EFB Outfit Challenge – Go Team GB

Posted on August 5, 2012 by admin

Since getting back from holiday, I have managed to catch up with a bit of the Olympics on the TV and have been delighted to see so many medals for team GB this weekend. With the news that Ben Ainslie has got gold in the sailing (and the sun is shining there), I kind of wish I was back in Weymouth.

Rather fittingly, this months outfit challenge for Ethical Fashion Bloggers has an Olympic theme. From now on the Ethical Fashion Bloggers outfit challenges are open to all fashion bloggers. All you have to do is post your a picture of you wearing your outfit for the given theme to your blog with a link to www.ethicalfashionbloggers.com. You outfit should contain at least one piece of ethical, eco, vintage, second hand or upcycled clothing. Even better if you include more! You can find out more and submit your posts here.

Here is my Olympic themed outfit featuring Red, white and blue in support of Team GB and sailing/ deck style shoes inspired of course by the olympic sailing.

Dress – People Tree
Top – Antiform
Shoes – Pikolinos
Necklace – a present
Ring – Made UK
Team GB nails – inspired by Lakota at Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping’s Olympic Manicure here (which is far more creative than what I have done) and created using a selection of old nail varnishes from the bottom of my drawer.

Enjoy what is left of the weekend!

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

Fashion Blogger’s Ethical Outfit Competition – Over £250 of Prizes to be Won

Posted on June 15, 2012 by admin

Following on from the success of the last 2 Ethical outfit competitions, I have decided to make these competitions a regular event. It is fantastic to see how bloggers are wearing ethical and sustainable fashion and I hope that these outfits will inspire others to give ethical/ sustainable fashion a try too. The competition is open to any UK fashion blogger, your outfit just needs to include at least one ethical or sustainable item which include anything organic, made from sustainable fabrics, fair trade, vintage, recycled or second hand. you can find out more on how to enter below, but first I wanted to tell you about the fantastic prizes!

The Prizes

£100 of Spartoo Vouchers

Spartoo are an online shoe retailer with a fantastic selection of ethical and sustainable shoes. The vouchers can be spent on men’s, women’s or children’s shoes from a wide range of brands including my favourites Dream in Green, Melissa and Pikolinos.

Organic Cotton Yoga Pants and Tencel Vest by From Clothing

This outfit by From Clothing consists of loose fit, 3/4 length Capri leggings made in a scrumptious soft organic cotton and a beautiful, feminine strappy vest made from 95% sustainable Lenzing Tencel. It is perfect for Yoga, Pilates or simple, relaxed everyday wear! From Clothing is a new Ethical Fashion Brand based in Devon designing clothes inspired by the big outdoors and made using ethically sourced, organic and sustainable
materials. Their clothes are stylish, flattering and on trend whilst promoting the
‘real shaped’ woman.

A Calypso Skirt from Bibico

Take your pick of a Calypso skirt in you choice of white, grey or a pretty print. (subject to availability). Bibico is an ethical fashion brand which combines contemporary styling with traditional skills including hand weaving, embroidery and knitting to create beautifully simple and charming clothing. All of their clothes are made from quality natural materials and produced in fair trade cooperatives.

£50 to spend at Grassroots Fashion

Break free from the high street with Grassroots – Grassroots provides unique, fashionable and affordable, upcycled clothing. Each garment is individually re-designed and upcycled to reflect the current fashion trends so you can wear the season’s must have styles without it costing the earth.

If you would like to enter, all you have to do is post a picture of you wearing your ethical outfit on your blog with a link to www.ethicalfashionblog.com and mention which aspect of your outfit is ethical. Then follow me on Twitter (@StyleEyes) and tweet me the link with the following:-

’I’m rocking #ethicalfashion for the @StyleEyes Blogger’s Outfit Competition’

Before the end of 30th June.

I will choose winners from 1st to 4th place based on how stylish, creative and ethical their outfits are, on 2nd July. The first prize winner will get to choose their prize first, the second next and so on. All outfits enetered in the competition will also be published here on Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog with a link to the relevant blog.

I can’t wait to see your outfits! If you want a bit of inspiration, check out the amazing outfits from my last competitions in November 2011 and March this year.

For those that have an interest in Ethical Fashion, you may be interested in joining a new group that I have just set up www.ethicalfashionbloggers.com. You don’t only have to just blog about ethical fashion, it is for anyone that is interested in networking with other bloggers, working with ethical brands, joining in ethical outfit challenges, DIY and post round ups and coming along to meet ups. We also love vintage, charity shopping and DIY.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

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A Printastic Monsoon Dress

Posted on May 19, 2012 by admin

Dress – Monsoon
Scarf – Vintage/ second hand
Boots – a few years old
Silver bangles – gifts

For May the outfit challenge on Ethical Fashion Bloggers was to create an outfit that focussed on prints. Of course for me this wasn’t a difficult task at all as my wardrobe is rammed full with colourful printed clothes. I though that now would be the perfect opportunity to show off my new Monsoon Dress, bought a few weeks ago with my birthday money and worn for a night out in Bath on the May Bank holiday weekend, I have been saving the outfit picture ip up especially for this challenge.

The Scarf was from The Black and White shop, a fantastic vintage and second hand treasure trove which I visited when I was researching my recent Vintage and Second Hand Guide to Bath. Not sure if the two prints clash or compliment, either way I love how they look together and the pom poms on the scarf are the perfect finishing touch. Although some may consider this look a little full on, I love it and know I will be wearing it many times this summer.

If you need a new dress for a special occasion, Monsoon have some lovely choices with beautiful prints at great prices. They also have an offer of up to 25% off occasion wear and a fantastic sale on.

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

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Ethical Outfit Competition – The Results!

Posted on April 2, 2012 by admin

I have been truly blown away by both the number and quality of entries in my ethical outfit competition. So many stylish ladies (and men!) all with their own unique look. I have had real difficulties in choosing the winners and wish that I had a prize for every single entry. Unfortunately I don’t and I had to pick just four winners. I have selected the winners based on a combination what I liked the look of and how ethical they are. Before I announce the winners, I would like to share all of the entries with you. You can click on the link under each image to visit each of the blogs and find out a bit more about each outfit.

ethical outfit 1 Ethical Outfit Competition The Results! Lady Bug Says

That’s So Yesterday

Sailing to No Where

Ethical outfit 4 Ethical Outfit Competition The Results! Country Girl Does Norfolk

Vintage Vix and Jon

Vintage Passions Just Like Mine

#GollyGosh

Perditas Pursuits

Honey Go Lightly

ethical outfit 12 Ethical Outfit Competition The Results!

Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks Sweet Monday

Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping Lulastic

And so on to the winners! I would like to reiterate how difficult the decision was as everyone looked so amazing.

First – Overly Selected

Second – Thats so Yesterday

Third – Sailing to Nowhere

Fourth – Little House in Town

Congratulations to you all, I will be in touch with all four asap to sort out the prizes.

I would also say a huge thanks to the competition sponsors, especially Nomads Clothing. If you haven’t already been over to check out their Spring Summer Collection, I would throughly recommend that you do! Please also let me know if you would like to be added to their press list.

If you are a fashion blogger and would like to feature more ethical / sustainable fashion on your blog, why not join Ethical Fashion Bloggers?, a great place to network with like minded bloggers.

Ethical Fashion or Vintage retailers that are interested in sponsoring my next ethical outfit competition, please get in touch (ceri@heathcotecommunications.co.uk).

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Thrifty Ethical Fashion For Mother’s Day

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

This months challenge at Ethical Fashion Bloggers was to create a thrifty outfit which cost under £10 or as close as possible. At first this seemed like quite a difficult challenge but on looking in my wardrobe, I realised that I have quite a few clothes including this dress and belt which I have got from clothes swaps, so technically cost me nothing at all (except an old piece of clothing that I wouldn’t have worn anyway). The shoes were a little more tricky and ideally I should have worn a more glamorous pair of heels, but because of the distance I needed to walk and the fact that none of my ethical shoes are exactly thrifty, I decided to opt for this pair of ballet pumps, given to me by a friend (brand new,but she decided they didn’t fit her. The handbag was the most expensive at about £4 from a charity shop and the necklace which isn’t ethical or sustainable but I have had it ages and it only cost maybe £6 or £7.So I think in total my outfit cost about £10 or £11.

As it was Mother’s Day, I decided to take the opportunity to spend a little more time doing my hair and to attempt to set it in curlers for a retro hairstyle. This was a big fail, I got impatient and took the rollers out before my hair was properly dry hence the flat an uncharacteristically sleek look to it. In the end I couldn’t be bothered to faff with it any more and decided to get out and enjoy myself.

I took my oldest daughter to a cafe in Bath for lunch and then had a wander around Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fashion fair. The fair was disappointingly quiet with only about 10 stalls, but I did manage to get myself a lemon yellow sixties jacket and checked skirt for £2 each though and some vintage fabrics, so not a complete loss. Here are a few instagrams of my day.

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

An Upcycled Heart Top For Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 9, 2012 by admin

This month’s DIY / upcycling round up on Ethical Fashion Bloggers has a Valentines Day theme. I decided to make a simple top using an old Fruits of the Loom sweatshirt that has been nestled in my airing cupboard for over 10 years (I am such a hoarder). The fitted cuffs, high neck and band around the bottom of the sweatshirt look a little dated so I just cut them off and made the sleeves even shorter, cutting them at a slight angle. I used a small piece of heart patterned fabric which I had leftover from upcycling an old maternity top. All I did was cut out a heart shape from the fabric and sew onto the sweatshirt (over the Fruits of the Loom) emblem, with really tiny and close together handstitches. That is it.

Top- upcycled
Vest top underneath and skirt – really old (from high street retailers)
Shoes – Melissa

I doubt whether myself and Mr Style Eyes will be doing anything this Valentines Day. In fact I am sure we won’t as we have no babysitter and I have a School Governors meeting to go to. I am not too bothered as I dislike the whole overpriced, cheesy entertainment, set menu thing that many restaurants do. After 12 years of marriage, with 2 children and me working most evenings, we are just happy to have a rare hour or two together and a few glasses of wine at home. I can’t really complain as I get a bunch of flowers from Mr Style Eyes every week.

Will you be doing anything fun for Valentines Day this year? If you would like to join in with Ethical Fashion Bloggers DIY/ Upcycling round ups or outfit challenges, you can join here.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

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Ethical Outfit Challenge – Winter Warmers

Posted on January 13, 2012 by admin

Jumper – given to me by a friend who was having a clear out
Vintage dress – Marthas Closet
Faux fur jacket – local Oxfam shop
Shoes – Dream in Green
Vintage Necklace/ locket – a present
Handmade bangle – a christmas present from my mum

This months ethical outfit challenge on Ethical Fashion Bloggers is on the theme of winter warmers. I will have to admit, I have been struggling a little lately in the cold weather with what to wear.

I work from home and tend to get really cold sat at the computer all day so to avoid having to turn up the heating extra high, I tend to wear really thick cardigans. Being really short I tend to get swamped by big knitwear and look a bit silly apart from when I wear leggings. I also struggle with motivating myself to wear something nice as when I go outside, I only throw a big coat over the top anyway. I am afraid I have definitely fallen into the trap of comfort dressing over the last few weeks so this challenge was the perfect opportunity to kick myself into action and make a bit of an effort.

Layering seems to be the perfect option as it allows me to wear one of my favourite vintage floral dresses (I have been suffering from severe floral withdrawal symptoms) but still keep cosy and warm by layering up with a jumper, tights and faux fur jacket. And, I am pleased to say that the whole outfit is ethical/sustainable except the tights. I have in the past struggled with finding ethical tights in the past, but there are more options becoming available so next time I need to replace them perhaps I will be able to find something suitable. Actually I have been thinking about running a series on where to buy affordable ethical fashion staples like tights and leggings. Do you think this is something that might be of interest to you?

If you are interested in joining us at Ethical Fashion Bloggers and having a go at one of our ethical outfit challenges, you can find out more here.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Red People Tree Dress and the Ethical Fashion Bloggers Forum

Posted on January 9, 2012 by admin

Dress – People Tree
Jeans - an old pair, upcycled myself with bleach
Boots – Dream in Green
Scarf – a Christmas present (from New Look)
Bangles – presents

I hope that you had a good weekend. Mine was pretty uneventful, most of it was spent washing, ironing and cleaning. I did have a break on Sunday to go to the park with Mr Style Eyes and the children. We took Roberta (our campervan) out for her first outing of 2012, unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. We parked up in the park car park so Mr S could cook up bacon sandwiches and cups of tea while the children played. The weather was amazing and it reminded me of what an amazing time we had camping last year, I definitely need to get on and get some stuff booked up for this year.

I have also been quite busy over the last week working on a forum for Ethical Fashion Bloggers. It is finally ready and I am really pleased that there is now a place for the group to discuss and share useful information, thoughts and ideas ranging from blogging tips to events and favourite ethical brands.

The group is steadily growing and we now have over 30 members from around the world including general fashion bloggers with an interest in ethical fashion and those who only wear and blog about ethical fashion. We also have quite a few vintage, charity shopping and DIY enthusiasts. Each month we do an ethical outfit challenge and a DIY/ upcycling round up which is published on our blog.In 2012, I also want to arrange some UK meet ups and hope that we can help bloggers to work more closely with some of the amazing ethical brands out there. If you would like to join us you can find out how here.

For todays outfit, I am wearing the People Tree dress that Mr Style Eyes got me for Christmas in 2010. I love the bold colour and pattern on this dress. I think it is supposed to be a party dress, but as I have far more party clothes than parties to go to and it is quite short, I like to dress it down with leggings or jeans for the daytime. The jeans were a DIY project I did about a year ago with some old black jeans and some bleach.

People Tree have a fantastic sale on at the moment with up to 60%. They have some really beautiful dresses for both summer and winter. They also have a great new collection just in which includes spot and checks which would look great combined plus the Zakee Shariff collection which has some fabulous colourful prints.

Have a wonderful week!

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

ps just to let you know this post contains an affiliate link.

Happy New Year – Welcome to 2012

Posted on January 2, 2012 by admin

Happy New Year, I hope you had a great time celebrating.

Dress – Annie Greenabelle
Shoes – Alexandre Herchcovitch collaboration with Melissa
Earrings- Christian Dior

After all of the excitement and late nights of Christmas, Mr Style Eyes and I decided to have a fairly quiet New Years Eve. We did pop down the pub for a drink before dinner, unfortunately it was shut to prepare for the evening party so we ended up just coming home again. I wore my new Annie Greenabelle dress.

I tried doing a sort of beehive style in my hair. You can’t really see it that well from the picture but I think it looked a bit higher in real life. For next time though, I think I might backcomb a little more. This was the first time I have ever backcombed my hair and I was concerned it would turn into a big frizz. I usually wear fairly natural make up but decided to try dark eyes, using a dark khaki colour eyeshadow. Again I think it looked much more obvious in real life. Perhaps I need to change the settings on the camera. I wore my favourite Christian Dior earrings bought for me by Mr S for our wedding (12 years ago).

I spent most of the afternoon on NYE cooking. I made Jamie Oliver 5 hour lamb which is delicious. The beauty of this is that you prepare it then just stick it in the oven for 5 hours leaving you free to go off out. When you get back, it is cooked to perfection and you can just serve with crusty bread. The best bit, it has a whole bottle of white wine in it! I also made a blackberry tart, my first ever at a pudding with homemade pastry. I was pretty impressed with the result although this particular recipe with marscapone was a little rich for me. 091 Happy New Year Welcome to 2012

My daughter also made these Hello Kitty cookies with some cookie cutters, she got for Christmas.

072 Happy New Year Welcome to 2012

Cardigan – New Look
Top – Really old (from Debenhams)
Shorts – DIY cut offs
Handbag – Spartoo
Boots – El Naturalista
locket necklace – vintage

On New Years day, we wandered into Bath for lunch at Cafe Rouge. It was lovely to relax over lunch with a few beers and even better no washing up! I wore my Christmas pressy from my mum which was a cardigan from New Look. Although I try to only wear old, second hand and ethical clothes these days, when it comes to pressies, it is not that simple. I always think I should be grateful for what I get. I though my mum did well this year with this cardigan from, I love the colours and pattern. New Look was given a top rating for its supply chain policies by Ethical Consumer in their buyers guide to high street clothes shops so whilst not actually an ethical fashion brand, they do show a commitment to providing decent working conditions for their overseas workers.

So here we are in 2012, I don’t really have any new years resolutions, I am kind of happy with things the way they are at the moment. I will of course be continuing with my pledge to only buy second hand, vintage and ethical clothing. If you fancy joining me, why not consider joining the ever growing Ethical Fashion Bloggers community.

I will be training for a 10k run in eary 2012 though and possibly a half marathon later in the year. 2012 is already looking quite busy with lots of camper van trips, festivals and other outings.

I have also been thinking about this blog and ways to move forward for 2012. Is there anything that you would like to see more or less of on Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog?

What did you do for NYE? and what are your plans for 2012?

With warmest wishes

Ceri x

DIY Christmas Present

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

This year I had planned to make most of my Christmas pressies. Unfortunately with the demands of trying to run a business, look after 2 children and be the domestic goddess that I definitely am not, I kind of ran out of time for making all of my presents. Here is one of the presents that I did manage to make. You might recognise the fabric it was from the vintage dress that I shortened that I wore in this outfit for another an Ethical Fashion Bloggers outfit challenge. I got the chain from the local vintage shop.

I also featured this DIY project in my most recent post for Oxfam Fashion, How I am reclaiming Christmas. This post is also part of the Ethical Fashion Bloggers Christmas DIY Roundup, if you are interested in taking part in our round ups and outfit challenges, you can find out more about how to join here.

I hope that you are all ready for Christmas and also finding time to relax and enjoy yourself.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X