Bloggers I love! - Haru in Wonderland - The Agent of Anarchy

Enough about me and what I've been wearing, here's a post about another one  of my favourite fashion bloggers. I first found this blogger when I joined Asos Fashion Finder over a year ago, she was a regular personal style poster at the time and I loved her look, although like me, she has not used Asos Fashion Finder for a while, I personally do not use it as much as the process is very long winded with minimal results. Perhaps this is the same for Haru.

As her name suggests Haru in Wonderland is (even more) obsessed with Japanese street style and Harajuku girls than me, she is originally from Prague and currently studies Japanese at Oxford University. Like Susie Bubble, she has a quirky, personal look all of her own, Haru mixes Harajuku girl Kawaii, goth punk, 1960s retro and street style into a cute but dark melting pot of style. She is tiny and looks like a doll, very Twiggyesque. I am like a big giant next to her (I would imagine) but I love this girls style. Here are some of my favourite looks from Haru's blog 'The Agent of Anarchy'. There were so many to choose from!!

Check it out here for more looks http://wonderlandharu.blogspot.co.uk 

Oh! Did I forget to mention Haru is obsessed with the fashion label BOY, you may have noticed! If she isn't getting sponsored by BOY she really should be, she wears it well!! I just went on the BOY website, very image heavy, I feel some Pinterest pins and a new post coming on! 

All images courtesy of  http://wonderlandharu.blogspot.co.uk/ The Agent of Anarchy blog. Thanks  for the inspiration Haru in Wonderland. I love your blog!!! xx

Thanks for reading.

ND xx

No Debutante - Get Lucky

Here's today's personal style post featuring two more outfits from the past week worn whilst I was in Bournemouth. The first outfit features a bit of double denim and the photo was taken in the coolest Retro kitchen display in Poole Museum and I wanted most of it's contents for my new kitchen!! It was pouring with rain outside so the museum seemed the best choice of activities and we had already visited Bournemouth pier and seafront the day before in the glorious sunshine. The lighting was a bit poor in the museum so we only managed to get one un-blurred usable photograph of the double denim outfit!

The second outfit was worn on the day we were coming home but detoured through Moors Valley Country Park and ended up staying there for hours, I was not really dressed for the occasion and ended up piling on the layers and changing my shoes as a pretty dress and studded pumps didn't really suit a walk in the muddy woods! The kids loved it there and it was great to spend all day outside. If I get time I will try and do a lifestyle post on our time in Bournemouth as we have lots of great images of the kids climbing trees and having fun on fair rides whilst I carried the coats....When did I become that person??

After the personal style images I will let you know about the cool news that I received from the WIWT site.

So, after joining less than a week ago, on Tuesday I received an email from WIWT.
Basically, I have won an Editors choice award and my winning outfit is currently appearing on their home page, with a selected few other personal style pics, as one of the Favourite outfits of the day!! Check out the site here http://wiwt.com/outfits/ and check out my outfits and follow me here http://wiwt.com/user/NoDebutante/ Now go get yourself signed up to WIWT so I can see your outfits too!!
 I Love WIWT!!! Here's the winning outfit below. I am right happy!!.....and clearly now addicted to WIWT!

I shall hopefully catch up with my personal style pics by tomorrow so have a good evening and I'll see you then.

 

 Thanks for reading, following and generally being there and Thanks WIWT for making me so happy!!xx

 

ND xx

No Debutante - Bournemouth Rock

I am currently in the process of finding the best way to create blog posts on the go, using my smart phone. Since I have joined Instagram and the newly found (thanks to fellow blogger Sian from Style With Friends) WIWT (What I Wore Today) both of these Apps allow me to instantly crop and post my outfit pics moments after I have taken them. I am supposed to be able to do this on Blogger but, I am not having much success as the images appear to take forever to upload and also you cannot crop images on Blogger or choose where you want them to go. I probably need to check out some info sites to find out more tricks and shortcuts to do stuff using a Smart phone but everything seems so much more complicated using the Blogger App than using Instagram or WIWT. It just isn't instant enough! I need to get used to using my blog as an instant tool rather than a more planned out and designed written piece of work. Although I do prefer to spend more time on my posts there are two reasons to be able to create easy, instant blog posts.

1) I do not have enough time for the longer detailed posts every day

2) I get so much more positive recognition and interest from both Instagram and WIWT on my daily personal style outfits over my blog and Pinterest put together.

The conclusion is that I will continue to write the more detailed blog posts but when time is short or when I am out and about, an instant post is deffo the way to go!

The following outfits were worn over the Bank Holiday weekend in Bristol and Bournemouth here in the UK. There was a lot of travelling and rushing about involved so I went for casual looks with lots of denim!! I am showing you two of the looks today and two more tomorrow. I did attempt to post this yesterday evening (whilst staying with friends) on my Smart phone with not much success!! More practise is needed....and a more efficient App!! 

 Find out more of what I have been wearing and some exciting WIWT news tomorrow!! Don't forget to check out my Instagram and WIWT posts (links on my blog homepage) for instant daily looks from me, No Debutante!!

Thanks for reading and hello to my new followers xx

ND xx

No Debutante - Upfest

Yesterday, was a good day! My lovely friend and fellow blogger Selena came to visit and the sun was shining! As I had mentioned in the previous post there were four festivals on in Bristol this weekend, we chose to go to the free street music and art festival Upfest and started at Dean Lane skate park where there were graffiti artists creating live art displays to a soundtrack of old school hip hop and dub which was blasted out from a live DJ soundsystem. My kids particularly enjoyed playing in the highly graffiti'd skate bowl as you will see in the photographs below. After a brief meet up with my brother Mike in a rather packed pub and viewing various bits of live art, Phil took the children home and Selena and I hung out in the city, we discussed blogging, kids, fashion and generally laughed a lot. We ate good food and drank in various cool Bristol hangouts before heading back to babysit swap with Phil who was playing at Upfest with his band The Relay Rips. I had so much fun, thanks for visiting Selena, I miss you already!!

I couldn't decide on my outfit for the day and went for a rockabilly 1950s vintage look in the end. I was under strict instructions by Selena that I must not wear platforms, only flats, as (in her words) I am already ten foot above her,  so I didn't wear my creeper wedge (ridiculous) boots and wore my animal print Converse instead. I wore these with my vintage Americana dress from Topshop and my pink headscarf and was delighted to see that Selena had gone for a vintage rockabilly look too with big hair, big sunglasses, a lovely printed dress from River Island's Vintage range and some baseball style boots. It did look like we had asked each other what we were going to wear which was pretty funny but this is why she is such a good friend!! We even had photographers taking photos of us at Upfest, like we were wearing costumes, which we thought was funny. At last we are Harujuku Girls!!

Look at little Sylvie's outfit, I fell in love with this cute printed tshirt, bloomers and heart knee leggings all from H&M. Sylvie had great fun running around the bowl with her brothers!

All photographs taken by my husband Phil.

Thanks for reading!

ND xx

No Debutante - MaxiMum

I'm very excited as it is only one sleep until my dear friend and fellow blogger Selena ( aka Dilly Foxtrot Investigates - find her fantastic childrenswear blog here http://dillyfoxtrot.blogspot.co.uk/) is coming to stay this weekend. Selena is a children's wear designer / blogger , Pinterest obsessive, sista fashionista and general inspirational lady (who also has three kids including twin girls - well done to her!!). I love to hang out with Selena chatting about all things fashion, kids and taking trips down memory lane back to our time spent together on alcohol fuelled nights in Leicester, before we managed to have six kids between us!! What????

I am looking forward to a bit of browsing around shops, taking photos, perhaps a visit to one of the four festival (yes, four festivals) to watch some bands and live art shows that are happening in Bristol this weekend, some good food, wine and fashion inspired chitty chat! Phil's band The Relay Rips are playing a gig at the Upfest Festival later on in the evening so Selena and I will end up back at my house, for more wine. food and babysitting - this was not supposed to happen but somehow Selena's visit had been double booked (Phil's / The Relay Rips fault) with one of Phil's gigs!! 

Today I wanted to wear my maxi skirt, it is freezing in Bristol with a cold wind, not the best day for no tights and crop tops. I love my boxy, vintage, denim jacket, god knows where it came from, I found it in our attic - we have many treasures like this in the attic as we are shocking bad hoarders which sometimes works out well for us!! The jacket probably came from a charity shop find during the 1990s but I'm not really sure if it is mine or Phil's. My adorable little Sylvie Belle has joined me in this photo shoot, she is too cute!!

 It was my last day at work today for a week, so I am looking forward to some holiday fun starting with Selena's visit! 

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading kids!

ND xx

No Debutante - Terminal Preppy

I have a dress for the wedding!! I found it in the first and only shop I went in, which was an unusual choice for me, the perfect dress is from.......Zara!?! I am not going to reveal the dress until the day of the wedding (that's just over two weeks) but I will reveal that the dress is floral, has an open back and has a flippy skater skirt, it is a very similar shape to the Topshop dress that I already own and it has pockets! Phil, thinks I am obsessed with pockets, I had to text him to tell him about the pockets whilst I was stood in the (very long) queue paying for the dress. It's all very exciting! I also got a pair of silky sportsluxe floral shorts for my hols, so I am feeling rather happy with my shopping successes.

Here's today's outfit, I wanted to wear my tapered jeans from Japan and the rest of the outfit followed. It's a bit of a 1950s preppy look dragged through the 1980s and into the present day, that's covering three decades in one outfit! Nice!

 Right, that's the dress sorted.......now there really is the problem of the accessories......Oh Jeez!!!

Thanks for reading my blog and watch this space to see what happens next.......Do I need new earrings?........Which shoes?......The wedding outfit saga continues........

ND xx

No Debutante - Put on that dress

Today I started my 'find a dress' mission, there was nothing to be found in the Topshop store, as the website research predicted, I have found myself browsing high street shops that I never really go in, I am getting desperate! I know I have two fall back options at home so this dress obsession isn't totally necessary, but I will never turn down the chance to buy a new dress......and shoes.......maybe a bag??

Today, I have gone a little bit girlie and cute in pink and florals for the office. I have chosen to wear a crop jumper, on a day that actually ended up being pretty warm, you can't pre-plan your outfit here, of course, I was wearing my usual layers so I could shed them if I got too warm, good ol' layers!! I wore my floral Topshop playsuit as shorts with the crop pink jumper and accessorised with a top knot and my studded Topshop pumps. Not an outfit I have put together before but the end result was quite pleasing. See what you think.

 Now back to designing my new 1950s Caravan Diner Kitchen.....Me....No Debutante....sat at home in the evening with nothin' much to do but watch TV??.........Never!!!!! Always have  a project or 50, that's my motto!!

I hope I have more success finding the perfect dress tomorrow!

Thanks for reading my blog! Let me know what you think!

ND xx

No Debutante - White Wedding

I spent ages yesterday evening trawling through websites to find a dress or at least some inspiration for a dress to wear to my sister-in-law Dawn's wedding. With less than three weeks until the big day, I have to admit, I am struggling! As much as I love buying new clothes and creating outfits, I am out of my comfort zone with formal wear and the etiquette that goes with it, a biggy for me is - Do not stand out (too much) in the wedding photographs, I always dress to the extreme and having to reign it in is a challenge!!

 I feel a little uninspired since I am not just purchasing an outfit because I really like it,I am now buying it in desperation!! There is lots of pressure to find this outfit within a couple of weeks, why didn't I look for it sooner?? Well, as you know, us fashionistas are a fickle bunch and I would probably have gone off the outfit by the time I had to wear it. Where's the logic here? There isn't any! 

I did consider another Vivien of Holloway dress but I already have two (one being my own wedding dress)and I can't wear my wedding dress to my sister-in-laws wedding! 

You can see I'm having a fashion dilemma here, so, I opted for good ol' Topshop to help me through this hard time, only to find that the one dress I liked, I already have and it isn't very wedding like, but then, neither am I! Perhaps I shall go with this dress then???? 

But, I want a new dress (stamps her feet like a spoilt child)!!! 

I have decided to go on a search for a dress during my lunch break from work, I am always up for shopping!! I shall keep you updated on my wedding outfit progress and shall hopefully have a new dress for the wedding!!

Here are today's personal style pics, they have received two likes from complete strangers on Instagram this morning, which pleases me. This techno-doofus is getting the hang of all this hash tag malarkey! Now to get that Instagram widget up on the blog! 

I have actually managed to wear my leopard print Dr Martens today, I've had them ages and only worn them once!! Still on the skinhead style inspiration, I've paired them with my American apparel sports socks, oversized denim cut offs and my Specials t-shirt. I went for a bit of backcombing in the hair today worn with a pink head scarf.

All images and styling by No Debutante

Thanks for following!

NDxx

No Debutante - Hot in the city

Today is a school run day and my eldest son, Lucian, had a fashion faux pas this morning, he was all dressed up in his basketball kit for sports week but to his horror, no other kids were, poor chap! He took it on the chin though and his Dad did run some spare school uniform in for him, just in case he wanted it. Lucian’s friend Max had also done the same thing but they were the only ones! It can be devastating for a kid to not be the same as everyone else, even though I seem to go out of my way to not ‘fit in’, I remember it well. On this occasion I blame the school for not giving out definite info on how they should dress. 

Today’s look is pretty tough, I’m still getting influences from skinhead style wearing Dr Martens with white sports socks, rolled up leopard print leggings and my denim waistcoat, It was actually raining when we took the photos so I am still wearing a coat everywhere I go! It’s no wonder I don’t know how to dress when I am in a hot country, I’m simply not used to not having to wear loads of layers!! I will try and put some research into what to wear this year as most of my outfits are not really for the beach and I stand out, but not in a good way – who’s conforming now??! I guess I have to be honest with myself, my look is very much edgy, street style, I belong in the city, bohemian, I am not. I look wierd in the countryside for god sakes let alone fitting in on a beach!! Please come soon Ibiza holiday, I need the beach.......and some holiday fashion inspiration fast!

 Can you imagine this look on the beach?? I didn't think so!

Thanks for reading!

ND xx

No Debutante - Art Rock

Last night I DJ'd and danced (a lot) at my club night Bang. There was a great atmosphere and I love it when the crowd are really up for dancing and cheer when you put a certain record on and cheer again when the record ends, it was one of those nights last night and certainly makes all the efforts (and stresses) that go into putting an event on worthwhile!!! 

Luckily for me, my good friend and hairstylist Vikki Mac was our babysitter for the evening so I got a fabulous new look before I got to the club, I totally recommend using hair stylists as babysitters!! Vikki Mac is used to me asking her for a new look when she babysits and always has a thousand ideas, which I love! Thanks Vikki Mac!! You Rock!

The look for the evening is a mish mash of  a rockabilly, skinhead and cartoon character which pretty much sums me up for the evening retro tough and day-glo cute!

The second outfit is from today, my hangover outfit I should say, surprisingly I did not have a hangover which I am still a bit smug about! We managed to pop over to the Arts Trail that my good friends Jodie and David (aka Peskimo) were taking part in, they turn their front room into a small art gallery/ shop and anyone can come and view the art and hopefully buy it too! I love Peskimo's style, very Japanese influenced and cute, we already own a few Peskimo prints and purchased more today ( I feel a Peskimo post coming on) and the boys got some cute character keyrings, which they love. Thanks for the art Peskimo!!

Let's get on with the images, I have lots to show you. 

These last images are from the Peskimo pop up shop and art gallery, the last two images are displays of Peskimo toy and character collections, I think you can see why I love Peskimo!! Check out Peskimo here http://www.peskimo.com/ and get collecting! 

Styling by No Debutante

Hair by Vikki Mac

Thanks for reading xx

ND xx