Tezla Designs

I discovered Tezla Designs through one of my Bristol Fashion buddies who was a stylish wearer of these amazing 80s printed earrings that I needed to own! I instantly followed Tezla on instagram and soon purchased my first pair of Tezla earrings! I just loved the hand painted 80s and 90s inspired prints on these bold, street style inspired jewellery pieces, which I now know where influenced by the Italian postmodernist designer and artist Sotsass, who is a very big influence on many contemporary designers at the moment with his bold, repetitive graphic patterns. Check out the interview at the end of the blog for more Tezla influences, the inspirations all fit together from streetstyle, bold graphics and a love of the 80s and 90s music, art and fashion, these flow through the Tezla design, style and range names perfectly, Tezla know exactly what they are doing!


Tezla Designs was started up by the Bristol based creative designer Terri Young back in 2013, the jewellery range is handmade at the Tezla headquarters at The Island in Bristol. Inspired by street culture and home roots the Tezla brand oozes Bristol street chic flavour, with it's 90s styling and hand painted graphics appearing on large discs, heart shapes and palm tree earrings, rings and necklaces in mainly wood and brass materials, with the bold bright styles making Tezla stand out from the crowd. The ranges have great names too including Fresh Princess, Tropicana, Supa Dupa Fly and Velvet Grunge, who wouldn’t fall in love with Tezla? Even the product write ups are really fun and inspiring with fashion tips on how to wear your Tezla. However you wear your Tezla you can guarantee you will look fresh from day to night dressed up in bodycon or down in your trainers. Tezla works with everything as long as street style is your thing, which lucky enough for me, it is!



No Debutante Loves Tezla! Bristol Fashion Rocks!

No Debutante in her Tezla

 Neat Frontage Lookbook featuring Tezla Designs

 Neat Frontage and Tezla wearing their Tezla Watermelon earrings the only way they should be worn with a massive fruit headdress!

Tezla influences including Sotsass, Boom Things / Boom Nails, Missy Elliott, Neat frontage, That Thing and Yayoi Kusama

Tezla Round The Way Girls

 An Interview with Tezla

 

 What inspired you start Tezla?

I have always been interested in fashion especially streetwear & love 80s / 90s patterns. The start of Tezla was whilst being Manager of Dutty (now known as That Thing) where I had the chance to see behind the scenes of the independent creative world  Bristol had to offer. Being surrounded daily by local talent and the inspiring Joh Rindom & Louisa Jones (Owners of That Thing) it give me the push and support to start Tezla.
 What is your design background?

I haven't attended any art courses, it's only in my adult life I've taken a massive interest in it.

 Where did the Tezla name come from?

 My name is Terri so I have a lot of nicknames such as Tez, Tezza,Tezri etc after weeks of trying to come up with a brand name I ended up going for one of my nicknames for a personal touch.

 Whats your favourite thing about Bristol?

My favourite thing about Bristol is the variety it has. Everywhere you go you'll hear different accents/languages, see different fashion styles, eat at multicultural restaurants/stalls, the eclectic music art and festival scene and thriving creative independent scene from handmade soaps to lyrca jumpsuits. Bristol has it all and that's why it's unique it is a small city full of subcultures and something is always happening.

 Do you think Bristol needs to get more fashion media attention?

I agree there could be more media exposure, alot of magazine advertising is quite expensive for a small business and there are limited Bristol mags etc and with a creative hub like Bristol with so many designers spaces are competitive.

 Do you find bloggers a helpful source or a drain who just want to try and blag freebies for nothing?
 I think blogs are a great way to find out about new designers and they help support independent brands. I have found when a blog gets to a certain level they expect freebies without the the guarantee of any write up which I think is unfair.

Favourite designers / artists?

 Neat Frontage, That Thing, Boom Things/Boom Nails, Sottsass, and Yayoi Kusama.

 Current favourite record?

 I am a massive Missy Elliott fan so still loving WTF.
 
Current obsession?

I am obsessed with dogs. Currently looking to buy a flat/house so really excited about extending the Tezla fam with a fluffer!

Whats next for Tezla?

Things to expect from Tezla for 2016 are; new collection dropping end of Feb, collabs with some awesome Bristol designers and magazine in the pipeline, and we will be expanding the range from just jewellery so keep checking our website! www.tezladesigns.com

You can find Tezla Designs in stockists in Bristol, London and Barcelona, and trading at Bristol markets. For more details follow Tezla Designs on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 All photos except for the No Debutante image courtesy of Tezla Designs and all the lovely Tezla Round The Way Girls.


If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante or getting featured on the No Debutante blog 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

Fuuurreezing!

No Debutante loves a faux fur coat, I own a few but due to this British winter being mostly about rain, I have neglected these my furs for a practical raincoat, where's the glamour in that? I wanna look like a rock chick groupie 24/7! I am off to New York for the first time ever in February and I am pleased to hear it will be really cold, perfect fur coat weather you may say, so it's time to get the fur coat out and glam up. Here's a few ways No Debutante wears a fur coat, this particular fur came from a Topshop sale a few years ago, which was a steal at £30. You cannot knock a winter sale for a bit of faux fur. I'm eyeing up another fur as we speak! 

No Debutante loves faux furs

All clothing from Topshop, Meadham Kirchhoff, Adidas, Dismaland, Reebok classics, Asos and Urban Outfitters.


All styling and photography 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

Fruit Pastels

I found some beautiful pastel inspired outfits in my backlog of personal style photographs and decided to share these baby pinks and peaches with you as we hide beneath our fur coats and cuddly jumpers waiting for the sun to one day return. With all the summer shows inspiring the next season I need to dream of wearing much fewer layers and generally looking healthier, the winter does not suit me at all! Expect 90s inspired, cute grunge layering, oversize t-shirts, platform candy pink jellies with pastel socks, kimonos and cute childlike hair updos. Remember the sun? 

All clothing from Primark, Maui, The White Pepper and Vision Streetwear.

All styling and photography 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

Shop Dutty Rebrand

Although I love London, I find it very frustrating that the British fashion ideal seems to evolve or only gets considered from London's point of view, I live in Bristol and I realised I was obsessing over London based independent labels like Lazy Oafs and The White Pepper and not even looking at the rather brilliant and creative fashion scene right under my nose! Yes, I do still love these London fashion independents but consciously made the decision to support all things ship shaped and Bristol fashion as much as I possibly can.
You have already heard me mention the upcycling queens from Bristol's Kecks Clothing and Fix Up Look Sharp and sustainable fashion salvages from Bristol Textiles Recycling but I didn't manage to mention (or meet for that matter) Bristol's own 'Shop Dutty' until it was too late to spread the Dutty Love....Unfortunately by the time I met Shop Dutty owners Louisa Jones and Joh Rindom they were being forced to change their Dutty name following a two year battle with the Spanish fashion brand 'Massimo Dutti', owned by Spanish Giants 'Inditex' (who also own high street shops 'Zara' and 'Pull and Bear' amongst others) who won the battle to make the Bristol independent stop using the 'Dutty'  name as it was too similar to 'Massimo Dutti'. Go figure? Why would a massive co-operation make a small business on the other side of Europe change their name which isn't even spelt or pronounced the same way??? Shop Dutty is pronounced 'Du-tee' with Massimo Dutti being pronounced 'Doo-ti'. The big shame is that Bristol's small independent 'Shop Dutty' were forced to totally rebrand by the Spanish Fashion brand.

So, where do 'Shop Dutty' go from here? I spoke to Diss Miss from the former 'Shop Dutty' who told me how difficult it was to re-brand not just financially but also finding the perfect new name...'I could have designed for Dutty forever....You need to come up with a name that still suits the brand and works for us'.

image courtesy of That Thing

I found out the basic story from the Dutty girls themselves at a Bristol Fashion Forward event whilst we rummaged through the amazing £5 winter coats on offer from the BTR stall. They got some faux furs and I got an over sized Aquascutum trench coat (for a fiver!!!), if you were wondering. Feeling saddened and shocked by the news that their beloved 'Shop Dutty' would soon be forced to stop using the 'Dutty' name after 13 years of trading and under such ridiculous circumstances, I realised I should get involved somehow, although my time as a working Mum does keep the amount I can do to a minimum, I got home and followed the former 'Shop Dutty' on all social networks that I am involved with and just started spreading the love and forwarding any info on their 'crowdfunding' campaign  'The Dutty Whine Up' to help promote the massive party event which would feature a one-off fashion showcase X club night where the new name and first collection would be revealed, giving everyone a sneak preview to view and shop the new range.
As a thanks for sharing the Dutty rebrand love I was invited to attend 'The Dutty Whine Up' in exchange for a blog post and some photographs from the event. I had a great time (alongside my buddy Jodi) trying on the new range, taking photographs and dancing!! Thank you so much for inviting me!!

So what is the new name???

'As we come to terms with the result of the hearing, we are now looking at the outcome as an opportunity.  An opportunity to rise with a new energy and outlook.  The new name we have chosen is fitting with both the shop, brand and our ethos.  Above all, it is a name that we can see will grow far into the future.'

Drum roll pleeeease! The 'T' on my hand stamp on entry should have got me thinking about the name but I was clueless and as I walked into the big event space at The Old Fire Station Bristol, I read the words in giant shiny letters 'That Thing'. Instantly Jodi and I started to sing the Lauryn Hill song and it stuck. Even when you pass the shop on Bristol's Stokes Croft you see the That Thing, That Thing logo outside which always makes me sing it in my head. It's cool, it's 90s, it's hip Hop, it's street, it's perfect. I fell in love with a black mesh panelled oversize t-shirt/dress at the Dutty Whine Up and purchased my first That Thing item.

The 'That Thing' clothes shop also helps to promote up and coming local designers including ranges from Neat Frontage, Diss Miss Designs, House of Junk and Tezla Designs, which is great for the Bristol's home grown talent, with other ranges available from UK Independent designers including Cat Bros and the No Debutante favourite Kuccia. All ranges are available in the shop and will shortly be available online under thatthing.co. In the meantime check That Thing out on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

image courtesy of That Thing

That Thing are all about streetwear chic taking inspiration from the fashion world and mixing it up with 90s music influences and styling including Hip Hop, UK Garage and Rave. The love of music doesn't stop there the That Thing girls are girls from the same heart as No Debutante with a love of fashion, DJing and putting on club nights! How our paths haven't crossed before is a mystery! The shop is so cool with their offices in the shop keeping everything close knit and making That Thing the perfect hangout for fashion, music and street style lovers alike. It is full of colourful street inspired fashion and fun accessories from local and national independent designers and even shelves crammed full of spray paints for Bristol's street artist enthusiasts, all this on Bristol's Stokes Croft, famous for its bars, independent shops and Street Art, including the including Banksy's Mild Mild West' mural. I was going to say the only thing missing from the That Thing shop were some decks but I'm sure there are probably decks in there somewhere!

Here are a few photographs that I managed to take (amidst all the fun I was having) at The Dutty Whine Up event featuring the first That Thing collection which is street and sportswear inspired including crop sweatshirts with matching tube skirts, oversized tees, cute shirts, varsity jackets and logoed up leggings in cute pastels and sheer panels for the girls and oversized sweatshirts, tees and hoodie jackets for the boys, all in graphic monochromes (for both ranges) and that new logo! I will keep you updated with more from the That Thing first collection as it is revealed! Exciting stuff! Jump in line London, Bristol Fashion is here to stay!

All images by No Debutante except the first two images courtesy of That Thing.

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