Experiments in Elegance

So today I decided to make the most of the sun and create a few summery looks, playing with smart wear.


Day 53 - Here I tucked a blazer into some trousers and then layered a sleeveless leather jacket over the top. I really love the outcome and I think the sunglasses finish it off perfectly. This is a Elegant/Smart look but with more of an edge.



Day 54 - Here I've gone for a much softer look. I've stuck to pastel colours to match the blazer. I love the brown tones because they go so well with silver, especially the silver brooch I attached to the lapel. To complete the look I wore some woven leather sandals.



Day 55 - I got this blazer from a charity shop for £3 and as a blazer I wasn't a big fan, so instead I cut off the arms. I really like this sort of Victorian look and the colour scheme. Then to pull the whole thing together I added an un-tied bow-tie and some argyle socks, keeping the colour scheme consistent.


Day 56 - I really like how I've played with the shape of the blazer in this look. I folded in the lapels and buttoned it up inward, then layered some braces over the top. I think a blazer is such an interesting piece of apparel because it can be worn in so many different ways, you just have to play around and get creative!



Day 57 - I wanted to clash patterns in this look, mixing a tweed blazer with stripey shorts. I think the blues go really well with the browns in the tweed and the fur waistcoat really finishes the look off.



Day 58 - I love that vintage school boy look. Here I matched a vintage school blazer with simple green shorts and simple leather shoes. To mix it up I added a brightly coloured tie and a belted the waist, to play with the shape.

Week 2 - Elegance

This week I want to look at Elegance and what it means to be Elegant.

The first thing I thought of when taking this style into consideration were the many 1940s dapper gentleman of Hollywood. In a time where a double-breasted suit and a gold pocket watch were essentials, I'm curious as to see if over 60 years later our opinion on what is Elegant is that same or something else.

For me, I like to play with this idea and dress the look up or down. It's not so much a trend as much as Nautical was last week but it is a style that is constantly reinventing itself as each decade rolls by.

So for this week I'm going to be looking at High-Street, Designer Catwalks and of course my own wardrobe...



But before I do anything creative I need to evaluate my wardrobe. I want to create a really diverse set of looks, something for everyone:

Nautical on the Catwalk

This iconic look is one that continues to inspire some of the leading designers in the fashion world and I don't think it will ever be completely eradicated from the catwalk.


The Neon Sailor - I have always loved Jil Sander's use of colour and I love how some of their latest looks this spring translate over to the Nautical style. By leaving the shapes very understated, they cleverly focus on precise tailoring and a vibrate colour palette to make their collection really stand out

The Modern Sailor - Junya Watanabe played with the classical Nautical look for their spring line and gave it a modern twist. I love the minimal colour scheme of the collection and even down to the model selection they stayed true to the Nautical look. My Favorite is the look with the stripey trousers :P

The Everyday Sailor - I love how the wide variety in the Pringle of Scotland spring collection is kept together by their Nautical colour scheme. Going for both understated and outlandish outfits they create something for everyone and I personally love their use of texture.

The Dapper Sailor - I recognised a lot of the apparel in the Prada spring 2011 collection from pieces I have seen in various editorials and features. Although not typically Nautical pieces, their colour schemes and shapes are very traditional of the Nautical look. I love their big chunky multi-coloures knitwear.

The Playful Sailor - The typical Tommy Hilfiger look is one that compliments the Nautical look very well. Both of them rely on clean tailoring and yet what the latest Tommy Hilfiger collection has done is had a bit of fun with the old style, adding colours which you wouldn't necessarily expect.