winter pops.

all imgs from style.com

It seems appropriate to be looking at collections full of furs and boots and outwear when it's -5 outside. Normally when the A/W shows are on it's starting to warm up a bit and everyone is looking forward to days of no tights and less than 5 layers.

Neons are essentially a spring/summer colour choice, but if the opening days of NYFW are selling us anything so far, it's the idea that neon works just as well in the colder months too. Which makes sense - I mean, to my eyes, neon works best with the common winter neutrals; the beiges and soft greys.

So far, Jenni Kayne, Juan Carlos Obando and LAMB are in on the retina-searing shades, and it's inspired one of my 'when I'm back home and probably unemployed' projects, as long as I can source some neon wool - a sort of fair isle jumper situation in beige wool with pink neon detail. Or light grey with neon yellow or lime... The combos are probably endless. We will, of course, see if this comes to fruition but I'll be damned if I end up sitting around the house watching TV all day. Again.

Anyway. The almost-neon tartan at LAMB is awesome. The Obando evening dresses aren't my style (in the i-have-no-need-for-evening-dresses sense) but certainly are neon (and would make a fantastic out-of-the-box red carpet outfit) and I'm cheating slightly on the Jenni Kayne shots with a grey coat/black trousers/brown leather top combo but it was too fantastic not to post it.

Jenni Kayne

Juan Carlos Obando

LAMB

ankle length.

eurgh, face.

i joined a netball team today. for real.

i own zero pairs of trainers.

this is going to go well.

vintage dress//zara jumper//priceless boots//thrifted blazer//matalan (?) belt

you may recall this dress from last time i went to london, and the jumper is new (along with a grey/cream intarsia number, also from zara, and a pair of vintage armani jeans. score!); and i probably shouldn't have bought any of those things, but i live in newcastle and own, what, 2 jumpers?

it is cold up north.

more knitwear was necessary.

i like floaty skirts with jumpers. yes. a riff on my number one trend for a/w, right?

fyi i'm playing centre. because i am too short to play any other position competently. i believe my words were something to the effect of "if i can't play centre then there's no point me bring on the team..."

throw it on.

grainy photos; why?

H&M dress+croptop+necklace//topshop hoodie//h! by henry holland cycling shorts//vintage boots+belt//DIY cape

to call this a DIY cape is to really overestimate the 'doing' involved - it's literally just a metre of fabric (burnt orange coloured mohair mix, infact, bought for uni but not used. yet.) wrapped around and belted. shuffled up around my neck for putting a jacket over/if i need to move my arms, shuffled down when i'm cold/don't need to use my upper arms. if you're still stuck for a cape, head on down to your nearest haberdashery (mine was £10.95 for the metre, from fenwicks...) and pick your material. and if you get bored of a cape, you have a metre of fabric for doing...something...with. see?! multipurpose.

surgical spirit.

if new york's defining trend (or a least one i picked up and posted about) was the sleeveless raglan, and london's was.... bright colour? leather? what?... then it was only a matter of time 'til milan had a collective thought.

the first clues were at fendi and prada, but following the 'three's a trend' rule, i waited for the third to come through, and come through it did.

in a season where white and sheer are aspects to be noted, it was only a matter of time until some looks bearing more than a passing resemblance to medical garb trod the runway - now you can get your scrubs at prada, your hospital gowns at fendi and your lab coats* at max mara...

all images are, of course, from style.com. click the links for more from all 3 collections.

Prada:

Fendi:

MaxMara:

* that's lab coats or axe murderer chic, of course.

camel capes.

i got a message on facebook the other day from a friend seeking advice - in search of a camel cape for winter, and not finding much luck. might i be able to use my expertise to help?*

you might be thinking "cmon, everyone's done the 'here are some winter coats/capes/trend items you can get on the high street this autumn/winter' posts already!", but to you i say: THINK OF THE STUDENTS, WON'T YOU?!

by which i mean: it is loan day on monday.

...and at this point i would normally say "...and if the rest of the student population is anything like me, they have a wishlist of items bookmarked to buy when the money shows up", but it's not a case of if. loan day is one the best days of the year (the other best days being loan day in january and in april, and perhaps christmas and birthdays. and halloween. and any excuse to part-ay. september loan day is probably the best though, given that summer is a long time to go on a little bit of loan and you are definitely becoming desperate by this time... ok, enough loan rambling.)

my point is, now is the perfect time to be doing such posts, as the ever-growing student population are at top bookmarking and mental noting time right now. and one assumes trend based winter coats are top priority.

of course, i scoured the usual haunts - straight to topshop (no joy; i hear they already sold out of their camel cape. bummer.), and all around the online high street. as such, here are my picks - they're all under £100, so an investment for any student but also pretty affordable. and they're all camel or nude tones, naturally.

asos

contrast trim cape; £80//pleated swing coat; £70//hooded military cape; £70

the third option is definitely my favourite of the ones i came across - and at £70 it's one of the cheapest options out there; especially since asos now do free delivery and returns. and of course i'm aware the second one is a coat, but it's also swingy - a great option if you are a fan of the camel cape trend but not quite sure about the practicality of it all, says i.

zara

cloth studio cape; £99//woollen studio cape; £99//double sided 3/4 length coat; £69.99

zara is a GREAT choice for coats and if you're going for a more minimal feel the £99 options are fantastic - there's even one in a darker camel shade if you're that way inclined.

miss selfridge

stone cape parka; £42

as is the miss s way, this is rather more casual and 'youthful' than the other options, and if you've been drawn in by parkas and the like from watching this is england '86, but also want a piece of the camel trend, you might as well combine the two for £42, no?

and of course, ebay

camel cape one; currently at £21//camel cape two; currently at $61

aka vintage...

one assumes the second one (ok both...) will go for a pretty penny given that a) it's amazing and b) it's from renowned vintage ebay store bustown modern. the first one is a simple option but a great one, of course.

if you're really after a bargain (and who isn't?) i recommend scouring the coat and vintage coat sections. i just did a quick search for camel cape and picked the stand outs, but some people don't understand the power of keywords and you could end up with a great find.

i mean, there was also a reversible cape which was fuzzy and leopard print on the other side but APPARENTLY it was a buy it now (for £85) and has now gone. ultimate sad face; it was the camel cape of dreams.

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*these may not have been her exact words, and i may have embellished a little, but that is of NO CONSEQUENCE, k?

good trouser wearing; part II.

it's more like part 4 or 5 or something, but whatevs, right?

some trouser action was going down at wayne tippetts the other day. including on a guy! which is kind of expected since they don't have much option when it comes to legwear. right guys?

i'm finding trousers in unconventional shades a lot, too. salmon? well quite.

the second girl down is painting the roses black, who is, annoyingly, 14 and fabulous. (i say annoyingly, because, of course, i was not wearing trousers in such a fabulous manner at that age. i wasn't doing much of anything fabulously at that age. sigh.)

must stop posting about trousers, or indeed, anything that i can't afford until a later date.

i would post some outfit shots but i'm mostly sitting at my desk, bundled up in clothes, sketchbook-ing and shall be continuing to do so for the foreseeable future. le sigh.

elaine.

woah, woah, woah. cue slap bass.

img from geometric sleep.

sorry, is that the pic from my sidebar?? i think it is.

this past week has seen some Benes-loving in the fashion world, at least in the above clipping (i want to say it's from the new york times? shrug.) and up on my twitter feed. i can only approve wholeheartedly. if my hair was long enough for a huge front fringe quiff bouffant... thing accompanied by some serious frizz, then it would be happening.

i like to think i'm ahead of the curve, or that i secretly have a mental connection with downtown NYC, but it's likely that the reality is either this is a shortlived/microtrend, or it will totally not catch on. (SADFACE.)

that said, the length is really something that's big right now (or at least, maxis are still in for a/w and will probably keep going till next summer, but a move on to a calf or ankle length would make sense), and collars - especially the high necked/buttoned up variety - are something i'm seeing about the blogs these days. whether it's the Elaine effect or not (which I doubt given how many people around my age have actually seen Seinfeld. boo at being in a minority.), this is a relatable trend and seems totally approps right now.

EXCUSE TO POST THIS GIF, YES!

err, wait, does that mean i'm actually appropriately dressed for something? this can only mean that the rapture is upon us.

...brb, bidding on calf length dresses with long sleeves and collars on ebay.

amazing world of ebay; 18/7

i am properly tired for unknown reasons today, but here i am, soldiering on, scouring ebay for awesome pieces and randomness. today's pickings?

firstly, this week i'm celebrating the store funkin' junkie, which ALWAYS has some great pieces in - this week you can find items (3), (4), (5) and (6), aka slouchy denim/camel perfection, a sheer hooded cover up, a SUEDE LEOPARD TOP (aka my *leopard item of the week*) and a vintage take on the "camel" "trend" that "people" keep banging on about.

also on the topic of "trends", i guess chanel brought that whole crochet thing back, and you can find a plethora of lace and crochet this week, including a "suit" which may or may not have finished already (9), but you can always look at for a little bit. oops. took too long working on this post. there are slips (12), shorts (11, also ending soon), babydoll efforts (17) and slinky jumpsuits (8) on offer too, as well as this chain mail affair (1) at $245/£160 if you have that kind of spare change about your person.

while we're on the sheer front, you can find maxis which are perfect for layering (2), as well as super wide pleated flares (7) for a ridiculously laid back 70s...thing.

in shoe corner this week you can find AMAZING CLOGWEDGE THINGS (15) which someone needs to buy and blog about posthaste, leather&lace boots (13), cute brogues (14) and interesting wedges (16).

and to top it off, you can find genuine vintage biba (10) in the form of a blue jumpsuit, starting at £25.

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so 'the amazing world of ebay' is a lot less "what is this fuckery??" and a lot more "OMG HOW AMAZING IS THIS?!?" these days, huh? i say these days like this isn't only the 3rd week.

ho-hum.

trending topics: shearling

This post may feel totally out of place given that it's 9am and the sun is already blazing outside, but being ahead of the curve can reap massive benefits - so instead of looking at summer trends, let's dive into autumn/winter.

The thing about current trends, of course, is they might be readily available in stores but their vintage counterparts' eBay prices are severely jacked up - and if, like me, you'd rather have the vintage piece than the high street rip-off; this guide is for you. I might even make it a recurring thing. Suggest me some more A/W trends.

Burberry, A/W10

from style.com

My first spotlight: shearling. Big fan. Adored this Burberry collection; still do.

Course, while eBay is first go-to for vintage; it's not so reliable for the purposes of highlighting what's available; what with listings lasting 9 days, so it's to etsy I wandered for inspiration.

"There's a jacket for every budget!"

Clockwise from top:

$60 at SecondFiddle's store

$200 at CourtneyOwlEyes' store

$118 at AmiableLeaf's store

$22 at valueapesalvage's store

A mere sample, there, but you get the idea. The vintage shearling pool is varied and you'll find big-ass curly wool things (my favourite; but out of my price range right now...) to cute little bomber jacket styles.

Luckily for me, a faux-shearling is already in my possession for the princely sum of a pound from a charity shop, but I don't love it, so perhaps some tweaking is in order. First order of business: kilt buckles; and perhaps some extra fuzzy fabrics. I'll let you know how that goes, huh?

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double denim

I have nothing more interesting to share than outfit posts...

Might have something to do with having tonsillitis and generally being ill.

Anyways, I am embracing the double denim 'trend', mostly cos I never want to take this shirt off. Love.

I like how you can always tell what time it was when I took these pics...

thrifted denim shirt+fish brooch+necklace//ebayed jacket//H&M skirt//garage shoes

Mm do excuse me, I must be off to the doctors posthaste.

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#shouldercapesarethefuture

Which is the hashtag you should definitely be using if you tweet anything about shoulder capes! IT'S THE DIGITAL AGE PEOPLE!

After I banged on a bit about my awesome shoulder cape based thrift score the other week, the A/W10 runways have been awash with them. AWASH.

Cable knit, fluffy, furry, cowl necked; they're all here.

OK, so there have only been 4 days of shows so far, but there's 4 weeks to go!

ADAM//Behnaz Sarafpour//Lyn Devon//Prabal Gurung//Cynthia Steffe

images from style.com

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"there's a snake in my boots!"

A story:

Those that follow me on twitter might've seen my tweet about these babies off of eBay. I got three replies to that tweet - seems the general opinion was they were vile but also amazing and I should definitely get 'em.

After umm-ing and ahh-ing for a few days I decided I would, in fact, purchase them, but then I failed to notice the end time and ended up missing the end. I wasn't too worried; 'they'll be relisted!' I thought, before noticing that they'd had a bid! NOOOOOO!

Clearly someone else had been paying attention to trends appearing around and about - not only the platofrm/crazy heel part, but, I mean...well, take a look:

images from ebay, supersneakystreetscene and fashion gone rogue

Rick Owens recent menswear show, and a recent editorial (Devon Aoki by Ellen von Unwerth) both showing the snake print boots, man...

I definitely missed a trick there.

So, yknow, ebay buyer, if it turns out you don't like them or they don't fit you, whack back up on there, yeah?

Or if any readers have seen similar awesome boots, lemme know...

I've ransacked ebay, there are no good ones, and this makes me sad.