I'm the sole writer of Chic Cheat - and, I like to think, a creative soul at that - comfortably fulfilling the job of fashion writer and creative problem solver in one outing. I'll attempt to recreate anything I fancy that comes my way, and it's that sense of empowerment that definitely makes the DIY fashion lark worthwhile.
Alongside working full time, replicating high fashion items in my spare time and general executive functioning that typically gets one through the day, I like rock music, cycling, playing computer games, overdoing things at my local gym and dressing up at any justifiable opportunity (and some not-so-justifiable)...well, a girl's got to put her craft to good use, hasn't she?
Fashion Weeks are all over the world and so is our inspiration!
We are proud to introduce you to the
DIY BLOGGERS FASHION WEEK
What we liked
What we coveted
What we handcrafted
…It’s DIY Fashion Week.
WE MADE IT.
And we’ll show you how!
Five inspirational, top-drawer DIY fashion bloggers and I teamed up to show our love for the spring 2012 fashion week creations with our own crafty homages to our favourite fashion picks. From accessories to garments, we took our sartorial highlights, made our own versions and can’t wait to share them each with you, one-by-one, from our blogs in our very own Fashion Week, starting from tomorrow.
“So, Charley… what have you got on?” A question you readers may ask if you wonder how I style my couture-inspired oeuvres – and one that hopefully none of you would mean any innuendos or risqué connotations by, thank you very much! Well, I just thought I’d let you know, anyway, how I dressed up my recently-made Louis Vuitton-inspired broderie jumper with the following snap of me modelling the charity-shop-buys-turned-couture-replica, teamed with my home-made red tartan kilt, zigzag-printed black and white ankle boots (sadly not a Chic Cheat creation), black patterned tights, a bow tie and my skull cameo necklace from another of my blog entries:
So that’s what my entry for this week’s about – as well as heralding an extra-special DIY fashion treat, coming soon, so stay tuned… and that’s all I’m going to say!
…And if you’ve got time, pick a knit! Certainly, it seems that’s what we’ve got to look forward to trend-wise next season. Those who know this blog well will be aware that I’m not much of a trend reporter but as you should, hopefully see, there’s method in my madness in this instance – among this season’s most lauded there seems to be a very comfortable leaning towards various handicrafts in the embellishment techniques. We’ve got…
…beading at Balmain…
cheeky chunky knits at Kenzo
…And the this entry’s titular inspiration of tapestry weaving (or so it appears) at Dolce & Gabbana…
As you’d expect, my thoughts always typically turn to what method I could teach of authentically copying the effects in question. Tapestry weaving may seem self-explanatory, but the bind with that one would be the time involved more than making up for the amount of money you’d save, even on an exercise like the above example. I remember hearing of a friend of mine taking a painstaking 18 months and counting on a large scale tapestry-woven picture! Still, this entry is by no means intended to herald a show stopper. The approach I take, as always, springs devoutly from the angle of nothing-is-impossible and I will find a less time-consuming solution to getting the desired ( i.e. much coveted) effect, whatever brain-racking and experimentation it takes me – you guys have just got to watch this space!
…Or rather retold in the form of hitherto unpublished work. My ode to Emilio Pucci’s Autumn 2011 asymmetric crushed velvet dress was done a while ago and would have been put together as a living, breathing on-season blog entry had my printer not decided to do what printers do best and let me down completely. Logistical issues aside, I’m still proud of my version and still proud to present it to you in a slightly experimental blog format that is an homage to collage queen p.s. I made this (an homage, you understand, not plagiarism – I save that trick for overpriced fashion clothing – yes, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) I considered communicating my methodology through the medium of expressive dance but that would have meant wrangling tirelessly with video editing software, and I’m afraid in this instance I couldn’t be asked!
So here’s my collaged and illustrated oeuvre, demonstrating that:
A black one-shoulder dress
1m of gold lamé
1m bondaweb (or freezer paper as I believe it’s also known)
An iron and ironing board
A computer with Photoshop and an understanding of how to use the pen tool
A printer with at least 6 pages of paper
Sticky tape
Spray mount
All-purpose scissors
… plus a touch of crafty ingenuity are all you need to get this look:
… Or what £11 in thrift shop buys and the celebrities’ choice of broderie-trimmed brilliance have in common.
But first, a bit of colourful language:
“This stuff? Okay, you think this has nothing to do with you? You…select that lumpy blue sweater…because you’re trying to tell the world you take yourself too seriously to care what you put on your back, but…that sweater is not just blue. It’s not turquoise, it’s not lapis, it’s actually ceruleo. You’re also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002 Oscar de le Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns, then it was Yves Saint Laurent who showed cerulean military jackets… and then cerulean showed up in the collections of eight different designers, then filtered through department stores and trickled down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs… It’s sort of comical how you think you’ve made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you are wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room.”
Those were the fictional words of Wintour-lite editrix, Miranda Priestly, at the helm of the also fictional Runway magazine, and the infamous protagonist of the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada. Wasn’t it big of her? Whoever said the fashion industry was elitist? It may be a widely-held – if antiquated – view that the high street owes all of its inspiration to the top drawer, and understandable as to why such a figure might adopt the most patronising possible stance to fight couture’s corner. However, we, from the convenience of our own homes – and, of course, computers – know the trickle-down theory to be less of a universal trend and more a single concentrated facet of the rag trade as a whole. Fashion takes as much of its influence from the ivory tower of the elite as it does from the streets. In 2006, Ron Frasch, the vice chairman and chief merchant of sales at Saks Fifth Avenue cited California – rather than New York – as a fashion inspiration capital, and named Chloé, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga as the most influential designers.
Arguably, I’m shooting myself in the (home-painted D.I.Y.) Louboutins quoting that film at all if, as intended, I am to assert myself as any kind of authority on fashion. 2002? What do you mean it was more than 5 minutes ago? Rewind ten years and Oscar de la Renta, as it happened, was most definitely not in the blue then opting, instead, for swathes of fur and intricate folk-inspired embellishment in his Russian Cossack hats and coats, respectively. Yves Saint Laurent, meanwhile, was to herald his retirement with a retrospective show courtesy of Tom Ford that would prove a welcome distraction from my art, German and French A-level, as far as I was concerned (Heavens! Did I just admit my age!?) Not a military blue coat in sight. But then, if it is Parisian couture dabbling in military coats with heavenly shades of sky blue we’re talking about, then John Galliano was definitely your man, with this oversized oeuvre:
And my on-season point is? A propos of this broderie-chequered playsuit from this year’s Spring collection by Louis Vuitton, as seen on many celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson and Alexa Chung:
Its shade, like a clear springtime sky, sat comfortably among a host of pastel tones, sheer fabrics and graphic broderie Anglaise. It may have been a shift of paradigm in terms of general colour palettes from the previously mentioned example but the pale colour was definitely back in season. Is the couture conspiracy theorist in me getting unnecessarily excited at both designers concerned happening to be Paris-based? Perhaps, since John Galliano, himself has said “creativity has no nationality”(…. and then something bigoted as well, but we won’t go there!) And if we are going on the glib assumption of fashion moving in cycles or permutations of history repeating themselves, I found it fitting (and satisfying) that some seemingly forsaken charity shop clothes could so accurately echo a key colour of the present season. Was it a question of trends and timing or of the bigger picture of fashion being a more complex web of interdependent influences, none of which could possibly be too high up or low down not to matter? Whoever out of these proverbial chickens and eggs is responsible, you definitely can’t argue with getting the look accurately with an £11.15 charity shop price tag. That is all!
You will need…
A sky blue/ light blue/ cerulean, dahling jumper £3.95
A white collared shirt (and I’m not being professionally snobbish – ahem, terrible joke, I do apologise!) £3.25
I also used a second-hand jersey top with broderie detailing, £3.95
Lace Trims: Mine included:
1x length of 6cm wide scalloped broderie Anglaise trim at £1.98 with postage and packing
1x 10m length of white lace trim at £5.10 with postage and packing - both from Ebay
White thread
Soft interfacing
30cm of white organza
Pattern paper
Patternmaster or graded setsquare
Fabric scissors
Paper scissors
Clutch pencil (I find a black gel pen also helps)
Sewing machine
Pins
Total cost (clothes, trims and materials)
£20
Difficulty
Quite hard
Rest assured, I’ve attempted more challenging projects in my Chic Cheat career but this is a fiddly one and, it turns out, not to be underestimated.
Time:
A bit of a foggy estimation, this one but you’re looking at about:
Okay, so, just to add some variety to my creative palate and to try something new with the – I fancy – delectable flavour of this blog, here’s a what-I-wore-type entry, as an experimental direction. It was inspired by being so, dare I say, chuffed with the outcome of my last entry that I thought I’d let all you wonderful, attentive readers know how I’ve been wearing it of late, with the following photo. I added to the on-trend fifties femininity with a pair of high-waisted shorts, which subtly echoed the quirky garnish of the chillies with a small fan print, a brown vintage leather belt, a multi coloured glittery feather necklace for a spicy touch of sparkle and black glitter ankle boots, which, incidentally had also seen days of relegation to my local charity shop before acquiring a new black glittery identity by the work of my own fair hands. Still, enough about me and more of my sartorial doings. Do, please, enjoy!
If it were too stultifying and obvious a statement that history has a tendency to repeat itself, in fashion’s case, to a notoriously great degree, then consider this: Casting aside financial and logistical considerations, the thankfully up-and-coming D.I.Y. fashion area is currently starting to put its foot firmly down in the official trendy camp, but this hasn’t been the first time. Rewind to the early seventies – when, yes, we indeed rewound, when necessary, because the prospects of navigating and skipping tracks in the digital way we now know and love were mere glints in the seductive eyes of technology – when fashion also met with craft, in an exotic affair with the bohemian artistry of Zandra Rhodes, Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell, as well as countless other hippy clothing boutiques in San Francisco. This patterned, eclectic look would shape and herald the start of a new fashion decade, with even mainstream designers, such as Oscar De La Renta getting creatively involved, as with this coat from 1970:
Decorative D.I.Y. chic might take a more organic, ground-level form now but that, in itself, is part of fashion’s mysterious and beautiful paradox of being able to seemingly regurgitate a trend while reinventing it with a fresh, more contemporary approach. Okay, verbose navel-gazing over, let me put it another way: If, like me, you went through the mill of an art school education you will, at least once, have been told the oh-so-riveting story of post modernism, which includes the notion that new trends can no longer be created with new ideas since new ideas are no longer possible (their words not mine, natch) however, combining them with other old ideas and taking a new approach are the ways in which new movements, or in this case trends, are created. Of late, we’ve seen a surge of sixties-inspired sartorial styles, revisited the femininity of fifties-style fit-and-flare and sat through the suspiciously-derivative semiotics of a certain Lizzie Grant…
…or Lana Del Rey as she’s better known, a singer and self-confessed “gangsta Nancy Sinatra” currently hijacking the attention of millions via YouTube to let us known she’s Born To Die.
Her name? A fusion of forties Hollywood star, Lana Turner and the iconic-in-an-angular-sort-of-a-way Ford Del Rey car. The Nancy Sinatra comparison has been evident in many of her magazine photoshoots, as well as the VHS-quality visuals of her music video for “Video Games” so what’s in a name? Well, pondering the supposed Ford allusion, wasn’t it Henry Ford who famously said “Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are right”? In which case, if I wanted to be truly mean, I’d express my doubt on such logic vis-a-vis Ms Grant/ Del Rey’s ability to sing live, going on THAT infamous Saturday Night Live performance, but on a less catty note, I found the photo below another anomaly from her sultry, Sinatra-inspired image and classic old-style Hollywood femininity. The chillies on this fabulous Dolce & Gabbana dress are surely less Lana Turner and more Carmen Miranda.
Needless to say, it hasn’t stopped me from copying the look in this entry, with their spicy offering being so very hot for this summer season – only this time I chose to replicate the crop top version, as they are set to be a wardrobe staple as soon as the punishing cold lifts.
Time
15-20 hours
Difficulty
Medium
Not too technical but it helps to be good at drawing, painting and slip stitching, so still quite a skilled one.
You will need…
A fitted top or tunic dress (I bought mine for £7 on sale from H & M) it has to have a fitted bodice and ideally underwired or similarly structured bust cups
1 x 0.5m white fabric unless your dress/top is already white, of course, but I struggled to find one
Fabric scissors
Pattern master or graded setsquare
Gold gel pen
Needle
White thread
Thread scissors
Pins
Pencil
Black gel pen
Fabric paints in red, brown, yellow and green Mine cost £3 by Dylon from John Lewis
Black oval faceted gems and silver diamantes Mine cost £1.10 per box from Tesco
Luxurious lace and sheer sophistication get their star turn at D & G
In a final attempt to squeeze in my ode to Dolce & Gabbana’s massive star print trend of the season, like an expertly yet painstakingly harvested gourmet orange juice, I give you not one but two video tutorials.
They’re about how to make your own version of the star print jeans, worn by Julianne Hough in Elle magazine, and the lace insert dress, worn by Lily Allen, also in Elle magazine, both of which are by Dolce & Gabbana.
First of all, a little background: Thinking of Dolce & Gabbana’s starry take on their trademark sartorial sex appeal, it seems reminiscent of the theatrical whimsy of early 20th century fashion from the eloquent flair of Erté’s illustrations to the theatrical oeuvres of couturier Paul Poiret.
Think of couture’s founding masters and you may well remind yourself of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, but the slightly lesser known Poiret was the most influential designer of the pre-war period. How prophetical he was in using the influence of fashion to project his image of shock and theatrical panache, noting that “all fashion ends in excess” He gave us endlessly-renewing fads of harem pants, the spectacle of the outré fashion show and the commercial addition of perfume to a fashion house’s repertoire. In short, and in no uncertain terms, fashion’s first branding genius, you might almost say he was ahead of his time – and how times have changed…
From designer to celebrity and lucrative branding empire – in that order – those were the days! Fast-forward a hundred years and play musical chairs as to who gets to sit in the pound seats and you’ll find that fashion modus operandi reversed, with celebrities taking the lion’s share as so-called “designers” in the name of becoming a brand. Those who’ve really arrived monopolise a design studio and put their image-inspired stamp on it. Those who want to extend on that add to their world-dominating repertoire with their “own fragrance” (sadly not in the Jean-Baptiste Grenouille sense, but I digress) or attach anything else you care to name to their name and ever-growing empire, whether or not they’re responsible for the credit they claim (which, f.y.i. makes plagiarising their style for a fraction of the price, from which they can’t profit, all the more satisfying!) Okay, so there’s aspirational method in such madness on the part of the adoring public, so my whinging, mean-spirited leftie point is? That who says this lavish lot needs to include celebrities of the talented persuasion?
It has been said, in a context for which sadly I can’t claim credit, that reality is for people with no imagination. I couldn’t agree more, and believe the same goes for reality TV, particularly in the celebutante vein. Speaking of no imagination, okay, the effort-to-instant-returns ratio make the genre – and lucrative opportunities – the perfect short-term investment, but what of society taking that angle in the long run? Civilisation as we know it, and to which we’ve grown comfortably accustomed, thank you very much, runs on teachers doctors, nurses and, dare I say ,social workers, not vapid, reprehensible attention seekers with entitlement complexes! I have neither the energy nor the allocated character space to argue the toss as to where social fascism ends and common sense begins in this entry but it’s an understatement to say I have an issue with charlatanry yielding gilded lucrative avenues of “designer branding,” perfumes and overpublicised 72-hour marriages? I speak of course of Kim Kardashian’s – ahem – blissful union that would drum up exponentially higher income from publicity than its extravagant costs and provoke an online petition to get it taken off the air. That effort that would prove about as punitive as making her write lines using a copy and paste function. Tens of thousands signed it but tens of millions still watched the wedding in the first place, the cynics continue to argue. Not that that was enough to convince countless news outlets that it wasn’t purely a sham marriage, including Kim’s own (okay last) publicist – what a Kard!
Okay, rant over, back to fun fashion creation and thinking happy thoughts!
For the dress, you will need…
A black jersey dress
Black thread
Pins
Contrasting thread for tacking
Stretch lace, about 4m long and 15-20cm in width – got mine for about £4 including postage and packing costs from Gypsy Lace, based in sunny Derby, I believe, and listed as seller Bunter 177 on Ebay
Interfacing about 0.5m
White fabric paint – £2 by Dylon from John Lewis
Foam shapes – more on that later…
Scalpel
Blu-tack
Tailor’s chalk
Pattern master
Felt tip or biro
Fabric scissors
…And this is where the magic happens
Check out this video tutorial to see how I made my couture-alike creation:
For the jeans, you need…
Black jeans, would you believe
2 pots of white fabric paints, as before I used Dylon’s white fabric palins, £2 a pot from John Lewis
Small, flat bowl into which you need to pour a can of your paint
Spatula, for best results, use one with a pliable scoop – all will be revealed, my friends
Spotted: The best way to carry off appliqued dotty chic this season.
“Fashion rebels against the static; it is always in flux,” as Jane Mulvagh highlighted in Vogue’s History of 2oth Century Fashion book. To each trend, silhouette, fad and movement that dominated fashion through the ages, she asserts, “a reaction is (simply) inevitable.” A valid point though that may be, it seems to be much less to do with fashion as a reactive swinging pendulum, drifting from one excess to another, than about its inherent pressure of aspiration. It revolves around the creation of ideals delivered at an ever more frenetic pace through a melee of style advisor apps (Ask a Stylist et al), the scrutiny of blogging and, lest we forget, the dreaded haul vlogging phenomenon. How zealously fashion and style businesses compete for their products to get a place in such divinely influential liturgies of fashion – whether they be the scriptures of celebrity gossip, fashion blogs or a conspicuously spoiled brat with a webcam and too much time on their hands – to be recommended as the gospel truth of all that’s oh so now by the “experts.” Terry Eagleton pointed out in The Significance of Theory “Power succeeds by persuading us to desire and collude with it; this process is not merely an enormous confidence trick, since we really do have needs and desires which such power, however partially and distortedly, is able to fulfill,” so now you know. My sincere thanks for his use and acknowledgement of the word “distortedly” but I digress, since that may be the mentality fashion wants to perpetuate to keep us buying and consuming to keep it afloat, but here at Chic Cheat, I have other ideas, namely those of the recycling, reworking and customising persuasion. That’s right – stick that, academics! Looks like you don’t have to play the financially feckless fashion victim to be fabulous, after all! Or should I stay out of that debate, being at a disadvantage as only a part-time navel-gazer?
While we’re on the subject of ever-changing fashion, I spent most of my art education theorising on post-modernism and the idea that every possible style has already been done, but in a way that leaves an array of possible references and permutations that can be mixed together in different ways to create new visual messages. This gave me some meaty food for thought and the motivation to dissect the meanings of each look I explore as well as the clothes I cut and splice through to recreate them. This season has seen a resurgence of sixties trends, including jewel tones, bold Cardin-esque tailoring and an explosive, body-conscious take on polka dots. It’s out with the quaint, clown-like fare of fifties fashion…
… and in with the spotty sex appeal of the sixties…
…reiterated as a collaged concoction today – for us to celebrate in DIY-form.
Difficulty
Medium
More on the painstaking and time-consuming side, this one, but a good technique and precision for circle cutting certainly helps.
You will need
A white dress with a mesh top
1.5x 1m white twill or a similarly stiff fabric
1m bondaweb
White thread
Ruler
Compass and pencil
Iron and ironing board
Sharp fabric scissors
And your mission is, if you choose to accept…
Fold your twill in half, across the length and sandwich your bondaweb in between.
Iron your bondaweb in place on a high heat, one side at a time. Maybe I should mention that you need to peel the paper off the second time around – just sayin’!
Using your compass, pencil and ruler (as you may see, I used a patternmaster for mine but fear not for a ruler will do) measure and draw a circle 5cm in diameter directly onto your fabric and repeat this 50 or so times. Ensure you only do this on the twill that has bondaweb and another layer beneath it.
Using your fabric scissors, cut your circles out. I find it helps most to skim your scissors along the edge, pulling on the fabric as you go, to avoid nasty jagged edges.
Repeat this process with 150-200 smaller circles 2cm in diameter. This process may prove long-winded and hard work, so I recommend you stick the telly on or some of your favourite music, or perhaps even a DVD – here at Chic Cheat we like to take a liberal view of each reader’s approach, you’ll be pleased to know.
Time to finally stitch them on individually. It’s yet another painstaking phase but it’s thankfully on the home run. Stitch most of your larger circles in a cluster on the bust with the rest sprinkled sparingly around the top, and your smaller circles in a linear cluster across the middle of both sides of the skirt, graduating more sparingly outwards towards the top and bottom.
…And you should have something that looks like this:
A spot of stylish crafty chic to see you through the season!
