Friday Finds - Fun Felt Brooches

Style Eyes Fashion Blog has now moved to Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog. I look forward to seeing you there.

I have been wanting a brooch for sometime now. Something brightly coloured and a bit fun that I can pin onto jackets, cardigans or tops when I feel they just need that something extra. Sometimes an outfit feels like it needs something but a necklace, scarf or belt just don't quite work. I have come across so many gorgeous felt brooches on my travels across the internet, I thought I would share. These brooches are a great way to decorate sustainable clothes as some of the felt is made from recycled wool. I just love them because they make me smile.


These Love Is In The Air Goodies from Etsy are really cute. Each one is different, I think they would make great pressies.

This flower brooch is a little more grown up but still fun and I love the colour. It is also available on Etsy here.

A very classy felt rose brooch from on Not on the High Street


I Love these! Hand embroidered Heart Brooches from Not on The High Street



This one is quite appropriate for me (a great alternative to a slogan t shirt) - short people rock badge from Misi

Handfelted button brooch from Misi




This is actually a hair bobble but this seller in Misi will actually make brooches to order.


Felt Heart Brooch - from Folksy
What are your favourite fun accessories?
Have a great weekend!
Ceri X

Daydream Nation Accessories

A few years ago I was invited to a show by Daydream Nation which is a brand created by Jing and Kay Wong which uses story telling to create and present clothes. The show was quite 'unusual 'and left me wondering a little what was going on, but it definitely made a difference to a run of the mill fashion show and I was not surprised to recently receive a press release saying that Daydream Nation have won quite a few awards including Vogue Italia's Vogue talent 2010.

The collection that went to see was based on a story about woodland animals, which this year seems to have become a big theme in fashion so it looks like they were a bit ahead of the pack (or perhaps just out there on their own). Apparently Chanel selected items from their AW09 collection as inspiration for Karl Lagerfeld. The have also collaborated with Urban Outfitters and Peter Jensen.

The AW10 collection is again inspired by stories about forests with names including 'the forest is cold at night', 'the boy on a tree' and 'its written in the wind'. Boiled wool cardigans, printed silk dresses and trench coats all feature in the latest collection in a woodland colour range and look perfectly suited to a relaxed layered outfit with some interesting detail. But what I really love about Daydream Nation is the accessories which include pieces called 'King' and 'Queen of the Forest' and 'Where the wild things are'. and feature a mixture of chains and crochet and for the latest collection fur and horns! Who said fashion shouldn't be fun?

Daydream Nation is stocked at the Moon and Mars, Selfridges, B Store and or direct.

I will leave you with the Daydream Nation intro, which might get you thinking or daydreaming a little:

'We believe that daydreamers are the lost children in society.

Daydream Nation is a place where people see boats in buckets and hear sea waves in radio glitches.

It is a way of life, a vow to dream and dare to act upon it

Come dream with us.'

Little Mousey Brown

I am still struggling to get over the fright that I had over the weekend. I was lying in my bed fast asleep when I felt and saw something dark coloured run down my arm. I was still half asleep and jumped out of bed ranting about something running up my arm. Mr Style Eyes woke up and naturally insisted that I was dreaming or hallucinating! As I didn't really have a clue what was going on I went back to bed and fell asleep only to be woken half an hour later by something furry brushing against my face- this time I was pretty sure about it, it was a mouse- eeek. This time I jumped out of bed and shouted quite loud, 'its there', 'what' said Mr Style Eyes, 'a mouse there', 'what are you talking about' he said, the he spotted it peering at him through a glass of water on the bedside cabinet.

Then ensued a half an hour game of chase the mouse around the bedroom. The cats showed not the slightest bit of interest and eventually we gave up and decided to continue the search in the morning. Of course I refused to sleep in the bedroom instead alternating between the sofa and childrens bedrooms in a kind of musical beds. In the morning, there was still no sign of Little Mousey Brown as he was now affectionately known but I had a sneaking suspicion that he might have made his way into the wardrobe to nibble at my shoes and handbags.

Eventually Mr Style Eyes managed to find Little Mousey Brown nestled in my scarf and belt draw (a mouse who loves accessories, how cute, although not so at the time) and very humanely released him back in to the wild (using his hands!). As much as the children loved the idea of him sharing the house with us I was very glad to have the house and our bed back to ourselves. It also took me ages to go through my whole draw of scarves and wash them all.

These two are in the dog house so to speak, I am guessing that one of them brought Little Mousey Brown in but they lost interest when it came to removing him. They are currently being enrolled in mouser lessons.

First image from http://www.informatics.jax.org/greenbook/images/21-1F.jpg (it is not actually Little Mousey Brown, just looks a little like him)

Accessorise with match sticks

Last night, I was woken up at least 6 times by children (I lost count after that) consequently I was pretty tired this morning. I decided to wear something nice and bright to help wake myself up. This yellow t shirt almost fell into my hand when I opened the draw. The pink cardigan and multi coloured necklace don't seem like they are supposed to be combined with a yellow t shirt but I love the combination as it makes me think of tropical countries. As you might be able to see from the pictures I am trying to keep my eyes open, which is even more difficult with the camera flash, I am in desperate need of some match sticks to prop them up with.

T shirt - a charity shop (originally by Gap) I have bleached it to give it a slightly marbled effect and make it aslightly paler yellow which you might be able to see from the photo.

Cardigan- Fenn Wright Manson

Jeans - Autograph Weekend at Marks and Spencers

Necklace - Dorothy Perkins

More from the London Fashion Week Exhibition

I was slightly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of designers at the London Fashion Week Exhibition. As I was only there for a little bit, I just managed to get of few pictures of bits that caught my eye.

Martin Lamothe - a very natural colour scheme,but each piece more than made up for lack of colour with the amazing texture and shape. I loved the rope dress.

Charlotte Sparre - Copenhagen. Beautiful colours and prints on simple silk pieces. I love the striking orange Elvis dress. Also some great colourful scarves.

Kron - I love Kron shoes and just couldn't help but take lots of pictures of all the cute candy colours.

Heather Blake - The ultimate pair of elegant statement shoes.

Les Nereides - some very fun and cute enamel jewellery!

Fiona Paxton - these necklaces are amazing with almost a tribal feel about them. A black top will never be boring again.

Georgia Hardinge - I loved this wig like hat and cage dress.

Embellished Designs by Anita Quansah

I love embellishment as a way of adding interesting colour, pattern and texture to an outfit. It is however quite rare (if it ever happens at all) to see really inspiring embellishment on clothing from the sorts of high street shops that I can usually afford to shop in. The most amazing embellishment is usually reserved for the couture collections.

I love the work of Anita Quansah who studied BA textile design at Chelsea College of Art and Design London, 2000-2003. She has designed for amongst others Christian Lacroix, DKNY, Diane Von Furstenberg, Ischiko, Victoria Secret, Ecko and textiles Weisbrod Zurrer and Sandy Starkman. In 2004, she collaborated with Christian Lacroix designing and embroidering a jacket featured at the Haute Couture shows.

It is a real shame that such beautiful clothes are unlikely to ever be available to the likes of myself, but the high price tags are most definitely undestandable and justifiable based on the huge amount of work and time that goes into each piece. Anita individually hand embellishes each piece free hand using reclaimed and vintage fabrics to add texture in a similar way that painters add colour by painting onto a canvas. She uses a variety of techniques to achieve the end result including fabric manipulation, appliqué, hand and machine embroidery to create undulating raised floral textures that seem to float on the fabric. Inspirations for Anita's work is taken from great artists such as Monet, Gustav Klimt, and Robert John Thornton and from nature, garden, floral and its ever changing beauty that surrounds it, the colour, texture, the shapes, patterns, tone, placements and proportion.

Anita Quansah creates one off handmade embroidered wearable art, flat and 3 dimensional fabrics for interior, fashion, accessories and wall art for commercial and private installations. Her clothes are available from www.me-myselfandi.co.uk
www.shrimptoncouture.com. Jewellery from www.mysugarland.co.uk and www.AnitaQuansahLondon1.etsy.com

How heavy is your handbag?

Oversized handbags are right on trend at the moment. Those who carry large handbags usually manage to fill them with all sorts of daily essentials including gadgets, make up, phone, baby stuff, even a laptop. But the ever growing weight of our handbags can likened in some cases to the weight carried by a hod carrier, have you ever though about how mush stress this puts on our backs, necks, joints and shoulders.

You will probably carry your favourite oversized handbag every where with you causing a constant and ongoing stress from the weight of the bag. Bad posture is a problem amongst those carrying heavy bags as they lean the opposite way to compensate for the weight of the bag. As the body is a whole and interconnected system, strain in one area can also lead to problems in another area. Heavy handbags can cause back, neck, shoulder and joint pain, muscle spasms, sprains and even headaches.

A report in April this year by The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress published on Medical News Today warned that the carrying of heavy handbags can have significant health risks. Gerard W. Clum, D.C., president of Life Chiropractic College in West Hayward, Calif. recommends using a bag with two shoulder straps or pulling a carrying case with wheels.

I love the idea of this new collection of leather bags with wheels by Tiffany Anisette. Perfect for travelling, carting my laptop around, an every day hand bag and filling with baby essentials. Tiffany is a professional massage therapist and the handbag was concieved after she noticed so many clients suffering from back, neck and shoulder problems due to their heavy handbags.

I love having a luxurious handbag and this is the perfect practical and stylish solution. They are available in department store in the US or from http://www.tiffanyanisette.com/.

Top picture - Katie Holmes with Hermes - from http://frankiequitefrankly.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-like-big-bags-and-i-cannot-lie.html

1 little black dress, 7 days in 7 ways

I recently found this blog called the uniform project which documents an exercise in sustainability where Sheena Matheiken had seven versions of the same black dress. One for each day of the week. She accessorised in different ways to create different outfits using vintage and handmade accessories. I decided to try this out myself not for a year but for just seven days, with the same dress which obviously I washed each time. I don't have many vintage and handmade accessories so used what I had in my wardrobe instead. The black dress I chose was one that I bought about a year ago in Oasis. Partly because it is, I think quite flattering and also as the short length lends itself to being worn with leggings and trousers giving it more outfit possibilities and versatility.

The black dress from Oasis

Jeggings - Topshop
Boots - Whooga Boots
Cardigan - Jane Norman - a long time ago
Scarf - Dorothy Perkins

Tights - Uttam
Shoes - ASOS

Wood and string necklace and bangles - presents
Jeggings - Topshop
Shoes - Marks and Spencers

Jacket - Second hand suit jacket - Next
Leggings/ jeggings - Topshop
Shoes - New Look
Necklace and bracelet - presents

Jacket - Charity Shop - Jaeger
Chain necklace - New Look
Leggings and shoes as before

Cropped leather jacket - Gestuz from ASOS
Necklace - French Connection
Jeans - DIY refashioned with bleach


Top / jacket thing - Next
Chain Necklace - New Look
Footless tights - bought in error (I thought they were normal tights) from Uttam.
Shoes - M & S


I thought this would be easy peasy but it is actually quite hard and by day seven I was really starting to get bored with my little black dress. After day three, I struggled to think of what to wear with the dress and really had to stretch my imagination beyond my usual uniform. But I also learnt something very important, I don't have nearly enough beautiful, stylish and unusual hand crafted accessories. It made me think a bit rather than resorting to the usual safe options. It also made me reconsider the importance of buying 1 lovely black dress and accessorising in many different ways. Something that I have always tried to do to a certain extent, until I spot that must have floral statement dress or something else completely whimsical.

and yes I can confirm the cat did not move for the whole 7 days!