Hey my sewcialites, I just added some new pics to The LISOF Look page. Have a look, what do you think?
Les Etoiles en Cannes
The stars were out in all their glory at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This annual Festival de Cannes celebrates new films and filmmakers from around the world. L’Camera d’Or ward goes to the best film in the festival. With this melange of different cultures in one of the most beautiful places in the world, one can expect that the fashion is a high point of interest.
With the festival spanning a full week ,the celebrities have a good chance of showing off their best ensemble. The likes of Sophia Loren and Bridgette Bardot have graced the festivals red carpet , leaving a sense of romanticism and old Hollywood(or in this case French) glamour. Les Etoilles did not disappoint with a myriad of hits and a few misses.
Here are la crème de la crème:
La Rose – Nicole Kidman
Lanvin
Ralph Lauren. Image courtesy of style.com
Dior, a classic ensemble. image courtesy of style.com
La Jeune – Kristen Stewart
I was pleasantly surprised to see Kristen’s choices for Cannes- I actually liked them!
Reem Acra. Image courtesy og style.com
Balenciaga. Image courtesy of vogue.com
Balenciaga. Image courtesy of style.com
Les Fleurs de France – Audrey Tautuo & Bérénice Bejo
The flowers of France held their own against the many western fashion heavy weights. but the French have something more. The French have an air about them. Their style is effortless, simple and oh so chic!
Gaimbattista Valli, LOVE IT! image courtesy of style.com
Prada, simple and feminin. image courtesy of style.com
Louis Vuitton. image courtesy of vogue .com
Les Hommes
The men were fabulous on the red carpet, perhaps channelling a fellow Cannes attendee, Grace Kelly.
Balenciaga suites Brad. image courtesy of style.com
Ewan McGregor is understated but cool in his day suit.
Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy have such scruffy charm!
La Reine de Cannes – Diane Kruger
The queen of the festival was definitely Diane Kruger! She had a fabulous outfit each day and her prince ,Joshua Jackson added to her romantic and yet high-fashion look.
Jennny Packham. Courtesy of vogue.com
She looks a a vintage screen siren in the Nina Ricci dress. image courtesy of style.com
This Prabal Gurung dress was a risk thst paid off. image courtesy of vogue.com
Vivienne Westwood, this dress needs no words. image courtesy of style.com
Calvin Klein, less is more! image courtesy of vogue.com
Giambattista Valli, this dress is worthy of french royalty. image coutesy of style.com
Le garnd finale! She wore this Dior gown to the last night but I’m guessing this is one for the Cannes red carpet record book. image courtesy og the telegraph.co.uk
Pop that Peter Pan Collar!
Peter pan collars are popping up everywhere from the runway to the streets. These steps show you how to make your own re-moveable collar so you can wear it with any outfit.
What you need: 1m of fabric ( go wild) ; ruler, measuring tape, paper, pens, hook & eyes, scissors, thread, needle and your sewing machine (not mandatory).
Step 1: create the pattern.
-Measure around your neck.
-Now draw a rectangle with the length being the same as around your neck,plus 2/3 cm in case. *you will cut on the fold, so indicate this on your pattern .
-To create the collar/rounded shape draw a line that is half of your neck measurement.
-Square up at the end 6cm.
-now use a French curve (or free hand) to draw a curve that connects 4,3cm up from the corner and 4,5 cm across from the corner.
-Once the shape is drawn. Give it a 1cm seam allowance. 
Step 2: cut out this pattern and place on fabric. Pin and cut 4 fabric pieces. Pin and cut out 1 rectangle out of your fabric.
Step 3: make two collars. So pin two collar shapes together with the wrong sides inside. Do this twice to get your 2 collar pieces. Then sew a 1cm seam allowance but leave space at the ends (2cm).
Step 4: edge stitch the rounded side of your pieces (not the straight side).Don’t complete around the whole curve stopping 2,5cm from the corners.*you must back tack at ends.
Step 5: iron your pieces.
Step 6: fold your rectangle right sides outside. Pin and over-lock the edge.
Step 7: insert the rectangle over-locked edges into the unsewn section of the collar pieces pin and make sure all side are equal – use your discretion.
Step 8: topstitch these pinned pieces.* you may have to change your tension on the machine if using a thick fabric.
Step 9: now attached your hook and eyes with your needle and thread. You canalso add a button for decorartion.
*If it doesn’t work out you can adjust the steps and do it your way.
MAKE A MAXI SKIRT!
Maxi skirts are a great item for the upcoming autumn/winter weather .Whether you use light chiffon or a thick tapestry fabric ,it is a chic and “chilled out” look.
What you will need: thick elastic band, material (of your choice) and a sewing machine.
Step 1: measure around your waist.
Step 2: cut your elastic that size BUT add 2cm. You must over-lock the edges.
Step 3: measure out a rectangle of your fabric. The length should be the length from your waist to your toes and add 4 cm. The width should be double your waist measurement.
Step 4: now you have to fit the fabric (width/double waist measurement) onto the elastic. To do this you need to constantly stretch the elastic and pin the fabric onto it. It’s quite tough if you haven’t done it before but you will get the hang of it! Pin the fabric and elastic witth the right sides facing inwards.
- You can ask someone to stretch and hold the elastic, whileyou oosely pin the fabric.
- I use a heavy table leg to hold one edge of the elastic ,while I strtch and pin the other end.
- Make sure you pin the right sides together.
- Place the pins in an adjacent position to the elastic.
Step 5:sew the elastic and fabric. You will notice there is a gathered effect. While sewing you must stretch and keep a degree of tension with the fabric.
- Sew slowly while stretching the elastic.
Step 6:with the right sides of the fabric on the inside, sew up the back of the skirt.
- OVERLOCK.
- Make sure you sew the skirt straight. If you don’t your seam willbe wavy like mine- OOPS!
Step 7: if necessary hem the skirt any size you want. You may want to experiment with the skirt and shape the hem.
STRIPS of STYLE
I saw this necklace in Voila Magazine and fell in love with it. It was a necklace made of tan leather strips but it was totally out of my price range. I found some leather around the house bought some earing parts and voila- in 30 minutes I had a leather tassel necklace. It has a raw ,ethnic feel and leather is a great winter material. It’s an unusual piece but it got alot of attention when I wore it, with many asking where I got it.
Step 1: cut leather strips of about 20 cm. You can vary the lengths of these strips.
Step 2: make a hole with a needle at one end of the strip. You may need to use the needle 4-5 times before a clear whole is made.
Step 3: take your earing piece (you can get these at any craft shop or market) and push it through the whole.
Step 4: use pliers to close the earing.
Step 5: take a chain (thin) and thread it through the earing-connector-hole. All strips are threaded onto the necklace.
AND THAT’S IT!
MET Magic!
The Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Gala 2012, was an evening filled with sparkling magic, in the form of mermaid flares, golden goddesses and great feathered birds. If I had only been that crimson coloured carpet- to have but one of the fairy like creatures float by me, sprinkling their style and poise. The flashing lights of camera’s mimicked the spurting beams from wizards wands ,as they captured the beauty for us lowly ‘muggles’ to behold. This evening marks the opening of the Costume Institutes exhibition opening night at the Metropolitan Museum in the mythical land of New York. The night was hosted by and honoured one of the most talented fashion fairies- Miuccia Prada. This is one of the most coveted events in fashion. Therefore the mystical creatures of Hollywood came out, to the Big Apple’s finest evening, in dazzling attire.
There were the Goddesses: Jessica Alba(Michel Kors), Karolina Kurkova (Rachel Zoe), Cameron Diaz (Stella McCartney) and Nina Dobrev (Donna Karen).
Absolutely stunning!!!
Is it just me, or does Cameron Diaz not age?!
BEST DRESSED NOMINEE!!!!!
The Princesses: Scarlett Johansson (Dolce and Gabbana), Dakota Fanning and Lilly Collins (Valentino).
It’s a lovely dress, but I’m not as blown away as I usually am by Scarlett’s glamourous fashion choices.
It is a pretty dress but that’s it!
I know she is going for a vintage look but compared to the other modern dresses, it seems dated.
The Fairies: Kristen Wig, Emma Stone (Lanvin) and Kate Bosworth (Prada).
Fresh and fun.
The look is too immature for her.
The Mermaids: Carey Mulligan (Prada), Candice Swanepool and Renee Zellweger (Pucci).
BEST DRESSED NOMINEE!!
She makes SA proud!
The opitomy of elegance.
The Dark Queens: Lana del Ray (Joseph Altuzarra ), Rosario Dawson (Calvin Klein), Rooney Mara (Givenchy) and Rhianna (Tom Ford).
I love lace and I love leather BUT the dress is such an obvious choice for her. She should stop dressing up like glamourous version of her charchter in The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and should have rather worn a bright colour. She is in a Gothic rut!
This dress is so chic and fierce, yet I do feel awful for the alligator who was sacrificed for such beauty. She would be a best dressed nominee but I cant get over it being real alligator skin! You may disagree….
The Fairy Godmother: Florence Welch wearing Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton.
WOW! If there was any event that called for a dress like this then the MET is the place. It’s so wierd and bizarre that I actually like it. Am I crazy?
The Knights : Chace Crawford, Kanye West, and Gerard Butler.
The Star-Crossed-Lovers: Claire Danes (J Mendal) and Hugh Dancy, Jessica Biel (Prada)and Justin Timberlake.
Fabulous dress! She has the two best accessories a womann can have, a sparkling engagement ring and a beautiful man.
The Great Birds: Beyonce Knowles (Givenchy) and Cate Blanchett (McQueen).
What a satement dress! But I’m actually not a fan of this feathered/laced/sheer/mermaid dress. Sometimes less really is more.
BEST DRESSED NOMINEE!!
At the end of the night the princes and princesses got back into their chauffer driven pumpkins. The wicked witch of the Upper East Side, Anna Wintour was seen flying away on a broom stick.The fairies flitted away to the after-party and the dark haute-couture queens seeped away into the Manhattan nightlife. Thus all the immortal celebrities departed, leaving glass stiletto heel-prints in the crimson carpet.
THE END.
Until next year…..
GO on a fringe binge!
I am seeing a lot of fringe and tassel trimmings around LISOF campus and I am LOVING IT! Fringe is a great reference to the swinging 20’s, giving shirts ,bags and dresses a vintage look. The big bag trend is also over and clutches are popping up all over. So I have a very simple way of make a “fringe-clutch bag”. It’s great for an evening event or it can be used to add some elegance to a jean and t-shirt ensemble. Fringe is a great trim and a big trend for winter, I hope this little project inspires you to go fringe crazy.
What you will need: an old denim/fabric pencil case; fringe; fusing.
Step 1: measure the shape of your pencil case (rectangular). Cut that measurement out (minus 2cm) of thick fusing.
Step 2: iron the fusing onto the inside of the pencil case.
Step 3: pin the fringe band onto the pencil case, starting at the top and winding it around to the end. This is tricky so you need to do one row at a time. Pin the row of fringe and then sew it on.
BEWARE: You must watch that the fringe doesn’t get caught in the fringe band area. This is a long process- be patient and concentrate! At the corners and sides you may have trouble but don’t worry ,you don’t have to machine sew it perfectly.
Step 4: Once the entire pencil case is covered in the fringe you will find that the sides and corners are loose. You must hand-sew on all loose edges.
AND YOU ARE DONE! Iron it before you take it for a test run on a night out. You can also add a thin strap, if so desired.
