scholarly

 

blazer, new york university tee - charity shop, hat - oxfam, riding pants - american apparel, trainers - superga x house of holland via asos

I'm running out of places to showcase my love of crochet. I have a crochet throw on my bed, a crochet tablecloth and a crochet throw on my sofa. So when I spotted these Superga x House of Holland trainers in the ASOS sale that looked suspiciously similar to a crochet pattern, I had to buy them. Crochet on the bed, crochet on the table, crochet on the sofa, crochet on the feet.

The New York University tee is one I bought over Christmas. I never got a t-shirt or hoody to rep my own university so I thought I'd buy one to rep a university I never went to, three years after I graduated. Why not?

Laila x

burger king

 

hat - oxfam, burger t-shirt, fur bag, velvet leggings - charity shop, denim shirt, leather jacket - primark, boots - doc martens

I can't eat burgers anymore (well the cheese and bun part anyway) so what better way to reminisce about hungover Sundays in a greasy Wetherspoons than by putting a Man vs Food worthy burger on a t-shirt?! When I picked the tee up from the rail I did briefly think 'sometimes I wonder about my taste in clothes' before realising that obviously, I couldn't live without owning this t-shirt (the fact that it was £1.50 may have helped with this decision).

You may have noticed that my choice of headwear has changed. This is my new new favourite hat. I finally managed to pry my Primark one off my head when I found this one. It has a smiley face, a bobble and it's from Oxfam. Today, as soon as it hit 5 o'clock I jammed the hat on my head and declared 'the hat's on; so it's playtime not worktime' and proceeded to decorate my desk with snow (cotton wool).

My bag collection seems to be ever expanding recently. I wasn't sure whether to buy this one but the woman in the charity shop convinced me that I needed it and I'm glad she did, actually. Not even just because people keep mistaking it for a cat.

Laila x

swishy skirt and moon tee

 

skirt, scarf - charity shop, moon t-shirt, hat - primark, creepers - ebay

Last week I felt I was distinctly lacking in skirts as I usually wear dresses and trousers, so a charity shopping trip was in order! This skirt was (one of) the result(s). I always buy maxi/ midi skirts and then end up not wearing them, but I'm determined to persevere with this one as it fits so well. And it's fun to twirl around in. The only I problem I have in winter is I never know what to wear with midi skirts to keep warm. As soon as I put a jumper or cardigan over the top, it looks frumpy, and all my coats seem to be the wrong length to wear with it. Any suggestions?

Laila x

stripes and lucky sixpence necklace giveaway

stripey top - gift, jacket - primark, belt, jeans - charity shop, boots - doc martens, lucky sixpence necklace - ellie ellie

I haven't worn jeans in years but I've recently been looking for a pair of jeans of a specific fit. After a couple of eBay buys of Levi jeans that just didn't fit right, I'd given up trying. The other week I walked into a charity shop and found these Lee jeans, exactly the fit I was looking for! I've been styling them with tank tops, bandanas and my trusty Doc Martens for a vintage look.

The necklace I'm wearing in the above photos was sent to me by Ellie Ellie, a sustainable giftware brand with a nostalgic twist. The necklace came beautifully packaged, and I can tell I'll be getting a lot of wear out of it. And Ellie Ellie are kindly offering my readers the chance to win their own lucky sixpence necklace. All you need to do is enter via the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway will end on 13th October - good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Laila x

every colour illuminates

top, denim jacket, earrings - primark, trousers - charity shop, creepers - pj shoes, necklace - delilah dust, hair bow - diy

I quite often shy away from looking at trousers in charity shops, even though I've been going through a phase of wanting to to wear them. Although you can buy a top any size and make it look good oversized, with trousers it's a different story. However, after seeing Lyzi from Being Little's recent post, I decided to give the old trouser rail another chance. On a charity shopping mooch last week, I found these trousers on a 50p rail. I didn't bother trying them on, but upon getting home found that they fit perfectly! I'm guessing they're probably not to everyone's taste - but I love them!

I made this hair bow last week after cutting the legs off some jeans. I'll be making more because as of today I'm opening up my shop:

If any of you like my DIYs, you will now be able to purchase them over at http://thekittenswhiskers.bigcartel.com. As it's launch day, I'm giving all of my readers 15% off - all you need to do is type in BLOG15 at the checkout. If you have any custom orders of anything similar to that in my shop - just email me at thekittenswhiskers@gmail.com. I'll be adding more over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out!

Laila x

all our best memories can never be mentioned

jacket - primark, cardigan (collar seen) - charity shop, acid wash denim dress - diy, belt - gift, bracelet - delilah dust, boots - dr martens

This denim dress is another of the items of clothing that Kathryn kindly gave me. It was originally a plain denim dress, slightly longer than in these photos, and with short sleeves. A nice enough dress, but not quite 'me'. First I cut off the sleeves and bottom hem and frayed them. I decided to do a bit of experimentation and try an acid wash effect using bleach. I then put it in some fairly diluted purple dye to give the bleached part a lilac tint (I used enough salt this time) (I think). I was going to leave it at that, but then at about 11pm Thursday night I was choosing this as my outfit for the next day, and when I picked out the bracelet I decided the dress NEEDED a peace sign on the back. I gave the peace sign a mottled effect to fit in with the acid wash. I would have left the customisation there, but I've ripped the bottom of the dress so it now needs to be made into a top or a waistcoat or something.

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

Laila x

slow train brought you to me

skirt - charity shop, diy, top - diy, necklace - matalan, creepers - pj shoes

I've wanted a mullet/ assymetric hem skirt for a while now, but as you can imagine, they're not something you're likely to come across in a charity shop. Last week, a charity shop in my town had a sale of all skirts and trousers for £1. I bought this skirt intending to wear it as a maxi, but found the material and pattern a bit too much to wear in that way. So I thought I'd give a mullet skirt a try - if it went wrong I could just hem it to an above the knee skirt! I'm really pleased with the way this turned out though and it was pretty easy to do apart from the fact that there was just so much material (everytime I sat down on the tube, my skirt would end up over the unfortunate person sitting next to me - I definately ended up touching an old man's knee trying to claim back my material!).

With the cut off material, I added a touch of colour to the t-shirt by sewing the fabric onto the sleeves. I got the idea for this from Meg so if you like mine, you can purchase a similar one from her at Stud Muffin Vintage at the bargain price of £10.

I'm entering this outfit in a competition over at ethicalfashionblog.com, so for the purposes of the competition, the ethical items in this outfit are the skirt (second hand and upcycled) and the t-shirt (upcycled).

Laila x

you're the train that crashed my heart

daisy print top - diy, jumper, bag, green ring - charity shop, jacket - primark, riding pants - american apparel, boots - doc martens, earrings - little teacup, claw ring - dixi

Hey all! I inadvertently took another week off there, didn't I? Whoops! Hope you've all had a good one.

I've seen so many daisy print shirts, t-shirts, blouses etc round the high street and on blogs, so I decided to have a go at making my own. Off I went to trusty ole eBay to order a few pots of fabric paints, grabbed one of the last washing up sponges from the pantry* to cut into a circle and this was the outcome. I made it about a month ago but didn't like the shape until a 'brainwave' struck the other day and I cut off the sleeves. What would I do without my (housemate's) fabric scissors?

The jumper and bag were both new purchases this week. I got these, plus another jumper, for £1.50 total. My wardrobe's overflowing situation is not being helped by the amount of 50p rails that I seem to come across - not that I'm complaining! For the eagle eyed amongst you, the reason I'm not wearing the green ring in the photos is because I bought it halfway through the day. I don't wear a lot of green but apparently I was subconsciously trying to rectify that this week!

Have a good weekend, I've got a four day one. The best kind.

Laila x

*Yes, pantry. We live in the 60s.

outfit

I've switched Twitter accounts - please follow me here! And now onto the post...

  

shirt - charity shop/ diy, bird patches - ebay, jacket - primark, riding pants - american apparel, socks - primark, creepers - pj shoes, ring - dixi (present), earring - diy

This outfit includes two of my recent DIYs. I ordered the bird patches off eBay around a month ago when I was suddenly struck with inspiration one afternoon at work, but they'd been sitting in a drawer since they'd arrived because I couldn't face the effort of sewing them on. However, rather unusually in my experience, the iron actually fully stuck the patch onto my shirt so no sewing required! I also managed to melt a bit of my carpet in the process (don't tell the landlord). I'm really pleased with the outcome and may have to tattoo some of my other clothes too! The other DIY is my cross earring. I'd had a necklace for ages but never worn it, so the other day I made this, plus two similar earrings out of it. 

I thought the bird claw ring was quite fitting with this outfit! I couldn't get a good photos of it but I've put the link above. There was also a bird showing when my jacket was covering up the shirt, don't you worry:

Now that one I did have to sew on!

I've made two more shoes purchases this week, oops, this pair of fake Creepers being one of them. I don't usually like buying fakes but I had £20 birthday money left and these were £19 so I couldn't really leave them behind, could I?! The other pair I bought were some navy Doc Marten shoes, which I got with an Amazon voucher that I got for my birthday. Spending money doesn't count if it's birthday money.

Have a good weekend!

Laila x

outfit 13/05/12

black dress - new look, skirt - h&m, tights, jacket - primark, shoes - asos, headscarf - mother

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a good weekend.

This is what I wore on Friday night to go out in Sheffield. An outfit featuring only high street items?! I got the dress for my 20th birthday party, so almost four years ago now, and the skirt I've had almost as long. The dress on its own isn't really my style anymore (looks like this) so I put the skirt over the top. I like the way the lace pokes out of the bottom! I got the tights for a pound in Primark the other day (unfortunately I don't really stumble upon tights in charity shops...) and they're just the standard suspender bow tights you see everywhere. I liked the way they looked at first but gradually throughout the night they kept riding down so the bow was practically below my knees, so I don't think I'll be wearing them again! Ideally I would have wore this outfit with some black velvet flatforms...if only I owned a pair...

Sheffield was a good night out and we brought back a cat. Unfortunately we don't get to keep her :( I wish we were allowed cats here!

What have you been up to?

Laila 

twitter - kittnswhiskrs

instagram - lalalailaa

outfit 10/05/12

velvet top, dress (underneath), belt - charity shop, waistcoat - ebay, boots - doc martens, necklace - via Stephaniejw

I'm writing this against the clock because I'm trying to finish it before Janine decides we're leaving! I struggle to find things to wear this top with, it might seem like an easy thing to wear but the heavy material and wide neckline means it looks odd with most things for some reason. I failed at writing quick, I've been out, bought an ear cuff and made some stir fry since I wrote that paragraph. So after writing about how I have very few short necklaces the other week, as luck would have it I won this one last week! If you're not following Stephanie already, go check her out, she has some awesome outfits!

It's only half a day til my weekend - I'm leaving at lunchtime tomorrow to travel to Sheffield for a night out. Looking forward to it! What are you up to this weekend?

Laila x

outfit 08/05/12

dress - matalan, top - charity shop/ diy, jacket, velvet leggings - charity shop, brooch - no flippin clue, boots - doc martens

Aaah, it's good to be back to the freedom of my wardrobe rather than the limited choice of my suitcase! The weekend went rather quickly, though I was absolutely exhausted by Sunday night (seven days of waking up before 7am is not fun!) But I still managed to find the energy to drink a few bottles of wine and catch up on the last eight months with my friend Bansi who's made me want to go to Australia NOW.

I wore this outfit to go into town today. I ended up being boiling because the weather decided to turn from rainy to sunny when I was halfway there! The dress I've had for ages but it hasn't had that many outings. This is probably because I've managed to shrink it and now can't wear it without leggings underneath. I cut the top into a crop top and left the ends without hemming them, they've started fraying but I like how it looks. I had to add the brooch as a necessity - the top kept slipping down so you couldn't see the peter pan collar very well (black on black) so I just pinned the top in place. A random woman told me she liked what I'd done to the top and asked me if I'd seen the programme where they cut up clothes and sew them together in a different way. She couldn't remember the name of it though so if this sounds familiar to anyone, let me know. It sounds like something I'd like!

The lipstick in these photos is a new one and my first ever Mac lipstick purchase. I ordered it online because I'd read reviews that it was a good colour for an everyday neutral lipstick. When I got it I was a bit hesitant at how pink it was in the tube but I really like it on! It's also longer lasting than most of my other lipsticks. Next on the cards is a red one - any recommendations of which is better out of Ruby Woo and Russian Red?

What did you get up to over the Bank Holiday weekend?

Laila x

outfit 03/05/12

shirt, jacket - charity shop, jumper - jumble sale, riding pants - american apparel, boots - doc martens

Look look! I finally found a camo jacket! Well, I say 'found' but it wasn't quite like that...On Friday me and a friend at work, who had both been looking for one, decided to have a competition over who could find one in a charity shop first. The next day, I get a TwitPic of her holding one up! Gutted. She works in a charity shop on Saturdays, walked in and there was one waiting to be put on the rails. However.....two days later she decided it didn't fit her right and it's now mine for the total sum of £1.60 (who knew charity shops give the same staff discount as most high street shops?!)

So this outfit was mainly based around 'what will go with my new jacket?' I worked out that the top half of my outfit cost about £2.80 (jumper - 20p, shirt - £1, jacket - £1.60) whereas in contrast the bottom half cost about £140 (the boots were a gift and the riding pants purchased before this whole thrifting thing got SERIOUS).

I got this awesome cat bag (left) in a charity shop last week. I was queuing up to buy something else when I saw it out of the corner of my eyes, squealed "CAAAATTS" and couldn't resist. Weirdly, when I got home that night, my housemate had brought home her sewing box that she'd left at her nan's, and it was the exact same material. Spooky!

I'm in London from tomorrow til Sunday for work, and then staying on til Monday at a friend's house. Tomorrow night I'll be hanging with Tom as my hotel is just round the corner from where he works - handy! And my friend I'm staying with on Sunday has been in Australia since September so I'm looking forward to seeing her!

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!

Laila x

outfit 30/04/2012

top,skirt - charity shop/ diy, shoes - creepers, necklace - borrowed

I hope you're not bored of this skirt yet because I'm clearly not! This is what I wore on Friday night to a silent disco. The top was a recent purchase. It originally had a straight neckline that matched up with the top of the sleeves, but it didn't look quite right on me, so I altered it. It's really simple to do, you just have to gather the material in a sort of concertina fold and then stitch it in place. Have to make sure the stitches are very secure though, else they'll spring undone! The watch necklace I borrowed from my housemate. I've realised that I don't have any short necklaces so I'm on the hunt for one at the mo (any cute Etsy store recommendations?) Though my housemate didn't have one either so I doubled up the chain to make it shorter. I'm glad I decided not to wear heels because me and Tom walked into town to save money (which we then spent on beer anyway...!)

On Saturday night we had a failed attempt to see The Avengers (we tried three cinemas!), then ended up just renting a DVD and I fell asleep halfway through it. Oh well!

What did you get up to this weekend? Today is the start of my seven day week aaargh! Though Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be working in London right next to Oxford Street so maybe a bit of window shopping will be done if there's any time.

The jumble sale was pretty good, I managed to get seven items of clothing for £1.60. The majority were to customise and put on my eBay, but I did get a few items that I'm keeping. I'm sure they will pop up in an outfit post shortly!

Laila x

PS any strapless bra recs? I ended up abandoning mine and going bra-less because it was starting to make it look like my boobs were round my waist!