FRIDAY FASHION: Record shop chic

The independent record shop-girl is an indie film style icon and an ideal style choice for this seasonal transition with ditsy print shirt-dressed in warm tones. Piecing together charity shop finds, hand-me-down jewellery, brogues or seventies mid-heel boots is achievable from most small high-streets. Style up or down with thick tights, gold accessories, and towel-dried hair. A pair of shades work well, rose lip tint and light mascara is all you need. 
If you can't get to the shops this weekend, or want a starting place, check-out the inspiration and links below.

1.

Weekend pick-up> Miss Selfridge £29; Peacocks (was £18) now £14; 

BHS multi-purpose recommendation (was £30) £21

2. 

Seasonal staple-buy> Motel 'Dara' jumper £45; 

Urban Outfitters dresses £48 & £55; 

 Label Lab at House of Fraser Was £65, Now £45; Motel  midi skirt £38

3. 

Big Spender> ASOS £85; 'Sonia' by Sonia Rykiel@Net a Porter £500 

& Karl Donoghue £1675

4. 

Accessories> Culture Label- Shabd Alexander£36; The Cambridge Satchel Company (11") £74; Office 'Bon appetit' £60 (wear with socks)

Enjoy! It's a bold look, but one you can really work for effect. An autumnal bit of fun, and for you teens of the nineties it is a comfortable nostalgic look for work and leisure.

What a find...LIGHTING

My picks for a stylish glow in your home.

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP, click to link):

B&Q Clusta 7 Light Ceiling Light Black £19.98 (was £30); 

Eco centric Curly Lamp Shade-  Regular £260.87; 

Antler Designs by John Marsh Price on enquiry; 

BootsNGus at Etsy Shop. Mason Jar Chandelier. $100; 

John Lewis Original BTC Coffee Pot Pendant £119; Soren Glass Ceiling Light, Lrg £150; 

Habitat photographic giant floor lamp £170; 

In The Woodshed  Vintage theatrical lighting from £400; 

Urban Outfitters Suck UK Book Rest Lamp Web Exclusive £40; 

Tu at Sainsbury's Diner Pendant 2 Tier Lampshade £30.

What a find...visit LOOK-SEY.BLOG's 'Treasury' @ETSY

Such a lot of beauty, hand-made and found. Here are some samples from the Look-Sey.blog treasuries of worldwide products listed on Etsy shop US (click to link). Etsy offers creatives the opportunity to profile and sell their work, and for us all to have an opportunity to purchase something a little less ordinary.

Look-Sey Loves...Fifties interiors: Scandinavian, Anglo and California cool

Look-Sey Loves...hand-crafted beauties

Look-Sey Loves...individual accessories

Please take a look at my current fav's. Lets encourage people who's desire is to make and source lovely things for the rest of us (but don't force us to smash open our piggy banks in the process.)

Friday Fashion> KNITWEAR REJUVENATED?

Element Eden Lariat sweater

Yet to be rejuvenated 

Today I purchased this, slightly sad looking Arran knit jumper. I think its acrylic though there's no label due to being hand-made. Although it is the traditional colour and a good staple item each aut/win I have dark hair and so am planning to dye it a warmer tone. In the style of my favoured housey progs that should work out as:


Jumper £1.00 + Dye £2.49
= Net profit of Pl£nty of seasonal wear
(this may not be a successful attempt at dying as acrylic is on the 'not recommended list for the dye types but as the song  goes LINK)


I'll let you know how it goes- consider me the hutch-dwelling road-tester.

Urban Outfitters £85

ASOS £35

What a find...other people's craft

I have more recently found great appreciation for the craft and hard work of other people. As my own work diversifies and I settle happily into this genre, I have noticed the discarded works of our neighbors priced at a £1 for an easy sale in charity shops and the like. 
Craft takes time, the name implies the hours of shaping, whittling, sanding, painting, varnishing, stitching, baking, weaving etc and that these home-spun projects have little value outside of the four walls they were made is a sad state of affairs. More value is placed on the plasti-formed coffee percolator and collectible bank animal they sit beside.
As such, I have enjoyed the harvest- and it is that. The place where trend and taste meet this quality available adorns my walls and I benefit from the hard-work and love of another for the object they held and the place it was to decorate in their own home. Surely the best sort of re-use- for it's intended purpose for another who was unknown at the time of production.


These images are if such finds in our home- some industrial crafts that 'had their time', some front-room preoccupations, a vase that looks gallery-worthy but no-doubt was a bulk b&b buy, and a few styling tips in addition.

Clockwise from left:  1 Floral tapestry, (£1 in frame) the candy-colours become contemporary with the frame painted matt dark grey; 2 this antiques centre clock was more expensive but a rare colour, lovely figures and gold hands it adds quality and colour (& loud ticking) to other items. Placed above the triptych there is a traditional format to these more contemporary images; 3 frames do not have to match- pricey items such as these should match in colour but materials and sometimes size can add to the talking point, broad white wood gives a gallery impression; 4 the vase (£1) struck me as a likely find at the new design fairs in London, the transferred design Anglo-Dutch applied on an incline, and the size of the vase are very contemporary and fun for the dressing the kitchen-table more traditionally; 5 the tablecloth (same price) has been cross-stitched with flowers and border- a time-consuming task probably for 'best' family use and I benefit here bridging the Scandinavian furniture gap with a little fifties suburbia; 6 the deer marquetry (£1) is I feel a man's contributing to my 'found craft', although not proven. I imagine a kit gifted and pursued as a diversion from the jigsaw puzzle of the time. It is lovely and gives a good 'lodge' feel in the winter months.

You will note a pricing theme, PLEASE re-home crafts, they offer value for money as much as clothing and books from the same shops because 20hrs work is far more time than the factory spends on accessories and you have beauty to discuss.

Late addition: just had a request for a close-up pic of the vase for some stitch-inspiration, here you go>

Extra: On pants...

Oh good, 

the Italians brought some glamma to the hammer.

You see, as a teenager

I used to watch athletics and think

'wow how can they wear just their pants on telly?'

and now

after watching several episodes of 

Snog, marry, avoid'

I think their big pants are quite modest really.

World athletics championships 2011

 

Friday Fashion> STYLE ICONS

Pick-up some style tips from the ace Metropolis reporter and Superman beloved Margot Kidder as LOIS LANE.

Hair: smooth with a flick and blunt fringe.
Make-up: Eyeliner, mascara, tinted lip gloss.

ASOS Soft handle cupro belted midi
£40.00

PHIX clothing £54.99

Mauro 70s Leather Boot

£90.00

£ 104.00 Sunglasses Shop

RAY-BAN CATS 5000 

JAEGER Tie neck blouse 

NOW £125-00  

The original Lois Lane look is so cool. Journalistic ease of style, on-trend midi skirts and feminine neck ties. The high boots are good for autumn/winter and leather-look jackets will be on the high-street again. It is an achievable look that builds on your brogue and chino wardrobe from Spring. 

River Island £12.99

Thursday Thought About> Protect our Waves

A worldwide coalition title that you may think is ever-so-slightly unnecessary, after all the sea and it's motion is pretty much constant, offering such stability, peace, beauty. However, this campaign is associated with the actions and economic choices that can cut-off decent swell and spoil a surf spot- a proven leisure-sports money-maker besides the free free-sport and stoke it supplies us. With success already in preventing seafront development, they seek to continue this work, with support to intervene where pollution from deforestation, farming and chemicals make a spot un-surfable.


Who is to say that a 'hobby' is less important than a hotel? What do the locals think when their choice and leisure pursuits are taken-away because the beachfront is sold or a decision is taken higher-up? How would you feel? The issue raises questions about the un-owned areas of our green and pleasant land. Apparently the only free-roaming land left in the country is in the Scottish Highlands. For those of you who have seen Far and away, the penultimate scene when Tom Cruise races for this little piece of heaven-flag in hand provides an ideal, how 'bout a race instead of a mortgage, yes please. Is there anywhere you disappear to that is free? There are organisations such as The National Trust who rent you the parking space for your wanderings, but aren't most of your secluded spots associated with a barren beach or hill-top? 


Protect what you got. We'll soon want to have our say if the digger stops at our hidey-hole, so help out Ireland, Spain and beyond by clicking-on the SAS link and signing the petition. Why not? Your argument may be that development creates employment and people will find somewhere else to surf so I say this: 

• Quality of life after your basic needs is scaffolded by those things that make you you. If what defines you is taken away, how do you find your smile again, an hour drive before work will cost the surfer and make money for the developer- can't be fair.
• Whether surfed or not, shouldn't the sea be clean anyway- turtles homed?
• ...1st come 1st served?

If you'd like to show your support in a visual and stylish way- you don't have to be a surfer by the way, you could buy a t-shirt by Finnistere who have teamed-up with SAS who will receive all profits. They are cool and bright and from a Cornish company. 




I speak as one who loves the sea, let's do our bit.