My Favourites from LFW

With London Fashion Week just over and Milan Fashion Week underway I thought I would share some of my favourites from a few of the designers that showed for Fall/Winter 2011. 

Burberry Prorsum

Roksanda Illincic

Sass & Bide

Vivienne Westwood Red Label

Hardy Amies

I Candy Crystals

I love finding local talent. I came across this woman's jewelry while on my friend Gillian's (the best esthetician around, ) facebook page. Check out a little about Tia, the creator of I Candy Crystals, and a few of my favourite pieces of hers.

 

All I Candy Crystals jewelry is made by Tia, stay at home mom, and self professed bead junkie!  After several years of rewarding work volunteering for the local autism community, Tia was searching for a way to combine her creativity and love of crafting, with a career that would allow her to work out of the home.  Beading started out as a hobby, but family and friends soon began requesting Tia's rings, and soon friends of friends were asking her to make rings for them too.
In no time, Tia's hobby quickly grew to an exciting jewelry business - now including bracelets, necklaces and much more!  All hand made by Tia, using the finest Swarovski crystals and an eclectic selection of new and vintage beads.  Crystals are a girls new best friend because not only are they sparkly and available in lots of colours and effects, Tia's jewelry is very affordable.

To order I Candy Crystals online visit the website:
www.icandycrystals.com
Or for the Etsy lovers, Tia's new shop can be found at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/icandycrystals

 

"Starburst" - $20 - this sparkly cocktail ring is fashioned with Japenese toho beads and is adjustable, so it makes a lovely gift and is availble in black as well.

 

"Vegas" - $50 - stunning ring made with over 40 Swarovski crystals, with a comfortable elastic sized to fit band, it's about the size of a toonie.  The smaller version, the "Showgirl" at $40 is about an inch around.  Rings are available in a gold/crystal version (see matching bracelet below).

 

"Vegas" Bracelet $50 - shown in gold, this a a lovely bracelet that is so sparkly, it's sure to get lots of attention!  This bracelet is made with Swarovski crystals and Czech firepolished glass, and finished with a lovely toggle clasp.

 

"Vintage" Cha Cha ring - here's a great example of what can be done with vintage beads, which can be remade into new pieces. In this case Tia used an old strand of her grandmother's costume jewelry to make a ring.  We all have broken jewelry and garage sale mistakes and the possibilites for recycling and recreating are endless!

Mind Over Matter

Do you ever look at trends or an outfit on another person and just love it... but then when you try something similar on it looks completely wrong? Don't worry - it's not just you. 

Let's paint the picture. You are are curvaceous woman with big, round eyes, full lips, curly hair, and an hourglass shape. You try on a funky looking dress made with a stiff fabric and a sharp, geometric pattern. Curves are going to pull the sharp lines of the pattern in an unappealing way and the stiff fabric will not hug the body. Always match curves with curves. Go for a dress with a flowing fabric that will show off those curves, and make sure the pattern has rounded qualities such as flowers, polka dots, or curved lines.



The opposite way is just as bad. You have a fairly straight frame, an angular face with almond eyes and a super-straight nose. You may see a flowing romantic looking top with a floral pattern to wear for a hot date. When you try it on you see things that just don't exist such as wider hips and shoulders and bumps that appear out of nowhere! Make sure you go for straight lines and symmetry with your clothing. 


If you aren't sure what shape your body is, ask someone that you feel comfortable with to run their hands from right under your arms to below your hips. Both you and the other person should be able to feel what shape is made with this outline. You could also do it yourself but when you have to bend down to reach your hips your shape could be distorted. As a general rule you always want to match shapes of patterns, cuts, and fabrics to your body shape.