Hot Pink, Shimmering Gold And Gothic Romance.

Here we are. It's Thursday. London Fashion Week is done and we're onto Milan Fashion week. Celebrities are being spotted, and street style is being  photographed. Designers continue to show a bit of everything, classy to wacky. And I'm loving it!

Unfortunately, I live in Canada and I'm broke, so I can't actually go to London or Milan. But I can experience it from afar, via the internet, and a wonderful website; style.com, where you can see full collections from every fashion show, right away. The fall/winter collections for this year are stunning. And I've noticed a few trends that I can't wait to try out!

One trend is a colour that's been lighting up runways, left, right, and centre!  Hot pink is hot for fall and I for one am looking forward to injecting a splash of fluorescent femininity into my wardrobe.

But what goes with hot pink other than the obvious choices of black and white? Well,Twenty 8 Twelve, shows that purple pairs quite nicely when done in  an equally vibrant shade.

What I would also put with hot pink (because, why not?) would be something in metallic gold! And gold has be ALL OVER the runways lately. We've seen it as hardware on skirts and bags at Burberry Prorsum;

Dramatic evening gowns by Giles;

And elegant embroidery from Marchesa.

Of course, there must be a contrast to these brighter looks, and there is.  Also gracing the catwalk at London  Fashion Week were quite a few dark, gothic looks.

This is what I love about fashion; with every season, there's so much creativity and inspiration!  And there's always great new trends! 

Beautifying Blemishes

A stain is to a garment as a really bad pimple is to a face.  It's obvious, distracting, and sometimes just gross.

But, unlike pimples, not all stains go away.

Such was the case with one of my favourite summer dresses.

You can't really tell from this photo, but this dress has (had?) a few fairly visible ink stains on the skirt and the bodice.

Stains 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

I tried every different tip I could find on how to remove ink from fabric but the stains had dried and weren't going to budge. 

Then, I came across a tip, in a magazine at school, that suggested fixing holes and rips by covering them with embroidery.  I though that would work perfectly to cover up stains, as well!

So, sketched out some floral motifs; 

And finally decided on two that I liked.

Keep in mind, as I tell you about my project; 

So, I spread part of the skirt over my embroidery hoop, with the stain sitting dead in the centre.  I drew one of the motifs over top, and I began.

First, the stems and leaves, in a dark, olive green.

Then, some princess-pink blossoms.

And a white french knot in the centre.

I also started putting flowers elsewhere on the skirt.

For the bodice I decided I'd use multiple, tiny french knots.  So far, I've done three.

But the entire bodice WILL be covered in little dots. It WILL be!

This is how the dress looks now.

Not a HUGE difference, I know. I only added three tiny dots and a few small  flowers. And one of those flowers is hidden behind a pleat. But this is a work in progress. I plan on doing about an hour of embroidery each night and I should have it all ready in time for when the warm weather returns. 

Yoko Oh No!

This post is about Yoko Ono.

Now, being a member of the generation that I am, I don't really know all that much about Yoko Ono. I know that she dated John Lennon, apparently she kind of created a wedge between him and the rest of the band, and I know that she one posed for the cover of a magazine, being cuddled by her favourite, and very nude, Beatle.

Don't lie, you're glad I pix-elated it.

It's a DIY Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,  Heeere in Emma Kate's house! 

I promise, I will be singing Christmas carols all month.  Especially while I work on all the Christmas crafts I have planned.

So much craft supplies!!

Today shall be marked as Crafting Day 1. My first project?  Yarn and pom pom mini Christmas trees!

Rosie and Retro

So, a couple of summers ago, I learned to crochet. After making a baby blanket for a friend, I was looking for something more interesting to make.  I was looking through a crochet pattern book that my grandma gave  me.  This book is from the 1960's and there were a lot of cute, mod patterns.

A pattern I especially liked was one called "Chic Little Bolero", which is odd because it doesn't look at all like the modern definition of a "bolero".