Results tagged “fashion” from Birmingham Post - Lifestyle Blog

A new season can be a bit scary at the start, as fashion is almost like a race. By the time you get a new look sorted, it's Christmas sales time and suddenly there's bikinis in store again. The prospect of buying a whole new wardrobe is pressure on your bank balance as well as your shoulders. It's quite enjoyable to browse around empty shops but the credit crunch can't be ignored when faced with fresh rails of items you need to own. To face facts, for 90% of winter days you will have a coat to cover an outfit when going out. Here are a few versatile ideas to bring yours up to date, trying not to sound like a tacky make-over show...!

Belts
Don't buy a new coat, just put a belt round last year's! Last winter I did this as I loved my coat too much to buy a new one, but the swing shape didn't really work. I strapped a belt round the middle and it was like a new coat! This season a belt can also be worn with blouses, around the top of high waisted skirts, and around dresses for night time. Make sure it is around your waist and no low slung on hips, and invest in a black studded or embellished one. The Topshop one hits two boxes (see below...).

Fendi FW08, style.com. ASOS studded belt, Warehouse double studded belt, Topshop lace belt.

This is the most recent advert from America's biggest clothing manufacturer, American Apparel. Makes you take a second glance, right?

With stores in London, Glasgow, Brighton, Bristol and Liverpool, it's only a matter of time until we see one opening on our doorstep and it could quite possibly change how our city dresses. American Apparel isn't just a run of the mill store, it's created a whole new fashion following. The too-cool brand is the home of hipsters, born in LA and now significant across the globe, it has a vibe and persona that you can't get in the desperate to please high street stores. Take a look around the online store, which gets 1.5 million hits a month, to see what I mean.

The stand out features are that it manufactures all its garments in LA, thus eliminating sweat shops in international maufacture. Employees also get free health care, lunches, bus passes and on-site masseurs. AA participate in immigration reform rallies, reduced their power costs by 20% with solar panels on the factory roof, and supported the Hurricane Katrina effort with 80,000 t-shirts, to give a few random examples. The list could go on.

People don't buy their products for ethical reasons though, it's simply not cool to wear a t-shirt emblasoned with 'I'm eco-friendly' or the like. The items they sell speak for themselves. On first glance, it's just plain clothes. There is nothing patterned, everything has a simply explained design and comes in at least ten colours. The strength is on the materials and cuts; there are around eigthy different styles of short sleeved t-shirts alone! They dont have fancy ruffles or cut outs, they're simply 'fine jersey' or '1/2 sleeves U-neck' or 'unisex tri-blend.' It's the way you wear them, they're slouchy and casual, just effortless. Have you ever tried to search out the perfect white t-shirt, no fancy buttons or rouching, just soft cotton and simply cut? Also they have each item in every colour imaginable, and each comes with online reviews, with so many that they're almost like forums.

Almost the opposite of their stylish basics, they have an extrovertly sexual image to go along with clothes you could find in a very dark sex shop. This is what sends the company into hipster stratosphere. The founder and CEO, Dov Charney, has been accused in five sexual harrassment cases; one is still pending. This isn't surprising when you take a look at the company designed and marketed adverts, and product photographs. Girls around 19 are scantilly clad, legs spread, in poses that are not only pornographic, but raise the brand's awareness and likeability further! Buyers want their clothes to be rebellious with a bit of risk and naughtiness, especially the young adult and teen market who shop there. AA are known for their shiny lamé swim suits and second-skin dresses, which I can say with experience should be worn with caution around any drunken males. The adverts hit headlines in 2007 when a New York billboard was graffitied with 'Gee, I wonder why women get raped.'

I'm hoping in a year or so we can walk into a Birmingham store and stock up on expensive basics or slutty shorts.You can look at the advertising as simply selling sex along wih every other company and give them credit for not air brushing and using models of all sizes, or you could see a seedy company. Just wait until you try on a Unisex sheer jersey shirt, it's totally worth a tenner!

I fear for the future of charity shops. Bric-a-brac has turned into colour coded, unworn New Look cast offs and tacky bags. Now it seems the likes of Oxfam can be selective in their goods and only put the newest, more 'modern' items on the shelves. A friend who volunteered told me they would never put anything with a hint of wear on the shop floor. I can see how they want to set standards and maybe give a fresher, less old-fashioned feel to charity shopping, but that takes all the fun away!

As an eBay seller who sources most 'vintage' items from charity shops, it's worrying when all you get is stretchy polyester and natty t-shirts. I want the curtain Laura Ashley dresses and Bally court shoes! My faith is not lost though as Birmingham has some truly fabulous high streets. I am biased to say Erdington is truly exceptional, often with twelve shops open and nearly all crammed with prom dresses and bright leather clutches. Favourites are Barnardo's (the all 99p sale that lasted forever was a dream) and The Salvation Army that has some classic 80's stock. Wylde Green and Harborne deem slightly higher prices but there are the odd gems, such as The Settlement Shop in both Wylde Green and Sutton. I also head to Bearwood, Kingstanding and a few near the New Oscott Tesco.

Vintage has never been hotter and you can either pay £40 for a dress in a vintage boutique or a little less in places like the Yellow Vintage Store, which have most likely come in bundles from Eastern Europe. I enjoy shopping in these places but there's nothing like discovering a treasure for pittance, not to mention you can make money too. I found a Louis Vuitton wallet that I sold for nearly £100 on eBay once and I've made well over a thousand by now just selling vintage since I was sixteen. Hopefully this summer will surface lots of treasures; it's just so hard to sell them on!

Hi! I'm Selina, writer of Flying Saucer, a blog about my slight fashion obsession. I went up to Manchester Uni this year but do love my home town and spend way too much money on train fare back to New Street! I'm super happy to join the Birmingham Post blogging team and inject more fashionable thoughts into the universe...

Right now in the fashion world, this could be one of the best and worst times in the calender. On one hand, the Autumn Winter 08/09 shows have just been revealed and fashion editors will be busy whipping up trend reports and shoots, while chain stores will be stroking their chins, eyeing up the goodies. It seems crazy that there are thousands of people out there straining over whether gloves will be leather or fur this winter, coats will be bell or cocoon, and how we can channel Rodarte's Japanese slasher film-inspired collection into our woolly jumpers. It's barely even Spring, let alone Winter!

But the mags and rags need to scour whatever the designers have created and clump details together to create trends. Buyers, marketers and design teams will mass produce copies that are as identical as they legally can be to it's original inspiration for the high street. Due to key bloggers with connections, we know that these products for Winter have already been fondled by the industry who will advertise them in their magazines come Autumn as the new 'must haves'. Then five months down the line, that's where I come in, handing over the cold hard cash at the counter!

After looking at over a thousand catwalk images, you realise that each piece in a high street store has originated from the runway, and that's why this time of year lacks a fashion front. It may be busy behind the scenes, but it's all in advance, and if you follow fashion closely you find the season seems over before it's even begun. By now the magazines have reported on the Spring trends and shops have sent out their most coveted styles. From here on is a waste land of mid-season sales and beach wear. Autumn/Winter shows only need to cover September to December but the rest of the year is dictated by Spring/Summer shows and things get a little boring around about now.

That's where we come in. Magazines are generated on profit but us fashion bloggers can jump from season to season, delve into our own inspirations and try something brand new. I may have bored you already! The confused, adventurous side is reserved for my own blog but here I hope to provide some gossip, trend tips and observations for any level of fashion interest, with special Birmingham top tips thrown in. Have you used the 360 degree camera mirror in the new New Look store where Beatties was yet? I can't wait to try it next weekend!