No Debutante - Summertime Blues

I feel sad to announce that this is the last post on my Ibiza holiday, these photographs were taken on the last two days and as you may have guessed, I really didn't want to go home just yet!! On the last nights stay I wore my beautiful Vivien of Holloway gingham bustier with my denim cut offs and more flip flops, I victory rolled up my hair and put on a head scarf to finish the look. I actually wore this exact outfit on my Ibiza trip last year, it really is a holiday favourite and I seriously need more of those bustier tops, I love them!! Sylvie is in the first set of photos with me wearing her H&M leopard print maxi dress and rockin it!

I wore the second outfit  - crop tops and maxi skirt - the evening we left, we had not wasted the last day and managed to squeeze in one last trip to the water park and pools, we took a last stroll on the beach after dinner then we left.........but then I had to run back down the hill to our hotel, not an easy thing to do in flip flops and a maxi skirt, as we had forgotten Sylvie's pushchair!! Doh!!  Not the Cath Kidston Maclaren!! How could we?? Everything else ran smoothly but it was an evening flight and I had three sleeping kids on me all the way home, someone had to help us off the plane with all our kids and bags! This is why you should take grandparents on holiday!!

So, I finally got a few photographs of Mika up and check out Lucian rocking the 1990s in a baseball vest and cycle shorts worn with his Santa Cruz cap and flip flops, I had to get a photo of him! 

Thanks for the memories Ibiza, I'll see you again soon!! 

ND xx

No Debutante - Musical Youth

I have had a ridiculously busy day today and in this hot. hot heat, it is not any easy thing to achieve! I went to a Musical Event at my sons school this evening (after lots of picking up and dropping off) I watched my eldest son Lucian (9) play no less than three times, in a small group guitar performance, a cornet duet and a cornet solo where Lucian had personally asked if he could perform the Superman theme tune at the event. I have to say, Lucian rocked it! I am a very proud Mummy!! 

There are three outfits in this post so let's get talking about them.......

Outfit one  - Vintage Americana summer style, I wore this high summer number on a family walk/ bike ride to the city farm, the weather was great and I knew we would boil so it was time for the Vivien of Holloway gingham bustier to come out of hibernation, since it was so hot I turned it up at the hem to make a crop top, I wore it with my vintage denim cut offs, preppy Converse and a pink scarf double wrapped up in my newly coloured pink hair! Thanks Vikki Mac!! I was very excited when I noticed that Vivien of Holloway herself had liked my Instagram photograph (shown below) Thanks Viven!!! I love your vintage garments!!

Outfit two - The surf print vintage style Topshop dress? Again? Yep! I bloody love this dress, it is so flattering and the best summer dress ever!!! 

Outfit three - Maxi love! I managed to change up this outfit three times in one day, all in the name of fashion daaaaarling......I started off with the sleeveless denim shirt tucked in the dress, it looked good until I realised how creased the shirt was in the photographs, with no time to iron the problem out, I popped on a vest and wore the shirt open as a waistcoat. Perfect, I thought but then the day got so hot I had to knot up the vest and make it a crop top, to stop myself looking too white trash I popped the shirt over the cooler outfit for Lucian's Musical Event, I was still boiling but a lady stopped me in the street and told me she loved my summer look which was much appreciated!!

 It really is a kind thing to tell a stranger that you like their style, I think I should do it more, I often think it but worry a person would think I was weird!! Tell someone you don't really know that you like their style tomorrow, see what happens! Will I actually do this? I might do.....

Phew! There's a few No Debutante fashion moments to keep you going, hope you like what you see and thank you for following me!

ND xx

It's too early for that dress -Post Pregnancy Fashion Dilemmas - Part 5

It's been over a week since my last post, I've been busy with all my children over the Easter hols, on days out and visiting family and friends. I'm writing this with my little Sylvie Belle on my lap, she must be used to me using the laptop now as she often nods off to the sound of the tapping keys! Poor thing!

A breakthrough has happened to me over the past month, I am excited to announce that I am back in my old jeans....yey! The post pregnancy weight is really starting to shift now and I am grateful for this. For this post I am mainly wearing all my old high waister jeans and have mixed this up with my latest buys from cheap as chips Primark and my new 1950s style favourites from Vivien of Holloway. I am working the Vintage Americana trend to the max!

Vintage Cute - White gypsy top from Vivien of Holloway, yellow cardigan from H&M, highwaister tapered jeans from Tokyo, Japan ( bought on my honeymoon, 3 years ago), cherry print socks from Topshop, red Converse low tops, swallow necklace from Accessorise.

The Primark Prada copy top as featured in my Vintage Americana post at the beginning of April. I'm not looking quite as good as Dakota Fanning on that Elle cover but hey ho, she's 17 and I'm old enough to be her mother....which shocks me slightly! 

Pastel Pales Geek - More Primark, the leopard print cardigan is the new item. You know, I do love a cardigan...and those Deirdre Barlow oversized glasses, how I love them!

Here's an example of how to create a peplum effect out of a top. I have used my oversized Xray Spex tee which somehow got ruined by a paint stain (children do these things to your clothes) so to hide it I have added a belt and taa daa...we have peplum.

Jeans from Topshop, Xray Spex tee from 8ball, black catseye sunglasses from asos.com, Neon pink belt a gift.

A close up of my new Primark sandels, which I haven't worn since as the weather here has been too cold. I do look a lot paler than usual too!

The 4 photos above are of me Djing last Friday at my club night Bang (based at The Big Chill Bar) here in Bristol. I was much more awake this month and there was a great atmosphere in the club. I was happy that I fitted into the tightest of my high waister 'old' jeans and teamed them with my new Vivien of Holloway Gypsy top, red elastic belt from ebay and red Converse low tops. The top pic features my brother Mike who (coincidently) is also rocking the Vintage Americana look. We didn't do it on purpose...we didn't!

The Primark Prada rip off  Americana top again worn with my high waister tapered jeans from Tokyo.

A quick snap shot taken at the in-laws about 10 seconds before we had to leave to visit my good friends in Leicester (I went to Uni there and then stayed on for 6 years, I made a lot of good friends, including my good friend and fellow blogger Dilly Foxtrot - and her sister Di, who was pregnant when I left that day but had her lovely baby -a few hours later!! Congrats Di and well done!!! I miss them).

Gingham bustier top (also featured in my Americana post) from Vivien of Holloway, high waister skinnies (as before), red belt (as before) and red Converse.

I have finally managed to get through the back log of my Post Pregnancy style pics, I think we've seen enough of me for a bit so a current obsession or Style Icon post is on the cards...Thanks for stopping by! ND xx

Les fleurs -Will somebody wear me to the fair?

It's all about Flower prints this Spring / Summer, digital florals if you can but any flowers will do, as long as they are bright and you wear them clashed up with other floral prints. Nice! I had a look what's about on the High Street and have chosen my favourites below. Remember you can and should mix up your florals!!! It makes things a bit more interesting so it's not the same old look, like every other Spring Summer season when they say flowers are big. Mix new floral items with your old florals for even more individuality.

 All images courtesy of Topshop.com, newlook.com, vivienofholloway.com and google images.

 Topshop seemed to be the best for florals at the moment, but it is only the start of the new season on the High Street, so there will be more to come as the season progresses.

I love this 1950s bustier style top from Topshop, the bright colours and print are great and it's a slightly more covered up version of the cropped bustier tops that are currently appearing on the High Street, for those who don't want to attempt showing off their torsos.

There is a trick to wearing the new cropped tops though, pair them with highwaisted shorts, jeans and skirts so you are only showing off a tiny bit of your torso rather than your whole midriff. Also that 1990s showing off your midriff thing is still too raw for me to consider even if I did have a flat stomach, which I don't!

 Good old Vivienne of Holloway, my favourite vintage style boutique, never fail to have a dress or skirt available for each season. I love this floral 1950s halter top pencil dress. These dresses are so flattering!!

I know jumpsuits have been doing the rounds for a few years now but I really liked the print on this one from Topshop and they are so practical and can be dressed up or down. This one would look really cute with some Converse for the day and with bright wedges at night. It's really cute. 

Here's a great example of clashing your florals from Topshop's online Look Book, mixing a floral vest and trousers with a leopard print bag. The trousers are very Versace for H&M, I have a close up of them below.

 A great example of digital printing here from Mary Katrantzou from designers at Topshop, this was all over the catwalks in London Fashion week for S/S 2012. I love it!

I found these cute mix print slip ons from New Look. Great for those who don't feel confident enough to mix match their whole outfit. Florals, spots, Leopard print, you can't go wrong! 

Love these limited edition Nike High tops available at Office. These would look great with floral jeans, leggings or a bodycon style dress. 

 Here are the Versace style jeans from Topshop, Great print.

 More skinny floral jeans from Topshop.

 And to finish how about this retro style swimsuit from Topshop ( I told you they have all the florals at the moment! It's so cute! Worn with a headscarf (floral clash of course) and 1950s sunglasses, it's a winner.

Don't wait until the summer is here, start clashing up your florals this weekend, get shopping or mixing up your current florals NOW! Good luck ND xx