Archive for November, 2009

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These days its easy to ignore the feminine florals we all know and love from our childhood years, what with the terms military, edgy and rock-chick floating about this season’s catwalks like some kind of contaminating disease. So here’s a little preview of today’s outfit – a cheeky rebellion towards the gothic blacks and metallics that contemporary fashion demands. Of course, a little modern twist had to be included with the addition of opaque tights, big, chunky black workman boots and my favourite woolly coat from Jane Norman which everyone else seems to acquire these days.
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Oh, and before I forget to add, the dress came from a little boutique called “Miss Butterfly” in Southampton. I’m pretty sure the boutique pops up elsewhere across the UK too; in fact, I remember first discovering it in London’s Brent Cross, much to the sheer frustration and annoyance of the boy, who could barely move my frozen figure which stuck, rooted to the floor, gazing at all the beautiful laces and pastels and silks and other girlie bits.
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P.S. I promise to write a “proper” post within the next week, but uni work is being a tad demanding at the moment!
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P.P.SMaddie, if you’re reading this, your entire wardrobe appears to be sitting idly in my front room. Please collect your beautiful garments before I find myself wandering around in your very lovely metallic green snood. I might just write a post about it.

So PixelatedBlonde.com hit its grand total of 100 comments last post, which might not sound like that big a deal, but I think it must be worth some sort of celebration, right? I’m now going to share some links to all the recent commentators of this blog in alphabetical order. Visit them all!
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- Alice @ Quirkyfashion
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- Amber @ Amber’s Mouthwash
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- Beckyxoxo @ Try to be stylish
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- ClaraSmiles @ ClaraSmiles
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- Carrie @ Courture Carrie
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- Dapper Kid @ Dapper Kid
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- Fashion Roadkill @ Fashion Roadkill
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- Hannah @ London Rose
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- Jeni @ JeniWren
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- Juliet @ Fashion Lolita
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- Kb @ I Want You To Know
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- M @ Mariel’s Castle
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- Pinkbow @ PinkBow
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- Sean @ Sean Canning’s blog
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- Sherin @ HiFashion
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- Wendyb @ Wendybrandes

PHEW!

In other news, coming home to the dreary dreads of Berkshire this weekend has really put me in the festive mood. Maybe it’s the decoration shopping at Marks & Sparks, the long, hot cinnamon bath soaks or the warming sight of seeing my living room once again; either way, it’s almost a month ’til Christmas and I’m rather looking forward to it.
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It might be too early to get away with hanging up the wreaths and stockings just yet, but that hasn’t stopped me getting into a right old flap about the Christmas shopping list. Can someone please tell me why Christmas lists always evoke feelings of such panic, fluster and general “ahhhh”ness please?
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I think the fact I find shopping for myself so easy contributes to my feelings of frustration at shopping for others. I just never know what to get anyone. In general, people are so hard, so difficult, and generally such a right pain in the backside to buy for. Unless it’s my dad, who’ll be grateful for anything that involves computers and unnecessary extension leads. Hi dad!
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Oh and guys, being a speccy-four-eyes and all, I feel I have to show you these gorgeous frames I’m currently lusting after. Santa baby, if you can hear this…!

Question time: Have you got your Christmas lists sorted yet? What are you lusting after this Christmas 09?
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COMING SOON: New post! Fashion influences: where do you get yours?

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One thing people don’t often know about me is that I’m a bit of a Buddha at heart. I like a bit of deep breathing, positive thinking and simple living from time to time, and I tend to feel a bit lost if I forget to keep up with the regular postings on ZenHabits.net.

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Now, I know you’re probably wondering why I’ve started to bang on about spirituality all of a sudden. And no, don’t worry, I haven’t gone completely cuckoo. I hope.

Instead, I’m going to bang on about the concept of fashion and living simply. The inspiration for this post came from a previous article over at ZenHabits entitled “How to live a better life with less”, as well as a little inspiration from the absolute legend that is Gok Wan (love him or hate him, you know he speaks the truth!)

You see, one thing I’ve always noticed about the fashion world is that it is filled with clutter. We swoon and rave over the latest must-have trends, labels and accessories one day, then toss them to the back of the closet the next. Over time, this clutter builds up to the extent that we struggle to keep ourselves organised, thus resulting in feelings of frustration, stress and even failure.
Now, I know it sounds hard to believe that a messy wardrobe can lead to such depressing feelings. However, if we all ruled out the excess clutter in our lives, starting with the contents of our wardrobe, we’d find ourselves leading much simpler lives, devoid of unnecessary decision-making and stress.

Our current obsession with celebrity culture has given us the illusion that we should constantly be changing our outfits from one day to the next. And we seem to try, at all costs, to avoid wearing exactly the same outfit more than once. This leads us to believe that we should always be buying more; more accessories to mix and match with, and more garments to experiment with.

Which is all very well if you can afford it. But the vast majority of us can’t afford to do that, yet we still insist on buying more garments than we can effectively manage.

One thing I have learned during my time at university is that there is no need for excess clothes. Whilst the likes of Ugly Betty and Devil wears Prada encourage us to believe outfit repetition is a hideous and furthermore disgusting sin, the mundanity of university life and the lack of storage space in my ghetto student room remind me that it is possible to pull off a billion zillion different looks with only a relative smidgen of garments to choose from.

So how on earth do we go about keeping our wardrobes minimalist, you might wonder? Well the answer is simple. Stick to the basics, and vary the little things. And now for a list on all the things one must own in one’s wardrobe:

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1.) A STUNNER ITEM
For females, this refers to one dress which fits like a dream. This could be either a daytime or evening piece, but it must look absolutely fabulous and be more classic chic than bang on trend. For me, my stunner item is most probably my silver and black sequinned dress.
For males, a stunner item refers to a beautiful suit, preferably tailored to ensure a perfect fit.

2.) A DAMN GOOD PAIR OF JEANS
We can’t live without a really good pair of jeans. Often, it’s worth investing in a relatively expensive pair to ensure maximum comfort and a brilliant fit. Indigo and darker colours are usually best as they are more versatile.

3.) RELIABLE AND IMPOSSIBLY COMFORTABLE SHOES
Whether they’re flats, boots or heels, these are the type of shoes you reach for time and time again, and could quite possibly live in for the rest of your life.

4.) THAT PERFECT BAG
We might own more handbags than we have underwear, but that doesn’t stop us having a favourite we just can’t live without. So forget all those other handbags you swear you’d use for “special occasions” and discard of them. As long as you have your classic bag, you’re all good.

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Now, it’s going to sound very hypocritical of me if I say my wardrobe doesn’t bulge with unnecessary items that would be better off in a bin liner outside Oxfam. but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to consider only shopping for staples and useful things next time it comes to garment shopping. After all, all that money spent on fast-fashion pieces which shrink and fade in the wash after half a wear could be saved and put towards something more useful and… possibly… designer!

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Question time: What are your thoughts and opinions on minimalising your wardrobe? Do you have lots of fashion clutter, or do you prefer to have fewer, but more useful garments?

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Posts might be a bit few and far between around here up until the end of November. This is due to a sudden influx of damned essay deadlines, but I will try my best to keep you posted at least once a week!

As human beings, we are all blessed with a sense of individuality. We have individual appearances, individual mindsets, and, consequently, this leads us to make individual decisions. Furthermore, this individuality is reflected in our sense of style, right from the way we dress up our dresses to the way we tie our own ties. This is, ladies and gentlemen, fashion.

Fashion is often interpreted as a “world of dictatorship” in which a string of designers and other snobby fashion elitists decide the fate of our wardrobes. Granted, fashion is, at large, all about trends and copying and stealing one another’s style. But this doesn’t make it a bad thing. And it certainly shouldn’t remove us from our individuality – not at any cost.

Through several years of careful observation I’ve discovered that some of the world’s best dressed are those not afraid to reject the idea of fashion as a world of vast dictatorship. (I’m well aware that I’m making the likes of Karl Lagerfeld sound like Hitler here with all this talk of dictatorship… but oh well).

First, let’s take Kate Moss: an international icon who’s dress sense has been rattling the rules of the catwalk for many a year. Her style is cool, effortless, and oozes attitude. There is little wonder, then, that so many of us want to be just like her.
The thing about Kate Moss is that whilst she oozes that “I don’t care” attitude which we all so lovingly admire, there is an underlying sense that she does care, which saves her from the disasters of looking too casually thrown together. And this is exactly where individuality and fashion work hand in hand.
If asymmetric dresses are in, no doubt Kate Moss will have worn one several months beforehand. Burberry, Balmain, Stella McCartney…. the clothes are handed to her on a plate, ready for her to add her own unique twists and turns.

Then there’s the more up-and-coming fashionistas of the 21st Century. Take Alexa Chung: slightly rock-chic, slightly girlie-girl. Once again, Alexa Chung is not afraid to add her own twists and turns to an outfit. Brogues, shorts, tights and chain bags – I say if we have anyone to thank for that look, it’s Alexa.

Lastly, let’s examine the look of someone much more far-removed from the likes of festival-chic. What about Dita Von Teese? Forgetting the poles and the underwear and the giant cocktail glasses for just a second… has anyone seen her typical outfit choices? Here is a woman who enjoys sophistication to excess – think 40’s dresses, simple courts and super-polished hair and make-up. Despite the latest fashionistas stating that hair and make-up should be “effortless-chic”, Dita remains true to her own.

This brings me nicely to the main point of this post. The common ground between these three celebrities is that they are all not afraid to express their individuality through their sense of style. They adopt and reject trends according to their own individual sense of taste, and it is this fact alone which results in feelings of admiration and often envy.

So how can we express our own sense of indivuality through our dress? Read on for inspiration…

1.) KNOW WHAT SUITS YOU
It’s good to know which trends suit you and which trends don’t. For those which do, take advantage and wear them as much as you can whilst they’re still in. This way, you won’t cross the line of looking too individual and furthermore anti-fashion.

2.) SUIT YOUR CLOTHES TO YOUR PERSONALITY
I always like it when an individual’s personality is reflected in their choice of clothing. This shows confidence, which to me is the most beautiful thing you can possess.
If you’re daring and extroverted, it would be a good idea to go for bolder colours and patterns. If you’re on the slightly more introverted side, however, this doesn’t mean you should stick to browns and boring fleshy tones. Wear what you feel personally comfortable with and what makes you feel good. This is how you know if your clothes match who you truly are.

3.) DON’T REJECT YOUR OLD FAVOURITES!
If it’s a staple, and it’s comfortable, and you love it, wear it. Whether it’s a pair of battered military boots, a classic handbag or a beautiful vintage coat, wear it. Just make sure you team it with something bang on trend to ensure you stay on the fashion-wagon.

4.) DON’T BE SCARED TO EXPERIMENT!
All too often it seems young fashionistas get caught up in the exhilaration that is finding their own style, thus forgetting to experiment with different trends. It is still possible to maintain a sense of individuality whilst experimenting, so don’t be afraid to keep ‘em guessing by mixing and matching your classics with other more daring garments.

And so there you have it. An unusually long post regarding individuality and fashion. Remember, appreciate your uniqueness as a person and embrace the beautiful trends which fashion gives unto us!

Question time: What are your thoughts on individuality and style? What do you think makes your style your own?

I know I promised a post regarding individuality and style, but due to a combination of too much story-writing (bloody uni degree) and general fickleness, I’ve decided to whack out a piece about this season’s most prominent staple item: The Checked Shirt.

Now, I’m fully aware the checked shirt is hardly anything wild and new and catastrophically inventive. In fact, I remember various fashion mags branding it the “must-have” shirt of last season, and the season before, and probably the season before that. Obviously this trend ain’t no flash in the pan, then.

Now, as far as I’m aware, the fashion books have always stated that a crisp white shirt is a must in any woman’s wardrobe. Fair enough, but I think it’s safe to say the crisp white shirt is hardly a “WOW factor” piece (unless, of course, it is covered in Shakespearean ruffles and lace and bows and other unnecessary detailing). The checked shirt, on the other hand, is so much more bold and versatile, from your typical black-and-red redneck patterns to your slightly more daring rainbow tartan varieties.

When I first decided I was going to jump on the checked-shirt bandwagon, I had little to no idea what sort of style/colour/pattern I wanted. I considered stealing the boyfriend’s Levi red-and-white trucker shirt, but, fearing he might notice, I went for a green and white gingham-but-not-so-gingham design instead. Where from? you ask. Why Primark of course!

I thought it went nicely wit my nails which, as you can see, are painted a gorgeous “Seabreeze” blue with No.17 nail polish, courtesy of Boots. Usually, I never go for green shades, simply because I never consider it to suit my pale complexion and yellowy hair. Certain garments can often change one’s perception on wearing certain colours however, and this shirt was definitely one such garment. Plus, I definitely feel like something out of Dukes of Hazzard now.

So what does one wear with the checked shirt? one might wonder. The answer: lots of things. Lately, I’ve been teaming my shirt with denim hotpants, opaque tights and patent brogues for a more smart-ish daytime look. Otherwise, I’d team it with leggings, biker boots and a leather jacket to keep in touch with my inner rock chick. Otherwise, jeans and high-tops make for a perfect country-casual (or country-caj) look, for both men and women. If you can think of any other inventive ways to wear a checked shirt, please let me know!

So, there you have it: this season’s super hot checked shirt in a nutshell. Will you be wearing yours this Autumn/Winter? If so, what colours/patterns are you donning, and how will you be wearing it?

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