No Debutante - Brrrrrr! Furrrrrr!

Hey hey! After a lovely weekend with my ladies visiting the Bath Thermae Spa (and queueing up no less than an hour, in the freezing cold, to do so, might I add) followed by Italian food and many drinks I am actually feeling knackered rather than relaxed (we fitted in a lot during the spa day) so I am going to attempt to finish a blog post before I fall asleep!

 I had a fashion dilemma today, I had purchased some jeans from Topshop, first pair of jeans bought in about two years (due to my fussy nature with jeans, but that's another story). So, I finally find a pair I like in Topshop, it's the Mom jeans, slight high waist, tapered leg but not too slim, it's as close as I have come to a slim leg jean in about three years....So, very excited about the new jeans, put them on, wear them on the school run....before I could even get a photograph of me in them for the blog, my lovely little terror Sylvie squashed a big juicy, painted hand print on my leg! I knew I shouldn't have got the paints out! So, I am now sat wearing my trusted VOH 1950s jeans and hoping that the paint comes out of the Mom jeans! Waaaaa!! You never know I might get a photograph of them one day!

Moving on to today's personal style pics, here are a few ways I wear Fur. I love faux fur coats and don't own nearly enough in my opinion. I get very annoyed on a rainy day when I cannot wear my fur coats because I have to push Sylvie's buggy...You can't hold an umbrella and push a buggy, believe me I have tried. A day doesn't go by here in the UK without rain these days. It completely dictates my outfit and I hate it! Sometimes I just think f**k it, I'm wearing my fur in the rain, I don't care! As you can imagine, it doesn't end well! So here are the photos of me and my furs, enjoy!

All clothing from Topshop, Vivien of Holloway, Primark, Converse and Dr Martens.

Thanks for joining me today, I really appreciate all of your interest in my blog! Catch me again very soon for a look at one of my favourite collections from Spring Summer 2014. Yes, i need to let the Summer into my life, it's been a long cold (and wet) winter! 

ND XX

No Debutante - Pink Sunshine

Phew! I'm back in the blogging room! It's been a busy old week with work (I am soooo busy and seriously need a pay rise) I also attended my sons various sporting activities including Saturday morning football and a swimming gala, in which, I am very proud to announce, my son Lucian came third (in his first ever swimming gala) and came home with a bronze medal in Breast stroke! A-mazing!! Whilst all this is going on I have been living without a kitchen since last Wednesday, it's crazy but very exciting as my retro caravan kitchen diner is being fitted as we speak!! I will write a post on how the kitchen is going when we have made a little more progress and I cannot wait until it is ready!! 

Well, that's where I have been for the last few days. Let's get back onto some personal style looks from No Debutante!! I had just had my hair coloured pink in todays post, I went for a dip dye look this time - I have so many colour alternatives that I want to try that it is now becoming an obsession , as with the tattoos, did I say I have arranged a date for my first ever tattoo?? I am very excited and terrified at the same time....but that's another story.

The sun was still shining and I was still tightless, although the weather is still very mild in the UK at the moment, I am not braving the tights free look anymore, it's over! I chose to wear my Topshop peephole skater dress and my vintage denim pinafore dress both with frilly ankle socks and Dr Martens. I went through a few weeks of a Dr Martens wearing, centred parted hair, riot girl, grunge mood as you will see in the next few personal style posts.

I love wearing my hair down when it has just been pinked up and my hair is long enough now to be worn down and to look half decent in a centre parted 1990s style. After colouring my hair, my hair stylist Vikki Mac braided my hair, which I kept in until the next morning to create braid waves (not the official name for them, I think I may have made it up) it looked OK but it still isn't quite long enough to achieve the long, flowing, bohemian waves, I looked more like the 1980s toy dog Poochie, you remember Poochie, what the?? 

  Despite the Poochie after effects I am loving the style of my hair in the braids, I love braids(or plaits as we call them in the UK) It's such an easy thing to achieve, just braid up random sections of hair and pin them up. Tadaa! Effortless and effective. 

I love my Pink hair, thank you Vikki Mac!! For all of you who are local to Bristol, get yourself over to  Vidal Sassoon trained Vikki Mac's Hair Studio at Me Time Hair and Beauty https://www.facebook.com/decohairtotterdown 

She's the best kept secret in Bristol!! Well, she was....

Thanks so much for following, reading and just hanging out with me. I promise to be back very soon with more fashion fun! 

Remember for daily personal style hits from No Debutante follow me on Instagram. http://instagram.com/nodebutante

ND  xx

No Debutante - Last days of Summer

I had to get to the end of August with these personal style posts and I am finally there, even though it's nearly October....ahem! 

For the last weekend of the holidays we took a last minute trip to Dawlish in the UK for a few nights of camping, well let's say Glamping, we even had an electric hook up this time, but staying true to the old camping style of cooking off of a small gas stove and listening to the radio, we only ended up using the electric hook up to plug in our phones and use a small lamp, everything else was pure living in a tent with no mod-cons heaven. The weather was amazing, hot and sunny, which makes camping go so much easier, although I have to admit I do get a bit excited if it starts to rain, I love being in the tent when it's raining outside.......for about an hour......... and then I want the sun to come back.

You can only imagine how much stuff we took camping and the amount of clothes I had packed for myself and the kids, I mean, you have to pack for all weather conditions, don't you? Let's say we probably only wore half of it (at the most) I blame the sunny weather.......

The day we left for camping I had been to work and didn't want the hassle of changing so I thought a pair of dungarees would do the trick and good ol' Converse Allstars. I was dressed up Land Girl style and was ready to put me a tent up and spend a few nights in the great outdoors! I hadn't planned on putting a tent up in the dark but alas this is what happened! As some of you may know when I briefly mentioned it a few weeks ago this camping holiday didn't run smoothly (does it ever?) but I am not going to go into all that again, so let's look at the photographs through rose tinted glasses and enjoy what I wore on my perfect, end of the holidays, camping holiday. 

The second day, was sunny and hot and all I needed was my floral Topshop playsuit and some flip flops and popped my hair in a topknot and I was ready for more camping fun! This involved, swimming in a freezing cold out outdoor pool and generally living my day to day, kid filled life of chaos but in a tent.' I am still having fun' she says, the fixed smile beginning to fade! 

Day three and it's still sunny, it's time for another Topshop favourite the peephole skater dress and flip flops, I love little Sylvie trying to be like Mummy in the last photograph, she loves to copy and is so cute! On this day we played in an adventure playground in the woods, visited a graveyard, we love a graveyard, I know, it's a bit dark for this glorious British camping holiday, we didn't go looking for it, we just found it! Great weather for summer desses and flip flops though.....hang on, the dunagrees were from Topshop too, Topshop wanna start sponsoring me for all my hard work in wearing all their lovely clothes that I can't stop buying!

I miss you already summer, don't leave! 

I realise I have loads of images on Instagram of what my kids have been up to this summer, I had lots of images from the camping trip alone so I will follow this post with an Instagram catch up before we go back to more of my current fashion obsessions!

Thanks for following! I nearly have 90 Google + followers which I am very excited about! I really appreciate it and work hard on my blog so it is great that people are interested in what I wear and have to say xx

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 - Doll Face

Today's outfits are very different. 

I love mixing up prints and in the first outfit I haven't held back with my vintage Americana

print top, ditsy floral skater skirt and leopard print Converse, topped off with a camouflage jacket. Since my hair has been getting longer I have been attempting different ways to put my hair up. I am happy with my victory rolls and headscarf looks but I like to add braids into the mix these days for a bit of texture, it's very grunge influenced and I haven't really worn braids since the 1990s. Today's braids are really random, I don't take too much time doing them which suits the cute, grunge look and despite the lack of effort, is quite pleasing. 

On this day we went as a family to Dean lane skate park in Bristol for a skate event. I've added a couple of other photographs from the day so you can see what a stylish bunch my family are, rockin' it in a rockabilly /skate /skinhead style. Check out Naomi, she was nearly half way through her pregnancy here and you can barely tell! I love the photograph of Sylvie walking away from the skater boys (her brothers and friend) so cute!

Carrying on the family theme, I had a little guest join me in the photographs for the second outfit. Sometimes little Sylvie just likes to join in! The outfit is one of my vintage style rockabilly looks with a Breton tee, Vivien of Holloway vintage cut jeans and red accents.

 Sylvie's dresses are from Boden and H&M with boots from Converse.

Which is your favourite look? 

Thanks for following and I shall be back very soon with some more fashion fun!!

ND xx

No Debutante - Fashion Magpie

I have seriously had one of the busiest weeks of my life this week, including one of the most brain frazzling days at work on Wednesday which I am still recovering from! I wanted to catch up with my personal style posts and thought I would attempt a short and sweet post for you today although it is already a bit image heavy! 

Today's outfits are quite different from one another. The first outfit was worn to work and to the leaving party of my friend and manager Becky ( I miss you Becs!) I also popped into meet up with the girls from G-Star who I may be doing a collaboration with in the near future. My next personal style post will feature my visit to G-Star and what happened whilst I was there! Watch this space!! 

I am wearing a bit of double denim the lace & denim sleeveless shirt which is from Primark and my tapered jeans from a shop in Harajuku, Japan worn with Converse and a headscarf. I have been really happy with the shirts that I bought from Primark for Spring Summer and I am looking forward to my Primark Sunday shop for Autumn Winter which is coming up very soon!! I already plan to find some new tartan / Grunge type long sleeve shirts but I am just looking forward to seeing the new ranges for the season!!

The second outfit was worn the day after Becky's leaving drinks, I had not had much sleep but still had to go to work, luckily I did not have a hangover!! My friend Rudi has bought a pair of leopard print leggings since she saw mine and I am currently trying to persuade her to by some dungarees!! Anyhoo, Rudi wore her leopard print leggings to Becky's leaving do which inspired me to wear mine again.

 I am a total fashion magpie and if I spot someone wearing something I like, it sits in my brain and usually influences my outfit a few days later. I take inspiration from the street, different images I see, films, the high street and filter it to suit my style and then add lots of accessories! That's how I roll and that's where the mish mash looks come from! 

I am wearing an XL Specials tee and my H&M leggings with flip flops. I haven't worn flip flops since I went camping a few weeks ago, I am hoping this weekend that I will get to wear them one last time before Autumn kicks in here in the UK. I have accessorised the look up with my H&M head scarf and Tatty Devine initial necklace and wore my hair in Bjork buns, a look I was very keen on back in 1993!

The next post will definitely be from one of my favourite designer shows from the Autumn Winter collections. I pretty much own versions of all the garments from the  collection so it will be real easy for me to covet and showing you how you can too without splashing out on designer labels!

Hello to my new followers and thanks to everyone for reading xx

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 - Live Fast

Well, I am back from yet another short break away from the hustle and bustle of city life, on this occasion I have just returned from a long weekend away camping in Devon with my family, which doesn't come without it's own hassles but it's great to be outdoors with Phil and the kids on a rather unexpected sunny camping trip! What I haven't told you is that we had to put the tent up in the dark, my Mum did her back in, plus other mishaps but that would ruin the romantic illusion of my perfect family camping holiday, wouldn't it? 

Let's take a look at today's outfits. I had been influenced to bring out my very British punk and skinhead style by some images I had collected on Pinterest, even though Punk and skinhead style seems to be all over the place this Autumn Winter, judging by Topshop and of course Dr Martens campaigns and the AW catwalks trends. Punk and Skinhead style never really goes away for me, I have been into these 1970s British scenes since I was a kid, I was born in 1976 the year of Punk, so it's my duty to love it! Only a punk girl would have an Xray Spex record as the backdrop of her blog, wouldn't she? 

The first outfit I wore the day after DJing at my club night Bang, I was happy that I woke up without a shocking hangover and felt in the mood to wear my ridiculous shoes! The outfit is pretty contemporary with my rainbow platform wedges (ridiculous shoes), American Apparel tube socks (1970s skate style) and denim cut offs with a new wave Gang of Four tee tucked in, this isn't sounding that contemporary, as it's pretty 1970s based again with new wave, retro skatewear and platform boots and to top it off my new skinhead inspired Topshop khaki bomber jacket. The only thing that makes this outfit contemporary is that I have chosen to wear it all together! What do you think?

The second outfit is a little punk inspired but it's also about the attitude with punk and skinhead style. I am giving a bit of attitude in these photos, I really don't have to try hard my face seems to sit comfortably in a frown! I have quiffed my hair up at the front and have tied the back up, I'm quite liking this style at the moment, it's a little edgy and a little bit girlie. I rolled up the skull tee to make it a crop top and let my cut offs hang down a bit, I opted to wear my Topshop leopard print sandals instead of Dr Martens boots since the weather is still good here in the UK, I cannot waste the sunshine and the sandals helped to soften the look down a bit.

 So, do I have a punk inspired lifestyle to Live Fast and Die Young? I did have when I was much younger, things change when you have kids and get older, I am more of a Live Fast (providing you do go on holiday lots, have a few spa treatments and drink lots of red wine) and Die old ( but until then continue to act like you are living fast and dress like you are still young).

Get Punk and skinhead inspired now!!

Thanks for reading and hello to my new followers, I am always very excited to get new followers!! Please leave comments and let me know what you all think.

The next post shall hopefully include some new product reviews. Watch this space!

ND xx