No Debutante - Ill Communication

Hey Hey Fashionistas! I'm sorry I have been away, I refuse to write a downer post about bad weather, tiredness, illness and general winter blues which has been my life for most of 2014 (and why there has been a serious lack of blogging) but this is not going to make you happy or bring the sunshine out! Let's ignore my ailments and check out what I have been wearing during these wintry months. Bad weather does not mean bad outfits, check out how I dress for winter, bright colours and outrageous day time glamour essential!

The first outfit is very 1950s inspired, with my leopard fur, plaid shirt tied at the waist, 1950s jeans, creepers and Victory roll. The second outfit is more 1980s inspired and you don't get much brighter and more colourful than with my amazing Kuccia Aztec print bomber jacket worn with my Coca-Cola crop top and the 1950s jeans again with Dr Martens and hair in a high topknot and headscarf. I think you'll agree that these outfits certainly brighten up an winters day. It makes me want to like winter again.......well, almost....

All clothing from H&M, Vivien Of Holloway, Primark, Kuccia, Topshop, Dr Martens & Underground Shoes.

Thanks for reading and hello to my new followers. 

See you very soon. ND xx

No Debutante - Vintage Denim

I love denim, I wear it nearly everyday in every guise from vintage cut jeans to retro denim jackets to customised denim cut offs. Today's personal style outfit both feature denim but in very different looks and both are based on vintage and retro styles.

The first outfit is an eighties inspired version of the 1950s look, the 1950s were massive in the eighties and this is a contemporary version combining three decades in one look! Confused yet? The denim in this outfit is new but the cut of these Vivien of Holloway jeans (regular followers will know I love these jeans) comes from vintage 1950s jean patterns and I love them.

The second outfit features a bit of double denim with the denim panels on the shirt and the vintage 1970s denim pinafore dress which I have owned since the 1990s.

I have loved wearing my hair twisted and pinned up this summer. Hairpins are one of the greatest inventions for hair and you can achieve these twisted up looks using hairpins even if you have short hair (obviously not cropped short!) it's a great way to give the illusion that your hair is longer and it is so easy to do whether your hair is long or short! You can also use hair clips and flowers to keep the style in place. Try it today!

 

I've been at Brisfest (an annual Bristol festival) all weekend and I now need my beauty sleep. Hope you had a great weekend too!

Thanks for following and hello new followers!! xx

ND XX

No Debutante - I love my Kuccia Bomber Jacket

I have a lot going on this weekend so I know there will not be much blogging going on! I thought I would attempt a quick post using my smart phone so here goes!! I apologise for any ramdomness on the post I have no idea how to preview it! A quick edit later on can sort any problems, I'm sure!"
I wore todays outfit to my club night Bang a few weeks ago. It is another mash up style outfit mixing 1950s with the late 1980s.
I am wearing my favourite Vivien of Holloway jeans, with my coca cola crop top and my amazing Fresh Prince of Bel- air style aztec oversized bomber jacket by Kuccia at Topshop. Remember the one I tried on in the Topshop changing rooms?? Can I just say, I just browsed their website and I am loving it!! So bright with loads of clashing prints, it's right up my street!! Www.kuccia.com check it out!! My jackets currently on the home page!
It is funny that I didn't seem to get too many compliments or Instagram likes for the jacket which only encourages me to wear it more! I think it is one of those garments that confuses people, is it really cool or is it a fashion error?? I am confident that it is really cool, it rocks!! My husband Phil however, still needs convincing.....in a polite way Phil described the jacket as being 'a bit bright, mad and shiny' which to me sounds like he is describing a shell suit jacket!! He then went on to say 'it's very You though' with a confused look on his face. Ha!
I like the mixing of styles in this outfit, the whole thing is very late eighies, since 1950s style was also a big thing next to the aztec influenced prints. I am also wearing lipstick in the last pic which is virtually unknown, thought I'd try it out. What do you think of the outfit as a whole? Do you like the aztec bomber jacket? Answers on a postcard to No Debutante. I love my bomber jacket.com xxx

No Debutante - Fashion Mash up!

To round things up nicely and before you get to see all my lovely outfits from my Ibiza holiday, I have compiled some photographs of things that I wore and did in the run up to the holiday, which for me is about to come to end as I return to work tomorrow!! 

The first two outfits were worn a few days before my holiday and I was rapidly running out of summer clothes to wear in the continuing UK heatwave as most of my favourite items were packed away to be worn in Ibiza. Being a person with more clothes than is probably necessary, I soldiered on and managed to create a couple of looks to show you. My colleagues at work have been calling me a 1940s land girl and then a parent from the school called me a Punk Land Girl, I, of course, take both of these comments as compliments and continue to rock it up land grrrrllll style!

I got really excited today when I noticed that Vivien of Holloway who design the vintage jeans that I am wearing in the first outfit are now following me on Instagram! I am a very happy camper that they like my style. Alot of Vivien of Holloway lovers are pure 1950s, rockabilly or 1940s (Paloma Faith is always rocking her look in Vivien of Holloway outfits) so it is an honour that they have noticed and liked my hybrid version of 1940s and 50s styling. I wore Vivien of Holloway to my wedding and have been hooked ever since, please check them out here www.vivienofholloway.com you won't be disappointed!!

The second set of images were from a lunchtime browse around the shops in Bristol, which ended up costing me money......whoops! I fell in love with the late 1980s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air stylee collection by Kuccia at Topshop, there is so much print and colour and bodycon, I just couldn't resist trying it on!! I loved the printed catsuit and even more with the silky geometric print bomber jacket worn over it. It's print clash fantastic!! I didn't leave Topshop empty handed and I am now the proud owner of the bomber jacket. The saga of me finding the perfect Khaki airforce bomber jacket is still continuing, I'll tell you about it when I finally have the right one in my hands!! At least I have my Fresh Prince bomber jacket now!! Yes,I did take photos of myself in the changing rooms and someone even tried to tell on me to the Shopgirl, who really couldn't give a damn, some people (the other costumer on this occasion) are assholes!! I still love the catsuit.......

So the last photograph has become something of a running joke with me and my husband Phil. It started with the Rad t-shirt and has now become an obsession to send each other photographs of fake skate fashion images and clothing ripping off or referencing skaters. I found this beaut in H&M announcing 'I love Skateboys' and had to text it to Phil instantly. I did not buy it, you may be surprised to hear. 

Thanks for following.

ND xx 

No Debutante - Purple Haze

Another scorcher of a day today with more paddling pool action for me and little Sylvie. I braved it on the school run and got my legs out, I wore my rather short H&M skater skirt with my new Primark Coca Cola crop tee and leopard print sandals from Topshop. Since it was hot I tied my hair up into a top knot and wrapped a scarf round my head. I thought I was bearing too much skin for the school run at first but it was so hot, I really didn't consider it when I was there. 

Yesterday for my Primark Sunday holiday shop I wore my black Primark maxi skirt, slowly becoming a summer favourite and, you guessed it, another crop top from New look this time and the summer essential, flip flops. I wore my hair down again too, which do you prefer hair up or down?? Again, I am happy either way!

Look at the amazing early morning haze on the second set of photographs, there were no effects put on these pics even the Instagram one, it really has been fantastic weather here in the UK and it is really getting me in the mood for Ibiza!! I cannot wait!!

Thanks so much for reading and hello to all my new Google+ followers!!

ND xx

Peplums - Work That Skirt!

Peplums.... Worn the wrong way can borderline middle aged mother of the bride Circa 1984 but get it right and you shall achieve retro cool. Getting it right? That's the problem.

Peplums were originally pretty big in the demure 1940s and then had a bad taste polyester suit return during the 1980s. Despite the amount of fashion crimes involving Peplums that I witnessed as a child during the 1980s there are some styles that are super cool.

Oh God, I'm having more Peplum flashbacks, I'm also visualising them on the older female characters on The Cosby Show and early Fresh Prince of Bel air...or were they old? Hilary Banks for example....now she worked her Peplum but still, for me, managed to look at least 10 years older than she was.....wanting to look more grown-up, power suits and that, can age a person......you get the idea.

So whether you are going for the 1940s style Peplum or revisiting the 1980s the idea is to let the Peplum flatter your shape - giving the illusion of a smaller waist or making boy hips (hello Me) look more curvy, the hourglass figure is what we are trying to achieve here, all nipped in and pushed out in the right places. You don't want to highlight areas on your body that you are not happy with, get it right and there is a peplum for everyone....probably....I'm not gonna take my research any further than this...What I am trying to say is don't age yourself by making the wrong peplum choice and end up mother of the bride rather than retro cool.

Here's some Peplums that I quite like, believe me this was hard, I didn't realise there were any peplums that I quite liked!

These Peplums above are two contrasting versions from the A/W 2011 shows, the (top) bright and exaggerated version from Giambattista Valli, I'm loving the colours on this one and the sheer size of the peplum! Above the skinny black and sheer polka dot style from Stella McCartney would definitely be more flattering in black but I think I'll go for the colour option, despite Stella's polka-dots beckoning me in. 

                  

 

Now I am not inlove with all of these versions but I thought I'd put them all up to explain why.....I am loving the first black peplum in silk worn with the stripey top, it looks very chic and cool. The second is quite cute in pink, the third in blue, I am not really feeling the feathers - is that what they are? -  although I like the idea of using other materials for peplums or just wearing them in a different way. The Forth white dress is killing me...Hello Krystle Carrington, it couldn't be anymore Dynasty could it? I am usually a lover of 80s fashion but I don't want to look like a Middle-aged woman from the 1980s, I don't care how fabulous Alexis was!!

Above are two demure 1940s inspired versions from my fave Vivien of Holloway, they have more of a peplum detail rather than an actual peplum but it shows you other options if you're not going for the full on peplum.

This skirt ( I originally thought it was a dress) has been inspired by the 1980s with its bodycon mini style and satin look peplum, it's from Quontum at Asos and there are various versions including dresses available and currently all in the sale, which is a bonus. I have a bodycon dress from Quontum they use great quality fabrics for bodycon! I might have to buy myself this, it's growing on me and lycra is still my friend until my normal waist comes back.

How about this for a modern take on the peplum dress? It's a Louise Amstrup Printed Dress available at Asos, it isn't cheap but it's cool. It incorporates a peplum with digital prints, that's two trends in one. Yey! It also inspires me to perhaps try out a bit of layering with oversized t-shirts and floaty mini skirts currently in my wardrobe to create this silhouette for myself. You try it too! I'm full of confidence about this aren't I? If I don't ever blog an image of  my home styled peplum, you know it went wrong!

Here's another idea to create your own peplum, I have chosen this cute gypsy top from Vivien of Holloway but I reckon any top or t-shirt will do as long as it is long enough. Just whack a belt around your waist and ta-da! Instant Peplum!

All images are sourced from Vivienofholloway.com, Victoriawolf.com, thefashionspot.com, asos.com and are available with links on my Pinterest Boards http://pinterest.com/nodebutante/ 

Happy Peplums!