RIPPED, BLEACHED, OLD & DENIM ?!

I was going to go to Birmingham today to look through the Urban Outfitters and Topshop sale, but then I thought, since when do I shop at highstreet stores anymore? I never buy anything so whats the point, I can always look at the sale online anyway. So instead I went to the charity shops which I have now got down to a fine art. I managed to fit two 30 minute bus rides and 7 charity shops into two hours, I think I have it down to a fine art. Also seeing as I've finished college for the year I always go shopping on a Tuesday, there's not too many people around that I'm tripping over them so its a good day to go (now I've said this everyone's going to go shopping on a Tuesday and we'll all be walking around like peas in a pod)

I know I've promised to do lots of tutorials, such as the skirt tutorial and my hair tutorial however things have come up recently that meant I was a bit busy, even if I have left college. Firstly I've been going on a course to learn how to pattern draft, and for those of you who don't know what that is its learning how to draw the individual panels/ pieces that eventually when you sew them all together they make a piece of clothing. Its something that's faded away in this country because most pattern drafting has been moved to china, or at least the actual manufacturing has. There aren't many pattern drafters left in England so its good to learn, I have to travel miles for the class though, and its been canceled now because only 5 people in the area want to learn. I've made things without patterns before by working out the pattern pieces from my measurements (such as the frilly waistcoat and the silver dress i put on lookbook) but i wasn't using the correct equipment. When I've got enough practice I'm sure you'll see some things I've made correctly from scratch without even using a commercial pattern.

Also another reason why I've been busy, well.. thing is, I can't tell anyone! However its good news, it seems everyone really likes my blog, lookbook and tumblr because it seems to be getting me a bit of publicity, and thats why I've been busy. Don't worry you'll all find out in august. Also unfortunately I missed out on the chance to model for a girl at Birmingham University studying Fashion Communication because my mom wasn't happy with the arrangements, but ah well I'm sure other opportunity will come along, I don't really feel like being a model if I'm honest. Also I just found an email which was giving me an internship to become a blogger at a fashion website but I missed the date to reply before, hopefully these opportunities will come along again, if anyone's interested I'm happy to do interviews via email as long as you can prove your genuine. My email is its_a_matter_of_cards_we_deal@hotmail.co.uk which I do now check regularly and I even have a shortcut to it at the top of my page so i don't forget!
So finally, I might actually start posting some photos of things I've bought over the past two weeks. Yes earlier, I could be seen standing on the edge of my bed, wobbling, with a camera pointed at my new purchases which were lay on the floor on top of some pretty fabric I've got, so here we go.

Firstly I seem to of acquired a large variety of highwaisted shorts, most of which aren't my size but I can change half of them on the sewing machine, the size 12's upwards will probably go on ebay.


I found all these shorts in one charity shop, they had a bin/ basket full of mens and womens shorts and I thought to myself oh my god I must buy them all, so I did. The frayed blue denim ones fit me perfectly although the waist is a bit large. It says they are a size 10 but I think that they are a vintage size, so probably an 8-10. There smaller than my 28W Levis and I think I prefer them because the legs are longer yet more flattering than my Levis and the waist is higher which I like, also I really love the frayed detail at the bottom of the shorts.

I've been searching for some black denim shorts for ages now and the ones with the four silver buttons on are perfect, although I might have to change the buttons to gold. I've got some gold studds which I'm going to put on them, then maybe rip the edges a bit so its either going to look amazing or tacky.
These blue and white, and black and white striped shorts are identical apart from the colours, I really like them because there quite individual and the only person who I've seen who seems to have a similar if not better pair is Heather R from Lookbook.nu, who if anyone was wondering is my favorite lookbooker. They remind me of mens golfing shorts which makes me wonder if maybe they actually are seeing as I got them out of a box of mixed shorts. Although I can't really see any men wearing highwaisted shortshorts myself and if I did I'm sure it would be the highlight of my day.

The last pair I've had to lighten on photoshop so you can actually see them, it looks like there glowing haha! Anyway I don't normally like dark jeans unless there black but these are a lovely rich dark blue/ navy colour, not the sort of half hearted almost wants to be light blue kind of dark jeans. There also a really lovely shape, I think there a size 12-14 so I don't think I'll be able to edit the size on them unfortunately because there a lovely pair which would definitely show off some curves.

I also have some khaki highwaisted shorts and if you've read my previous posts you'll understand how much I'm loving khaki at the moment. They are almost identical to the ones which urban outfitters are selling for around £30, funny I got mine for £1! They definitely need a bit of alteration on the size but there so amazing. Unfortunately I've forgotten to take a picture of them, I'm not sure why because I think they were all in the pile while i was taking all these pictures. Maybe they've gone walkabouts.

I'm really into floral blouses at the moment, a lot of people don't like this trend because everyone seems to wear it but who cares its so pretty who wouldn't want to wear it?! and if I'm honest, nice floral blouses seem very difficult to find, floral dresses are easy as pie but finding a nice blouse in a nice fabric with a good print is quite difficult.

These are the two which I have managed to find, the creamy greenish pastely coloured blouse is made of a very thin corduroy type of fabric, making it quite thick but not so thick that it feels like a denim blouse. I really love the reddish-peach colour of the flowers against the light lime green, its not the sort of colour scheme you would normally think to put together but here it works really well.

The next top is quite big, its a size 14 and I can only normally pull off up to a size 12 but I fell so in love with this blouse when I saw it! Its not made from any man made fabrics! Its a love crisp cotton thats slightly crunchy yet soft in your hands and the print is beautiful. When I brought it home my mom told me that the flowers were actually some type of poppy which my moms growing in the garden. I'm so glad the people who designed this shirt chose to use blue and purple because I think red would of been too shocking. The colours are very vibrant and intense but they work so well together its such a gorgeous blouse, I love it, I'm going to sleep with it under my pillow!


These blouses/ shirts aren't floral however they are both gorgeous. I especially love the denim one which is just like any old oversized denim shirt but its the embroidery across the chest which really makes it stand out and give it quite a unique look. Its long enough for me to wear as a short dress or a tunic with leggings, but I can also just tuck it into some shorts and it'll look great too so its quite a versatile item to have in your wardrobe.


This second blouse is made of chiffon, its quite unusual and as you can see doesn't photograph very well however when you see it normally its very beautiful. It has so much detail on it, the pictures of the women are on the front and back and each one is different and then I also love the spots! Once again its too big for me but I can wear it as a dress, its a size 18! I'm not too fond of the colours because I don't really own anything in that kind of blue but I still love this shirt.







I never really go shopping for bags however the past few weeks I just cant seem to avoid them! (Im not complaining) I sometimes find it a bit silly that I look at old grannys with their tapestry bags and almost want to say to them "Oh wow I love your bag" but ah well, I don't care, I now have two which I'm very proud of. There were loads at the Birmingham Vintage Fair and they were all about £20 but I got my blue tapestry bag for £1 and the brownish neutral coloured one for £3.50 and there both gorgeous!

I also love this rich reddy-pinky-purple coloured bag, its actually wooden but covered in leather with a beautiful floral pattern, it was £1.50. Its not always practical but if you've only got a few things to put in it, things that wont bang around and make a racket when you walk its perfect. The shape is lovely, its like an upside down heart! I also love how it closes, its like a sliding clasp kind of thing, I can't think of how to explain it but its more like how you would close a cuboard door than how you would close a bag.

If you've been keeping up with my lookbook and tumblr you may of noticed I've started wearing my hair up quite regually, and when I do this sometimes I like to wear scarfs around my head too, so these are some which I've bought, I have two more but I think they've also gone walkabouts along with my khaki shorts, its nice to know there making friends.

My favroite is probably the colours from the floral vintage scarf there really bright yet there not primary colours which i like.

I know you can't really see but the black scarf has multicolored hearts printed onto it which is really nice although you have to be really close up to notice them. Its quite cute although I avoid wearing it when I don't have anything else thats black on because it looks a bit silly.


I also really love this 80's looking scarf which is a square, I've tied it up to look a bit like a scout neckerchief, i love the pattern because its not something that would ever be printed these days.


Almost finally, why would I buy winter clothing at the hottest point of the year? Well.. I can always keep it until winter and then wear it then. I just couldn't resist this fur coat and jumper. My wardrobe is starting to look like the one out of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, I'm starting to get a collection of huge fur coats. You may think "What, Kayla approves of real fur coats?!" and my answer is yes and no; Two of them were inherited, one was my great great great nans, its 150 years old rabbit fur, the other is 50 years old and it was my great nans, passed to my great auntie and she gave it to me when my great nan passed away in February. I think the one I bought the other day is around 30-50 years old because it feels almost the same as the old one where you can feel how the skin has hardened over time. I only buy vintage fur, that way I'm not contributing to the fur trade at all. I would also never buy a fur coat from a vintage shop because we all know that MOST of the stuff isn't actually real vintage clothes, there just made up cheaply from old vintage patterns! Therefore how do I know that a fur coat from a vintage store hasn't actually been made in the last months? apart from the feel of the coat and how much hair is still on it. I would NEVER buy new fur products because I believe its cruel, I'm a huge animal lover but I believe that fur coats are justified by the fact that years ago we didn't have the technology's to create warm clothes. The older the coat the better because then I feel like it was done for a more worthwhile thing, these days we have the technology to make warm clothes without killing innocent animals but back in the Victorian times (which was when one of my coats was made) how would an old lady of kept warm during the harsh winters?

I was a bit reluctant to buy the fur coat I got the other day, I wish I could definately say that it was 50 or more years old, but I doubt it is meaning that the poor minks that were used to make it probably died for pure vanity. Its so rich in colour that I think it was probably made within the last 50-30 years, but its definitely not new. I bought it at a car boot sale for £5 The man who was selling it had three of them and he also had boxes of vintage sewing kits and all sorts of things that you would find in an old womans house. I think he was a house clearer, the sort of peoples who are asked to clear peoples houses when they've passed away and takes all there possessions because sometimes old people don't have big family's to do that for them like my great nan did. Either all these items belonged to his mother or he was a house clearer selling all the items he found in an old womans house, I don't know if thats a good respectful thing to do or not but I suppose there allowed to do what they want with the items they find. So yes, that is the story behind my fur coat, and here it is. The sun was shining in through the windows, I should of closed the curtains.. Its black, I don't think I've ever seen a black mink fur coat and its beautiful !


Finally, I also found this gorgeous jumper at the same car boot sale, I love the 80's print it has and its a lovely texture almost like mohair but not as intense. Its made from scottish sheep wool which the lady at the stall told me very pointedly as if i should pay more than £2 for it haha.

Finally I'll show you my recent DIY venture, ripping and bleaching jeans into shorts. Here they are, I really love them, I've made black ones too but they too have also gone walkabouts with my khaki shorts and red scarf. Once I've finished the skirt tutorial I'm thinking I might do a tutorial for these lovely shorts which everyone seemed so interested in on lookbook. and YES i am still in the process of writing up the skirt tutorial, its still set as a draft at the moment. Sorry guys, I have loads of requests for tutorials at the moment haha.


Also I was wondering is there anything else that people would like to see on my blog? apart from the tutorials im writing which WILL appear, one day!

Thanks for reading this extremely long post!
Kayla xxx