monaco Grand Prix, and Motorsport at Crystal Palace). What will you be up to? xx
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