Fashion find and experimenting with Kogal

Hey Sweethearts!

I hope you're doing well?

Couple of things I want to share with you this week, with the first one being my new poncho!

When I spied this in my local shopping centre, I completely fell in love with it, and it was on sale for £20! I'm a big big fan of ponchos, and was on the lookout for a more outdoor one, as it's still pretty chilly outside here in Scotland!

I have a few ideas for outfits using this, though here I just layered it on top of my Kogal inspired look, but I think it looks pretty good!

 What do you think? ^_^

This week I finally got around to experimenting with another style, this time Kogal! (コギャル)

Unfortunately, I can't really afford to buy brand items, so made do with a little Primark haul and found items in my flat to creating a Kogal inspired look.

I really wanted to try this style for a while, though I've always been put off my closed cardigans and higher necklines, incase it didn't really suit me.

For this look, I kept it pretty basic (basic bitch?)-  it's based from School outfits, so I didn't want to try and add my own spin on it as I wasn't too confident.

For my hair, I went for a simple high ponytail using a tie on extension that I got from Ebay for 5.99 - I haven't fully experimented with hairstyles for this look, but I'm really loving ponytails at the moment so thought it would fit quite well.

Outfit: Plain white shirt from New Look, that I've had in my cupboard for a few years (I'm a hoader, and when things still fit, I don't like to throw them away)

Bowtie - Stolen from the Bfs' mother - spare from work outfit. I do want to make/buy a different type of bow/necktie for this look, but couldn't find anything to fit in time.

Cardigan & Skirt - Primark. Cardie was £8, and skirt was £6.

I'm really loving the range Primark has in at the moment, a lot of it is really my thing! When I went in, they also still had some sale rails, so I picked up another couple of bargains whilst I was there.

Tights: I just went with tights that look like stockings, as I struggle so badly with knee high/overknee socks. I have chronic thunder thighs, so they always ALWAYS either roll down, or are too tight and make me look super bumpy with flab spilling out over the top. I think these also came from Primark.

Although you can't see my shoes, I used a little pair of black dolly shoes with a little bow on the front (also from Primark) to complete the look.

Here is a little shot of my makeup, although I wasn't happy with how my nose looked in the shots so covered it up T_T
I picked a brown pair of circle lenses for this look, as I'm naturally blue eyed, but love how cute brown eyes look! I also kind of think in a strange way, I look more German like my mother (I'm half German) with brown eyes. I think that's maybe just me, though. XD

                                 

That's all from me this week, as usual, please leave me comments under the post letting me know what you think, and how I can improve on this look!

Kasumi x

DIY time! Sweetie pie Princess Boots!

Hey Sweethearts,

This weeks' post isn't the most informative, but I really wanted to share my little DIY project with you all.

For Xmas, my Bf usually gives me a clothing allowance, so that I can update my wardrobe (I know, I have 4 wardrobes & 2 chests of drawers....but trust me, I NEVER have anything to wear!). Unfortunately there were a couple of items that I couldn't get from my list, so I ended up getting a super cute pair of boots!

I totally fell in love with them when I saw them, and I've been needing some nice warm boots, so figured these would be perfect to go with some cute warm co-ordinates ^_^

The only drawback for me, was that I found them to be a little plain for what I was looking for, so decided to do a little bit of DIY/embellishing to give them some impact.


                                                 

For the front, I decided to add a little swag of pearl beads, with a cute sparkly alloy heart just under the bow. I also added a little leafy embellishment to the front of the bow that I found amongst my haberdashery pots. (The lucky part about being a designer, is that I always have interesting things floating around for many a craft use)

Around the entire platform of the shoe, I added a row of pink flatback gems, and attached pearl beads to the bottom layer of lace, for a subtle addition.


                         

For the sides, I remembered that I had some pink ruffle & rhinestone trim that was looking for a project to be a part of, and figured that they'd fit perfectly to add some shimmer and sparkle, so I stitched them to the fur around the boots. Although you can't see it in these photos, it really catches the light well!

I also found some AB plastic bead trim in amongst my pots of treasures, and thought they'd be a fantastic addition to jazz up the otherwise pretty dull heel! After much humming and hawing about whether or not I had enough trim to create a swag on both sides of the heel, I tried my luck and it was a success! I got out my trusty gluegun, and placed a line of glue from the connecting seams, and started off the trim from there, and when I made the swags, I just needed to bring the trim up and glue at the back of the heel!

For the outer side of the boots, I added a couple of acrylic roses (also using the glue gun) so that it would have a little more than the inside - I thought the different pink tones worked really well for this!

As I mentioned when I talked about the front of the boots, I lined the platform/heel with a row of pink flatback gems, and I also added pearl beads all the way along the bottom of the lace to add that extra something. The glue that I'm using for the gems wasn't dry when I took the pictures, so they look white - but rest assured, the glue I used dried clear and sparkly - I was just too excited and had to take pictures!


                                          

This is the back!

I found an old pair of earrings (once again in my pots of treasures) that were pretty simple and heart shaped, so I thought that they would look alright hooked in just under the ruffle trim (which is flapping down a little in this pic..oops!)

You can see here how I've created the swags, and I love the way it looks from the back! I added another couple of pink toned acrylic roses to complement the ones on the sides, and added a little flatback gem under each of the roses at the bottom to tie in with the gem trim!

I'm super pleased with how these came out, and can't wait to find an outfit and occasion to wear them! I'm thinking they would suit a Himekaji look pretty well! What do you all think?

Did I do ok for my first attempt at DIY-ing my shoes?
Let me know in the comments section ^_^

Love,

Kasumi x