No Debutante - Oh Mickey, You're so fine

Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind....Hey Mickey! 

Here's a short and sweet post of one of my personal style outfits, it didn't really go with any other outfits I wore around the same time and was pretty casual for me in denim cut offs, tube socks, Converse and my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt. The look is inspired by 1980s sports styling and 1970s skaters.

I have a feeling that I am going to struggle to do much blogging over the next few days due to being  busy packing up my kitchen to get it's retro caravan kitchen diner makeover which is starting next week! I'm half excited and half terrified as we do not really know how long we won't have a kitchen for! I am also attending the G-Star event on Friday so let me remind any Bristolians to get over to the Bristol G-Star store in the Cabot Circus between 5.30-8pm to receive goodie bags, free nails and hair make overs and view the latest ladies wear ranges!! I'll see you there!

Thanks for following!

ND xx

No Debutante - RIP Bodycon

Hello Fashionistas! It's time for another personal style blog, I've had a busy week of settling back into doing school runs, attending the wedding of my favourite local illustrators Peskimo, check them out here http://www.peskimo.com and watching my mates band The Afterparty check them out here https://www.facebook.com/theafterpartyofficial. You have to plug creative friends!!

Today's outfits are quite different and I have very different opinions on both! I wore the first outfit on a day trip to Bristol Museum with my kids which included Egyptian mummy's tombs, Dinosaur bones and a lot of taxidermy, which makes for a curious day! Not one to dress down for any occasion I wore a Breton top, denim cut offs, frilly ankle socks and my Underground brothel creepers. I had a couple of days of wearing my fringe long, think it worked on the first day (worn with the headscarf) the whole of the second outfit wasn't doing it for me!

 The outfit in question included my sleeveless denim shirt, bodycon dress (worn underneath), sports socks and Dr Marten boots. I am loving the boots with the socks and the grunge element to the outfit, the problem on this particular day was the bodycon dress, I think I am just totally over bodycon, I have been wearing it for years, even when others were not wearing bodycon, I have been bodycon obsessed for a long time. Like the skinny jeans, I am completely over it now! I am glad this has happened it means I have comfortably moved onto a new look, I told you I am very fickle but I will wear a thing to death if I love it! The other problem was the dress kept on riding up and literally showing my pants, I had to wear my jacket round my waist on the work commute! RIP bodycon...

 

 

Even fashion obsessives have their off days and don't know what to wear!! Mine usually happen when I am in a hurry or if I am attending an event and have not considered what to wear before hand, my brain goes to mush and fashion errors are made!! 

Do I ever get up and not have a clue what to wear and just bung something on?? Never! Do you? If the answer is 'yes' I admire you but I would personally miss the challenge of putting an outfit together. 

Does anyone prefer the second outfit?? Answers on a postcard to ' No Debutante, I prefer the other one'.

Thanks for reading xx

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

It's too early for that dress - Post Pregnancy Fashion Dilemmas Part 11

This is the second part to the 7 months post pregnancy fashion dilemmas posts, I took a lot of images this month, for once! I have however failed to post short n sweet posts every/every other day, like I said I was going to do, it seems three blog posts a week is my limit at the moment.

 I am pleased to announce that Sylvie now says 'Mumma'! Yey! However, the tone of the way she says Mumma is not like the chirpy, melodic, happy way she sings 'Dada'...Oh no....Sylvie has learnt to say Mumma for one reason only, to get my attention! It's more of a demand if anything, but I shouldn't complain, at least she is saying my name now!

You can tell the weather has finally changed in the UK from the next  set of photographs, I've got sandals on and everything!!

The weather was really humid but it still rained here so at this point I was still in half summer half spring outfits -arms showing legs covered up!

I have sleeked my hair into a short side parting in this pic the wispy sides have not grown properly since I (randomly) shaved them off with my Dad's disposable razor when I was 12, I have been into undercuts for a long time it seems! To conclude, I cannot get those side bits to stay behind my ears for the life of me....it's very annoying!

Dress from Rico at Topshop

I can't actually wear this dress as a dress without wearing leggings underneath, it's so short, my body is really long and the front fastenings open up and show off your pants!! (That's your underwear in the UK for any international followers).

Let's get Physical

I have managed to adapt  the crop top look without revealing any midriff, inspired by American Apparel and the 1980s penchant for aerobic wear. I wear my crop tops over my basic bodycon dresses and layer it up, it creates a new silhouette for me which I like! It is bodycon 80s but made softer with the layering and it conceals the baby belly that secretly still blubbers a bit beneath the clothing!

I have also created crops tops from old vests and tops that I already have, by tying them in a knot at the sides and and twisting up the shoulder straps, the trick is to show off all the layers and to make each layer different on the straps etc.The pink top below was a real cheap, thread bare neon vest that has now been giving a new life!

Black bodycon dress from H&M, Blue crop top from Primark, name necklace from Tatty Devine.

The above pics were taken on my 36th Birthday just before Phil took me and the kids (no babysitters!!) out to my favourite Italian Restaurant in Bristol. I thought I'd dress up for the occasion and wore the  bodycon layering with my wedge boots, that I have only worn twice before, once on Xmas day, they nearly killed me then, I'd just had a baby and didn't have the balance for heels! I also wore them to my cousins 40th in London a few weeks ago but there is no photo evidence as I started drinking really early! Enough said!

I had a great birthday with lots of amazing food, wine and champagne! Mika declared he wanted to go to the Italian restaurant every day for breakfast and that the garlic bread was the best he's ever had! So sweet!

The boots were fine by the way, I just had to concentrate real hard when walking!

Dress as before, Neon vest (customised into a crop top) from H&M, Earrings and Necklace both from Tatty Devine, Cardigan from Primark,  Boots from Office Sale were approx £90 I got them for £20. Whoop!



New leopard mock fur sandals!!

It had taken me until June this year to find the perfect sandals, well here they are, bought them with my birthday money. Right happy!

This top was actually bought as a dress but after the first wash it shrank, even though I followed the wash instructions!! Very annoying! I have been put off buying from this label ever since, which is a shame!

I was on my way to a 5 year olds birthday party (Rock n Roll), it was a very muggy day but I didn't feel like getting the legs out, so a bright backless top, jeans and leopard print sandals seemed like the best thing to keep me cool.

Top (bought as a dress) from Motel at Topshop, Jeans and sandals from Topshop.

Crop n bodycon again! Ignore me though this is all about Sylvie's outfit, it's the white trash, hillbilly, Dexys Midnight Runners (Come on Eileen era) bare chest and dungarees look. Sylvie rocks it!

We were off to watch Sylvie's Daddy play in his band The Relay Rips as part of the annual Bristol Harbour festival, it was the hottest day of the year!!!

Sylvie wears dungarees from H&M Kids



Bright Print Clash

Another hot day and off to the park.......It's the first week of the schools summer holidays, the park was rammed like a bad day in Benidorm! I dressed brightly for the occasion so the kids couldn't lose me.

Neon green vest from and bodycon dress both H&M, Floral leggings by Versace for H&M, Leopard sandals as before.

Hot Summer, Hot Hot summer.....At last...

I finally got a bit of colour.......on my face and...er....arms....a bit patchy some might say...I have fooled you with an almost toned looking (be it very white) torso it was so hot I had to strip off the jeans I had been wearing for these baggy denim cut offs that are also great for hiding my baby podge belly. I have to admit I do look alright and I have pretty much lost all of the baby weight visually, I have not actually weighed myself though, not brave enough I guess. I'm not sure I would venture out of the house dressed like this but for lazing about in my garden it fine.

Top (rolled up into a crop top) from Vivien of Holloway and customised denim cut offs.

I still have a back log of images????? What the?? I think I shall be posting about something different next time, a bit of A/W 2012 fashion perhaps or maybe a style icon? ND XX

I want..... Danielle Scutt at Asos

Today we are going to have a break from Me and what I have been wearing and instead have a look at another designer collection from Asos that I have been lusting over (and hoarding images of on my Pinterest fashion boards) for the past few months. Again, like the House of Holland post, these items are available now on Asos and are from London based designer Danielle Scutt's exciting debut collection for Asos for Spring Summer 2012.

The collection instantly caught my eye with it's interesting cuts, early 1980s influenced styling and fantastic bright, bold prints. The styling is definitely my style with it's pinafore / dungaree style straps, bleached prints, low cut front maxi dresses worn over slouchy tees and a great mix of jerseys and denim. This turned out to be pretty much bang on with the look Danielle Scutt was going for, if the Asos summary below is anything to go by. I always love a bit of androgyny too, of course!

'Looking to references that inspired her during her youth, Scutt channels an androgynous silhouette with low-slung, bleached out denim jeans, masculine shirting references and tough slogan print t-shirts. A combination of polka dots, glittering metallics and tartan, embellish the collection with a modern edge.'

I thought I'd better add that I am guessing that Scutt's childhood was in the 1980s, it's probably in the 1990s, I forget how old I am. It's like my Mum asking me if I remember when you could get your weeks shopping for ten and six (NB. this only works in the UK) I have no idea what my mother was talking about....ten and six what?

I am loving that maxi dress, it's a perfect 1980s replica, I can see girls wearing it in my childhood memories of the 1980s,(or perhaps Grunge girls wearing a version of it, in the 1990s...ahem) it's just perfect! It looks great layered up with the basic slash neck tee and I love the racer back. The bleached style print is Scutt's own exclusive creation known as Cloud Wash.

The Denim overalls in the Cloud Wash denim features more of my favourite, low cut front details and a tapered leg. Next to these are the Bandana print silk hareem style trousers - very S/S 2012 and the most easiest look for you to covet this season. Styling wise, I always like to see printed socks with wedge sandals, it's a great, individual look. If only I had the opportunity to wear wedge sandals more often!!

I'm loving the cute little denim playsuit with it's low cut front and cross over back straps, the cross over waist detail was inspired by corsetry and would be very flattering to wear.

Mrs Mia Wallace's (she does look like her, doesn't she??) t-shirt has a collage of photo imagery, polka-dots and song lyrics, which will always catch my eye and the black on yellow is a bit punk. The skirt above is an interesting one, it has side drapes that, on first inspection, make you think the skirt is undone, which is a nice detail and again a little bit punk.

The Danielle Scutt Collection is currently available at Asos and prices for the above items range from £180 - £590 and is a little out of my current price range! I will continue to be inspired by the collection by wearing low cut tops, dresses and overalls layered over tops and vests, pairing wedges with printed socks (or sandals / flats for non wedges days!), jersey maxi dresses, midi skirts in black or denim, bleach prints and punk tees! I hope you do the same. ND xx