I’ve recently been working on a few different types of accessories for Eustratia. When photographer Emily Bailey contacted me about shooting some of my designs I saw a great opportunity to do a chilled out shoot with some of the new accessories as well as a couple of outfits styled in ways independent to any particular collection.
This is the moodboard I created for the shoot.
It will feature a lot of influences from current fashion and my everyday style.
The recent rumors of a two week heat wave and general nice weather have started me thinking about a slightly more summery wardrobe update. Here are my top picks from the highstreet.
1. Zip front drop back dress £45, miss selfridge. This one is probably my favourite, I can think of places I could wear this.
2. crown vest £35, illustrated people at Topshop. You can never have enough vests and if the print is good, it’s a bonus!
3. Feather cape necklace £40, Topshop. I like a bit of tribal style for the summer, maybe it’s not quite hot enough for this yet but one can dream! I imagine wearing it to a beach party so I’ll probably have to wait till my holiday.
4. multistrap bra top £18, miss selfridge. Perfect for when it’s too hot for a real bra.
5. Stripe hotpants £35 Moto at Topshop. Practicals and pastel.
6. embroidered hem shorts £18, River island. Comfy and interesting, best summer shorts I’ve seen so far.
7. skull de jouy thoas dress £195, All Saints. Everyone needs an elegantly messy dress in their wardrobe.
8. Polkadot burnout crop £7, miss selfridge. Practical and interesting, at that price who can argue?
9.Lilac crepe midi skirt £34, miss selfridge. I love lilac but seldom find any clothes that I like in that colour so I probably have to have this.
10. Cross tights £8.50, Topshop. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to wear sheet tights in the evening!
11. sequin knicker £12, miss selfridge. I was imagining this being worn with the tights for a night out.
12. 90s shorts £28, motel at Topshop. I’m not sure if I would prefer these to be slightly lower waisted but I love the thick stripes.
13. Inverted cross plug, £10 for UK custom plugs. Very simple but I haven’t seem plugs like this before and they definitely work.
14. Underground triple-sole Wulfrun creepers. Not the most summery shoe but I’ve been looking for some casual platforms for ages and this I’m probably going to have to just give up and get these. I’ve never been a big fan of creepers, to be honest in most cases I find them ugly but these have exactly the right platform and I can probably customise the parts I don’t like :).
I have always found Marie Antoinette inspiring but I must say that Sophia Coppola’s interpretation has helped me understand how her style can be modernised and become more appropriate to wear today.
I tried a hairstyle inspired by ones in the 2007 film for my party last weekend and was asked to do a tutorial so here it is!
First of all, as most of you know I have thin, bleached hair so it is probably more malleable than most hair. If you have thick hair you might need more product to achieve this look. It also might help if you leave your hair unwashed for a couple of days.
You will need:
Start with you hair down and your comb in your hand. I know some people use lice combs for backcombing, I think just a standard plastic fine toothed comb is the best. Also please forgive the lack of eyebrows, I draw them on so I actually look a bit like an alien in the morning.
Start on the crown of your head a basically backcomb a large section in the middle of your head, giving as much volume as possible. I advise spraying with hairspray both before and after. If you have soft hair spraying before hand with help you backcomb more effectively and help the section stick together.
This should give you a large backcombed section that looks kind of like this with straight hair all around the outside.
Next, take the remaining hair, a section at a time and backcomb and spray it. In some cases it might be helpful to curl each section first. I did this on my first attempt at this style but then realised it wasn’t necessary for my hair.
The objective is to get your hair to easily form a little curl which you can then pin to the backcombed body of hair.
They should look something like this to start with. If you curl them them might be a bit more wavy.
After you’ve done a few it should look something like this.
To do the back, I moved into the bathroom where I could use two mirrors to see what I was doing properly.
I started sectioning, spraying, curling and pinning the back of my hair.
Take care to pin lightly so the hairstyle still looks light and puffy.
At the end I left two small sections to curl into ringlets.
Side view
Top view
Back view.
On one side I have a shaved patch so I just put a curl over it.
And this is what it looks like from the front.
I’m particularly pleased with this style because it does resemble hairstyles worn by Marie Antoinette without requiring a hair piece, extensions of a wig. I’ve seen loads of people buy Marie Antoinette inspired wigs that look terrible as soon as you get them home and this is a cheap and more effective alternative.
If you have dark coloured hair it might be a good idea to use some white hairspray for this style. I liked the colour of my hair as it is for this one but I use white hair spray quite a lot. I love the dusty effect it leaves on the hair, which is in fact quite reminiscent of the powdered look of 18th century wigs.
I know my pictures aren’t fantastic but hopefully they still show the process accurately and clearly. If in doubt, use more hair spray and I’d love to see pics if anyone else tries this.
I’ll try and do it for a shoot and get some better pics at some point!
It has been a while since I last had time for a shopping post. I always save images of products I find interesting but at busy times I have to focus on orders. While I’m disappointed I didn’t get to post about some of my finds, however, I think this is a great time for a clothes post as everyone has updated their ranges for spring.
I have complied 3 boards of my favorite spring styles.
A. Tough girl
1. Bordelle belt strap garters £130+VAT www.bordelle.co.uk I love these but would never be able to afford that much on garters so am considering making a similar pair.
2. sleeveless stripe shirt £30 Topshop
3. leg harness £16.50 Topshop
4. Infragante leather bodice £120+VAT Bordelle
5. mesh panel leggings £22 Miss selfridge
6. skull jouy vest £35 All saints
7. Studded Lita boot, Jefferey Campbell
8. stud detail bralette £20 Topshop
9. leather biker jacket £165 by boutique at topshop. This isn’t the most amazing leather jacket but I’m struggling to find a nice one that will fit me for a reasonable price and at least this one would be easily customisable.
B. Mystical girl
1. bodycon dress £42 miss selfridge (I may have actually bought the last one of these as I had to go to a pretty obscure branch to find it).
2. lattice bra top £18 miss selfridge
3. vero moda lace biker jacket www.usc.co.uk
4. cross front longline cami £22 topshop
5. heelless platform by Jeffery Campbell, I’ve wanted a pair of these for so long!
6. silver cross stretch armcuff £9.37 miss selfridge
7. multi chain vest necklace £50 topshop
8. obsidian tomb ring $260 blood milk
9. sheer split maxi skirt £37 miss selfridge
10. reformed coquette tie die dress £30 urban outfitters
11. rune divination cuff $275 blood milk. I love rune jewellery and have had my rune rings from past times (which has now closed down) for about 10 years!
C. Pastel girl
1. Dior eyeshadow £39.24
2. printed sleeveless shirt with metal tipped collar £32 miss selfridge
3. pastel harness £18 asos
4. Mashmallow bust harness praline (yes that is actually what its called) about £104 www. misencage.com
5. lilac glitter belt £12 topshop
6. fleur cropped jumper £20 Topshop
7. illamasqua nail varnish £13.50
8. turquoise glitter plugs $13.98 hot topic
9. lilac leggings £18 topshop
10. side strap top £18 miss selfridge
11. pastel tie die tights £10 topshop
12. Spikey shoes, Jeffery Campbell
I have bought a few of these things and hope to have a bit more spare cash soon. Having to spend all my money on my business gets depressing some times but with a new casual range coming out soon I have high hopes for the future.
On Friday morning, after a long night of no sleep and a lot of sewing, I set off for Leeds and VAU VAU fashion show.
First stop was Rebel pin-up hair salon where I had to direct as the models got their hair done to fit their character in the show. Then after a quick cup of tea in a cafe we got a lift to the amazing Leftbank Church venue.
After arriving at the venue I realised the majority of my stuff was still locked in my friend’s car so I had to wait to set up the stall. I’m often worried about trading at places where I can’t bring my larger stall props but I think what I had was perfect for this event and I didn’t feel like anything was missing.
I’m particularly in love with this wire and nut tree that Rik made. I had been asking him to make a jewellery stand for a while and it turned out better than anything I had imagined. I’m also designing a jewellery stand for my upcoming homeware range but I haven’t decided on the best material to make it out of yet.
I did three interviews at the show (hopefully to follow shortly), two of which were filmed. I’m making an effort to put my work before my appearance at the moment as running the business on my own is quite hard and I need all the extra time I can get,but at times like these, I’m reminded its important to look good as well.
The models were great and managed to pull off both the walk and outfits, which I could tell some of them weren’t used to. I was please with the way the show turned out and the pictures I have seen so far. Apparently there will also be videos, can’t wait!
Some image selections from the show:
Our wonderful host, Toria Brightside wearing her custom, pink Eustratia antlers!
The images are by Arlen Specter, Danielle Jaques and Richard Ayres.
Was great to see other labels from Bird’s yard at the show, including Sophie Adamson as well as Jay Storey with his custom graffiti canvases.
After the show I managed to fit in a couple of snaps with Stuart from Walnutwax.
For those who weren’t at the show, the giant tea cups that the bunnies were holding were full of star confetti!
So far I’ve seen a review from Wildchild media which you can read here, I’m sure there will be more to follow soon.
A lot of the people who aren’t used to being exposed to it, commented on the amount of latex that I featured in the show. I would like to point out that, as I mainly sell latex on my site at the moment, commenting on the amount of fabric garments that I had in the show may have been more apt. I did end up having slightly less than I originally planned but I still think it broke it up nicely. I’m quite glad to have been able to finally take this step and show a mixed range as it justifies my not choosing a name with “latex” after it, having planned from the start not to be limited to one material.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all those involved on pulling off such a memorable event which raised around £2000 for charity. Special thanks to Toria Brightside and Emma Parry for organising, Fashion pony for sponsoring the event, Dave Abbot for my awesome, character specific music which you can listen to here, Amber for transporting all my stuff in her car, Verity for helping me sort out my technical problems, Rik for minding the stall pretty much on his own all night, Laura for cancelling work to stand in at the last minute and my glass of wine on the train and all my models/hair/MUA team for their great work.
For more images check the Eustratia facebook page.
I’ve had a few people ask about the hair pieces, I made these myself and will be posting a tutorial on how to achieve similar looks when I have time to get some pictures in order. I will also probably be doing a giveaway for one on my model page soon, for anyone who isn’t the DIY type. Commissions are welcome.
I’m already looking forward to my next show and future projects!
Edgy designer clothing. Innovative latex fashion. Bespoke commissions.