No Debutante - Echo Beach, far away in time.....

I am hot, very, very hot!! Are you? How am I gonna cope in Ibiza when I am barely functioning in this great British heat?? I went to Primark this morning for a quick last minute summer holiday shop, it wasn't that successful but I pretty much now have enough crop tops to last me the rest of my life........After my morning shop I decided, since it was so hot, to get the paddling pool out and surprise the kids, the big surprise was I was getting in, the water was freezing but that was sooo nice!!! A quick massivo congrats to Andy Murray for winning Wimbledon for the UK, we've only been waiting 77 Years........Ave it!!

Today's outfits show two different sides to my fashion persona, the first, worn to work and then the pub on Friday, is my 1950s vintage / rockabilly style, I am wearing my 1950s favourite Vivien of Holloway jeans, a striped tee from Topshop and Converse and have my hair up in one of my various victory roll with headscarf up-do's. The second outfit was worn on a very hot Saturday to my boys school summer fair, I spent most of my time face painting, which if I am honest, I quite enjoyed. I decided I was going to do alternative face painting, my boys and a few others went for the Kiss make up but for some reason no child wanted to be David Bowie/ Aladdin Sane lightening bolted up, which was a shame! My outfit is a little rockabilly I guess with the dungarees but it was definitely more of a grunge/ festival style look. I had fresh washed hair and had let it dry naturally and since there was still a bit of backcombing in there it gave it a bit of texture. It actually felt quite long too! It's the first time since I have grown it that I have worn it loose without any hair grips and I quite liked it! I like both looks. Which one is your favourite? 

Hope you liked today's looks and thanks for reading!! Enjoy the sun!

ND xx

No Debutante - Let's Go To The Hop!

Morning! I am feeling a little bit more alive than I was feeling yesterday and have decided to wear some bright colours and prints to make myself appear a little more awake! Inspired by a rockabilly image sourced on Pinterest, I put this 1950s Rockabilly style outfit together for the morning school run and was rather happy with the way it looked, I even got the wide headscarf look working on my small head which is a fashion result for me! 

I am still swinging between my grungy/punk style, dungaree obsessions and my rockabilly 1950s looks. I am wondering whether I should really just stick to one look, but where's the fun in that?? I'm intrigued to know what on earth I shall be wearing next year, whether I will have totally embraced one of my main styles or maybe I shall have a totally new look altogether. When I first started my blog I was just coming out of an edgy, 80s punk phase with my undercut hairstyles and an obsession for bodycon and then I had a baby which pretty much throws you off your current style as you are still trying to pull it off but with a massive belly and a swollen face, it's not the best look!! I love it that fashion is so fickle, it suits me, just fine!

Hopefully, the next blog post should be about another one of my favourite bloggers with great style. It can't always be about me!

Thanks for reading.

NDxx

 

No Debutante - We're gonna party like it's your Birthday

It's my birthday today! Now I'm really, really nearly really old, it's official and I couldn't care less. The postman just delivered me a load of birthday cards and I was excited because I rarely receive anything in the post these days!! A letter for me? Yey!! I am not really one of those people who creates a Facebook event every year for their birthday, despite constantly posting photographs of myself on (many) social networking sites, I seem to feel a bit weird about throwing a party for myself. I am very happy with the cards from my kids, family and friends, facebook and text birthday messages and my friend Dawn shouting 'Happy Birthday' to me on the school run today. As much as I would like to spend the day at a spa, followed by drinks with all my friends and lots of good food then a trip to Japan, I shall just be contented with drinks and a lovely meal with my gorgeous husband Phil. 

Ok, so back to the personal style pics.....Let's have a look at what I have been wearing lately. We shall start with today's cute birthday outfit, followed by yesterdays tough'n' trashy school run outfit and a glimpse at half of  last Fridays outfit. We were rushing about so much, there wasn't any chance to stop and pose for photographs. These are then followed, I'm almost embarrassed to say, by more winning outfits from WIWT!! Who, am I kidding? I love it that I keep winning!! I never win anything usually!!

 

 The winning Editors choice WIWT photographs! Yey!!

Thank-you WIWT, I love you!!

Can you imagine the fuss if the wedding outfit hadn't won??

It's my birthday, let's crack open the champagne!!!!! 

Have a good day and thanks so much for following me!!!!

ND xx

No Debutante - Be Bop A Lula

Since I have been posting daily personal style pictures onto my various social networking sites I have become aware that there definitely will be copies of the same outfit, since I cannot sustain buying new clothes every single week, as much as I would like to! I have, so far, found it pretty easy to change each outfit enough to make it appear as if it is a new look even when the main pieces are the same, all you need to do is wear your hair differently and generally use different accessories and ideas to keep each look fresh. As with most people, I have a main capsule wardrobe that I co-ordinate and accessorise to create as many new looks as is possible and I add new pieces to the wardrobe to keep things current as well as finding old pieces and introducing them back into my wardrobe. I hope I have managed to keep things diverse and fresh, what do you think??

Today, I have worn my breton tee and Vivien of Holloway jeans (regular items on my personal style posts) and have tried out another new way to wear a headscarf, this time I have worn my hair down, put a victory roll in the fringe and worn a headscarf over my hair, the scarf is basically worn on the back of my head, I have added a bit of backcombing to keep the scarf in place and I am rather pleased to say that the scarf has stayed put all day!! I have worn my red converse today mixed with the blue frilly socks on this occasion for another variation on this look. This look was a popular one on Instagram today which was great!!

Last night we dressed the boys and Sylvie in their wedding outfits, they looked so cute, I am seeing a very big family fashion post coming up and I cannot wait to show you how we dressed for a wedding!! 

 It's Thursday night, it's wine o'clock......The weekend is nearly here! Yey!!

Thanks for reading.

ND xx

No Debutante - Tapered Jean Girl

I have come to the conclusion - possibly two years too late - that little and often is the way to go with blogging, especially if you are short of time but have lots to say!

 

This pics on this Personal Style Post were taken whilst I was on a weekend break in Wales last week. I needed to pack warm and comfortable clothes as there was going to be alot of bike riding and general activeness in freezing cold weather, so I opted for jeans.

One of my current style obsessions is the 1950s dragged through the 1980s look unfortunately due to the shocking weather conditions here in the UK this look was hidden by layers of cardigans and duffel coats. Rubbish!!! See below, I did actually manage to get a photograph of my efforts whilst I longed for the Summer.....

How the hell do you look stylish with a baby carrier on your front and a back pack on in freezing weather conditions??? God knows, I tried!!

 

As you can see my choice of footwear for the weekend was a good ol' pair of Converse, went nicely with the retro Vs comfort theme!

These jeans are my latest pair of 1940s jeans from Freddies of Pinewood. I'm not sure I am totally into them yet, the leg is real wide and I can't decide whether they need to be rolled up more or less. If I was being true to the 1940s land girl I would roll them up more. What do you think? To be honest on both occasions that I have been photographed wearing them I haven't had much choice on the shots or much time to style myself up - the life of a busy mother I guess -  more dedication is needed to get these land girl lovelies up there in my new favourite jeans list! Watch this space for this challenge!

 

All clothing from H&M, Vivien of Holloway, Topshop, Primark, New Look, Converse and Freddies of Pinewood.

All styling by No Debutante.

 

I'm off now to hide some Easter eggs around our home for the Easter Egg Hunt that will probably kick off at about 7am tomorrow morning! Ooooooooohhhh!!!

Happy Easter!!!

ND xx

No Debutante - I love Dungarees!

I have been busy this week with painting vintage wardrobes and planning my club night Bang's 10th Birthday Bash - one extreme of my life to the other. I can't say I am ever bored or have nothing to do! I like to give myself a project or ten and still manage to have no time for any of them. This evening I am planning another collaboration with the photographer Mark Sewell, which is very exciting. Watch this space for evidence of all the above!!

I have a new obsession, well it's been an obsession for a while but I couldn't get my hands on what I wanted for ages and then, like buses, two pairs of dungarees come along at once!! Yes, dungarees are the new obsession or overalls as they say in America. 

So, I have been looking for the correct pair for, at least, a year and then I find a pair beckoning me in Topshop, the fit and shape of these Topshop dungarees are perfect, my only beef with them is the stupid worn effects on the knees that managed to rip on first wear. I hadn't even noticed this when I first got them - this is the price you pay when you go clothes shopping with a baby! I thought Topshop would know by now that the whole customising jeans thing is so ten years ago, I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I would prefer my jeans to be worn away naturally. I won't go on.

Obviously, I am still wearing the Toppers dungarees but I am slightly bitter about the whole subject!

The second pair of dungarees were bought for me by my lovely husband Phil as a Christmas present from my new favourite vintage shop Freddies of  Pinewood. It was a surprise to receive the retro 1950s style dungarees, a very welcome surprise!! The fit and shape of the 1950s dungarees is fantastic, the legs are very long and wide, leaving plenty of room for the obligatory, turned up hems, I love them!!!
This is how I wear dungarees.

The Topshop Dungarees

The 1950s Dungarees from Freddies of Pinewood

My new Tatty Devine necklace a present from my sons Lucian and Mika for Christmas!

As you can see, I have been wearing my new dungarees alot lately. Which ones do you prefer? And how do you wear yours?

 ND xx

Tapered Jean Girl - Step away from the skinnies, it’s over!

I am declaring that I will not buy another pair of skinny jeans, my relationship with them is over……for now….I worked out that I have been wearing skinny jeans for well over 10 years…..ever since I stepped away from my Miss Sixty stylee hipster flared jeans in the very early 2000s and declared I would not buy another pair, well I stuck to my word there, thank goodness…..

I really am bored of skinnies and despite my really loving them for many years, I now cannot stand them! It was at the point that the Jegging was invented that I decided enough is enough! I have never owned a pair of bloody Jeggings and if I wanted to wear a really tight pair of lycra trousers I would just wear a pair of leggings??? Who is with me here?

Anyhoo, I have been purchasing tapered and 1950s cut jeans over the past 4 years and have totally embraced them, so much so that it has become a current / ongoing obsession to collect images of them on Pinterest over the past year. Here a few images of mostly 1950s style jeans from vintage to new styles cut from old vintage patterns. I really recommend getting a pair, with their high waistbands and turned up hems, yes they are totally different shape to what you’re used to but hey, they are so cool, rock’n’roll and make you feel like you could probably win a Lindy-Hop competition when wearing them…….

 

 So, did you like what you see?? Get you’re here http://www.freddiesofpinewood.co.uk/ and http://www.vivienofholloway.com/

All images from my pinterest Fashion board http://pinterest.com/nodebutante/fashion/ and were originally sourced from vivienofholloway.com and Freddiesofpinewood.co.uk (including the fantastic vintage photographs) I think Freddies Of Pinewood may be becoming one of my current obsessions!

This is a jeans related quote from a lovely man and fellow colleague from the now deceased Venue Magazine (God, rest her soul!) where I somehow still work! Now I will say this story was told under the influence of alcohol but I loved it and it has stuck with me ever since.

 ‘I had a friend from New York back in the 1970s, who came over to England to visit, when she arrived she asked’ why are you all still wearing flares here? Nobody wears flares in New York anymore, they wear skinny jeans’ I was confused and asked ‘what’s wrong with flares? I love my flares and will never stop wearing them!’……But slowly……. after a period of time I found myself wearing skinny jeans, I didn’t know how it happened or why I didn’t wear flares anymore. I was annoyed about it for sometime………..’

I'm not sure whether the person who told the story would like me to name him on my blog….not that he is likely to be reading my blog (please feel free leave a comment if you do)…..I just love the story though, It just about sums up how fickle and powerful fashion really can be! Now go get them jeans!! ND xx