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By
Polonium D.
I love Saint Petersburg and not only because it's my native city. It's very beautiful and has a very rich history despite being built in 1703. There are also many interesting and unordinary places, different art projects and modern art galleries. Local people always call the city just Piter. So, don't be surprised if you see that name.
By
Tabby
This week Tabby recreates the eccentric colourful style of singer Kate Nash.
Kate Nash has changed from the girly-girl of "Foundations" to the badass-feminist of "Sister", so she's not afraid of trying out new things. She can combine cuteness with a rock'n'roll attitude and always glamourous.
By
Amy C.
Outfit details:
- Red cardigan - Target
- White tank - Old Navy
- Blue wool skirt - Target
- Tights - Target brand, DIY (See below)
- Gray boot socks - DIYed by me
- Brown boots - DSW
DIY Polka Dot Tights
Recreate the look with Amy's Polka Dot Tights tutorial:
How would you describe your style?
Classic casual or casual classic. I like to be comfortable and, with my children and my 'making' lifestyle, I like to wear things that are easily washed. I am not a trendy person so I live in things I can wear year after year.
What's your favourite piece in your wardrobe?
I love my jeans, my brown boots and slip-on mules, I love cardigans and long sleeve tees.
Who are your style icons?
I don't know that I cling to a specific icon's style but I do appreciate the style of Blake Lively, Rachel Bilson, Victoria Beckham and, yes, Kate, wife of Prince William.
Do you have any favourite designers?
Haha! No. I don't pay attention enough for that.
Where are your favourite places to shop for new clothes clothes?
I really like H&M - good style for nice price. I like Boden, Anthropologie & Gap.
Do you make or customise your outfits?
I do sometimes but mostly, I keep things very simple.
Do you have any great tips for mixing up and personalising an outfit?
My only tip is to make sure you dress in a way that is comfortable for you physically and is true to who you are. Owning who and what you are is the most important thing to put on each day.
Which other fashion blogs do you love to read?
None really. I find most of my inspiration from scrolling through Pinterest.
I live just a short train ride away from Leeds so the best thing about Leeds is the diversity. It’s the best cure for whenever I’m feeling homesick as I grew up in London. I love the diversity in culture styles and shops if I want to buy something a bit retro or keep up with this seasons fashion then you’re sorted.
We head all the way to Tokyo, Japan to tour Chie's stylish sewing and craft room.
"My favorite thing about that space was that it had a high ceiling and a lot of sun light. It faced South and had big windows, so it was nice to craft in a naturally well-lit place."
Tell us about your space?
I live in Japan. The pictures of my craft room were taken when I lived in outside of Tokyo. I recently moved to central Tokyo, but since my craft room is still in need of a lot of organization, I am showing you my old space.
My craft space was located in our master bedroom. The bedroom had a loft, where my husband and I slept. The other part was divided with my husband, so although these pictures don’t show it, the other half of the space was full of free weights, squat rack and all the other smelly sweaty stuff! So we slept, worked out and crafted in one room.The most crafts I do is sewing clothes for my clothing brand, Vivat Veritas. I draft patterns, hang pre-washed fabrics in the balcony of this room, iron and press, cut fabric and sew here. I even take pictures of the products in this room using the dress form and drapes.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
The newest addition to the room is my Juki industrial sewing machine, which I bought this January. It came with a solid table and although it is second-hand, it is beautiful and inspiring to me.
How do you keep organized?
It is hard for me to stay organized. I usually go unorganized for a month, and during sewing something, I get disgusted since I can’t find what I am looking for and start organizing. And I repeat the same in a month. With growing numbers of patterns, fabrics and notions, it is very hard to be on top of organizations! I bought the wall pockets from Ikea and organize some of my notions – all zippers in one pocket, buttons in the other. Since my craft space is small, I try to have my organizational space on my wall by using wall pockets and racks for threads.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
I really am not good at this, but I’ve found deciding on a place for every tool or notions helped. After using the tools, they need to go back to the places that they belong to avoid clutter.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
I like to dress up my dress form with my latest creations.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I carry around a sketch book where I jot down some ideas and sketches of new designs. For some reasons, I find the physical sketch book much more inspiring than the iPhone notepad feature. I am also addicted to Pinterest.
Where do you look for inspiration?
I gather inspirations everywhere, but especially from people watching here in Tokyo. It is so interesting to see how different people dress depending on location. For instance, if you go to Shibuya, you see young people’s trendy fashion. Or go to Ginza or Roppongi for higher-end and delicate fashion.
I also love traveling and stopping at fabric shops or garment districts whenever I travel. Fabric motivates me. I love to feel and touch the fabric and come up with the best design that is suited for the fabric.
Since I moved to a new place, I browse a lot of interior design blogs and sites now. They are influencing the way I design too. I love eclectic interior designs, where you mix and match different textures, thrifted pieces and expensive art etc. I think the same can be incorporated into fashion design.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
1. Get rid of my husband’s workout goodies
2. Add more art and books
2. Add more art and books
3. Make me live in a fabric shop
Make sure to check out Chie's website, Vivat Veritas »
By
Judy
This week Judy recreates the gothic look of Clary from The Mortal Instruments.
Clary may be petite, but she’s quite a headstrong heroine. She looks stunning in black leather paired with her vibrant hair. Dressed in bold Shadowhunter gear, Clary is always prepared for battle, whether she’s fighting for justice or love.
By
Gina M.
Outfit details:
- Hat - DIY (see below)
- T-Shirt - Torn by Ronny Kobo
- Jeans - Rag & Bone
- Shoes - Devi Kroell
DIY Cat Hat
Recreate the look with Gina's Cat Hat Knitting pattern:
How would you describe your style?
Eclectic. I love everything from 1950's vintage dress with full skirts to punk style shredded t-shirts
What's your favourite piece in your wardrobe?
A pair of vintage black leather pants
Who are your style icons?
Beyonce always looks fantastic. I also love the way the Olsen twins combine vintage with designer pieces.
Do you have any favourite designers?
Chloe and Missoni are a few on my favorites. As far as smaller designer go I love Zero + Maria Cornejo and A.L.C.
Where are your favourite places to shop for new clothes clothes?
I love Barneys- their selection is amazing!
Do you make or customise your outfits?
Constantly! I love to sew and I'm always making new things. My favorite things to sew are dresses and handbags. I also frequently alter vintage clothing to fit my style. I find many skirts and dresses with great prints but often the length is odd (mid-calf) so I hem them into minis.
Do you have any great tips for mixing up and personalising an outfit?
Experiment and don't lean too heavily on trends.!
Which other fashion blogs do you love to read?
I love the Cherry Blossom Girl. She's lovely and her style/photographs are so romantic and whimisical, and who could resist the amazing Parisian backgrounds?
By
Tabby
The best thing about living in São Paulo is that you can find the whole world in just one city. A mix of cultures, art and energy, you'll find everything in São Paulo!
We head to Pasadena in California to see Aurora Pringle's bright and colourful craftroom and studio.
"It’s so hard to choose my favourite thing about the room! Can we have a crazy plant-fueled MMA fight between all my favorites? Just kidding, I don’t want to be responsible for any knocked out teeth. Part of the reason we selected our place was because of the potential of the guest room as a craft area. I think my heart will always belong to good light. This room has it. Between a lovely window that lets in natural light with gusto, to the wall sconces, to the two lamps on my drafting tables, I’m covered. Covered in beautiful light. Like every person striving to get the proper amount of vitamin D should be."
Tell us about your space?
Pasadena, Ca, is where my craft room is, and it ain’t no joke! I’ve had craft spaces in many places (including a restroom floor in a house shared with other bananas gals), but in Pasadena, my craft room shares a city with the history of Albert Einstein, Sally Field, Julia Child, and Lance Ito. Perhaps my greatest accomplishment is managing to have a craft area in Pasadena. My craft room and I have been comfortably living in the City of Roses for two years.
Our craft room is a dedicated multi-purpose space, which is a fancy way of saying, “you can sleep in this room, but you’ll probably end up with glitter lodged in your belly button”. Our place was built in the 1920’s, and the rooms are small and adorable. We keep the guest bed in here, but since my girlfriends are usually the ones who stay over, we don’t worry too much about keeping things crazy tidy. These girls are warriors and could probably weather rattlesnakes. Multiple rattlesnakes. We do not have rattlesnakes in the craft room. There is a closet attached to the craft room, where my handsome husband keeps his wardrobe. It’s very handsome in there.
This is also my studio, so to speak, so you could say this is where the action happens. I do crafts occasionally, but I’m an illustrator and portraiture artist, so that’s what I typically do in this room. I like to lay out all of my pencils and pens on my drafting table, cut my paper, and then get to work. My drafting table usually remains a mess until the piece is totally finished. I usually count that amount of time by how many episodes of Gossip Girl I can get through.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with the things you love. In this way I am very much like Imelda Marcos. I love putting things my friends have worked on, up on my cork board. I like putting random finds up too—this can be anything from a print ad that has an amazing color scheme, or a piece by another artist that makes me think in a new, different way. I like being able to see what supplies I have to work with. Just seeing what I have around me can trigger uses for those things, and that gets me inspired.
How do you keep organized?
This is truly my Trojan Horse. I LOOK organized, and I strive to be organized, but I never truly in my soul feel organized. I try to have a place for everything. For the most part that works out, but there’s always about 25% of my stuff that is out on the basketball court making slam dunks and 3-pointers and getting injuries and Hall of Fame trophies. These things may never be contained, much like Dennis Rodman.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
Be the Terminator of Stuff! Invite all your crafty friends over and tell them to bring their crafty supplies they don’t want. Trade up with them! Give all the extra stuff to someone who’s an elementary school teacher. I’m serious. If I don’t do this, I start turning into a woman who can’t open her overstuffed drawers. This is very inconvenient if you have a vision for something and are in the zone. You do not want to be in the position where you cannot open your drawers and you have a brilliant idea! Also: go to the thrift store and get tiny containers. Tiny containers are the best.
Be the Terminator of Stuff! Invite all your crafty friends over and tell them to bring their crafty supplies they don’t want. Trade up with them! Give all the extra stuff to someone who’s an elementary school teacher. I’m serious. If I don’t do this, I start turning into a woman who can’t open her overstuffed drawers. This is very inconvenient if you have a vision for something and are in the zone. You do not want to be in the position where you cannot open your drawers and you have a brilliant idea! Also: go to the thrift store and get tiny containers. Tiny containers are the best.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
My favorite possession is probably my drafting table. Tied for that would be one of my fine point black ink pens. I feel like they work hand in hand, with my own literal hands. I don’t have any of my own work on display, but I do keep a huge whiteboard full of my goals over my drawing area. So I sort of created that.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I’m actually pretty old school. I love to print things out and actually buy certain magazines each month. I have loads of notebooks that I have filled with clippings and drawings. My second greatest achievement (second only to having my craft room in Pasadena) is that I once filled a notebook with clippings of interviews, photos, and articles about my number one muse, Drew Barrymore, from ages 12-26. All of my notebooks since that one pale in comparison. I also use the internet like a cataloguing freak—you can find me on Pinterest and Tumblr. That’s where I put all my found inspiration from the internet.
Where do you look for inspiration?
If I’m running low on inspiration, then I probably haven’t been reading or socializing with my friends. So I’ll usually hit my neighborhood bookstore Vroman’s and get cozy for a few hours in the stacks, or I’ll email my girlfriends to get together and discuss what they are working on, what they’re into, what they’re obsessing on. I have been known to get into intense research mode, where I find something I like, and then I trace their influences, and then THEIR influences, like a less adorable version of the first Back to the Future movie. I only say less adorable, because Michael J. Fox was so adorable. SO SO CUTE!
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
1. Shelves…shelves to the very top of high heaven! The potential of so many shelves makes me both giddy and afraid—I could put so much stuff up around the room…and also, I would accumulate so much stuff. Nobody said a wish had to be a good idea, that’s for sure.
2. My second wish would be to have a full time chef from my favorite sushi restaurant, Shojin, on duty, because I do love healthy snacks while I’m working my tookus off.
3. And my third wish would be to have Blair Waldorf on call as a real life friend (I would set up a special 1950’s vintage gold phone that would be a direct line to her place in New York), to motivate me to always look at the big picture, stick to what I want, and to tell me about her schemes when I need to laugh.
Make sure to check out Aurora's artwork on her website »
By
KozmicBlues
This week, KozmicBlues recreates the look of musical legend, Janis Joplin:
Janis Joplin was an extraordinary singer. She was different from the rest; she had her own ideas, her own personality and, of course, her own style. She was truly a free spirit. Her style showcased perfectly her individuality and her freewheeling personality. She was unique, strong and free and she wore accordingly. Although in many ways a true child of the 60’s, she nonetheless inspired thousands by her appealing, colorful, daring outfits and complements.