Wrap up for Winter

Hi all,

I don't know about you, but the weather in England has started turning really cold. Time to bring out the winter woolies. I have been surfing the web for the perfect winter accessories and here are some of my results in the form of hats, scarves, gloves and ear warmers. December is right round the corner, so wrap up warm!

xox Niamh xox

Luly Yang Butterfly Dress

Hi all,

Here is a beautiful dress created by Luly Yang. The Monarch Butterfly dress is from her metamorphism collection. I think its stunning, and I love the colours and the movement.

 “It all started with a butterfly,” Yang says, “and now, 10 years later, we’re back to our roots with an entire show focused on the journey of the butterfly, which is so similar to my own as a designer.”

xox Niamh xox

Apple Cider Cinnamon Rolls

Hi all,

So last year when we went to New York, in the airport returning home my mum picked up Taste of Home Fall Baking magazine. There are some really delicious recipes in it, and we promised ourselves that we would make them when we got home.... so 1 year later I finally got around to making some things from it. I started with the Apple cider cinnamon rolls (pictured on the front of the mag) they turned out sooo good!! They are seriously delicious! I had to stop myself from eating them all. They are not too heavy, and not sickly sweet. (Mmm, mouth watering...)

I didn't put the glaze on them, because the filling went all caramel-like and made them sticky enough. I guess I also cheated as we have a bread maker at home, so it made the dough for me (so I didn't have to spend a while kneading it)

So here is what they "looked" like:

I will definitely be making these again (maybe adding raisins aswell). So below find the recipe so you can try to make them yourself:

Hope you enjoyed

xox Niamh xox

Japanese Street Style

Hi all,

At the Victoria and Albert museum in London there is currently running a small exhibition of several outfits that show different aspects of Japanese street style. Its called Kitty and the Bull Dog. I really liked the Japanese and sweet Lolita styles in particular. All the ruffles and lace. If you do get the chance to have a look I would recommend you to. Here are the pics of the outfits.

Japanese Lolita.

Japanese Lolita - Takuya Angel

Punk Lolita

Punk Lolita - Putumayo

Gothic Lolita - Alica Auaa

I don't know why, but this reminds me of edward scissor hands.

Gothic Lolita - Moi-méme-Moitié

Sweet Lolita

Sweet Lolita - Alice and the Pirates

Sweet Lolita - Baby, The Stars Shine Bright

Sweet Lolita

xox Niamh xox

Connacht Textile Crafters

Hi all,

So a few weeks ago I went to Ireland, to see the family, and we one day during the week we went to the Museum of Country Life, as the Connacht Textile Crafters exhibition was on. It was really good, quite small, but there were a few really nice pieces that I think you might enjoy seeing. So I snapped a few pics.. here they are...

Lesley Thomas, a machine quilted wall hanging. The colours are so christmassy.

Wendy Kelly 'Sunset over a bog in Achill'. Stitched on hessian using a variety of yarns.

Susan Basler 'Blossom'. The main materials are natural wool fleece, cotton, wool, metallic and some polyester threads. This had to be my favourite piece from the exhibition. I loved the colours, and how you can see through it.

Bettina Foertig 'Fuchia Cottage Socks'. How cute are these socks?? "The fibres are dyed naturally with indigo, cochineal and gorse flower, then spun and knitted into these picture socks, using intarsia techniques, beading and embroidery. They were inspired by the oRound Tower at Turlough and the ubiquitos fuchia bushes of the west of Ireland"

Sheilah Peel 'Rock Vessel' "Mainly machine needle felted, using wool and silk fibres including embroidery threads. Wire was used to provide support." I thought this piece was quite interesting. I really like the textural qualities it has.

Susie Sullivan 'Celtic Doodle Coat' "This felted coat was designed to combine the beauty of art and texture with protection in a harsh climate. Techniques are traditional wet felting, machine and hand stitching. Medium is merino wool, dye, silk fabric and thread." I quite like the collar on this jacket, and the design on the cuffs.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these!

xox Niamh xox

John Lewis Christmas Ad

Hi all,

So Christmas time coming nearer means many things, but one of them is always the John Lewis Christmas Advert. They always have the most heartwarming ads that just make me smile, and this year is no different! It has two snow people in... and its so cute!

Take a look :)

xox Niamh xox

Fashion and Architecture - Paper Dress

Hi all,

So this is the follow up post to the illustration one from my fashion project weeks at college. This is the paper 'dress' that I made inspired by modern architecture. I went a little crazy with the loopy design, and added some fan like pieces at the waist. I have absolutely no idea if I am going to be able to successfully convert this design into fabric, but I really enjoyed making this one :)

So I hope you liked seeing this :)

xox Niamh xox

Fashion and Architecture - Illustrations

Hi all,

So another post involving my activities at college. For the past week I have been doing the fashion project week (so exciting!!!) I have really been enjoying it, as this is the main reason I am at college. So we have to create a fashion garment based on modern architecture. I looked at fashion designers such as  Hussein Chalayan, Garath Ough, Junya Watanabe, Michiko Koshino, and Arkadius for inspiration, as well as modern architects work.

So we had a fashion illustration session which is what this post is about. I created a few outfits using collages of building, the idea was to make them OTT, well at least I did:

So these are the fashion illustrations I produced... Stay tuned for the actual outfit :)

xox Niamh xox

Anthropologie ❤

Hi all,

So when I was in London I had a look in a few shops, but the one with the most things that had me wanting to buy was anthropologie. I only tried on a few things (for fear of spending all my money!) but what I did try on I really loved. I only ended up buying one thing (such self control, hehe) I got a jumper that is cream, kind of baggy/ batwing style. Its by the brand Sita Murt. Another jumper I tried on was also from there.
Here is what I tried.. and bought...

The Neva Jacket. I loved this jacket...but unfortunately I loved it more on the hanger. Its quite bulky on, but really warm. I love the paneling with the different fabrics, and I think it looks very different to anything I have seen before. However if I did have excess cash to blow, I would probably have bought it, because it is so unique looking.

Leisurely Layers Pullover. So this is the top that I bought. It is so soft (having a % of angora) and after wearing it yesterday, I found out that it is really warm, despite being quite a light weight jumper. I wore it over a longer sleeved top, which looked quite nice, but I can also see it working well into the warmer months with just a vest top or bandeau under.

Elevated Games Jumper. This jumper has really nice sleeves. They are in a different fabric to the main part of the top, and are lightweight silk. They have some really lovely details, such as the pleating at the top of the sleeves, the slight gathering at the cuff, and the band of the silk again at the bottom of the bodice.

Hope you enjoyed, do you like Anthropologie?

xox Niamh xox

Victorias Secret Bond Street

Hi all,

So here are some pics that I took from the window displays of Victorias Secret Bond Street store. I apologise for the quality... my camera kind of died so I had to use my phone camera. I still wanted to post these however.

I love the wings of this. They are covered in lace and feathers.

The wings of this are the most beautiful. They look to be based on butterfly wings, but are constructed with a shiny translucent fabric and multiple feathers. They are very delicate and so pretty.

Lots of layers of feather shaped cut plastics.

Another outfit with some amazing wings!

The sea themed clam shaped outfit worn by Miranda Kerr.

xox Niamh xox