hilkat

After some time away, we're back and raring to go with brand new content, more fashion than you can shake a shoe at, and even exciting opportunities to buy. We just ask that you think of it like the build up to a sample sale - terribly exciting but worth waiting for. Please bare with us, and keep checking back!

When my other half and I arranged to go for dinner with my best friend and her husband, I thought (as I always do when we eat out), ‘aha! Dress up time!’ I debated on wearing my fringed 1920s-esque shift, but decided it was a little too dressy for Wednesday night white wine spritzers and steak. Instead I opted for my ultimate bargain zip skirt which I LOVE, and only cost me a teeny tiny £5. I dressed it up with stirrup leggings and shoe-boots, and then dressed it down again with an ‘I heart NY’ t-shirt from eBay. Upmarket casual at it’s best.

I also managed to coax the photographer round to the other side of the lens for once…

So after the helpful advice from The Fashion Spot, and looking through the summer collections, I decided to have a go at my own tie-dye extravaganza. I dyed everything I could find that was white, experimenting with colours and prints, and have now got a little bit of sewing to do (oh dear, really not good at sewing).

I decided to keep the dress a single colour print, as I quite liked the idea of red and white, and the print standing out and speaking for itself. The vest started out as a mens medium size plain white singlet from eBay (99p - bargain!) and I then used the same technique as the dress, but with two shades of red to create a more blurred pattern. I then added some studs to the shoulder, and I’d just like to take this opportunity to say thanks to Nik, who pointed me in the direction of the best studs on eBay.

There’s various other bits and pieces which are currently under construction which I’ll post as soon as I finish them. Different colours and all sorts. No guarantees on when they’ll be up though as I’m not exactly the best seamstress in the world….

When my friend and I went for coffee in the ninety degree heat the other day (yes…I’m wearing leggings… I just can’t show my legs in public) we couldn’t resist stopping by this poster in the travel agents window to take the latest My Style picture. It’s absolutely the closest I’m getting to a tropical beach this year.

The shirt-dress is from Zara, and although it looks really thick, it’s gloriously easy-breezy and was perfect for… errr… posing by palm tree pictures. The necklace is handmade from vintage beads and an old chain from Claire’s Accessories. DIY-tastic.

Since having my son, I’ve had to send all my old clothes to the charity shop because there’s simply no way you can squeeze a size 10/12 body into size 6/8 clothes, particularly with my extra few inches round the waist that flatly refuse to shift. It’s similar to trying to fit a square peg into a round hole - no matter how much you huff and puff it’s not going to fit. And even if it does, it’s going to look bloody silly. And so, I’ve been slowly shopping around the charity shops, eBay and high street stores to restock my severely depleted wardrobe. My old clothes were black, mixed with black and finished off with a bit of black, so I’ve siezed the chance to inject a bit of colour into my clothes, banning myself from buying anything darker than grey.

I’m obviously having a whale of a time, but this post is dedicated to the one item of clothing from my pre-baby days that still fits without cutting off my circulation. My wonderful, truly loved, peacock top. I was happier than a pig in muck when I managed to manoeuvre myself into it for a trip to the park the other day, so I took some celebratory pictures. Hurrah!

While posting feverishly on The Fashion Spot, thanks to one of the mods I stumbled across a thread on tie dying, or to use the Japanese name, Shibori. It’s basically the art of creating prints and images on fabric through stitching, tying and twisting, and can range from basic circle designs and dipped edges through to more complex patterns and markings.

I’ve been thinking for a while it’s time for a bit of home-dye experimentation, and I particularly love all the tie-dye clothes that are around at the moment, so I was rather ecstatic to find the photographs of projects by other people - I always find The Fashion Spot great for inspiration and ideas, and it’s great to see what you can achieve with a bit of dye and some thread, or a particular folding technique.

The SS09 collections were absolutely brimming with tie-dye clothes, from dresses at Anna Sui to sweaters at Michael Kors, all the way through to these pretty amazing boots by Brian Atwood.

I also stumbled across these wonderful tie-dyed jeans from J Brand and Current/Elliot which have given me even more ideas… cheapo jeans from Asda or Matalan + the scissors and some hand dye = a great big mess probably, but a great deal of fun on the way.

I don’t want my tie-dying experiences to be the old ’string-around-some-fabric’ method, the same that you do in year six or seven at school, marvelling at how you can leave an un-dyed mark where the ties were. I want the clashing, popping colours of Matthew Williamson’s ruffled cocktail dress and Anna Sui’s multicoloured silk print dress, combined with the totally random pattern of her halter dress. I want the end result to be a bright, cheerful garment which makes people say, “where did you get that top?

Watch this space….

What can I get for ten dollar? Some bloody good music and a whole lot of style, apparently. I recently rediscovered M.I.A’s album ‘Arular’ (nothing better than finding old favourites) and was looking at her website on the internet, when I realised I really really like the way she dresses. It’s so fierce and in-your-face-bold, no print is too loud, no colour too bright, no fabric too eyecatching - she’s utterly fearless in her sartorial choices, and inspires me to be more daring with my clothes.

This is such a simple outfit, but I love it. The bright white trainers really make the orange of the dress pop, and are a totally unexpected finish.

The printed cropped trousers and matching sheer shirt are simply not something mere mortals could get away with, but M.I.A not only completely rocks it but also steps up with matching gloves.

I love a good bit of fabric detail on clothes, and this cut-out ribbon effect on the top which is continued through the slashed leggings is fabulous. The  pale gold and orange colours work really well together too.

Brilliant spiderweb detail leggings, finished off with classic white Converse (I’ve got those!).

M.I.A does casual with a nice subtle fern-print shirt and another pair of trainers - even her down-time outfits have got a certain edge to them.

Not everyone could make 80’s puff sleeve gold lame work, but of course she manages it with a whole lot of attitude and matching jewellery. Metal-tastic.

A retro eighties tight lycra t-shirt paired with rolled up hotpants makes for an eyecatching stage outfit.

I love the bright, clashing colours in this outfit, and the print on the leggings is brilliant.

Parrots on the boobs? Not a look everyone could get away with, but she manages it yet again!

Even when she was pregnant with her son, Mathangi, or Maya as she’s known off-stage, still kept her unique style going, favouring stretchy dresses and tops to make the most of her growing bump.

I feel like a total cop out in the writing department of this post, but there wasn’t really a lot I could say about each outfit - I just love the way she combines prints and colours in most of her clothes, and wears it with a whole load of ‘yeah, I don’t match - so what?’ attitude. I hate the whole shoes-bag-hair accessories-nail polish-top matchy-matchy way of wearing things (one or two items at the most at the same time, surely?), which I think is why I like her style so much.

At the moment I am well and truly into colours, prints and embellishments, which is why I’m adoring my fleuro zebra print tunic. The trainers are from New Look, and I’ve been waiting for them to come into my local store FOREVER, but I eventually gave up and went to a bigger branch with a friend. And there they were, just sitting on the shelf, waiting for me to take them home. I can feel it’s the start of a beautiful friendship…

No, I haven’t had some sort of extreme haircut - it was the morning after the night of the Other Half’s birthday dinner (there was wine…ugghhh…) and I was in dire need of comfort clothes for my coffee date. I thought this was the ideal time to bring the boyfriend fit jeans back for a second outing and show my Zara fringed dress to the world…

Pardon the rather blank-eyed expression, I do actually have pupils, but was watching my son bashing his buggy toy just out of shot. Hence the sideways glancing.

The plan for Hilkat was always as well as being somewhere to blog and write feature pieces, to be a platform to sell handmade goodies and vintage finds (those that didn’t end up in my cupboard anyway). So I thought I’d post pictures of jewellery that I’ve finally finished - I’m not some sort of expert jeweler, I just take apart old things and rework them into new. Some of the pieces are a little… controversial, such as the bracelet based necklace, but if you don’t try then you never know. I really like the chain interspersed with chunky beads, and am definitely going to be working with chains and metal a lot more before the shop is up and running. Anyway, here’s the results so far….

And I suppose you could always wear it all at once….

So since having my son, I’ve developed a loathing for heels. I adore looking at them, and have a couple of pairs for dinner dates and so on, but the skyscraper heels that adorn every shop wall are just not practical, sad but true. I’m currently having a love affair with flats - not a total disaster as I’m 5ft 7″ anyway, so height is on my side - and I’m trying to source the best, most creative looking flats around. I definitely do not want to be stuck in ballet pumps every single day, so I was quite happy when I found these floral beauties from Topshop for a bargain £22.

I also found something rather marvelous in Aldo when I went shopping with my friend, and am sad to say I left them on the shelf. But now I can’t get these cage shoes out of my head - I think a trip back to the shop is on the cards…..