A festive day out in faux fur

December was quite a hectic month for me, running your own business can be hard at the best of times, but when you have 3 times as many orders to get through, as well as your own Christmas shopping and preparations, things can get tough.

eustratia faux fur coat blogger

manchester fashion blogger and designer stacey black

This was a day in early December when I managed to escape from the madness for lunch at the Alchemist and a walk around the Manchester Christmas markets with my mum and her cousins.

 

As I was getting ready to leave, I found myself wishing I had a new coat to amp up my outfit and was overjoyed to realise that it was just about cold enough to wear this wonderful faux fur coat from last year’s winter collection for Eustratia. I had been keeping it hidden away in a garment bag so as not to risk ruining it before I had finished shooting it.

 

I was originally going thinking it would dress my outfit up and make it look a touch more feminine. Looking back at the photos however, I realised that paired with the braids and chainmail jewellery, it probably makes me look more like a hollywood version of a Viking queen, which I consider a happy accident.

 

 

 

 

 

To achieve this makeup look, I used my recently purchased Morphe 35T palette and Gerard cosmetics liquid lipstick in “invasion”.givenchy pumpkin bag

 

stacey black dark fashion blogger

Outfit details:

Coat: Eustratia

Sequin front jeans and cardigan: Topshop

Jewellery: Richard Ayres

Bag: Givenchy

Shoes: Miista

miista e8 shoes

antlerdragonfly

Silver thorns

silver thorns 2a copysilver thorns 1silver thorns 4silver thornssilver thorns 6silver thorns 3I managed to get these images in just before the rain yesterday, it seems srping isn’t here after all. I’ve pretty much lived in this cardigan for the last year so I think it deserves to be featured. I’ve had several replacements but non of them seem to work quite as well.

Cardigan: Topshop

Shirt: H&M

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

tights: M&S

Boots: Jeffrey Campbell

Jewellery: Richard Ayres

Septum ring: Bodyjewelleryshop

Images by Richard Ayres

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Current obsessions #15

current obsessions #15This week I’m continuing with the decorating inspiration, though I have got my tree up and have bought most of my presents. I’m also looking to the future, with the realisation that the year is almost over and I should probably get planning my large projects for 2014!

e9eea8e060f311e3a076122b2a59491d_8I also managed to get my tree up. It isn’t as big or elaborate as the ones in my inspiration pictures but I’m quite pleased with it. I made some of the left over perspex jewellery into decorations and also used fake fur from last year’s winter wonderland show, roses from the Opulence collection shoot and lace trim from the “origin of monsters” editorial to give it a personal touch.

When I was younger I always enjoyed the fact that our family Christmas tree was covered in miss-matched decorations, each telling a story so I wanted to incorporate objects that evoke memory into my decorating as well.

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Shooting for Sanctus

I met designer Lucinda Sinclair at clothes show a couple of winters ago and admired her rather cool top. She has since gone on to launch a cult inspired street-wear label called Sanctus.

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A few weeks ago I had the privilege of doing a shoot in some items from the Illuminex collection. Most of them aren’t available any more but feel free to check out the SS13 line, Adramelech.

I also got a change to try out the 5 strand braid I was obsessed with at the time.

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I shot with photographer Nina pang and styled with a variety of interested items I already had, including some pieces from my own label, Eustratia, Richard Ayres and Carly petitt Taylor.

Nina also brought a polaroid camera with her, I think they take great shots.

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Here are the final images:

IMG_3058IMG_3051IMG_3132IMG_3140IMG_3194IMG_3200IMG_3218IMG_3225IMG_3230IMG_3261IMG_3269I really enjoyed wearing these and ended up buying the Cuculatus dress in the end of line sale. It is very comfortable and flattering.

IMG_0182I prefer shopping from independent designers where I can get a unique, quality item, made ethically and with love. I think it would add freshness and challenge the industry if everyone didn’t rely on the same 5 stores for their wardrobe.

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