Old Fashion Girl

Archive for the ‘Fashion Online’ Category

Get The Style: Cheryl Cole

Celebrity culture has always been a massive influence on fashion. From the silhouette dress to the tote bag, every season, women look to female celebrities for advice about what to wear in the coming season.

Amongst the most emulated women is Cheryl Cole. From her humble beginnings as a non-assuming Geordie lass, Cheryl Cole has gripped the nation with her perfect hair and impeccable dress sense.

Here’s how to do it yourself:

Hair

Pre-bonded hair extensions are a fantastic, inexpensive way to get beautiful, full hair like Cheryl. Use curling tongs to get a lightly tussled look during the day time, going for a sophisticated up do during the evening

Make Up

Cheryl Cole is renowned for her smoky eyes and radiant skin. To get a similar look, use a mineral based foundation such as Bellapierre Compact and fill your eyebrows with a brown shadow before applying shadow to your eyes. A colour palate like Bobbi Brown’s “Deluxe Palate” is fantastic to get the right effects. Finish the eyes by applying liquid eyeliner and then apply kohl.

For your base, use a radiating moisturiser to give your skin a luminescent glow.

Top Shop T-shirts

Casual Wear

Cheryl Cole does casual amazingly well, managing to carry off the simplest of outfits with an amazing touch of glamour. Quiz, USC, Topshop and Projects are all great places to go when looking for a top, but most high street stores will be able to give you the look for less. High Street fashion has gotten much, much better over the last few years. Skinny jeans are a must, as are high waisted bootcut jeans.

Cheryl Cole’s style changes constantly, so it’s always a good idea to keep checking out your high street stores for inspiration. Many people shy away from trying to emulate celebrity style, believing that it will be too expensive to get the quality within a budget they can afford. This just isn’t the case anymore. Check out the following sites for stylish clothes that are affordable as well as gorgeous.

Topshop

Lipsy

Boohoo

Dress from Lipsy VIP range

Evening Wear

During the X-factor shows, Cheryl’s dresses were a hot topic of conversation. Sometimes perfect, sometimes controversial, Cheryl seemed to be able to manage to pull anything else. On the High Street, try Top Shop, House of Fraser and Oasis for sophisticated evening wear or try shopping online at Lipsy and Boohoo

Could the Little Black Dress have a Rival?

The popularity and the versatility of the little black dress is famously known and has been for decades within the industry. The origins of the fashion icon is attributed to the fashion giant Chanel and their eponymous designer Coco Chanel in the 1920s, meaning that the little black dress, or LBD as it is often abbreviated, is relatively close to being a hundred years old. No other style of women’s fashion has had such staying power and it would take a truly remarkable revolution to dethrone this titan of the industry, but there could be a potential contender.

The wrap dress is turning heads

The style that has been turning many heads of the fashion world in recent years is the wrap dress. Popularised significantly by Kate Middleton, the various styles of tie in the middle wrap dresses are enabling women of all sizes and ages to look and feel gorgeous in their clothes. The style suits all body shapes and accentuates a beautiful curvy figure with a swooping neck and a neat tie that gives wearers a real waistline.

The incredible popularity of the wrap dress in recent years could be looking to rival the LBD, after all, the essence of both of the styles is about wonderful versatility that they offer. The accompaniment of some basic accessories can transform these dresses into an entirely new outfit with relative ease. And their versatility is two fold because they are appropriate for almost any occasion as they border the line between smart and casual; again depending on the accessories they can be altered to fit the tone of the event.

Arguably the most attention winning model of this new style is the black wrap dress; combining all of the positive elements of the LBD with the growing new trend and the figure forming advantages of the wrap dress. This dress is popular at the moment and infinitely useful and adaptable, however, the true test of the wrap dress will be in staying power. When your competition is an icon of nearly 90 years old, it can be difficult to prove that the wrap dress is very definitely the new wave for the fashion industry.

Curvaceous Crinolines and Bodysuits at Devon House

Brigette Duval’s show at Devon House was a sensuous delight with a colour palette to blow the top off even the most delicious hues of recent years.

With all those colours and vibrant textures, one would have thought that anything extra was like double-icing the vol-au-vents but Duval obviously didn’t think so. For every nuance of style: curvy crinolines, ready to take-off, flimsy braces over pastel pencil skirts,  black net stockings, versions of jazzy hair worn long; everything, in fact, had to have a punchy finish to wow and ooh the celebrity-studded attendees.

When the final climax was reached, a cover version of an old Beatles song had Richard J.Gervaise and Luvi Tien humming away in the front row of the bluey-mauve chairs and Indira Hanshmi, smoulderingly away wickedly as usual, looking simply divine in her bling studded sari. Her devotees fluttered around her wearing what appeared to be a combination of lotus petals and candelabras, but it had the effect of drawing all eyes towards her, which seemed to be the intended effect.

No doubt that finale was supposed to provide a gigantic atmospheric smoke-filled cloud with an accompanying explosive bang but in the end, when it came, the terrifying noise frightened the life out of everyone, not least, the scantily clad ladies on stage in their black and white bodysuits. No one, thank heavens, was badly damaged but one of the models, I think it was Lisa Gregory, landed in the most fortuitous of laps. Rip Parsons, a usually shy baseball player visiting the Devon from his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts, made his best catch of the year and it took being knocked over by a tangle of interlocked limbs to knock some sort of  expression onto Larissa Sadusana’s usually immobile face. The flamboyantly decorated Conference Hall was otherwise left undisturbed.

Stylish sophistication – women’s fashion in the workplace

This post was written by Stephanie Levitt on behalf of ladies fashion online, SheLikes. Richard has written on a freelance basis for approximately 2 years now and has a wide array of author credits – she specialises in writing fashion guides on pieces of clothing such as the black and red skater dress variants, as well as autobiographical pieces.

When I got my first office job I was obviously nervous about my first day but I was even more nervous about what to wear!

I didn’t want to be over dressed in a full suit if no-one else was going to be and I didn’t want to look scruffy compared to the others and make a bad impression. The brief I was given was very unspecific in terms of what was expected dress wise, so I was left to make that difficult decision myself.

My current wardrobe was no use, being a student I had an abundance of hoodies, leggings, and converse trainers, and plenty of things to wear on nights out. But, nothing office appropriate!

I asked for some advice on what other people I knew wore to work in their office roles. Their comments varied from the smart suit to the smart jeans and top depending on their roles and level in their company. I realised how office environments vary greatly depending on the area of business the company is in and whether the staff face clients or the public or neither.

I decided to stay safe for my first day and went with the traditional and safe smart trousers and blouse. This was a great idea as I wasn’t underdressed yet I didn’t look uncomfortable and overdressed for my position. It also gave me the opportunity to scope out what the other women were wearing in the office. It turns out everyone was wearing comfortable but smart clothing, no-one was dressed in a suit (good job I left that idea behind) and some people were in smart jeans.

So, I treated myself to some new pieces after my first day at work. I am now the proud owner of some sensible but pretty work dresses, comfy cardis, plenty of opaque tights, and some blouses to wear with my smart pants when I need to dress up a bit more for those important meetings. I also bought myself some comfortable shoes, I left the idea of the heels behind and went for some flats, no-one needs to see me tottering towards the printer trying not to fall over.

After my first day I realised that it really isn’t difficult dressing for the office if you think cleverly – like putting together any outfit. So with a few ‘capsule’ pieces I just mix and match these now so I don’t look boring or like I’m wearing the same outfit all the time.

A Modern Fairy Tale about Wedding Shoes – (Chapter 2) Loves Secrets

Helen had tried on her beautiful shoes with the dress that, Brigid, her mother-in-law to be had given her the cloth for. In the mirror it was as if she had been transformed into something otherworldly. She had topped off the outfit with a pearl tiara which reflected the light wonderfully and with the matching wedding shoes made by that strange little cobbler.

There was a soft tapping at the bedroom door. Helen snapped out of the dreamlike state she was in to hurriedly change and pack the clothes away. ‘Just a minute’ she called every few seconds.

‘Oh come on sweetheart let me in’

At last – the outfit safely hidden in a box in the wardrobe- she turned the key.

‘Can’t I even have a sneak preview?’

‘No, it’s bad luck’

‘I’ll tell you something about bad luck,’ he said mysteriously.  ‘Remind me to tell you what my mother told me as a child ‘

A voice called from below. ‘I’ll tell you after dinner. Come on.’

*                             *

Brigid, Sean’s Mother, had asked her not to tell Sean about the cloth.

‘It was handed down from generation to generation. It will be a lovely surprise.’

Helen was quite surprised herself by the gift, as she had been convinced that Sean’s mother was not at all pleased with this match.

Later, as she and Sean sat holding hands on a deep sofa in the hotel bar, Sean told Helen how an ancestor had dared to marry one of the fairy folk and hence had been cursed by the Fairy king.

‘Oh gosh, what was the curse?’

‘You’re taking this seriously.’ Sean warned with a smile.

‘Oh come on you’ve started now’

‘Well, we are cursed to marry our own until we die out according to the story.’

‘But you’re marrying me.’ Helen exclaimed.

‘Yes, exactly.’

After a lengthy silence broken only by Sean contently sipping his beer, Helen asked, ‘But how were they supposed to prevent you marrying out?’

‘Oh something about a magic bolt of cloth, can’t remember. The bride gets carried off by the fairy king or something’ he laughed.

Helen just sat with her mouth open while picturing that beautifully ethereal wedding gown, shimmering, shimmering.

(follow the wedding shoes link to find the other chapters and continue reading)

Ladies Fancy Dress: Think beyond the sexy

It’s Halloween Eve, 2010. Dressed in a Sexy Vampire costume, the typical no-money-half-arsed effort with sexy gratuitously thrown in, I wait with baited breath for my best friend to arrive en route to a party. He presently shows up on my doorstep clad in nothing more than a green mankini. Not only has he decided to sport this dubious garment (homemade, I have been reliably informed), but he has painted himself yellow and is wearing a green swimming cap and clutching a wand. He has decided to spend Halloween dressed as a magic lizard. Obviously.

But that is the great thing about fancy dress. At its very core is the sense of illusion, disguise and complete anonymity. Pretending to be someone you’re not; something you can never be, or perhaps simply a better version of yourself. For one night only you can display a side of yourself that you would never normally show: a social outcast transformed into a sex goddess with the help of a pre-packaged, mass-manufactured Jessica Rabbit costume. A nervous breakdown calling himself a magician. A dull Nigel metamorphosed into a psychotic Patrick Bateman complete with slicked back hair and an even slicker business card. Magic.

Three blue, human-shaped stains were left on my friend’s wall in the aftermath of Halloween ‘09. It transpired that a triumvirate of gate-crashing Smurfs from the party next door were the culprits; they were subsequently lumped with the bill for painting over the blue-tinged blobs they had left.

Women seeking ladies fancy dress costumes face two choices: they can either go as something sexy or they can go as something sexy. For boys, the purpose of fancy dress is frankly to shock, whether this is trying to outdo each other in terms of grotesqueness or seeing how much flesh they can get away with showing before they can be considered naked. The latter objective is one that’s also shared by the girls. No matter what the occasion or costume, it has to be sexy. As a case in point, try browsing the Halloween section of any fancy dress website and seeing if you can find a single outfit that doesn’t have a sexy twist to it. It would appear that the first question to cross any woman’s mind when searching for a costume is ‘What type of slut should I go as?’ ‘Fess up, ladies – you know it’s true.

Essentially, the feeling of complete liberation that is imparted by fancy dress has gotten to us. The plethora of possibilities that arise from an invite to a costume party send us into such an innate panic that reverting to the tried and tested his ‘n’ hers outfits is the only solution we can think of. So, here’s a challenge: This Halloween, let’s mix it up – let’s dress up for dressing up’s sake and screw this sexy/scary malarkey and wear whatever we damn well want to, not what we’re expected to wear. Hell, let’s all go as magic lizards.

Ladies Grooming products

One Ladies Grooming Product that most women own is a hairbrush. This can be thought of as one of the earliest, if not the first prototype, Ladies Grooming Product and it has a long history indeed. The Hair brush is such an essential part of any wardrobe and so essential that few ever care to wonder where it originated from.

There are very few references to the hairbrush in history. In the time of Ancient Rome, men and women of nobility and gentry wore brilliantly coiffed wigs over their own natural hair. In these times, it is relatively safe to presume that both men and women utilized these grooming aids as a way to keep their hair and wigs in place.

These earlier hairbrushes were probably made from natural bristles such as wild boar or porcupine depending on the time frame in history or area. Boar bristle grooming aids or hairbrushes facilitated the purpose of detangling, styling and transferring the hair’s natural oil or sebum and distributed it evenly from root to tip. Basic design of the hairbrush has remained the same throughout history although the products used to make them have changed over the years. The design of the hairbrush consisted of a paddle or handle and bristles or teeth.

There are many other Ladies Grooming Products that were used throughout history that are still familiar to us today. One of the key factors in Ladies Grooming is the removal of unwanted hair. The idea that the removal of unwanted hair is good hygiene, as well as simply for cosmetic purposes, is nothing new; only the methods and tools used to do the removing have changed over time.

The ancient Egyptians were known to have excellent forms of razors made of flint or bronze. They also used a method of depilatory called sugaring. A sticky paste (bees wax was sometimes used) would be applied to the skin, kind of like waxing. Then a strip of cloth was pressed onto the paste and yanked off, removing the hair.

Ancient Civilisations further advanced their technology for hair removal by conditioning the bronze with some sort of solution, oil for example, before applying the razor.

The first safety razor protected the skin from all but the very edge of the blade and was invented in the late 19th century by a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, who was inspired by the joiner’s plane. In 1875 it was marketed by the Kampfe Brothers as “the best available shaving method on the market that won’t cut a user like straight steel razors.”

In 1901, the American inventor King Camp Gillette, with the assistance of William Nickerson, invented a safety razor with disposable blades. Over time many such products were marketed as Ladies Grooming Products. Initially, women mostly shaved their legs and underarms, but over time with an expanding product range, Ladies Grooming Products have been developed to depilate even the most sensitive areas of their bodies. One of the initial pioneers in this area was the Remington Corporation which began producing Electric Shavers aimed at women. Over time other manufacturer such as Philips, Babyliss and Vidal Sassoon have also developed products aimed at Ladies Grooming and today the market has more variety than ever before.

Modern corner sofas

Let your bridal tiaras reflect the real proud you

There are not many people who don’t like to dress up, isn’t it? Take any country on any part of the world and you’ll find its people who love to dress up themselves or dress up their children or spouses in different costumes. And when it comes to different occasions, such as parades and beauty pageants, they just go crazy and come up with the most stylish, weird or even funny costumes. These costumes often make you stare at it in amazement or laugh uproariously. And one item that generally accompanies such costumes is crowns or tiaras. And if you are imagining the typical shining tiara you are mistaken. They come in different shapes, sizes and colours that would make you wonder from where the wearers found these items.

Today, it is not a rare instance to find little girls with their faces glowing with make-up for different beauty pageants to please their parents who are eager than them for the first prize. These little ones are ready to do back flips and other similar tricks on the stage with the hope in their minds that one day they would be wearing the crown of Miss United Kingdom or Miss United States or ever Miss Universe! And their hope is shared with the same intensity with their parents as well. Sometimes they are not even little girls who are the giggling and shy kind. They might be football or basketball players who would be eager to join their parents on a hunting tour. Toughness is just one of the many attributes they have.

Now comes the best part – it is the same old girls whom we find a few years later wearing the best bridal tiaras with their shining wedding gowns, demanding things to go the way they want. They often make their own parents wonder where they learnt some of their tricks and the confidence and leadership qualities they are showing now. Right now, they are totally in charge of their wedding, themselves and anything that is happening in their lives. So here is what we could tell them – just put that bridal tiara on your head with pride and joy! You are just being who you want to be and there is nothing better than that.

Is this the future for Bridal Accessories?

Have you seen how many children are dressed up for their aunt’s/cousin’s/even their mother’s  wedding these days, and all of them in faux fur or satin? The things you can buy for children: those tiny little ballet shoes or, what are they called, oh yes, communion shoes; then there’s the little gathered handbags or purses, as we like to call them here. Even babes in arms are dressed in style with lacy tights and sweet little shoes. I mean we’ve been used to bride’s maids and page boys but now everyone has to get in on the act. What happened to just wearing your best outfit on the day?

Wow; the pressure the happy couple must be under to get everyone dressed just right. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the future,  it became fashionable for the bride and bridegroom to take on responsibility for every guest’s apparel  and that it becomes  de rigueur to have every coat, dress, suit, pair of shoes and man’s suit under the heading of ‘bridal accessories’ and therefore all matching in style and colour coordinated. Can you imagine a bride who may be particularly fond of expressing herself with deep purple outfits forcing little old aunt Agatha to dye her feather boa; or the mother of the bride searching for  matching moccasins for granny because she insists that “they’re the only things that are comfortable with my bunions”? I must say, I’m quite looking forward to it and I’ll definitely be taking some photographs, but then, all my daughters are well past the age when I would have to pay for it.