Archive for the category: style

:: Darn it

Posted by Sonja on July 25, 2008 | Permalink

I’m a lucky girl because I usually don’t have to go back to work till the second week of January after Christmas holidays. So last January, in my ‘free week’, I did a LOT of darning. I went through my wardrobe and sewed up all those ripped underarms, torn linings and loose buttons. It was nice to be able to wear everything again.
Since then I’ve kept it up. The Home Front got it right with its Make Do And Mend slogan during the war. I bought a little book at the Imperial War Museum that’s a reproduction of a ‘Make Do And Mend’ leaflet the government issued during the war, full of tips and tricks on how to unpick old jumpers and sew them into socks, or put pretty patches over holes. They’ve also got a Mend, Make or Spend? online game.
There’s always the odd thing I realise I’m not wearing because a button’s missing or a waistband needs taking in, but as I go along I backstitch my wardrobe back to life.
If you can Mend, you don’t have to Make Do.

P.S. I do not advise the mending of trousers while the owner is wearing them, as shown above. That could lead to a nasty accident…

Categories: about us, craft, green, style
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:: Ethical shopping picks

Posted by Joelle on July 20, 2008 | Permalink

Jeans by Camilla Norrback, bag by Ashley Watson, fabulously hip ethical styling: all at Fashion Conscience

For the last year or so I have been making ever increasing efforts to avoid sweat-shop produced clothes as much as possible. First up was just to buy less stuff, and to make sure the stuff I did buy would last me, and to favour independent and local shops. I have been getting stricter and stricter with myself, looking for organic and fairtrade labels, recycled products and manufacturing practice that cares about the communities who make it.

Luckily it’s getting easier as more and more labels with watertight ethical credentials are appearing, and getting more publicity. Gradually I hope, it will become normal and we won’t have to do so much detective work before we can shop worry free.

So, it’s time to share a few of my favourite ethical shopping picks with you - nice timing at the moment as there are quite a few summer sales going on. Each month or so I’ll be posting more picks.

Fashion Conscience - the picture above is from this UK based online boutique, a great one stop shop.
Howies - most days I am wearing something from Howies! They do great organic jeans, t shirts and laid back clothing and they are awfully nice.
Annie Greenabelle - Very cute retro themed clothing in organic, fairtrade and reused fabrics. Stocked at Equa and the Topshop Oxford Circus concession.
Toms - I bought the loveliest pair of simple summer shoes from Toms. They work with communities in Argentina and South Africa and for every pair sold, they give a pair to a child in need
Enamore - very glamorous label with fancy underwear and vintage styled dresses in organic and sustainable fabrics.

Categories: green, shopping, style
Tags: ethical picks, fashion, green

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:: Gok’s frocks - do they rock?

Posted by Sonja on July 15, 2008 | Permalink

Fashion television can be amazing or shit. But I’ll enjoy it whatever the quality! The Clothes Show had its day, I used to love She’s Gotta Have It, Looking Good presented by Lowri Turner, who looked square but was hilarious as hell, and I still enjoy What Not To Wear although it should be titled How To Dress Middle Class And Boring.
I have a secret penchant too for How To Look Good Naked - not strictly a fashion show, but presented by total queen Gok Wan and a fabulous mixture of high camp and self-esteem boot camp. So at the end of the last series when he said his next show would be a fashion show, I probably grinned at the tv (between my tears over how great the woman who’d just come out of chemotherapy looked in a bikini).
I watched the first in the new Gok’s Fashion Fix series last week and was impressed that he had Brix Smith Start, owner of Shoreditch’s Start boutique, as an ‘expert’, and that they dared poke fun at her with lots of shots of her chasing her silly little dog, Pixie, around her boutique. At one point I swear Pixie pawed at a dress worth thousands of pounds, about to rip into the silk with her doggie claws, and Brix Smith Smart didn’t bat a fake eyelash. I also loved the moment when Gok told Geri Halliwell “I love you with all my chinkie heart”. Not so good was the cheesy jingle, presence of Alexa Chung - (sh)it girl of the moment - and repetitive repetition of what had already happened in the show, and what was coming up (um, I may be a dumb fashion girl, but I do possess a short-term memory).
This week’s episode was also fun - polyester, an amazing Alexander McQueen dress, Karl Lagerfeld looking like Michael Jackson’s grandfather and a few small online shops getting their stuff featured in the ‘high street’ outfits.
It’s not the Amazing Fashion TV Show that I truly crave, but hey ho any old rag show will do for me!

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:: Robot lovin’

Posted by Kirsty on July 3, 2008 | Permalink

I’ve totally fallen for this adorable little robot dude by Shuusei on Etsy. And, as we move into our new flat next weekend, I decided it was the opportune time to purchase some art, dahlink!

I’ve been hanging around on the edges of Etsy for a while now, looking at all the gorgeous, beautiful things from so many talented people, but this is the first time I’ve bought anything, and I’m very impressed. It’s such an easy website to use and Shuusei was incredibly helpful and lovely. I definitely recommend her!

Categories: art, style
Tags: art, etsy, print, robot, shuusei

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:: Bow selecter

Posted by Sonja on May 31, 2008 | Permalink

The brown suede ribbons on my boots finally gave up the ghost. So I put some cute blue ribbons in instead. I got this blue ribbon with flocked red hearts a few years ago from an online ribbon seller. Unfortunately I’ve lost their details.

I do actually wish I’d swapped the ribbons around a lot more during the life of the boots, so that the brown suede ones were still an option. I suppose you don’t need to wait for something to break or wear out before sprucing it up!

Categories: green, style
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:: Anorak free

Posted by Joelle on April 11, 2008 | Permalink

Danish Blue by Zakkaliciousness on Flickr

Copenhageners have it. Amsterdammers have it. Londoners still need to catch on. What am I talking about? A culture where cycling is just a normal thing everybody does to get around their everyday business. Where there are no ‘cyclist’ just normal people, in business suits, in high heels, loaded with shopping, just being normal. The lovely picture above comes from the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog, providing inspiration everyday for how it could be. Read more…

Categories: green, london, style
Tags: bobbin bikes, copenhagen, cycling, style

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:: Pleasing new skirt - Clothkits review

Posted by Joelle on April 1, 2008 | Permalink

I’ve had chance to wear my newly sewn skirt a few times recently, it’s the ‘I want one too’ birdie skirt pattern/kit, £35 from Clothkits (whose launch I covered a few weeks ago).

I was so excited to get the kit - just look at that gorgeous strawberry print Liberty lining fabric! And I am happy to report that the process of making up the skirt, and the finished item are lovely too. Read more…

Categories: craft, shopping, style
Tags: birds, clothkits, liberty print, review, screenprinting, sewing, skirt

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:: Dardik good designs!

Posted by Kirsty on March 3, 2008 | Permalink

I’ve fallen for Helen Dardik’s designs big time. I stumbled upon her website literally minutes ago, and my head exploded with ideas of what I could make if I could afford to commission her designs as fabric. Curtains, cushions, skirts, bags… Or wallpaper! Wouldn’t this make the scary-coolest wallpaper?

Categories: design, style
Tags: designs, Helen Dardik, inspiration

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:: Ahh, that’s better.

Posted by Vanessa on February 28, 2008 | Permalink

Luckily, I came home to TV, internet and a working phone!
And without further ado; I’ve been thinking about plates a lot lately (stay with me, please). We have some lovely simple plates that our friends gave to us, and some quite basic IKEA-y ones we got for ourselves a while back. But I’ve a craving for some more decorative ‘for best’ style plates, like this one from CB2. My strange plate longing was inspired by a designer in the back of a magazine that I have long since lost and it’s driving me crazy. Her plates were decorated similarly to the one pictured, only, well, more exciting (and pricier). Does anyone have the slightest idea what I’m talking about? A further hunt around ebay hasn’t inspired me further. I don’t think I want vintage plates though I’m a fan of some vintage patterns - I think I want something modern and elegant. You know, to go with my unrealised idea of the perfect dinner party where I don’t get all hot and flustered and yell at anyone who comes into the kitchen. Expect further plate-ery…

Appetizer plate from CB2. for $2.50

Categories: about us, shopping, style
Tags: elegance, plates, style

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:: Love and Haight

Posted by Vanessa on February 22, 2008 | Permalink

When I told my mum that Stephen and I had been to Haight/Ashbury, it sounded like her face lit up (over the phone, see). A big time seventies hippy, my mum had heard plenty about Haight and had always wanted to see it. I don’t know how much it’s changed, but it reminded me of a hybrid Melrose-Venice Beach; small boutique shops, incense-and-scarves-selling shops, hipster shops, and the original Amoeba records. It was lovely walking around in the sunshine, taking in the bustle. I had the best orange juice ever in a cafe just on this stretch and I can’t remember the name of the place, darn it! In the fabric shop pictured, a woman with very purple hair told me where the Singer shop was located since she had sold out of magnetic edge guides. Everyone seemed helpful and charming - recommending the best cookie, or helping us figure out which way the Golden Gate bridge was. All in all, one more lovely way to spend time in San Francisco.

Categories: local guide, shopping, style
Tags: Haight Asbbury, san francisco, shopping, wandering

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