Military-esque Tracky Bottoms

So comfy and so easy to make! I love the juxtaposition of sloppy and smart and of course tracksuit bottoms as formal wear with a pair of heals have been all over the catwalks for years. Originally I was just going to add the tux stripe using Petersham ribbon but decided that the gold trimming was a bit more gala!...though defo more tricky to add.

DIY | Military Collar

Use buttons and chain to create a military-esque shirt collar. This DIY channels the hardware-in-fashion vibe through a combination of the idea of chains and tipped collars on shirts, the general vogue for gold and chunky gold at that, and the perennial winter attraction to military. [Xmas present #2...this time for your female friends? (and males too, not to be gender-biased)]

DIY | Real Cuff Links

Xmas idea number 2 : my last post was about making cuff links that go on normal shirts. But if you're stuck for a present for a man (or anyone who would have occasion to wear an evening shirt - let's not be gender biased) why not make a pair of real, customised cuff links?

You will need;

• 4 buttons this time
• 2 lengths of chain (approx. 1 cm) OR elastic
• 2 jump rings

Choose your buttons (these shell ones are mother-of-pearl, dead cheap but lovely looking, especially with gold)

Then attach the chain to each button using jump rings.Here's the first cuff link

Now just repeat for the second one! Simple as! 

Just note that:

1. Elastic can be used to tie the buttons together, but they don't tend to look as good.
2. Buttons cannot be the type with holes through them, they mush have their attachment at the back, otherwise there's nowhere to attach the jump rings
3. Buttons much be small enough to fit through button holes; in the other cuff link DIY the chain passes through the hole making the size of the button irrelevant - they could be as big as you wanted them.

DIY | Cuff links for normal shirts

Why should cuff links be reserved for formal occasions? Not only do they add a funky detail but they also fulfill a practical role in keeping shirt sleeves up...as well as tapping into the masculine vibe.

You will need :

• Chain, at least 4 cm
• 2 jump rings
• 2 buttons
• elastic

Plus 2 pliers

Buttons and Chain

I've spent this weekend messing about with buttons and chain, as well as other bits and bobs that any DIY-minded person would have lying around. Check out the following posts with the three DIYs that I created out of these basic ingredients! Funky Xmas ideas anyone?!

Harry Clarke

Blown away by the mesmerising illustrations by Irish illustrator Harry Clarke, here are a selection of his work for Edgar Allen Poe and various fairytale compilations...do you recognise the Little Mermaid, Cinderella of the Emperor with his new clothes?

Cut skinny jeans

Longing for the sun? Looks like some people are trying to channel the spirit of summery denim cut-offs in an ensemble more suitable for the chilly winter months. OK, so they're all guys, BUT why not channel masculine vibes at the same time! An easy DIY; if your trousers are the perfect length to begin with (or you're just loath to cut them up) you can unpick the seam instead of cutting.

Images from Jak and Jill, and StreetFSN

Supplies | Scavenging DIY Materials

Beads can be hard to find cheaply, especially if you want to use a lot of them. One solution is to buy cheap bracelets and necklaces, or find them in second-hand and charity shops, and then cut them up to use the beads for other projects. The beads from this pack of bracelets from Primark would have cost much more than €5 had I bought them individually. Hurrah for Primark and cheap jewelery!

Asymmetric Pencil Skirt

I love this outfit from Zanita Morgan on her blog Zanita. We've seen flowy, asymmetric scooped skirts, now here's a pencil variety! You could chop up an old pencil skirt and copy the effect very easily, or choose a bright colour and DIY.

DIY | Sunglasses

Sunglasses plus sharpie makes for one of the simplest DIYs ever...choose a different coloured sharpie and the world is your oyster!

Trouser stripe

Add a ribbon to your trousers to create a tux-like stripe for masculine elegance. Watch this space!

Images from here, here, here, here

Baseball Caps

Baseball caps, coming soon to a street near you...

 

All images from ; Zanita, streetFSN, Nemesis, Babe, Park and Cube, Style Bubble,  Miu Miu A/W 2012, Style Scrapbook

Mary Delany's Cut-out Flowers

"I have invented an new way of imitating flowers."

I recently picked up a biography about a remarkable 18th century gentlewoman called Mary Delany who, in 1772, at the late, great age of 72 began to produce the most amazing paper 'mosaicks' of flowers. Noticing the resemblance between the colour of a sheet of pink paper and a geranium petal, Mrs. Delany took up her scissors and began to cut. Upon seeing them, her friend the Duchess of Portland mistook the petals for the real thing, and so began a passion that, by the time failing eyesight forced her to stop in 1782, produced almost 1000 artworks of the most breath-taking and painstaking detail. Colouring and cutting sheets of paper into hundreds of different pieces, she would then glue them to black-painted card to form flowers. Her skill was such that the great eighteenth-century botanist Sir Joseph Banks declared that these collages were ‘the only imitations of nature that he had ever seen from which he could venture to describe botanically any plant without the least fear of committing an error'.

I've made the pictures as big as possible so you can better see the details. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, the glue has also started to show a bit although they are beautiful nonetheless.

All images from the British Museum online archives here, biographic information about Mary Delany here