Happy New Year all!

Enjoying the fireworks in Newcastle centre this evening! Wishing you all the best for the New Year!

Noreen xx

Here come the sales

Whether you’ve already taken advantage of the sales, or like me, you’re waiting until the chaos calms down, I thought I’d post a few of my tips to help you make the most of the discount the stores are offering.  We are all guilty of making the same mistakes during sale time; purchasing an item simply because it’s 90% off, buying your dream dress at half price even if it is in the wrong size, wearing that bargain purchase once and throwing it away by Easter.  Yes, we’ve all done it!  So I thought I’d take a leaf out of my book of sale shopping mistakes and offer my top 5 tips for surviving and shopping successfully in the sales.

Top 5 Tips

1. Begin with a list.  My golden rule for every shopping trip, but especially important for the sales.  It’s so easy to get carried away and buy the same dress in every colour purely because the discount is ‘too good to miss’.  So instead, write a list of exactly what it is you’re looking for from the sales.  Perhaps a high quality new work suit, something special for that New Year’s Eve party or some essential cashmere sweaters for the cold months ahead.  A list will help you focus on exactly what it is you need for your wardrobe so your trip will be far more successful. 
2. Set a budget.  Be realistic with what you can actually afford and want to spend on sale items.  When stores are throwing ‘once in a lifetime’ discounts at you it can be tempting to stretch your budget that little bit too far.  Set aside the amount you want to spend on the various items on your list and stick to it.  This will help you to avoid making unnecessary purchases whilst saving you money.
3. Start early.  I don’t necessarily mean day 1 of the sales, but start first thing in the morning.  You will find the stores are usually that little bit quieter, the queues for the tills and fitting rooms won’t be as long and overall it will be a calmer and more relaxed shopping experience.
4. Is it a bargain?  The excitement of finding an item at 90% off can be thrilling, but the massive reduction doesn’t necessarily mean the item is a bargain.  When I find myself in this sort of situation, I ask myself these all important questions – ‘If it wasn’t on sale would I look twice at it?’, ‘Will it match with anything from my wardrobe?’, ‘Do I really need it?’, and then I work out the price per wear to help finalise my decision. (Cost of item/Number of times I wear item = Price per wear)  I always think if I’m likely to wear an item more than 5 times, it’s worth purchasing.
5. Be experimental.  My favourite thing about sale shopping is I find it the perfect opportunity to source through the endless rails of muddled up clothes looking for something new and unique that will take my style in a new direction.  Sometimes I’m successful, others times I’m not but I guess that’s part of the fun.  My only advice would be stick to what you know suits you – if you don’t look good in skin tight, metallic, bell bottoms now, a 25% discount won’t change that.

Happy sale shopping folks!

Noreen xx

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

I just wanted to take a few minutes out of my Christmas Eve celebrations to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and say a big thank you to everyone for following the blog.  I hope you all have a wonderful festive period!

Best wishes,
Noreen xx

Menswear shoot Nov '11

You may recognise some of these images,  I did this shoot back in November and they are now featured on the new Mens Styling section of my website.
I owe a big thanks to End Clothing http://www.endclothing.co.uk/ for kindly letting me use some of their clothes....and model.

Noreen xx

As seen in Luxe

If you've picked up a copy of November/December's issue of Luxe Magazine you may have seen this featured in the Christmas supplement....

A little article about Noreen Elizabeth Styling.  You can view it in the magazine or in a few weeks time it should be featured online.  I'll post a link when it is.

Noreen xx

Tricks of a new trade

One of my first bridal clients was in fact the owner of a bridal boutique in Newcastle.  We met at a wedding fayre, where I was coordinating and styling the fashion show, and her dresses were chosen to feature in the show.  Since styling her and her fiancé for their wedding day, Yvonne and I have become good friends and we now work alongside each other in her boutique. 

My role began as in-house stylist.  Brides could book my styling services through the boutique and using the dresses in-store I would style them and their bridesmaids for the big day.  My role has developed since then and as well as continuing with the in-house styling, I’m now the creative consultant to the in-house dressmaking team, where I assist brides in designing their dream bridal gowns. 

Our brides are booked in for a consultation during which we discuss ideas for their dream dress.  We cover every single detail of the design, from neckline to fabric, embellishments to silhouette.  Many brides know exactly what they want from their dress and may only need a few design tweaks to ensure a flawless look, other brides require a little direction so where needed, I’ll offer my suggestions and design ideas.  I then interpret their ideas into a sketched design and specification and meet with the dressmakers to discuss how to make the design a reality.  As well as bridal gowns I also assist with designing bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride outfits and evening gowns too.

As a child I always wanted to be a fashion designer, it was my ultimate dream job, in fact recently I found one of my old sketch books!!  It’s a tad cringe-worthy (I was 11 years old) but if I’m feeling brave enough I might add a few images in the future.  

The entire process from initial consultation to final fitting fascinates me, especially the design and creative aspects of my role.  In the long run I hope to become involved in the dressmaking process too, so I can not only design a dress, but also make it.  I understand that’s going to take a hint of talent, a great deal of practice and many, many years to perfect, which is why I’ve already begun. 

Our in-house seamstress Betty is a wonderful lady; very kind, super talented and extremely quick witted.  Betty doesn’t know it yet but I’m determined to learn everything she knows about seamstress work and dressmaking.  In the past I've done my own alterations for vintage dresses or tops I've bought, so I'm not totally clueless to alteration work, but Betty's work is on a whole new level.  She’s been making her own dresses and clothes since she was 13 years old, now in her 50s, there is no job too big or tricky for her; despite her favourite English phrase being, “big job Cutey, big job”.  Cutey is her nickname for me.

Last Wednesday was my first day of seamstress work.  We have three brides getting married over the next week and a few alterations to be done in time for the final fittings, so I knew Betty would need a little assistance.  I called in early, switched the heaters on in the studio (if you’re reading this from the North East of England you’ll appreciate how cold it is right now), boiled the kettle and greeted Betty with a warm studio, a cup of tea and a very big smile.  I explained why I was there and she seemed happy enough for me to assist. 

My first job of the day was to remove the bones from the bodice of a dress so Betty could alter the bust line.  Betty instructs me where to cut then stands over me and watches.  After a minute she walks away and sits down in front of a sewing machine.  Inside I think this is a good sign, she must be confident enough with my skills to leave me to get on with it. 

She comes straight back over and stops me, takes the scissors out of my hand (gulp!) and hands me another pair.  They’re smaller and sharper, with a gold carved handle.  Betty shows me how they’ll be better for cutting the stitching out.  More nervous than before, I continue to cut the stitching.  The new scissors make it easier.

Next job was to remove the tulle underskirt from another dress.  I was there for the fitting for this bride and we decided there was too much volume in the skirt and we should remove a layer or two of the tulle.  Betty shows me where to cut the stitching, hands me back the scissors and leaves me again.  After a few minutes she comes back to check, pats me on the back and returns to her task of altering the dress of a pregnant bridesmaid.  She is building a panel in the side seams to give the bump a little more room and amazingly she’s managed to replicate the intricate pleating detail exactly…as I said, super talented! I’m in awe.

Tulle skirt removed and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself.  I show Betty my handiwork, she inspects it, heads into the studio and comes out with another dress.  Another good sign I feel.  This particular bridal gown she comes back with is one of my personal favourites.  Betty hangs it on the highest hook of the studio ceiling so the train doesn’t touch the ground.  She lifts up the first layer of lace to reveal another layer of lace and three layers of tulle.  Betty wants me to shorten the hems of the tulle and lace so they are the same length as the top layer which she had altered herself earlier in the week.  She gives me my instructions of where to cut and how.  I’m standing there excited but nervous, does she really think I'm ready to cut the hem of a bridal gown?  I turn to Betty and with a serious stare and a hint of a grin, I shake my head and jokingly sigh “big job Betty, big job”.  She rolls her head back laughing, hands me the scissors and returns to her sewing machine.  It looks like she’s serious.  I’m flattered she thinks I have the skills to actually do this and this drives me to make the first cut. 

I’m not going to tell you how long it took me to finish cutting the hem, let’s say a while, but I did a pretty good job of it and I even managed to take on a few more alteration jobs before the end of the day.  Betty showed me how to replace the zip from a dress a customer had brought in, we also offer an alterations service for non-bridal customers.  It was the zipper itself that was broken and Betty showed me how to judge which area was broken and then showed me how to replace the zipper without having to remove the zip altogether.  It was genius!

To finish off my day I had to open the hem of a mother of the bride’s jacket so Betty could add a trimming to it the following day…puh, piece of cake.  I finished just in time to sweep the floor of all the threads I’d unpicked and hems I’d cut throughout the day and Betty helps me with the tidying up.  She thanks me for my help before she leaves and I’m left alone in the studio feeling pretty chuffed with myself and proud of my days work.   

If you’re interested in finding out more about the bridal boutique visit www.eveandadam.co.uk or you can contact me via my e-mail noreen@noreen-elizabeth-styling.com

If anyone is a seamstress or tailor in-training I’d love to hear your stories about your first day of seamstress or tailor work.  Feel free to post in the comment box or e-mail the address above.

Noreen xx

Noreen-Elizabeth-Styling.com is .live

Fantastic news folks! My new website is up and running! A few tweaks needed but here's the link for you to get a sneak peek at how it's looking so far! http://www.noreen-elizabeth-styling.com/

Noreen xx

Sasha Part 2

My dear friend Sasha is featured in Manchester Evening News this week ...dress looks familiar ; )

       
Noreen xx

I'm very flattered... http://www.annavphotoblog.com/styling/

Noreen xx

Sasha

I was contacted back in September by a friend of mine in the music industry who was looking for us to work together on a project. 

For me it was a very exciting project and an opportunity I couldn’t turn down, but with our busy schedules it took until last weekend for us to finally get together and start working on it.  Here’s what it was all about….

Sasha is a singer and musician, originally from the North East, currently residing and gigging in Manchester.  In recent months she’s been contacted by record companies and now, as her big break is approaching she wants to define her onstage style and image as an artist.

I arrive in Manchester late Saturday afternoon and we get to work straight away starting with a Style Consultation to find out about the ‘artist image’ that Sasha wants and her current onstage style.

Described by her friends as a style chameleon, Sasha tells me she has never loved one style but loves elements of them all.  She describes to me her outfits and her joy for mixing and matching trends, colours and patterns. 

Overall Sasha has quite a relaxed look, wearing a mix of flats and heels, maxi skirts, cropped tops, hoodies, tees and miniskirts.  She is never over the top in her outfits but never boring either.  Her style is very much unique to her because of her colour and pattern choices and her preference for outfits with a little bit of sex appeal (we’re not talking Gaga in thongs, more Beyonce’s lady like tact for leaving it all to the imagination).

The one very unique twist to Sasha’s style is her passion for embracing her Indian roots.  She stresses that she realises she isn’t an Indian goddess and she doesn’t want to pretend to be an African queen, she simply wants to embrace her roots and not shy away from it or be embarrassed by it as is often done in the mainstream music industry.  We talk mhendi, bindis and her giant collection of ethnic, handmade jewellery she has built up over the years and insists on wearing for her everyday and onstage outfits. 

I note down everything we discuss as we go along and by the end I’m able to start creating a mood board of ideas.  The next step is to identify a colour palette for Sasha’s onstage wardrobe and also look at the most flattering types of clothes for Sasha, so I conduct a Body Shape Dressing and Colour Analysis on her.  These done, I know exactly the colours she should be wearing and the best styles of tops, skirts, dresses, trousers, etc. for her.  A few hours in and already her image as an artist is starting to take form.

Although Sasha is getting plenty of work gigging around the city, her budget for clothes isn’t going to stretch enough for her to purchase an entire new wardrobe of clothes, and because I’m keen to simply polish and perfect her style not overhaul it, I know there are plenty of pieces in Sasha’s wardrobe that we can use to start building up numerous onstage outfits.  So our next step is to do a little wardrobe styling.

As we rummage through Sasha’s wardrobe she starts to pull out the outfits she’s worn for gigs in the past, always a fan of dress-up Sasha pulls them on.  The outfits are stylish and practical but I know we can do better.  I want to see Sasha in a less relaxed tone and something more sophisticated, womanly and definitely something bolder with an ever-so-slight high fashion twist.

With the outfits on we start to swap and change pieces, a different skirt, add a new top or belt, put on heels instead of flats, add more of the ethnic jewellery and slowly but surely Sasha’s image starts to develop further. 

Sasha then shows me dresses that she’s bought, with the hope of wearing them onstage, but not yet found the shoes or accessories to wear with them.  My favourite piece is a cerise pink floor length chiffon dress, completely sheer with a high neck and low back.  We start to play around with a few ideas and in the end I have Sasha wearing a nude-coloured body con dress underneath the cerise floaty number with her multi-coloured feather earrings as necklaces.  A phrase I’m more than used to hearing now springs up, “I never would have thought of putting those together”, and as Sasha starts to dance around and sing along to the music in the background I know this is a style she is comfortable and confident in and will be practical enough for when she’s performing onstage. We manage to create a number of outfits from Sasha’s existing clothes and with our wardrobe styling complete we begin to plan our shopping day for the Sunday over a few glasses of wine.

After a chilled out morning we head to the shops in the afternoon with my list of ‘must-buys’ from the night before.  As I spend so much time shopping with clients I knew exactly which stores to go to in order the find the items on my list, so luckily we didn’t spend as much time trawling the shops as you’d expect.  We experiment with the fits, cuts and the colours I recommend from the Colour Analysis and Body Shape Dressing session the day before.  With a few no-no’s and some surprising must-haves we work our way through our selections, which take up three fitting rooms and by the end of the day we’ve picked up the key pieces that are going to pull the entire look together.  It’s a very successful shopping trip.

With a few gigs lined up for the coming weeks I leave Sasha with a list of outfits to wear for each one which include some of her existing pieces and new purchases.  Project complete!

As always, I took a few photos while we worked through our project and I’ve added them below.  If you’re interested in finding out more about Sasha and her music, and I seriously recommend you do, this is her YouTube page where she uploads new videos and recordings http://www.youtube.com/user/sashapannu

Noreen xx

Coming soon.....

I've been busy working on my new website which should be up and running in the coming weeks.  I styled a photo shoot especially for it so I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of what's to come...

Noreen xx

Oh to be this cool

Oh to be this cool! 

Erin Wasson from a shoot promoting her collection with Zadig & Voltaire on http://www.net-a-porter.com/
Sadly her staple of cool can't be bought, but here's a link to the dress that's available now  http://www.net-a-porter.com/product/176111

With such a dramatic statement at the back of the dress I wouldn't want the front to disappoint, so I'd wear a chunky necklace in silver to draw attention up top and maybe a cuff, or two, to match on the wrists.

Noreen xx

Jarvis

I’ve had a little bit of an obsession with Jarvis Cocker of late.  When Pulp hit the charts in the mid-1990s I was very much into my boy bands and didn’t pay much, if any attention to the likes of Pulp, Blur, Oasis and all the Brit Pop revolutionaries.  I never really listened to their music, I’d hear snippets on the radio but in no way did I appreciate what it was that they were doing or saying.  If I’m honest I was probably just too young, boy bands and their songs about love and loss were more fitting with me and I didn’t understand Pulp’s songs about ‘E’s and whizz’ or the lyrics of ‘Underwear’. 

However, (15 years later) I’ve revisited their music and now I get it.  I see why the lyrics were so important to Britain’s youth at that time and most importantly I now understand why everyone found Jarvis so sexy, this completely eluded me at the time - Kevin from the Backstreet Boys VS Jarvis, there was simply no competition!  Now, I don’t want this post to be about my crush on Jarvis, although it’s probably a little too late for that, nor is it about the music, it’s all about the man’s style.

Jarvis is geek chic at its best and what I love most about Jarvis’ style is that it’s so unique to him.  Put any man in a pair of bootcut corduroys, shirt and mismatching tie, colourful blazer and statement glasses and voila, instantly, recognisably Jarvis!

Since first coming onto the music scene, Jarvis hasn’t ventured far from this look.  It may have become a little smarter, but it’s always the same classic pieces, the pieces you might find a secondary school teacher wearing.  Everything has a retro edge, with a slightly modern element and it’s all pulled together with the Jarvis twist.  What is the Jarvis twist?  It could be the glasses, the shabby hair, the overgrown beard or the pout, but for me it’s the finer details. 

Things like his daring colour combinations; mixing mustard with grey, red cords with brown shirt, tie and jacket in various tones, patterned shirts with patterned blazers.  It’s also his shirt cuffs, how they peep out from under his blazer cuffs revealing about an inch or so, just a neat little way of showing off a splash of colour or detail in an outfit.  It’s also his accessories, he always wears a belt (why some men don’t I will never know) but it’s the type of belt he wears that's always unique to his style; it might have a giant buckle on it or a braided leather design.  It’s the way his trousers always look like they’re too long and how he always keeps his outfit looking neat by tucking in his shirt.  This is what I admire most about his style and I feel it’s these details that have kept him loyal to his style of the years.  As always, I’ve included a few images, none of which belong to me, they just perfectly demonstrate Jarvis’ style.

I felt I couldn't post this without adding a few songs too.  This is pretty much all I've been listening too over the past 2 weeks.

Noreen xx

Colour inspirations

Here are some pictures I've taken over the past year filled with colour inspirations.

Noreen xx