It ain't easy being scene

So I wanted to feature some old pics of how my style developed over the years and I would have to label my 'scene kid' era as the defining period of my style history. Now my main focus in any outfit is colour and pattern. It also added strongly to the passion I still have for over the knee socks! The concept of scene style is big over the top and brightly coloured clothes. Tutus and lumo colours are hugely a part of the style. Big colourful hair is also encouraged as well as copious amounts of wrist wear and earrings. Piercings are common with this style which is sometimes referred to as the colourful sister of emo style! For ages I always admired the style and loved looking at it online. The inspiration from Japanese culture and style adds a cutesyness and brightness that I love. It was difficult to really get into it as an everyday style as I didn't have any friends who dressed that way. While I'm in college now and can wear whatever I like and people wont hold it against me back then even my friends would tease me about some of the over the top things I liked to wear and I got a lot of funny looks on the dart. Happily it fostered in me the creativity that has helped shape my style and personality today and its a look that a still consider both fun and lovely!

Snapshot 8!

So this is a quirky little number that I put together in my head before I wore it. I'd been dying to wear the leggings since I got them but hadn't been able because of the cast. I love that the legs are mismatched especially as I love combining different patterns! Of course the two patterns on the legs wasn't quite enough, I had to team it with the multi-patterned top too!

The top was my mum's and is incredibly thin and soft from year of being worn and loved! (A little like my mum herself actually!) I normally wear it loose and baggy as a cover over outfits in the summer but today I belted it to make it more central to the outfit. The belt is great; really bright and it just adds that bit more shape to the outfit; the modern, neat-edged style of the belt also acted as a kind of contrast to the baggy vintage jacket.

The purple top underneath was just to keep me clothed under the jacket rather than for the look of it and it also helped tie in the purple bandanna. I like having my hair pulled back a bit like this as it shows off the blond layer in my hair (meaning my hair, like my outfit, is multicoloured).

Snapshot 7!

Before I talk about this outfit I would like to apologize for the sock on the right hand side; am just out of a cast and I took the leg brace off for the photo! With that out of the way welcome to snapshot 7! The shorts are actually Dunnes from a few years ago and are my favourite high-waisted item. It's difficult for  me anyway to find high-waisted shorts or jeans that fit both my stomach and my legs so these are my little miracle shorts! I like that there's an option to wear them with a belt too. The top is a really soft crochet and I love the colour. Today there were three of us wearing this particular shade of turquoise in my Russian class so it's clearly a good colour for all skin tones! I love the fit of it and the slightly puffed sleeves give it a 70s look (nicely juxtapositioned with the 50s inspired high-waisters). I usually wear it with a cute waistcoat and a long skirt for a laid back hippy look. The rose pattern cutoffs were to add a bit of flavour and a contrasting colour, you can probably see they have a whole in them but I cant bear to throw them out because they're quite unusual and I haven't seen them anywhere else! I teamed them with the light cardigan just to have something to keep my arms warm and to cover my ass for sitting on cold bus-stop benches! The hat was featured in my 'found items' post and is really simple and cosy. I also painted my nails today so they're in the below picture, bitta blue and black to add some more shades! The bracelets I'm wearing are homemade.

Bags that have been places

I haven't done a lot of stuff yet on customising because I've been busy with college work so I've been mostly just wearing things I've already made (and here's one I made earlier!). I thought I'd so a quick feature on how to make an ordinary rucksack into something a little quirkier!
Tips first! The best thing you can do if you want to be creative is make sure you have supplies for when the mood strikes you! I have a box of what my mum fondly refers to as 'junk'; ribbons, beads, buttons badges, patches and scraps of fabric! I collect sew-on/iron-on patches every time I travel so I have little mementos of the places I've been. If not I like to use badges. Most places you go you can find little button badges for a euro or less each. These are a good size because if they break you can always sew on a button and glue the badge front to the button. A lot of my badges are found items or were picked up in bags of freebies at various events I've been to so not all of them have a huge relevance to my personality but they add colour and texture and most of them are aesthetically pleasing! Another great way to quirk up a bag is with scrap fabric; for instance I used a lace panel that I had left over from a customised top. I also used orange fabric to  create a little flower. It's simple; cut out equal sized flower shapes and layer them before using a star shaped stitch in the centre to hold them in place.

Snapshot 6!

SO this was a tricky one to photograph cos the skirt wouldn't poof when I told it to! The dress is so old I don't actually remember where I got it. I've had it since I was thirteen but luckily its quite stretchy so it still fits (just about in the chest area!) The jumper is a/wear sale and is great with so many things. I generally wear it with a tighter fitting skirt simply because it's slightly shapeless. I was originally going to wear this with my rose patterned tights (which will make an appearance in snapshot 7!) but my room's a bit of a clothes explosion at the moment so I couldn't find them. I think the blue worked well to tone down all the warm colours in the flowers on the skirt and the jumper of course. 

I'm wearing the zipper earrings again which people seem to enjoy so much! The necklace is also a favourite item as I made it myself from charms that I got for my bracelet which wouldn't stay attached! The cat because my name is cat was my favourite when I was younger. The rhino is now my favourite to a ridiculous inside joke with a friend in my Russian class!

The main reason I didn't wear the dress on its own is because it has a tendency to slide down as its a little small in the chest! Also my mum commented that the white flower on the right side of the chest looked like a nipple (fanks for that).

Snapshot 5!

A slightly more subdued number again. Had a pub night after college so wanted to dress up a little! This dress was in the bargain section in TKMaxx because there was no underdress with it (saucy!). My mum gave me the red slip for underneath. The knitted waistcoat is also a hand-me-down from my mum. She never wore it herself and had it from before she had me! Its surprisingly warm (probably partly because of the fact the lace dress underneath is made from mostly acrylic). The belt is something I would usually add to dresses; I think I have a waist cinching belt in every colour under the sun at this stage! As per usual I've included my two clothing addictions; converse and over-knee socks. I originally got these grey and black stripe socks for school because I didn't like the plain grey ones I was required to wear!

Final note is again on make-up and accessories. I used red eyeliner as an alternative to complementing the look with red lipstick. The blue star earrings were to add a splash of another colour and I wanted something quite big and statement-y.

Crutch couture!

SO as I got my cast off yesterday I though now was a good time to publish my little guide to fashion while in a cast! Where i go to college one could not turn up for lectures in trackies without attracting concerned looks and possible stone throwing so I had to make my usual look work! TIP 1 make sure your cast is well decorated-get some coloured sharpies and go to a party! I had random people in the street from Amnesty International wanting to sign mine so I just carried a marker at all times! Its also fun to doodle on it if you're bored! TIP 2 if like me you don't see trackies as an option invest in some funky baggy shorts or hippy pants (like in snapshot 3!). Its a chance to be a little funky while being comfy! TIP 3 dresses are a sweet and easy option, ditto skirts (if you want to hide the cast long hippy skirts or long trousers can work). I like to show it off cos when you're on crutches its pretty obvious anyway! Because it's winter then TIP 4 will be especially useful. Two words; footless tights. Leggings won't generally stretch enough to go over a plaster cast and tights just look damned ridiculous.

 What I did was look some footless tights and regular tights and just cut the bottom of them off. U can hem them to prevent rolling but in this case its best not to as it leaves the ends really easy to stretch and pull over the wide heel of the cast. If you have a couple of pairs that you don't mind to much not keeping as tights its nice to have a variety of options. I was on crutches for 6 weeks so I needed the options! The only other advice I'd offer is to invest in some fluffy socks as your toes get a bit chilly being exposed to the elements ( I always thought people just did this as a style thing but it's a genuine necessity my friends!)