Unlikely Style Icons: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Dress | borrowed from Helen's sister
Shirt | Primark
Shoes | Office
Belt | Dorothy Perkins
Collar Clips | Kitsch Kitty




Each month I look forward to the Unlikely Style Icons feature in Company magazine and it has inspired us to have a go at our own. They choose something you wouldn't immediately associate with fashion trends and use it as inspiration for a look. It's not intended to be a costume, just a theme for a look. Normally Company use this as a wishlist, but we decided to put together a whole look each.

Helen chose this childhood favourite 1980's TV show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (or for us delicate Brits, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles).
Helen chose a turtle (look out for her post on Friday), so I had the job of tackling the telelvision reporter, April O'Neil. As a child, I always wondered why a news woman wore hideous yellow utility overalls but as an adult, I realise that the skin tight jump suit is a lot sexier than I remember!



Steering away from this, I decided on tackling the block yellow colour and turning into a girlier (and more me) dress. I paired it with a blouse to keep the collar shape and make the look modern.
The white boots weren't a problem at all- I'm always looking for an excuse to get my favourite Office shoes out. The glitter teeth collar clips are just the little touch of me in this look. They are the fabulous Kitsch Kitty ones from my Spring wish list.

To get a real TMNT feel, we shot this week's photographs at the derelict Cockenzie power station in East Lothian. It's next to the sea and very windy but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it was coal- powered, not nuclear, so we didn't gain any super powers ourselves but we did get a craving for pizza afterwards so that pretty much makes us ninja turtles, right?



This was a really fun project so we are thinking about rolling it out again. I've already chosen my unlikely Style Icons so look out for the posts soon.
Do you have any unlikely style icons?

Styled by Kimberley: Pretty Pastels

Jacket | New Look
Top | Primark
Jeans | Topshop
Shoes | Primark
Necklace | R U Boutique
Diamond Ring | Made by Helen (along with my actual diamond wedding set)

Spring is here and I am celebrating by swapping out monochrome for a pastel explosion.
Although I am excited for colour, I am finding it very difficult to swap out my black blazer for a white one. This has been a good kick start though. As Helen mentioned on Wednesday, we were invited by Style Fruits to join her Pastel Me Pretty Spring Style competition. There are a lot of great outfits to get you inspired for sorbet shades. You can vote for your favourite here.

Speaking of, I don't think this look is my favourite. This is the first time I've worn this quilted t shirt. I've seen them everywhere but I don't really think it works on a boobilicious curvy lady like myself. The pink jeans I purchased last summer and only wore them a couple of times (including my awesome polkadot look). Bright trousers are like a beacon for my thighs. I also find Topshop jeans a little.. how do I put it... *roomy* in the zip area... I don't need a bulge there thanks, Toppers! Think I might not wear these again.

I've kept the look clean with the fitted white crop jacket and styled it with my super cute leather bib from R U Boutique, as seen on my Spring Wishlist back in March. I love it!

On yet another windy windy day my cutesy 90's side ponytail was swishing around all over the place. It was fun... for about ten minutes. Now it's making me contemplate cutting my hair short again. My wedding's out the way, so I don't need it long any more. I've been looking at old photos of my old hairstyles, mostly long bobs. Or the 'pob', but before VB claimed it as her look. Or perhaps I'll get my fringe cut again. A big chunky pony fringe? Or a sweeping side one? I've had too many hairstyles and it leaves me with too many decisions!

In the meantime, it's back to hair swishing for me, while I still can!

Styled by Helen: Pretty Pastels

Shirt | Monki
Blazer | Primark
Dress worn as a skirt | Borrowed from my sister
Shoes | Clarks
Necklace | Karen Mabon

Pastels are pretty much perfect for spring. They're light and dainty and instantly make me think of ice cream. I don't own a lot of these more subtle hues, I'm usually drawn to bold colours or a strong black and white contrast, but I am definitely looking to increase my pastel quota this spring with some pretty ice cream shades.




We were emailed by the folks over at Style Fruits and invited to enter their Pastel Me Pretty Spring Styling competition. I do love a challenge so I hunted out anything vaguely pastel from my wardrobe, as well as begging, borrowing and eventuality stealing this dress from my sister, to create this little outfit. As you can see it's a mint choc chip, strawberry and lemon sorbet sundae mix. Not the best combination for eating but I think it works pretty well when worn.

If you like my ensemble it would be super lovely if you gave me a wee vote and I may just win some much needed pastel sweetness for my wardrobe.




Will you be rocking some pastels this spring? 

What Helen Wore: for Grassmarket Adventures

Blazer | Borrowed from Kimberley
Cardigan | Primark
Tshirt | River Island
Skirt | Charity Shop
Shoes | H&M
Necklace | Tatty Devine
Ring | Made by me

I hadn't been through to Edinburgh for a while so it was great to take a trip to the capital and catch up with my Wardrobe Conversations other half. It was also a good chance to visit one of my favourite areas - the Grassmarket. It is choc-a-bloc with cute wee shops and great places to eat and drink. As Kim mentioned, we spent rather a lot of time in the adorable Mary's Milk Bar and also spent a fair bit of our afternoon perusing the shops. I managed to pick up a few birthday presents from the fabulous Black Box and Hannah Zakari and also treated myself to a copy of Betty Magazine from Analogue Books.



This is what I wore for our Grassmarket adventures. I recently nabbed this skirt from a local charity shop. I'm not to sure about the length, as I'm a bit of a short arse, but I couldn't resist the colour.  I know by my age I should have shopping for my shape down to a fine art but I am so easily swayed by other factors. I mean a skirt that matches your hair, who can resist that?

  

What Kimberley Wore: to Mary's Milk Bar

Blouse | Primark
Jumper | Warehouse
Jacket | Warehouse
Trousers | Topshop
Shoes | borrowed from my sister
Bag | Bailley & Quinn
Necklace | Forever 21
Brooch | Marie Rose Creations


Just when we thought Spring had arrived, Saturday was miserable, over cast and wiiiiiiindy. I wrapped up in sensible monochrome layers.

I have been meaning to visit Mary's Milk Bar for weeks so, as Helen was visiting, it was at the top of my list of things to do. Our weekends together are mostly scheduled around eating.
It is the most adorable little retro gelato and chocolate bar. We stopped by for some gelato. As always, I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted. This time I didn't have to copy Helen's choice though, as the ladies had great recommendations, let me sample and were so patient. In return I accidentally knocked over everything in the place. Klutz. There were loads of delicious flavours but I decided on a scoop of dark chocolate and one of salted caramel.
The gelato was so good that we stayed on for an orange and cinnamon hot chocolate. Oh my god, it was good. When we heard the knickerbocker glory being described we had to run out the door for fear our will power would have wilted and we'd need to be rolled out.

We bumped into fellow Milk Bar addict and blogger, Dayna from Rebellious Rouge, before we had a good root around all the shops in the Grassmarket. I picked up this adorable little lady from Marie Rose Creations at Red Door Gallery to add interest to my current favourite coat.



I had dyed my hair with Bleach London Awkward Peach but I forgot to set the timer, guessed the timing, and it didn't really turn out. It did warm my hair colour but not really as I'd wanted. Ah well, win some lose some. Probably for the best when my outfit was so hypnotizing!

What Helen Wore: For a Sunday Adventure

Coat | Warehouse
Dress | Coco Fennell x Karen Mabon
Belt | Primark
Boots | Charity Shop
Ring | Made by me during Vanilla Ink Intermediate Class
Pencil Brooch | Rockcakes
Hand Pin | Datter Industries

On Sunday I took a trip through to Dundee to attend a Spring Craft Fair in Drouthy's Basement. I'm thinking of being a seller at their next event and wanted to check it out before signing up. The selection of vendors was small but there were some lovely things for sale, including prints, cards and jewellery. Ross and I picked up some jam and chutney from Days Gone Bye and I can confirm both are super tasty. After a browse around we then headed upstairs for some much needed lunch. Drouthy's has a really laid back atmosphere, tasty grub and a good selection of drinks. All in all the perfect place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

To counteract all the chilled out, crafty vibes I thought I'd dress a bit sex, drugs and rock n roll. Ok, so all I really achieved was the drugs, in the form of my awesome Coco Fennell x Karen Mabon dress. This has featured on the blog before, in a more dressed up, out of focus fashion. For Sunday's adventures I paired it with some stompy boots to give a more casual, day look. I picked these boots up on Saturday from a charity shop for the bargain price of  £4. I am dreaming of a time when sandals and pumps are the necessary footwear but, for now, something more practical and waterproof is still required.







Thanks again go to Ross for being my photographer extraordinaire. He also took a couple of snaps on his old film camera so I'm excited to see how they turn out.  

How do you like to spend your weekends? What's your Sunday style? 

Styled by Helen: Monochrome and Pastel

Jacket | H&M
Jumper | Topshop
Skirt | Topshop
Socks | Topshop
Shoes | Topshop
Necklace | Katze Shop

I didn't realise quite how much Topshop was contained in this outfit until writing the above list. I don't really feel I shop there very often but I guess this proves otherwise. I think it's a happy combination of their January sale and gift vouchers for Xmas and birthday presents.

I've worn all of these pieces on the blog before but had never thought of combining them all together. I love it when you mix up stuff you've had for a while and come up with something new. This combo gives me a bit of a 1950's teenager vibe which I'm rather enjoying. I feel I should be hanging out at a diner drinking milkshake, but instead I'm getting blown about by the wind outside this rather pretty seafront building. It's actually a public toilet block but it's one of the nicest I've seen. We do love hunt high and low for glamorous locations!



One familiar combination in this outfit is the cat necklace worn on top of my pink jumper.  I love the look of them together as the pale base of the top really makes the necklace stand out. I really need to invest in a few more plain pieces to allow my accessories to shine but the lure of pattern and print always seems to distract me.



Have you discovered any new combinations in your wardrobe recently?