Posh Swaps Blog

Everyone is refashioning at the moment, obviously the word is getting out that you can get some really amazing clothes using second hand and vintage items. Oxfam has just opened a DIY store in its Camden shop with unique creations made from second hand. Top designer and styling Mrs Jones has revamped the store into retro heaven which has become an oasis of style for trendsetters and vintage enthusiasts.

Mrs Jones who is a stylist to the celebrities including The Killers, Kylie, Scissor Sisters and Goldfrapp has created a limited edition collection of only 30 reinvented Oxfam pieces that will be on sale in the shop and online soon. The shop opened on Saturday with a series of DIY workshops run by the stylist herself.

If you can’t get along to the store, you can always have a go at refashioning some second hand clothes yourself with their DIY tutorial on how to turn jeans into a skirt. You can also get some ideas from their sidewalk to catwalk gallery.

We were lucky enough to interview Sarah Korsiak Cellier of  Rice and Beans Vintage to find out a bit more about women’s vintage clothing and how it fits into her own unique style. Rice and Beans Vintage offers handpicked vintage and designer clothing to clients around the world. 

Rice and Beans is an interesting name for a vintage store, is there a story behind it?  

The name Rice and Beans Vintage comes out of a nickname that my now husband gave me a while back.  He used to call me Ms. Rice and Beans & according to him it is because of my sassyness (in a good way of course)!

How did you get started with vintage clothes? 

I have been wearing vintage clothing since I was around 10 years old.  I have always mixed vintage with modern clothing to create my own unique look.  I began dealing in vintage clothing about 7 years ago when I lived in San Diego and was studying to become an Acupuncturist!  I ended up choosing vintage & designer clothing over Acupuncture and I couldn’t be happier with my choice.

What is it about vintage clothing that you like?

I love that vintage clothing has a story to tell, it has history, roots.  The great thing about wearing vintage is that you can pretty much bet that you won’t run into anyone else that day who is wearing the same thing as you!  I also really admire for the most part the quality of vintage clothing, from the cut of the pieces to the fabric. 

Do you have a particular period of vintage clothing that you love?

I can honestly say that there is something from every period of fashion that I have at one time or another fallin in love with.

What is you favourite vintage piece?

I own a Vintage 60’s bright abstract print brocade coat with rhinestone buttons that I had shortened to right below the knee.  I love it because it has a bright almost neon pink lining and looks fantastic with denim.

How old does a piece of clothing have to be to be described as vintage? 

I consider a piece to be “vintage” if it is Pre-90’s. 

How can you be sure that an item of clothing is vintage?

I am not a vintage expert, I would have to clock a few more years before I would consider myself “schooled” in vintage.  However, I do a lot of research and try to be as thorough as possible when dating and describing each vintage and designer piece at Rice and Beans Vintage.  You can tell a lot from a label about the age of a piece as well as the styling.

Vintage clothing is become increasingly popular, why do you think this is?

I think vintage clothing has become more and more popular for several reasons.  Firstly people are recognizing the environmental impact of the clothing industry and purchasing vintage and pre-loved designer clothing is a great way to help minimize the demand for more and more new pieces to be made.  Secondly I think there is an economic component to the whole vintage craze.  Let’s face it purchasing a Vintage Chanel bag can be much less costly than buying a brand new piece and again it’s got history.  I also know that people love vintage because it does set your look apart from everyone else and gives you the freedom to be creative with your look.  Isn’t that what fashion is all about?

picture - vintage floral cotton maxi dress from Rice and Beans Vintage

picture of Style Eyes Fashion Blog

There has been a growing trend for the fashion conscious to seek out different styles of clothing and develop their own unique style instead of following the fashion trends. This includes seeking out clothes that are not available on the high street including handcrafted fashions on websites such as Etsy.com, clothes from unknown and Indie designers, individual boutiques, second hand and vintage clothing. The key to the new eclectic look is not so much about what you wear as how you wear it. This change in consumer behaviour is evident in the decline of the phenonmenas like fast fashion and the ‘IT bag’ and also the decline of sales on the high street. Consumers are becoming less likely to buy a piece of clothing just because of its brand or label. The focus is moving way from looking the same as everyone else to looking different and individual. Spring and summer 2009 is rapidly becoming known amongst fashionistas as the seasons with no trends. Posh-swaps.com actively encourages its readers to develop their own unique style by buying quality second hand clothes that look and feel great and unique one off vintage and restyled recycled second hand clothes. There are a number of possible reasons for the recent change in he focus of fashion, these include

The Recession

Less disposable income means that people need to think carefully about each purchase and how long it will last them. By developing their own personal style, individuals create a timeless wardrobe that does not need to be updated with every change in trend.

Increase in Environmental and Ethical Awareness

Greater publicity of issues like the use of pesticides in growth of cotton and child labour used to manufacture clothes has led to a much greater awareness of these issues. Consumers are becoming more ethically and environmental responsible by buying second hand clothes. Second hand and vintage clothing works particularly well with the eclectic look.

Celebrity Style

Celebrities have led the way in buying vintage clothes and creating their own look. Personalities like Beth Ditto and Dita Von Teese and Kate Moss have been key in developing their own style using a mixture of designer, high street and vintage clothes. People enjoy and are gaining confidence in creating their own styles in the same way. Again second hand clothes are a great way to find affordable, quality clothes to create an individual look.

Greater Choice Through the Internet

The internet has opened up a whole new world of fashion with many buying and selling clothes through ebay and other websites as well as online vintage boutiques offering almost unlimited choice. Posh-swaps.com will offer even more choice of second hand, vintage and restyled recycled clothing with the added benefit of being completely free to use.

Fashion Blogs

There are now hundreds of fashion blogs many giving inspiration to readers to try out unique and different styles. Style Bubble written by Susie Lau has got a cult following of readers who gain inspiration from Susies DIY and fiercely individual style often using second hand clothes. Street style blogs such as thesartorialist.com and facehunter.com to name a few also open up a whole world of inspiration with their global style photographs.

This week we have some more great outfits imaginatively put together using second hand and vintage clothes. Proof that it is not just about what you wear but how you wear it. It is not just the girls who can look great in second hand and vintage clothes, we also have our first ever male on second hand style weekly with some very stylish ebay finds.

This photograph is taken from Flem007’s photostream on Flickr

A great mixture of vintage and new clothes, perfect for wandering around Carnaby Street

Hat - Topman.
Waistcoat - Vintage from Ebay
Jacket - Vintage from ebay
Jeans - Topman
Trainers - Next
Tee - Urban Outfitters 

 I really love this picture for the bright and fun outfits using colour co ordination to the extreme, from Lorena Cupcakes photostream. The inspioration comes from trying to be the most alternative couple on earth- now that is really individual and unique style. 

CLAUDE: thrifted scarf, 2 secondhand Ts, Old Navy hoodie, F21 girl jeans by way of Rag-O-Rama

LORENA: Hobby Lobby bandanna, DIY Robots Shall Overcome T, Delia*s mini, mismatched American Apparel socks, Happy Socks

SHOES: Claude and I are wearing identical PF Flyer Bob Cousy All Americans

WAYFARERS: Claude got his from Michael who was randomly given them at a party, mine are from Fred Flare and relensed in my prescription by Global Eyeglasses 

All Flickr pictures are used under the Flickr creative commons attribution licence

There are many good things about being short or petite. One being that you don’t have to duck your head as you walk through doorways (I should know, I am only 5ft 2). There are equally some disadvantages when looking for clothes that suit or fit you. There are some very good petite ranges in certain shops but sometimes you don’t want to just buy from these ranges and need to look for key items of clothing that will look great on you. You will need to look for clothes that elongate your body and legs and avoid anything that creates horizontal lines that will make you look shorter. Generally fitted clothes will look best on petites.

Try swapping

Oversized clothes
large patterns
high waisted trousers
cropped trousers
mid calf length dresses or skirts
Very tight fitting trousers

for

Fitted clothes
small patterns or plain clothes
floor skimming wide legged trousers or flares
dresses tunics to wear with trousers
empire line dresses
three quarter length or long line jackets and coats
just below knee skirts and dresses

Another very common body part that people hate is the tummy. It seems no matter how many sit ups and crunches some of us do, we are they way we are. But don’t despair, with the right clothing, a bulging tummy no longer needs to be the bain of your life. You just need to pick and choose your clothes very carefully. Don’t worry if you have made some major wardrobe mistakes in the past, you an swap your way to the perfect tummy tuck wardrobe.

Swap

Hipster trousers

skin tight clothes

crop tops

shiny fabrics

belted coats

anything too tight around the tummy

elasticated or gathered waists

kaftan tops

any short tops

for

empire line tops and dresses

Matt fabrics

Ruching around the stomach

single breasted short jackets fitted on the waist

low waisted trousers

wrap skirts and dresses

slim fitting tops

Pear shaped girls tend to put on weight on their hips. The art of being a beautiful and stylish pear is disguising and minimising hips by drawing attention to your top half and balancing the hips with wider hems and necklines. You can do a wardrobe audit by going through all of the clothes in your wardrobe and checking that they emphasise your best points and disguise those that you don’t like. Try them on and look in the mirror, if they don’t look 100% swap them for something else that will.

Swap long and baggy tops, tapered trousers, skinny jeans/ trousers, anything biased cut, pencil skirts, hip length jackets and leggings.

for

Slash neck tops, cropped tops, flares, wide legged trousers, A line trousers large collars and 3/4 jackets that flare out from the waist.

Most of us have clothes in our wardrobes that just don’t suit our shape. It doesn’t really matter  what clothes you wear, as long as they suit your shape, colouring, lifestyle and personality, you are going to look gorgeous and stylish. The key to getting the perfect wardrobe is finding clothes that disguise and draw attention away from the parts of your body that you don’t like and highlight the parts that you love. In this the first part of a series of posts on clothes swapping for your shape, we look at the best clothes for those with large arms.

The key to looking gorgeous is basically to cover up your arms with sleeves that are loose fitting and avoid sleeveless tops.

Try Swapping

clothes with spaghetti straps, halterneck tops and puffed or capped sleeves

for

clothes with 3/4 length sleeves, loose fitting sleeves, long sleeves and patterns and fluted sleeves.

Also swap chunky  bangles bracelets which cover the thinnest part of your arm for delicate bracelets and bangles which highlight and show off the narrowest part of your arm.

Some more great second hand outfits this week. these photos are from Flickr, but don’t forget, we would love to publish photos of your second hand style to posh-swaps@heathcotecommunications.co.uk.

picture from bmentes photostream on Flickr

purple striped longsleeve shirt: Express via TJ Maxx a million years ago, neckhole cut out by me.
black cap-sleeve: H&M
wrist/arm warmers: Hue, gift from a friend <3
belt: thrifted
skirt: thrifted
tights: Hue, via TJ Maxx
boots: remixed
burgundy string-bandana: possibly my mother’s?
feather hair ornament: self-made from feathers my cats pulled out of their toys

I love the layered look of this outfit.

Picture from Mai Le’s photo stream on Flickr

vintage 1940s cocktail dress from Clothes Contact, recut and tailored to fit
*straw belt thrifted eons ago
*socks from Nordstrom Rack
*Randall Loeffler platforms

An outfit with real wow factor - some gorgeous colours and tropical pattern.

A beautiful maxi dress By Malene Birger from www.my-wardrobe.com, just not practical for my lifestyle!

I was reading an article the other day by Hollywood stylist Edith Head in the Mail on Sunday You Magazine, which described how a large proportion of women have wardrobes full of clothes that hardly ever wear. They tend to buy clothes that are not fit or appropriate for their lifestyle. This definitely rung true with me. I have  a wardrobe full of party and going out dresses. Since having children, I don’t often go out in the evening and as much as I would love to wear these dresses in the day time and sometimes do, they look a bit over the top for picking the children up from school.

She goes on to describe how to build yourself the perfect wardrobe. This is a wardrobe that is comfortable and suits all of your needs. She suggests that you chart which activities you do and then ensure that your wardrobe covers all of these activities. It suddenly struck me why despite having plenty of clothes, I can never find anything to wear. Most days are spent with a brisk walk to school in the rain, wind or whatever nature can throw at me. High heels and dresses are just not comfortable for this and look ridiculous. What I need is comfy shoes or boots with a small heel and well cut trousers or jeans that really flatter my figure, a smartish jacket which I can dress up with a few accessories.

The perfect case for a bit of clothes swapping. Most of my lovely but hardly ever worn dresses can be swapped for some comfy, practical and very stylish clothes that I can wear every day. Of course I will be hanging on to a few of those party dresses just in case I ever get the opportunity for a night out.