California Waiting

photo from: Old Vogue magazine.

I don't know whether it's the wonderful weather or the back to back OC I've been watching (I know, I know the OC? 'Tis like vintage TV program now... when the OC first came out, I was a teenager back at college getting to grips with essays pattern cutting, and erm... dating ha!).
I can feel myself about to ramble *note to self must not ramble *.
Where was I? Oh yep, so glorious signs of summer and midnight binge outs on 'vintage' OC whilst consuming enormous bowls of fruit salad (I'm addicted to mango) has me dreaming about an exciting adventure. Road trip style, via route 66 blasting out some tunes (me thinks Phantom Planet 'California') and making a camp fire under the glittering stars.
All though this is all simply a fantasy and there for not reality: what do I pack into that red leather suitcase of mine, when roaming across America?


Kicking off the road trip, with this bold red blazer, from next £28




Plaid over sized tunic shouts out: 'I'm- a - going- road tripp'in! From urbanoutfitters, £45




Adding a mythical touch to the casual threads, unicorn crystal print vest top, from same as above, £38



Hey now, I can never have too many T-shirts besides I'm packing for at least two months! Mick tee, from urbanoutfitters.co.uk, £38.



I've opted for a mini skirt, with the hope of achieving some much needed colour to my very pale complexion (I'm always white as a ghost) leopard print mini from, same as above, £25




Trotting around the California desert, in these killer heels may provide difficulties, but to hell with practical... Somebody informed flesh tone shoes, lengthens those pins: Great, pass me two pairs, please! from urbanoutfitters, £50.




Best to pack some flat's huh? Just in case, not to mention perfecto for those beach partys, from same as above£65




I adore these shades so very much, it's unbelievable! from urbanoutfitters, £15



Last but not least I require a large bag, to keep safe the map, sun block and scrap book. Nautical heart bow bag from, moonsoon, £28 aahh it has miniature poms, poms- joy.


Oops I almost forgot to squeeze in my snazzy accessories, you know for all those beach party's of course! Necklace from, urbanoutfitters £16



Studded metal cuff from, same as above, £16


Right I'm good to go! I'll send you a postcard, from my imagination that is.

Got Money In My Pocket

So to my surprise I had some lose change hanging around at the bottom of my bag, only when I say change I mean change: just a few pennies. Or eight quid to be mathematically exact.
Hmm what to do with these dusty pennies, burning a hole ( well almost) in my pocket, the sensible half of moi advised me to use the discovered £8 wisely 'you know very well you need to purchase sewing machine bit's and bob's: and now your able to' where's the not so sensible and fashion hungry sinner within me, had a whole different idea on how to spend that small amount of change, 'To hell with what your sewing machine requires! Consider your own needs, you've been working flat out, have you not? Were you not desperate for a purse friendly frock...discounts are only a click away...go on browse, get lost in the sales'.
Aaaahh a conflict playing out in my confused and static like head!
The sinner did make perfect sense though, and God gave us the likes of supermarkets for a reason (noooo not food): when you need a super, dead cheap fashion fix.



How I was not expecting to find this delightful, Basso&Brooke-esque style lipstick print dress...right up my street and down the road. It was quite convenient and handy picking up this little supermarket retro gem of a frock, because I had £1 to spare from the £7 price tag, sweet. Literally sweet: I grabbed a packet of strawberry laces on my way out.
Now how on earth do you beat that? You can't!
This cries out for my black tights, leather jacket and me 'distressed' (or rather worn out) all star's, oh how I cannot contain the delight!

Much love to the supermarket's...XxX

Treasure Chest At It's Best

A bit of twinkle and sparkle goes a long way, and if I were a rich girl (la-la-la I'm listening to the song rich girl... Bet your delighted you can't hear me sing along aren't you? Trust me if not, you should be!) If I were a loaded very, very wealthy girl with many paper notes to my selfish disposal I'd firstly smell it (not odd at all) in the vain attempt to capture and freeze the special moment, in my mind for all eternity. Once I've sucked up and inhaled the odour of cash, I'd immediately stock up and pig out big time on fancy jewels...jewels that are so delicious you could eat them ( possibly a little hazardous and foolish. Not to mention it would play havoc with the digestive system)
These following pieces of marvelous and unique 'grown up' jewel's I would stuff in to my pretend treasure chest: as all have great imagination, craft and soul poured in to them... and if I'm ever going to own a treasure chest, it must have soul! Why? Well a necklace could be created out of pearl's, diamonds and pure gold, but as far as I'm concerned, if that necklace is lacking soul and most importantly an artistic touch: it won't shine all that bright. Despite all those diamonds it may possess.


Goti Silver feather bracelet.







Haberdash house circus animal's










My little drama silver pierrot







zoe and morgan elephant silver necklace





miss bibi chair

contrary necklace





ericaweiner necklace...stunning and my favourite.


... best get digging: I've a lot of treasure to hide!

Dreams, Baking & Brandon Flowers...

I've been 'tagged' by the very snazzy Mo, a girl with serious killer fashion taste!
So here it goes... me revealing all about, me.

What is your current obsession?
Can I alter that to current obsession's? Illustration/fashion designing, baking (don't laugh) playing my guitar/ drums, pesto and day dreaming, a lot.

What is your weirdest obsession?
Um, probably baking! Reason being I literally woke up one day and thought 'hell I want to begin churning some cakes out' when I had absolutely no interest in baking before. So where this desire of mine to bake sprung from, I've no idea!

What are you wearing today?
...a long slouchy rainbow-esque triangle print T-shirt, with some electric blue tights and black buckle boots. Oh and I've got my usual strand of fabric tied around my head, the norm.

What's for dinner today?
I don't know, most likely a vegetarian dish of some sort: as I'm a grass eater only, or vegetarian.
My dream: Brandon, fix your own thread's.
What did you dream of last night?
Jeez I always, always have dreams...last night was a especially bonkers one I tell you. It involved Brandon Flowers from The killers ( for some unknown reason?) and just to edit and cut a long dream short: he wanted me to sew on some sequins to his ensemble which was falling apart. He had some impressive outfit on too, the dream was so realistic and random.

Why is today special?
The sunshine is out, a real novelty in England and I'm loving it!

What would you like to learn to do?
Grow wings and fly. I'm positive scientist's tucked away in some dark underground lab surrounded by lava lamps are working on it right now.

Just bought: yum milka bar.
What's the last thing you bought?
This delicious chocolate bar, my fave!

What are you listening to right now?
'Velvet' by a band called TheBigPink, stunning and fierce.

My celeb crush: This chef is on fire!
Who's your celeb crush?
Now I know perhaps I should be attracted to an actor or rock star etc, but I fancy this celeb chef Marco Pierre White ( alright so he may be just a 'ickle bit older then me).
There is just something so hot about him! My best friend informs me it's plain wrong to find Marco Pierre White attractive, I chose to ignore her.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
Like so many other 'gal's across the world breaking in to the fickle frenzied fashion/ art's industry, it's like being on a treadmill: hard work and you don't get anywhere very fucking fast (sorry my younger blog readers for the naughty words: don't repeat it).

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
...Shes a very talented and snazzy girl, 'tis fact.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Oh San Francisco, definitely. It's my dream of all dreams.

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
A one way ticket to San Francisco!

What would you like to get rid of?
This sound's so predictable and corny...but war, I'm a great believer in war is ultimately useless and there is no reason for it: as at the end of the day, no one really wins.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
The moon, I'd love to step on the moon and I've no fear of heights so...yeah damn it, I'll go to the frigging moon please.

If you could meet anyone in the whole world, who would it be and why?
Charley Boorman who gets involved with some mighty daring and exciting expeditions across the world often on a motorbike, hence why I'd like to meet him.
I'd also really be very glad to have a chat and cup of tea with fashion designers Basso & Brooke who I admire like there is no tomorrow.

What's your favorite type of music?
Well I adore many genres of music, my CD collection is a colourful one. Though I'm very in to my rock & roll, which I suppose is in my DNA ( my folks were into rock & roll, big time back in the day). Just quickly I'm a fan of Willy mason, Empire of the sun, No Doubt, Incubus (old stuff more so) BRMC, Cage the elephant, Kings of leon, M.IA, TheBigPink, Hockey, MGMT, Rolling stones, Be your own Pet and it continues...

What's the favorite piece of clothing in your closet?
I've got this long black dress with a star print all over it, which I got for my birthday (as I'm fascinated by stars) about two years ago... I don't know what label it is and I don't care either, because it's stunning and 'designer labels' are so irrelevant anyway's.

What is your dream job?
Well it has to be fashion related as I'm passionate about fashion and I've dedicated such a large chunk of my life to it (though so far to no avail, still no fashion job. *Sob*) I studied fashion at school, college and university so it would be ideal to achieve some sort of role within the fashion world. After so many years of trying (violin's please). It would be wonderful to contribute towards a fashion publication, anywhere in the world...if your a fashion editor reading this. Please do not hesitate, to drop me a email ;)

If you had a £100 now what would you spend it on?
My family, with out a doubt.

Fashion pet peeve?
The negative influence of which fashion media has on young girls and guy's, there should be a limit to air brushing images. As many magazines DO play a part in complex eating disorders, and surely it is time for them to take some responsibility. Rant over.

I like your style: Gwen
Do you admire anyones style?
Yes I do...Gwen's (when in No doubt) she has been my style inspiration way before I was even a teenager. When I played drums in band I so ripped her off, big time. Do not be fooled though, as I never did resemble her, not even one tiny bit to my dismay, ha ha! I tried.

Describe your personal style
My style anything goes...does that cover it? I find myself influenced by music. That does sound odd, but it really does depend on what exactly it is I'm listening to when getting dressed.

Your two embarrassing confession's, please!
I talk to my sewing machine and I only ever fancy cleaver men!

Describe yourself using four words...
passionate, loyal, determined, creative creature (OK that' s five word's, I'm a cheat!).

One day I'm going to invent...
Photographs you can actually step into, tripppppyyyy.
My current wardrobe wish

Your wardrobe wish right this minute is...
This urban outfitters 1940's vintage style feather, lace hairband.

To all who follow prettyneons...you've just been tagged!

The rules (which may be wrong):
*Answer the questions above
*Throw in some of your own questions too
*Tag other's

...Have fun x

Paint It Black

Firstly as you've probably already predicted by my post title: I'm getting my jig on to some very vintage Rolling Stones (I'm lucky as my Dad has a large collection of mighty impressive Stones tunes, originals too. He was, or still is a hardcore Rolling Stones fan).
I'm having a dizzy day creativity wise, as I'm really on a roll at the moment (touch wood it shall remain so) got not one but two sewing machines out and well, I'm getting my hands dirty whilst churning out various prints (OK so not exactly 'churning' for this would indicate printing is a breeze: and it bloody well isn't. Still I heart it, a lot!) hence I suppose why this post is short but sweet.
See, I'm a one man band, so at times one area of creativity requires more attention than the other, and to day all my energy is purely focused on my fashion and accessory designs: as after all I am a designer, if indeed a struggling one!

Anyway seeing as today my style is a combo of lazy Sunday forward slash, kick back Goth. I'm dedicating this quick post to classic black (one or two of these items I have) all from axparis.co.uk .

This knit dress I own: I like to team it with distressed tights and my trusty all stars or ankle boots either does it.

Too Stuck Up To Strut Select

If I mention Select, it conjures up many grotesque visuals for some very fashion conscious girls.
Images such 'chavs' 'sluts' 'tacky townies' or simply 'wrong', I wish I was only assuming such descriptive words for poor under stated Select, only 'tis fact. How do I know such knowledge? Easy I paid a visit to my local shopping town and approached various fashion addict girls to ask whether Select is a fashion go zone or whether they avoid it at all costs and if so what exactly were their reasons? I shall revisit this burning question shortly.

My town has many high flying and familiar retail signs paraded all organized in a nice tidy row, with Riverisland nextdoor to Topshop, Zara close to Next and so on. Opposite and slightly down the road of these popular fashion stores are the 'low life's' (as one fellow fashion fan informed me) of the fashion retail outlets, 'low life's' such as QS (quality seconds) TKmax, Baytrading and Select.
Yep all of the latter are bargain fashion shops cheap as chips frocks and plastic accessories, fill up your stylish bag with dozens of low priced items, fashion items of which have no famous faces flying their penny saving yet fashionable flag. Sadly this seems to be the key reason to as why fashion lovers reject Select (now apologies for sounding very 'my survey says...') eight out of ten girls said they prefer to receive their fashion fix at fashion giants such as Topshop, H&M and Newlook due to the garments being sported by numerous famous models, pop stars, presenters etc, etc splashed across their gigantic windows.
Tragic isn't it?

Obviously I'm not fashion naive I'm aware famous folk influence our wardrobe decisions( hence why fashion retail groups are eager to snap them up in the first place). What I failed to observe is to what extent, are we really that concerned and heavily influenced by a few recognized high profile people? Who of which probably only associate with said labels when required to plug, and soon after ditch and parade around in high end fashion items.
Apparently a huge percentage of girls would be willing and even 'desperate' to line up and 'camp outside' Peacocks or Select if either Kate, Lady Ga Ga, Alexa or one of the Olsen's ever appeared upon the shop windows display, 'Oh yeah, definitely I'd be there in a split second with my credit card at the ready, man I'd even sign up for a store card' excitingly revealed one girl.

So this may be very ambitious of me, however here is my attempt into convincing even converting some posh fashion consumers in to at least stepping through those 'vile' doors (I quote random girl standing in the line at H&M) over at Select.
You may be pleasantly surprised by one or two gem's (and if you've not the courage or are indeed just a bit too embarrassed to be seen dead entering Select just click and shop online).

Is it not time to bridge those obvious and blatant fashion gap's? There need not be shame in 'poor clothes' (once again I quote fashion snob).

All photos from:www.Selectfashion.co.uk

The Rolling Stones Denim & Me

So not too long ago I was trying to reach some kind of rational denim conclusion to as why I often avoid jeans and have a odd phobia towards the blue stuff in general (I've never had denim lurking any where in my wardrobe- ever!) well I'm proud to announce I've been converted, and can now accept the versatile brilliance which is denim.
I had two fantastic helpful sources one being miss daisychain (who could give a certain 'famous' TV stylist a run for his money, I tell you) who guided me through this difficult denim drama, with her valid advice on purchasing some well fitted jeans (cheers hun!). I shall now run to you in times of a fashion crisis...if you don't mind? Ha!
The second source, was more of an fashion reference and pure indulgence too...

all photos from: The Rolling Stones unseen archive

...I think it's safe to say The Stones were partial to a bit of denim in the classic flare cut of course: hence my decision to buy a pair of enormous high waist, light blue denim flares. I did attempt to seek out some similar to Mick Jagger's diamond shaped patch work flares (as seen above) but I'm afraid to no avail. Oh jeez did I receive some amusing feedback from numerous shop assistants, baffled to as why I was so stubborn on only trying on and purchasing patch work denim flares...I settled for plain flares ( DIY is my best friend after all).
Hmm I predict the shop assistants were more then ecstatic to see the back of me! With one assistant in New Look rambling on about how 'denim shorts are far more desirable' with celeb's such as Alexa Chung favouring them over other forms of denim...um yes and she just so happens to be the face of New look at the moment.
So Chung isn't my fashion inspiration 'tis Mick Jagger now officially my denim idol...?




At last the tales of denim have reached the end: wow denim sure has proved to be a whole different ball game and very unfamiliar fashion territory, how ever I've a new found appreciation for denim and acknowledged how it need not be dull as previously thought.
Though I will never bring myself to banish skirts and frocks forever, fat chance in fact.
I do vow to add a touch of denim into my out fit when ever I crave a change and a break from the normal, mundane ensembles of mine...if only to shake things up and not become too predictable too often!
I've a pair of straight peg jeans to experiment with yet: more silly snap shots to be displayed right here in the near future ;)

Pretty Dark Side

Skulls, I happen to really find them attractive. A bit odd ball of me? Perhaps. There will always be a place in my heart for skulls and other witchcraft wonders, in fact I've lost all count of how many skulls I've managed to consume since I was about fifteen years old. Can I please stress I'm not talking about real, hollow skulls! I'm describing the Gothic accessory variety, of which many of my friends abandoned once they ditched the whole rock & roll forward slash 'emo' phase.
I however never once intended to ever reject my rock roots, so to speak. Alas skulls and dice etc shall remain a permanent fixture in my mashed up psychedelic, feminine, grunge, punk rock cocktail of an wardrobe. After all skulls are a rather traditional symbol related to the 'dark side': rock music...Well that is until Claire O decided to mix things up!

Never has the frightening and creepy skull been so, well girly and altogether elegant since self taught jewellery designer Claire O combined Peruvian skull beads with shades of coral pink desirable and simply shinny swarovski crystals. Claire's gems are inspired by both surrealism and structure. Other influences such as tribalism and Punk are obvious and evident in the form of skull charm bracelets, brooches and necklaces, many decorated with sterling silver fairytale like feathers and butterfly wings, freshwater pearl clusters and crystal hearts.

Claire O's dark jewel embellished and colourful skulls are appealing not only for fierce rock chic's who's haunt and hang out is the blacked out mosh pit, but also all those ultra girly girls with bright pink flowers in their hair who prefer parading around in frilly frocks on the sunny sea side.
Yep skulls are finally coming out to play!
All photos from: ClaireO

visit: www.claireo.co.uk