Styling Experience

I helped out at Alison White's styling event last weekend. She was kind enough to give me a piece of her amazing custom made jewelry as a thank you, so I thought I would post a picture of it on here.

http://alisonwhitestyle.co.uk/

Making a fluffy halter top

 
I was at my local haberdashery and found squares of fluffy fabric on offer for £1.75 so I decided to get one and attempt to make a halter crop top. It's the first piece of clothing I've ever made and I didn't actually find it too difficult. I just had to cut the shape of the top out and because the material isn't prone to fraying I didn't have to hem it. I made three tunnels, one at the top and two at the sides to thread the ties of the top through.

Obviously I love all things fluffy but my inspiration for this top came from a 90's Gwen Stefani look that I wanted to recreate in a way that would suit me.

Styling Jess

Since I want to start styling (and absolutely despise being photographed in clothes) I decided to style my gorgeous photogenic friend Jess! I planned three outfits which I thought would reflect Jess' feminine side but still express my own sense of style.

This outfit is actually made up of high street buys which is very unusual for me! I bought the A line leather skirt from Topshop years ago, the bobble and the bag are New Look and the sweatshirt is Topshop seconds. I tried to keep the look minimal but still incorporate trends that I like at the moment, the pastel pink and grid check pattern. I decided on a matching bag and scrunchie to give the look a 90's grunge feel, and accessorised with two delicate gold rings. 

This outfit is all second hand, the pink paisley skirt (£1), the white halter top which I cropped myself (£3), and the bag and necklaces have been used in previous posts! Anna Sui and Tracey Reese included some paisley pattern pieces in their 2014/2015 winter lines which inspired me to include the skirt. I also used the timeless paisley print teamed with a crop top for a chic look and to avoid making Jess look like a 90's pop star.   

I wanted to do something ultra feminine and outside of my comfort zone which was my inspiration for this outfit. I focused on pastel colours again for this look by including the pastel pink pencil skirt (£2) and pastel blue feather bag (£3) I mentioned in my previous post. 

Charity Shop Treasures

So I had a few errands to run today which obviously led to me also doing some charity shopping. Weirdly I was looking at feather trim clothes online last night and I managed to find a pastel blue drawstring feather bag today for £2! I personally don't think it's big enough to be a clutch bag so I need to attach a strap but I absolutely love it!

I also found a really cool ring for 99p which is a cross between steam punk and ethnic style. I love that the metal is also really flexible so I can wear it on whatever finger I want!

Urban meets Country

I recently saw a pin stripe two piece in American Apparel which inspired me to find and create my own pinstripe outfit. I managed to find some pinstripe dungarees today in a seconds shop for £6! I was intending to try and find some trousers but I think the dungarees compliment my style much more! I love that they combine and contrast the conservative associations of pinstripes with a garment originally used as robust work clothes.

I decided to team them with a simple black polo neck (£3, charity shop) and my fluffy lilac earrings to give the outfit a pop of colour and dissociate my pinstripe outfit from a traditional workplace look. The necklace (£2) also caught my eye at the seconds shop and I had to have it! It reminds me of the the industrial style of some of the necklaces in Urban Outfitters at the moment. 

Military and Mesh

I saw a military style cotton shirt in Topshop that I really liked and I managed to get one for £3 at a charity shop. I also bought a bag for £2 that reminded me of the badged jackets currently being sold in Topshop, but since I have plenty of jackets this was a good compromise!

Lilac and Polka Dots

I recently found out that polka dots originated in 1926 when Miss America was photographed in a polka dot swim suit which led to Walt Disney's inspiration for Minnie Mouses' dress. I have two other polka dot dresses but I have to admit when I bought them I had Gwen Stefani's 1990's style in mind! I found this dress in the £1 charity shop where I found my gold dress I posted about previously! It was covered in coffee stains but I managed to revive it! The dress is exactly the same colour as the marabou earrings I made so they were the perfect accessory choice. I decided to wear heavy peep toe heels with the dress because I wanted to eliminate any chance of looking frumpy since the dress is quite long and I also wanted to give the outfit a grungey feel.

Pom poms and Crystals

I saw these Henry Holland earrings a while ago, I liked the idea of pom pom earring but I wanted something more subtle and most importantly affordable (they are £100!). Anyway I made these earrings for about £2.50 from marabou feathers and by recycling some charity shop earrings. I'm considering making a black pair too! 

I've wanted a healing crystal style necklace for ages but I don't like spending too much money on costume jewelry. I found some crystal point earrings at New Look (£3.99) and made them into two necklaces, a chord choker and a simple gold chain. 

'Intergalactictivity'

I was insanely obsessed with Star Wars throughout my childhood so this is probably why this look resonates with me so much. My mum made me the outfit out of  a charity shop wedding dress and even found the white wellies in a charity shop! It's probably my favourite outfit of all time! Obviously the creators of the brand Rodarte felt the same about Star Wars. They brought out these nostalgic silk dresses in Autumn 

So this is my own interpretation of an intergalactic look which combines elements of grunge and kitsch. The top is high treet (Primark, £8), but the skirt is a charity shop find, I bought it a few years ago for £3 and I have been obsessed with it ever since! I absolutely love anything holographic.

Christopher Kane created this line of galaxy dresses in 2010 (I love that he has teamed them with fluffy shoes!) Anyway this is where the trend stemmed from.I have a bit of an obsession with galaxy print and I've been admiring galaxy necklaces on Etsy and Ebay for a while.

Using galaxy necklaces as my inspiration I made these more understated chokers. I used black chords I found a charity shop (£1) and a bracelet (£1) shown in the image above to make the pendants. 

Skirt Spoils

 So both of these were £3 each in different charity shops! I love that the one is bat patterned, it's so appropriate since Halloween is coming up and I'm so excited because it's my favourite time of year! The photo does not do the A line zebra print skirt justice, it's made of fluffy material (feeding my 90's love) and it looks amazing in real life.

A Metallic gem

A £1 charity shop has recently opened where I live (I know how ridiculously lucky am I?!) and I found an amazing metallic dress tucked away in there. Metallic clothes are the embodiment 1970's disco culture but I knew I would be able to update it and give it more of a grunge feel and hopefully not look too much like a wannabee member of the Bee Gees . When I tried the dress on it was a lot shorter than I'd anticipated so I tucked it into my ripped skinny jeans to get this fusion of 70's and 90's style.

This fluffy cream coat is Topshop seconds, I got it for £25 and I can't wait for it to get colder so I can constantly wear it.

I love American Apparel's selection of halter body suits so I was really pleased that I could find something similar for next to nothing! 

Fluffy Fashion

Cher Horowitz in Clueless is undoubtedly my inspiration when it comes to accessorizing with fluff. I started off experimenting with marabou feathers in my hair (trying as much as possible to not look like Britney Spears in the Baby one more time music video). After that I quickly began to love all things fluffy. 

Here's my grunged down interpretation of Cher's iconic 90's look. I found the cardigan in a charity shop for £3 and the skirt was £1! My shoes are high street but I attached marabou to them after being inspired by these rabbit faux fur fluffy sandals in Topshop. 

Golden Grunge

My sister is starting a photography course in September and I've accumulated a ridiculous amount of clothes through years of being a charity shop addict, so I thought it would be the perfect excuse for me to document my finds and for her to build up a portfolio. There are two items of clothing that I want to focus on for this post, a gold beaded dress and a sheer golden long sleeved top. I rarely find anything I like that's gold let alone wear it, so I've decided to give them the recognition they deserve! I found the short beaded dress in Salvation army for £3! I've got to admit it is pretty out there and I'm not 100% sure when I'll wear it. I'll either have to chug a few glasses of wine first or just team it with something more modest! I found the daisy necklace the same day and it only cost me £1! I've been eyeing them up on ebay for a while so I was glad I waited! 

This is the sheer top I purchased and it only cost my £3! I was so amazed because I constantly watch them on ebay and most of the time they are extremely overpriced, so I was thrilled to find it! I also bought the pearl choker the same day which also cost me £1! I don't usually wear pearls but I thought the black stone gave them an alternative edge.