Stripe it up

There is no doubt that this seasons favourite print is polka-dots but coming up close behind all the dotty fun are the stripes. Candy colours, rainbow stripes, glam stripes and monochromes are all big this season.

The super-sassy stripes are appearing on everything from jackets, sportswear, t-shirts, jumpsuits and co-ords. New shapes for this years stripes include tapered or flared trousers and maxi shirt dresses, wear yours with a matching co-ord or clash the stripes up with those polka-dots that we can't get enough of. 

Remember horizontal stripes are best left with t-shirts, it's time for flattering, vertical stripes all the way this year so go get your stripes fix for the summer! 

Monki really are on it for stripes this year but why not check out your local independent designers too?  Two of my Bristol faves are working the stripes; Neat Frontage, make amazing rainbow stripe co-ords and super cute pastel crop sweatshirts & Duvet Days source amazing retro prints (upcycled from duvet covers)& create the comfiest trousers ever, you can even get a matching top too! Yeeeesss!

Charity shops (and even your own wardrobe) can be great for breathing new life into retro style stripes. Urban Outfitters are currently selling 90s inspired striped crop tops for well over £30. Consider upcycling and charity shops before blowing your money, you'll also be the only person with your new upcycled stripe tee. 

TIP ALERT!!! Find an old striped t-shirt (look in any male person in your lifes wardrobe, you'll find loads of them) and either crop the t-shirt off or knot it up at the front or the back and you have a perfect nineties inspired t-shirt, which can be worn as a crop top or a nipped in at the waist oversized tee. Boom! 

Candy Stripes at Angus Chiang and Fila

Handprinted stripes at Typical Freaks. Where your candy stripes with socks and sandals/ sliders to make a statement this summer. 

Monki's amazing stripes come in lots of colourways in relaxed wide leg trousers and oversized shirt dresses

Stripes for the boys too featuring Kenzo ss18 (left image)

Wide stripes in monchrome jumpsuits and colourful co-ords featuring Mara Hoffman (right)

The stripe crop top from Urban Outfitters (centre) just waiting for you to recreate it with an old stripe tee.
Bowiesque stripe jumpsuit by Topman Design (right)

Supercute pastels and rainbow stripes by Bristol designers Neat Frontage (above & below)

Glittery rainbow stripes at Roberta Einer (left) aand who could resist these vintage rainbow stripes from a 90s Versace ad? 

No Debutante wearing candy cane stripes from Monki and upcycled 90s stripes from Bristol designers Duvet Days.

In one quick hoard I found 5 striped t-shirts in my husbands wardrobe!
Keep an eye on my youtube channel to  find out how I restyled up these retro beauties.

Image credits. Vogue, Typical Freaks Urban Outfitters Monki Graphic Tide Topman Neat Frontage

If you are having a fashion event, a new collection or fun event you would like No Debutante to promote please get in touch!

No Debutante promotes fashion independents, new designers & sustainable fashion. 

Check out my work with Bristol 24/7 magazine under my name 

Emma Gorton-Ellicott

If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante or getting featured on the No Debutante blog please contact me nodebutanteblog@gmail.com

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest all under the #nodebutante name. 

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas

ND xx

I'm all about the prints

This past week has been filled with prints from leopard print, 90s style aztecs, memphis squiggles and my new favourite polka-dots. Here's how No Debutante wears 'em.

Spots and stripes with vintage Adidas

Leopard print with silver Reeboks

Print clashing with 90s Aztec Kuccia bomber, Polka-dot shorts from Monki and Memphis vibes in Tezla Designs earrings

Sharp monochrome geometrics from Lazy Oaf paired with Dr Martens and cute cherry print socks by Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop

All photography by No Debutante

If you are having a fashion event, a new collection or fun event you would like No Debutante to promote please get in touch!

No Debutante promotes fashion independents, new designers & sustainable fashion. 

Check out my work with Bristol 24/7 magazine under my name 

Emma Gorton-Ellicott

If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante or getting featured on the No Debutante blog please contact me nodebutanteblog@gmail.com

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest all under the #nodebutante name. 

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas

ND xx

Double whammy fashion extravaganza

I've been saying it all week but Bristol's has really gone to town with fashion events this spring. I seem to be attending events every week these days, which is great but two in one evening? I saw it as challenge and took it on!

Dressed up in striped pirate trousers, Adidas gazelles, retro Adidas kids jacket, Tezla earrings and my Lazy Oaf Mermaid top with shell boob appliques, I was ready to tackle this night, one fashion event at a time...

Yeah, fashion ready!

The first event took place at Rhubarb Jumble which is situated on the super-cool North Street in Bristol. This vintage boutique is full of retro gems and vintage garms from the 40s to the 90s that are all sourced by the owner Amy Hamilton, who has managed to turn a clothes hoarding obsession into a successful fashion business.

Amy Hamilton wearing the most fantastic red vintage jumpsuit from Rhubard Jumble! Want! 

This particular event was to exclusively show off their new selection of Spring garments that featured kitsch dresses, abstract floral shirts and 90s denims, plus lots of quirky pieces and vintage oddities from homewares to furniture that Amy had upcycled herself.

Rhubarb Jumble staff picks and an amazing vintage print shirt that was sadly too small for me! 

To keep things fresh, the stock is rotated and updated regularly with new vintage pieces and gems meaning each time you visit the stock will have completely changed so each time you visit Rhubarb Jumble you get to start the search for hidden goodies all over again! The fun never ends!
 If you are a vintage fan get yourself down to Rhubarb Jumble and find your dream vintage item for this spring!

You will get to hear more about my visit to the Rhubarb Jumble Spring Launch up on Bristol 24/7 online shortly.

Local Independent designer garms at That Thing Festival Edition 2018

Second event of the night on Thursday 3 May was the That Thing Festival Edition 2018 as part of their Independent Designer Showcase event. That Thing always has a buzz, the crowd was completely different to the Rhubarb Jumble fashion event and that's what I love about Bristol, there is always so much going on! In under 30 minutes I had moved from a sweet, vintage space to a bangin party of festival lovers, fashionistas and independent designers, there were DJs and rails of festival and streetwear garms!

Although I do love vintage, especially oddities and homewares, my style is definitely more at home in That Thing, I have to admit I am also more involved with this scene, this is my area of Bristol, I love Joh Rindom and the That Thing girls and know so many of the amazing Bristol designers who create garms for the shop, that I felt right at home at this event.

Independent festival fashion from designers including Manners, Neat Frontage and Kuccia

Joh, the owner and a fashion designer at That Thing, supports so many independent fashion and accessory designers including Zedhead Headwear, Neat Frontage, Tezla Designs, Dulcie's Feathers and Duvet Days who are all Bristol creatives, That Thing also stock another No Debutante fave Kuccia.

I had been on a buying cull, refusing to buy from the high street just because, so I have been saving myself for these types of events to get me some super-cool threads, handmade by local designers.
I instantly fell in love with some stripy trousers by Duvet Days (yep, they are made out of retro duvet covers - sustainable and sassy) when their creator Emma White said she could knock me a matching top, I was sold. I will reveal the whole co-ord in a future post!

The adorable That Thing shop manager Katie wearing a Neat Frontage sweatshirt

The second item purchased on the night, was an amazing jumpsuit by London bodywear designers Manners, I loved the monochrome print straight away and then I noticed Joh, was wearing the amazing item. It looked amaze on her and since we are similar sizes, I just had to try it on!
Manners do say that there is magic in the fabric and I believe them, this catsuit was the most comfortable and durable jersey ever, it was soft and nipped you in, in all the right places! Sold to the woman with the pink hair!

Twinning with That Thing's Joh rindom in Manners jumpsuits - Photograph courtesy of Dulcie Horn

The gorgeous, blogger and Dulcie's Feathers designer Dulcie Horn managed to catch Joh and I twinning in our fabulous Manners jumpsuits!! Dulcie is always such fun at any event she attends, she wrote a little blog about the night too. Check out Dulcie's blog The Festival Life

The fabulous Dulcie Horn (left) and an amazing festival headdress.

It was a night of meeting old friends, making new friends, talking fashion, showering myself with amazing garms made by brilliant independent designers. I love Bristol!

Read more about That thing in my Bristol 24/7 article Do the right thing

All photography by No Debutante except Twinning photographs courtesy of Dulcie Horn

If you are having a fashion event, a new collection or fun event you would like No Debutante to promote please get in touch!

No Debutante promotes fashion independents, new designers & sustainable fashion. 

Check out my work with Bristol 24/7 magazine under my name 

Emma Gorton-Ellicott

If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante or getting featured on the No Debutante blog please contact me nodebutanteblog@gmail.com

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest all under the #nodebutante name. 

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas

ND xx

T-shirt Cult Culture Subversion

At the weekend I actually removed myself from Bristol's comfy sofa and went along to an exhibition in London, that I would usually wish I had attended!  

It was all about T-shirts and I love T-shirts! Punk t-shirts, band t-shirts, slogan t-shirts, customised t-shirts. T-shirts are great aren't they?

The T-shirt Cult Culture Subversion exhibition was held at the Fashion and Textiles Museum, which was founded by the fabulous Zandra Rhodes, a new fact that I quite liked.

As soon as we (I had been joined by my childhood friends 'The Rach(a)el's') walked in the building there were display cabinets of Katherine Hamnett's famous political slogan t-shirts and a massive wall hanging of a Johnny Rotten t-shirt, which I kinda wanted to take home but it was so big I'd have to use it as a duvet cover. 

The exhibition was full of Vivenne Westwood's back catalogue of t-shirts from the punk t-shirts from Sex, Let it Rock and Seditionaires to the pirate inspired Worlds End to the contemporary political Westwood t-shirts, let's face it Vivienne loves a t-shirt! It was exciting to get to see all the original punk t-shirts too, all displayed on urban scaffolding style arrangements, just waiting to be explored.

There were a few examples of printing techniques from screen printing and digital printing to tacky glittered transfer t-shirts from the 1970's and early 80's, reminding me of some t-shirt gems that I was very upset to grow out of as a little kid.

The section of band t-shirts had iconic album cover prints from The Velvet Underground 'Banana' album with it's pop-art Warhol print and the legendary Joy Division 'Unknown Pleasures' T-shirt, that has been recreated and ripped off by other brands more times than I can remember, to the t-shirt that is the epitome of the 1980's Frankie Say Relax. If that t-shirt hadn't of been at the exhibition I would have walked out!

The Rach(a)el's and I also chuckled at the Hyper Global Colour T-shirt, as it reminded us of our raving days. I had been jealous of Rachael, when she had returned from the Clothes Show Live with her amazing new tech t-shirt, that she then proceeded to wear to a rave my Dad had driven us to. But that's another story.

The other Rachel loved the glittery graphic on the vintage Biba t-shirts, they were much more her style. At this point I discovered another interesting fact that Biba (who started off as a mail order catalogue) had a multi levelled shop where each floor had its own name, logo and it's own t-shirt design! Love this!

Vintage Biba - The four logos of the Biba shop

More t-shirts could be found upstairs with a collection of designer t-shirts, all couture customised up or logo obsessive. I did quite like the punked up Chanel No.5 t-shirt though. It was also nice to see a Banksy 'Dismaland' t-shirt pop up in this section too, just to remind me of Bristol and how great it is!

The final room was full of portraits taken by photographer Susan Barnett named Typology of T-shirts that featured the backs of people's t-shirts. Barnett would street shoot individuals wearing slogans/ prints on the back of their t-shirts to show their personalities and political views, explaining that it was easier to photograph a persons back as they do not have to show their face and they feel less intimidated.

'I look for individuals who stand out in a crowd by the choice of the message on their back'.
 Susan Barnett, Photographer.

I took this opportunity to have my photo taken with the T-shirt portraits as I was coincidentally wearing my 'waste of time' cardigan by Lazy Oaf. 

People often question that particular slogan and I reply, 'it's ironic', (as are all of the Lazy Oaf slogans) I am always cramming so much stuff into my life, I never see anything as a 'waste of time', except when I'm queueing, I hate queueing! You would be amazed at how many people actually take that cardigan slogan literally! I did have to remove the cardigan once when I realised I was wearing it at my oldest son's parents evening. I'm not sure they'd see the funny side,  although I did think it was hilarious to be wearing it. The power of the slogan, eh? 

Debutante

Overall, I did enjoy the T-shirt exhibition but I did feel they were missing skate t-shirts. Maybe it's because my husband skates, so I know more about skate t-shirts, than your average fashionista/ t-shirt lover; but there really are so many iconic skate t-shirts that could have been featured. Including the late 1980s/early 90s Vision Streetwear t-shirts, to the infamous Santa Cruz Screaming Hand print by artist Jim Phillips. Yeah, I probably do care a little more about these t-shirts but I think just one skate t-shirt could have been included somewhere? Especially since skate fashion is a big thing from the catwalks, to label lovers to every kid in the street!

The T-shirt Cult Culture Subversion exhibit has inspired me to share the vast t-shirt collection, that my husband and myself have managed to hoard over the years, with you lovely lot; this may take a bit of time to compile but watch this space for the No Debutante T-shirt Obsession blog post, inspired by this Fashion and Textiles museum visit.

Thanks for having me London, I will be back again soon for more fashion fun xx

All photography by No Debutante

If you are having a fashion event, a new collection or fun event you would like No Debutante to promote please get in touch!

No Debutante promotes fashion independents, new designers & sustainable fashion. 

Check out my work with Bristol 24/7 magazine under my name 

Emma Gorton-Ellicott

If you are interested in collaborating with No Debutante or getting featured on the No Debutante blog please contact me nodebutanteblog@gmail.com

Keep up with No Debutantes OOTD posts, collabs and current fashion obsessions posted daily on all of the following. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest all under the #nodebutante name. 

Thanks for checking in Fashionistas

ND xx