Inspiration: Luella Autumn 08

The first collection to really inspire me this autumn is of course Luella. I adored the S/S collection but I'm definitely ready for a change and I think the new collection will be the perfect transition inspiration from Summer to Autumn.

There are so many lovely details, the intricate stitching, frills, lace and ribbon, and the basic garment shapes are incredibly wearable. I actually already had this outfit in my wardrobe, I just hadn't styled it like this (I borrowed the hair from the model by the power of Photoshop of course!). Now I'm looking for some navy and red opaques, black lace and striped jumpers too. Plus I'm wearing the Black Cherry nail varnish I mentioned in my last post - it's gorgeous!

DIY Bow Vest

I nearly bought a vest top with a lovely big bow on it, then I decided to buy two (much cheaper) plain vests and some ribbon and make my own bows. I've only made one so far, the first one was ridiculously fiddly! I very nearly gave up after stabbing myself in the finger a few times, but I managed it in the end. I'm not the best person with a needle and thread!

British Summer Essentials

We Brits are well known for our obsession with the weather and of course, I'm no exception. The reason for this is our weather is very changeable and completely unreliable. It makes it almost impossible to plan outfits in advance, I check the forecast 10 minutes before I get dressed in the morning and even then I end up wearing the wrong thing! Leather gladiators in the rain, floaty skirts that get caught in the wind (which I hate!) then black jeans on lovely warm days ... yeah, I'm pretty fed up with this time of year.

See the original set if you'd like to know where these things are from.

How I wore: High leg gladiators

I wore my new high leg gladiators for the first time the other day. They seem to work quite well with neutral clothes, I think they need to be the star of the outfit! Although I love the look and I'm usually pretty brave, I was quite surprised at how self-conscious they made me feel. It wasn't helped by the way the straps kept twisting around my legs and sliding down my feet. It drove me crazy! The main problem was the leather wasn't fixed together, so I attacked them with superglue which seems to have done the trick.

I didn't really think my last gladiators post would be the final one and this probably won't be either!

How I'd wear: My new skirt

I could have called this post 'Hey, I just discovered Polyvore!'. And god it's addictive (and it's also the reason I didn't post yesterday). I'll still create my own collages in Photoshop for the blog but Polyvore makes it so much easier to find clothes and accessories to play with. Plus it's brilliant to see how everyone else chooses to style the items you've picked. Anyway, enough Polyvore love...

This is actually my new skirt. The other things I don't have but I'd like to have, especially the bird necklaces. Have a look at my original set on Polyvore if you're interested in where the items are from. I'll be wearing a similar outfit to a house party soon, I needed something suitable for traveling (3 hrs - yawn) then sitting around in the sun, heading out for a few drinks and then dancing all night. That's a lot to ask of any outfit, hopefully I've chosen the right one!

DIY Margiela T-shirt

These DIY t-shirt projects have become more frequent than I planned, I don't even wear t-shirts that often! I found this wolf tee for just a few pounds last Sunday when we went to the seaside (it was that kind of town). So, this is my version of the Maison Martin Margiela t-shirt. I chopped of the arms and sandpapered the print to take off the shine and fade it. If you want to try this be careful, it's really easy to sandpaper right through the shirt. It could still do with going through the washing machine about 50 times, but I'm quite pleased with it. I still haven't decided if I'll wear it yet though...

Summer Inspiration

These two outfits are my idea of perfect laid-back summer style!

Photo Credits - Face Hunter and Garance Doré

It's not Luella

I didn't think it would be a Primark dress that lured me out of hiding but here I am, wearing my £12 (!) purchase. I'm definitely not going to be making a habit of shopping there, but I couldn't resist this little Luella look alike.

Topshop Sale

It seems very unfair that Topshop chose the weekend before I get paid to start their sale. If I'd had some cash I'd have bought so much in the shop yesterday (what was I doing in there with no money?!) the online selection isn't quite as good but I'd definitely be tempted by these.

Floral Skirts from eBay

These aren't quite what I was expecting as is often the case when I buy from eBay! I like the floral patterns but they are quite fitted and finish just below the knee with a little split at the back. I'm not great at sewing but I'm really tempted to make them shorter or something. What would you do?

DIY Paint Splashed T-shirt

Since I posted before about the paint splashed Dolce and Gabbana I'd been toying with the idea of getting a cheap t-shirt and making my own. So here it is. It was really easy and quite a lot of fun! If you want to give it a go too, I'd recommend using acrylic paint.

DIY Superhero T-Shirt

My obsession continues, it's bound to be something else soon, but today I made my own version of the Luella Superhero T-shirt.

1. I found a nice picture to trace.
2. I taped my tracing to a magazine and put that inside the T-shirt to trace, there was a lot of tracing involved! It also stopped the pen bleeding through to the back and gave me a nice flat surface.
3. I used a Sharpie marker to draw with. It bled a little, I had to be really careful and I'm not sure if it will wash, so it probably wasn't the best choice. I think it turned out OK though, if anything it might be a bit too neat compared to the Luella one!

Pale away

I like this seasons pale denim, seen at Alexander Wang SS08 (top) and filtering down to the high street at Topshop (middle). But before I rushed out to buy some I thought I'd try bleaching a pair I already had, after a couple of attempts they were exactly the shade I wanted. Here's how I did it:

Half a bucket of warm water with half a bottle of household bleach mixed in (mix it well before you put the jeans in)

I left them to soak for about 3 hours, but I checked them regularly. It's good to move them around and keep them completely submerged if you want an even result.

Once they were roughly the shade I wanted I put them in the washing machine with some detergent. Then after they dried I washed them again because they were still a bit smelly.

Voila! Perfectly pale jeans for the price of a bottle of bleach.

Please don't rely on my method if you want to bleach your own jeans, try here for instructions.

Before and after below...