As far as i’m concerned in my personal style, if you’re going to even consider dressing up, you should just outright go for it. I’ve never been one for subtlety. What’s the point in buying an amazing dress if you’re going to pair it down with black accessories so you don’t stand out too much? There’s no such thing as too much. If it’s you’re personal style, and if you love it, you should just go for it.

Dior Couture

Why shouldn’t we wear gowns in every day formal occasions? Why shouldn’t we wear fascinators and hats and skyscraper heels all the time? I suppose we don’t because of the looks everyone else will give us, but where’s the harm in that really? Real fashion and style is a form of self expression and almost art in it’s own right. No art-form is more personal than one which we adorn ourselves in.

Maybe it’s all got something to do with western culture. In places such as Japan expressing yourself for your style is a lot more socially acceptable it seems, especially with their massive subcultures such as gothic lolita style, Harajuku and Kigurumin, so is the reason we don’t dress to our full potential most of the time because we’re not brave enough to face ridicule in popular society? Western celebrities have certainly been encouraging us though, people such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, but perhaps they aren’t taken seriously themselves or imitated because their style is created to cause controversy.

But it’s not just that, coming from the UK I struggle to find the sort of clothing that I want to wear, the high-street has almost ran any unique clothing lines out of business, I depend heavily on the occasional good design from high-street shops, and a handful of independent boutiques, and if I want something more, I have to pay huge shipping costs from the USA or Asia, which is something my budget doesn’t always stretch to! The only way I could really save money and maintain the style I love is to learn to sew better, but from recent attempts I know I can’t match the quality of more experienced craftspeople.

I guess the general advice people give is to trawl car-boot sales, vintage shops and fairs and charity shops, but with people becoming ever more conscious of fashion it’s getting harder to find a cheap deal, vintage fairs are getting overcrowded and the good stuff is being snapped up quick. I even used to work in a charity shop, and everyone is trained to check for better clothing labels. Designer finds are often sent off to auction sites rather than put in the shop.

My advice? I spent a lot of time buying items from various phases of style in my life, and now a lot don’t suit me, by developing your personal style and knowing what you love and what suits you, you can save yourself a lot of costly mistakes! Use Ebay, Amazon and Etsy to create wishlists of your dream items, then spend some time really considering what items would be good investments and what items you want more than anything else, this way you cut down on impulse buys! Use Polyvore too, it’s a style website that let’s you create collages of outfits; obviously it’s better if you buy items that go together, rather than holding onto a few things that you will never actually be able to style. And finally, if it’s a designer item you’re craving, watch like a hawk for high-street and eBay imitations, they happen often, and cost less than half the price.

Building up a good wardrobe is sadly a long term project! As long as you buy high-quality, you’re going to have some things that will last a life time, especially if you take care of them (don’t neglect things which should be hand-washed or dry-cleaned!), use good sturdy storage and protect from dust, and voila! Your wardrobe will be a vintage masterpiece in fifty years if you’re careful, and you can pass it down to your children, so they can be unique too! (Or joke about how weird you dressed in your day).

Guest Post by Kirstie-Ann Pimbblet from UK alternative fashion blog Petit Papillon De Nuit

Yoek is a fashion house that fully understands and appreciates the requirements of a plus size woman. If you are a woman between the sizes of 38 and 58 and you are contemplating about where you can get clothes that bring out your individuality and fashion preference then Yoek print fashion is perfect for you. This fashion establishment is and has over the years continued to be a front runner in fashion designs for plus size women. It is widely acclaimed for creating collections annually to satisfy the distinct needs of women who are plus size.

The major difference that clothes made by Yoek have over clothes made by other fashion houses is that most of their outfits are made using naturally existing materials. This is definitely good for the environment. Furthermore this fashion house has this conviction that natural materials look much better on the skin as compared to manmade or synthetic materials.

The selling point of Yoek’s concept is to enable women who are large to acknowledge and revel in their sizes, curves and to show them with an aura of style instead of hiding them away. This goes a long way in boosting their confidence and self esteem. This also sends out a very bold statement that a plus size woman can just be at home wearing jeans, skirt or a blouse just as her slimmer contemporary and still look outstanding.

Yoek print fashions give you an opportunity to add some colour and flair to your wardrobe. Due to loads of years of experience, people at Yoek fashion house have a clue of what exactly works well for full figured women and what does not work well. For example materials that stretch or those that are too tight are not suitable for large women. On the other hand mixing prints and plain materials is not only exciting, it is also flattering.  And to those plus size women who have a thing about colour, there are collections in citrus, turquoise, purple and fuchsia.  To those women who have a penchant for black and grey, these tints can make use of colour emphasis to make their garments more real. The beauty with black is that you can merge it with basically anything ranging from lovely coloured tops to ostentatious blouses.

To the Internet savvy plus size women, Yoek has an online store from which you can easily shop for garments. It is easy to order Yoek’s clothes over the internet as they only take 2 – 3 days to be delivered to you.

Times are tough and not everyone can afford a new wardrobe every season. You could dwell on the fact that retail therapy won’t be a usual past time anymore, or you could be optimistic and realise that with every challenge in life is an opportunity. This one is to use your imagination and creativity and make your own clothes with curtain fabrics.

Celebrities pay thousands of pounds a year to have something original and hand made, with time and effort spent making the item beautiful. You can do this too!

All you need is a few basic sewing skills and some old fabrics.

To begin you need an idea and some material to match it. For instance, take the shift dress, an old style brought back to life in 2012. This is one of the easiest things to make especially if this is your first time and you want results with little time and effort.

Making your shift dress:

• ‪Choose a light but wearable fabric. This can range from denim to cotton. Make sure the colours chosen are in fashion this year in order for your dress to look stylish and as if you have bought it from a designer this year. This also goes for patterns and shapes. Personally I would go for pastels which are so hot for spring 2012, or if you are still sporting the spots, go wild with animal print.
• ‪Next you need a pattern. You can buy a simple shift dress pattern from any material outlet or online. They cost only a couple of pounds and can be used over and over again. It is the pattern which must be accurate and perfect to avoid any mistakes. Once you have your pattern, follow the instructions and carefully cut out each piece, back and front with a pair of sharp scissors.
• ‪Now you have to assemble your dress. This normally screams run for most amateurs but don’t worry, it is very easy. You can either use a sewing machine or hand stitch depending on what is available to you. Again follow the instructions and take your time to carefully sew each part of the dress. If you make a mistake, don’t panic as the stitching can be taken out and you can start again.
• ‪Once you have sewn your dress together, simply iron and feel free to add any extras, from beads, embroidery, sequins and then team with a belt, heals and a bag and WOW you have just made your own, original , designer shift dress, band on trend!

As you have just seen, It is unbelievably easy and cheap to make your own shift dress and with practice you can go on to more difficult items, such as shorts and tops. Just get your hands on some old fabrics or even curtain fabric and get designing.

Article by Hazel Miller