DIY Mullet Dress

I found this maxi dress in  a local charity shop for £6 and just couldn't resist the print. Unfortunately me and maxi dresses just don't get on. They are usually too long and even if they skim rather than drag on the floor I just end up tripping over them. Even worse, as this dress is strapless, just imagine the implications of stepping on the hem and ending up with the top around my waste, far too embarrising to think about!

Anyway, I have been seeing mullet dresses all over the place lately, I quite like the look and even more the practicality so decided to have a go at a DIY one. In theory all you need to do is re hem the dress in a mullet shape as desired.  In practice, with chiffon this proved a little more difficult than I expected and it go tangled and gathered in the sewing machine. Next time perhaps I forget trying to use the sewing machine and just do it by hand.

I wasn't overly scientific about the whole process, I just drew a line where I wanted the hem to be, then cut it and resewed the hem.

Here is the finished result. I decided to go for a shorter length and fairly subtle mullet as I wanted to wear the dress for a wedding evening do and didn't want it to look too dramatic. I am still pondering whether to use the off cut fabric to make some straps to cover my tan lines and give me a little added security.

I have seen some much more dramatic styles that go from maxi at the back to mini at the front and would love to give one of these a go perhaps for a Christmas party. A charity shop or old evening dress would be an ideal candidate for this project. Another mullet idea would be to cut and hem a maxi dress in an upside down v shape at the front and wear over a mini skirt or sew in a short panel of fabric at the front.

You can check out this post for some great celebrity inspiration. Pretty much anything goes from full skirts to minimalist straight skirts, chiffon layers and jaggety uneven hems. I love this trend for DIYing as you can be as creative as you like. I am also considering wearing this dress over a mesh straight skirt that I have for a slightly more edgy look.  Will share the pics next week if I decide to go for it.

So what do you think? Would you have a go at creating your own mullet?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Tuesday Treats - Vintage Inspired Shoes

I used to run a series called 'Friday Finds' in which I shared some of my favourite finds of the week including second hand, ethical fashion, vintage pieces and accessories. Sometimes I had a theme perhaps a particular type of clothing or a trend for the season ahead and sometimes I was completely random. I stopped posting Friday Finds because clashed with Fashion and Beauty Friends Friday (why does everything good seem to happen on a Friday). But I really miss sharing my finds so have decided to reintroduce the series with a new name Tuesday treats. Actually Tuesday is a pretty non descript day and I guess if we make it this far through the week, we could do with a treat. Any way enough of the rambling...

Today I wanted to share one of the most amazing collections of eco friendly shoes that I have discovered so far. I hate to say it, but it can be really difficult to find smart and more dressy styles eco friendly shoes. There tends to be plenty of choice of comfy sandals and boots but very little in the way of high heeled dreaminess.

Greenfit are a shoe brand that very successfully combine sustainability with feminine appeal when designing shoes. They are made from natural materials using natural mateirals and also feature very stylish wooden soles. The designs available from Spartoo include plenty of vintage inspiration from the thirties to fifties which makes them ideal for wearing with some of the autumns key trends.

Which are your favourites?

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Turn A Vintage Scarf Into A Bandeau Top

Vintage scarf - Oxfam

Skirt - Gringo

Necklace - present

With the slightly unexpected return of summer on the weekend, I decided to make the most of it  by turning a vintage scarf into a bandeau top. It just happened to be hanging on a scarf hanger in my wardrobe next to this maxi skirt and the combination of patterns was just too good to miss out on. The scarf is a large square. I just folded it into a triangle and tied it around bandeau stylie. This would be ideal for a summer hols outfit or for the beach. I just wore it for a BBQ in the garden.

Note to self, I must be more aware of getting such obvious sun tan lines!

I hope you had a great weekend. How did you make the most of the lovely weather.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X

Belated FBFF - Autumn Trends

I am really cross for myself with being so late with the post, so much for Friday, it is now Saturday. I wanted to illustrate the post with some outfits that I have made but as I have been having major problems with my camera, I have had to make do with what I could get and combine with Instagram pictures from my Iphone.

This weeks topic is Autumn trends and we were asked:
Name your five favorite fall trends and how you plan to wear them this season?

I don't plan to buy lots of new clothes for autumn as I already have so many clothes. Instead I will be trying to make some of my favourite autumn trends from clothes that I already have in my wardrobe, perhaps topped up with a few charity shop and vintage finds.

Animal Prints

Last week I treated myself to a Konad nail stamping set after I saw so many amazing nails on FBFF. I couldn't believe how easy it was to create a pretty professional looking nails. Here I have got zebra nails with a navy Barry M polish as the base. I also have a leopard print stamp so will no doubt be giving this a try soon.

As much as I love them, I know that I am not going to be able to afford those Prada snakeskin boots, I did manage to find this fake snakeskin clutch yesterday for £3 in a secondhand shop.

Dark Florals

Dress - Vintage

Shoes Irregular Choice

I am a big fan of florals and I don't see any reason why they can't work for winter as well as summer. I absolutely loved the florals for Autumn at Mary Katrantzou, Erdem, Paul Smith, Jil Sander and Paul & Joe. Florals offer endless possibilities for pattern mixing and I will probably get some floral tights to keep my legs both warm and flowery.

Plaid and Layered Jackets

Chanel AW11 - Image credit

Jackets - Charity shops

Jeans - Vila

Shoes - Melissa

Top - Dorothy Perkins

Tweed, plaid, check and Herringbone all featured heavily on the catwalks for autumn. I particularly liked the layered jacket look at Chanel. There are loads of these Chanel style jackets around in charity shops and I just happened to have a slightly larger sized one which fitted perfectly over a plain tailored jacket. The great thing about this outfit is that it is really warm.

Retro

Counting retro as one trend is a little bit cheeky as it encompasses so many different looks but I just couldn't choose between them. For autumn, I love all of the looks from the forties to seventies. I have a few different vintage pieces which I will be wearing. Yesterday I found this Laura Ashley cord shift dress in Oxfam for £6.50. I will be wearing it with boots or coloured and patterned tights for a sixties look. I will also be wearing pencil skirts with blouses.

I also managed to get this beautiful vintage kimono in the local secondhand shop yesterday, It just needs shortening a little.

Tunics and trousers

The final trend that I love is tunics and trousers. This is such a flattering and easy look to do. I will just wear a mini dress with trousers, perhaps one that I already have or one from a charity shop. Although most of the catwalk looks were quite minimalist, I will be much more likely to use this outfit as a base for showing off statement accessories as I rarely do minimalist.

So over to you, what are your favourite trends for autumn?

You can find plenty of inspiration from the other FBFF posts over at Modly Chic. Have a good weekend.

With warmest wishes

Ceri X