Logo Tee and Jeans

Now I do love a logo tee………….. so I decided to run up another to add to my collection and JUST in time for returning back to work, fresh out of Lockdown 3.0! I was inspired by brands like Balenciaga who charge astronomical prices for a small print on an oversized t-shirt. I found this Balenciaga logo tee for a whopping £365. As you may have guessed I am not afraid of spending OBSCENE amounts of money on VERY little, but items like this Balenciaga t-shirt I feel are a little too overpriced and I don’t think I could ever justify the cost of them for basically a t-shirt with a brand’s name on the front. I always look at items like this and think “could I make something similar?”. With a logo tee, the answer is usually YES! I have oodles of screen printing inks and acetate for stencils so it would cost very little. As much as I like some designer brands and what they sell, I buy their stuff because I can’t get them anywhere else……. and because I love them. I really don’t believe in buying something just for the name on the tag, there has to be something about it. In more recent years I feel brands rely on the name to sell the garment. For example, this Balenciaga tee is a plain oversized t-shirt with the brand’s logo (very little) on the front. Take me back to the time when fashion wasn’t as casual and sporty and had more about it I say. 2003 and up until 2007 is the perfect time in fashion for me and provides most of the inspiration for my wardrobe. Glamour and excess were huge and brand logos being used on everything was seen as the ultimate in good AND bad taste (Danniella Westbrooke in Burberry and Lil Kim in Gucci). This sadly changed from high fashion bad taste to chav and no one wanted the Burberry check again until quite recently. Gucci has brought back the monogram canvas HARD!!!! Although I am not a huge fan of Alessandro Michele’s new aesthetic for Gucci, (no one can quite live up to Tom Ford in my eyes) I am EXTREMELY happy the monogram is thriving and if your willing to pay the price can have a head-to-toe Lil Kim inspired look once again.

I found this oversized, extended neck t-shirt on Boohoo. It only cost £12 originally, but then it had 30% off. I loved the look of this tee, but we all know that the clothes tend to look WAAAAAY better on the site than they do in the flesh, but this t-shirt came as a surprise. I enjoy an oversized fit t-shirt from now and again and this tee is perfectly oversized. The higher neck means there is no gaping or wider fit neckline, which I despise haha. I usually find Fruits Of The Loom t-shirts a perfect fit but Boohoo does next-day delivery and the fabric was thicker and the fit more oversized, which is what I was after.

I find the key to a good logo tee is simplicity, words I don’t usually like to hear when it comes to fashion haha. I wanted to do a fun spaceship on the front with a more futuristic font being beamed out of an old-school-style flying saucer. I found the best way to make the stencil was to google ‘clip art pictures’ of whatever you want. Clip art pictures are usually quite basic and give you a good idea of how to draw the design you’re after without too much detail, and in this case I went for a flying saucer. Since the t-shirt is dark I had to use opaque ink to screen print with. Hunt The Moon is the most incredible site that sells everything you could ever need to screen print…….. they even offer a service to print stencils. I used 2 separate stencils for this design, one for everything to be printed in silver ink and another one for the yellow.

I always remember the House of Holland Spring/Summer 2009 collection ‘Sex, Lies and Volleyball’ and the Levis collaboration. I fell in love with this collection, it was soooo the 1990s, way before it was even a thing. It was inspired by the series Beverly Hills 90210. The jeans from the collaboration were covered in either a cutout or printed polka dot and I loved them. I loved how casual and interesting they looked and decided to take some inspiration from them for my jeans. I am pretty fussy with the jeans I wear and I really dislike ripped jeans (I have no issue with them on other people) I just think I am a little too old for them. I have really got on board with the idea of more interesting jeans with some texture and shape which gives them a point of interest. I ran up these ‘Van Cartier’ jeans using an old pair I was going to get shot of and cut out the letters from another old pair. I went for a pretty simple font as I thought once the edges fray the letters will be more readable in a simplistic typeface. I turned the stencil around for some of the letters so they weren’t all the same shade of blue. To sew the letters onto the jeans I unpicked the outside seam of the leg to be able to get in there. I left a 1cm gap between the stitch line and the outer edge of the letter because I wanted the letters to look a little more ‘worn’ than fresh so I washed the jeans before I used them and it did the job pretty well. The hardest part about making these jeans was moving the jeans through the sewing machine to be able to easily run the fabric under the needle without it bunching up. I used to be obsessed with these jeans in 2017. I got these oversized jeans from ASOS and had them in all 3 colours; black, dark blue and this light wash. Looking back they don’t actually seem THAT oversized but in 2017 when you’re fresh out of either a skinny or tapered jean they seemed HUGE haha.

Once the ink is dry before, and of course before you wear it, the best thing to do is to cure the ink. By curing the ink it just means you are setting the ink in place, so to speak, which should mean the ink shouldn’t run when you wash the t-shirt. Famous last words huh? Haha. I do this using a hot iron and a steamer, just to make sure. I use greaseproof paper and lay it over the printed design. It says to apply the hot iron to the print for 3 minutes, I somehow always forget to count and think it surely cannot harm leaving it on a little longer. I do make sure I am constantly moving the iron over the entire design to avoid burning it. Once I have ironed the design I like to make sure that the ink is TRUELY cured and I then steam it for a few mins. I do this from the front and from the back.

Hat - ASOS

Earrings - ASOS

Sunglasses - RayBan

Necklace - ASOS

T-shirt - Boohoo

Watch - G-Shock

Bracelet - Links of London

Jeans - ASOS

Bag - Moschino

Trainers - Converse

D.I.Y Baguette

Nothing screams early 2000s fashion, in my eyes, more than the Fendi Baguette. Vogue once described the Baguette as “That totemic accessory that announced you were the owner of all that was desirable in the world”. The ‘It’ bag has now become a must-have with the fashion crowd. The official definition of the ‘IT’ bag is a high-priced designer handbag that is a popular best-seller for a few seasons. Some bags go beyond this and become cult-like gods in the fashion world…………. like the Fendi Baguette. Created by Silvia Venturini Fendi in 1997, for the self-named Italian fashion house that was best known for its fur and leather goods. The baguette is thin, compact, and designed to sit comfortably under the arm, apparently the same way the French carry bread and this is where the bag got its name, the Baguette. Fendi really did get the Baguette bag trend BANG ON using exotic skins, brightly coloured sequins, feathers, beads, and bold colours and prints and they were hugely helped by them having been styled by the legendary Patricia Field on the HBO series Sex and the City. The era of the Baguette, to me, was the golden age of fashion, the BIGGEST names in the industry were creative directors at the BIG fashion houses: John Galliano at Dior, Tom Ford at Gucci and YSL, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton and people actually longed for Vivienne Westwood, oooooh how times have changed haha. From the iconic memorable collections being sent down the runway to the creation of iconic accessories for the house, Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton being the most memorable. There was an overall sense of glamour in fashion back then and the prices were definately not as steep as they seem today.

I decided since I cannot afford a new era Baguette, I would make myself one. I was inspired by the bold purple coloured sequinned Fendi. Instead of going for sequins, I went for a turquoise vegan vinyl going for the same vibe with a bright impactful colour. I found this on eBay for £11.99 a metre and it came in 34 different colours. I was instantly drawn to the turquoise vinyl but before I made the jump I searched for matching coloured piping. When I found out that turquoise was a pretty easy colour to get pretty much everything in I went and bought it. I stumbled on this incredible mirrored leatherette A4 sheet for £3.99 and I knew I had to have it for the Baguette.

What I used to create this Baguette;

• half a meter of vegan vinyl

• half a meter duck canvas

• 4 meters of piping

• A4 sheets of mirrored leatherette

• matching polyester tread

• 17cm zip

• 4x golden D-rings

• 2x lobster claw clasps

• side-release buckle

• Sew-in foam stabilizer

The first thing I did was get an idea of the size I wanted the bag to be. I did some research on designer websites such as Fendi and Gucci and looked at pictures of the bags against the model. I found this the best way to gauge the size before you go ahead and cut the pattern pieces and being disappointed with the size once the bag is finished. If you look at the item description on the website they usually tell you the dimensions so then you can go ahead and run up the pattern using them. The sizes I went for were 37cm long, 22cm high and 7cm deep.

The best way to run up the pattern pieces, I found, was to draw a rectangle 37cm by 22cm. Once you have this shape you can start to design the shape of the bag adding curved corners etc, to create the front and the back panels. When I was happy with the front panel I got a tape measure and measured the length of the outer seam line. I then divided this measurement by 2 and then drew up a rectangle the length of this measurement by 7cm, this would be the side panel when stitched together. Don’t forget to add your seam allowance, I used 1cm.

I decided I wanted a pocket on the back and also one on the inside……… I don’t think this adds much to the overall design they were just what I like to see in a bag. For the front flap piece that comes over from the back, I made the sides 1cm narrower on each side, just to accommodate the handle and strap attachment. For the length of this flap, I added 7cm (the width of the bag) and added 2cm just for the fold-over. I then added length to this piece, stopping with enough room to fit the buckle and the fabric that will hold the buckle in place.

I decided that I wanted to frame each seam with turquoise piping. I did this because I thought that it would make the look a LITTLE more professional and hide a number of mistakes haha. I used just short of 4 metres with the dimensions I used for this bag. To sew the piping to the vinyl and canvas I used a zipper foot so I was able to stitch closer to the bulky piping cord.

I was very fussy with the kind of buckle I wanted. I did a LOOOOAD of searching on Amazon and eBay for a large gold metal buckle. I found many of them but most were located in China and would have taken over a month to arrive, I don’t have the patience to wait that long sadly haha. I finally found these side-release golden buckles on Amazon, they were from the States but arrived in under a week. This was the last piece I was waiting to arrive but I couldn’t have done any more with the bag until they had, which was pretty frustrating.

For the handle, I measured a rectangle the length of the A4 sheet and marked the width 8cm notching every 2cm by drawing a line from one end to the other. I did most of the handle in the mirrored leatherette but as it was a little shorter than I wanted I added a section of the turquoise vinyl to each end. I was glad I did this because the mirrored leatherette was much thicker than the vinyl and sewing through 8 layers to attach the lobster claws would have been IMPOSSIBLE! I added 2 small rivets just behind the lobster claw to add some strength to the handle.

For the panel that holds the D-rings, I cut out two rectangles 4cm wide by 10cm long. I marked the centre point, then 1cm on each side and this was the fold line to hide the raw edges. Once I had stitched the raw edges back I then folded the piece length ways in half and trapped the D-ring in by stitching alongside it. I then added the other D-ring below it and secured it in place by stitching alongside it. To attach them to the sides of the back I stitched down the same lines where I stitched the raw edges of the panel, to avoid having too many holes in the fabric. To secure these in place I then added two larger rivets for strength and to get some more gold on the bag haha.

Once the bag was constructed I decided to add some foam stabilizer to the back, front, flap, and side panels. This really helped to give the back some structure while it is being used. I just cut the pieces out (minus the 1cm seam allowance then slid it into where it belonged. I then added some topstitching around all of the seams. This helped keep the stabilizer in place. It also helped where the seams were reeeeeally bulky due to the many layers of vinyl, canvas, and piping. I did this incredibly slowly making sure to avoid mistakes. If you stitch the vinyl and then unpick it, it leaves a hole in the material, so carefully does it with the topstitching!

Useful tips

A few good tips to remember about working with vinyl is that it is best to use a long stitch length, the short stitch length could split the material, almost as if it has been perforated.

Using a Teflon machine foot is a PREEEETTY useful tip too. The metal versions stick to the vinyl but the Teflon almost slides across the vinyl a dream.

Avoid using pins in the vinyl, if you can. Once a hole has been put in the fabric there is no getting rid of it. I used some clips I found on eBay called ‘Wonder clips for quilting fabric craft knitting sewing crochet’ a mouth full, huh? Haha.

Stitching the outer pieces together and lining pieces together separately, and then once they are both finished joining them is the easiest way to stitch together the bag.

Blazer - Collusion, ASOS

Earrings - ASOS

Necklace - eBay

T-shirt - House of Holland

Bracelet - eBay

Watch - G-Shock

Belt - Moschino

Jeans - ASOS

Boots - ASOS

More, More, MORE Jewellery

For YEEEEARS I have loved jewellery! To me, being a maximalist, jewellery is an extra way to add something to your get up and help get your point across. Never has the saying “more is more” applied better than it does to jewellery!!! Back in the day, I used to work at Swarovski and this is where my love for jewellery (and everything sparkly) was born. I used to get a 60% discount on the products at Swarovski so my collection quickly built. I sadly lost most of my Swarovski collection at uni when I went out and left my bedroom window open and some scoundrel took the entire collection minus what I was wearing. Not only was it Swarovski jewellery that was taken but my two FAVE John Galliano shield rings, one in silver and one in gold. I was absolutely devastated by the loss but I got straight back on with building my collection back up. I still search on eBay for those John Galliano rings as I would LOVE to have them back on my fingers. One of the best things about jewellery is that it takes up very little room to store, which means you can collect it without having to worry too much about editing it down to add newer pieces. I feel as though I am pretty fussy when it comes to jewellery, if it is chunky, bold and includes a chain and preferably gold-coloured…….. I’m on board LOL. One of the most important things I have learnt about costume jewellery over the years is to look after it by following these 3 simple rules;

• Avoid getting it wet.

• Don’t spray perfume or other cosmetics over it.

• Store it well and give it a little wipe once it has been taken off.

Follow these few simple rules and they will help you get longevity from the pieces. If you can avoid sweating while wearing it this would also help hugely LOL!

I put my jewellery into subcategories, I have Everyday Jewellery, Everyday/”Special” Jewellery and I have SPECIAL Jewellery haha. To decide on these categories, I look at what material the piece is made from and think about whether wearing it too much would spoil it. I am incredibly precious over everything I own and want everything to last as long as possible.

Everyday

One item of jewellery I will wear pretty much every time I leave the house is a Stirling Silver Link of London Karabiner bracelet. This is the second one of these I have had, the first one I got at university, a friend used to work at the Links of London store and managed to get it for me with 75% discount. I must have got the first bracelet in 2007 and it lasted me until 2015 (just in time for my 30th birthday) when it snapped. I was absolutely gutted when it broke, but I was lucky enough to get a new one for my birthday. When I don’t wear this bracelet I really do feel lost………… but I have been wearing this pretty much every day since 2007. Sadly they do not do this bracelet anymore so I really will be at a loss when this one has past it so I have already started searching for an alternative.

This Stirling Silver Shawn Lean Necklace I got as a Christmas present from my parents WAAAAAAAY back in 2003. It really has stood the test of time and all it takes is a good cleaning every now and again. The charms on the necklace are easily removed so you get 3 necklaces in 1!!! Pieces like this necklace really do show you that if you sack off current trends and wear what you love, what makes you happy and look after your accessories, pieces can last you 18 years or even longer! With the necklace being made from Sterling Silver I like to wear it to work, as no matter what the only thing that will damage the necklace is if it snapped……… but the chain can easily be replaced. This is a great piece for layering too.

This Cuban chain necklace is my go-to piece and the item that people think of when they describe me haha, which I am fine with! I have around 5 of these necklaces and I pick them up from eBay. They usually cost around £10, which is a steal considering the wear I get from them. The great thing about them is that they are made from a material that somehow does not tarnish! When you find a piece of costume jewellery that doesn’t tarnish it really is a blessing, and for the price, I wonder why most costume jewellery couldn’t do the same? After a while, the chain does show signs of wear, it scratches pretty easily once it is older which would be the time I invest in a new one!

Everyday/“Special” Jewellery

What I mean by Everyday/“Special” Jewellery is jewellery that I will say wear to work but not every day, almost as a treat to myself. This jewellery isn’t made from precious metal, but most of the pieces were a little more pricey or made from a metal that doesn’t tarnish………….. as quickly. Let’s face it a green neck is something you need to get used to if you want a thick gold Cuban chain but can’t afford a solid gold one haha.

The first piece is a gold effect Fendi logo necklace. This is a pretty old piece in my jewellery collection, I bought it from Selfridges while I was at uni. In the box, I still have the receipt and it says it was bought on the 15th January 2007 for £45, I’m sure it would cost 10 times the amount to buy today. Back in the day, I used to wear this pretty much every day and it does show a few signs of wear on the pendant, but the chain is still in pretty much the same condition it came out of the box. I love to use this necklace as a layering piece with other gold and silver necklaces when you mix in a more expensive piece with cheaper items it makes the bunch seem higher quality.

Now I am INCREDIBLY precious over all of my belongings and even though most of the jewellery in my collection is costume jewellery, I place it under this category because I reeeeeally just want it to last as long as possible. I collect jewellery for this category from pretty much everywhere and anywhere. ASOS is my usual go-to for EVERYTHING and their choice in jewellery is pretty unbelievable. It is priced amazingly and it’s fashion-forward. This category is also the largest in my collection. I love a mix of both silver and gold but usually lean more towards the gold side.

During lockdown 3.0 I made the decision that I wanted my ears pierced. Obviously, there was nowhere open that I would be able to get this done so I came across these little beauties during the many hours a week I spend scrolling through ASOS. They call them ‘faux earrings’ and are pretty much a clip-on ring style earring. I went for the gold version first and I was shocked at how comfortable they are to wear and are the style of earring that I would wear if I actually had my ears pierced. They do them in a silver version too which I WILL be investing in as they have become one of my go-to jewellery pieces.

I have been wanting a name necklace for many a year now, so when I found this bargain on Etsy in November I was buzzing! I only paid £8.99 for this necklace but it did take a LOOOOOOOONG time to arrive, mainly due to buying it during the Black Friday sales and they must have had a huge number of orders to work through. I went for this style necklace because the writing wasn’t to light and fluffy, it packed a little more of a punch haha. This is a great piece for layering with other necklaces and it can be extended by 2 inches so it can be seen once you have it on with other pieces.

SPECIAL Jewellery

I class my SPECIAL Jewellery as pieces I truly treasure! Whether I have longed after them for years, spent a small fortune on them or they just hold a special place in my heart.

For years and years, I have loved Versace jewellery; brassy, bold, excessive and gold, what more could you ask for? This Versace Rappa Ring has been on my wishlist ever since I saw it in the Versace store in Las Vegas. I tried the smallest size they had in stock and it was HUGE on me………. Fast forward 6 years and I managed to bag myself this beauty of a ring! I got this piece in the summer sale during the first lockdown of 2020. Ever since I have had it I have not had anywhere to wear it to so I used to throw it on for shopping in town haha. I was very careful with removing it every time I needed to sanitize my hands, which was a huge pain in the butt but necessary to protect the ring. This really is a bobby dazzler of a piece and says a lot when it is worn alone or screams out when worn with other eye-catchers. I really cannot wait until we can get back to our regular lives and can get dressed up for a night out and I can guarantee that the Versace Rappa Ring will be placed on my index finger for the outing!

This embellished Moschino curb chain necklace really is the pinnacle of my collection. It is one of the best buys I have EVER made. It packs such a punch when added to any outfit. Now I do LOVE crystals and I do LOVE chains so this really does answer my jewellery dreams. This isn’t a piece that I would wear every day as the stones catch on pretty much everything, hair included…….. although I’d love to wear it more often.

These Moschino bracelets are some of my most treasured pieces. I love that they are a take on the classic black and gold Moschino belt but have a more playful side with the SpongeBob and Barbie colourway versions. I have worn the Barbie version quite a few times way back when I first got it. Some of the letters have small little chips in the corners where they have been bashed on a table or something……. even though they have been looked after. I really do beat myself up when things like this happen, even though it cannot be helped when you wear a HEAVY metal and leather bracelet haha.

Utility Harness

As we are all aware, 2020/21 have been unlike anything in recent times with regards to adjustments and changes to keep ourselves and others safe and, of course, follow the many guidelines set by the government. Not only has having to keep socially distanced been a huge change, the use of hand sanitizer and having to wear a face-covering is equally challenging. If you are anything like me and feel the need to sanitize after you have touched anything while out traveling to work, using a card machine while food shopping, and any touch-screen ticket machines (the worse thing EVER!) then carrying all the things you need to keep safe and having them easily accessible can be a bit of a struggle. So, I came up with the idea of creating a COVID safety utility harness.

The first thing I did was to make a list of the things I felt I needed each time I go out and how often I needed to reach for them. Obviously, a face-covering is the most important thing we all need to remember to bring out with us these days. When you are either traveling or shopping you need to have a face-covering at hand at all times and if you have a few shopping bags then remembering where you put it can be an issue, so I definitely needed to make a small pouch where I could hold a face-covering and even a spare in case you lose one. The next item which is EXTREMELY important is hand sanitizer. Now through trial and error, I have done a load of research into which type of sanitizer I like. The one that came in this amazing SpongeBob Square Pants bottle was not the nicest smelling sanitizer (it actually smelt like an ashtray) so I quickly used it all up and refilled it with the more pleasant smelling Love Heart sanitizer. It has a good consistency, smells good, and contains 70% alcohol AAAAAAND it is pink so, therefore, I’m all over it. The reason I love this bottle (other than the fact it has SpongeBob on) is the fact it comes with a clip. This is sooooo useful for clipping onto a belt loop or even a necklace so the harness had to have a way to clip this bottle onto it………….. and it also comes with the Ninja Turtles on it too!

What I used to create this useful beauty:

• leather pelt or PU fabric

• pattern master

• tape measure

• pencil

• scissors

• metal hardware for whatever you need it for

• matching thread

• Copydex glue

• press stud application kit

I did attempt to do a LOT of research into how to make a harness, but what came up when I googled it was how to make a harness for your gun……. I was expecting to see more of a fashion harness piece haha. I soon gave up as I didn’t want that kinda thing showing up on my internet history LOL. After struggling with how to find any help online I decided to just go and wing it!

I started off with an ‘X’ shape that would be the centre of the back. I made the ‘X’ 3cm wide and then cut the longest 3cm wide strip I could manage with the pattern paper. I then attached the strip to the top cross, which would come over the shoulder. I had help pinning the cross where it should sit against my back then pulled the strap over my shoulder and, by making cuts left the smallest part attached along one edge (see pic above). I then curved the strap over my chest and under my arm until the strip reached the downward-facing ‘X’ using sticky tape to close the cuts in the paper and smooth the curve along the chest forwards the underarm and it fit PERFECTLY!

Once I had the strap curved and hugging my body perfectly I made the pattern pieces by snipping the straps shorter so they would be easier to fit on the fabric. Then came the scary part of cutting the pieces out in my chosen fabric. I went for a metallic pink leather that I had leftover from something I made at university aaall those years ago. Remember you don’t have to curve the straps for both sides of the harness because if you placed the ‘X’ at the center point on your back the straps will fit you perfectly on each side. I cut four straps out in the leather and two of the ‘X’ for the back.

I then attached the straps to the ‘X’ so it looked like I had 2 harnesses then I stitched the two together, with the wrong sides facing each other.

If you are going to add any ‘D’ rings or clips now is the time to stitch these parts onto the straps. To make the leather parts that attach the ‘D’ ring to the harness, I measured the ‘D’ ring and then cut out a square in the leather 1.5cm larger than the ‘D’ ring. I wanted to avoid sewing through the many layers of leather and I used Copydex and glued the edges over. Once it was dry I then threaded the leather piece through the ‘D’ ring ready to stitch it through the machine when you sew the harness together.

Once I was happy with the placement of where the hardware on the straps was going to be attached I top-stitched around the entire piece both on the in and the outside of the harness. You could use matching or contrasting thread. I kept the stitching 5mm from the edge. If some of the underside leather is showing through, just trim it off to neaten it all up.

Now you're ready to clip on your sanitiser and any other bits you need and go out for your essential travelling/shopping while staying safe!!!

Blue Leather Jacket - ASOS

Long Sleeve Top - ASOS

Belt - Gucci

Jeans - Zara

Hat - ASOS

Ear Rings - ASOS

Socks - Primark

Trainers - Balenciaga

Bag - Moschino

Jewellery - ASOS

"Think Ronald McDonald, but make it FASHION"

As you all may well know, I love EVERYTHING McDonalds, especially vintage 1990’s McDonalds. I had so much fun doing my first McDonalds themed blog, playing around with some of my favorite pieces from my favorite catwalk collection…………………………. so I decided to do another.

I have had this vintage sewing pattern for an oversized shirt for years. I bought the pattern from Etsy planning on making a load of these shirts but for some reason never go round to making one, so I went and made a vintage McDonalds-themed uniform shirt using this pattern. There is nothing more iconic than golden yellow working with pillar box red. I get such a warm feeling when I see these two colours together. I really do long for the days when going to a McDonald’s restaurant was an event for any kid (or adult), the happy meal toys included the McDonald’s characters and the staff wore INCREDIBLE uniforms and not a dull grey version like they are today. Obviously, I was lucky enough to be able to see this side of McDonald’s and I used to get immensely excited when visiting the takeaway and this is what I will always think of McDonald’s as.

I naturally went for a retro-inspired uniform idea……………. or what I think of the idea haha. I wanted to get a yellow and white fine candy stripe polycotton A. because it is a dream to work with and B. has a fun yet work-like vibe about it. I found this fabric on eBay and was only around £9 a meter, which was good to know JUST in case I made a mistake and needed to order some more haha. I luckily ordered this fabric while eBay was offering a free £5 voucher and I also had some Nectar points to use so I whittled the price down quite nicely. I found the red polycotton fabric from when I made the M&M accessories so I thought I’d save some money and use it for this little project.

I have had this sewing pattern for around 4 years, although I have looked at the instructions many-a-time I had never used the pattern because the instructions looked pretty scary to follow. I finally bit the bullet and went for it. I was surprised at how easy the instructions were to follow. I would look at the pattern pieces when I was cutting them out and think “HOW THE HELL?”. I wasn’t sure if I was dreading certain parts of the shirt that I could have only have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to do and I was just putting my abilities down haha. I haven’t really created something from scratch in such a LOOOOONG time and I really did enjoy it, just taking my time and it really took me back to the one and only time I have actually made a shirt (first-year uni 2005/06) remembering the fun times of my youth haha. I went for the majority of the shirt being yellow then I went most of the shirt’s details in red. I did have to adjust a few of the pattern pieces to be able to get the details in a separate colour. My favorite part of the shirt has to be the sleeve cuffs. They look soooo cute because they are so small and tidy and the button placket coming up from the cuff would usually blend into the sleeve on most shirts but I LOVE the pop against the muted yellow cotton.

I am forever searching pre-loved sites for iconic pieces from past Moschino collections and I was lucky enough to bag this packet of chips bag for £170, which was an actual steal, from www.vestiairecollective.com. The bag is such an iconic piece from Jeremy Scott’s first collection with the brand in 2014 and I was incredibly lucky to have found this bag as it has not been used and still had all the plastic wrap on the hardware. I really cannot wait for lockdown 3.0 to be over and for this little beauty to have its first special outing. I have been desperate to include this in a photo shoot for a blog so I pretty much created this blog purely for this beauty of a bag! I had to feature the infamous sunglasses in this blog too, they cost the earth and still have not had a proper outing, so any chance they get to see the world they jump at it haha.

The pins attached to the pocket of the shirt I managed to find on eBay a few years back. They were supposedly worn by McDonalds staff but due to health and safety reasons, they discontinued them……… I mean I’d have been buzzing if one had fallen off into my chips LOL. The pins are of a burger-flipping tool, a drinks cup, packet of chips and I think they must have been given to the staff once they were trained on different parts of the job. I only have 5 so could you imagine how heavy your shirt would be if there were any more to get? On the other side is a vintage pin from 1994, I was lucky enough to get this as part of my birthday gift last year and have been DESPERATE to give it it’s first outing!

Oldest Pieces in My Collection

For me, one of the most exciting things about fashion and style is making it your own. The best way to do this is to create your own rules!!!! By doing this you don’t have to worry about wearing the most up-to-date pieces or keeping up with trends. You can invest in pieces YOU love, that will be worn time and again. I have bags and shoes in my collection from waaaaay back in 2003. Not all of them are in the best condition (and could definitely do with a spruce up) but because I fell in love with them when I made the purchase, I still love them! Even though my style has changed from when I was 17 (I dress more like a teenager now than I did when I was 17 haha) Those pieces mean something to me so and were looked after and well-loved!

One of these pieces from 2003 is a pair of Tom Ford for Gucci black formal shoes which cost me £235. I mean could you imagine being able to buy Gucci for that price these days? Now my idea of formal has changed MAAAASSSIVELY from when I was a young ‘un, and I probably wouldn’t buy them now, but they were the first item I bought from the designer that I loved so much; I used to be OBSESSED with the dangerously luxe aesthetic that showed the embodiment of sexual confidence that the Tom Ford era brought to the Gucci Group. I used to find the campaigns each season to be just as exciting as the catwalk and they really helped sell me the fantasy. I bought the shoes the first time I went to London, which was for my 18th birthday, and I dragged my family AAAALL over the city looking for them……. and eventually ended up buying them from the Sloane Street Gucci store. I remember they were agony to wear, and they didn’t get much action for quite a while after their first trip out, but because I loved them so much I persevered and ended up wearing them pretty much every day for work (I used to have to wear a suit when I worked at Swarovski) and even to sixth form (how boujie haha).

Another item from waaaay back is this Gucci Monogram canvas messenger bag. Now I have always loved the look of a Monogram canvas, even though the colours aren’t something I wear a lot of, but the idea of having more than one piece is VERY ‘new money‘/Lil Kim 2001 Notorious K.I.M era………. which I OBVIOUSLY live for! I got this bag from Cruise (the sister store to Flannels) in the summer of 2004 for £190. I searched the Gucci site to find a similar bag to see how much it would cost today and the closest I could find was £660. To look at it now you wouldn’t think it’s 16 years old. I mean there are a few issues with it, such as scuffs around the corners, slight discolouring from the leather tab on the surrounding canvas and the lining has come away, but this actually happened a few months after I got it and I wore it every day to work and couldn’t possibly be without it while it was being repaired. I used to LOVE to wear this bag with a Gucci Monogram Leather belt. I used to think it was the $h1t wearing the two together. This belt was from Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh for a meer £95. I did have a look at the Gucci website and saw that you can still buy pretty much the same belt but it now costs a whooping £355!!!!! You see……. it pays to keep a hold of your stuff! I was obviously a LITTLE slimmer when I was 17 years old and the holes where you fasten the belt have seen better days. I used to wear this belt around my hips on the smallest notch and now it fits around my waist on the biggest size LOL, never mind, it’s still a keeper.

One of the most used pieces from back in the day is a Gucci Monogram canvas waist bag. This bag used to be EVERYWHERE and was insanely popular, no doubt helped by the character Carrier Bradshaw from Sex and the City donning one in the series. I picked this one up from Flannels when I moved to university in Birmingham in the autumn of 2005 and I am sure I only paid £255 for it (I did think it was only £200 and I didn’t realise until I got home and checked the receipt………… not that I cared of course haha. This bag has been USED beyond belief! I used to take it on every night out at uni (which was at least 3 times a week in my first year before the workload got too heavy) so I am extremely shocked that it is still useable today and only shows a few signs of wear for its age. I have cleaned it up quite a bit, I gave it a scrub down with a canvas cleaner and I had to glue the leather strip that hangs over the zip because the leather had separated, but other than that it is still good to go minus a rip in the fabric, but turning the bag to the side hides this pretty well.

Another well-used piece is a brown Saffiano Leather Prada Holdall bag. This was a steal at £275. I snapped this up with 50% off in the 2005 Christmas sale from Flannels in Birmingham. This bag was used every day to carry my stuff to uni for the 3 years I was there, it even ventured on the odd unplanned nights out and still came back in one piece. For the past 9 years, this bag had been sat up in my Mam’s loft collecting dust. Recently I ventured up to collect it and I decided to bring it back to life. Sadly, the bag was missing its padlock and the zip pully on the main opening had come off. I managed to unscrew the pully from the inside zip and put it on the outer zip. I googled the best way to bring back to life a leather bag and I found that a few coats of bee’s wax rubbed into the leather really did the job. This really helped the leather come back to life and stopped it feeling like brittle plastic. The bag does still have a few marks on it, which looks like it could be white paint, but I don’t think it takes too much away from the bag considering its age. I was actually shocked that the leather luggage tag was still attached and in one piece. Sooooo……. I had a quick look on the Prada website and found the closest bag to this was a Saffiano Leather Tote and it costs a whooping £2,950, which would have been almost 6 times the cost of the full price of the bag I bought 16 years ago.

There are a few more pieces I still have but sadly I can not fit into them anymore as I am not a slim as I was 17 years ago LOL. One-piece I loved was a pair of YSL Rive Gauche white bootcut trousers……….. YES, you read that correctly, BOOTCUT LOL. That is another reason they didn’t appear in this blog LOL. Except for the white YSL trousers, it really does go to show that if you buy what you love and create your own rules you can have longevity in your pieces, even if you have to give them a tiny bit of TLC every few years after being stored away which will actually cost a fraction of the price of a new piece today and if you don’t use or wear them anymore get them on a site such as www.vestiairecollective.com, sell them and put the money towards a new investment piece as I am sure the cost will continue to rise.

Puffer Coat - ZARA

T-shirt - ASOS

Jeans - ASOS

Shoes - ZARA

All vintage:

Messenger Bag - Gucci - Cruise

Waist Bag - Gucci - Flannels

Belt - Gucci - Harvey Nichols

Holdall Bag - Prada - Flannels

My Favourite Fragrance

It might come as no shock to you that my favorite fragrance is one by Moschino. Moschino TOY was the brand’s first fragrance under the creative genius of Jeremy Scott. 2015 saw Jeremy Scott’s 3rd runway for Moschino and the debut of the first fragrance under his creative directorship: Moschino TOY. Not only does the perfume come in the most ADORABLE soft toy bottle, dubbed as the ‘world’s cutest perfume’, it also smells like nothing else. It really is INCREDIBLE, a floral, woody, musky fragrance which importantly isn’t gendered.

As well as the perfume debut, the catwalk showcased a collection inspired by the designer’s own take on streetwear. Scott's streetwear was colorful, sexy, and altogether irrepressible; offering us glossy sleeping bag coats, evening gowns covered in graffiti, and a neon camouflage print. It also featured items inspired by the new fragrance with the teddy bear appearing on everything from t-shirts to lighter holders. Obviously, I was drawn straight to this collection and I instantly knew I HAD to have a few of the pieces.

I was lucky enough to be able to find this ‘TOY’ jumper from the collection in the 2015 Christmas sale on Net-a-Porter. It had been reduced by 50% so it automatically appeared in my basket. The brooch I found on the Luisa Via Roma website for only £25 (so I bought two to qualify for free delivery). This holdall bag I managed to find on Vestiaire Collective for a mere £50 because the gold hardware was slightly tarnished and the fabric in two corners of the bag had tiny little scuffs. Websites like Vestiaire Collective is the perfect way to get your mitts on past season designer pieces, and sometimes at a fraction of the original price. If you’re willing to take an item that has really been pre-loved you can bag yourself a REAL bargain!

To me, fashion is all about doing your own thing. One of the best ways to really get your style and point of view across is to mix up designer with both high street and vintage. Now, ASOS is my GO-TO website for jeans. They really do get it sooooo incredibly right with mixing up-fits and style. I live in these mid-wash, high waisted jeans! This black denim shirt was bought from ASOS Marketplace for £8.50 during the summer sale and it is perfect for throwing on over pretty much anything….. and the jumper goes perfectly in front of this graffiti I found.

Sunglasses - RayBan

Shirt - Vintage www.asosmarketplace.com

Jumper - Moschino www.net-a-porter.com

Belt - ASOS

Jeans - ASOS

Bag - Moschino www.vestiairecollective.com

Boots - ASOS

Brooch - Moschino www.luisaviaroma.com

Christmas Sale Buys

First of all HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As much as I ADORE this time of year and, the decorations and celebrations; once Christmas day is over I do enjoy knowing that there is one more festive tradition to look forward to………….. THE SALES!!! If you’re like me and don’t mind waiting until the end of the season for the goodies, then the Christmas sales really are a yearly highlight. In my opinion, the payoff of waiting until the items you want are reduced by 50% is far higher than paying double the price and having them for the start of the season. I have usually mulled over the items I buy in the sales for around 5 months, sometimes checking daily that they are still in stock just to get excited about what i want and to make sure I am making the right choice. I’m a very indecisive person, so major purchases need time. The importance of picking up the newest ‘trend items’ really doesn’t appeal to me, I tend to go for the pieces I love. The items that will add to my personal style are far more important; wear what you want and love what you wear! That’s my approach to shopping, to hell with the trends DO WHAT YOU WANT!

I really did fall HARD for both Moschino collections in 2020-the Halloween trick or treater inspired summer collection and the winter Subway passenger influenced collection. This meant it was going to be a very difficult year saving enough to get the key pieces I wanted……………. BUUUTTTT where there’s a will there’s a way! After making my summer sale purchases all attention was on saving for the winter items! From around June the new collection was trickling in on moschino.com and I would jump on at least once a day (I was on furlough so didn’t have much else to do) and see what was available. I was getting very excited to see which items would be available to buy, as sadly not all of the collection is featured online.

This tracksuit jacket was one of my personal highlights and I knew I had to have it. The colours are a dream, Orange and pink together give me sooooooo much life! Not that I am particularly bothered about matching my accessories to my outfit, but the colours used here make it pretty easy to find something to match the jacket……….. and if all else fails black will go perfectly. The huge zip really adds to the extreme oversized look and ups the fun factor! EVERYTHING about the jacket is spot on. The fabric is beautifully soft yet incredibly man made and details such as the broken up embroidered logo make the jacket worth every penny of it’s higher price point!!!!

While I didn’t purchase this BEAUTIFULLY embellished curb chain necklace in the Christmas sales……… it is from the same Moschino collection so It had to be worn in the photoshoot!

Since I saw the bobby dazzler tracksuit jacket I wanted it, and I also knew I wanted one of the bags, but the real question was…… which one? I really love the small leather chain bags Moschino have done in the past and this season they did a few versions with a THICK and chunky chain handle in pink and orange. As much as I reeeeeeally wanted the orange version, could I find it on any site…….. could I heck! I found the pink number but decided against buying one as I have a black and a green version and, as variety in the spice of life, chose to go for a different shape bag. Once I had decided to not buy a bag, I had to whittle the other styles down, which was no easy task. Finally, I was torn between the bag I got and a leather cap shoulder bag. I really loved the leather cap bag but it was pretty small so this was why I went for the oversized neoprene visor cross body bag…………. but I did have to make one last decision, black or blue?

When the parcel arrived with the bag and I opened it, I was so incredibly happy with it. It was huge, the colour was insane and the gold hardware literally made me drool with excitement! The fabric is sooo soft, I’m just praying it will clean nicely. The tone of the blue sits beautifully with the gold zip and lettering and really makes them both pop!!! I know that this bag will see the light of day many a time (as soon as we are allowed to actually go out again)

This year, Zara decided to jump into the sale earlier than usual (probably due to the financial uncertainty of 2020) I very rarely purchase from Zara unless there is a sale on, I tend to find the items pretty lackluster and pricey until they knock a few pounds off and then I’m all over it like a rash. I am lucky enough to work opposite the North East’s England’s local Zara store so I was able to pop in to check out the bargains. This branch isn’t the biggest so the Zara website usually gets a bashing. I was lucky enough to pick up these balloon legged jeans in a mid wash and black from the website and I LOVE them! When it comes to denim I am all about a fit with something about it. These balloon leg jeans are almost so unflattering that they are flattering and failing that at least they are interesting LOL.

Sunglasses - Versace - www.versace.com

Jacket - Moschino - www.moschino.com

Black quilted chain bag - Moschino - www.vestiairecollective.com

Gold Chain Necklace - New Look

Embellished Necklace - Moschino - www.farfetch.com

‘Van Cartier’ Necklace - Etsy - www.etsy.co.uk

Bag - Moschino - www.moschino.com - www.moschino.com

Ring - Versace - www.versace.com

T-Shirt - ASOS - www.asos.com

Belt - ASOS - www.asos.com

Jeans - Zara - https://www.zara.com/uk/en/balloon-fit-jeans-p06688376.html?v1=71768651

Boots - Dr. Martens

New Specs Day

Anyone who wears glasses knows that getting a new pair is a very exciting and even nervous time. Did I make the right decision? Will I still like the frames? Could I even see the new glasses in the mirror without my actual glasses on? These are just some of the questions running through my head while waiting to pick the new frames up, after all choosing a new pair of glasses is an extremely important decision and can cost a lot of money!

This was the first time I had been to the opticians since COVID-19 and I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I just went to my local Specsavers and I must say that they had amazing measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone!! The only downside was the waiting time for the new specs, not being able to browse before making an appointment, and not being able to try on new styles before you take the leap and go for the eye test.

I must say I was nervous about the range of glasses they stocked as I have never been to a branch of Specsavers before. I had heard good things about the specs that they stocked but I must say they really did have an amazing choice with huge savings on a second pair so, naturally, I had to go for two pairs- variety is the spice of life after all!

After trying on around 400 pairs of glasses I finally decided to go for the two pairs I tried on first. I went for two pairs of LEVIS frames. The first are called LEVI 02 and they are a slim, light gold wireframe with contrasting black tips in hexetate plastic. I decided on these as I have not owned a metal framed pair of specs since my very first pair back in 1996. As you may have noticed I like to wear gold jewellery and these will match an absolute treat.

The second pair I went for are named LEVI 09; a square front which is transparent with a faint hint of blue with the arms, again, being made from hexetate plastic in a vibrant royal blue. I wanted these frames as I have fancied a pair of clear plastic glasses for a while now and I thought the blue gave them a little something extra. I wanted each pair to be different to give me a little more options with my glasses choice and I think I achieved this with both pairs of LEVIS frames.

Gold Specs

Glasses - LEVIS - Specsavers

Ear Cuf - ASOS

Green Necklace - Marc By Marc Jacobs

Curb Chain - eBay

T-Shirt - Moschino - www.yoox.com

Blue Glasses

Glasses - LEVIS - Specsavers

Necklace - ASOS (2 pack)

T-Shirt - Moschino - www.theoutnet.com

Tis The Season For Festive Accessories..... FAAA LA LA LA LAA

Christmas is the season, as they say……….. for lurex and crystals in my eyes. Give me an excuse to make a purchase of a few shiny items of clothing and accessories and I am HAPPY!

I have had my eyes on this Moschino necklace from their Autumn/Winter 2020 collection for MOOOONTHS. I do love a statement necklace and you can’t get much more “statement” then this beauty! Much to my delight, FarFetch put their winter sale on early and low and behold this necklace was in the sale……. with an extra 20% off. When the necklace arrived I fell in love with it right away and simply couldn’t wait for an occasion to wear it, but being in tier 3 lockdown in the North East those occasions are pretty far and few between sadly.

The way the necklace has been made, to me, makes it even more impressive. All of the crystals and details have been embroidered onto a fabric made to look like a chunky curb chain. Now depending on what you wear this with it can catch on seams and certain fabrics and possibly click the fabric, this by no means put me off this Bobby Dazzler though, a small price to pay for something so stunning! The fabric that has been been put on the back as a lining piece does fray like nothing before but it isn’t anything a sharp pair of scissors cant fix.

Chunky sole, glitter fabric, what more could you ask for in a boot? These stunners were in my ASOS watchlist for around a year and I had stupidly not purchased them as I have a pair of shoes pretty much the same colour AAAAAND my size had sold out. It wasn’t until about a month ago that I noticed my size was back in stock so I didn’t waste any time and snapped them up! Now these boots really pack a festive punch and the colour of the glitter in the fabric is a dream. I am a huge fan of a boot, or shoe, that has a little something something about them and the sole is that with these boots. I think without the more chunky sole, the boot could have looked a little more basic.

What goes with your new dazzling boots better than a Christmas sock?………… Not much I say!

I am a huge fan of a sport sock AND a festive theme so these socks are a little dream. They are a tad subtle for a Christmas sock but the play on the idea of a traditional sport sock with the red stripes and candy canes and holly make them a real fun piece for this time of year. ASOS really does stock the most incredible affordable pieces and ALWAYS gets the “holiday” pieces so right!

These fun socks are from New Look and I picked them up for £1.50 in the mid season sale. The gingerbread man is sooo cute and the candy canes on a lurex background really bring the party to the festivities. A Christmas themed sock is the perfect, low key and cheap way to express and spread some festive joy…. and you can wear a new pair each day in December if you’re anything like me!!!

Christmas really is the season for fun so why not add some hand candy to the Christmas accessory game. As you may already know I do LOOOOOOOVE bold and brashy gold jewellery and who better to go to for this then Versace. The Rapper Ring has been on my radar for many a year and this summer it EVENTUALLY went into the summer sale and what better to help you through lockdown 1.0 then an oversized, heavy statement ring! I must say I have not been wearing these rings as much recently because of the use of hand sanitiser and the effect alcohol has on “gold” hahaha.

Long Sleeve T-Shirt - ASOS

Necklace - Moschino - FarFetch

Gingerbread Man Socks - New Look

Sports Socks - ASOS

Gold Rings - Versace - versace.com

Crystal Ring - Swarovski