Wardrobe Rehab - The Camel Blazer

A little while ago I told you all about the key jackets in my wardrobe. I realised when I was writing about what every girl should have in her jacket arsenal that I was missing one VERY important item - the camel blazer. So on a recent trip to Shenzen (blah blah blah I'm sure you're sick of seeing the spoils of my trips to the tailor) I got this silk one made. I've spent a bit of time since I recieved it taking it in and making it perfect - thats the beauty of having a sewing machine I guess and I like having a very fitted style.  The funniest part? In about a month this and a few other silk jackets will be the only ones I will be able to wear without forming a permanent sweat moustache, while the rest will be relegated to under the bed. Don't even get me started on the massive fro I will be sporting once the Hong Kong humidity sets in...

Wearing: handmade camel blazer, wool full mini skirt, country road singlet, zara wedges
Ps. the bf recently said to me - those zara wedges get a bit of airtime, and yes they do indeed! Best go-to shoes around, although it has been agreed by a bunch of males on a night out that they are a complete man repeller. Hope they're not a woman repeller too!

DIY Thimble Studded Collar and Cuffs

I'm definitely not sick of oversized studs like the ones adorning this jacket. You could make your own by buying a whole heap of thimbles you would use for hand sewing, spray painting them gold, and then attaching them to a jacket using a glue gun.

Image: UK Elle

DIY Blazer Vest

The cut off blazer style jackets were allll over the runway for AW11 including at Isabel Marant, and they are such a simple DIY. Simply take an oversized balzer and remove the sleeves. Wear with mini shorts in spring.

Image: Mr Newton via Harper & Harley

Wardrobe Rehab - The Jacket

So in the last couple of weeks I have been mulling over the Wardrobe Rehab series I did a while ago - where I put a serious amount of time and effort into overhauling my wardrobe before I left London. But recently I have been feeling the same way about my wardrobe that I felt before - totally uninspired standing in front of my cupboard in the morning. The horror! So last weekend I did a bit more of a cull, and I think I will continue to cull for the next couple of weeks. When I have such good access to tailors who can help you completely recreate your look without breaking the budget, why not?

I went through my jackets a few days ago and culled anything that I don't wear. In reality I am almost never going to wear heavy jackets in Hong Kong (other than sneaky trips to Shanghai) so I have put them away, and made a pile of things to sell consisting of jackets that I don't think I am going to wear again. Above is a pic of the things I have left in the jacket section of my wardrobe. As I was doing the cull I thought about what the most important things were to keep, and I came up with a few rules for essential jackets. Key jackets I kept?

• The Black Blazer - an absolute essential. Should fit you like a glove and look great with pencil skirts for work and tight dark denim jeans and heels for Friday drinks.
• The Statement Jacket - Mine is a vintage black beaded jacket I nabbed from a jumble in north london (I was part of the furniture at that place for a while). It is perfect for throwing over a simple outfit. Go for a super textured one in a beaded or sequin style.
• The Camel Trench - A bit of a cliche perhaps but this comes in handy all the time, mine is hip length so not the classic style but looks amazing with trousers or jeans and flats.
• The Leather - This goes without saying really. The leather jacket should be a staple in everyone's wardrobe. I have a beautiful faded tan one from Zara and an extremely supple bomber style from Whistles (both gifts from the bf). Spend as much as you can afford on this item, and choose a simple and classic style - you'll have it in your wardrobe forever.
• The Khaki Hooded Jacket - Slightly military inspired, this jacket lends a little bit of edginess to a ladylike outfit and is perfect thrown over my weekend go-to outfit - uniqlo jeans, nautical breton top and black ballet flats. Luckily I bought a very light cotton one that will transition nicely into HK spring.
• The other blazers - Red, White and Blue. These ones get a whole lot of wear. Buy a few well fitting blazers in different colours. Well cut jackets never go out.

Stay tuned for my wardrobe rehab posts on trousers, skirts and dresses. All in the name of 'buy less buy better'. Here's to the perfect wardrobe.

Jackets from left to right: Vintage round neck denim jacket, handmade Navy Blazer, Zara black blazer, Zara tan leather jacket, Whistles Leather Bomber Jacket, Vintage beaded statement jacket, Zara camel trench, Zara red short trench, white vintage blazer, H & M khaki hooded jacket.

DIY Fringed Jacket

Add some short fringing to a blazer jacket. cute!

Image: Studded Hearts

White Linen Blazer

Thrifted blazer and shorts. What's not to love? So many of you liked them yesterday so thought I would show you them on!

Wearing: thrifted white linen blazer, gap grey marl tee (definite essential), thrifted maroon wool shorts, zara ankle strap wedges, black crystal bracelet.

DIY Sweatshirt Cardigan

Ok so who doesn't love grey marl? Grey marl DIYs, well they're pretty much up there with my favourite things of all time. The lovely Hannah of Thursdays Child put me onto this amazing DIY (I love when my readers let me know about their favourite DIYs!). A cardigan made out of an old sweatshirt from Heart Charlie (love this blog too, her addiction to stripes is lovely).  I've done this before with a pink silk top, created a little jacket by simply cutting down the middle and stitching the edges. Simples!

DIY Blogger Discovery - Rar Traum Store

Have discovered another amazing DIY blog - Rar Traum Store. The lovely Gabriela contacted me and mentioned that she did a few DIYs... I checked out her blog and Phoahhhh! I think you would probably call her work designing rather than DIY - its a hell of a lot more than a slapdash craft project. What I particularly like about her work is her ability to take a piece of junk - even things she finds in the trash or in scrap bins - and turn them into something utterly amazing. She has made some amazing jewellery using stones, crushed glass, scrap metal and just about everything else, and I adore her crazy denim jacket - very Balmain. My favorite piece of hers is an amazing deconstructed clock. Head over to her blog and check it out yo.

Do you love her Gaga inspired crown?

DIY Blogger Discovery - Love Aesthetics

Stumbled upon the most amazing blog this morning that I just had to share with you. Ivania of Love Aesthetics has the coolest vintage style, and a whole cache of utterly inspired (and simple) DIYs. Nothing seems too difficult for her! I am particularly inspired by her two tone silk shirt, her knotted tees and bolt jewellery, the white branch clothing rack (amazing!) and the zipper jacket. Head over to her blog and take some time to enjoy its clean and simple lines, Ivania's covetable style and her ability to pull off just about any colour lipstick.

 Btw, how gorgeous are the tan leather pants?

DIY Blanket Coat

Cut arm holes in a wool blanket, and throw on, wrap around or whatever you want, to keep warm this winter.

Image: Studded Hearts

DIY in Bodkin ss11 Lookbook

Came across this gorgeous lookbook for Bodkin on the Wildfox blog, and loved just about every image. The cute pastels and african style silver jewellery looks amazing, and kind of makes me think of what it would be like to go on an african safari with Maria from Vanilla Scented. So many little details that inspire me to DIY. Check it out.

DIY some rope/leather straps on a top or dress by attaching and tying like a bow like so:

Layer a khaki jacket or sew matching flaps onto the underside for an extra detail.

Make yourself a halter style dress out of a mans button down shirt.

Shorten a skirt by tying it in a knot at the front.

DIY Givenchy style shadow dye

Picked up this great idea from AfterDRK, love this dark ombre look. To DIY, dip dye any item of clothing into black rit dye. I think it could work really well on any sort of printed item of clothing. Choose something with some black in it like this leopard print below so the pattern kind of bleeds out of the dyed part. The image below is so cool - at first I kind of thought it was a dark shadow being thrown onto the jacket.

Image: AfterDRK

DIY Weekly - Celine Inspired Blazer guest post at Chic Steals

Have you been over to Chic Steals yet to check out my guest post? Do. It. Have been crushing on the Celine inspired leather pockets for a while and finally got around to making a blazer with some on - you have to see how easy it was.

DIY Inspiration - Nautical blurred stripe top

I love the gorgeous 'my favourite things' Tommy Ton has done recently - every single image inspires me to DIY - there are lots of deconstructed tops jackets and knits. Mmmm yum. The image below of the blurred striped top made me think DIY instantly. I am so inspired to do this with some water soluble paint and a white top - washing the top immediately after painting the trips to get the blurred-ness.

DIY Inspiration - Tuxedo Dress

Would love to add a cute little skirt, in feathers, tulle, chiffon or silk, to a blazer or long line cardigan.

Net-a-porter / The Satorialist

DIY Weekly - Dries Van Noten Embellished Jacket

I'm absolutely loving the beautiful Dries Van Noten jackets I have been seeing on various blogs - amazing embellished sleeves with utility looking waistcoats, like the one below and the one I blogged about here. I decided to do a bit of DVN style layering a couple of days ago. I know this isn't strictly a DIY but its amazing how easy it is to create runway looks from what's already in your wardrobe. I basically layered a denim waistcoat over a full beaded black jacket, so that the sleeves showed. Easy! I would have preferred to do it with a khaki waistcoat but I don't have one so denim had to do. Why buy when you can DIY? Layer with jeans or skinny khaki pants for a more DVN utility/military look.
Dries Van Norten AW1:

 DIY Version:

I love this wool full mini skirt I bought in Rome (thanks dad!). Really wanted one after I saw Hanelli rocking them all over fashion week, and picked this one up for a steal. Its so pwetty!

DIY Zip Off Coat

This is the coolest coat ever! Able to be a long winter coat or zipped off to create a boxy blazer. I saw one exactly like this in Cos yesterday and it was love at first sight (which quickly turned to hate when I saw the price tag). I have seen mountains of gorgeous coats in Charity Shops recently, never for more than a tenner. To DIY this, buy a thrifted coat in a nice wool, decide where you want to be able to zip the coat in half (thinking about the appropriate length for the little half coat), cut off, and a attach zip by sewing both long raw edges to the edge of a heavy duty zip. Voila!

Image: Stockholm Streetstyle

Addicted to Two Tone

Have been dreaming about two tone over the last couple of days. I went and bought some good fabric glue yesterday (essential for DIYing on the go). I'm going to do a little bit of DIY two tone like this with some fabric, a thrifted trench and the fabric glue.

Image: Jak and Jil

DIY Leather Two Tone Blazer

Looking at my recent posts, you can tell that I have the offcuts of my Leather Shorts DIY in mind. These two tone blazers from Zara are to die for (wear them in Autumn while you can before thick woollen coats become your outwear of choice - unless you are lucky to live at a latitude where blazers are sufficient for the cold months). To DIY your own, take a blazer and cut some leather to match the lapel, glue on and away you go!

Images: Honestly Wtf...

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