Lisa Barrington's blog
Whilst most were enjoying England’s green, pleasant & rainy land last Bank holiday, I was whisked off to enjoy the sights of Amsterdam to visit one of my best friends.
Despite a wet week in the Dam prior to my departure - ever the optimist – I packed some summer clothes.
Arriving on Amsterdam’s biggest holiday to a state of Queen’s Day chaos, I found the remnants of manic celebrations marked by a sea of orange flags & jersey’s.
Never one to turn down an impromptu party, I seem to have come dressed for the occasion myself with my favourite orange cardi!
An outfit inspired by regular Rose favourite, Luella.
Orange Cardi: £2,99
Floral Dress (Amended): £3.99
Purple Patent Belt: 99p
Despite being to Dutch captial several times before, I failed to see any of Amsterdam’s tourist attractions so I decided to rectify this with a whistle-stop tour…comfortable shoes, a spacious satchel & a bit of colour was definantly in order…….
Ah, the old masters. Not normally one for seeking out pre-20th century art, I did find myself quite astounded once at the Rijks Museum (not least at the queue to get in!!!)
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/rijksmuseum-maastricht?lang=en
Worth the wait to get a glimpse of some of Vermeer & Rembrant’s classic pieces.
Time for a quick coffee & off to the Van Gogh museum (after an embarrassing incident involving a lack of funds at the front of the queue), I was even more astonished by how striking these familiar pieces are up close. My awe was interrupted by another slightly embarrassing incident of my phone ringing loudly whilst admiring VG’s ‘Starry Night’….a barrage of about 140 rather scornful looks ensued.
http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=en
As you can see, I cleverly co-ordinated my outfit with my favourite Van Gogh piece, Almond Blossom, inspired by the birth of his nephew.
Everyone in Amsterdam travels by bike & admittedly, it’s a great way to see the city (& some stereotypical sights further a field). Although 1 week later, I’m still struggling to sit comfortably on hard surfaces!
Well I did say I wanted to embrace tourism….
Despite our high st abstinence, I did find several sources of inspiration in innovative window dressing & open art markets
Saturday Night Chic:
Sparkly Bubble Dress: £9.99, Barnardoes
Well if you can’t drink, what better way to enjoy a Saturday night than sharing a large cauldron of cheese with friends.
Glad my enforced sobriety didn't stop anyone else from having a good time..
Another day, another museum but this one was a bit special…
Warranting a special dress, this time courtesy of lovely Rachel xx
http://www.tassenmuseum.nl/default.aspx?pagename=&language=EN
I spent so long in the Museum of Bags & Purses that they had to ask me to leave!
With the summer sun shining, it’s not always necessary to take a trip to enjoy the weekend weather. A range of wholesome activities can also be had within walking distance (well, certainly if you live in lovely leafy cheerful Chorlton!)
Animal Farm
A little touch of the country in ‘Kid’s Corner’ & an inspirational source of colour. Hmm, better get used to that…
Dress: Pop Boutique, £20
Ever-useful Tangerine Cardi: £3.49, Age Concern
Glasses: £4, Ryan Vintage
Slouchy Bag: £2.99 & Printed Scarf: £1.99, Oxfam
Shoes: £3.99, Barnardos
Birthday Bash
I enjoyed a catch up at the birthday bash of one of my favourite friends last weekend. Not only did it present the opportunity to wear my new Yummy ‘Yumi’ dress, I also found my friend looking fab in vintage too!
Dress: £9.99 & Black Patent Belt: £1.99, Oxfam
Cardi: (as before)
Tea for Two
As Rose mentioned, we enjoyed some delectable dishes whilst rooting through the rails of second-hand clothes for sale at a recent ‘High Tea’ event.
Some lovely things, although sadly a little out of my price range. I think Rose & I have had a minds warped by finding so many bargain buys for under a fiver. The prospect of paying £25 for second-hand Topshop is slightly less tantalising.
Rose, however, managed to find 2 original eighties numbers - 1 delightful dress fit for Wonderwoman & a lovely M&S outfit.
& the clothes weren’t the tastiest thing on offer…hmmmmm x
High Tea: £5.99
With the start of springtime in full flush, we Brits love nothing more than jumping in our cars, & parading our pasty pins on a good old fashioned day trip! Not quite warm enough for bathing on Blackpool beach, we decide on a drive to Chester.
2-Tier Summer Dress: £3.99, RSPCA
Glasses: £4, Ryan's Vintage
Slouchy Bag: £2.99, Oxfam
Rich in Roman history, a roam around Chester’s quaint cobbles seemed a great source of inspiration (& charity shops alike!)
A rare pang of independent boutique envy!
Hmm, for someone so sceptical of the idea of charity shop-shopping (hence the excited face), here stands a man dressed head-to-toe in second hand…
T-shirt: Swapped with friend
Shorts: Recycled old jeans
Pumps: err…borrowed from friend
Shades: Vintage
Forbidden from spending the entire trip perusing Chester’s charity shops, we also found time out amongst the two-tiered Tea Rooms.
When in Rome...
Despite the ban, I did manage to bag myself a lovely little leather pair of sandels. A kind of cross between a gladiator sandal & an old man's slipper!
The return of Herve Ledger’s legendary bandage dress has sparked a surge in sophisticated sportswear (as well as Body con – but I’m not going there in my present state!)
Fuelled by fashionista collaborations like Stella McCartney for Adidas, now’s the time to ‘work it’ as you work out!
Black Retro Velour Trackie: £3.29, PDSA
Black Adidas: £4.99, Oxfam
With a lengthy respite required from my beloved Thai-boxing, I decided to take advantage of my local gym’s 6-month special offer, which leaves me a bit of a clothing quandary…
Chocolate Hoodie: £3.49, British Red Cross
Despite already being creatively kitted out in stylish second-hand gear for Kick-boxing, I wasn’t so keen to sport my shiny pink boxing shorts & gloves on the cross-trainer!
Grey SS Hoodie with Pink Detail: £3.49, PDSA
Pink Trackies with Grey 'Go Faster' Stripes: £2.99, Barnardos
Never yet to be failed by Chorlton’s Charity shops, I manage to find sufficient sports wear to look suitably trendy on the treadmill!
Black Runner-back Vest: £2.99, PDSA
Pink Trackies: £3.49, PDSA
Blue & Orange Retro Nikes: £3.99, Age Concern
Another trend which has sauntered into style on the spring breeze - & one of my all time favourites - is colour blocking.
With influences acquired from the East, clashing collections of jewel colours create striking spring outfits.
This is an effortless & eye-catching look, so now's the time to exploit your love of all things vivid & vibrant to mix up your make-up & unite your knits & enjoy this colour clashing craze!
Splash the Clash
Teal Beaded Coast Cardigan: £3.99, PDSA
Coral French Connection Linen Skirt: £2.99, Barnardos
Floral Silk Top: £2.99, Age Concern
Orange & Green is fit for a Queen...
Primrose ASOS Dress: £4.99, Oxfam
Lurex Orange Cardigan: £2.99, PDSA
Tangerine Dream
This bright little bargain is already proving to be Spring Staple - aptly accessorizing denims & dresses alike...
Orange Cardi & Silk Top: As above
Teal Tea Dress: £3.49, British Red Cross
Coral Cropped Cardi: £2.99, PDSA
Purple Patent Belt: 99p, Age Concern
Purple Passions & Pussycat Bows
Magenta Dress: £2.99, Thrift Shop
Hot Pink Cardigan: (Very) Old Cardigan dyed pink
If total blockage is slightly too intense, why not break it up with arty accessories...
Satchel Match
Billy Bag Messenger: £3.49, PDSA
Perfect Pairing
Scarlett Schuh 'Bow' Wedges: £3.99, PDSA
At last we are beginning to see the first flush of spring colour (& I don’t just mean the daffodils)
Spring of course, a time for rejuvenation & yet another incarnation of floral fabrics. This season sees a bolder more exotic version & one bandwagon, I was happy to jump right on.
Floral T-Dress: £2.99, RSPCA
Purple Patent Belt: £1, Age Concern
Lady & the Revamp
Tweed isn’t the only ‘ladylike’ trend in the air this spring, this season has also seen an influx of nudes & pastels. This is certainly not a trend I would normally associate myself with, but stumbling across this stripy pastel shift, I was won over. If pure pastel is just a bit too much, modernise with some contrasting bold tights.
Stripy pastel shift: £2.99
Cream ‘bat wing’ cardigan: £1.99
Stripy scarf: £1.99, All Barnardos
Chequered Past
With tartan almost at the point of high st saturation, I thought I’d get my wear out of this gorgeous chequered strapless for a 30th birthday. The look is updated with one of this season’s ‘jewel’ colours, Teal. Accessorised with fabric of the moment, tweed.
Teal Check Dress: £3.99, PDSA
Red Tweed Shoulder Bag, £3.99, Oxfam
Red Patent Court Shoes, 99p, Ebay
Continuing the revelry in Manchester’s plethora of inspirational places, certainly worthy of a mention is Pop Boutique. Often featured in the charitable credits next to my bargain buys each week, I’ve not recently had the funds to ‘pop’ back (or the inclination to fight the heaving hoards of shoppers of a city centre Saturday). But as luck would have it, I recently re-discovered a not-quite-right-for-christmas-credit note which expired by this weekend, and this certainly warranted the effort.
Pop Fan
With a fab selection of vintage pieces & re-conditioned classics, I was blinded by choice, as usual. I returned with no less than 3 new outfits – having spent only an additional £15!
Spring Tropics
Pucci-inspired Poise
Scarlet Woman
Manchester Markets also offers an abundance of treats, tailored from vintage pieces, reconditioned cloth or homemade haberdashery!
Arty Applique
The Intrepid Vintage Treasure Hunter
Tweed Indeed!
Unfortunately, I’m never going to be twin set & pearls kind of a gal. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t embrace spring’s liaison with ‘Lady-like'.
Tweed is huge at the moment & if it’s good enough for SJP….
This gorgeous bag was just £3.99 from Oxfam & looks the picture of elegance to accompany spring's new nudes.
One thing Manchester always seems to offer in abundance, is Inspiration – there are always new ways to embrace yourself in culture & over the last couple of weeks, Rose & I have been exploring some of it’s finest:
http://www.subversivespaces.com/index.php/about/subversive_spaces
Surrealism is definitely my favourite genre of art & it’s long-standing parallels with the fashion industry have never been more evident with Haute couture, often the stuff that dreams are made of.
Here more recently, Basso & Brooke & Terry de Havilland have taken inspiration from Dali’s legendary Lobster Phone to produce this outlandish velvet outfit.
The Whitworth Gallery's 'Subversive Spaces' exhibition has broken the surrealism umbrella down into several fascinating themes: ‘Psychic Interiors’, through anxiety and hysteria, explores the constraining spaces of the home.
One of Markus Schinwald's Contortionists
Claude Cahun photographs herself in several positions wedged into dining room furniture
Hide by Anna Gaskell conjures similarities with Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Despite living in Manchester for about 4 years, I’ve never lost that feeling of being able to get lost in the city. Several artist’s touched upon this feeling in - 'Wandering the City', where each artist explores the unconscious fears & desires by walking through foreign urban spaces:
Oddly enough, what sparked my inspiration most from this particular gallery visit, this was a dress used by one Lucy Gunning in the video 'Climbing around my room'
I loved the movements of the skirt as the artist climbed over items of furniture, which inspired me to make something similar:
Watch this space for progress!
I found that there has been a lot to be inspired by this week. Not least, the ever increasing offerings of ethical fashion at London Fashion Week.
The sixth year of ‘Esthetica’, LFW’s ethical epicentre, has demonstrated such growth that this spring saw the exhibition of fifteen new labels.
Ethical stalwart, Noir, lived up to it’s name producing sultry black & leather outfits, Dior-inspired houndstooth, & alluring office apparel.
Take a look at the lo-down on the others here:
http://www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/uploads/documents/doc_960.pdf
The face of a thousand T-shirts
Another spark of inspiration came from watching the concluding part of Steven Soderbergh’s Che. Learning a little more about the man behind the legend left me in awe at the lengths some people will go for a chosen cause (plus some incredible acting – highly recommended!)
Teal Appeal
On a much more frivolous note, this occasion saw the debut of my new favourite cardigan, which I’m pleased to say are very much back in favour!
This beaded short-sleeved version set me back a mere £3.99 (PDSA) & will make a great transition into spring
T-shirt Dress: £2.99, RSPCA
Monochrome Bangle: 99p, RSPCA
With volume in the collections (& romance in the air), I had been fantasizing about Fendi this valentines.
Where would I find a dress like this with 3 hours notice for a vampish anti-valentine’s all-female jaunt around Chorlton? Fail safe RSPCA, that’s where.
£7 with tags still on, a must even for those with the tightest of purse strings (& if a girl can’t treat herself on St Valentines Day……….)
Not wishing to appear too dark & demure, I decided to adopt another fashion foray from this season – Print. Back with a vengeance in cold & bold purples, blues & pinks, I paid homage to the trend with a grey floral tied top & patent purple belt.
Purple Patent Belt: £2, Age Concern
Floral Tie Top: £2.99, Barnardoes
Grey leather Ankle Boots: £4.99 (new), RSPCA
Zip Design Shoulder Bag: Ethical Christmas Pressie
More Dark & Demure Delights:
Rose rocks a black silk drop-waisted dress from a productive charity shopping trip to Macclesfield & Crochet shrug from Oxfam
Perfect for the evening's entertainment