Shopping Spotlight: This Charming Girl

Based in Glasgow but sold in France, Greece and Spain as well as the UK, This Charming Girl offers a range of both vintage and contemporary jewellery at reasonable prices. Founded by designer Jacqueline Currie in 2006 it gives its consumers not just a piece of jewellery but a beautiful, diverse talking point with a unique design and materials from over 100 different sources.  The website shop showcases many beautiful necklaces, brooches and earrings, some of which are exclusive with very limited stock. If you want something individual and different get yourself online and bag yourself a beauty of your own. Below is Detours top three pieces from the collection for you to drool over…
 

Among the treasure trove of the online shop are these Decadence Earrings. A Charming exclusive they cost a mere £9.50. Made from from rare vintage pieces they are simply show stopping!

With bows as big as ever, this bow necklace is bang on trend. Made of antique brass they are an absolute steal at £9.
 

And for those of you waiting in anticipation for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland film… I present the “I’m Late, I’m Late” brooch. Made from antique gold and priced at a meager £8.50 this is one piece to snap up before its sold out!!

More Fashion Fun

There is feeling of excitement and anticipation in Newcastle this week. Tuesday the 16th of February marks the opening of St. Andrews Way, Eldon Square, bursting with new shops and endless fashion possibilities.

Anyone who has been in town the last couple of days will have noticed something different. The lack of Topshop, New Look, Republic, River Island, Miss Selfridge, All Saints and Muse enticing us t buy lots of pretty things. This is because Eldon Square is having a re-vamp and it promises even more shops to spend your well-earned money in. New Look, River Island and Topshop are going to be flagship stores, which are the second biggest stores after those on Oxford Street. The latter - Topshop - will now have three floors! I don’t know about you, but I’m very excited about this. After recently visiting the Oxford branch, I had mentally spent hundreds of pounds in the vintage and brand section. Although I still can’t afford my dream wish list, I can now purchase a few of my favourites without having to travel to London to do so.

Another positive addition to Eldon Square is the opening of the four floor Debenhams, with floors dedicated to menswear, make-up, shoes and accessories, womenswear, childrenswear and home products. Also joining the St. Andrews Way gang are Superdry, Paperchase, Tesco Metro, Oasis, Dorothy Perkins and Schuh. The stores are holding events during the week, including make-overs, being snapped by fashion’s favourite blogger and stylist Jackie Dixon, gift cards, competitions and music talent. Throughout Eldon Square, the “Cook, Eat and Enjoy” festival is taking place all week. A health and beauty village will be running from the 18th to the 20th February, providing mini make-overs, style and beauty advice, samples from retailers like Boots, Fenwicks, Debenhams and John Lewis. You can look perfect and dazzling, especially if you want to be scouted by talent scouts looking for this year’s Miss Newcastle 2010. Dress to impress this week!

The main event though will be happening this Tuesday at 10.30am where the party begins, with cirus performers, street dancers, acrobats and stilt walkers.

To celebrate this new venture, I have included some of my favourite picks from some of the stores.

To chanel the girlie, feminine look of spring here are a few of my top choices in Topshop:

Or if you want to continue the Parisian look:

Another must-have this season are the floral bustier tops or bralets which to me remind me of more Victorian times, although a more riskier stance with stomachs on display. I’m going to team mine with wavy hair, high waisted shorts and some new flip flops. I like these two from Topshop and Miss Selfridge:

Miss Selfridge has a funky take this season, from polka dots to paint splattered dresses. Considering the former Newcastle branch was tiny, I am interested in seeing what the new store has to offer. My favourites that I’ve spied online are still very girlie but different:

When it comes to accessorises both shops have a lot to offer with kitsch necklaces, like this Topshop Key To My Heart one, I already have the 4 chained Once Upon A Time one as well as a gold looking glass necklace which everyone thinks is Disney couture, but only £8! Their watch ring is another fashion staple I’ve seen in every store recently. What with watches on necklaces, bracelets and now rings, how can we ever use the excuse of being late?! Miss Selfridge have caught on to the French trend with their own “Oui” and “Non” earrings as well as offering a different take on charms, with a watch bracelet.

The Clothes Show Live: Vintage Fashion

With many of the High Street stores taking inspiration from vintage fashion for new collections, it was refreshing to see a great mix of vintage and charity shop stalls at The Clothes Show Live. Within the main arena there was Anita’s Vintage Fashion Fair, a market style collection of the best of London’s vintage stores. With the prices being just as reasonable as the Hight Street for a one-off piece of history, it was easy to see why this area was so popular. I myself managed to bag a bargain of a 1960’s vintage vanity case, complete with the original mirror and containers, all for just £22.

However it wasn’t just the Vintage Fashion Fair causing waves at Clothes Show Live. As the recession hits further, a great deal of us have come out in support of charity shop fashion, so it was refreshing to see a promisingly busy Oxfam stall. A stalwart on the fashion scene, with the Oxfam Originals collection and collaborations with designers such as Henry Holland and Christopher Kane, it has always been a place of inspiration to me. This boom in popularity may make it harder for you to find that amazing piece, but I lucked out again with a vintage nautical print neck scarf for only £3, very similar to one that was in Topshop last season for £22.

This just goes to show that no matter where you look there are bargains to be had, and you never know what you could find amongst the clutter in your nearest Oxfam or British Heart Foundation Shop, so all that’s left for me to do is to urge you to get scouring now!

Quite a Spectacle

Last week Keira Knightley was spotted wearing these black rimmed Geek-Goddess glasses, which finish her ensemble just nicely.

Putting on a pair of glasses, as if they were a pair of shoes, to finish off an outfit is a great idea, and having more than one pair to wear is an even better idea - it means you can create a multitude of outfits.

If you’re going to take a leaf from the Keira book, then here are the top five frames (in no order).

Want to work the ‘Geek Chic’ look quietly? Then try Red or Dead 35. The shape of the frame will be flattering on most faces; they come in either brown or black and are the pinnacleof today’s take on Geek eye wear. (£125 from Specsavers)

Not for the faint-hearted, but certainly for the enthusiast. Catrina, from Specsavers, are a well and truly vintage frame. These frames will work well with an eclectic charity shop look. (£75)

Delve further into the world of ‘ True Geek’ with these Kester frames. More splendid than gross, Uma Thurman works frames almost identical to these. (£25 from Specsavers)

Modern Style, from Oakley at Vision Express, are a happy medium between Outrageously Geek and New-age-Geek. They would work really well with any outfit both geek and none-geek. (£140)

You would be silly to turn these beauties down. A full plastic frame from Burberry at Vision Express. These little spectacles are a statement on the tip of a nose. They’re the ultimate “look at me looking at you” glasses. (£179)

There is no excuse now, try working glasses into your everyday outfits - it just adds another level of excitement, interchangeability and interest.