Fashion Et Moi

April 4, 2018

Floral Embroidered Flares

As I write this I’m sitting editing these photos on a rainy Thursday afternoon bus ride back to Bristol for the Easter weekend and I wanted to put some relevant notes to paper. I had wanted to shoot these incredible sixties floral embroidered flares for so long and while I absolutely love these photos, I truly do, they also have their flaws too. I have very recently started editing my blog photos using Photoshop, which is nothing shocking or ground-breaking as many bloggers or the photographers that bloggers work with use this incredible tool to edit photos. I had wanted to master this programme for years and having recently been taught some basics by my fabulous colleagues at work, I decided to take the (£9.99/month subscription fee) plunge and download it.

Now, when I said that these photos have their flaws what I really mean is that they have not been over-edited and there are many things that could have been retouched to make the images more polished. My very visible bra straps, my visible panty line, the wrinkles in the fabric and, of course, my very hated eye bags could all have been smoothed out but that’s not really what blogging is all about is it? Don’t get me wrong – I’m not about to start posting untouched photos on my blog (except film photos of course) because I love photography and I love enhancing photos to make them look their best, in terms of the lighting and making the colours pop. However, I still want to have an element of “realness” to my imagery and that means the odd crease here and the odd visible underwear line there - or, in hindsight, not wearing underwear on shoot day! I guess what I’m trying to say is that despite wanting to play around with the endless editing possibilities of Photoshop, I am pledging to stay real in what I put online. (You guys will forgive me for Photoshopping out a dog turd in last week’s blog post photos right? No-one needs that much realness, ha!)

Now with that little brain dump out of the way, let’s talk about this outfit! I bought these blue sixties floral embroidered flares probably about a year ago now and it was one of those many times when I fell head over heels for a piece but actually had nothing to wear it with. These trousers also came with a matching shirt/jacket and while I think the full suit looks absolutely fabulous, I am saving the ensemble for a special occasion. However, of course, I couldn’t resist sharing just one teaser photo of the full look before chatting about this outfit sans jacket.

As I was saying, it took me ages to find a way of styling these floral embroidered flares. I know that sounds ridiculous but I wanted to keep the look authentic to the sixties era that these trousers come from. Back in January my sister gave me this yellow and white striped turtleneck for my birthday and I knew instantly that it would go so well with the flares. It sits perfectly just above the super high waistline, its turtleneck is a nod to sixties styling and its colour matches the white and yellow of the floral embroidery on the legs.

Finally, finding the right pair of shoes to go with these floral embroidered flares was the trickiest part. Suddenly, the white boots trend emerged and all problems were solved. Not wanting to spend too much money on some white boots because they are going to get ruined quite quickly, I picked up this pair of white patent ankle boots from Topshop for less than £40. They are super comfortable and I love how they look with the flares, bringing to attention the white in the floral embroidery and tying the whole look together perfectly.

March 29, 2018

I Knitted This Pink Cardigan

So, I knitted a cardigan! That’s right, I knitted this chunky pink cardigan with pompoms on the shoulders and balloon sleeves. It’s a total monstrosity but I absolutely love it.

There’s quite a story to the creation of this knit. Almost a year ago now, I was scrolling aimlessly through Pinterest and I came across this photo of a girl wearing a slouchy pink cardigan with pompoms on the sleeves. I loved its effortless fit and how good it looked paired with a slogan t-shirt and some light blue jeans.

After some investigation, I found out that the cardigan was made by Mums Handmade, a Greece-based brand whose products are hand-knitted by “kickass mums”. By now you may have seen bloggers around the world wearing Mums Handmade knits - they are quite the blogger favourite and there’s no wonder why. Taking inspiration, both from the handmade aspect of these cardigans and from the actual design itself, I decided to knit my own!

The creation of this statement knit was the collaboration of three generations. I had the idea and, of course, knitted the whole thing. My genius grandma helped with the design as we had no pattern to work from. My mum generously bought me the wool – it’s the Crazy Sexy Wool in Hot Punk Pink by Wool & The Gang. Sadly, my mum didn’t make it to see the end result as she passed away from motor neurone disease in October. I can almost hear her now, on seeing the end result – “wow, that’s great!” she would say, even if she thought it was totally wild.

I can say that knitting this cardigan brought me great comfort at the worst time of my life – knitting can feel quite therapeutic and it’s so great to turn off screens and just sit down to do an old craft. I loved collaborating with my grandma on this as it brought us closer together and gave us a distraction during such a difficult period. I feel that this cardigan will always feel special, having a connection to both my mum and grandma, and I know I will keep it forever.

Today, I am sharing the finished pink cardigan for the first time and I am so pleased with how it turned out. At times, I was worried that I’d made it too big or too small but it actually has that perfect oversized fit. It’s lovely and slouchy, billowing out on the back and being cinched in just under the bum by the rib. I love how the pompoms go across the back and the chest before creeping down the arms to a balloon sleeve.

I’ve styled it in a simple way that is reminiscent of the outfit that inspired me in the first place, which, of course, meant jeans, a t-shirt and Converse. These jeans are my vintage Levi’s 501s that I wear all the time and are super comfy. I think the wash of the jeans goes perfectly with the hot pink colour of the cardigan and I love how the cardigan sits just below the bum. This melon tee is a few years old now but I bring it out every summer and I love the way the green clashes with the vibrant pink of the cardigan.

March 15, 2018

The Pink Blazer

In last week’s Spring Inspiration post I wrote about how I wanted to inject some new colours into my wardrobe. I have been practically living in primary colours these past few months so I am looking to wear more pink, green and purple and here is the first outfit post from this quest! Featuring a pink blazer and some pink Converse, quite clearly I’m tackling the ‘how to wear pink’ aspect of my spring challenge and this look is a mix of forgotten, very worn and new pieces – as do many of my outfits on here in fact!

The pink blazer has been doing the rounds for the last couple of years, ever since the resurgence of all things pink and power-dressing made a comeback. I picked up this amazing 80s wool pink blazer in Paris back in 2014 just before a trip to Berlin, where I wore it non-stop over the long weekend but for some reason, I have not worn it since. I guess it’s because I had to streamline my wardrobe when moving to Barcelona and then Montreal and this pink blazer somehow didn’t make the cut. It’s funny because now that I am reunited with it, I remember how I felt when I first bought it. I absolutely loved the slightly coral pink colour but was worried that the shoulders were a bit too big. Of course now, in 2018, my perspective on oversized shoulders has changed and I think this pink blazer gets it just right – power shoulders are definitely the kind of shoulders I want in my wardrobe.

For the rest of the outfit, I continued the smart/casual vibe of the blazer and layered it over a navy blue and white striped Breton top tucked into some high waisted navy suit trousers. I love pink and navy blue as a colour combination and seeing as I colour block navy blue, adding a touch of pink really brings this look into spring.

Footwear-wise, I could not resist adding a bit more pink to the look, in the form of these awesome pink Converse, of course! I had wanted a pair of pink Converse for ages so when I spied this second-hand pair in like new condition it was a no-brainer. I love how awkward they look with the length of these trousers, with the top of the trainers just being covered – awkward, yes, but equally effortless with that “thrown together” vibe.

I finished off the look with a super straight low pony. I have been wearing my hair like this a lot recently because my hair is in desperate need of a cut and can’t take regular curling and hairspray! I also think it adds to the smart side of this smart-meets-casual look so swings and roundabouts, eh?

So, there we go – a look that’s quite different for me but one that starts to put into practice what I mentioned in my Spring Inspiration post. Don’t you love how good the green railings in the background look with the pink? (This was planned of course) I’m definitely going to try pairing these colours together in an outfit soon!

As a final note, pink blazer aside, I just wanted to mention that I want to start writing some more personal posts dealing with mental health/life in your twenties. These are the kinds of posts I have been drawn to lately and the comfort that I get from having someone else describe exactly how I feel is incredible and I want to contribute to that conversation. If I can help someone feel better like others have made me then that would be amazing. I’m just trying to figure out how to format these types of posts because I don’t want to stop writing about outfits I love either, so just bear with me.

Lots of love X

March 7, 2018

Some Spring Inspiration

After a dire week of weather last week (although, having lived through a Montreal winter, I did find the whole thing rather over-dramatic), I thought it was about time to start thinking about spring! Don't get me wrong, I love winter fashion. I love layers, coats and boots and the styling possibilities that come with generally wearing more clothes. However, I am definitely over being cold now and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into the spring dressing. So with that, I thought I'd share some spring inspiration and some of the things that have been pinning over on my SS18 Pinterest Board. Enjoy! X

NEW COLOURS

If you follow me on Instagram, then you may have noticed that I have been wearing A LOT of primary colours recently. I don't know why, I guess I have just been naturally gravitating towards pieces in red, yellow and blue and although I am not about to give that up anytime soon, I do want to inject some new colours into my wardrobe this spring. It is no secret that purple is going to be the colour of the season and I am really excited to inject some more of this forgotten hue into my looks and experiment with what other colours it goes with. Thanks to these mood boards, I can safely say that I'll be trying out the purple and yellow colour combo. I absolutely love it - it shouldn't work but it does and I'm already conjuring up and outfit featuring this 70s purple dress I have with that certain yellow coat you've all seen a thousand times before. Watch this space.

I also want to start buying some more green and pink pieces. I think these colours look great together but separately they are fun and fresh hues to be rocking this spring/summer time. I have a few pink pieces already, which you will see styled up in next week's blog post but I am seriously lacking in some green in my wardrobe. I love this ditsy print green wrap dress worn by Jeanne Damas (of course the Parisian balcony in the photo helps with its appeal) and I definitely think I'll be looking for something similar come bare leg weather. What colours are you looking to invest some time in come spring?

WRAP TOPS

First came the wrap dresses last summer, now here come the wrap tops and I'm totally sold. They remind me of the ballet cardigan I would wear when I was younger and I'm totally ok with that. It's the perfect piece for the transitional period we are slowly breaking in to now or for those chillier summer evenings, paired with some high waisted jeans for the ultimate chic meets casual vibe. Wrap tops are great because, similarly to wrap dresses, you can synch them in at the waist as much or as little as you need to create the most flattering silhouette. I actually already have a wrap top made from linen that I got from my mum when she cleared out her wardrobe last summer. And it's purple, which is such a bonus! Think I might need to buy those yellow Weekday jeans now...

HAIR CLIPS & SCARVES

I've been growing my hair for the past year or so and this spring/summer I definitely want to play around with more interesting hair styles. A quirky up do or an eye catching clip can totally change a whole outfit and also add some interest to a simple jeans and t-shirt combo. Last summer I played around a bit with this wearing vintage scarves in my hair but this year I really want to make this part of my look for the warmer months. I love the look of a colourful bandana looks entwined with a low messy bun or the retro vibe wide headscarf gives to an outfit, as demonstrated by Ms Bardot above. More recently, I have been drawn to statement or oversized hair clips too. I think messy hair pulled together in a low pony tail with a thin gold clip looks so effortless and a clip like this is definitely something I am going to look into purchasing.

SHOP ACCESSORIES

So there we are - some spring inspiration for you or "spring-spiration" if you like play on words as much as me, ha. I hope you have enjoyed this post - I loved putting it together and being able to organise my styling thoughts visually on Pinterest is always such a joy! What SS18 trends, colours and things in general are you getting into for the coming season? Share you spring inspiration in the comments below - I'd love to know! X

SOURCES

Victoria Beckham / Megan Ellaby / Sara Helleberg

Pinterest / Vogue / Jeanne Damas

Pinterest / Megan Ellaby / Lisa Says Gah

Free People / Alice Catherine / Pinterest / Pinterest

Lindsey Holland / Pinterest

February 27, 2018

The Black Ankle Boots Search

Today we're going to start at the bottom, with the feet, which is not a place where we normally start. I had been looking for a pair of black ankle boots for a long time. You would think this would be easy task, what with the vast amount of choice out there, but no. I can be particularly fussy when it comes to footwear, knowing exactly what I want and I became obsessive in the search for some reasonably priced black ankle boots. My criteria was a black leather ankle boot with a mid-height block heel in an almost sock boot shape. I find boots that hug the top of the ankle so flattering that I wasn't prepared to settle for anything looser. Of course, I have already found my perfect black ankle boots in the form of these lace-up beauties from By Far Shoes, but at €465, I'll have to save up a while for those!

Finally, after months of searching, I came across these ones from Zara. Although online it didn't look like they came up high enough on the ankle, at just £70 I thought I'd give them a go. I'm so glad I did because I just love them! They are the perfect height on the ankle, they hug the leg just how I wanted a pair of black ankle boots to and the heel is just the right height for walking around in all day. They are so comfy and £70 for some real leather boots is damn good.

Thanks to being so snug on the leg, these Zara boots look particularly good with skirts and dresses as well as cropped length trousers, such as these dungarees. There is the perfect gap between the top of the boots and the bottom of the dungarees which is so flattering. Plus, this is will look even better come warmer weather when I’m not wearing tights under everything and can actually flash a bit of ankle!

You've seen these blue denim dungarees countless times on here and over on Instagram, styled for both day and night as well as in both minimal looks and more seventies-inspired outfits, which its shape lends itself to so well. This cream knit with rainbow stripes on the shoulders is a genuine seventies piece that I picked up for super cheap because there’s a teeny hole on the front. I love how it looks layered under the dungarees, even if the straps interrupt the rainbow, I quite like that, and of course the dungarees hide the small hole! It’s funny because I had been looking for a retro rainbow jumper for so long and then I found two at once - this one and the navy turtleneck that I wore in my recent Bold In Paris post. Like buses, like rainbow knits, I guess!