Sew Darn Happy

So last week I went to visit my friend Kristy in Didsbury for a little sewing party! Never sewn before but it's always something I'd wanted to have a go at. Considering my love of all things fashion, it seems like the natural next step to try and make some clothes of your own! 

I bought some material from a great shop in Manchester's Northern Quarter called Abakhans. It's literally like Aladdin's cave in there, hundreds of different kinds of materials, buttons, patterns, trimming. All you could possibly want to make your own clothes. They have bargain bins full of offcuts too which is where I got the material for my skirt from. It cost a measly £3.75!

Kristy showed me how to make a basic elasticated waist skirt, hemming the top and bottom then pushing through the elastic for the waistband. It was actually really simple to make. The material wasn't the easiest to sew and probably not the best choice for my first attempt but I'm pretty darn happy with the result! I love the colour, it's perfect for the party season, although I seem to leave a trail of glitter wherever I sit in it!

It's inspired me to make more things so I've asked for a sewing machine for Christmas. So watch this space, I'll be the next Westwood before you know it :)

Soph xx

AM to PM

AM // T-Shirt: Topshop, Skirt: Retro Rehab, Hairband:  Primark, Necklace: Urban Outfitters.
PM // Dress: Cow Vintage, Shoes: Office, Bag: Topshop.

Wanted to show the difference in my style from day to night. I wore these two outfits on Saturday. The day look is chilled out but still quite cute and girly which I like. Loving wearing headbands and bright lipstick at the minute. Hair is fairly messy with natural waves in it. You can't see but I'm just wearing black flats with the day outfit. 

Evening I've dressed it up a bit more, gorgeous vintage dress that I bought that day from Cow. Mixed it with matching pink stack heels from Office which are my fave ever shoes! Rarely wear heels so felt mega girly, hence the tights (don't want to look like a total WAG!). Hair was more groomed and straightened. I actually put graduated eye shadow on too starting with turquoise in the corners and fading into pink but completely forgot to take a picture! 

Hope you like it :)

Soph xx

Oxblood

Skirt and Boots: Topshop
Bralette: Urban Outfitters
Shawl: Asda (old)

So I didn't get dressed up in costume this Halloween but wanted to at least pay a little homage and wear something red so here we go! Wearing a vintage style bralette underneath my shawl which I'm completely in love with! You can't really see it properly so I've posted a pic of it on it's own - wanted one of these after seeing some of the models on the Urban Outfitters website styled wearing them underneath sheer shirts, just think they're really pretty and look a lot better than just a standard bra. They are however, rather see through! So had to wear something over the top. Dug out this black shawl that I managed to find a couple of years ago in the Asda sale of all places! I think it was only a fiver, bargain. Looks really ornate and vintagey though which I love. Skirt is from Topshop, they've got loads of different colours in this style, they're a really good fit and mega flattering, think I may have to purchase more colours! Love the leather trim on the top too. Hope you all had a lovely Halloween weekend anyway!

Love ya,

Soph xx

Suzuki Streets Ahead

Dress, Boots, Socks, Bag: Topshop
Trilby and Necklace: Topman

So a couple of weeks ago me and my friend Liz got style scouted whilst out and about in Manchester on behalf of Suzuki Street Style who are sponsoring the Clothes Show Live this year. We got invited to go to the Trafford Centre and talk about our style to passers by in exchange for a pair of Clothes Show tickets so we figured why not! It was hosted by Jeff Brazier and a celebrity stylist. Anyway, here's what we wore...I'm wearing a Topshop dress, I really love it, it's pretty casual but really comfy and easy to glam up with heels and accessories etc. Liz is wearing a see through maxi skirt from Debenhams, a leopard print top from Topshop and then an old, vintage gilet over the top that was her mum's in the 70s! 

Soph xx

Faux Fur Fabulousness!

Coat and Boots: Topshop

Just a quick one to show you my amazing new fur coat!!! Love it. So so warm and goes with everything. Of course, it was from Topshop. Bring on winter :) 

Soph

xx

Swagger Jagger

Ok so I've been a terrible blogger of late and not updated in nearly a month! Shocking I know. All I can say is that I will promise to get back to my regular postings from now on! Anyway, to kick things off, I thought I'd do a quick post about Topshop's new 'Swagger' heels. I think I'm in love. The shape of them is just the perfect heel shape, nice platform, heel not too thin and a gorgeous rounded toe. Not to mention the amazing colours, suede and glitter. I just want them all. Topshop really has come up trumps with the perfect party season shoe here. So what are you waiting for? Go and buy them in every colour :)

Soph xx

Harvey Nichols AW11 Show

Fetish Dressing

Apres Ski

Alexander McQueen dress

Nicole Farhi dress

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, my phone doesn't perform amazingly in dark lighting.

So last night I went to the Harvey Nichols fashion show, held at Manchester Town Hall. It was an amazing venue for it, really grand, and the organisers had put a lot of work in to make the catwalk and backdrop look pretty spectacular with an urban nature kind of theme going on. 

We had pretty awesome seats right at the end of the catwalk so had a great view of the models coming down the runway. There was a number of different collections, with differing themes such as Apres Ski, Fetish Dressing and New Androgyny. Each collection showcased pieces from various different designers, all of which were available to buy from Harvey Nichols. 

Designers that featured in some of the collections included Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Nicole Farhi and Roberto Cavalli. To be honest, I wasn't hugely blown away by some of the pieces on show, I especially thought the Menswear was quite disappointing. I think having been to Graduate Fashion Week in June, where a lot of the pieces were very conceptual and abstract, it was hard to be equally as enthusiastic about more traditional pieces. Saying that, there was some gorgeous tailoring on show, and I really liked one of the dresses in the Fetish Dressing collection (picture above). 

This was the first real fashion event I'd been to in Manchester (I'm used to having to travel to London for them) and I did really enjoy it. It was a great atmosphere and nice to be among like minded people who have an equal passion to my own about fashion. I've always thought that Manchester was lacking in good fashion shows, so it was really nice to go to one that was organised well. 

In the future, I'd really like to see independent retailers and organisers developing catwalk shows, possibly in conjunction with some of the Universities around the area providing fashion courses to inject a real sense of innovation and creative flare. Organisations like Manchester Fashion Network are a real asset to the city and do organise networking and informative events for those working in the industry - it'd be great if they could extend their reach and start to organise more large scale catwalk shows throughout the year. I think there'd be a real market for it here and help to establish Manchester as a reputable creative hub for Fashion outside of London. I do however, realise large scale shows are extremely expensive to put on, one of the main reasons I fear, has prevented this from happening already. But hey, a girl can dream...

All in all I had a fab night, it was a brilliant atmosphere and a really different night out in Manchester. Bring on the next one! 

Soph xx

Oscar de la Renta S/S12

 

All pictures from WWD 

A selection of pieces from the Oscar de la Renta show. My favourite has to be the Victorian style red velvet dress with white lace collar and ornate necklace, simply stunning. The whole collection is extremely diverse with hints of several different eras coming through, the big frizzy hair clashing with the prim, lady-like dresses is a brilliant juxtaposition. I've always loved de le Renta for his unadulterated flamboyance, and although this was still there at times, I think his understated, elegant pieces are what makes this collection possibly his best yet.

Soph xx

Preen S/S12

All pictures from Topshop's Inside Out Blog.

OMG. I think I'm actually in love with the new Preen collection. The sorbet coloured grid prints are simply stunning when combined with the frilly collars and lace detailing. I need this in my life. Now. 

Soph xx

Disco Nails

Just a quick one to show you my disco nails. Both Barry M in Berry and Silver. Thought it looked pretty cool!

Soph xx

Topshop Wishlist

   

 Went on a huge Topshop browsing mission and now want pretty much everything on their entire website. This is a selection of my WANTS. Some (or all) of them may become NEEDS in the not too distant future...

Soph xx

Bank holiday...

Playsuit: Pop Boutique
Dress: Cow Vintage

Had a brill bank holiday, went out 3 nights on a row! First time I've done that in ages, think I'm getting a bit too old for it as I feel soooo tired today. Here's a couple of the outfits I wore over the weekend. In love with this dress, another cow vintage buy...it's a bit too big around the collar so had to improvise with a brooch to keep the shoulders in place. It's so 80's though I love it! Power Shoulders! Playsuit is really cute too, can't really tell from the picture but it has a gorgeous white lace collar. Wore it with my trilby as I felt a bit Hamptons-esque without it! 

Highlights of the weekend was seeing Jensen Button race around Manchester city centre in a F1 car, the sound was sooo loud, really impressive. Other highlights include seeing The Inbetweeners movie finally, having the most amazing American pancakes at the Sugar Junction for breakfast on Monday and dancing the night away on Saturday at my friend's DJ night. Good times all round :)

Soph xx

Tuxedo Chic

 

Loving the androgynous tuxedo style seen on a lot of the runways for AW/11. It's such a smart, sophisticated look yet still really sexy and powerful. Definitely going to try this out for an alternative night out look. Wear with heels and bags of attitude.

Chorlton Jaunt

Blouse: Cow Vintage
Skirt: Retro Rehab
Brogues: Primark

    

As part of the #ILoveMCR campaign currently running in Manchester as a reaction to the riots, the Metrolink was free to use on Sunday to encourage people to come into the city centre. As I already live in the centre, I thought I'd take the opportunity to try out the new line to Chorlton and visit the suburbs for the day. We visited a gorgeous little cafe come record shop come book stop called 'On The Corner' and had a milkshake then had a great Sunday roast at The Parlour on Beech Road. This place is renown for it's roasts and it didn't disappoint. 

I'm wearing a gorgeous turquoise silk shirt from Cow Vintage that I picked up in their sale for just £3! Skirt is from one of my favourite vintage shops on Oldham St in Manchester's Northern Quarter called Retro Rehab. They have some absolutely amazing stuff. 

Hope the picture of the roast doesn't make you all too hungry!!

Soph xx

                                                                                                     

And So It Begins...

Shirt: Cow Vintage
Skirt: Cow Vintage
Sandals: New Look
Necklace: Primark (old)
Nails: Barry M in Berry I/C

My first proper outfit post! A long time coming...apologies in advance for the dodgy photos and hair, I think I underestimated how hard it is to actually take decent pictures of yourself! I will, I hope, get better as the weeks go along! Went to Birmingham this weekend to see my best friend from University and paid a visit to Cow Vintage there. Won't go into detail about it in this post as going to do another one dedicated purely to that but just wanted to show a couple of the things I got put together for my first outfit :) Loving pastels at the minute, actually had to wear an under skirt with this skirt as it's quite see through, that combined with the colours made me feel uncharacteristically elegant and ladylike! Anyway, hope you like...here's to many more outfits to come :)

Soph xx