How many ways can you wear a single dress?

New York based Sheena Matheiken has pledged to wear the same dress for 365 days  ’as an exercise in sustainable fashion’ and only a few months in, she is pulling it off perfectly.

Her idea is to wear her specially made dress , a simple black cotton tunic shaped garment, every day, and accessorize to her hearts content with vintage accessories, thrift store finds and eBay purchases.  ”Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade’s boudoir,” she says.

Sheena  revels in the sartorial challenge of switching up the familiar. By wearing the dress frontwards and backwards, unbuttoning it like a jacket, and layering with  hats and plumes, dickeys and drapes,  shoes and slips, belts and brooches, she creates ensembles that are slightly avant garde and yet hugely accessible.

As someone who admittedly wears a different outfit from day to day, I am in total awe of The Uniform Project. I’m not sure I would have Sheena’s stamina for such extreme , but have more than enough creativty to brave a few days. It is such an admirable way of cutting back on buying while still retaining a delight in dressing and fuelling our need for novelty.

” The Uniform Project is also a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.”

Find out more and follow Sheenas inspirational Journey. The Uniform Project

Who knew, that come lunch time on a recent fabric trip to Barcelona , grabbing my camera (and a sandwich) I would provide myself with some much needed inspiration!

It turns out, the fashionistas of Barcelona have some nifty little styling tricks up their sleeves!!

I adore the sheer simplicity of this whole outfit! It also kind of makes me miss my long hair.

My absolute favourite!

I’m still rooting for Harlequin.

Amazing what a pair of wedges can do!

The last time I had my hair cut was 8 years ago… 8 YEARS AGO!!

In that time, I’ve had it trimmed only a handful of times, coloured far too many times to remember, and straightened almost everyday. And I wonder why it snaps off  and refuses to grow past my shoulders?!! Truthfully? I already struggle spending  £100 a time bleaching my hair to a cinder, and then to part with another £50 for a cut?… I can make do without.

And then someone  said to me  ” Sometimes  the key to style, is statement hair’‘.  Was this the push i needed?

Apparently so.

After putting the idea to my best friend that I was thinking of cutting off all my hair,  but how I wasn’t sure how to afford it, she promptly offered to cut it herself! My darling friend, with no hairdressing  or previous hair cutting experience, offered to chop off my golden locks. That’s 20″ of 8 years of growth.

And I immediately agreed, because the trust I had in her outweighed any underlying apprehensions any other person could have had.

So one Friday evening, with my best friends and a glass of wine for support, I took a deep breathe and smiled for the camera…

Result?: BEST HAIRCUT OF MY LIFE

God I’m so happy with it, and I felt the change immediately. In myself, I felt stylish, more individual and I guess, more confident. Physically, my hair feels a trillion times healthier, lighter, easier to manage and takes about 5 seconds style in a morning! PERFECT!!

And the last words should go to the hairdresser herself, whose advice and tips , I hope, will prove  invaluable to those long hair beauties longing for something new.

• ‘Make sure you’re both agreed on exactly the style that you are going for. Collect as many pictures as possible of people whose hair fits the brief, including pictures of the sides and back, which are harder to find. Try Getty Images for lots of celeb photos.’

• ‘Cut the hair whilst it is dry and straight. I would have no idea where to start cutting wet hair as there is no way to predict how it will sit once dry. As the sorry owner of curly hair, I have learnt this the hard way! It is much easier to work with the natural hair texture if you can see how it moves as you cut.’

• ‘Don’t be afraid of taking a break. Even when I thought Clare’s hair cut was finished a 10 minute break with a glass of wine, watching how the hair cut moved in ‘real life’, allowed me to spot where strands needed thinning, trimming or tidying.’

• ‘The most obvious tip: use hairdressing scissors. You will never get a good finish with kitchen scissors and they are much less damaging got the hair! Buy a cheap pair from Boots and take care of them and they will last for years.’

Thank you Cindy, I love you xx

Since Yves Saint Laurent  popularized androgyny in women’s fashion decades ago, stealing your boyfriend’s blazer has become the thing to do.

It seems every season, designers bring baggy pants, waistcoats and tuxedo jackets down the runway ,in new shapes and combinations.

 

This season’s mix of masculinity and feminine sexiness is more funky and edgy than the femme fatale look, seeing sharp shoulders, over-sized vests, and long blazers delivered to the catwalk once more.

But where do we go when  we can’t afford Wang, Jacobs or McQueen?

Why your boyfriends wardrobe of course!

 

First out of the closet is, undoubtedly this seasons key piece, the trusted  Boyfriend Blazer. 

Take a look at last weeks blog  ‘The Boyfriend Blazer”  for inspiration 

 

 

Next up, I dug out my boyfriends only pair of  ’smart’  suit trousers. Sexy. 

Roll the bottoms up to show a bit of ankle and team with heels.

 

 

 

 

The oversized shirt appears to be everywhere at the moment. Mostly because it is so versatile and can be worn in a million different ways.

Belted, tucked in, left loose, you can’t really go wrong. 

 

 

 

If you want the shirt to be worn as  a dress, try to find a shirt that’s big enough to be long, but that still fits reasonably well around the shoulders. If the shirt is long but fitted  it can be crisper, while a more oversized shirt will sit better if in a lighter fabric.

 

 

Roll up the sleeves. The hands and wrists are quite a feminine body-part and therefore balance out the masculinity of the oversized shirt

 

 

The Boyfriend Jumper can be incredibly sexy. with a belt, bare legs and heels or tucked into skirt or trousers.

A simple and effortless look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White t-shirts, oversized, t-shirts with a rock-band on, everything works here. Just make sure it’s not too big. Roll up the sleeves a little bit for that cool factor.

 

 

 

 

When accessorising, don’t forget that a belt can completely change the look. For some other ideas, try layers of bangles, a vintage neck-scarf, or men’s pocket handkerchief. Some tousled bed-hair or a simple pony-tail will set off this look perfectly.

 

Be creative and you’ll see that there’s a lot fun in the mans wardrobe.

Everything that looks stylish on you is just to grab. There’s no rules here, be playful and have fun!

I’ve spent the day perusing a million different fashion related blogs and websites… it’s been pretty much perfect actually. 

So here are a few of my fave snaps from the incredible  ‘The Sartorialist’. I am well and truly inspired!

With Love x