DIY: Tying the Knot

I was on my weekly (who am I kidding, daily) window-shop in Zara a few weeks ago when my eyes fell on an interesting texture nestled within their all-white package. Heavy, with knots, fringes and weaves, all in the one non-colour. It wasn't love at first sight, but after a few more trips I realised it was the perfect beach-to-bar bohemian cover-up, that could easily be worn back in Manchester over a pastel dress or with neon jeans.

Sadly, this love was forever doomed to be unrequited. £60 for a Zara top will always be a bitter pill to swallow, love of my life or not. The more I studied it - daily visits, remember - the more I realised that actually, I could probably make an appropriation of this myself.

So I did.

I started with a mid-thigh length white jersey H&M t-shirt dress. I'd bought it well over a year ago and never worn it, as it was just a bit too see-through and clingy for my tastes.

I then cut up either side, and chopped the arms off. I cut really long fringes from the bottom hem right the way up to the top seam/collar - you should cut an even amount of fringes. Then I placed it over the back of a chair like it was being worn, but you could use a mannequin or a willing volunteer.

Work on one side first. Starting job is to tie each fringe to the one next to it. I used a very simple knot - I think it's called an ordinary knot but I imagine it's the one you're used to using. 

Once you've done that from one side to the other, take the second fringe in and tie it to the next fringe along to make a diamond shape. It's okay that one will be hanging loose at the side - we'll deal with that later.

Carry on doing this down one side (alternately including the outside fringes) until you feel you've gone far enough to put your arms through (this is where a volunteer or mannequin would be useful). I went this far:

Then turn it around and do the same on the other side. After you've reached the same point, you can now work all the way around the tee - start with the side fringes that you had to miss every other diamond. So to explain better - attach the front left side fringe to the back right side fringe, then carry on making your diamonds right the way around - get your volunteer to turn, or turn the tee around the chair - until you reach your desired length.

Et voila! A simple, unusual DIY that really didn't take long at all - this probably took me around twenty minutes. Do remember that this was once a dress so you lose a lot of length doing this. Also, it's easy to get muddled up with your fringes, so just remember that if you're making a diamond shape you're doing it right - but if you do do it wrong don't worry! It will just add to the pattern.

Worn with a Sweaty Betty sportsbra and a complete lack of make-up. Blergh
This was simply meant to be a practise and I didn't expect it to come out so well, but I may well be wearing this top as a beach cover-up on my holiday. I think this knotting effect would look lovely as a trim or a feature on a t-shirt, and I'm going to have a go at doing different types of knotting and weaving, too. Let me know if you have a go and post a picture of your result!

Summer of Hope and Glory

Last Thursday marked the launch of the Trafford Centre's Summer of Hope and Glory, celebrating everything British, and from May to August there will be events, treats and competitions, all fit for a Queen. You can celebrate your own Jubilee with Queen For A Day, win a summer wardrobe of shoes, get festival fashion and beauty tips at Mad for Mud'n'Music, and much, much more.

On the launch night I walked round with a British Shopping Passport which detailed the discounts being given out on the evening.

The launch night was a warm one, and I hate queuing for sweaty changing rooms only to find the outfit doesn't suit me anyway. I took the opportunity to try dresses on in the comfort of my own clothes with the Magic Mirror interactive screen outside Selfridges. You lift your arms to activate the screen, then you scroll through a number of dresses, changing the size and the position on the screen to suit. It's no replacement for actually having the clothes on your body but it's a fun gimmick, and seeing the colours and patterns near your skin are of course a benefit.


Check out the Trafford Centre website for information and dates - meet you in the Welly Wanging queue!

Tina Talks Fashion

Growing up Coronation Street was a bit of an instituion in my household, and my parents enjoyed attaching the different characters' personalities to me: for example, demanding "Rosie and Sophie" go and wash their hands. They liked to call me Sarah-Lou the best (it must be the first-name thing) which was fitting as I did enjoy doing the stroppy teenager thing somewhat.

The Trafford Centre launched their Summer of Hope and Glory last Thursday, and Sarah-Lou (or rather, Tina O'Brien) was around to give fashion, beauty and style advice to Selfridges shoppers. I grabbed five minutes with Tina - which actually turned out to be more like fifteen, I could've easily gossiped with her all night - and we talked shopping, Kate Middleton, and patchwork denim..

Good evening! How are you today?

I'm very well thank you!

First things first - what are you wearing?

I'm wearing a dress from a little boutique in Didsbury - there's one in West Didsbury and Didsbury village - with some little gold flats. I think my necklace is Topshop.

So you're here tonight to give style and beauty advice to busy mums - tell me a bit more about that.

I think a lot of women end up putting themselves on the backburner when they have a child, so the kind of advice will be to don't forget about yourself!

Do you find you do get time to treat yourself or do you do it in a rush?

People are shocked at how quick I can get ready - I've learnt! But it is nice to every now and again to treat yourself. I didn't realise just how much better it feels just to have your hair done.

How often do you get to go shopping?

Ooh! More often than I should do..?! I probably go clothes shopping.. I'd say on average once every two weeks. Is that bad or good? I don't know! I used to go shopping every week but I've really toned it down, I've got a house now so I more shop for household things. But I did used to shop for clothes all the time - I'm one of these bomber shoppers, who thinks "oh, I just need a top", then I'll be at the changing room with [gestures to an armful of clothes] and end up spending a fortune.

Do you have any secret boutiques to shop in?

In West Didsbury there's some lovely little boutiques, so yeah.. probably West Didsbury! And there's some lovely little bars to go for a drink afterwards. West Didsbury is full of independents - it's brilliant.

Who are your favourite designers?

I love, love Jenny Packham dresses, and I love the dress that Kate Middleton wore with the sequins - I died and went to heaven when I saw that dress.

Where do you get your fashion inspiration from?

I'm one of these people who goes through magazines and folds the corners down of a page and take pictures on my phone and use them when I go shopping. I can never find the things I want though! When Scarlett [Tina's daughter] is in bed asleep, that's my half hour to read magazines.

Has Scarlett shown any interest in fashion?

She does.. but it varies. I'm bad with the whole matching thing. I know at the moment it's very fashionable not to match, but my mum was always very co-ordinated, and I've realised Scarlett is doing it already - she's like "mummy look, pink shoes, pink bag.. I match!" And I'm like, "oh my god! I've given it to you! I got it from my mum, now I've given it to you".

It's hard to clash - it has to be wrong, yet right. So you can't go wrong with matching! She'll be very chic one day, maybe the next Kate Middleton.

But sometimes she comes downstairs in ridiculous outfits and I have to be like "mmmmm! You look really nice!"

But you're encouraging expression! What was the pressure like for you to get it right, with growing up in the public eye?

I think I was lucky in that I started in Corrie before the explosion of all the magazines with circles of shame, so I think if I had been aware of all that when I was fifteen the pressure would have been bad. I didn't have that but God I made some shopping mistakes..!

Which leads us nicely onto my last question - have you ever made any real fashion faux pas?!

Oooh. Me and a couple of Corrie girls once dressed up for an awards do wearing denim jeans with patches all over them, with a bustier. Wait, it gets worse! We then got clip-in extensions. Yeah.. we thought it was cool at the time, at around the time of B*Witched.

I idly threaten to find a picture of this on the internet, and was surprised to be given permission to do so! So here is Tina's biggest fashion faux pas.. I hope she kept the outfit as it's sure to be in fashion once again sometime soon. [image source]

Since I dug that photo out I think it's only fair I show you the out-takes of the very first picture, including the Worst Photo Of Me Ever and one with a cheeky photobombing stylist.

[Insert Vengaboys Quote Here]

Apologies for the silence as of late - I'm going to Ibiza on Thursday and this is all that is currently occupying my mind. I LOVE going on beach holidays and want to live in one. No, not live abroad - live in a beach holiday. Don't worry, you'll still be getting your Dotty fix while I'm away; I have a few posts scheduled, including an interview with Tina O'Brien and a DIY tutorial.

The main purpose of this post is to show you a photo I took earlier of my capsule holiday wardrobe. I'm so excited I've finally mastered the technique of a capsule wardrobe - and all but the neon dress and one bikini I owned already! Everything works together, and each piece can be restyled for wearing more than once. Extra bonus is that it all fits in a tiny holdall - meaning no checked baggage fee, and no lugging huge cases around in hot weather. Win!

I'm mainly going to relax, but will be going to a few low-key parties, and will also be street style scouting for newsicmoos - so if you're around, look out for the lady in neon brandishing a camera.

Enjoy the British sun while it lasts and I will see you soon!

Comfy heels that go with everything, five bikinis, four tees, one pair of shorts, two day dresses, one smart night dress, and a pair of Havaianas sandal-cum-flip flops. Sorted

A Sneaky Confession

That's it... I admit it. This has been niggling away at me for some months now, and I've tried to resist it, but I really must confess.

I WANT SOME SNEAKER WEDGES.

Sure, I liked the Isabel Marant versions. Their chunky weirdness and awkward colour combinations had to be appreciated; but on other people, not me. And a select few people at that - Natalie of Canned Fashion being my favourite, as she doesn't take them seriously. As we ventured further into spring I found that they were being communicated to me via multiple mediums and I just couldn't get away: they're all over magazines, blogs, even people in the street. I really didn't expect them to filter down so quickly, especially not to the mass market. And then one day (yeah, today) I just snapped: I think I may need a pair. This ASOS pair would do the trick just nicely.

Will I resist? Only time will tell...

The Orange Revolution

    COS dress, Miista shoes, vintage clutch, belt & necklace
Along with the rest of the country I'm rejoicing over this week's glorious weather, and used the sunshine as the perfect excuse to wear a sunny dress. Hardly an orange revolution as the title suggests - far from it, as this is one of my favourite colours to wear. This evening I had an epiphany over its drapes, however; I've owned it since Christmas and this is the first time I realised I was wearing a piece of material on the wrong side. Duh. After a little repositioning it now fits and looks a whole lot better.
Wore this for a dinner with Annabel and Adam of The éditeur and Clare of tweet. Lots of exciting goings on - we dined with the new England football manager (well, sort of, he was on the other side of San Carlo), a prominent purchase was made from the online store during the main course, and arrangements began for an event, which will remain up our well-tailored sleeves for now.. but expect to be hearing lots about it in the very near future!