Grunge Stripes | Nautical Or Nasty?

 

You may remember I shared one of my birthday gifts with you here recently an espresso set with the exact same print as the canvas tote above, slightly bizarrely I received this tote from someone completely different from their trip to Edinburgh. So why am I sharing this? Well to be honest I love navy but more for the way it make other colours look pretty, I think black can sometimes be a little too hard as an accent and I like the idea of making my nautical stripes a little grungy.

 

 So I'm thinking of doing a diy dye job on these new stripey trousers and tote in matching yellow or liac. I wanted to know your thoughts, obviously the idea is the white will become the contast colour, have you done anything simular, what do you think of my colour choices and do you think I should take the grunge plunge?!

 

MY #VERY #BERRY A/W12 COLOUR GUIDE

Have you been seduced by this A/W 2012 berry colours yet?The little lady above, makes wearing them seem effortless.
However lets not forget she's had a squad of make-up artists and stylists working round the clock to create her gorgeous very berry look! I've put together a little My Passport To Style colour guide on my blog of which colours work best with this seasons bold reds and purples for any skin tone.

1. Garnet + Palest pinks, look really pretty together. 

 2. Garnet + Mustard creates a baroque colour scheme, add a little velvet in the mix for texture and a lovely vintage feel. 

3.Plum + Silver create a pretty slightly retro feel for day time or evening, dark grey works really well too with plum as in this sofa makeover which I love.

4. Plum + Khaki make for a great casual colour combo, throw in some sky blue denim and your good to go. I'm planning on putting together a plum velvet dress with knee boots and a khaki army jacket and blue postman's bag to create a folk inspired look.

5.Plum + Acid Greens and Yellows compliment each other beautifully.

6.Lastly both plum and garnet look great with black, although an obvious choice, if you can, try wearing shiny accents of black velvet or patent leather accessories to give darker hues like garnet a lift and pile on the silver! Day time or evening it works! 

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Flashes Of Yellow

credit- safeoptions.co.uk

I have always loved the combination of yellow and pink in clothing designs, it reminds me of carnivals and Mexico there is an optimistic but unpredictable energy about this fun colour combination. An accent of yellow in place of white adds instant edge to black and is the perfect colour accent when you want to looked stylish and still approachable. 

Sass & Bide

Alexander Wang

Farah Khan

   

My Favourite Floral DIY Of The Year!

Take a humble cotton bud and dip it in your favourite colour snip the cotton bud in half and stick each half into a round ball of foam at evenly spaced intervals until each foam ball is covered. Spear your virtual flower head onto a long thin piece of green wood or plastic if you want more bend and then arrange your budget price exotic blooms in a vase of your choice! This is such a effective look, you could try painting the foam a contasting colour such as pink or yellow. Have fun!  

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Alphabet Chic



Liberty floral high tops

Y is for yellow, the colour of the brave and the bold, the colour of custard, daffodils, lemons and the middle of a crunchie. I like that yellow is bold and pretty, without being sickly I declare yellow the new pink!

Sunshine tote

Erickson Beamon earrings

Pasty Winter White? Work It To Your Advantage!

Hi Gals, I was inspired to write this post on this seasons colour trends after seeing Torie Jaynes striking Christmas confectionary - bird cage and houses all pretty in aqua and rose pastels. If your a sucker for romance like me, you have to canoodle with pastels this S/S season! Plus they really work for pasty winter faces so that's obviously a big bonus, that being said they look great against black skin tones too.

 Marc Jacobs managed to make his show for Louis Vuitton look pretty without looking sickly sweet, largely due to his famed use of modern fabrics, mainly plastics, ouch! As in Torie Jaynes Christmas display here, the trick is, if you do decide to mix pastels pieces together, is to be super stingy with using pinks and focus more on yellow, blues and fresh aqua tones, for baby soft pefection use soft greys along side your pastels, for freshness lots of textured whites and for edge shards of black to add a pretty punk feel.I had to share this photo with you from the Louis Vuitton S/S 2012 show, of Marc passionately kissing what looks like a very bored looking Kate Moss!!  

Sign up to My Passport To Style by email top right of this blog and win the Right Royal Handbag giveaway this January 2012, complete with red satchel, 3 pairs of leather folding Redfoot pumps, a cute vintage iphone case from Cloth Magpie and lots of other items for having a glam spring outing! x

My Passport To Style | Project Red Coat



pillar box red



Hi Gals, as you know red is a big trend this season. So I was thrilled to find a wool pillar box red and black velvet short coat with a gorgeous tux neckline at my local vintage store but I need to alter the puffed sleeves, at the moment the volume in the sleeves make my athletic shoulders look too top heavy and I want to change the double breasted fastening to a single button fastening to simplify the look and play to this jackets potential for a long lean look, the back of the coat also needs taking in, so it is more fitted across my back and less boxy, which won't flatter my hourglass shape.

I confess to being a blue girl, I love lots of vibrant colours too, but navy and grey which flatters my olive skin tone best, forms the basis of most of my wardrobe neutrals rather than black. When my red coat project is finished, I will be sure to share the pictures here on My Passport To Style, but in the meantime I have been scouting for some fresh ideas on which colours to wear with my pillar box red coat. I want to wear the my restyled red coat more casually, which is harder than you might think, red is a colour we associate with full on glamour so we tend to automatically accessorise it with a red lippy and heels. To my amazement there was very little on the internet on how to wear this autumn/winter seasons 2011 red coat trend, but as luck would have it, I happened upon a post on Pink Bow from the North UK, where 10 fashion bloggers took up the challenge to style the same red coat from Next.

 Paula from Pink Bow opted for a pink red of course! The other fashion bloggers look very glamorous in the orange red version (incidentally orange red is easier to wear if you have an olive complexion and pink red looks great on very pale skin tones) but I did notice that most fashion bloggers had opted for wearing this red coat with black tights, which is something I wanted to steer away from, simply because I feel it creates a more vampy evening feel.



 However Eleanor the blogger on the top left from Pretty Much Penniless has gone for a softer feel which I love, by breaking up the red using a lemon yellow dress and a large fur collar, the sheer tights Susie has chosen give the look a more casual feel and her combination of well chosen accessories and colours mean that the red is not overpowering her look.

rust colours ground  true bright reds

midnight blue accessories work well with true reds

 Bingo! Aside for the obvious colour choices such as red on red or navy blue or grey , I have decided to take inspiration from Susie's hair colour and satchel and wear rust and conker colours with my red tux coat once its altered, perfect colours to contrast with the black velvet detailing and they will soften the pillar box red for a more casual feel, I'm thinking a large flat navy tweed cap would finish this androgynous look off perfectly and I will wear my hair in a bun at the nape of my neck. Have you dared to wear red this season?

My Passport to Styles | Guide To Working The Timeless Monochrome Look

Hi Gals, heres a quick style note for you to bookmark, the monchrome tend is really easy peasy wearing, if you handle with care, soften the look by wearing silver, powder pink or off white tights and gloves rather than just black or white with skirts, dresses and coats. Wear make up natural and keep hair slicked back from your face either short, in a pony or top knot. Avoid hard starchy lines unless your blessed with Mad Men esque curves, blocks of black and white look divinely decadent when varying the texture of fabric used, mohair knits, feathers, faux fur, beading, boiled wool, leather and of silk.Here's a few of my favourite black and white picks. All Oasis, Far Fetched and Chelsea Doll.

black and gold ball frame earrings- Chelsea Doll

black and crystal swirl ring - Chelsea Doll

ivory and black lace shift- Oasis

black and white zip zag and check coat, slouchy style - Oasis



sweet sharp, dalmation spot cardigan- Far Fetched



 my felix the cat pumps

silk scarf V&A

   

Step AWAY From The Ice-cream Summers Over....

So meltingly pretty

light as a feather

whispers of sherbet

Don't be too heartbroken though, swap your cool ices for warm taffy moments

buttery and smooth

bye, bye little ice-cream van till next summer!

Till then dress in heap's of warm molasses, toffee and caramel tone's, like this earthy but chic combo from Zara, leather skirt and mohair weave sweater, all wrapped up with a sweet leather bow. Do you want to trade?

                                      Sharon x x x

A Non Pink Moment!

I looove pink, but sometimes pink can take over a little, it's a bit like chocolate, we can become a little too addicted thinking that feminine must equal pink, or sweet cravings can only be curbed with chocolate alone, I am very guilty of this one! We all have our own idea of what is feminine. I have rounded up some of my favourites for today.What are your feminine treats?

                                      

                                         Sharon xxxx

The Best Thing About It Is It's Almost Calorie Free Or Is It?

What did we do in the days before colour? I'm sure it was all very chic, viewing fashion in black and white, but It made me feel a little sad. I had a naughty impulse to give these gals swimsuits a lick of paint, perhaps just a few swirls of a rich blue and yellow, some tiny purple daisys ...

Colour conveys so many emotions and brightens the dullest day, of which we have plenty in the UK! The colour I miss most in the summer is red, it tends to worn mostly in winter. I cheered up when I realised it is still to be found if you look close enough, through out spring and summer in a variety of places!

The best thing about red is saying I love you, on any day of the year!

                        Sharon x