Cardigan The Home Of The Last Jeans Factory In The Uk, Is Back For Business!

As a British gal who is passionate about championing home-grown clothing labels that will help with the re growth of our industry in the UK and our economy, Inspired and proud does not come close to how I felt after discovering the man with what can only be described as a calling to bring the fiercely competitive industry of denim production back to its roots in Cardigan in the UK. Speaking as a fashion blogger, I feel the heritage, craftsmanship and ethics behind a label, can often be lost behind the gloss of fashion but I like Hiatte believe we have reached an important tipping point where the fashionable do care how and where their clothing is produced and are also starting to understand that the survival of our country not just the fashion industry, is dependent on are supporting the growth of home- grown brands here in the UK.

What better way to end fashion week in the UK than with by reinstating the production of jeans in Cardigan. Did you know women in the UK spend more money on their denim than in any other country? To find out more about the entrepreneur and his project, read Hiattes inspiring philosophy on business, please visit here, spread the word and support the project!

My Passport To Style | Matthew Williamsons Spring 2012 Collection

I'm thrilled with Matthew Williamsons exotic use of print and colour for his spring collection, how many designers would choose to flank the outer edges of a dress with flowers? They are usually always the main event on a dress. Did you every make one of those picture when you were a little girl when you painted and image on one side of a piece of paper and then folded in half and opened, but there was so much pain it bled into the centre, this print reminds me of that. His print has a beautiful organic feel. I think he may have sensed that the classic tea dress has been done to death! 

 Rich saffron and pale yellow damask effect print in a relaxed shirt dress.

Loving what I call a desert palette, burnt orange, dusty yellows and ochres and rich bronzes in his two piece short set. the flirty and decadent use of fringing, the architectual use of print placement is sublime. Mexican high society with a strong 1920's asthetic runs through Matthews Williamsons Collection for spring 2012 and I for one will be adding some of his collection to my scrapbook for safe keeping.

My Passport To Style | I Spy With My Little Eye Something Beginning With F

This frow fashion image is one of absoloute favourites from the week, it's like an old historical oil painting, in that you keep spotting new images and symbols and our left to ponder on there significance and meaning. I love how Charlotte dellal has elevated the overdone 50's pin up look and made it look so fresh and soft, loving her seashell art deco shirt print and her giant oyster shell hat is perfectly decadent for ocassion, she looks so comfortable her look does not look the slightest bit gimmicky . I'm also enthralled by the the guy that has been captured in the background, is it a clergyman off duty? Or a man sporting a short white roll neck and long black coat jacket to capture this seasons hot monchrome look that many are sporting this season?     

I had to chuckle at this tangle of back lace legging and cutout black leather wedges, which just make this front row snap look like it was uniform day on the front row, shame, I thought fashion today was all about pleasing your own asthetic.

Pixie Geldof looked in my opinion effortless and beautiful, loving her hair and makeup, she has great shoulders.

My Passport to Style | Marc Jacobs Brings The Great Gatsby Into The Future

Marc Jacobs - Sportwear inspired

Sheer stocking and fabrics

Dropwaist

Betty Jackson - snake skin chain

I really enjoyed watching Mark Jacobs spring 2012 collection, to sum it up, it was flapper girls gets futuristic; lots of sheer and shiny looks. Great cuts, elegance by the bucket load, drop waists, neat jackets, sharply pointed Mary Jayne's and cowboy booties made from plastic, with a transparent neck that elongated the leg so cleverly, he conjured up so many body lengthening tricks throughout his collection I was dizzy trying to keep up with them! It would take pages to unpack them all and one very large suitcase! Fabrics had the looks the look and feel of plastics, or may even have been the real thing, how you would wash them without melting them, who knows or even cares. The use of this material gave the collection a youthful exuberance which I loved. I swooned over his palette, an unusual collection of greens, cool sophisticated greys and mint green and warm caramel and acidic yellows. Casual pieces were smart and sporty with a distinctly 1930's tennis girl style.

I love it when you find an accessory that you know will slot into a next season range your excited by, this Betty Jackson chain by Jon Richard will do just that, grey snakeskin is the perfect accessory to work with Marcs cool mint greens, greys and silvers and those chic drop waists and cowboy booties!

My Passport to Style | Shares What It's Like To Contract Patchwork Fever!



New York Fashion week Oscar -De- La- Renata

Hi Gals, I was recently very ill with patchwork fever, the symptoms ( brought on by many hours of staring at vibrant 7o's inspired folk photo shoots in my favourite glossyy mags) are pretty, although rather nasty! It starts with your vision blurring the boundaries between print, texture and plain blocks of colours, till you become extremely dizzy with visions of hotch potch design. The next stage found me obsessing over how to transform a perfectly lovely patchwork quilt into a coat, I don't think the world is not quite ready for me looking Joseph like, at least not till pantomime seasons starts properly! The finale stage saw me feverishly cutting up every scrap of fabric in the house ready to patchwork into a creation and cloaked in the fall out of loose threads. 



So why not just give way and throw on a plethora of patch work layering as in the image above? The answer is clear in my case, at 5,6 I simply don't have the height to carry of such a large scale mish mash of colour and design, I would end up shrunk to Rumpelstiltskin like proportions, as well as considerably extending my girth, while vastly reducing my fashionable years.

So onto the recovery phase, how did I cure myself, easy, a quick trip to Etsy and the store While There Sleeping, where I found the these beautiful patchwork animals to coo over and reminded me that this trend works best on stuffed animals, beds and models on the runway.So next time you spy a patchwork master piece and start salivating think about what it took me to come back from the brink! 

footnote - fashionable years - like dog years only better!
 
images coutesy of broadwayworld.com, While They Are Sleeping and Oscar De La Renata

My Passport to Style | Edinburgh Hosts Jungle City Event

Sabine Roemer and her encrusted hornbill in Edinburgh

JUNGLE CREATURES UNLEASHED ACROSS EDINBURGH

Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the world and I am very fond of elephants, perhaps because they are a large part of my dads culture in Nepal, I love their solemn aura and the fact that they look so old like mature oaks trees, I met my first elephant on the streets of Kathmandu aged just three, my mum says I was completely transfixed. So when I discovered that talented jewellery designer Sabine Roemer was taking part in a new and very flamboyant exhibition in Edinburgh to help save them, I had to share the exciting news here on My Passport to Style!

Richly painted ‘Jungle City’ sculptures have launched themselves onto the streets, parks and neighborhoods' of Edinburgh and are currently making a Great 'Spectacle' of themselves in a bid to raise funds and awareness for their endangered relatives in Asia.

One of the pieces expected to fetch a significant sum for the Elephant Family charity is a hornbill decorated with feathers, pearls and a 383 carat ruby from Tanzania, which is set in a hand crafted sterling silver mask. The exotic creature has been created by German born goldsmith and jewelry designer, Sabine Roemer.

“I created this beautiful paradise bird with the intention to escape into an amazing tropical and colorful world through his eyes: set with beautiful crafted 383,09 carat Rubies from Tanzania”

“I have been enormously inspired by the people and work of Elephant Family and am happy to again be a big part of this year’s Jungle City. I hope through these beautiful art pieces we can build awareness for these endangered animals and make a change” (Sabine Roemer)

Sabine’s hornbill can be found in the Harvey Nichols store in St Andrew’s Square where shoppers will also discover a hot rod inspired tiger encrusted with more than 200,000 Swarovski elements by artist Johnny Rocket and a gold leaf ‘crocodile’.

Edinburgh is the first city in the world to host a ‘Jungle City’, event which is 100% charitable and has been organized to benefit the work of lead charity Elephant Family and six other conservation NGOs. Throughout September tourists and city dwellers alike can expect to spot 130 hand painted sculptures of some of the planets most endangered and extraordinary wildlife.

The sculptures will be sold at a glittering auction event on the 29th September at the National Museum of Scotland.

To visit the Harvey Nichols site for more details of the exibition click here   

My Passport to Style | Alphabet Chic R Is For .......

R is for  Raven haired, Red hot beauty, this layering of orange, red and Raspberry will be imprinted on my mind for the rest of the A/W 2011 season, thank-you Katie at What Katie Wore! 

My Passport to Style | Prada | Versus | Rachel Zoe!

Prada

I  was really excited by Pradas A/W 2011 collection, I love the fun and flattering use of texturing and colour in most of this seasons outerwear garments, but I'm not gettting this swim cap look and giant goggles, yes the accessories do look sharp with the matching nude collar against the black coat but I suspect the chin chic strap will not flatter less than 18 year old heart shaped faces, most of us need a little hair to soften our face or slim it down a little, when wearing a hat!

In contrast stylist extraordinaire, Rachel Zoes latest offering for QVC US, which is live right now! Is about as flattering as A/W gets! Her faux fur vest in grey,white and black is her signature piece without a doubt, the cut is sublime and the price is pretty nifty too, I'm guessing it will be gone within half an hour!

Rachel Zoe for QVC!

 

My Passport to Style | Woolmarks Got Me In A Spin!

reycycled bright wool pieces used to make a new knitted dress

National Wool Week seems the perfect time to feature this post. Woolmarks latest creative campaign, Fashion by Feelings, is encouraging bloggers from around the globe to write a blog or post an outfit onto the Fashion by Feelings Facebook site that reflects a feeling that they associate with wool, from beautiful to powerful and all that passes in between. In return for sharing your woolly feelings, you can win a weeks holiday to Sydney and a visit to Merino wool.

 This is the perfect project for me, wool is what I like to call soft armour, shielding you from the elements, cocooning you in its weight. Living breathing fabric that holds its shape and has real character. I love to see loose knits that showcase a hopscotch of brightly coloured stitches. Plus hand washing is very soothing don't you find?

Hopefully if I can crank up my camera, I can create a wool outfit image that will do justice to this awesome project by Woolmark, I'm so excited! I would love to see your wool outfit posts if you want to post a link here to one, do!

bright soft felt marbles

follow this link to find out more .....

My Passport to Style | Lost And Found | Torie Jayne Save The Day!

Hi Gals, LET ME SHARE the worst mistake my 8 year old self ever made was letting my mum throw out my conker brown leather school satchel, which would now be a vintage piece that would look great with my new red mac I'm planning on purchasing very soon. I love that the satchels simple smart looks mean that you can wear it to relax your outfit or build in some classic functional heritage transporting you to smart land.

Had I never hopped and skipped over to the lovely Torie Jaynes blog, I might never have discovered that I might be able to replace my long lost love with one of the above bright shiny new satchels from Bohemia in her giveaway! I'm feel a little less blue all ready!

However I do think I might need to trade the contents from my 8 year old satchel to things that are a little more fitting for my grown up self, so here are my trades for your inspection, what do you think? Did I make the right trades?







TRADING MY BANANA FOR THIS  VINTAGE ESQUE PHONE CASE

TRADING MY SKIPPING ROPE FOR THESE LIME GREEN SUNGLASSES

TRADING MY SHINY BROWN POWER CONKER FOR GLOSSY POLISH

TRADING MY YUMMY RED APPLE FOR A SWEET POLKA DIARY