Tolly Dolly Posh

Hello everybody! I hope you are all good! This is part 2 of my A-Z Fashion Guide. I will be making a button which I will pop in the sidebar so you can find all of the A-Z posts, but just so you know, the previous post was about Appliqué and this one, is all about A-Line! Enjoy…

‘A-Line’ is a dress shape which originates from around 1955. The A-Line shape features in dresses and skirts, flaring from the bust or waist in a triangular shape, just like an ‘A’. The A-Line is one of the most flattering shapes for all body types. In 1955, Christian Dior created the a collection based on 3 different letters; H, A and Y. After that Yves Saint Laurent caught onto the idea and started to use the ‘trapeze line’ (flaring from shoulders down). It was only after the 1960s that the idea caught on, in a less extreme manner, and it became a hit trend!

Not only does the A-Line shape appear on skirts and dresses, it also appears in coats and jackets which are tighter in the torso, and shape just like an A in the bottom half. The original shape by Christian Dior was actually more exaggerated than the shape is now-a-days; the main look from the 1955 collection was an A-Line coat covering an A-Line fully pleated skirt which you can see below…

I much prefer the way the A-Line used to be done, as it looks chic and classy, yet I could totally see this look being pulled off in a more edgy way. At the moment the ‘boxy’ sort of trend for clothing is going around, and I love the Yves Saint Laurent ‘boxy’ A-Line dress above. It looks simple but could definitely be worked up or down in these more modern times. As I said the style was more exaggerated which means spotting an A-Line piece in a high street shop might be harder as they are more simple and sometimes just look like normal pieces like a pencil skirt.

For the item of ‘A-Line’ in my wardrobe, I picked out my grey and white coat from John Lewis. It’s very fitting and is the perfect length! With my lovely blouse from Joules* (OOTD to come soon!), it is such a beautiful contrast of colour and is perfect for spring! It’s quite old now and is slowly becoming a little bit too short at the arms, but it was such a brilliant piece when I first bought it. I don’t actually have too many A-Line dresses or skirts, but I would certainly recommend the John Lewis coat range! They last a long time!

I hope you liked this 2nd installment in my A-Z Fashion Guide! I actually really enjoy doing these posts so I will definitely try and post one each week! I’m going to do 3 per letter so that will be 78 blog posts, so it should go through the whole entire year and onto 2015! Pretty cool!

(Collage & Black and White images via Pinterest)

As you may know, London Fashion Week recently ended, and now the calm as come, I thought I would do my ‘AW14′ London Fashion Week Collections Review’. Although I preferred SS14 I did find a lot of collections that I thought were quite nice, so it ends up that I have to do this in 2 parts, which is kinda’ cool because it means you have another one of these posts to look forward to! I hope you like it…

Ashish: Unfortunately, I was quite unimpressed with the Ashish collection. In SS14, I was quite simply, in love, but with this one… something just didn’t click. I like the use of casual wear mixed with formal wear, and I like all the sparkles and pastels, but I just don’t really…. get it. It’s a bit plain compare to the SS14, and although it is still absolutely gorgeous, it’s just not up to my standards (#fussytolly). My favourite piece is probably that amazing prom dress though… LOOK AT IT.  Oh and those shoes are a collaboration with Topshop, so I think they will be on my wishlist as they LIGHT UP! Rating: 9/10

Bora Aksu: Oh my. There are no words. Bora Aksu has done it again. The collection was divine. It’s got those traditional shapes, and those amazing colours, and that perfect mix of sequin and leather. It’s perfect. My favourite piece is the monochrome dress (far left) and the grey and white sequin dress (middle). I tried doing the hairstyle and dressed in my ARK pinafore* over a white dress, but sadly I didn’t look as fabulous… I LOVE YOU BORA! Rating: 100/10 

David Koma: One of my favourite shows of SS14 was David Koma, and although I like elements of this collection, I just don’t think it is my favourite anymore. I really like the structure though, and the colours used are brilliant. I also love the use of leather. My favourite piece in this collection is probably the beige dress (left), but I also quite like the collared leather dress (right). As I said, it’s not my favourite collection, but it’s still really lovely and he has stuck to his amazingly structured dresses! Rating: 7.5/10

Erdem: Erdem has never been one of the eye catching designers for me, but this year they made it something special. I’m not sure whether it is the metallic or the intricate detailing on the dresses, but it is just stunning. The shapes, and the colours are beautiful. I could definitely see myself wearing the gold dress (far left). It reminds me of an eagle, and it also has a slight Egyptian feel to it, but then when you look at the other pieces they have a quite Oriental feel to them. It’s extremely interesting! Rating: 10/10

Fashion East – Ashley Williams: I really enjoy watching the Fashion East show as there is always multiple collections to look at. I didn’t particularly like any of them this season, but I thought Ashley Williams had something a little different. I like her use of print and sequins and bold colour as well as metallics. Her interesting way of using the horse on jackets and skirts made me smile as well because it was like they were alive. Intriguing is how I would describe it. Rating: 7/10

Felder Felder: I like wearable collections when it comes to fashion week because what is the point in selling a collection which isn’t wearable? That is why I like this one. It’s simple, but specific things make it different. Like the prints, and the textures. I also really like the shapes. The two piece (right) is specifically interesting because it looks 3 dimensional in a way but it also looks like snake skin. It’s a very clever collection and I bet lots of high street stores will be looking at it for inspiration! Rating: 8.5/10

Fyodor Golan: WOW. When I saw this collection I was like, what?! That’s incredible! It’s like this magical ball of colour and texture. It’s like they are all creatures, from the sea and from on land. The metallics are awesome and I love the OMFG sweater because it could mean the rude version but it could also mean Oh My Fyodor Golan which I think is pretty cool. I cannot pick a favourite piece because they are all SO amazing. I honestly think this is one of my favourite collections of AW14. Rating: 1000/10 (not this again ahaha)

Holly Fulton: This is what I call the ‘Star Wars’ collection. I mean, those appliqué dresses just look so… modern and Star War-sy. But then there are those pastel blue pieces, and the evening gowns. It’s a mish mash and I’m not sure I like it. I’ve never really been a big fan of Holly Fulton, and I just feel this is just a bit odd. Rating: 6/10

House of Holland: I’m not happy. I’m not happy because the House of Holland collection wasn’t that great. It wasn’t anything special. I only liked the really bold colourful pieces because that is my personal liking, but usually I like it all. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything really ‘WOAH’, it was all ‘Meh, seen it before’. Of course I would be totally happy to have all of it in my wardrobe, but it’s just not fabulous enough. Rating: 7.5/10

Leutton Postle: I’ve never actually heard of this designer, but I like them a lot. I would wear all of the collection and I think it is a perfect AW range. It’s not too dark and dim, but it’s not overly bright, it’s just right. My favourite is the look with the orange background on the left. It’s just perfect and I am actually in love. It’s no Fyodor Golan, but it is gorgeous. Rating: 100/10 

I really hope you liked my review of London Fashion Week AW14. Do make sure to let me know what your favourite collection of this, Part 1, as I’d love to know! Thanks so much guys, tata for now! 😀

(All images are via Vogue)

Howdy! So, quite a while ago now, I had an idea. How about I do DIY each month (or every other), not only for myself to learn things, but for some ideas for you guys?! So, I’m here, and I’m doing it for you! This is the first ‘major’ DIY I have done, so please excuse any mistakes, but I hope it is a fun one! Enjoy…

I originally saw this idea in the Rookie Yearbook One, wear they did like a ‘Girl Scout’ inspired shoot, called ‘Camp Rookie’. I thought it was a really cute idea and that a sash could become an awesome fashion accessory. I put a few bits and bobs in my scrap book and started making it up! I also thought it would be cool as Orla Kiely’s SS14 collection was sort of ‘Girl Scout-esque’. So here is my DIY Rookie Mag Sash…

Things You Will Need: Monochrome Check Cotton £6.45/m (My Fabrics)*, Appliqués  (My Fabrics)*, Interfacing, Scissors, Pins, Sewing Machine, Pattern Paper/Baking Paper, Poppers, Un-picker & an Iron.

The first thing you need to do is create a pattern. I’ve made a small rough guide for you above, which is the shape you need to go for. I went for 14.5cm wide and 76.3cm long, with the end point being 14.5cm by 14.5cm. You will use this as a guide to cut along. You can either use baking paper, or thick long paper (what I used). Cut that out, and then your pattern is done! You also need some pins out, and of course some scissors to get snipping! On the pattern guide, you will notice I have put ‘STRAIGHT’. This means you need to put the pattern down on the straight grain, not the bias (the stretchy way).

You want to cut 4 of the sash shapes on the fabric of choice (make sure you pin the pattern down nice and tight before cutting). I chose this awesome check from MyFabrics who are helping me put together this whole post! The selection on their site is amazing! They have so much and you are bound to find something you like! After you have cut the 4 pieces of fabric, you will want to cut 2 of your interfacing. You don’t have to use interfacing, but it makes the sash more sturdy. Don’t worry about being too neat when cutting as you will be trimming off all the ends later on!

You then want to go to your iron. If you are using iron-on interfacing, then at this point you will need to iron the bobbly side onto 2 of the fabric pieces. If your fabric has a pale side, then make sure you are ironing them onto that, but mine was the same on both so there was no need to worry! If you have iron on patches for your sash, then you will need to place and iron, these onto one of the now ‘interfaced’ fabric pieces, obviously, onto the front. You need to make sure to leave 2cm of space on each side, as we will be cutting this off later. I would recommend sewing any non iron-on badges on at this stage. Learn more about Appliqué badges here!

When you have done this, take your 2 ‘interfaced’ fabric pieces, and lay them down interface upwards. Lay them out so that the tops meet (in one long line), and make sure that at least 2cm are overlapping at each ‘top’ end. Do the same to the other two pieces of fabric. Then sew the 2 overlapping pieces together with your sewing machine, just straight down the overlapping part. The below picture is of the 2 ‘interfaced’ pieces and what they should look like…

After you have done that, go back to your iron, and flatten the sticking up pieces, down. This is also a good chance to iron them all over again to remove any creases (this makes it easier in the sewing machine). Then you will need to lay the 2 pieces you now have, over the top of each other, making sure they are perfectly in-line, but read this very clearly: You need to have the piece with your iron-on badges on the bottom, facing with the badges, upwards. Then put the other piece with the interfacing facing, upwards. Then you want to pin these, but making sure that the pins are perfectly straight and the heads are not on the outside edge, otherwise you might break your sewing machine needle! Then sew this all up but make sure to leave a big enough gap so you can turn it the right way out. I would recommend leaving this gap near the middle stitch you made earlier. 

Once you have sewn them up, you can now cut off your rough edges, leaving a bit of space around the line you just stitched. Then you will need to pull the fabric through the gap and put it all the right way. After this, it might be a bit puffy. You will need to wet your fingers a bit and sort of roll the edges to get it all straight, making sure you do it all the way round. The points on the end of your sash might be a bit funny and might be still inside the sash, so get an un-picker and slightly pull it out. This will loosen the thread making it a perfect point again. Go back to your iron, and iron it all round very neatly. You then want pop it back into the sewing machine, and go all the way round the sash again, leaving only about 3mm space between the edge, to not only to make the sash a bit neater, but also to close up the gap that is still there.

You can now try on your sash, and find a place down by both points that meet nicely. This will be where you put your poppers. You can put an embroidery stitch if you wish, but I think a popper is a lot more practical. Just sew both pieces on, and voila!

Ta-Da! Job done! I’m really happy with the way it came out as it is quite stiff but you can still move around in it perfectly! I love how bright the badges are and I think making it personal with things like ‘Air France’, makes it properly unique to me! It looks pretty cool around my new faux leather jacket*, non? I think because the checks are monochrome, it will be really versatile and I am sure I will get quite a lot of wear out of it especially in the summer! I really enjoyed doing this little DIY, and if you are interested in making it, but not sure what for, then maybe it would be cool for some kind of photo shoot, or as a gift! There will be an OOTD featuring my awesome sash very soon, so watch out for that! 😀

If you try out this DIY, make sure to take a picture and tag me on Twitter or Instagram! Good Luck! 

(Although MyFabrics provided me with fabric and applique badges, the idea and everything was done by me, absolutely 100%. You can read my full disclaimer here.)

Hello! Well I hope you are enjoying your week! Today I have another My Style blog post! Papa Posh is still getting the hang of my new lens but it seems to be going well so far! There’s also a sneaky book review in this one, so if you like to read then this is the place to be! Enjoy me’ harties…

What I Wore: White & Orange Blouse with Drop Waist £11.00 (ASOS), Navy LOVE Jumper £12.00 (Peacocks)*, ‘Mom’ Jeans (Jumble Sale), Nike TR Fit 3.0 (JD Sports)* & Zebra Double Finger Ring £5.00 (Rings & Tings)*

This outfit is quickly becoming one of my favourites at the moment. It’s so comfortable, yet it has that little bit of something that makes it ‘chic’. I picked up the drop waist blouse in the ASOS sale (seriously, I picked up a great bargain), and as soon as I slipped it on, it was true love. It’s that sort of piece that can really do anything, whether it’s in the summer, or in the cold month of February. I think it looks absolutely gorgeous and cute with my lovely (I mean lovely) Peacocks jumper over the top. It’s that perfect mix of geek and chic. Seeing as it is still pretty nippy (well, not quite the 8 degrees of the UK… oh sorry did I boast a bit then? 😉 ), I have to pair it with my ‘mom’ jeans, which isn’t a problem really because I simply love them. Don’t forget my Nike trainers of course, one of my favourite pairs of shoes, EVER.

OMG. I broke the blogger rule of not putting your hands on your hips. I’m just terrible aren’t I? TERRIBLE (Sorry, I love a bit of sarcasm…). On fashion sides of things though, LOOK AT MY RING. ISN’T IT AWESOME?! IT’S A ZEBRA. I have no idea why but I like to think it’s an Australian Zebra. It just sounds good in an Australian accent. Hmm. I will be showing a few other pieces I got from Rings & Tings shortly, so watch out for that! Also on the jewellery front, I have exciting news… my parents have said that next time I go to the UK I can have my ears pierced. FINALLY. They always said that I have to wait until I’m about 14, but to be fair, being home schooled and all, does it really matter when?! YOLO as they say. YO to the LO. Having said that I now have to prepare myself. I’m going to be putting holes into my lobes. HAHAHA, sorry but that just sounds so weird.

What I Read: The Taming Of The Tights (Louise Rennison)*

I quite recently finished this book by the amazing Louise Rennison (the writer of Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging), and I thought I would tell you about it! It’s the last in the ‘Misadventures of Tallulah Casey’ series, and although I hadn’t read the previous, it is quite funny either way. It’s very relatable to all young teen girls out there, with Tallulah running into all sorts of boy and school troubles. She’s torn between this wild guy, Cain, and the nice chap, Charlie, and she takes us on her adventure. 1 of my favourite things about the book is Matilda (one of the character’s dog), because every time she does something, it made me giggle. I must say that the book gets better towards the end of the book which is annoying, but if you are looking for a chilled out, relaxing book (something you’d take on holiday), then I would definitely recommend this one!

Howdy! It has been yonks since I last did a design post and I know you guys love them, so sorry! These posts do take a lot longer to create than other posts so that is why there was a delay, but here I am now! This collection is partly inspired by my Appliqué post and also some of the collections from London Fashion Week.

Purple Halter Neck Dress with Appliqué & Bead Detailing (left) and Batwing Top and oversized Hareem Trousers with Bead Detailing (right):

On the catwalk this LFW, I saw a lot of halter necks, so this dress is definitely inspired by some of the collections. I also saw a lot of symmetrical detailing, so the appliqué on this dress is also inspired by LFW. I think the symmetrical detailing is actually quite flattering to the figure too! Another thing I picked up from the shows were the ‘Chanel-esque’ bead detailing on neck line and hems, so I added that to the neck of this dress. The top and bottom on the right are inspired by the bagginess of some collections I saw. The slouchy fit and pyjama type style is something I wanted to come across, but also with a bit of detailing and appliqué. The fabric would be a jersey fabric so comfort would be key. Knitted Turtle Neck Dress with Appliqué Detail & Blue Leather Bomber Jacket (left) and Blue Vest with Mixed Blue Panel Skirt & Sheer Cape with Appliqué Detail (right):

 I really liked the use of pastels for A/W 15′ so I thought I would interoperate that into these designs. The knitted dress would be a soft knit, with a pink appliqué ‘sport’ detailing like a number. The bomber jacket would be quite vintage looking in a nice blue but with darker blue detailing on pockets and zips. Retro, but with a modern twist. The other design is inspired by a lot of panelling I noticed. This skirt is very flattering and the mix of blue colour makes the movement of the skirt look awesome! The cape would be sheer with 3D flowers as again, they were all of the catwalks.

I hope you liked this short but sweet blog post! I’m going to start to learn a lot more fashion-y things soon so hopefully these posts should start to improve! But for now, enjoy!

Hello everyone, today I am starting a new series. Now, don’t get me wrong, we all know that I am bad when it comes to blog series’ because I never seem to complete them, but I promise that I will. I hope that I can write a blog post every week or fortnight for this series, which is an A-Z Fashion Guide. It’s going to be to do with terms, designers and anything really, from A-Z. The first instalment is Appliqué. I hope you enjoy it…

Appliqué is a French word, for ‘applied’. It basically means, ‘application’. Anything you add to a piece of fabric or garment, is ‘applied’ which means it is a form of Appliqué.  The actual way of adding a piece of fabric or detailing to another piece of fabric, has been around since 980 BC, and one of the first pieces of Appliqué which we know of, came from Egypt, so although the word is derived from the French vocabulary, the actual ‘art form’ comes from Egypt. At first Appliqué was to cover up patches of worn or frayed garment, or to decorate house hold things like curtains.

In the 1800s coloured fabric became more and more popular and Appliqué was used to create historical murals to remember great battles and ceremonies. It was mainly used for quilting, until more recently when designers and artists have used it in clothing. There are different techniques of appliqué, but mainly it just consists of stitching one piece of fabric, to another! There is also reverse appliqué which is where the main piece of fabric is cut and you apply layers of different fabric from behind.

To fit in with London Fashion Week, I have chosen 2 designers which have showed some form of Appliqué. John Rocha & Holly Fulton have both applied 3D floral detailing to their designs, as well as basic Appliqué on Fulton’s beige dress. I will go into these collections more in depth when I come to do my London Fashion Week Review for A/W 14. My favourite way of doing Appliqué is actually the 3D flower, so I do really like the way they have done this, especially Rocha’s metallic detailing onto mesh. The way Holly Fulton’s Appliqué has been done on the beige dress though, almost looks seamless and like a print, but up close is actually slightly lifted off the fabric and looks really nice in different light.

I thought in this series I would show you a piece of clothing from my wardrobe which shows the ‘terminology’ being used. This is my mesh top I got from a jumble sale after seeing Susie Lau – *takes a moment to appreciate the fact that she follows me on Twitter* – wearing a coloured mesh dress on her blog. It’s really pretty and looks so nice over floaty dresses and printed things. You can see me wearing it in this not-so-brilliant OOTD. It was a bargain though and I am very happy with my purchase. *Laughs because she cannot believe she scanned in a top because her parents were out using the camera* *Mentally uses the hashtag: #LifeOfAFashionBlogger*

So, I hope you liked this post! I will try and link it somewhere on my blog so the series is easily accessible, but for now, good bye! Enjoy the rest of LFW!

(Images from Pinterest & Vogue)

Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Okay, I need to stop with the ‘Oh my’ thing, but… I am SO excited for this post for 3 reasons. 1 – My chicken pox are gone off ma’ face, 2 – I have my NEW lens and 3 – it includes a give-away! WOW WOW WOW *insert mind blown GIF* But seriously… eee! I’m very very happy! 😀 Anyway, I should stop my really over excited introduction, and get on with this post! Oh wait, one more thing… I have made the images bigger because I think it will make them look even more awesome and snazzy, so yah.

What I Wore: Polka Dot Dungarees £8.00 (ASOS), Winter Floral Sweater £10.00 (Peacocks)*, Silver & White Chunky Heels (ASOS) & Black Leather Watch (Shuttersong)*

I’m sorry, but please admire that bokeh and those whisps of hair that actually look alright in front of my face. It’s amazing what a different piece of glass can do… Honestly though I feel like I could become a LookBook.nu professional… jokes jokes. The clothes Tolly, talk about the clothes… well… I LOVE this outfit, honestly it’s super comfortable and is perfect for this time of the year. I picked up this amazing dungarees in the ASOS sale and it’s super slouchy and adjustable which means I can wear it like jumbo, or nice and snug. I also adore this sweater I got sent from Peacocks. I think it looks gorgeous with the polka dots, and it’s  the perfect piece you could take through from summer to winter. It’s not a piece I would usually think of as from Peacocks, but as I have said before, they’re really stepping up their game!

Papa Posh thought it would be hilarious for me to include that picture above… I guess it does show how slouchy the dungarees are though… hmm 😉 Ooh and look who made an appearance again! My super awesome silver heels that I won. They’re the perfect accessory for an outfit like this because they just add that little bit of ‘formal’ to it. I’m also really liking having my hair up half down. When I was younger at school I used to always do it but I then had it cut shorter and it didn’t look as good, but now it’s grown back and I think it looks just right! You’ll be shocked in the next pictures… I have no nail polish on. A blogger with no nice manicure?! My word! (Jokes… but seriously, I can never be bothered) Oh and you know I mentioned a give-away? Well, I’m re-opening my Shuttersong watch give-away. Unfortunately their weren’t many entries on Facebook, so I thought I’d give you lovely blog readers a chance to win! Scroll down to find out more…

What You Will Win: A Shuttersong Branded Leather Watch
Who Can Enter: Anyone at an address in: UK & IRE, France, Spain, Germany or Italy
Rules: Enter with the widget below. You must have parental permission if you are under 16 years of age. No ‘Give-Away’ social media accounts will be accepted

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck! Will you be entering? What do you think of this outfit? Make sure to leave a comment below! 😀

Quite recently I got contacted by Usborne Books telling me about the treasure hunt they are running where their readers can win a Nikon DSLR camera and a copy of the new book by Carina Axelsson, and asked me whether I would like to take part and hold part of the treasure hunt on my blog! I thought it would be a nice idea, so here it is! Read on to find out how you might be able to win!

The rules are simple! Each day there will be a clue on Carina’s Facebook page, as well as on the Usborne Facebook and Twitter pages’. There is already a couple up, so make sure you have a look! The clue will lead you to a website and you have to find a button, similar to one in the image above (the ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ one), click on it and enter the details! The more you find, the more chance you will have of winning! Anyone can enter, as long as you have parents permission if you are under 16! On Wednesday & Thursday I will be hosting the very ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ badge you see above, somewhere on my blog! *Simples* It’s super easy and if you like you can just enter once!

Then, when this whole treasure hunt is over, not only will you find out if you were the lucky winner, you will be able to enter a give-away on my blog, to WIN a signed copy of Model Under Cover! I will be giving away 5 copies, which is pretty cool! But, if I were you… I’d get searching on this treasure hunt! You could win a D90 from Nikon… AWESOME!

That is all from me for now, so I will see you in 2 days with ANOTHER give-away opportunity… with pictures from my new lens… oh yeah. It makes everything look so pretty though… n’awww.

Let me know if you will be entering by leaving a comment below! Good Luck! 😀

(This is not a Sponsored Post. I was not paid to write or publish this, I just thought it was a nice opportunity for you guys to win something! All opinions are mine as usual.)

I really wanted to do a post on eco-friendly and ethical fashion, and here it is! I wanted to find out a bit more about not only what it is all about, but also some great brands which sell and produce ethical and sustainable fashion products. It’s taken me quite a while to get this done so I hope it is worth it! Thank you to the brands for answering my questions too!

VOZ – This brand specialize in hand-made garments that feature premium quality natural and ecological fibres, hand dyed and woven to celebrate ancient traditions. On their site they state: ‘VOZ give’s their artisans a means of sustaining their culture, by offering them economic and artistic protection for their proprietary indigenous craft forms. Our artisans receive name credit and earn royalties for their designs featured in our collection.‘ I love how Voz offer gorgeous collections, but also do good at the same time. I like how they stick to ancient traditions and really work on each piece, taking in every detail. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the answers in time to publish but check out VOZ anyway!

Reet Aus – This brand is an ‘up cycler’. They collect donated clothing, and get it turned it something completely new. Each garment in the collection I have featured, on average saves 4500 liters / 78% of water creates 2273 g / 86% less CO2 emission per each new garment, which I think is incredible. I love their SS14 collection, and the fact that they are saving that much energy and water is really good to see.

When and why did you start to realise that Ethical fashion was the way to go forward?  Reet has been working with fashion and clothing for many years. Seeing the industry from the inside, the fast fashion, the endless new clothes that come in and out of stores, has been alarming that it is not really the way it should be. Just imagine the amount of waste and pollution it creates.

What is the process in up cycling clothes and making them Ethical & Sustainable? The process of upcycling is using left-overs in making new products. In this case, textile and clothing waste for new garments without changing the material. This method avoids producing new virgin materials and also helps to alleviate the waste problem in the producing countries.

Ovna Ovich – This is probably my favourite brand in a ‘fashion’ sense, because all the pieces are so simple, and versatile, yet they all are ethical and sustainable from the fibres and the fastenings. Is it weird that I can tell which bloggers would wear what from these pieces? The white dress would be perfect for Liv, the blue one for Carrie, possibly maybe the two piece for Natasha, and the pale blue dress for Katia! Weird I know…

When and why did Ovna Ovich start to realise that Ethical fashion was the way to go forward? It has been a life long journey of decisions and upbringing to get to this realisation. The ‘eureka’ moment happened when I was working on my final project at university and wondered what would happen if I concentrated on producing work that was a solution rather then just pointing the finger at something negative.

What do you do differently to other Ethical designers? OVNA OVICH is clothing for both male and female genders. These lines are blurred where we create clothing for men which can also be worn by women. OVNA OVICH work with fabrics that eco friendly and luxurious. Our pieces can be worn to special occasions as well as the everyday.

New Look – You may not know it, but New Look Retailers are an ethical and sustainable brand. They try to create quality jobs for people they work for as well as care for the environment as they produce our clothes. Most of us will own a New Look item in our wardrobe and they are all really good quality for the price, so what exactly goes into making them, and how are New Look trying to change the way things are done? I got my questions answered by their Ethical Trade & Environment Manager, Subathra Vaidhiyanathan… (Images thanks to New Look)

What do you do differently to other Ethical brands? One of the things I really like about working with New Look is that there’s a big focus on building long term relationships with our suppliers. This is important because it means we get to know our partners and we understand the challenges our factories face. This means we can talk about how to resolve them and then work together to help factories overcome any challenges they face. All our suppliers sign up to our Ethical Aims before we buy from them and we have members of our field teams visiting factories daily to check conditions. We also recycle a lot more than others and last year we recycled 71% of all waste from our UK stores we hope to do more in 2014.

What are your next big goals with your Ethical system? What do you want to achieve next with it? We have set ourselves some challenging ethical targets this year and our ethical team are working hard to meet them! Last year we worked on over 70 ethical trade projects, this year we have over 100!

Do you think we will ever see most high street brands being Ethical & Sustainable? I feel that awareness of ethical trade and sustainability among consumers, brands and suppliers is the highest it has ever been. People care about where clothes come from and that they are made in a ethical and sustainable way, which is great. Many high street retailers have ethical teams now and I really hope this trend continues!

It’s been really interesting creating this blog post on ethical and sustainable fashion for you guys and I hope you like it! Thanks once again to the brands who answered my questions!

When wondering through the world of Tumblr, I came across the wonderful people of, JUCO, also known as Julia Galdo and Cody Cloud. I instantly fell in love. Unfortunately ‘JUCO’ are very busy at the moment so couldn’t answer any questions for me, but I thought I would share their wonderful work with you anyway in this ‘fashion photography’ post. PLUS, you can get a discount for the Photography Show at the Birmingham NEC for just simply reading this post… so read on down if you want in! (Images via JUCO)

As a lover of colour and prints, I am so glad I found JUCO. Julia & Cody use colour in such a beautiful way and it just gives me a buzz when I see their shots. It actually makes me want to be the man on the Skittles advert where everything he touches turns into sweeties. It makes me feel so happy and just want to live in the sunshine all day everyday. JUCO have worked with people like Apple, Nike, Nylon, Teen Vogue and many more awesome people, and it makes me so motivated to try and find that one special thing in my fashion design that people will like and enjoy, just like people have with the talent that is JUCO.

The way they bring out the character in literally everything is so beautiful. They can do so so many styles and I love how you can see they experiment with their personal things (nudity warning if you take a look!) and really dive into places they feel passionate about. Ahhh, how cool would it be to like make everything just look so utterly perfect with the click of a button? That is why I think things like the Photography Show in Birmingham next month are such great opportunities. You can go and not only learn new tips and tricks, but just being inspired by the little things. Photography is such a great way of capturing life in a more artistic way, and their is never a bad picture because whatever you take will say something. With this code: FUTHND142014 you can get your tickets for £10 instead of £13! Just simply pop in the code when you’re paying and voila! So go treat the fam-a-lam to a day out and save yourself a few pennies! …don’t forget to take your camera!

As I said Julia & Cody have worked with some pretty awesome people as you can see. I just love looking through all of their work, it’s all so darn pretty! Like on Despicable Me… ‘IT’S SO PRETTY!’ Hahah, aww. They really do know to capture the spirit of the shot though don’t they? Yup! That Factory magazine cover has given me my new favourite quote, ‘Dressed to Express’. Too much nice-ness I cannot handle it. TOO MUCH GUYS. IT’S TOO MUCH.

One of my favourite pieces they have done is their personal shoot of ‘painted backgrounds’. They are honestly just so pleasing to the eye. I really want to do something like this for my blog one day, it would be just so fun to create! Julia & Cody hand painted it all themselves which makes it 100 x cooler on the cool scale. I would totally ask JUCO to shoot all my fashion campaigns, hands down, because they are just the kinda’ thing I like. (I would say period now but I’m not American and it kinda’ makes me think of… well you know… so yah’. #AwkwardTurtle)

Don’t forget the code FUTHND142014 because you will save your self quite a few pennies especially if you are wanting to go in a group! GO GO GO! Go for me because I can’t and Rankin is there and that’s the SECOND time I have missed being able to see him. WHY. NOT FAIR. BOOO!(BIES)

(This post is not sponsored by The Photography Show or JUCO. I had the opportunity to get free tickets for a small feature which I had to give away as I will not be able to attend. I was happy to give you guys a discount though!)