New Years Eve

January 7, 2016 | blueskygirlie

What did you get up to on New Years Eve?

We were lucky enough to be invited to two parties and split our time between family and friends and of course I took the opportunity to get dressed up!

What I wore –

I wanted a formal look that was a bit quirky and definitely sexy so went for a mix of underwear as outerwear and vintage! The skirt is an amazing vintage Frank Usher layered chiffon maxi skirt with a wired hem that makes it ‘swoosh’ out. Being vintage its fixed waistband was a tight fit on me even though the label said 14 – thats one of the things I hate about vintage…vain I know! But it certainly is a fabulous skirt. I teamed it with a black lace body with 3/4 length sleeves from the Secret Possessions range at Primark and a black satin underwear underneath.

Hair and make-up –

With it being NYE I went for a full face of make-up with Barry M smoky grey Dazzle Dust eyeshadow, highlighted with an amazing L’Oreal holographic silver shadow, black liquid eye liner and a wine coloured lip.

My hair was freshly washed in L’Oreal Paris Elvive Nutri-Gloss Crystal Sparkling Shampoo and conditioner (which gives a lovely shine) then dried while it was up in a loose bun to create full beachy waves. I pinned a few sections away from my face and finished with Ellnet hair spray.

Accessories –

As I was wearing such a dramatic skirt I went quite light on accessories wearing a pair of drop diamante earings and a novelty bag both from New Look. This chocolate bar clutch makes me smile whenever I use it!

And that was my New Years Eve look for 2015! I had a absolutely fabulous night and felt like a gothic princess which in my opinion, is not a bad thing to feel like! I hope you had fun too whatever you were doing.

Lace Body – Primark

Satin body (underwear) – Very.co.uk

Maxi skirt – Frank Usher (vintage)

Earrings – New Look

Clutch bag – New Look

Creating Christmas in a childs bedroom

December 12, 2015December 12, 2015 | blueskygirlie

They say Christmas is for kids, and I always like to make sure my childrens bedrooms feel festive too. In todays blog see my top 5 tricks to do Christmas in a fun and child friendly way, easily and cheaply…and best of all your kids will love it!

‘Days till Christmas’ countdown –

This is a great way to stop those ‘how many days…” questions you get pretty much every day of December. I like using a very cute, child friendly one and then have it displayed in their bedroom. Cute decoration groupings –

In the rest of my home my decorations have to be ultra stylish, but in the kids rooms? Anything goes! I let them pick ones they like then display in groups amongst their usual toys. These were all bought in our local pound shop! Christmas duvet covers –

This is a simple way to add Christmas cheer to their beds and there’s some lovely designs out there starting at around £9.99. We bought ours from Dunelm Mill and bought a new one this year for our 8 year old for £12.00 – find it here.Bunting –

A great way to add decoration to the ceiling or on higher pieces of furniture. If bunting isn’t your style, making paper chains is a cheap and extremely effective solution too.
Festive soft toys –

For smaller children a soft toy or two can really add a cute Christmas touch to their bedroom or nursery. Remember normal Christmas decorations could be dangerous for any child under 3 years, so keep safe by adding cute plush toys like the one below.I hope this gives you some inspiration to add some decorations upstairs in your home as well this year!

See my blog on advent calendars here.

New in my Etsy Shop: Vintage Accessories

November 21, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Do you love vintage jewellery and accessories? I do, and you’ll often see me wearing items in outfit posts and on my Instagram. Often its hard to find pieces – they are getting rarer and rarer, and more and more collectable. I have just added some fantastic items to my Etsy vintage shop this week!

Here’s a selection of whats currently on offer – I have pieces from the 1950’s right through to the 1980’s. They make a great present too if you’re looking of a gift thats a bit different.

For a Mad Men style look these vintage brooches are just perfect…

Love modernist style? Then this signed 1960’s Pewter pendant by Norwegian designer Eivind Hillest could be for you…

Or how about a fabulous 1960’s beaded necklace? I adore the colour of this one…

Love the quirky style of the 1980’s? This necklace would look fantastic with its pop of bright colour…

For a bit of fun, retro earrings are perfect…and you don’t even need pierced ears!

diamante and glass bead earrings – £10.00

Don’t forget how well bracelets add interest to an outfit too…

Can’t resist a handbag? Be unique and pick a vintage one…

Find the full range of all my vintage items and more details on all the items seen on todays blog in my Etsy shop ‘Always a Blue Sky Girl’ here.

Inspired by Pinterest

October 14, 2015October 28, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Sometimes you wake up and want to look a bit quirky. I’ve been on Pinterest quite a bit lately and have seen a lot of great blogger styling shots of maxi skirts and statement necklaces. Comfortable to wear and easy to style, maxi skirts can be dressed up or down and worn in any season and the addition of this fabulous necklace takes the outfit to another level. sourced via my Pinterest boards

I recently found a fab 1980s top in a local vintage clothing shop and loved its cute quirky wide stripes. Tucking it into a Very.co.uk petite range maxi skirt balances out its strong pattern too. A maxi skirt is a great wardrobe staple and just because you are smaller doesn’t mean you cant have one. Check put Verys petite range – it is rather good! For sizing this one is a UK10 and you can find similar here.

This look is very much about white accessories and the white bubble necklace (one of my favourite type of accessories – I blogged about them here) and a wide belt work together perfectly. A bargain pair of Peacocks flats (£4 in the sale) carries the red through.

What ideas on Pinterest have inspired you lately?

Top – Vintage
Necklace – eBay
Belt – New Look
Skirt – very.co.uk
Shoes – Peacocks

BOB by DOP Pop Up Shop

October 8, 2015November 2, 2015 | blueskygirlie

When I heard the Dawn O’Porter was launching another BOB pop up shop to tie in with Septembers London Fashion Week I jumped at the change to visit. Last season when it was in Seven Dials I hadn’t been able to get into London and had been really disappointed I had missed it.

The shop is located on Newburgh Street just off of Carnaby Street.

As well as her BOB range (new and last season items that are now in the sale) there’s a fantastic range of handpicked vintage clothing ranging from around £40 up to over £500. If you’re wondering what £500 buys you it buys the most AMAZING designer Courreges cream floor length cape that I looked at in awe… And then there was my dream skirt – the ‘Jane’ paper planes skirt. It has a print featuring stationary, Fab lollies, paper planes and Wotsits!!!! Do you remember I blogged about it back in December? Even though it is utterly wonderful, at £180 I just couldnt justify the cost while I am at home with my son and not earning much…

But as it was last season its now in the sale and with 70% off noless! In the shop they only had a small and large and even though I managed to squeeze myself into the small it was very tight – I’d say the small is a size 8/10 whereas the medium is more a 10/12. Dawn was really helpful and suggested I ordered it online and the next day I did just that! With delivery charges it came to £59.50.

It arrived beautifully packaged in tissue paper and in this gorgeous black box…Here is a close up of its brilliant Karen Mabon designed print – perfectly observed if you attended school in the 80s/early 90s…

And this is me in the skirt I’ve coveted for far too long… The newer designs of this skirt are now sized in generic dress sizes 8-14 which I think makes it much easier to find your size. Find the new designs here.

When I visited Dawn was in store and greeted me with a cheery “Hi! Ooh I LOVE your skirt!” (I was wearing a long leopard print maxt skirt) She was lovely and really helpful and chatty. I had to get my photo taken with her too – I love her TV shows and follow her avidly on Instagram. She is wearing the BOB ‘Kirstin’ dress here – the Toucan filled tropical print is adorable and you can buy it via the website here.

Get down there quick before it shuts its doors till next season…

BOB boutique: 8 Newburgh Street, London
Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm
Sunday 12pm-5pm

I ❤️ Al Fresco Dining

August 24, 2015August 24, 2015 | blueskygirlie

I love to dine outside in the summer and aim to do it as much as I can while the weather allows. I have a huge collection of outside dining items both new and vintage which I have amassed over the years and we have a family outdoor dining table placed at the far end of our garden (to catch the best of the sun) and small bistro set on our patio right by our kitchen french doors.

Ironically theres something missing at the moment…a BBQ! Our last one went to appliance heaven after many years of faithful service and I’ve not had time to replace it. I do love to eat outdoors with family and friends and if I got a new one I know exactly where I’d put it – I’d place it against the wall that runs alongside our patio. It would be near enough to the kitchen for practicality, but still in its own little ‘outdoor zone’ for my style aesthetics.

In todays blog I’ve styled up the space in my garden next to where I’d have the BBQ located and created a fantastic look on our bistro set using some of my favourite outdoor items that I hope you love!

I have kept the colours mainly neutral and gone for a stylish ‘grown up’ setting with a rustic feel including my new Kilner drinks dispenser and mason jar glasses. The bright colour of the orange fruit punch shines through and you just can’t help but feel summery (and thirsty!) looking at it.

The 5L dispenser is from The Range and costs just £14.99 which I think is a great price. They also do matching Kilner jar glasses with handles but they come without tops which doesn’t work with a house full of kids, plus I personally don’t like the handled version (they seem too heavy and clunky for my style) so I’ve co-ordinated mine with smaller, prettier mason jar glasses from wedding retailer Confetti.

I love the rustic simplicity of a mason jar glass and the metal screw cap and washable straw means it can be used summer after summer. Yet again we have Pinterest (and America) to thank for the inspiration!

A chenille throw and a few cushions soften the look – I love the message on this Asda hopsack cushion – ‘Enjoy the little things in life, for someday you will realise they were the big things’. Wise words indeed! I always like to have a throw or two available for guests to keep them cosy as the night gets chillier – why stop your BBQ when the sun goes down?

If BBQ’ing alone isn’t to your taste, how about setting up a pretty picnic basket, so that people can help themselves? This looks great but is also a clever way to display pre-prepared food such as sandwiches and cakes. Store loose food in quirky containers such as these mini mason jars again from Confetti – theres no tacky Tupperware boxes allowed here!
And once the sun goes down, light your candles – the glow from the tealights looks just lovely. I love how pretty different sized candle holders look when grouped together – repeat this throughout your outdoor space to make any party look magical. Holders can be picked up cheaply and one of my favourite places to buy them is Store TwentyOne where they start at just £1.

So get cooking outdoors this summer, surround yourself with your nearest and dearest, put on your favourite music and enjoy. I honestly couldnt do summer any other way!

Create the look:

Bistro table & chairs – Tesco Direct

Kilner drinks dispenser – The Range

Mason Jar glasses – Confetti.co.uk*

Mini Mason Jars – Confetti.co.uk*

Picnic hamper – Vintage

Throw – Dunelm Mill

Cushion – Asda

Wood bowls – Vintage

Tealight holders – Store TwentyOne, M&S

This is my entry into the Style Your Space competition via Direct Stoves.

Vintage Uniqueness

June 5, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

The other day I bought a fantastic water inspired print skirt amongst a few other vintage items. It was so unique and although longer than I normally wear has a great prom style flare to it from the waist. As ever with vintage its a pretty small fit – this was sized as a 12 but only just fits me. Thats a real tip with vintage – ignore the size in it and just try it on.

I teamed it with a vintage St Michael knitted turtle neck top (remember when M&S clothing was called that?), a white beaded bracelet and white pumps for a fresh summery look.

The delicate print to this skirt is just lovely and very unique. I love how the pattern graduates down to the hemline. The wide waistband is flattering, as are the box pleats on the front.

Vintage is still doing it for me…how about you? Get into those charity and vintage shops now and have a rummage! Remember – ignore the size in the item, check for any wear or stains and alter it if you need to. Plus at the same time you are helping the enviroment, looking unique AND saving lots of money – this gorgeous skirt only cost me £2!

Have a great day dressing up in the sunshine.

Top – vintage

Skirt – vintage

Bracelet – Accessorize

Shoes – Primark

10 questions you ask yourself when you’re 40+ & wearing vintage.

April 3, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

I’ve blogged a bit about my journey to embrace vintage (see here), but still have the odd wobble. Once you are of an *ahem* certain age (OK, I’m 42), some fashion choices can get mixed up with just looking odd or people ‘not getting it’ and sometimes you find yourself standing in front of the mirror and asking some bizarre questions!

1) The item looked ‘hipster’ in the vintage store but does it look more ‘crazy cat lady’ on me? featuring a 1980’s original sweatshirt

2) Will people get this necklace is a in joke for my love of Instagram and not just a random strange charm? featuring a vintage brass camera necklace

3) Can an original Ra-Ra dress work when its not 1985? I did dream of being in Bucks Fizz… featuring a batwing 1980s ra-ra dress

4) Being a hippy is still cool, especially in the summer, right? featuring a 1970s mint cheesecloth skirt

5) Is a patterned silk scarf too ‘air hostess’ tied at your neck – it is such a gorgeous print though…? featuring a 1960s psychedelic print scarf

6) Is this batwing blouse more ‘Stand and Deliver’ than ‘Stand up and be counted’? featuring a 1980s Alexon high necked batwing blouse

7) Did I buy the dress because I like it, or because the label made me feel nostalgic? featuring a 1970s C&A fit and flare dress

8) Does that original Disneyland vest now making me look like I’m auditioning for an middle-aged version of the Mickey Mouse Club? And is 90’s fashion even vintage, I wore it the first time around?!? featuring a 1990’s Disneyland souvenir vest

9) Does having a coat with a OTT stand-up collar make you look like a super villian? featuring a vintage Cacharel tweed coat (thanks mum!)

And finally…

10) Is it ok you have no money but the contents of your jewellery drawers (yes, a mere jewellery box is too small) are worth thousands? featuring many years worth of vintage jewellery buys

All items pictured are various vintage pieces I have picked upon my travels…

So do you embrace vintage like me regardless of your age?

All photos are via my Instagram, follow me for more here

Living in the 80’s?

February 10, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

I’ve blogged before how in the last few years I have learnt to embrace vintage clothes and now love the fact you can end up with something totally unique and different from what others are wearing. I have a lot of different vintage pieces now that I really do treasure.

Today I chose to a wear a great 1980’s vintage dress. These sort of ‘RaRa’ dresses always have a double or triple frill of skirt levels and this dress is particularly nicely done. The print is great too – browns, blacks, reds and purples and not garish like some vintage prints. However, when I got it was a little more 80’s looking than I liked so I have altered it slightly – I have rolled and sewed the sleeves so they are not so bat-winged and cut down the neckline so it is a little more flattering. This is key with a vintage piece – if you need to tweak it then do – make it work for you, now!

As its still chilly here in the UK, I co-ordinated it with a Wallis fitted roll neck jumper, a thick three buckle belt from ASOS, opaque tights and Topshop knee length leather boots. I find dresses like this look so much better with a belt and I do love a cinched in waist!

My hair and make-up was simple. I gently straightened my hair and used Max Factor concealer and powder, a L’oreal brown eyeshadow, Rimmel mascara and a neutral Dior lipstick.