Spotlight on: Stardustonline.co.uk

Most of you already know that my personal style is a complete mix of modern contemporary with a vintage twist... usually in the form of accessories. I like to mix things up and change my style with my mood, but my vintage accessory passion never goes away - whether in the form of a  bag, belt or gorgeous necklace. I also make my own Vintage-inspired charm and pendant necklaces which are available to buy from my Etsy shop

When it comes to making my own purchases I'm a sucker for a bargain and spend a lot of time trailing charity shops or sifting through page after page on Ebay. It requires the patience of a saint though, and if you're willing to spend a bit more rather than embark on a time-eating exploration, then they're a few REALLY good online shops out there that offer some beautiful pieces.

My latest find comes in the form of Stardust - an online boutique for vintage and retro accessories. They have some GORGEOUS items, and although they're a little over what I would usually spend, the shop is definitely worth a look.

Here are some of my favourite items:

Bamboo Tiled Effect 1960s Vintage Box Bag 

Price: £35.00 

This bag certainly wont be everyones cup of tea, but I absolutely adore it. It's made almost completely from Bamboo and  is so unusual that it's unlikely you'll find one too similar elsewhere.

Black Leather and Gold Chain 80s Vintage Belt 

Price: £26.00

Vintage Amber Glass Faux Agate Retro Locket Pendant

Price: £12.00 

Brocade 80s Ginnie Johansen Bow Belt 

 Price: £28.00

Cream Embroidered 60s Evening Bag  
Price: £20.00

Colourful Enamel Painted Floral Vintage Bracelet
Price: £28.00

Tooled Leather Salisburys 30s Handbag

Price: £75.00

Pressed Brass Bow 50s Brooch With Hanging Beads
Price: £20.00

Black Vinyl Moc Croc With Drops 80s Belt 

Price: £22.00

 

See anything you like?

I decided to update the blog design again today... this time I'm going for a simple black-and-white theme so as not to distract from the photos I post. I really enjoyed making the banner up top, and it's a little different from what I've gone for in the past. What do you think?

Thank you so much to my followers for your support and for taking the time to comment... I really appreciate it!

Night all,

Lots of Love,

Li'l Rach

xxx

Mini-Maxi? - Long dresses for short girls!

So, earlier this week I left a comment on the lovely Clare Astra's blog after she posted photos of herself in a lovely Maxi dress. It got me thinking. Basically, my issue with Maxi dresses is that I've rarely seen a nice maxi dress made for a petite girl. At 5 foot 3, every Maxi dress I've seen that I've liked, has seemingly been made for a giant, whereas I'm a wee little mouse! In Petite sections, there only ever seems to be a choice of one or two and they never seem to have any "wow" factor. Maybe small girls just aren't supposed to wear long dresses... but you know what happens when someone tells me I can't wear something? It makes me all the more determined to.

Anyways, I decided to take a more in-depth look at what Maxi dresses are actually available to buy online for petite women (most of my previous endeavours have been while looking in-store) and here are a few I've found that I actually like....

MISS SELFRIDGE

Petites Coral Printed Maxi

Was £32.00, Now £15.00

Topshop  

Petite One Shoulder Maxi Dress

Price: £28.00

Dorothy Perkins 

Petite khaki maxi dress

Was £33.00, Now £15.00

 ASOS  

£55.00  

ASOS PETITE Biker Maxi Dress

 

ASOS PETITE Rainbow Maxi Dress  

WAS £60.00 NOW £18.00

  

ASOS PETITE Denim Maxi Dress

  WAS £50.00 NOW £26.00

VERY
South Petite Aztec Print Maxi Dress

£35.00

So it turns the answer is you CAN find maxi dresses for us petite girls - provided you're prepared to look. A lot of the major high street brands don't stock petite maxi dresses at all (nevermind ones you actually like, and many had no 'Petite' section whatsoever. I couldn't find anything from New Look, Debenhams, Mango, Reiss or Monsoon.

I particular like the last three dresses.... I'm really tempted to click the 'buy' button. If only I'd done this at the start of summer! Perhaps I should purchase the long-sleeved Aztec maxi and channel Bohemian Chic for Autumn? What do you think?

I hope I helped you shorties find something beautiful :-)

Lots of Love,

Little Rach xxxxxxxxx

Lust List!

So after promising to bring you a new post very soon, I was struck down with stomach flu and have been out-of-action none-computable for a week! I still feel very nauseous if I'm honest but I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow regardless- there's too much work building up in my absence.

Anyway, as a little apology, here is my current Lust List. Oh how I wish I had an endless pot of money....

 

Chloé   

Sequined silk-georgette top 

Was £930   Now £372

   

Marc by Marc Jacobs 

Gold-plated logo watch 

£200

Modcloth 

Fanciful Phenomenon Top

$102.99

 

Topshop

GOLDIE Snake Metal Toe Courts  

Price: £50.00

Miss Selfridge 

Fairisle Bodycon Dress

Price: £40.00

Topshop

 Premium Burnout Print Jumpsuit

Price: £80.00

 

Topshop

Pleated Spot Skirt By Boutique

Price: £50.00

Miss Selfridge

Monochrome Print Playsuit

Price: £38.00

You may be noticing a bit of a theme and so, no, I haven't quite gotten over my blacks-and-nudes obsession. haha. Especially with all the gorgeous nude knits coming out for winter - next on my Lust List!

Until next time,

Little Rachael

BNTM Post - And the winner is....

First off, I feel the need to apologise for completely neglecting the blogging for a few weeks. It was only partly my fault, Luke commandeered my computer for almost two weeks straight in order to write and re-write a job application. To be a researcher. On The Gadget Show. A boys gotta dream.

I wanted to blog tonight after watching the live final of Britain's Next Top Model. I have to say, I haven't been as impressed with this series of BNTM in comparison to last, even if the beautiful Elle Macpherson was supposed to give it a bit of a boost. The girls didnt seem to be quite as promising as, say, Jade McSorley, and not to mention Julian Macdonald gets RIGHT on my wick. He may be a decent designer (I'm not going crazy) but he's also the most irritating judge on the planet. WHY they decided to cast him in this role, I have no idea, he's simply vile. Didn't they see him rip into the 'larger' girl on the second season Project Catwalk? Enough said.

Anyway, after much anticipation and a rather weird final set up forcing me to sit through not only McBoring McFly but TITCHY TINCHY STRIDER, the winner was finally announced as Tiffany Pisani, the formally blonde pixie-esque beauty from Malta.

I have to say, I was really pleased with the decision. Out of the three in the final, Tiffany was by far my favourite. Alisha probably would have been a worthy winner also, I'm just glad it wasnt Joy. I may be a fellow Yorkshire Girl but I don't really see the point in crowning a girl as a "next top model" when she hates runway. Mental.

Here are some of my favourite photographs of Tiffany taken throughout the competition:





What were your opinions on tonight's episode?

Speaking of Tinchy Strider, quite randomly, Luke was on stage on Saturday drumming for Quaino (a local R&B singer) who was supporting Tinchy - how random is that? They met the guy that organises T4 on the Beach too.

Finally, I couldn't end my post without mentioning that my Etsy store is now, finally, open!!! Check out the jewellery I make for sale now at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleRachael



I'll talk about that more in my next post :-)

Bedtime for me I think,

Sweet Dreams,

Rach xxxxx

Fashionlista!

This week I discovered Fashiolista.com and I'm already addicted!! For those of you that don't know, Fashiolista is website where users can share their fashion finds from nearly any online shop with other users using a browser add-in button. You can then search other users' finds to gain fashion inspiration, learn about other peoples styles and discover the best fashion buys without having to search all over the internet. As well as sharing your own finds, you can "love" items other people have found which are then added to your profile. You can also follow your favourite users and go directly to their finds from your profile and vice versa.

You can view my profile here or by using the side bar on your right! I'm addicted even after one week and have already racked up 100 'loves', 23 'finds', 20 'following' and 7 'follows'. If you have an account add me :-) If not, definitely take a look!

Here are some of my favourite finds of the week:

Modcloth dress via fashiolista

Modcloth necklace via fashiolista

dELiAs crop via fashiolista

Schwarzer grobmaschiger ACNE pullover, via fashiolista

Modcloth Alexander Grahame Belle Necklace, via Fashiolista

Modcloth dress via Fashiolista

BOCAGE pendant via Fashiolista

Topshop Beanie via Fashiolista

ASOS necklace, via Fashiolista!

Are you addicted yet? ;-)

Little Rachael xxxxxx

Another day, another blog design.

In my super-busy post-holiday back-to-work frenzy, I haven't managed to find much time at all to blog this week! I've finally managed to find a lull in activities and spent the last few hours updating the blog layout! What do you think?! I'm still not sure about the background image... it isn't one of my own, just one off the blogger choices, but I quite liked it a first... I'm not quite sure if it goes with the new banner though?!

That banner was a MASSIVE achievement for me today, haha, as I finally worked out how to create images with transparent backgrounds. I could have kicked myself for not knowing it was as simple as the file format I was using.. I seem to default to JPG which, I'm sure most of you have known for AGES, doesn't support transparent backgrounds. I then moved on to GIF - quickly realising it could handle transparent images but not semi-transparent. I really wanted to be able to give that "filter" effect with a definite colour but so you could still see the background behind. It was at this point that I have now been introduced to PNG - a file format I have to admit, I have never used before in my life. I realise this is probably something you all know already and is therefore very boring and mundane! haha, sorry about that.

Annyyywayyy... do you like?! The blog frame is now wide enough to display photos the way I wanted, which was the main motivation behind changing the layout in the first place (that and I get bored easily!). I'm relatively happy with it overall!

Now, enough about that - lets inject just a little bit of vintage into this post -and with that, I present to you the Prince of Wales! If you haven't already seen this article for Sky News, give it a read here. Mr Windsor may be a bit of a fuddy duddy, but his heart, I feel, is always in the right place.

As a send off till next time, here are a few inspirational images to cast your eyes over....

Doris Raymond's GORGEOUS LA Store

vintage fashion photography

Ziegfield photograph of Dolores Costello

How have all your weekends been?

Little Rachael xxx