A Vintage Maxi Dress and Winter Florals

Posted on October 22, 2011 by admin

Ever since seeing the amazing florals at Paul Smith, Jil Sander and Erdem for autumn and winter 2011, I have been lusting after dark florals. I think I even love them more than their bright summer counterparts as the black background makes the colours of the flowers look even more vibrant. I have also been really inspired by Vix to get myself a vintage maxi dress.

Dark floral prints are definitely nothing new and a quick look on ebay confirmed that there is just as much, if not more, choice of vintage florals as there is new. I won this dress on ebay.I thought I had made a big mistake as the waist size was about 2 inches too small on ebay but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned up to find it is slightly elasticated at the back and it fitted just right. Even the length was just right which I couldn’t believe as I am only 5ft 2 and I have never managed to find a maxi dress to fit. The shoes I am wearing are from the Alexandre Herchcovitch collection for Melissa.I also bid on really beautiful black long sleeved maxi with beautiful bright flowers but I decided not to go above £20 for it and was outbid. Kind of wishing I had now though!

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend.

With warmest wishes

Ceri

Charity Shop Chic AW11 – Monochrome

Posted on October 17, 2011 by admin

I hope that you had a lovely weekend. It was amazing to have such unexpectedly warm weather. I managed to put together another outfit for my charity shop chic series, which includes a sixties vintage dress (by Lerose) which I bought from Oxfam online. If you haven’t checked out the Oxfam online shop yet, I would definitely recommend it. They have a whole section for vintage clothing. The red shoes were given to me by a friend as they didn’t fit her, they are brand new. The belt was handmade by Emma of Style to Wear.

As far as I am concered monochrome outfits never really go out of fashion. But for Autumn winter 2011, they featured heavily at Marc Jacobs, Giambattista Valli, Chanel and Phillip Lim.

Apart from putting together my outfit, much of the weekend was taken up with tackling the huge pile of ironing that seems to have mounted up. I did find a bit of time for relaxing and went into to town with Mr Style Eyes and the girls for dinner and also did some cooking with the girls. My mum gave me a great big bag of cooking apples from her tree and we also had piles of tomatoes so we made toffee apple muffins (just used a normal muffin recipe and added cubes of apple and fudge), apple crumble, fresh tomato sauce and Normandy chicken pot roast (the recipe was in the Tesco magazine, you can find it here) which was very yummy and surprisingly easy.

Mr Style Eyes was busy putting up his new green house, I wonder if that affected his choice of outfit (green t shirt, green short and green boots!) Here are a few random instagrams from the weekend.

tomatoes Charity Shop Chic AW11 Monochrome apples Charity Shop Chic AW11 Monochrome

cooking Charity Shop Chic AW11 Monochrome

toffee apple muffins Charity Shop Chic AW11 Monochrome

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Charity Shop Chic AW11 – The Classic Shift Dress

Posted on October 13, 2011 by admin

Dress - Oxfam (Originally Laura Ashley)
Tights – Henry Holland for Pretty Polly
Boots – Dream in Green (at Spartoo)
Necklace – a present

For todays Charity Shop Chic, I decided to feature one of my favourite pieces of clothing, the classic shift dress. I love this style as it is both flattering and slimming. I found this cord version recently in Oxfam and I wear it loads because it holds its shape so well. There are also so any different ways that you can accessorise it for different looks. The shift dress was a key shape throughout the forties, fifties and sixties, all of which featured heavily on the catwalks for autumn and winter 2011.

I treated myself to some new tights for autumn from Tights Please, this pair by Henry Holland being one of them. As I wear dresses and skirts most of the time tights are pretty much an essential for autumn and winter and I also love using them to add a bit of colour and pattern to an outfits. I haven’t yet discovered an eco/ ethical option for tights (please let me know if you happen to know one) but kind of justify buying them with the following. A pair of tights is a small addition to my wardrobe that can be used to update numerous outfits for the season. This pair were also made in the UK. That doesn’t change the fact that most tights are made from nylon which uses non renewable resources (coal and energy) and lots of chemicals to make. They also do not biodegrade. It’s a difficult one. I want to minimise my impact on the environment but I also need to keep warm.

I have in the past also talked about difficulties in finding ethical shoes. I am pleased to say things are improving all of the time and this pair of boots is my latest discovery by Dream in Green at Spartoo. They are made in Spain from vegetable tanned leather.

I hope that you are having a good week.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Tuesday Treats – Ethical Autumn Accessories

Posted on October 11, 2011 by admin

You can easily update your look each season with a few new accessories. So for this weeks Tuesday treats, I have decided to share some amazing ethical accessories that I have discovered recently.

These very cute detachable Peter Pan collars are the perfect way to update a plain dress or top. They are hand crafted from recycled leather in a North London workshop and available from Offset Warehouse.

I love sparkly skull jewellery anytime of the year but with Halloween not too far away, I think these Mexican Day of the Dead inspired pieces make the perfect treat. They are handmade in the UK from available from www.LilygraceOriginals.etsy.com.

lowie knitted accessories 1024x281 Tuesday Treats Ethical Autumn Accessories

I am already starting to feel the cold and I am in need of some cosy clothes to keep me toasty warm. These angora mix headbands and gloves by Lowie are hand knitted at home by villagers in Eastern China. They are available from Think Boutique.

I was really interested to read this article in the Guardian which goes to show just how difficult it is to know how to buy ethically. I was really surprised to hear how little some luxury fashion brands are doing, including two in particular which I really wouldn’t have expected (I am not going to name names, you will just have to read the article if you want to know).

On the plus side, some high street brands are doing really well and the latest Ethical Consumer Buyers guide buyers guide to high street clothes shops gave Monsoon and New Look top ratings for their supply chain policies. This is great news as I love the choice of accessories in Monsoon and today I have picked a few of my favourites for my Tuesday Treats round up.

Butterfly Print Bag
Red Anderson Floppy Hat
Deco Clutch Bag
Chunky Ikat Snood

I hope that you are having a good week.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Charity Shop Chic AW11 – Forties Style Faux Fur

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin

Dress – Sandwich
Faux fur Bolero – Oxfam
Necklace – Swarovski Crystalized
Shoes – Irregular Choice

Today I have finally got started on a charity shop chic series for AW11 that I have been meaning to do for some time. I wanted to illustrate some of the trends for the season using charity shop clothes. If you hunt hard enough it is pretty easy to find on trend stuff in charity shops. I always think we have kind of been there before with most trends one way or another with .

I have managed to get some usable pictures although I really must get on and send my camera off for repair. I think part of me is scared that it might get even more broken in transit or just never come back. Any way I have played about a bit with the settings and editing on the two photos above and this is what I ended up with.

Todays charity shop chic trend is forties style. This is probably one of my favourite looks of all for the autumn and winter and was seen at Miu Miu, Donna Karen, Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier to name but a few. I spotted the faux fur bolero in my local Oxfam, I can’t remember whether it was £6 or £8 but either way, I see it as an amazing bargain as it is originally from Marks and Spencers and good as new.

Next up on my Charity Shop Chic AW11 series is tunics and trousers. Have you managed to find anything on trend in a charity shop lately?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X