New Season Top 5 Picks: Uniqlo

A/W11: Uniqlo

[The Tiny Atelier]

Extra Fine Merino Long Cardigan £29.90

Ultra fine Merino wool for less than thirty quid?

Available in four colours, our favourite is this this deep dark Dijon of a mustard.

Boat Neck Long Sleeve Stripe Tee £14.90

We love us some jersey here at TTA and what could be better than cream and chocolate Breton-style stripes?

Heat Tech Skinny Fit Straight Jeans £34.90

Everyone should have a good pair of skinny navy jeans in their wardrobe, especially when the colder weather hits. This pair have an added advantage that will help stave off the big chill even further - the Heat Tech technology actually creates heat from your body's own moisture, keeping you even toastier!

Cable Infinity Scarf £19.90

The snood (last winter's must have wardrobe staple) is given a luxurious twist in a cable knit wool blend, here in chocolate brown. It's length also means you can loop your arms through to wear as a shawl/cardigan...

Wool Short Duffle Coat £69.90

When you have no choice but to face the autumn wind do it in preppy style with this hip length duffle in forest green, a perfect offset to navy, mustard and chocolate.

Hello Liberty

This has to be one of my favourite fashion collaborations - Japanese icon Hello Kitty and British institution Liberty of London. Using a mix of new prints and ones archived from the 30s the collab has brought about a range of products from cosmetics through stationary to alarm clocks and jewellery in the world renowned ditsy florals with a HK twist - Kitty Town features all of the Sanrio characters in a quaint English countryside setting, Music Festival sees Kitty playing her favourite instruments, Apple Tree features one of HKs favourite foods, Kitty Wonderland is a fantasy world with all of Kitty's favourite toys while Karenkubo is an adaptation of an original 30s print.

Launching exclusively at Liberty from September 26th.

'One Night Stand' - Oh Marc, You Minx!

While nail wraps have always followed fashion's ever changing trends, and designers have already collaborated with the manicure market (think Giles Deacon and Wah Nails) Marc Jacobs has been the first to design a full collection of designs, with Minx. The series of wraps, named 'One Night Stand', are all limited edition and use colour palettes seen in Marc's own a/w 11 collection...

Devine Collaboration

It's a double design duo collaboration from one of the fashion world's most renowned print makers and one of London's most outlandish handmade jewellery businesses - Eley Kishimoto and Tatty Devine have teamed up to create a collection inspired by EKs latest work. Titled 'Batmosphere', 'Rush' and 'Starstruck' the collection is a mix of necklaces and earrings using heart, star and bat motifs in Tatty's signature coloured and mirrored perspex, chunky chains and swarovski crystals.

Starting at £27 for the bat necklace (The Tiny Atelier's favourite icon of the range) the collection can be purchased from Tatty Devine Online.

Fall In To H&M

I ♥ H&M when it comes to their autumn/winter stock and this season is no exception. However because I'm trying to focus on really focusing on getting as much of the homestead decorated/organised as possible and organising the business, buying into the brands array of mustard, stripes and tweed (think Annie Hall, geek-librarians and equestrain prints) will have to wait. Instead I'll sate my appetite with a few of these luxe-for-less accessories...

Ring £3.99

Earrings £5.99


Necklace £6.99


Hair Clip £2.99


Bracelets £3.99

Socks £6.99

Polish £1.99

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...don't make lemonade. It's time consuming and that time would be much better spent doing a little online shopping (or in my case window shopping) on the Internet superstore that is ASOS. I set myself a little £100 challenge...

Warehouse Full Midi Skirt £14

Cheap Monday Boyfriend Roll Sleeve Shirt £33

Triple Finger OMG Ring £10

G-Star Breton Stripe T-Shirt £33

Boyfriend T-Shirt £10

Winehouse Style Lives On

While I in no way want to glamorise the way Amy Winehouse chose to live and end her life, it is undeniable that she was one of the greatest singers of our time as well as a British style icon. Winehouse's look will surely now live on in the thousands of imitators who take inspiration from her retro 1950s pin-up style, now even more so as ever before...

Adriana Lima. Love. 09.

Brooklyn Street Style. Mr Newton. 

French Vogue. 08.

Backstage. Chanel. 07.

(1983-2011. RIP)

Somewhere In The Middle

Despite the fact the midi skirt has been in fashion for many months I'm still struggling to find the perfect one. I have two polka dot print versions - one a very quick DIY from a dress and the other from Topshop (which I've stopped wearing due to the fact the deep waistband always flips itself over). I'm looking for something in black or grey - however much I love the more nude versions I know they'll be see through and I want something I can wear with ease. Loving the paperbag style from Topshop (however there's no black/grey option on the website and £38 is a hell of a lot more than I wanted to pay)...

 

So for the time being I shall keep on dreaming and perusing inspiration pics for how I'll wear mine if I ever manage to find it...

Wardrobe Rehab: Denim To Do, Denim To Don't

As part of my wardrobe rehab programme I decided the first step was a massive denim cull. To be fair this was pretty easy as I live and die in three pairs of jeans but it was surprising how much denim I'd accrued but didn't wear.

As for the keepers, you'll have seen them make a couple of appearances in outfit posts recently. Skinny fit with a proper high waist, Topshop's Kristen jeans have made it into my new more organised capsule wardrobe. Because I found a style that fit and suited I did that thing that I would always laugh at the women in Elle's Closet Confidential for...that's right, I bought them in all three available colours!

Over the years I've bought a hell of a lot of denim in various styles and washes from Topshop but inevitably I've always ended up disappointed...boyfriend, ankle grazer, skinny, super skinny - there was always something just a little bit 'not quite right'. So I'm a little bit heartbroken that TS have stopped making these exact Kristens, though an updated version is still available here I've tried them and the fit isn't as good in my opinion. I'm even sadder to say that my beloved black version got a great big rip in the thigh yesterday while having lunch alfresco...I haven't yet decided whether to carefully sew the tear up, try some safety pins inspired by the DIYs in my previous post or rip them all over (gulp!)...

Topshop also do a high waisted denim short which is basically the shorter sister of my favourites but since I'm not much of a jeans shorts wearer I was never tempted to splurge the £32. But I couldn't resist picking up a practically unworn pair in indigo today from Oxfam when I saw they where priced at just £2.99.

So, that's the denim section of my new wardrobe sorted...next step is another staple - T-Shirts (this will take a looooooot longer).

Double DIY: Chanel Perfume Bottle

I own four scents but two that I would describe as being 'signature' - Thierry Mugler's Alien and Coco Chanel (my other two currents are Marc Jacobs Lola and YSL Parisienne). When it comes to perfume I love the containers as much as what they hold so when one is finished I keep it, only getting rid if I replace the perfume with a new bottle of the same. A couple days ago I realised I had managed to accrue two empty bottles on top of the one I am working my way through. It kinda seemed a shame to just put them in the bin...that big cut glass stopper was calling to me specifically.

So after a lot of twisting (and, I'll admit, tantrum throwing in frustration and my boyfriend taking over) the lid and its little plastic 'cuff' where separated (FYI my bf ended up having to use a butter knife).

 

The first DIY I wanted to go for was turning the 'cuff' in to a thumb ring. Be prepared for spending a lot of time cleaning glue remnants from it once you've finished!

Obviously I didn't want to cover the black and gold band or the interlocking C's so my chosen decoration had to be focused on the top clear plastic lip. I dug out some lightweight vintage gold toned chain and measured it around the circumference to work out the correct length. I was lucky enough that the ends just overlapped so I opened up one end link, liberally applied glue (I used Tesco's All Purpose...very similar to E6000!) then stuck down the chain. After a few seconds of letting the glue cure I was able to push the open link around the other end of the chain and nip it closed , forming a perfect fitting circle of chain on my ring.

From here onwards it was slightly trial and error as I figured out what looked good and what would not make the ring too chunky. In the end I settled for using some vintage diamante studs which I wedged inside every other link using the same glue to secure. I then sat patiently and picked off any excess, visible glue with a pin (time consuming but works well as chemicals tend to tarnish).

And that's it, one night, one Chanel thumb ring...

[chipped up manicure using Topshop's Milkshake]

And now for the double part of the DIY - remember the glass perfume top? Well turn it upside down and pop a tapered candle inside (you may need to add a little melted wax to the bottom first) for a simple, chic candle holder. Several of these in different sizes with different coloured candles would look amazing!

 

Click here for my previous posts on Coco inspired DIYs. Feel free to post links in the comments to your own Chanel makes...

Summer Of Love

We can certainly say that since the nuptials of our own Prince William the world has caught wedding fever. Since then we've seen a wealth of the rich and famous tie the knot - first Lily Allen, then Kate Moss, Abbey Clancy, Prince Albert of Monaco II and Rachel Weisz & Daniel Craig (though theirs was top secret with just four guests).

In the UK over the last few weeks the wedding buzz has been all about Allen and Moss with a stream of unanswered questions about what the girls would be wearing on their big days...Would Lily be donning Chanel couture by 'Uncle' Karl? Would Kate stand by her old friend Galliano and have him design her dress? And with both weddings taking place in sleepy Cotswold's villages what would the comparisons be?

BRIDE: Lily Allen
GROOM: Sam Cooper
BRIDESMAIDS: Three adult (in peach satin slips), three children (in lace) - including long time friend Miquita Oliver
CHURCH: St James' in the Cotswold's village of Cranham 

DRESS: Parisian designer Delphine Manivet created the vintage inspired dress - full length lace with bracelet sleeves, sweetheart neckline and 1920s style embellished veil. Lily also wore custom made Rupert Sanderson peep toe platforms

FLOWERS: Cream, peach and baby blue hydrangeas and peonies
GUESTS: Well known siblings Alfie Allen and Sarah Owen, hell raiser father Keith Allen and comedian Harry Enfield
DRAMA: In the run up to the wedding it was all about who was designing the dress, as rumours abound that Karl Lagerfeld was creating a Chanel piece for the big day (pictures have since surfaced of Lily at Chanel having a fitting so it is possible she wore Karl's gown in the evening). On the day -  Sam announced to guests at the reception that they would be expecting a child in 5 months time!

                                                         ♥

BRIDE: Kate Moss
GROOM: Jamie Hince (wearing YSL)
BRIDESMAIDS: Trish Simonon (in Erdem) and Jess Hallett (in Stella) plus 15 bridesmaids - including Kate's daughter Lila, half sister Charlotte, Sadie Frost's daughter Iris and Ella Richards, granddaughter of Rolling Stone Keith
CHURCH: St Peter's in the Cotswold's village of Southrop
DRESS: A John Galliano creation - again heavily '20s inspired, with a nod to Kate's Heroine Daisy Buchanan of Great Gatsby in the veil - floor length, bias cut, sheer and heavily embellished with embroidery and crystals - plus Manolo Blahnik's with blue lining
FLOWERS: Cream and pink roses for the bride while the bridesmaids wore fresh flower daisy chain headbands
GUESTS: A roll call of everyone cool and Rock 'n' Roll - Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Alison Mosshart, Anna Wintour, Anita Pallenberg, Mark Ronson, Marc Jacobs, Paul McCartney, Philip Green, Naomi Campbell, Christian Louboutin, Christy Turlington, George Michael, Grace Jones...... 
DRAMA:The biggest news about the big day was that la Moss had closed off roads around the church for the three day extravaganza - including performances from Shirley Bassey, Snoop Dogg, Beth Ditto and Iggy Pop! Moss and Hince also had photographer du jour Terry Richardson snapping paparazzi style at the reception. Though he has had to remove the pictures from his own site (apparently due to a clash with an exclusive Vogue deal with Mario Testino to create images from the event) there are still a few that have slipped through the net and are floating around...