Mini Fashion Salvage

Back In October, I attended the BTR Mini Fashion Salvage event at Bristol lab Space with the queen of upcycling, Helen from Kecks Clothing. As you may have seen I attended BTR (Bristol Textiles Recyclers) Fashion Salvage event back in the summer and loved it! To see what happened last time click here and for those who missed the brilliant fun Helen from kecks and I had styling up these Fashion Salvaged items back in Sept click here

The event was BTR's second fashion salvage event held at Bristol lab Space ( the first fashion salvage event was at the BTR factory with more clothing than I have ever seen and all set for landfill unless we saved it, I made it my personal mission to save as much as I could at that event! The Mini Fashion Salvage was a much smaller affair but was still bursting with wasted clothing all waiting to be fashion salvaged by the twenty odd salvagers keen to get stuck in! All salvagers had bought tickets with 100% of the proceeds going to the charity for garment workers right abroad, Labour Behind the Label. With more money being spent on the extra garments bought at the event at very reasonable prices, in this case all clothing was only £6 a kilo which averages out at approx 4-5 garments per kilo, depending on the weight. I think it is a great idea to encourage people to buy at these event but at low prices, people will be less intimidated to attend and will buy more, raising money for the charity and saving the garments from being wasted. Spreading the word about these events and the brilliant items you could find can only be a good thing. With creatives on hand to teach you how to upcycle and style up garments and to make you see items in a new way, whatever your style.

This charity fund raiser for Labour Behind the Labour encourages you to upcycle and reuse, it will astonish you to know that 20 tons of garments a day are sent to landfill, this waste is crazy and senseless. I am not saying that I am not guilty of over buying, we all are and slowly we will prevent this from happening, through these events and also through learning what you can do to help and consider how much your household is wasting. These events inspire you, to show you what you can do, if you love fashion, Love a bargain or are just interested to find out more then please come along!

I love rummaging through the piles and rails of clothing, to see what I can find. Towards the back of the event i found shelves full of oversize t-shirts which I had trouble finding at the last fashion Salvage event so i made a beeline for them and collected and handful and took them over to the haberdashery area where Lady Gonzalez and her team were ready to help you customise your found items into new ones! I had an oversized maxi dress and  tassels in mind and when I started it, I wish I had the whole day to make more and more! I could have had a whole customised t-shirts range by the end of the night given more time! I really got stuck in an enjoyed. Making customised t-shirts reminded me of my upcycling fashion label I ran over 12 years ago, I knew nobody else doing it at the time and would have loved the Bristol Fashion Salvage scene that is thriving in Bristol now. I am happy that I did it however and to have been involved in the scene for so long.

Following the salvaging, upcycling and outfit creating, it was time for the final photoshoot for the competition and a quick chat with the team filming the event, I talked about how I find charity shops a let down since they seem to be cleared of any personality and oddities which used to be the interesting thing about the charity shop didn't it? Why would I want to buy a plain second hand H&M top for possibly more than H&M sold it for? The prices have gone up and the standard of the stock has gone down. I buy more furniture than clothing from charity shops these days! With the help of fashion lead events like BTR's Fashion Salvages and charity run spaces like The Shop on Gloucester Road Bristol, where you can find vintage charity bargains and upcycled gems from Fix Up Look Sharp. Hopefully things are starting to change for the better. I attend these events one because I love fashion and two because you find the most amazing and alternative gems, I love one offs and being inspired by a found item that I hadn't considered before, I love mixing colours and prints and wearing things in a different way, I am never short of inspiration at these events! I Love Fashion Salvage!!!

My favourite outfit from the Mini Fashion Salvage winners was the clashing prints crop top and hareem trousers ensemble. The Crop top was made from a dress, literally chopped in half, I am so giving the chopping up dresses a go next time! I'm inspired. I had created my oversize maxi dress which I wish i had had the time to make even longer ( I forget how long I am sometimes) another panel could have been added to the bottom of the dress in my opinion! Always the critic! I also made a tasselled crop top which I love! Amongst the customised t-shirts I also found two crochet jumpers, a gold bodycon maxi and a 1980s Puma vest. Not bad for one night! Although I didn't win on this occasion, (Helen from Keck's was one of the judges too, that wouldn't have gone down well!) I did win a bottle of wine for being creative and inspired at every event and for really understanding what the fashion salvage events are about. I honestly love these events so much and was gutted to miss the Christmas event but unfortunately it clashed with my daughter Sylvie Belles 4th birthday party! I will definitely be attending the next event and I will be on hand to inspire and help people look at their found items in a different way and help style them up for their photoshoots. I'm already excited about being involved! Watch this space for details. Thanks BTR I had the best time!

What I wore inc dress (worn as a jacket) and Midi skirt both from the Summer BTR Fashion Salvage Event

My Upcycled T-shirts outfit

My Favourite winning Outfit

Fashion Salvagers

Helen From Kecks Clothing

Lady Gonzalez Team

 If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante please contact me / send me a message on any of the following social networking platforms all under the No Debutante name #nodebutante

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, Pinterest.

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas xx

ND xx

Maxi Factor

No Debutante Loves Maxi Skirts. Here's how I wear mine through each season, worn loose with crop tops and flip flops in the summer months to layered up with oversized t-shirts, jackets and leggings in the colder months. Make the most of your wardrobe and wear your favourite clothes all year round.

The maxi skirts featured in today's post are a jersey pleated maxi from Primark, a sheer pleated split maxi and a pink sheer maxi dress both fashion salvaged from Bristol Textiles Recyclers. The jersey skirt is so comfortable and works great as a replacement for jeans with a tshirt while the sheer maxis' are so adaptable, they can be dressed up with heels or dressed down with trainers and sports socks. Wear yours with tights or leggings underneath or with oversize tops, creating the new longer, drop waist silhouette, it's all trial and error, give it a go. Don't neglect your clothes this winter!

All clothing from BTR, Primark, Dismaland, Converse, Adidas x Pharrell Williams, Lazy Oafs, Maui and Sons, Fix Up Look Sharp, American Apparel and Topshop.

All images and styling by No Debutante

 If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante please contact me / send me a message on any of the following social networking platforms all under the No Debutante name #nodebutante

Keep up with No Debutante's OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, Pinterest. All under the No Debutante name.

ND xx

 

My 90s Wardrobe

It's no secret that I am nearly 40 years old, I could never have imagined as a teenager what my 40 year old self would be like but I'm not sure I would have believed that I would still own my teenage selfs clothing and be writing about it in my fashion blog. Fashion blogs didn't even exist when I was younger, hell, the Internet didn't exist when I was a teenager! 
So yeah, all the clothing (except for the footwear) in today's post where mine when I was a teenager, I discovered them in my loft about a year ago and knew I had to do a photo shoot for the blog of how I would style them up now. It has been a long time coming but here are they are worn No Debutante style circa 2015, I took the photographs in the evening and I kinda like the grainy, sepia effect on the photographs created by the low lighting in my loft and the shocking low quality flash on my Samsung Galaxy phone. I think it adds to the lo-fi, grungey 90s look of the shoot. 

As for the clothing itself, there are a few vintage pieces in there, that were vintage in the nineties too, the psychedelic floral maxi dress, the cord and plaid shirts and denim coat were all from vintage stores, my favourite used to be Uncle Sam's on Park Street in Bristol, which is still dressing Bristol's finest vintage lovers today and is coincidentally now owned by friends of mine. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?
 I was also a massive fan of a charity shops during the nineties and used to find no end of vintage Adidas and Fred Perry polos, charity shops are not as good as they used to be!! 
The contrast trim tees and dress were from my 90s favourites French Connection, Topshop and Westworld. The stripe skinny rib top is from Hennes (as H&M was known then), I owned so many skinny ribs, named skinny rib for the textured fine knit rib effect fabric which were worn skinny fit, the skinny t-shirt was a very important part of the mid to late nineties wardrobe and thanks to the return of all things nineties the skinny rib top itself is back with a vengeance on the high street in the from of crop tops and polo necks so go get yours now!

My husband and I did (or rather still do) own a fair bit of brown clothing from the 90s, (all vintage items from the 1970s) which was actually cool at the time, think Jarvis Cocker style indie retro geek chic. I have to confess that I am no longer a lover of brown clothing at all so I doubt these brown items will ever get to be reworn by No Debutante over the foreseeable future but being the fickle hoarding fashionista I am, one day, you never know......
I am a self confessed hoarder but ethically hoarding is a brilliant way reduce waste, save your clothes and upcycle them! So here's it is, My 90's Wardrobe worn and styled up over twenty years later xx

All clothing from 'No Debutante's 90's wardrobe ' except for the American Apparel socks, Dr Martens and pink platform Jellies from Primark. 

Photography and Styling by No Debutante


If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante please contact me / send me a message on any of the following social networking platforms all under the No Debutante name #nodebutante

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, Pinterest.

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas xx

ND xx

Sports Nostalgia

As you know I am a fan of sportswear or rather I am a fan of sportsluxe, streetstyle sportswear mixed with unconventional fashion garments. A 1970s Adidas Classic t-shirt worn with a 1950s circle skirt, Northern Soul stylee or Sports Goth'd up with a long black maxi skirt and American Apparel sports socks. Whatever happens you won't find No Debutante in a full on tracksuit and trainers ensemble, although if Lazy Oafs designed one....???? Never say never!

Today's post is about sports styling from the 1970s and 80s, I wore these bold graphic printed skinny sports zip up jackets and Adidas style tops and silky short shorts as a little kid (I was a child of the 80s) and then had a bit of a nostalgia moment with it as a teenager in the 1990s indie / Brit pop years circa 93-95 with the return of the Adidas classics and low top trainers like Puma States and Adidas Gazelles. I had a few years off the Old School sports style (as it was known in the fashion magazines of the time) but now I am all over it after finding all of my old hoarded 90s clothes in the loft at the beginning of the year and unveiling many Adidas Classic gems - keep hoarding people it pays off!!! I have a 'My Nineties wardrobe' post that will follow this blog post, I have been holding it back for a while for no good reason but it shall be revealed over the next week or so. Those who follow me on Instagram can find a few images from the shoot on the No Debutante Instagallery

It is not just me that has fallen back in love with Retro Sports as I browse through endless collections and Pinterest I realised I have ended up with a load of blog worthy images to share featuring bright coloured vintage Adidas t-shirts and jackets from 'My Nineties Wardrobe' plus a few images of my Pharrell Williams X Adidas tops purchased from Urban Outfitters. There are so much reworked unisex Adidas Classics currently available at Urban Outfitters they really have got it and run with it this year!
Chloe's SS 2016 collection has an array of vintage inspired sports zips up and contrast trim vests which look great (and very up No Debutante's street) worn with flowing grunge maxi skirts.
Fred Perry has brought it's '80s Casuals' inspired styling back with two tone graphic skinny zip up jackets and towelling graphic stripe polo shirts which I just love!
Topman had a brief encounter with retro sports with it's Northern Soul inspired AW15 menswear range which unfortunately is not reflected in it's High Street stores this season.
I had to include images from the Anya Hindemarch SS 2016 collection. I fell in love with it instantly, it was the Gym club inspired graphic print leotards that caught my eye and take me back to the days of school gym clubs and Majorettes during the 1980s where the two tone graphic leotard was the item of choice! I want them all!! 
Lastly, I had to share the mens footwear image sourced from the brilliant Fashiongrunge blog, No Debutante loves the low top vans, white long sports socks and half mast wide leg jeans, a look that will scare many but is a nostalgic nineties dream to me!

  My Adidas Original

 Chloe SS 2016

 Fred Perry AW 2015

 My Adidas Originals Kids jacket

 Adidas Originals at Urban Outfitters & Topmans AW 15 Northern Soul collection

 Anya Hindemarch SS 2016

 Pharrell Williams X Adidas

All images courtesy of No Debutante, Fashiongrunge.com, urbanoutfitters.com, fredperry.com, anyahindemarch.com, vogue.com, blog.urbanoutfitters.co.uk, instagram.com/toni_fys, pinterest.com/nodebutante/

Apologies if I have missed anybody out, give me a nudge and I will be happy to add a credit for your image! 

 

If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante please contact me / send me a message on any of the following social networking platforms all under the No Debutante name #nodebutante

Keep up with No Debutante's OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, Pinterest. All under the No Debutante name.

ND xx