No Debutante - A Winters Tale Part 1 - Dr Beat

Hope you've all had a great Christmas, mine has been hectic to say the least but it's great to spend more time with the family. Following my weeks of feeling under the weather then the run up to a Christmas with three kids, the chance to get any blogging done has been virtually, non-existent but that's the good thing about blogging you can just come back and carry on from where you left off!

 

This post is another of my No Debutante style posts and since I haven't blogged forever, there are a fair few images making this a two parter!

Welcome to Part one.

 

 

  Retro 1950s cut jeans, oversized cardigan and Dr Martens - what do we call this look? Tough geek chic?!

 

 

Fake fur, Peter Pan collar dress and Docs? Oh yes!

 

 

Winter Grunge? Layering up for a Winter in England.

 

 

 

Camouflage jacket, sunshine and my studded ballet pumps. Sunshine has to come before ballet pumps as they are useless in the rain or freezing cold!

 

 

 Mika in his Docs!

 

 

Buzzcocks t-shirt, the tightest denim cut offs ever and Docs!

Me, Djing at Bang - Your New Favourite Club! A whole post about how the launch party at Bang's new home went to follow soon!

 

 

These photos were all taken around the time I had been to the Dr Martens launch Party back in mid November and, despite being rather ill, I had managed to soldier on and take photos of myself and to promote Dr Martens!! This wasn't a planned, conscious decision to wear Docs all the time, it just happened that way! So this is how I wear mine, clearly! As you can see my 6 year old son Mika is wearing his kids Docs that I purchased (half price no less!) at said event in Bristol. Mika calls his Docs his jumping shoes! 

 

Anyhoo, I believe the second Part of this No Debutante post will be less Dr Martens heavy, even though I am freezing and would happily wear them every day. 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

No Debutante and Mark Sewell Bristol Photoshoot Collaboration

.............And.......I'm back in the room........This is my first blog post for nearly a month, I have been really poorly, tired, worn out but soldiering on and definitely paying the price of being a busy mother of three, DJ and blogger, not to mention my day job! When illness hits us, it hits hard, with a very poorly and teething (yes, a double whammy of fun) baby, two very energetic boys and no sleep whatsoever AND two clubs nights, I have pretty much been a zombie of late, going to bed at 8pm (on the non DJing nights, of course).

I am glad to say that I actually got a full nights sleep last night, thanks to my beautiful little baby Sylvie Belle who is finally on the mend and turned 1 years old last week (I'm still in shock about that too, it's gone ridiculously quick!) Happy Birthday Sylvie Belle!!! I love you xxxx

 

Following my last blog post, better late than never, I had mentioned there would be a collaboration between No Debutante and the photographer Mark Sewell (my friend from the Dr Martens Bristol Shop Launch event - he took the pictures of Me and Rudi at the event). Well this did happen and I am (finally) pleased to share with you my favourites images from the photo shoot.

The theme for the photo shoot is basically quite raw and I guess urban, for want of a better word, It is a very British look. It was shot in my hometown (well, adopted hometown of the past 10 years) of Bristol, here in the UK. The area is Stokes Croft which is close to where I live and has some great graffitti including the iconic Mild, Mild, West Banksy mural. The styling was influenced by Dr Martens/ skinhead style / This is England, mixed with my own personal style. I am also a massive lover of these influences and the music that goes with them including Ska and two-tone. Please use these as a soundtrack whilst browsing through the photographs!

 

I hope you like the photographs which were all taken by Mark Sewell, styling and model No Debutante. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Aahh! Beautiful Sylvie Belle with Mummy (mid fashion shoot and a quick break at Boston Tea Party on Stokes Croft).

 

All photographs by Mark Sewell.

All clothing from Topshop, H&M, Primark, army surplus stores, Fred Perry and Dr Martens.

 

I had forgot to mention that Mark and I had decided to include Dr Martens into the photo shoot in hope of winning a pair on the Dr Martens facebook page, which encourages you to Share Your Style. Follow this link and share yours too and win yourself a new pair of Docs!https://apps.facebook.com/dmstyle/contests/305119/entries/new

 

A massive, great big thank you to Mark Sewell for his time and fabulous photography, I look forward to our next collaboration very soon!!!

 

So, which photograph shall I upload for Share Your Style? Watch this space to see if I'm successful! ND xx

Dr Martens Flagship store Bristol Launch Party

I was lucky enough to get on the guest list for the opening launch party for the new (and first ever) Dr Martens Flagship Store here in Bristol. As you can imagine, I was very excited about this! I have however taken over a week to post about it due to my beautiful baby Sylvie being a bit poorly!! Poor baby!!

I took my good friend and colleague Rudi along as my plus one to the event we were told to expect Boots, Bands and Brew....

 

www.drmartens.com

1460 boots from the Originals collection.

 

The new Applique Collection.

I love these (well my current obsession is (was) studs.....I think it is now Dr Martens) A little out of my price range though at £275 but lovely all the same!

 

I nearly bought my husband Phil the Dayton Shoe below-also from the Applique Collection - but he wouldn't let me! I have since talked him into trying them on in the shop! Ha! He'll be wearing them by the end of the year!

 

 

I got my photo taken by the official Dr Martens photographer for the night as part of the Share Your Style campaign, you can view the campaign here on the Dr Martens Facebook page. www.facebook.com/drmartens Unfortunately I had to stand on a bench in the middle of the shop, during the event, let's say I was a little self conscious at this point! Although I, of course, loved the attention darrrrlinnng but you must remember I usually take my personal style photographs alone, in the privacy of my garden, so |I was confused that people were watching! Rudi took this photo of my shame...

I took the above two style photos of the lovely sales assistants from the new flagship Bristol shop, I had more images but camera / drunken errors meant they were unusable! I really want the mint coloured Mary Jane Dr Martens but they aren't even available yet, this lucky girl got them from the Dr Martens factory....I want them NOW!!!! I am not gonna say anything about the second girl looking very much like Chloe Sevigny circa 1990s Kids era. This girl had great style! They were all very lovely too, which makes you want to go back to the shop.

8175 Kids boots. I bagged a half price pair of these lovelies in black for my son Mika (photos to come very soon). We also have a very small pair of Docs that were Lucian's, which get passed down to all of my three kids getting more scuffed and worn each time. Sylvie will have loads of pairs by the time they fit her! Of course, Sylvie will also have to have the ever-so-cute floral pair below too - shame kids sizes don't start until Size 11!! Boo hoo!

Bristol based band Idles - garagey, raw, rock n roll....Nice! (Facial hair essential - I do love an enthusiastic drummer!).

Nearly got these lovely leopard print Docs but instead opted for a more traditional pair of Cherry Red 10 hole 1490  boots, as I don't have them yet. I'll feature them on a post soon too.

Bristol based band The Fauns - I love this girls style!

 

Dr Martens Satchels! From £90

Now, they did mention booze.....free booze....I didn't even know I liked Ale!

 

The above eight photographs were taken by my friend (and regular at my club night Bang) Mark Sewell who I banged (no pun intended) into at the event as the official photographer for the band The Fauns. Expect a collaboration between No Debutante and Mark Sewell very soon!!! The above image also featured on my Dr Martens review on the Venue website. Here's the link http://www.venue.co.uk/lifestyle-features/19668-dr-in-the-house

 

End the night with a Bang! Rudi enjoying those Leopard print Dr Martens or was it the ale!

No Debutante and Rudi available for your events, please contact.....ND xx

No Debutante - Kiss and Make Up

 I have been experimenting with mixing up my style a bit, I am currently very into the 1950s...again....but I like to mix things up with other items in my wardrobe to update the look for now. Here I have mixed a long over sized preppy cardigan with my good ol' H&M fifties style leopard print dress and worn it over my 1950s cut Vivien of Holloway jeans (layering dresses over trousers is a big look for this AW) just to confuse matters I have accessorised this outfit with my Dr Martens boots.

Now my hair is longer, I can start to experiment a bit more, I thought I'd try out a high top knot for short hair - not an easy thing to achieve but I think I may have pulled it off here. I had to keep the little bunches as the lower part of my hair is still growing out the undercut, nearly a year later!

I used my Babyliss curling wand below to curl up my hair in preparation for my Halloween costume at the Hoochie Coochie where I was Djing later that day. My hair looks a bit like a wig in the second image, I'm not sure about it but thought I'd show you for variety if nothing else! A Hoochie image to follow at the end of post, be patient!

(below) The day after Hoochie, I am hiding a hangover well and have been inspired by the latest issue of Pigeons and Peacocks to load my hair up with hairgrips. They put in twice as many as me but I was hungover and couldn't cope with it!!
I have been inspired by Louise Gray's childlike vs punk hairstyles, using cute clips and ribbons as accessories for bunches etc, Sylvie even got involved with the double hair clip trend, her hair is getting longer than mine, if only she'd leave those damn hair clips and bands in for more than 5 minutes....she tried to brush her hair the other day, how cute is that?? I don't think my sons even considered a hairbrush until they were about 5 years old!

As promised here's a sneaky peek at my Hoochie Coochie Halloween costume. We were  clearly Kiss Zombies!! I had pinned up the curly hair and toned it pink and orange using eye shadows - an easy thing to do on platinum blond hair! I'm off to a secret launch party this evening, I shall be back with some images and goodies (hopefully) very soon. ND xx