African Head Dresses

As a way of experimenting and researching my South African theme for my textiles class a bit better I decided to focus more on the traditional head dresses since I've already touched upon clothing. (The South African clothing research I did) So here are the result of an hour or two playing around with some beautiful fabrics and my camera!

And here are some of my funkier edits I did using these pictures:

+ Edits

Shoe Haul

I lost control today in town after weeks, upon weeks of being good and saving money, and as you can see the outcome wasn't great. 5 NEW PAIRS OF SHOES! How did I manage that? I had planned to spend an hour max in shoe shops trying to find some new sturdy walking boots for the volunteering work that I'm going to be doing in Mozambique- South Africa, in 3 days (I'm devoting another separate post devoted to this trip later on with more details and information). However, I some how came back with a ridiculous amount of new shoes and not single one of those fitting the description: 'sturdy walking boots'. Damn.

Although these were completely unnecessary, I absolutely adore all of them!

-My tanned, real leather boots with a little bit of a heel which makes a surprisingly big difference to my minute stature. With two buckles placed at the top of the boot (which reaches just below the knee) and another around the ankles, I found them to be very unique! It's not often you encounter such great quality boots in this gorgeous colour, perfect for the autumn.

-Plain, suede dessert boots in a dusty grey colour. Extremely comfortable and I imagine I will be very grateful I bought them for those mornings after a full night of wearing 6 inch heels.

-Black and blue Nike blazers. I've never been a big fan or a follower of the 'sneaker trend' but the simplicity (and again, the comfort) of this particular style really caught my eye. I wouldn't say that these were my favourite addition to my shoe collection, however they have added a bit of variety to it as I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone in buying these. They are nothing like what I would usually go for but I imagine that if I paired them up with some nice wet-look, black jeans, a black blouse, black & grey Adidas jacket and a nice chunky scarf, I've got my self a nice casual outfit- which fits perfectly with my college dress code. 

-My cute little boat shoes, now these are a lot more my style! Classic style, 

royal blue and with a shinny look to finish them off. They have quite a thick sole and they seem to be rather resistant/waterproof so I imagine I will be able to put these to good use during these colder, upcoming seasons.

-And finally my new heeled booties!

I've been looking for a new pair of boots with a small heel for quite some time and seems like today was my lucky day! Regardless of the 4 inch heel they are actually very easy to walk in so I bet I'll be finding it hard not to wear them this winter especially since they literally go with everything.

I already wore them tonight with some jeans but I also plan on wearing them with skirts, dresses and anything else that will give me the opportunity to have some cute, woolly socks peeking over the top!Aah, I'm very excited to get a lot of wear out of them.

EAV -A simple icon idea I came up with

I'm very much in an 'editing mood' so I guarantee that you can expect a lot of photography coming your way tonight!

Social

Carmel social, fantastic night 

-Cream, semi backless, lace dress from Miss Selfridge 

-Nude, strappy heels 

-Gold H&M necklace 

Follow me on my personal Instgram for more general pictures @elsa_alvarez 

LDN

London

Orange Ootd

Ootd post from the other day: 

-Dark Green Barbour 

-Black and white patterned dress from Miss Selfridge, tight fighting and with 3/4 sleeves which make it one of my favourite  autumn dresses 

-Orange and green paisley patterned scarf from San Francisco 

-Dark brown boots 

-And a stone orange necklace from South Africa which my dad brought me back. Such an amazing, rich colour!

Bodice work

I did a bit of work on a bodice today in my textiles class as a way of getting started with my initial design ideas. It's all very rough and basic so far but it's helped me visualise abit better what I want my final outcome to be. I'll keep you posted as the process comes along 

(I hope) it's obvious that my theme is Africa- or South Africa to be specific. These little dresses which I pinned in place were inspired by Stella Jeans amazing collections. She is such a unique and fresh designer that I'm actually considering devoting a complete post just to her. I very much recommend that you check her out!

The Fall

Warm, warm, warm colours 

I have finally accepted that it's autumn and so I convinced my self to dig out my dark green Barbour 

Pinafore

Cute little pinafore outfit the other day which I smartened up with a shirt since I had to do a presentation that evening and didn't want to look too casual 

-Black pinafore from Miss Selfridges 

-Blue, white and cream stripe shirt made out of a fabulous silk material. So comfortable and soft but it creases SO easily!

-Black tights 

-Grey brogues from Primark which have lasted me a good few years believe it or not

-Pearly/white chain from Miss Selfridges 

-Grey and white scarf from Ted Baker with a cute little bird and bird cage pattern dotted about with splashes of colour 

-And my lovely and warm Zara cape coat in navy blue which I actually bought from the children's section- fantastic bargain!

Nina

Nina Ricci asymmetric long coat in white from the SS 14 collection. 

Personally I think it's TO DIE FOR 

Another piece from the SS 14 collection which I'm obsessed with is this gorgeous tweed suit! I'm so Iove with that colour and the attention to detail on the embellishment really makes it different to any other dress suits I've seen recently. I must, must, must, find a (cheaper) version of this for any university interviews I may have 

Oh, and I also love this one! Particularly that cold colour 

Topshop OOTD

-Plain white tank top from Topshop

-Thin cream coloured, baggy jumper from Topshop, very loose weave 

-Grey skater skirt from Topshop

-Green/red/cream checked shirt from Topshop

-Normal black tights 

-My favourite dark brown boots!

-Suede scarf with tassels, the colour is a bit hard to explain but I would say that it was a mix of brown and black with a sort of sheen to it

-And a chunky gold necklace from Miss Selfridges to finish of the look

Canon

My wonderful dad surprised me with a brand new digital camera today since I will probably be using it A LOT in the future (and because I have been nagging him about it for years now) but regardless I am extremely thankful for the present! 

It is a Canon EOS 1100D, 12.2 mega pixels, 55mm zoom lens and lots of other interesting gadgets which I can't wait to have a play around with!

I'M SO IN LOVE

Thomas Scheibitz

I was mesmerised by this artist's collection presented at the Baltic. His choice of colour and media really worked hand in hand to create some amazing textures and relief, I just wanted to touch all of his work! 

I actually also found that some of his paintings on canvas would make perfect prints for shorts or jackets, maybe even for some funky shirts. Just a thought

Bunny

The best £20 I've ever spent 

-Bunny onsie from Next's children section 

Perfect for artsy Sundays filled drawing, painting and sewing 

Open Day

A pretty simple outfit & very casual since I was just attending a university open day:

-Black 'leather-look' skinny trousers from Straduvarius

-A plain, black polo shirt from United Colours Of Beneton

-A cute lite cardigan from Hobbs London in a gorgeous green with navy blue round the seams. Simple but sweet!

-One of my usual chunky necklaces in gold from H&M 

-My precious Dolce & Gabbana long coat in black! I am genuinely so happy that it's autumn so I can wear this amazing piece again 

-I then chose to match my bag to my shoes as a way of bringing the outfit together so I went for my nude booties and nude handbag from MSK. The silk scarf I wrapped around it is from Bimba y Lola and I'm sure I have already included it in other posts but it really is one of my favourites. Vibrant colours, fabulous pattern and amazing texture, perfect!

Ellie's 18th

Super quick outfit run through:

-Baby blue peplum top from Miss Selfridges 

-White leather leggings from Bershka 

-Nude heels from some unknown shoe shop in Spain 

-And my beloved Louis Vuitton handbag!

White

A very white look today:

-My favourite white/cream jeans 

-Plain and very loose fighting top from Zara in a light cream colour

-One of my favourite autumn jackets from Stradivarious. It's tailored perfectly to give you a feminine figure, cinched in at the waist with a zip placed diagonally across the torso. It has a sort of tweed-look to it and obviously the black and white make it perfect for my college

-Fluffy, mink coloured scarf which my grandma actually knitted for me! So cute and perfect for these fast approaching winter months 

-Normal, black belt 

-Chunky, gold necklace from Miss Selfridges 

-Suade, mink, coloured booties with tassels round the top from a little shoe shop in Spain 

I completed the outfit with a side plait on straight hair and gold hoops, which I haven't worn in AGES. Happy to have an excuse to wear them again 

The Pearl of Africa

Today at Carmel College we had a visit from a choir all the way from Uganda named the 'The Pearl of Africa'. This choir is made up of orphaned Ugandan children who tour the world performing free concerts in hopes of raising awareness of the poverty, famine and violence that goes on in their own homes. So in honour of these inspiring children all students were allowed to wear the colours black, red or yellow (Uganda's flag) to school/college for a small donation towards the choir.

I wore:

-A red, tribal patterned dress with a gorgeous low cut back, long sleeved and very fitted 

-My favourite brown boots 

-Normal, black tights

-Chunky, gold nevklace from H&M. One of my favourite statement pieces 

-A multy textured scarf (silk and felt I believe) in brown and black with an interesting Art Deco pattern and tassels at the ends

-My trusty brown leather jacket to complete the outfit 

(I will try to post some more links and information on The Pearl of Africa soon. Please give them a watch and if they happen to perform any where near you, make sure you go, maybe make a donation and above all, help raise awareness!)

A Little Find

Any one have any idea who the photographer or stylist was for this shoot? More importantly does any one know who designed this gorgeous little ensemble?!

VI WEAR FAIR #ootd

This morning at college we had a VI Fair for students to join a few societies (e.g events, fundraising, sports) in order to encourage them to involve themselves in the Carmel community. Currently, I am the head of the designs for VI WEAR which is a society dedicated to over looking all college wear, ranging from crew neck jumpers to personalised blazers for the Head Boy & Head Girl. Today we presented the students with a few new designs (scarfs, varsity jackets) and surveys in order to get an accurate idea of what people thought of the products available to them as well as obviously offering students the opportunity to apply to join the team. Therefore, my team and I decided to wear one of the t shirts we designed so we could do a little bit of 'self promotion'. Bear in mind that at my college we have a black and white dress code hence why my colour palette is so limited:

-My black Carmel College t-shirt 

-Tight, black, pencil skirt from eBay. Fantastic way of making any outfit look a little bit more smart 

-Another one of my favourite summer scarfs which I always seem to end up wearing during the winter too. It's from Bimba & Lola and the silky material and light colours give such a feminine look to anything I wear

-Simple black pumps from Zara (Kids!)

-A cute little silver bow pinned at the back of my hair. It's a super practical hairstyle and definitely my favourite at the moment!

-And finally, one of my most prized possessions; my silver Deathly Hallows necklace