My Sewing Experiment

So, ever since one of my friends took Textiles class at school and can now make and alter clothes to fit her, I've been envious and wanted to be able to sew. I never got round to it, what with work and everything else in my life, but after finally convincing myself I should have a go (and thanks to Esther who also inspired me - http://esther-fromthesticks.blogspot.com/) I bought a pattern online and braced myself for the unknown....

I bought simplicity pattern 4055 because I absolutely adore regency styled dresses with the empire waistlines and puffed sleeves. Probably not the most simple place to start off with, but I've always been a bit to confident and ambitious - oops! The material I used was.... (drum roll).... curtain lining. Yep. So what? It was the cheapest I could find and I didn't want to spend a fortune on something I didn't know would work.

But, just 4 days of tedious hand sewing, my dress is almost finished, fits AND looks presentable!!! I had a few sizing issues (a bit to big in places, a bit too small in other places) but other than that, it's great!! Not sure where I'll wear it but it was an experiment and I'm so pleased with the results. I only know basic stitching (everyone knows how to!) and I used internet and mum for bits I wasn't sure about. So, basically, if I can make a dress like that, anyone can!

Pictures will be up in the next few days so check back if you want to see my attempt!

Ruffles and Lace

Ruffles and lace are one of my biggest obsessions at the moment. They can be casual and they can be dressy - just depends how you wear them.

Erdem's Autumn and Winter collection are full of pretty ruffle and lace dresses, from floor length to short. From this:
To this:
Now, I wouldn't call them the prettiest dresses (especially the last one), but they're so detailed, it's hard for me to stop looking at them. Maybe it's hard to see on here, but to me, they're almost like an intricate work of art and it's beautiful in it's own way.
Obviously, unless you're a millionaire - which I'm not - you're not going to be able to afford dresses like this. So let's look at the alternatives...


The first dress is from Topshop and is £55 - http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=1739492&langId=-1&categoryId=&parent_category_rn=
Pricy, but the quality is nice, and, although it isn't a replicar of the Erdem dress, the ruffles are both of the top half of the dress and the colour is quite similar. If you aren't keen on the price of that dress, then Asos.com have an alternative for £22 - http://www.asos.com/Asos/Asos-Lace-Ruffle-Tie-Back-Dress/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=1096810&SearchQuery=ruffle%20dress&Rf-700=1000&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=20&sort=3&clr=Cream

Personally, I prefer the look of the Topshop dress, but I prefer the Asos price!

If you're after lace instead of ruffles. You can't go wrong with a dress from Yumi or Iska (www.uttamdirect.com).This dress, though not maxi, has the same kind of detailing of the Erdem maxi dress. You can buy it here - http://www.uttamdirect.com/products/Lace-Bubble%252dHem-Tunic.html - for just £19.45 in the sale! I am a fan of uttamdirect.com because most of their dresses are so beautiful and detailed. My Iska ruffle skirt dress was even handmade! It's perfect for what I like to wear, and - especially in the sale - is also in my budget.

Esther Boller - Fashion Designer

I discovered Esther’s blog - http://esther-fromthesticks.blogspot.com/ - via Lookbook a few months ago. I am so glad I did. From beautiful lace dresses to pretty vintage blouses, her work is what I’ve been searching for about two years since I became obsessed with 19^th Century novels and the clothing they wore. She will also be opening her own shop on etsy.com in a few months time, which I am very excited about! Esther kindly answered a few questions for the blog.

Who, or what, inspires you the most?

Esther: I get inspired by a lot of things. Movies are probably one of the biggest inspirations to me. I look at a character and think what she'd wear next or how I could make her style into something I’d wear. I get inspired by everything though, I never know when something will hit me next.

Do you follow trends on the catwalk or just experiment and make what you like?

Esther: I mainly just make whatever I feel like making. When I was younger I used to look at the catwalks all the time for ideas, but now I stay away from them and try to find my own design style.

What item of clothing would you most like to make next?

Esther: Well I just got a ton of fabric to make a 30s style dress so I’m really excited about working on that.

In a lot of your clothes, you take features from the 19th century (I.e. high necked collars) and make them more modern, more wearable. Is this something you recently included in your clothing, or have you always had a love for older clothes?

Esther: Well I just recently discovered a love for the older Victorian style dresses. It’s probably due to the Victorian movie watching marathon I had a while back. Haha, I just couldn’t get enough of them. So I tried to make them more my style and turn them into something I could wear.

Where and what would you most like to be doing in 10 years time?

Esther: Wow, I'll be 25...that's scary! Well I’d love to be somewhere in Europe or somewhere overcast most of the year where I can save a ton on sun block! I’d like to be working on building up my own fashion line. But really I just want to love whatever I’m doing, whether it be a fashion designer or a sassy toll booth operator, I want to be happy with my job.

Thanks, Esther! I wish you so much success in the future because you really deserve it! Check out Esther’s blog at - http://esther-fromthesticks.blogspot.com/ - if you haven’t already!

Lookbook.nu

I have a love/hate relationship with lookbook.nu.

Pros:

• It gives people the chance to show their style to the world
• It helps me (and I'm sure lots of other people feel the same) with inspiration for fashion and photography.

Cons

• Hypes and karma - a lot of people go un-noticed on lookbook because of the whole karma aspect and hyping favourite looks.
• A lot of people hype looks because the person is a) skinny, b) good-looking or the photo is pretty well executed. The whole point of lookbook is to show people your style and 'looks', not how pretty you or your picture is! Ok, yes, I have hyped a lot of looks with good photography, but I have to like the look first - if it's something I'd never wear, then I won't hype. I have so seen many people who have high karma on the 'hot' page just wearing shorts and t-shirt and they've only got there because of their looks and dress size. That's not inspirational!

Yes, I have lookbook myself, not that I'm a popular, hyped member. I'm the total opposite. I hate a lot of my looks on there (ok, I only have about five, but you know what I mean) but the ones I dislike the most, people love. For example, this one:

LOOKBOOK.nu: "The Crazy Cat Lady" by Kitty B

Uninspiring, boring, casual, nothing special. But it's the most hyped look I have. What?!

And, the looks I love the most, get few hypes. I don't get it! This is one I'm most proud of, which I posted today: LOOKBOOK.nu: "I'm a little bit lost without you." by Kitty B

One day, I might end up loving lookbook. But at the moment, I'm only liking it.

Louis Vuitton A/W 2010 vs Highstreet

Ok, so today I'm not going to write about cheap highstreet fashion. Instead, I'm going to tell you about my love for Louis Vuitton's new Autumn/Winter collection.

This is the ad I first saw for the collection and my eyes literally bulged out my head, haha! It was the dress on the left that grabbed my attention first. I think I had seen it previously on model Lara Stone, but only the top half, and didn't think much of it but this is just amazing! Reading about it in Vogue today, they seem to be calling it the Mad Men effect, you know, the TV show that I've never even seen but know that the costumes are amazing! This collection is really 1950/60s inspired with full skirts and everything!

Ok, change of plan. I do know a place that will give you amazing 50s inspired dresses for thousands of pounds/dollars less... http://www.vivienofholloway.com/ The maker of some of the nicest 50s dresses in the world. I mean, look at this:This is probably my favourite Vivien of Holloway dress, but it's not completely like the Louis Vuitton dress. The print is different, but if you look through the many dresses they have on sale, then there are so many prints to choose from, from polkadots to dresses like this:


But look closer.....
Yep, dancing skeletons! It's real treat just looking around their online shop so check it out! My Mum loves them to and we're determined to buy one for each of us one day, and we will!

Best buys for summer 2010!

So, summer is finally getting here in the UK. Now is the time you can really wear floaty summer floral dresses and shorts and t-shirt! But have thought about buying these things?

A parasol is one of my must haves now. A few months ago, I would have said 'no way', but trust me, if you're walking around in the sunshine for hours, you need one! This one is from modcloth.com, but I don't buy from there (even though they have the most amazing dresses) because they're usually quite expensive and the postage is really quite high if you live in the UK like me. If you do live in the UK, I bought my parasol for £6.99 in River Island. It's lovely and has an oriental style to it. It goes great with my Iska dress (see 2 posts below) and my peach dress.
A straw Boater. Perfect for long strolls across English parks on a summers day. Obviously, not paired with the parasol, that would look a little strange. But paired with a lovely tea dress or floaty white dress (I got a perfect dress from www.trafficpeople.net) and white pumps, it should look lovely. This one is from ebay at £6.37!


A headband. Not like those chunky ones, but more delicate. Like a daisy chain. In fact, you probably could use a daisy chain! Personally, unlike the picture, I'd wear the band higher up on the head (how you'd normally wear a daisy chain on the head) instead. This would also look beautiful with the parasol. This headband is from asos.com and is £4.00. If you went to New Look, you could probably get a similar one too.

Remember, it's not just about the perfect dress you wear, or the shoes. It's also about what you pair it up with, whether it's hairbands or hats, socks or jewelry that really finished the outfit.

Topshop have a new site!

Yes! Topshop have renovated!

About time too! I quite like it, but it will take a little while getting used to. Love the colour scheme though - nice and modern without going overboard! I don't usually buy much from Topshop, mainly because the price is usually always too high for me and my bank account. But dear father gave me £30 Topshop voucher for my birthday which I still haven't spent because nothing in last seasons sale fit. I am determined to find something this time though. I like the camel coats, but not sure they'd match my skintone - I'm quite pale. But I can just try one on and if it doesn't fit, it's not the end of the world! I'd love a duffel coat too - I missed my chance getting one last year.

Also, if I had £110, I would so buy these shoes:

I mean, just look at them! They would be perfect if I could: a) walk for a sufficient amount of time in them (i.e. over an hour) and b) they were about £30 max? Haha, I think I can dream though!

Valentino Haute Couture 2010 vs Highstreet

I noticed Valentino had a new collection out recently, and, though I've never really liked his previous collections, THIS one is amazinging. It's everything I want in a collection; beautfiul dresses, pastel shades mixed with blacks and navy, ruffles, high necked collars!

I dread to think how much one of these items would cost... but they're beautfiul to look at.

This Valentino collection is literally fashion heaven for me. Almost. It's not perfect, but it's the best I've seen this season so far! What I look for in fashion is what I love at that moment. I'm in love with old, romantic style art; long, white, empire line gowns that should regency period; ruffles; white, cream and light coloured dresses. Goodness, I even want bonnets back! Obviously, I'd love it if someone brought back fashion from the 1800s, but until that happens, I'll have to stick to what we've got.

BUT, we're not made of money, are we? So we're going to have to stick to good old high street brands!

I've never heard of the clothing company, Iska, but the dresses are so lovely! Ruffles, nude colours, floaty dresses, utter perfection. I even bought an Iska dress from the website www.uttamdirect.com for £24-ish! The only thing I didn't like was that I thought I'd be getting this dress:

And instead got this one (the same, but with a black top):

Ah well, that's life. I actually do love this dress though. It looked naff when I opened it, but when it's on it's perfect! I'd advise anyone who loves romantic styled looks to get a dress like this!

Back onto Valentino. You might think I'm straying a bit from the orginal subject, but Iska and Valentino are actually quite similar - apart from one is more, and one is less!

This is one amazing dress from his fall collection:

Ok, it's not exactly a perfect match, but I see the similarities. The ruffles, the pale colours; it's all giving off a romantic look.

Valentino: I now love you!

Where to start?

Hello!

Right.... first post. I'm going to start off with a cliche (oh dear...), I have no idea where to start! Next cliche: I'm going to tell you all about myself. I'm a 16 year old girl for the UK who has a tiny obsession with fashion. Also with photography (you can check out my photography site here: www.wix.com/kittybolton/kittyboltonphotography - oh yes, now you know my name! It's actually Katherine, if you're wondering, not that I've been called that in a long, long time). In a fantasy world, I'd become a fashion photographer or a fashion designer, but that will never happen. Actually, I'm hoping to become a pyschologist because I've learn not to get your hopes up for anything, and also, I can't sew... Other (maybe the first one is slightly crazy) things I like include, chickens and art (preferably Pre-Raphaelite), but not drawing it, I can't even draw a fly! More normal things I like include: spending time with friends, entertaining my two cats and 8 chickens, oh, and shopping.

Which brings me onto the subject of my blog! I love designer clothes, I'm sure most of you love designer clothes. But can you afford it? If you're like me, no, I won't even spend more that £30 on one item of clothing! I'm young, I don't work, I only have one bank account and no credit card, and plus, my Mum doesn't like me going mad with shopping (yawn). But I feel great once I've bought it, whether it's a new dress, or a pair of shoes, etc etc. I should point out that I never used to be interested in clothes. I used to hate shopping and my Mum bought my clothes in Tesco. I was a tomboy and only wore boys clothes, until I was about 14 when I had a bit more interest. From the age of 15, I could not get enough of shopping, and a year later, I'm still going! Ok, I've strayed a bit from my point, so.... This blog is about finding great items of clothing (maybe designer inspired) for less! I also love and adore vintage, so I'd probably end up talking about that quite a bit!

I'll leave you alone now!

Kitty