30/03/2011

Tulle Time

As promised, I am keeping up the tulle adoration. With graduations and summer parties fast approaching, I wanted to have a quick look to see what there was in the way of semi-formal dresses.

Grey tulle dress, $79.98 (~£49) on sale at White House Black Market. I think this is adorable, it reminds me of the Chloe S/S11 ballerina dresses.

Tulle ballet skirt (£310) by Wheels & Doll Baby, available from asos. Way over the average person's budget for a skirt, but I could see this being paired with a white halterneck corset to make a fab bridal outfit.

Maddison dress (£150) by Coast. Pricey, but for a formal occasion I think it might be worth the investment, the finish on the halterneck looks incredible (and would be difficult to recreate without serious sewing skills).

A quick look on Etsy revealed a couple of gorgeous vintage bargains:

1950s Prom Dress (£19.20), culturedecay on Etsy. This is dying to be shortened to cocktail length.

Halter party prom dress (I think it's a tulle underskirt and organza outer) (£33.28) by thevintagemistress. Would NOT suit my colouring, but I think it would look stunning on someone with warm, golden skin (i.e. Springs)

If prom dresses are a bit too girly girly, I think this tulle slip from 23stien would be amenable to dressing down. I really love this, it has an internal unitard!

And just to drool over, the most expensive (and loveliest) tulle dress on net-a-porter, by Victoria Beckham (I hate to say it, but as a designer, she has very good taste):
A staggering £6,850.

C x

25/03/2011

Charity Shop Find

I can't take credit for this one. My Mum spotted this at a charity shop in Kinross, mostly liking it for the frame, but she didn't have the wall-space, so bought it for me. Spoiled :)

Print & custom frame, £15 - (found at CHAS Kinross)

I love the print, but I don't know anything about it. I love the art-deco lines and swirls (I have no idea if it's actually period, or from one of the many revivals). Does anyone recognise it? I thought it would go quite well with a print I have of Klimt's 'The Kiss', especially because of the gold frame. And they could both go in my dream art-deco villa that overlooks the seaside.

Anyway, here's some more inspiration...
Empire State Building, Greta Garbo, Marlin Hotel, Art Deco notelet (from Past Times), scene from 42nd Street (1933), Metropolis (1927), Upstairs Downstairs (2010), scene from Grand Hotel (1932), Lara Bohnic deco necklace.

C x

21/03/2011

Edinburgh Blogs

Presenting a quick list of Edinburgh-based blogs that are well worth clicking over to:
  • Greener Leith - Green living and community participation in Leith (relevant to anyone interested in Scottish green living)
  • Chatiry World - Crafts, baking and things to see in Edinburgh. Her guide to Independent Shops in Edinburgh is excellent, it's exactly the kind of thing I'd like to do (but now don't need to).
  • Veggie Lady - I had no idea this blog existed but I love it, it's as though it was written for me. Fantastic recipes that can be adapted for any budget.
  • The Edinburgh Blog - Mainly restaurant reviews, among other things to see and do in Edinburgh. I particularly like the range of budget and luxury places.
  • Thingy Bobs - This is filled with lovely things, music and book recommendations, style and interiors, all written by an Edinburgh-based French lady (which, by default, equals good taste).
  • Miss Smidge - is a personal blog, filled with lovely photos and inspiring things. She also organises Edinburgh blogger meet-ups, which I might go to, if I can pluck up the courage...
  • A Daddy Long Legs Is Not A Father - is a girl after my own heart. A superbly written blog about life, music, film, and anything else that catches Ali's eye. She also has great taste in literature.
  • Cupcake Couture Beauty. Fashion. Baking. I don't think more description is required. But this is a great blog, and it's one of Edinburgh's most popular too.
C x

PS - If any other Edinburgh bloggers want to be included on this list, drop me a line!

20/03/2011

Name Change

www.useyourtulle.blogspot.com is no longer.

I woke up today and hated it. It doesn't really make sense any more, and it stopped being that personal to me. This is the great thing about blogs, that you can't do with diaries - you can edit your own life. Delete an old post that has no relevance, change the name when it doesn't fit you any more.

The content of this blog will stay the same, I will keep writing about interesting things to see and do, charity shop fashion, home projects and interiors, and I still plan to do 'Tulle Time' posts, but I think A Cardigan Girl fits that better.

If you were lovely enough to have saved me to your favourites, or have followed me through an external blog reader, please save the new URL, and I promise that's the only major change.

www.acardigangirl.blogspot.com

Follow my blog with bloglovin

C x

Cardigan Girls

14/03/2011

Recipe: Conchiglie with olives, capers and raisins

LOVE raisins in savoury dishes. Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi's Guardian column, The New Vegetarian, to suit a smaller-budget lifestyle*.

Serves 4 (can be served hot or cold)

4 stalks celery
2 tbsp olive oil
30g pine nuts
40g capers with 2 tbsp of their brine
40g pitted green olives, diced to ~1cm
1 good pinch saffron Small pinch of turmeric and oregano
1½ tsp white-wine vinegar
80g raisins, soaked in water (1h)
250g conchiglie pasta
30g chopped parsley
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pecorino(V) or parmesan (which is not vegetarian), optional.

1. Cut any leaves off the celery (but keep aside) and cut the stalks into 1cm dice. Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the diced celery and pine nuts. Fry over a high heat until the nuts start to brown, stirring all the while. 
2. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the capers and their brine, the olives, turmeric and oregano, the vinegar and the drained raisins. Set aside.
3. Cook the pasta, drain into a colander and shake well. Tip the pasta into the pan, place over medium high heat to quickly heat through. Keep stirring, then add the parsley, lemon zest, garlic and lots of black pepper. Taste and only add salt if needed.
4. Transfer to serving plates or bowls, scatter the reserved celery leaves on top and if you want, finish with a little cheese (but not much).




Really nice sweet and sour dish, that takes 25 minutes to make and you can toss in anything else you like, perhaps fennel or red onion instead of celery, or anchovies if you're not veggie. The original recipe called for more raisins but I found 100g was a little too much (I reduced to 80g). Perhaps having saffron would counteract this.

C x

05/03/2011

Race for Life

In May, I am running the Cancer Research 'Race for Life' along with all the ladies in my family, in memory of my lovely Grandma.
My Grandma - Betty (what an awesome name, for an awesome lady!) - who passed away in 2006.

I have just under 3 months to train (I'm doing the 5K run), but more importantly, just under 3 months to raise sponsorships for it!

You can sponsor me at our Just Giving official page (ignore the awful picture which was taken just after we did the race in 2006, still all sweaty and gross), and I reckon that getting as many people as possible to give even just £0.50 would help me reach the £100 target. 

If you want to get involved, you can run/walk the race yourself! Check cancerresearchuk.org/events/ to find your nearest one - a great way to get fit!

I'll let you know how the training goes...

C x

01/03/2011

Tulle Time Special: Academy Awards

First of all, Oscar predictions: how did I fare? 


PictureThe Social Network The King’s Speech: I knew it!!! Next year, I'm ignoring the bookies.
Actor in a Leading Role : Colin Firth
Actor in a Supporting Role : Geoffrey Rush. Christian Bale: boo. I should probably watch the movie though.
Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman
Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3
Cinematography: Wally Pfister (Inception)
Directing: David Fincher (The Social Network) Tom Hooper (The King's Speech): Surprising
Documentary Feature: Exit Through The Gift Shop Inside Job (...really?)
Foreign Language Film: Biutiful Civilisation
Music (Original Score): A.R.Rahman (127 Hours) Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (The Social Network)
Music (Original Song): Randy Newman - We Belong Together (Toy Story 3): YES! This was the only one where I went completely against the general opinion.
Visual Effects: Inception
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Writing (Original Screenplay) : David Seidler (The King's Speech)



9/15 - same as last year. I wish I'd stuck with my gut on 'The King's Speech' winning best picture. 


But now the important bit - the dresses!


I LOVED the red-heads in navy. 


Someone let down the tulle team - Halle Berry. When I saw the first photo, I thought we were off to a positive start. Then I saw the rest of her dress:
It's like she looked in the mirror and decided it wasn't zinging enough (compared to her usual get-up), so she popped down the road to Remnant Kings, grabbed a roll of tulle and stapled it on. Then stuffed the gaping chest ("No, I stuff...outside...the bra" - points if you can name the Friends episode) and thought "That's a bit more exciting".


But some people did effectively deploy the tulle.
That's a lot of off-white. 
I thought the two on the left - Jackie Weaver and Haliee Steinfeld, looked stunning. Both are wearing age-appropriate gowns (63 and 14, respectively) in very flattering shapes. Mandy Moore used her gown to clean the dishes prior to going out (re-do in sky blue?), and Mrs. Colin Firth had a very pretty dress to start with, but followed Halle's lead and stapled on an extra tail. Maybe she was hiding V.P.L. Nevertheless, I think she looked incredibly pretty and I bet she's thinking "Who cares? I get to go home with this tonight:
 "


The fashion blogs are full of bitchiness about the awards, so I feel I ought to be positive about a few:
  • Mila Kunis wore an icy purple lace gown, which I think is my favourite colour of them all:
  • Cate Blanchett was the only non-conformist, and her dress would be my favourite if I hadn't read on one of the afore-mentioned bitchy blogs that her chest looks like a verruca, and now I can't STOP seeing it:
She pulls it off though, like red cowboy boots (more points for naming the sitcom reference). I doubt any-one else could, except maybe Tilda Swinton, who should have been there for being the best ever Scot-turned-Russian-émigré in a semi-dirty Italian film. I Am Love, seriously, go rent it.

I was chatting to my Mum about what's 'fashionable' at the Oscars, and she mentioned a picture she had seen in one of the Sunday magazines of Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn together at the 1961 awards (which unfortunately I can't find), and we both thought that it was such a shame that actresses are now under this huge pressure to be fashion-forward, whereas back then, women just wore what they felt fabulous in, and it didn't matter if they returned to the same style, time and time again (n.b. Rachel Jennifer Aniston and her black dress collection). Here's Audrey in her timeless Oscars dress:
Perfect. For me, there was only one person who looked as timeless, and I'll admit to not even having heard of her - Matthew McConaughey's partner, Camila Alves:
That much décolletage might not have been on show in the sixties, but I think we could look back at this dress in twenty years and still yearn for it, oh-so-much. Incidentally, I think it didn't necessarily have to be black to be timeless, this could have been burgundy or that ice-purple from above and still look fab. 


So that's it. I promise to stop talking about dresses and timelessness and ice-purple.


C x


(all images via IMDB except the Audrey Hepburn one, which is from the style storm. Thanks!)