African Prints Mix Up!

Posted on January 21, 2013 by admin

Jacket – Second hand (from mum)
Top – by YouMeWe at Sapellé
Trousers – ASOS Africa
Shoes – Dream in Green
Vintage Bag – Local Charity Shop
Necklace – a Christmas pressy from my mum
Ring – Made UK

Admittedly, it is not really the weather for this outfit a great big woolley jumper would probably be much more practical but I have never been much of a fan of winter clothes and I was desperate to try out the top that I got for just £16.50 in the Sapellé sale. I thought if I added a jacket, then I could perhaps get away with it when the weather warms up a little.

This outfit is my entry for this months Freestyle challenge over at Ethical Fashion Bloggers. I also thought that I would enter it in the Observer Ethical Awards. Much to my excitement, they have introduced a ‘Well Dressed’ award sponsored by Eco Age and Fru-Gal Challenge, if you have some sustainably stylish pieces in your wardrobe, why not enter? you can find out more here.

For those that want to share their sustainable style or ethical fashion brands that want to share their story or latest collection, plus anyone else with an interest in sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry, I will be arranging a Twitter party on the last Friday of each month (starting this Friday). Please join me for #FGFF (Feel Good Fashion Friday)

I hope that you have had a good start to the week despite the snow and cold weather.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

My Sustainable Style Resolutions for 2013

Posted on January 2, 2013 by admin

Jacket – vintage / upcycled
Leggings – People Tree

2012 was a really tough year, in fact, it was my toughest year ever. Despite the huge sadness of 2012, there were some positives, I am really grateful for all those who got involved with my ethical fashion blogathon to raise funds for Naomi House, a charity that has done so much for my family and so many others. I am also so grateful for the support and friendship of my old and new friends both online and offline who have really helped me through the darkest of days.

I am more than glad to be moving on to 2013 with a renewed hope that sustainable style and ethical fashion will really start to become mainstream. In 2012, there were plenty of new headlines about unsustainable and unethical practices in the fashion industry which have renewed my resolve and commitment to sustainable style and promoting the amazing ethical fashion brands that I discover more of each day. It is great to see change happening though with some of the bigger brands committing to sustainability, ethical fashion brands going from strength to strength and the Ethical Fashion Bloggers growing to over 70 members . With the launch of my new search engine for Sustainable UK Fashion, I hope to help a little to increase the visibilty of some of these brands.

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about what resolutions to make for 2013 or even whether to make any at all. I have finally decided to make just 3 resolutions, each representing a small change for me but all things which I hope will have a positive impact on both my style, the world around me and this blog.

Getting More Creative With My Style

For 2013, I want to make my outfits more fun, colourful and eye catching using ethical, vintage and charity shop clothes of course!. It is easy to get in a style rut and lately I seem to resort to the same old clothes all the time. I have lots of beautiful clothes and accessories in my wardrobe, 2013 is going to be all about wearing them (and hopefully not buying too many new ones).

Ditching the Plastic Bags

Stopping using plastic bags is probably the one area where I can improve both my sustainability and style. A plastic bag never looks very chic so for 2013, I am going to get organised and make sure that I always have a stylish and sustainable alternative with me.

Caring for Clothes More Sustainably

I have just invested in a clothes steamer with my Christmas money and will be using this as more eco friendly and cost effective alternative to dry cleaning. I don’t often use the tumble drier but in 2013, I plan to use it even less by keeping up with the washing and not letting the laundry pile get out of hand.

I am also going to try and make a few more changes to my lifestyle which will include eating less meat, buying more seasonal and local food and wasting less food by having better portion control. Oh and like lots of others, I plan to detox and cut out drinking alcohol in January to keep my weight under control and ensure that I don’t out grow my clothes and have to buy new.

Do you have any resolutions for 2013?

Happy New Year, lets make 2013 super sustainable and gorgeously glam one!

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

Happy Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2012 by admin

Despite being far more organised than usual this year, Christmas seems to have sneaked up on me and as usual I am not really ready, hence my very last minute posting of this Christmas outfit for the Ethical Fashion Bloggers Christmas outfit challenge. You can check out outfits over at www.ethicalfashionbloggers.com.

The vintage dress has been in my wardrobe for a while, I got it from a local charity shop. It was a little bit too long so I decided instead of just shortening it to gather up some sections of the skirt to make it shorter and give it a little more shape. The shoes were given to me by a friend.

Wishing everyone a very very Happy Christmas and looking forward to seeing you in 2013!

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

DIY – The Perfect Fit

Posted on December 2, 2012 by admin

I almost always find that there is some aspect of the fit of a piece of clothing that is just not quite right. Being short I find that I often need to shorten clothes but I also have problems with dresses and tops being tight across the shoulders, I am not a fan of wearing sleeves unless they are made of stretchy material. This months DIY round up on Ethical Fashion Bloggers was all about changing a piece of clothing for the perfect fit and I decided it was about time I tackled one of the pieces of clothing that has been hanging in my wardrobe unworn for a while.

I used to love wearing this dress because of the applique flowers around the hemline but it was a little tight on the shoulders and sleeves, so I decided to remove them giving me a little more room to move. In case you are wondering the headwear is by House of Beth.

I hope that you are having a lovely weekned. Christmas has officially begun in our house and Mr Style Eyes and the children have been busy putting up the decorations. Are you ready for Christmas or do you prefer to wait until a bit nearer the time?

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

Autumn Outfit Inspiration on Polyvore

Posted on November 11, 2012 by admin

I have been putting together a few more outfit ideas for autumn on Polyvore for the November Ethical Fashion Bloggers November Polyvore challenge. The challenge is open to anyone so please feel free to join in, more details of the competition are on the link above.

c600x808 Autumn Outfit Inspiration on Polyvore

Beach Life by styleeyes1-333 featuring vejas

c600x600 Autumn Outfit Inspiration on Polyvore

Falling by styleeyes1-333 on Polyvore

c600x713 Autumn Outfit Inspiration on Polyvore

Eco Style et Plein Air by styleeyes1-333 featuring nica

What styles/ looks are you loving for autumn and winter?

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

A DIY Dip Dyed Cardigan

Posted on October 23, 2012 by admin

Cardigan – Charity shop/ upcycled
Dress – People Tree
Boots – Clarks
Necklaces – Made UK and New Look

This month the DIY/ upcycling challenge on Ethical Fashion Bloggers was all about knitwear. I never have enough knitwear so decided to invest in a cardigan from the local charity shop for just over a fiver and have a go at dip dying it. If you would like to know what I did, read on…

Before I continue with this post, would just like to say that this DIY is a little more messy than I had anticipated. Luckily I did it outside but I would recommend extreme caution if dip dying indoors and make sure you wear rubber gloves!

I choose Dylon navy blue dye and a cream coloured cardigan.

I mixed up a third of the Dylon Dye according to the instructions and put the cardigan in and stirred occasionally for abour 25 minutes. Obviously this wasn’t quite enough as the top part of the cardigan had a slightly mottled effect, although I quite like it like this.

I then rung the cardigan out (wearing the rubber gloves) added another third of the dye to the bowl, clipped the cardigan on the hanger and dipped the bottom to thirds in to the dye and left for about 25mins.

I then added the last third of dye, mixed and dipped in the bottom part of the cardigan for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally I rinsed the cardigan in cold water a few times and put on a rinse in the washing machine.

I am quite impressed with how this worked out even though it had a slight mottled effect. Despite the mess, it was quite easy and think I may well give dip dying another try, perhaps something like a trench coat or pair of jeans next time. What do you think? have you ever dip dyed anything or are you ready to give dip dying a try?

If you like DIYing or outfit challenges, why not join us at www.ethicalfashionbloggers.com?

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

Outfit Challenge – Eye Popping Brights

Posted on October 8, 2012 by admin

Dress – Frank and Faith
Handbag – charity shop
Necklace – Made UK

This months outfit challenge for Ethical Fashion Bloggers was to make an outfit that featured eyepopping brights. Whilst I have plenty of bright clothes in my wardrobe, I wasn’t actually sure if any of them could be described as ‘eye popping’. As we had a bit of sunshine on the weekend, I decided to make the most of it with a dress although I actually gave in and put some leggings on a bit later because I was freezing.

The dress is made from bamboo and is by Frank and Faith, an ethical label that only uses sustainable fibres like organic cotton, hemp and bamboo. If you have never bought bamboo clothes before, I would really recommend them. Not only is bamboo sustainable and grown without the use of pesticides but it is also lovely and soft against the skin. I got the dress from Ethical Superstore a while ago but they actually have a fantastic sale on at the moment with lots of Frank & Faith pieces including this dress (for just £18.45!)

I hope that you have had a good start to the week and fingers crossed that the rain stops soon.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

ps this post contains an affiliate link

Ethical Fashion Bloggers – An Update

Posted on October 1, 2012 by admin

I thought I would just give a quick update about what is going on at Ethical Fashion Bloggers for October.

October is a new beginning for Ethical Fashion Bloggers which is now a 65 strong community of bloggers who love fashion but also care about the impact of their clothing on both people and planet.

We are going to be making some changes to the site and adding lots more interesting content. I am delighted that Jamillah of Made-to-Travel has just joined us as an editor and is going to help drive the community forward and turn our website into a really useful resource for fashion bloggers.

New Look Ethical Fashion Bloggers Website
————————————————————
You might have noticed that we have revamped the website a little to ensure that it reflects the very stylish community that it represents. ase get in touch. New badges will be available soon. It is a work in progress and we will continue to make improvements.
New look blog badges will be available soon.

Dates for your diary
————————————————————
I hope you will join us for some of this months community challenges and round ups

October 10th – Outfit Challenge – Eyepopping Brights
October 17th – Link round up (submit your best link of the month)
October 24th – DIY/ upcycling challenge – knitwear
October 31st – Polyvore challenge – autumn outfits

Ethical Fashion Bloggers on Pinterest
————————————————————
Ethical Fashion Bloggers is now on Pinterest.

If you are on Pinterest, please follow us here http://pinterest.com/efbloggers/

Our Pinterest is a place for our community to share ethical fashion inpiration and also use to pin and promote posts of interest.

I hope that you have had a good start to the week.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

An Ethical Fashion Blogathon for Blog Action Day

Posted on September 27, 2012 by admin

I am organising an Ethical Fashion Blogathon in memory of my niece, Maddie (you can read more in my post In Memory of Maddie) and in aid of Naomi House Hospice on 15th October, Blog Action Day. I want to raise money for a really worthwhile charity whilst also promoting and raising awareness of ethical fashion.

So here are the details:

What: A 12 hour blogathan during which I aim to write a total of 24 posts about ethical and sustainable fashion brands, retailers and companies. I would also love other bloggers to join in by pledging to write and post one or more posts on their blogs.

When: between 9am and 9pm on Monday 15th October.

Why: To raise money for a fantastic charity and promote sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry plus it will be fun and you may get to discover some fantastic new brands.

Where: The whole event will take place online on a variety of blogs with posts and discussions on Twitter using the hashtag #ethicalfashionblogathon

How: I aim to raise money by gaining sponsorship of a set amount for each post written using Just Giving.

If you would like to take part, please email me (ceri at heathcotecommunications.co.uk) or leave a comment below asap with you blog url and how many posts you would like to do. I will then be in touch by Friday 12th with the brands/ retailers or companies for you to post about. You will need to post about 250 words plus a least one image and link for each post during the blogathon. I will also provide a blogathon badge for each post which will link to a list of all the posts in the blogathon. It will be up to you what you write.

Ethical / sustainable fashion companies that are interested in sponsoring the blogathon can also email me on ceri at heathcotecommunications.co.uk and I will be in touch as soon as I have further details.

So will you join in the fun?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

An Upcycled Lace and Floral Dress

Posted on September 23, 2012 by admin

This months DIY/ upcycling challenge at Ethical Fashion Bloggers had the theme of lace. With no time to go charity shopping, I had to use something that I already had in my wardrobe. This lace top and floral dress were the the perfect candidates. I don’t really wear the lace top much as it is too see through to wear on its own and the dress being strapless had a number of issues for me including the potential for it to end up around my waist but I love the colourful floral print. I definitely feel much more elegant and safer when I wear a high neck.

So I decided to combine the dress and the top to make a high necked dress with the added bonus of a fantastic lace/ floral pattern clash slightly inspired by these dresses for AW12 at McQ Alexander McQueen.

All if did was try on the dress over the top (which I wore backwards to get the high neck) and pin it in place. The most difficult part was trying to take the dress over without injuring myself on the pins. Then I sewed along the along the existing stitching line with my sewing machine to attach the two together. I then trimmed off some of the excess material on the top underneath.

This project was super simple which is great as I very quickly lose interest if something takes too long. It was the perfect rainy Sunday afternoon project and still left me time to cook up some comfort food; a great big pot of vegetable soup of lunch in the week, rhubarb crumble for after dinner and scones for my girls who just dont seem to stop eating lately.

I am also entering this post in Ta-dah Tuesday at Faith Hope and Charity Shopping.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend despite the wet and cold weather.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

Pin It