Lace Detail

Posted on May 11, 2012 by admin

Dress – Annie Greenabelle
Leggings – People Tree
Cardigan – Braintree Hemp
Shoes – Melissa
Necklace -Swarovksi Crystalized

I seem to go through phases with what I wear, one week it is ridiculously bright floral prints and another I can’t get enough of charity shop faux fur. This week has most definitely been all about lace detail for me. From my new Melissa shoes which have some very recycled plastic lace detail on them to my Annie Greenabelle dress with a lace print on it and my new Braintree hemp cardigan (one of my birthday buys) that has a kind of lacey crochet panel at the front.

I wore this outfit last weekend when Mr Style Eyes and I went camping in our camper van near Bath. Yet more exciting plans for this weekend, how will you be enjoying the sunshine?

BTW – I can’t remember if I shared my latest blog post for Oxfam Fashion about Charity Shopping for Your Best Colours. I have now anyway.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

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Nancy Dee – Flamingo Print Dress

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

Dress – Nancy Dee
Cardigan – charity shop
belt – high street shop (ages ago)
Shoes – Irregular Choice

For once this week I have managed to leave the house (apart from going to the gym) and wear my new Nancy Dee flamingo print dress. I have been admiring this dress on the website for some time, so when they had a 50% off flash sale, I grabbed the opportunity to spend some of my Christmas money.

I was particularly interested to try out a dress from Nancy Dee because they look so perfect for my lifestyle which mainly includes sitting at my laptop working from home and running round after 2 children (comfortable jersey with a flattering cut) yet still a bit fun with a quirky print. Even though I spend lots of time working from home, I resist falling into the jeans or worse still tracksuit trap, I love dresses so much more! The retro inspiration and the longer length is great too as I usually feel a little silly wearing a skirt that is too short to pick the children up from school. The dress definitely lived up to my expectations, it is great quality in terms of the fabric, really well made and lovely to wear and I know I will be wearing it loads in the spring.

The last few weeks I have been busy writing about all things ethical fashion related. You can check out my guest posts on Ethical and Sustainable Fashion for 2012 at Intrinsically Florrie and Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge at Oxfam Fashion.

I hope you are having a great week. What have you been doing or writing about recently?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Charity Shop Chic AW11 – Tunic and Trousers

Posted on October 10, 2011 by admin

I seem to have been having a bit of a charity shop splurge recently, but I can’t help myself when I see something amazing that fits. Still at least I am not spending loads of money and charity shopping has a relatively low environmental impact. This weekend I have been clearing out my wardrobe to make space for all of the charity shop updates I have bought for autumn. As most of the stuff that I clear out ends up going to the charity shop too, I can feel good that I have done a bit for charity as well as having a much clearer cupboard.

One of the trends for AW11 that I spotted at Oscar De La Renta, Alberta Ferretti, Michael Kors, Osman and Ermanno Scervino, amongst others and wanted to try out was tunics and trousers. I love the way that this look covers all those lumpy and bumpy bits (of which I have plenty) and the proportions also seem to work well for me being only 5ft 2. I found this beaded tunic at the local Oxfam shop and though it would be a great alternative a dress for a night out. The beading also reminds me of spiders webs so I might even wear it for Halloween. If you like this look, you can also trend out for any short shift style dress to wear with trousers for a similar look.

I hope you have had a lovely weekend. I am suffering today as I woke up with a very sore back, I have been taking Nurofen and Parecetomol and I am currently sat with a hot water bottle on my back. Fingers crossed it is better tommorrow.

Look out for the next post in my Charity Shop Chic Series for AW11 which will feature the classic shift dress.

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

FBFF – Refashioning – DIY Tromp L Oeil Top

Posted on September 23, 2011 by admin

I love to refashion old clothes or items from a charity shop to bring them up to date or give them a new lease of life. I was really pleased that the Fashion and Beauty Friends Friday topic for today was about refashioning. Not only do I get loads more inspiration and ideas from the other posts but I also I get to post my first DIY/ refashion post on the new Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog.

My refashion / DIY project was something that I have been thinking about doing for ages. In the end I only managed to kick myself into action yesterday evening, which just shows how quick this DIY was. It took me about an hour. It is inspired by Tromp L’oeil art or ‘trick of the eye’ or when something isn’t what it seems and involves embellishing a top with ribbon to make it look like it has a collar.

For this DIY you will need:
An old or second hand t shirt – preferably with a round and quite high neck.
Some thin ribbon in a contrasting colour – about 1 metre should be enough
A ruler
Scissors
Needle, thread and pins

I got this simple black Marks and Spencers t shirt from the local British Red Cross charity shop for £1.50.

You need to lay out your ribbon on your top and work out roughly how you would like your collar to look.

Once you have rough idea of how you want it to look you can begin to pin the ribbon onto the t shirt. Finish the ends of the ribbon by tucking under. Use a ruler to measure the main points including the collar tips and distance of top of collar along the shoulder seam and ensure that it is all symmetrical. At the collar tips fold the ribbon back on its self to create the right angle.

Once your collar is laid out and pinned exactly how you want, you can sew it. You can sew along the middle of the ribbon using a sewing machine. I decided to hand stitch it along the edge of the ribbon for that handcrafted look ( and because I couldn’t be bothered to get my sewing machine out).

You then need to pin and sew another line of ribbon along the actual neckline of the t shirt again tucking the ends under to finish. Finally press with iron on quite a low heat (otherwise the heat might damage the ribbon).

Top- DIY’d
Skirt- Dorothy Perkins (really old)
Brooch – local vintage shop
Shoes – Urban Outfitters

Here is the finished Tromp L’Oeil Top worn with a vintage bow brooch at the neck. You could also make a little fabric bow to sew or pin to the collar.

Other possibilities for DIY Tromp L’oeil projects are endless. You could also add a vertical line of ribbon down the top to look like an opening and add pocket shape and even a line of real buttons. This project would also work really well with a plain shift dress or tunic. Black and white looks really striking but you could try all sorts of different colour combinations or even a patterned ribbon.

How about sewing lapels onto a simple cardigan with ribbon? Strings of sequins could be used instead of ribbon for an evening top or party dress. You could also make a more rounded Peter Pan collar or make the collar shape using individual beads or pearls.

What do you think? would you give this DIY a try? You can also check out the other refashion/ DIY posts over on Adventures in Refashioning.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Charity Shop Chic – Water Colour Blouse

Posted on September 21, 2011 by admin

On Monday morning, I decided to get the week off to a good start by having coffee with my friend. Guess where we ended up?

Well we decided to just have a quick pop into a few charity shops but ended up going in them all. I got quite a few goodies, all things that I have been wanting for a while and have considered buying new, so was pretty pleased to have saved myself a quite a few pounds. I will be featuring them all very soon in a series that I am planning on AW11 trends from charity shops.

One item that I wanted for autumn was a blouse. I found one by Olsen, not a brand that I know much about or have ever considered shopping from, but it really caught my eye with its pretty floral watercolour print.

Whilst we were out my friend mentioned that she had never ever seen me wearing jeans. The most obvious choice to wear with this blouse was jeans, although I have plenty of other outfit ideas for it too. There we go, I do wear jeans, occasionally!

Blouse – charity shop
Silk Scarf – very old! originally from Gap I think
Necklace – present from Mr Style Eyes
Jeans – Marks and Spencers – Indigo Green Collection

I hope that you are having a good week. Have you found anything amazing in a charity shop lately?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Tuesday Treats – Leather Pencil Skirts

Posted on September 20, 2011 by admin

I have noticed plenty of leather skirts on the high street for autumn and winter. I particularly love the pencil skirts as they can be worn with a t shirt for a rock inspired look or a blouse for a more feminine seventies inspired ladylike look.

The longer length means that they are more classy than trashy but I would also wear these skirts with high cut and slightly loose tops tucked in to balance the look out. They are also great for the evening with a vest top or camisole.

If you fancy treating yourself to a leather skirt, it is well worth considering a second hand or vintage one. Leather is one of the few materials that can actually improve with age, so you can get yourself a beautiful and on trend piece of clothing and also save yourself a few pennies or pounds. Here are some that I have found. penny Tuesday Treats Leather Pencil Skirts