Vintage and Spikes and all things nice.

If you've stuck with my blog for a wee while, you might remember this vintage Frank Usher dress which I purchased for a teeny weeny 3 quid at a flea market.

Now, there were a couple of bummers with the dress: one was the length - too short to be maxi on 5"7 me (even in flats) but too short to be midi - the other was the weird high neck that crept up in such a fashion that I was afraid it would eat my face and I'd just be a body in a dress. I'll be honest, the gloriously Morticia-tastic sleeves (which split across the top and drape down the front and back of the arm) were a bit much for me too. So I bunged it on Dotty-Fionnula (my mannequin. Birthday gift - thanks mum!) and got to work.I needed a dress for work's Xmas party and fearing a High St "your dress is lovely, it looks familiar, oh that's cos I'm wearing it too" scenario, I figure vintage for a safe bet!

See how it hangs way above the floor? DF is about an inch taller than me. She's less concerned with the face covering potential of the dress. However, by this point, I'd trimmed down the crazy neckline and folded it in on itself. I'd also decided that I wanted to go spiky! So I got this in theTopshop sale for about £3-4:

And picked off the spikes:

Shit Topshop quality meant that, with a quick snip of the thread, they glue came away and they pulled off easily! First time their poor quality has paid off for me! The next thing on my shopping list was a set of shoulder pads which were a coupla quid in John Lewis (note how my dress is now close to tripling in cost!):

 Pin one end to align with the shoulder:

 

And stitch to hold. Then it's time to get those spikes on.

And done (yes that IS a glass of wine in the background):

Now, at this point, I need to ask you to really use your imagination. Y'see, being the half arsed and forgetful blogger that I am, I forgot to photograph a whole bunch of steps. In a nutshell:

* I picked open the shoulder area and added the spiked up pads in. My machine couldn't handle it so this was a hand sew job. Eeshk!

* The neckline still refused to sit right so I decided to, in a Groove Armada style, "get sexy with it"*, and chopped a mahoosive slit from the neck down to the waistline between the boobs. Bang! Quick hem and done.

* I also took the dress up to a demure midi length to counteract the full on boob action. I don't have a pic of that either.

The good news is that it turned out looking better than I had expected and I wore it to the party - yay! Here's the top half of it (shame - I had awesome shoes on too. Obvs.), along with my scary plum lipstick, spike ring and obligatory gin. Woo! That's my delish pal Magda to my right. Say hi everyone!

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*If that meant nothing to you, you may wish to listen to this song.

And done!

Yay! The dress I was making is now made! It didn't actually take all that long to do but was still fairly time consuming. I mean, fitting it around work, gym, a social life and (non existent) blogging, I managed to do it all in a couple of weeks. Here's the fabric:

A nice light white cotton is summery and who can resist little multicoloured love hearts? Not me! Plus, the dress is lined so (hopefully!), see through-ness shouldn't be a problem. It's not like I'm being photographed by pant seeking paps when I'm out and about anyway. Not yet.

Here's the fabric all laid out with pattern pinned on, ready for the chopping. This is the first time I've used this pattern and I find pattern and fabric cutting by far the most boring bit!

Aw, look at the sunlight streaming in my window!

Fabric chopped, it was time to set up my wee machine. My mum got my it for my birthday/Christmas a couple of years ago and it doesn't always get the workout it deserves, so it's been nice to have it back out again! As you can probably see, it's a John Lewis machine. I think it's maybe one up from their most basic ones and it has a few different stitches, it's easy to adjust stitch length, there's a button to make it reverse easily and it's easy to thread and whatnot. And, yes it was all sewn on that tiny ridiculous table!

And so to construction:

This would eventually become the skirt.

And these bits, gradually coming together, would become the top.

Skirt put together with lining on the outside. I did stitch some of the lining back to front (there's always one bit I mess up!) and had to unpick it and do it again. Luckily it was one long straight seam so didn't cause too much bother!

Here's the top all put together and just waiting to be attached to the skirt and have the zip added.

The pattern didn't have a collar on it - I just added that on. In retrospect it's a wee bit small but it's a learning curve, right? Now I know that I need to use a bigger piece if I want to do a collar again! The only other thing I'm not happy with is that the zip sits slightly funny in the bum region. However, I think this might be because the lining is slightly tight (darn thighs!). The skirt and top fit great which I'm really pleased about!

Here's the finished article:

I like that the back of the dress is a wee bit different - I didn't have the forethought to take a picture of it but the zip only goes from mid back down to bum height, then the top is closed either with a hook and eye or button. I went for a hook and eye for now because I was desperate for it to be finished but I thought about adding a non functioning button over it on the outside, just for show.

It's my first pleated skirt and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the pleats were to do. If you've never done them, I recommend having a pencil (or tailor's chalk if you're dead fancy) and a ruler - it really helped me to get the sharp lines right - I slid the ruler right up against the crease I needed to make, folded the fabric over the top and ironed. I hemmed the dressed last night while drinking champagne (OK, maybe I'm a wee bit fancy. Or maybe I won it at work.) and watching 'Far From Heaven' and wishing I had the know how to make amazing 50s style dresses as seen on screen. Still, I'm happy that this is a good start! 

Here it is on. Ignore the flowery Keds, socks and leggings - they're just what I'm wearing kicking about today! This is my excited and surprised face.

Belt: Miss Selfridge

Flea my pretties, flea!

So, technically, I know it's "Fly my pretties, fly!" But this post's about a flea market trip. D'you see what I did there. God, I should work in Marketing or something. 

Yes, my local hall has started hosting a monthly (I think!), flea market. They do all sorts of other stuff at the hall  (art fairs, exhibitions, drama-y stuff etc) and, thus far, whenever I've popped in, the flea market's been pretty decent. I didn't buy anything last time I was there but here are today's goodies...

Super cute little picture on a sort of brushed metal. Weird but good. And only a quid.

A purdy dress making pattern for 25p. This'll be great when I finally pull my finger out my ass and start the dress making again. It WILL happen people!

An Alan Rodin (nope, me either and I can't find anything other than expired eBay listings and an Avengers obsessed blog when I Google him either) skirt - based on the only stuff I can find on him, it looks likely it's maybe from the 70s?? If anyone knows anything more I'd love to hear it! I'm always intrigued to hear where/when random brands came from! The skirt is midi-tastic and will be great with some heels, a waisted belt and some coloured tights. It was £4, bartered down from £5. Yay!

And finally. Morticia Addams, eat your 1970's polyester heart out. This thing is freaking awesome! £3 for a full length piece of shiny amazingness. It's hard to see from the picture (and the black really wasn't up for letting me picture it any better either) but the sleeves split open at the shoulder and drape down the front and back of the arm. The waist is super nipped and the skirt full enough to flow over even my pear shaped arse. Look at the wiggly movement even in the picture. The only odd thing is that it has a weird high neck that's almost constricting - maybe it was some kinda fetishy thing. Anyway, I may adjust the neckline. It's by Frank Usher, who I'd already heard of. His website seems to be jammed with naff bridesmaid type dresses now. Shame.

Thank fuck it's tea time. I'm starving!

Sew what?

Hello all! I've been doing a wee bit of re-jigging things in the house, which you may be aware of if you've seen my shiny new old drawers and my, now, super tidy shoe closet. Bringing in the drawers was intended to save some space in the bedroom where our dressing table took up loads of room but offered very little storage. Plus, no-one ever actually sat at it, so the sitting space beneath it was where I ended up dumping all my crap totally redundant.

The plan was to Gumtree the dressing table but today, alacazam, inspiration struck! I realised that the dressing table could be ideal for sewing on! So through it went to our spare room, taking the space of an ugly TV table with a whole load of internet type boxes and wires on it (that can go on Gumtree. It's actually not that ugly just a bit 'Ikea' and no longer needed). And here it is!

Yup, the unattractive internet boxes are still in evidence but they're at least reasonably discreetly tucked away now which, by proxy, makes the spare room a lot nicer! (It was just a bit of a mish mash of crap before) All the guff associated with the cables is hidden away in the drawers. And look - my sewing machine (being shy under it's cover) is just begging to be used! The thing is, I actually find dress making very therapeutic, I just never find/make time for it. I plan to change this. Here's what else is knocking about:

My adorable sewing box that my lovely mum got me a few years ago...

Here are the goodies on the top tray. Thread, scissors, needles, tape measure, quick unpick (whoever invented this is a genius!) and plenty of buttons, trims and hooks 'n' eyes!

And underneath the tray lies yet more trims and trinkets, an abundance of gorgeous ribbon (I went through a phase of obsessive ribbon buying), pins, more thread, a cute Cath Kidston needle holder (another gift) and goodness knows what else!

This is the contents of my favourite drawer in the dressing table. It's one of those 'secret' drawers that might just be a strip of wood, so it's nigh on no depth to it, but it's perfect for storing dress making patterns and MORE buttons!

Here is the fabric that makes up the future dresses in my wardrobe! I have a cute dress pattern which I made a sweet purple dress out of but it needs a fuller skirt. I struggle to get the shapes right sans pattern (I think I need a freestyle dressmaking class!) so I need to get a pattern for a full circle skirt and I can then work that in with the top of the dress pattern - simple! There's more fabric underneath, including some gorgeous florals that it would be rude not to utilise this summer. Plus, using this fabric really helps with my 'money diet' (saving, saving, saving for holidays) as the only extras I might need to buy are lining and zips. Pah, who needs the high street!?

Half done projects! The mess of gold was an attempt at a dress that didn't go entirely right. However, I was working with flimsy dance fabric which didn't help. I think, if I can extend the shoulder it might work. All I want is to wear a dress that looks like gold tinfoil! It's important to have a dream peeps! Plus, there's at least one thing in there that's totally gonna work out - I just need to finish it.

So here's to getting sewing again! Wish me luck.

Humpty Dumpty

Now I may not, a la Mr Dumpty, have sat on a wall on Friday night but my lord did I have a big fall. Yes I toppled in a not particularly Naomi Campbell-esque style from the top of shoes #35. Red or Dead ones from schuh. Another cheeky wee sale bargain too! Silver lining and all that...

Look how high they are! Yes it wasn't a small fall, it was spectacular...and their lining isn't silver, it's pink. Lookee!

 

 

So what was it that caused the aforementioned perilous fall? Well, the wine may not have helped. BUT I hadn't actually had that much so I'm dismissing it. No, to my mind it was the lethal combination of running for a bus in the dark, cobblestones and drizzle. And lo and behold and drizzle my nizzle, lethally combine they did, and I plunged elbow first (and have the bruises to show for it) into the gutter. The wet puddly gutter. (It could have been worse - I stood in poo the next day). Oh mortification. And as if to make it worse, the bus I was running for drove past me while I flew nimbly into the gutter, pulled in at the bus stop, even though no-one was getting off or on, waited until I got to the stop and then drove off while I was alongside it! What a bastard! Pardon my language. Seriously though, he was a bigger shit than the one I stood in.

Look at the scratches on my poor shoes. Thankfully they wiped down alright. I love these shoes. I imagine Abba might have worn them if they (Abba) were chicer. They're a kind of watered down gold metallic leather, with a nice solid platform and a sturdy heel (that I so shouldn't have been able to fall off! I'm usually alright on a heel!). Here's what I wore them with:

 

 

I'm hiding here because I'm still pissed off about the bus at this point.

 

Socks: Urban Outfitter £8

Belt: H&M

Dress (which I've fallen a bit in love with - who doesn't appreciate a matching collar and cuffs?): Urban Outfitter £22

 

And that's my tale of woe over ;-)

Baby Bet rides again!

Yee-haw! So today I was going for this season's Prada meets classic Chanel, topped with wild beast for my look. All monochromatic and tweed and fairly chic and understated for me. However, fate had other ideas...imagine, if you will, this lovely dress:

 

 

With these absolutely delicious shoes (guess who figured out how to use 'collage' on Picasa today?! Me-eee!):

 

 

What a delightful look it would make. However, Primark's quality being questionable as it sometimes is, the dress has a dodgy zip. I really shouldn't have bought it (it's a size too big and has a dodgy zip) but I LOVE it and couldn't help myself. The zip wouldn't fasten when I tried it on but, a wee dab of carmex and some determination and up and down it was going. I decided if I could fasten and unfasten it when I got to the till, I would buy it. And charlatan that it is, it zipped up and down nicely.

NOT SO THIS MORNING!

So there I am, feeling smug in my sure-to-look-chic-ness bubble, on the dress goes and up the zip goes. NO IT DOESN'T. THE BUGGER JAMS AGAIN. And I'm hopping about the bedroom trying to get it up (ooh-er) and I have Mr Scribbler trying to get away for his shower, hoiking at the thing but it will not budge. Bastard. Mr Scribbler goes off for his shower and I try the trusty lip balm on the zip again but nothing. This thing is froze like ICE. It's as stiff as Wayne Rooney in an old lady brothel (apologies to the Rooneys. That's my second bad joke at their expense in as many weeks. If you will make it so easy though...). By this time, I'm getting grumpy, as well as getting a not very sexy sweat on so I decide to take it off. You better believe I was stuck! Worse than when I super glued my finger and thumb together. What a foo'! I had to retrieve Mr Scribbler from the shower to recommence hoiking, but this time the hoiking of the dress up over my head. Hot-diggity damn! I put on a clean dress and promptly pour tea down the front and, on account of all the dress antics, I have time for neither hair, nor make up and go to work looking like a tramp. 

 

The whole thing makes me chuckle now though. Plus, tramp or no tramp, tea or no tea, I got my enormous leopard hairy coat back from the dry cleaner yesterday so, ultimately, I did look a bit Bhetto (see what I did there? Like Bet Lynch? Though when you have to explain your 'joke' for fear of it not being understood it isn't normally a good thing) Fabulous. Another good thing is that I got my hair cut after work which is why it looks so freakin' good.

 

 

Coat - eBay

Dress - I made it. Yes I did - with my own fair hands.

Shoes - Topshop

Necklace - Accessorize

 

Look! Super smashing Swell hair! (I can't get these pictures to align themselves in a nicer fashion I'm afraid. You get the gist though, I'm sure - you're all very beautiful and intelligent). And tired make up free face.

 

 

Anyway, on to the shoes. Pair # 30 (wow! I just realised I now officially have more followers than the number of shoes I've worn. This excites me like a puppy who's just found his tail. Thank you for reading/following my blog. I appreciate it massively). These shoes, as above, are from Topshop and, following the dress dramatics, I was darned if I wasn't still wearing them as planned! They are gorgeous cream leather with black patent toe cap, heel, strap and platform. They're lined in tan leather and they're just stupendous. They're one of the most classic looking things I own and I've worn them loads since splashing out (by my standards) on them. I literally stalked my local Topshop stores trying to find them, as well as calling branches across the land (their stock organisation is HORRIBLE and they cannot tell you where stock might be, even if you're able to travel to the store. It's beyond annoying when you develop an unhealthy obsession) to try to locate them. Having been told they'd never have my size were out of stock etc etc, I popped on site one day to find they'd had an unexpected re-stock! Get a better system Topshop, you retail behemoth!

 

 

Time to go wash off my banana and oat facemask...

Behind enemy lines

Aha! You got me - I'm wearing Office shoes. You may or may not know, I work for another purveyor of shoes which, technically, makes Office an enemy. Grr! Who am I trying to kid - I'm a total shoe slut. I like it, I can afford it, I don't give a shit where it came from! And these cuties were only £15 in the sale so, really, I sorta robbed 'em.

So it's pair #17 in the big shoe wearing challenge. Making good headway. Here's what's good about these shoes:

Peep toe
Pink Metallic trim
Ginormous pink plastic heart
Star print

A-MA-ZING! I bought the other colourway first (for my wedding! You'll see them soon enough) then, bazing, £15 for these.

They're worn with:

Urban Outfitter's dress
Forever 21 tee
Star print Uniqlo leggings
Accessorize rainbow belt
And shit hair - yeah it looked wack that day.

Peep-a-licious!

That's all...

Does it matter if they make my feet, knees, calves and thighs hurt?

Well, does it? I vote for no, most of the time. However, I do have to limit the wearing of these shoes on account of aforementioned pains. They're lucky number 13 (13 is totally lucky in my book. I was born on Friday the 13th and I honestly don't think there's been a much luckier occurrence in the history of, well, history. Oh lighten up, I'm kidding. Still, 13 = good) in the great shoe wearing challenge and, look, look - they're soooooo pretty!


They're a wee Miss Selfridge purchase (good shoes, abysmal service. Reply within 24 hours my arse! Unless they're working on lunar time or something) and, on account of their weight, I totally tone up each and every time I wear them (can I just say at this point that Mr Scribbler is watching 28 weeks later and I've had to crank up i-tunes on my headphones because I CANNOT handle that shit. My nerves are actually up to high doe and I think I may be on the verge of a heart attack. Just think about pretty shoes, pretty shoes!!). Anyway, after that cinematic diversion, it's time to enjoy the shoes. Here's what I love about them:

• They're H-I-G-H! I'm 5"7 anyway and in these I come close to Mr Scribbler's 6"2.
• They have a lovely rounded point to the toe
• They're polka dotty
• They have a tremendous over sized bow on the toe (I'm a sucker for a bow. Before I chopped off my lovely long hair for my short do I loved nothing more than Blair Waldorf-ing it up in a hairband resplendent with over sized bow. They look kinda silly on me now, sadly)
• They have a platform. I LOVE a platform. And I ain't talkin' 'bout train stations.

So what did I wear with these lovely creations? I went simple with black leggings and a cute purple dress with fitted waist. Where did I get it, you ask? Ooh, I made it!! Uh-huh, I'm not just handy with the words! I dolled it up a bit with an assortment of brooches from Topshop, H&M, a vintage fair in NYC and an anniversary gift from Mr S. Speaking of Mr S, check out his handy shelf making skills to the left (to the left). He ain't just a pretty face.


Wow! Who knew the shoes would look just as good upside down!? Well, if you're gonna be kicking about with your feet in the air, you should do it in shoes that look good upside down...I'm just sayin'.
Time for some Ben and Jerry's.