✄ DIY Charm Bracelet

This is one of the pieces of jewellery that I've made.  It is one of the oldest pieces, it was inspired by one of my best friend's charm bracelet (I'll have to ask her who made it, also check out her blog, she has her amazing art on there) because usually charm bracelets are quite bare with just a few odd charms.  Hers however was overflowing with charms and I instantly loved it so naturally I had to have a go at making one myself, and this is what i've done so far.  I don't think I'll ever stop adding to it, even if it becomes too heavy to lift!

I'm listening to: Highway Man by Johnny Cash

Will everybody please get over Emma Watson.

Right, lets begin by getting this out of the way; if you admit to finding her in any way attractive as Hermione, then you've just admitted that you've actually wasted several hours of your life watching those films, and that there is something seriously wrong with you and you should seek help immediately because she was too young, too annoying and way too much of a bad actress.  Towards the end (thank god) of the Harry Potter films she obviously wanted to shed the Hermione image and decided in 2010 to go to Glastonbury Festival dressed in tight denim shorts and a Louis Vuitton corset!  Come on now, really?  First of all don't wear a corset if you have no boobs (unless it has some heavy duty push-up abilities) because you look even more flat-chested.  Also if you go to that festival you're probably pretentious or a twat, or both.  You see, no one actually enjoys sleeping on the ground, getting covered in mud, not going to the toilet  for 3/4 days for fear of catching a disease, spending money on dodgy drugs that don't work or make you feel terrible, spending a fortune on expensive drinks if you haven't brought your own and seeing crappy pop bands that you ironically pretend to like.  Idiots.  But back to Emma Watson, and how following the trend of getting a pixie-style cropped haircut apparently made her even more attractive (even though she really isn't anything special) and somehow managed to make her so fashion forward that she started appearing in glossy mags.
She has also just released her third collection with People Tree for Spring/ Summer 2011, which, to be honest, is pretty uninspiring.  And she can't model either, she seems to think that there are only two poses; cross your legs and tilt your head to the side, and the hunched one with hands on your hips.  Bless.

Obviously those clothes are giving her a crick in the neck.

Having said all this I don't dislike her, I dislike the way everyone's praising her for doing nothing.

I'm listening to: Skrillex remix of 'In for the Kill' by La Roux

Aleberta Ferretti - S/S11 Milan Fashion Week

This collection of ethereal pieces were gorgeous with the thinnest chiffon cut on the bias, dresses that looked like they had just floated onto the models.  The colour palette enhanced the delicacy of the collection by suggesting colour by using tea-stained materials, and subtle without looking washed out purples and olive greens.  There was also a lot of lace embroidery in the shorter dresses and draped over the top of other dresses.  The lace gave the pieces just enough structure with out being overpowering and heavy.  All the models had that sun-kissed golden look which gave warmth to the collection and some wore very wide-brimmed, floppy straw hats more rich in colour than the rest of the pieces in this romantic collection.

I'm listening to: 'All of the Lights' by Kanye West 
Images from: http://www.style.com/

D I Why? Cos I gotta! do it again and again cos I'm a perfectionist!

I posted my first attempt at making pearly sunglasses about 2 weeks ago, and only now; having run out of my first set of pearls 3/4 of the way through, then desperately tried to find some more pearls of the same size and colour and failed miserably.

this is my everest!

So then I happened upon a necklace in the New Look sale, which had a bunch of strings of different sized pearls and I started again.

check the weird nubbin growing on my apple!

But oh no, that wasn't the end of it.  I became so preoccupied with making them symmetrical (which is jolly hard when the glasses are heart shaped) that I put them on and took them off three times before, now I have finally let them be at 2.53am.  They need a bit of tidying up, no I must go to sleep!

I'm listening to: 'Tell 'Em' by Sleigh Bells

The most expensive boots I've ever bought

Since we're on the subject of Dr Martens, I'll show you a pair of my own that I had to get from America.

These bad boys are limited edition Dr Martens for Open Ceremony Darcie - 8 eyelet, pony hair, monstruo.  Quite a mouthful and quite a large hole in my bank account too!  When I bought my first pair of DMs I really wanted another pair straight away and this has happened with piercings and tattoos too.
Now if you've read my first post you might be wondering why I've bought shoes with high heels; well firstly when I go out I only ever walk a small distance and secondly, there's nothing better than getting a large parcel (most of my shopping is done on the net because it cuts out all the stress and pain of walking from shop to shop, trying things on and don't even think of trying to get round town and shops in a wheelchair ), opening it up and seeing a pair of awesome shoes, and I ain't missing out on that, no sir-ree bob!

I'm listening to: 'F**k You' by Cee Lo Green

Is there a doctor in the house?

So basically I love Dr. Martens, end of.  So here are some of my favourite creations from various designers who recreated the classic Dr. Marten 1460s.

 These beauties are belong to Chrome Hearts.  Everything is just magic on these DMs; adding the zip-up leather piece over the tongue is cleverly subtle, as is the metal cross pendant and the Chrome Hearts label.

Amanda Wakeley designed these, she wanted to bring glamour to the rugged utility boots.  Pure luxury.

Edina Roday took inspiration from her 2003 collection which was full of ribbons and sequins etc.  Although I don't much care for the ribbons on the toes, I think the size of the ribbon used to lace them up is perfect. I think I'm getting inspired.

Elspeth Gibson loves to add femininity to everything she does and was intrigued by the juxtaposition of the hard boot and the soft texture of the ruffles and ribbons.  I think the ruffles around the boot could be transferred to other shoes to give them that extra something.

This pair was done by Mrs. Jones, and they are amazing as you can see, inspiration, inspiration, inspiration.

Preen have totally achieved that Dickensian orphan look that they set out to do and these would be a super easy DIY using old buckles brooches and any other bits and bobs you have lying around.

These last ones are from Sean John, Diddy's company (if that's what he calling himself at the mo, i can never keep up!).  They evoke that masculine sophisticated sexuality with the swagger of a rebel that apparently only Sean John men do!
Each of the Dr. Martens have given me a lot of inspiration but that's no good unless you have the money to buy a load of pairs so if anyone is feeling particularly generous I'm a size 5.5-6 uk...!

I'm listening to; Love's a Loaded Gun by Alice Cooper 
Images from: http://www.1460boots.com

✄ DIY tutorial: Pearly Sunglasses

I had a few (well actually quite a lot of) hours free today and decided to recycle an old pearl necklace and some cheap heart sunglasses into old, cheap pearly-heart sunglasses.  Easy, you say but I still have bits of superglue on my fingers, which is actually quite satisfying to peel off - yes I was one of those weird kids at school that covered their hands in pva glue, waited for it to dry and peeled it off though the rest of the day!  Such fun.

that is one stylish ghost!

IMPORTANT NOTE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO MAKE PEARLY SUNGLASSES:
For this DIY try to find out the amount of pearls needed before you start superglueing them otherwise your sunglasses will look like this...

To be continued...(if I can find more pearls of the same size!)

...continued Paris Fashion Week 2011

As the new creative director for Alexander McQueen, Sarah Bruton (who has been working for him since 1996) has had a lot to live up to after Alexander McQueen's passing, but fear not she has managed to maintain the McQueen essence all the way through her vision for the fashion house.  The shoes from the collection were polar opposites; there were the strong metal-toe-capped ankle boots whilst still evoking femininity through the leather leaves and gold-patterned buckles, the other end of the spectrum were the shoes that featured the leaves as the heels, leaving the top of the foot quite bare apart from the odd butterfly.  This collection's emphasis on the heel and platform of the shoe is reminiscent of McQueen's2010-11 'fall' collection (as you Americans would say) of metal feathers and flowers, and beautifully flowing metal platforms and heels.

The clothes from the catwalk were breathtaking; they had stiff torso structures with effortlessly weightless bottoms of the dresses, there were crisp, white military coats, bohemian floating dresses cinched in at the waist by leather leafed belts, a dress of butterflies that went right up to the jaw line and lots of gold embroidery.  The way the fabric was draped made it move down the catwalk exquisitely.

 I'm listening to: 'Monster' by Kanye West
Images from : http://www.style.com/

... continued Paris Fashion Week 2011

Wow, I massively failed on doing one a day but I'll try and make up for it!

 

I said these posts were supposed to be my favourite shoes from Paris Fashion Week and they are, but not always in a good way.  Both my boyfriend and mother have said that this shoe is repulsive and yes they are kind of right, but it intrigues me most of all.  I love the way when you first look at it you feel a little unsettled because you know something isn't normal before your brain has managed to work out what is different.  These (what I like to call, 'boat') shoes are from the Maison Martin Margiela Spring Summer collection, which is full of big shapes that extend out from the body.  To me they look like when you're young, trying to make clothes for your barbie and you're not quite sure how to attach them and the cut-out paper clothes with fold-over tabs for your dolls, and for these reasons I love them!

I'm listening to: 'Sexual Healing' by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals 

Images from: http://www.style.com/ 

...continued Paris Fashion Week 2011

Lets get straight in there with some Jean Paul Gaultier (from Vogue.com), his tribute to the 'Queens of Rock', inspired by his love of the way women dressed to go clubbing in the late seventies in Britain.  This meant big patent leather boots, black smudged eyes, fishnets all over the place, super tight hot pants, lace bodies and not much else!  There was a softer, pinker rock vibe with bustiers, leggings and ruched rose-print chiffon.  The toughest pieces were black baggy jeans or tight red hot pants and metal bras, not forgetting the 'wife beaters', which have never looked so good!  Beth Ditto also did an acapella version of River Deep, Mountain High once the guitars of Joan Jett and The Blackhearts had stopped blaring over the speakers for the catwalk soundtrack.
What I love most about these 'boots' is the versatility, it looks like the leg warmer -esque part could be unlaced leaving the red patent shoes underneath.  I love the idea of leg warmers, for want of a better word - maybe knee warmers would be better - that go up to the mid thigh and go all the way down over the boot or shoe.  It is so aesthetically awesome to me that I need to try some out.  I'll probably have to make them using leather/ pleather or I could do some Rodarte-esque knitted ones.  The only thing I've seen out there to buy is these leggings from an online shop called Boohoo, most of their style isn't to my taste but there are always some amazing gems.

I'm listening to: 'Here We Are, Juggernaut' by Coheed and Cambria

Images from: http://www.style.com/ 

My favourites from Paris Fashion Week Spring/ Summer 2011 Collections

First I would like to make it clear that liking shoes doesn't mean you like feet, in fact the more I think about feet the more I realise how peculiar they really are.  Mainly it's the under side and the toes that get me, there's just so many ways in which they can be just so very wrong; smelly, crusty, really long nails, second toe longer than the first toe, having such tiny toes that the little toe is so small it doesn't have a nail!!! I had the pleasure of witnessing one of those creepy nail-less nubbins first hand and it was not pretty.  Eurgh, I am proud and relieved to say that I do not suffer from any of those um, situations.  However, I'm feeling quite unsettled so enough talk about those two weird things on the end of our legs please.  Instead let us be thankful for the miracle of shoes, how they can actually make such monstrosities into a palpable, fashionable and sometimes even attractive sight is beyond me.  Here are some of my faves from the Paris Spring/ Summer 2011 catwalks, I'll try and do one a day...

I'm listening to: 'Sign O the Times' by Prince

Alpine fashion right down its roots, literally!

Just found the most amazing pieces of fashion textile.  Pauline Borca's S/S 11 collection is just so beautifully quaint, but there's more going on behind these physical pieces.  Borca raises questions which subjects range from the very core of the earth, right up into space.  This collection is all about the mystery of the future adventures of these couples.

 * * *

I came across Primark's S/S 11 collection purely because I saw this picture and recognised the model, Jade McSorley from the fifth series of Britain's Next Top Model.  I must admit that I had a bit of a soft spot for Jade and I'm glad she hasn't disappeared after coming third in the competition.  (I realise I also just admitted that I watched that programme!)  Anyway, I think this dress has hints of inspiration from the freshness of the alpine landscapes and it's not half bad for Primark.  Now don't get me wrong I love a good Primark spree, but I don't go in expecting to find the most stylish piece of the year, I just go for the basics.  This Spring/ Summer collection however looks like it could have some simple but classy pieces; so bring on the summer.

 Actually don't!  I HATE SUMMER, one because it's hot (obviously), two because it's hot and three...yep, you guessed it; because it's hot.  But seriously because of the heat you can barely keep cool when you're only wearing one layer, and I'm all about the layering.  You can change your look at the drop of a hat, it hides a multitude of sins (and by 'sins', I mean my belly), you can help to regulate your body temperature by taking on/ off clothes - and that's an important one for me especially because my sensitive nervous system is extremely temperamental, I've been forced to shop online now (I say that like its a chore!) because I have a maximum of two minutes in a shop before sweat stars running down my face.  Extremely embarrassing and extremely disgusting.  And its not like I can predict it either, other than when I go in shops, I can be freezing cold with goosebumps in winter and still be sweating but enough of that, I think I am more than justified in hating summer.  End of.

I'm listening to: 'Black No.1 (Little Miss Scare-All) by Type O Negative
Images courtesy of: http://www.paulineborca.com/, http://www.primark.co.uk/home 

How to fix a split nail.

Just found the BEST way to fix a split nail if it's too deep to cut.  All you have to do is:
- find a teabag, cut it open and get rid of the leaves (or reuse them if you're weird and like tea)
- cut a piece of the bag a little bit bigger than your nail.
- coat your nail using nail glue
- lay the piece of teabag on your nail and flatten it
- go over it with another coat of the nail glue and the teabag will become transparent
- cut and file away any excess teabag, you could do some buffing too if its not smooth enough
And there you have it, one strong tea-bagged nail!!

I'm listening to: 'Come Pick Me Up' by Ryan Adams