My Perfect London Fashion Week Outfit with Motel Rocks

Hello!

I'm not usually one to want to partake in blogger competitions but when I heard about Motel Rocks' chance to attend London Fashion Week, I did a little shriek at my computer screen.

Motel is a brand I truly love and have done for a number of years; coupled with the fact that as a fashion-obsessed Journalism graduate, reporting from LFW would be an absolute dream.

So without further a-do, here's my perfect LFW outfit, with some key pieces from Motel:

My Perfect LFW Front Row Outfit with Motel Rocks by katieafox

I've chosen some great items from Motel. The Foxy (perfect down to the name- aha!) white faux leather jacket with studs down the shoulders has a really cool modern aesthetic and is the perfect throw-on piece for spring. I also picked the Lara crop polo top which is covered with a digital camo print to add a bit of edge and the Star Textured Skinny Pant in black as I'm a big fan of anything high-waisted! Add to this my Jeffrey Campbell Lana boots (which my boyfriend bought me for my birthday from Motel last year), a trusty bowler hat and some silver jewellery, including an awesome cross bracelet by Rock 'N Rose.

I'm sure I'm not alone in desperately wanting to go to LFW- what would you wear if you were?

Love,

Foxy x

Buy it, cut it, stick it, stud it, sew it, change it, rip - upgrade it

Sorry Daft Punk for defaming your lyrics...

I've been customising some jeans!

In my last post I mentioned my accumulation of thrifted jeans that I have long intended to turn into cut off shorts.

Well last week I had some spare time and, clearly nothing else to do, so I put my crafty hat on (can you imagine how that would look? I bet it would be covered in buttons and pom poms) and got to it!

Here are the results:

Sorry for the over-feature of my bedspread on the blog, it really is the best background!

These are my faves and sadly, too small for me. My good friend Clare is taking them off my hands though so they're going to a good home.

I buy all my studs from Chinese sellers on eBay. They typically take a couple of weeks to arrive but for £1 for a bagful you can't go wrong.

The leather inverted cross was made from the off-cuts off some leather trousers (also made into shorts!)

These beauties just about fit me; the dilemma being that I can't move. I'm hoping that if I get a holiday booked soon I'll have some incentive to get into them!

They were originally vintage Wrangler jeans picked up in a charity shop for £1.50.

My hoarding ways proved useful with these. I knew hanging on to the scrap of material that I once called a fancy dress costume would eventually come good...

With my uni ladies. On true form as well- being too late to get hold of one of the 'official' bar crawl t shirts!

These Levi jeans were another charity shop purchase at £2.49. The studs and fabric were left over from the American Flag jacket I made earlier...

Wish I could keep these but they're a bit too big so eBay they go!

I won't bang on about these ones as I already mentioned them in a previous post. The jeans really were the bargain of the century (okay, perhaps car boot) at just 50p!

and finally...

Okay so these aren't denim but needed sorting out nevertheless.

I bought the leather trousers from eBay ages ago; they were too small then and there's no bloody chance they'd fit now! I chopped the legs off (I have loads of leather left for other DIYs) and added a single stud to the back pockets. These are currently going on eBay too.

Well, I'm DIY'd out, how about you? Have you customised anything recently?

Love,

Foxy x

Oh Velvet!

The title is for my Birmingham readers by the way- it alludes to a bar on Broad Street of the same name. My last memory of being in there was of me dressed as an alien for a themed bar crawl, staggering around half blind after drunkenly attempting to stick my big blue glittery falsies back down and inadvertently glueing an eye together. Ohhh velvet...

Anyway, enough of my misfortunes. I want to talk about velvet- the fabric that is. I'm dying to wear some this season, teamed with something black and lacey.

On the train back to Yorkshireland, I was reading Marie Claire's September issue (swiped from our neighbours on holiday by two of my, very naughty, friends) and looked like a bit of a lune to be perfectly honest as a had a bit of a chuckle to myself.

I was reading Anna Pursglove's account of this year's Autumn/Winter, entitled 'The Season Your Boyfriend Just Won't Get'. I laughed because it's so true, especially in my case (my man hasn't yet got his head around the concept of leggings- "so, you can wear them as trousers sort of? Aren't they like tights?")

This season, it's all about massive chunky knits, tweed and an overload of fur- a far cry from last year's thigh high boots and body con.

 Knitwear at D&G (trimmed with yet more fur)

Country chic at Rag & Bone

 Fur at Chanel

What a difference a year makes: Prada A/W 09

In the words of Ms.Pursglove, we seem to be in "the season that sex forgot". But all is not lost.

I'll be going all vamp at night. Lace, leather and velvet have made a few appearances- the indulgent fabrics are usually in there somewhere at this time of the year.

Ralph Lauren had some great velvet bits in my new favourite colour, like, ever. This vampy red colour:

Lace was big at Christopher Kane. I really like the little collars his stuff had going on too.

Givenchy's lace pieces were sexy too- no doubt about that.

So there you have it. Some hope for looking hot this winter! My inspiration? 

Morticia Adams- arguably the best vamp of all time

I can't find much velvet on the high street yet, Topshop haven't delivered the goods. Have you seen any great pieces? 

I think velvet might be a surprise thrift winner though. Velvet's had its moments in past years; I once had a bright orange velvet shirt in the 90s, no word of a lie. Old velvet clothing is usually pretty unwanted- most people think it's dated. I'll let you know if you find anything.

As for the lace, Topshop has redeemed itself as these are now on my shopping list:

Lace bandeau body, £20

Mesh and lace skirt, £20

I'm not sure how on earth I'd wear the skirt though, I'm not really partial to flashing my rear in public. Maybe some sequin hotpants?

Happy shopping x