H&M stands for Human Faces On Mannequins

Sandy: H&M got some bad publicity for their virtual bodies attached to real faces. 

I have a confession to make. This may come as a shock to you but our photos are also digitally enhanced. But unlike in the H&M photos our bodies are real.

Some people think that style blogging is a superficial hobby (and it is just like a hobby is supposed to be) but I really think that compared to how the fashion industry considers real women unfit to be seen in photographs, style blogs can be very healthy to our culture.

Sandy: Except today, and today only, the fake meet the fake in the valley of the dolls.

Fake, Fake, Fake!

Head To Toe

Sandy Matching

Sandy: This is one of those times I wish I would have started this blog earlier. I don't have any making of pictures of this outfit I made last year. 

I wanted to wear a pattern from head to tow. But that's one of those things that magazines advertised as a big trend, yet it is difficult to actually find in any shops. At least for a reasonable price…

I bought a big long plaid skirt for 1€ from a sale at UFF. Very reasonable. 

I cut about half of the length and used the rest of the fabric to make the bolero. I never make clothes from scratch but this was easier than Iris in The Taxi Driver. The only problem was I didn't have a lot of fabric to work with. Thats why the sleeves are short which luckily looks totally intentional with the shirt couffs showing. 

Wendy: More intentional than the ill-fitting movie reference.

Sandy: I also like to mix patterns though it's a bit more difficult. Here I think I did a better job than usual, combining two geometric patterns of the same tones of grey.

PS. Sorry about the lack of shoes in my posts. I take the pictures indoors without my boots on, most of the time.

Sandy Mixing

Going Coco

Wendy

Wendy: This is a somewhat Chanel inspired outfit. Well, you can't really look at a pink and black tweed without thinking Chanel. Now you might think I'm contradicting myself because of what I said about not wanting to wear recognizable brands. (For the record, nothing in this outfit is Chanel, obviously.) This look is classic and it's been public property since the 20's. 

But I did feel it needed a twist or a kick, so I put on a studed collar we bought at a little goth shop. I loved that the woman behind the counter was a little older than you would expect a goth to be. I love it when people break stereotypes.

The actual designer of the fabric flower necklace is again SalSa Design.

Back in Sinoper

Wendy

Wendy: I put on the little yellow fanny  bag so it wouldn't be all red and to make it more casual, less matchy. 

Sandy: I like it better without the bag.

Simply Red

The Party West

Wendy in Her Finest

Wendy: Back in black and white. This is the same skirt and west as in the "Halloween" outfit but it looks quite different with another top.

First I couldn't think of anything appropriate to wear to this party. Everything was too formal or too casual. The skirt with just the white the top wasn't festive enough. Then I remembered the west and it gave the outfit the lift it needed.

Sandy: That might be my favorite outfit out of anything you've ever worn.

Wendy: I had worn the west with this top before I just didn't remember it right away. It's good to save all the good outfits in this blog so I can look through them when "I have nothing to wear".

Wendy

Pretty in Plaid

Sandy

Sandy: I had a classic moment of "I know I have a ton of clothes but I can't think of anything nice to throw on". The clothes that I like 99% of the time suddenly didn't rock my boat.

So I spiced up the outfit with a belt.

Wendy: Yes, my belt.

Sandy: A wide belt none the less. To show off my waist. Just like the magazines told me to.

A Brown Cocktail

Wendy

Wendy: If Sandy's style tip was to wear layers on top of dresses, mine is to wear stuff under a dress. This dress is a shade of brown that's almost purple. It's not the prettiest color but it is very flattering to my skin tone. One of those clothes that look like nothing on the hanger but look better when you put them on. I bought it at a flea market but it still had the tags on. It actually looked quite different before I revamped it. It had short sleeves which I cut of because they where a bit too large and over powering and I wanted it to bee all about the cute collar. Also the hem was originally A-line but I thought it was a bit too girly and childish and thought a more fitted silhouette would make it more mature. So it turned out very different. The dress only cost one euro so I didn't mind the risk of ruining it with my modifications.

Nothing teaches you better to sow than buying cheap clothes from the flea market that don't fit you or are broken or have parts you hate.

Sandy: You can sow?

Wendy: A little. Better that I did before. I never liked any of the craft teachers at school. They were almost as annoying as gym teachers.

Conan The Librarian

Sandy

Sandy: I think I look like a professor in this bow-tie and pullover combination. 

Wendy: You won't settle for being just a hot librarian.

Sandy: I wore a masculine look in celebration of Mens Week.

The bow is actually a hairpin. I just attached it to my buttonhole. The shirt was originally a bodysuit but I just cut the panty part out and wear it as a regular shirt. Who wear their knickers attached to their shirts?

A Hairpin

Last of the Summer Lemonade

Sandy

Sandy: This is unheard of! My outfit is more colorful than Wendy's recent outfits.

Here's a tip how to wear your summer dresses in the Autumn - or is it Winter already.

Wendy: What's the tip?

Sandy: Duh, wear a sweater.

But seriously though, I like wearing dresses underneath. It gives a nice touch to the outfit when the same fabric is showing in two places.

White Stripes

Wendy

Sandy: You look like a cartoon prisoner in that outfit. 

Wendy:This jumper is just long enough to be worn as a dress. I hate tunics that are too short to be skirts and too long to be tops. 

Sandy: and with leggings! Now that is not to say that it somehow bothers me when other people wear them. What bothers me is that stores seem to be full of them. I reach for a nice looking top from the wrack and find its too long. I fall in love with a dress only to find out that they are all too short. 

Wendy: Well often the ones that are meant to be dresses and skirts are also way too short. 

Sandy: Yes, I find myself wearing shorter skirts than I ideally would because I fall in love with the cut or pattern and buy the skirt even though I find it a little too short. 

Wendy: I've seen skirts that are really just belts, they are so short. Not that I do't approve of short skirts, but I just don't want to sit down and not have the skirt between my hiney and the chair.

Halloween Outfit

Wendy

Wendy: I didn't go to any Halloween party this year.

Sandy: Me either. I sort of forgot all about it.

Wendy: I didn't forget but I couldn't go. And it seemed stupid to wear a costume without a party at my age. But I did wear an outfit that was more on the dark side than usual. If you'd throw on a witch hat it could almost be a costume.

Sandy: It would be the kind of costume you look at parties and think "there's someone who didn't make an effort".

Wendy: I think dressing up a little is much nicer that not dressing in costume at all. So you're not in the best costume competition but you don't interfere with the atmosphere.

Anyway, this outfit is my solution to a problem I've had with this shirt. It is so recognizably Marimekko (second hand) that it bothered me. No matter what I tried to wear it with it still looked like Marimekko and not me. But the west teems to take the edge off. I tend to prefer clothes that don't carry a strong brand image. I want people to recognize me in my clothes - not a brand or even a designer.

Speaking of designers the bow is unique hand made by SalSa Design. I ended up not wearing the bow because it was too busy with the sripes and I wanted something more simple this time but it's one of my favorite accessories.

Chicken Legs

Sandy

Sandy: I usually don't wear anything with this Pied de Poule pattern because it's a bit too "rich old lady" but in this case the pattern is so small I figured it's just looks grey from more than a pied away, right? 

I love the buttons on the shoulders. They came handy when I needed to make the straps longer. I just took it apart and re-attached it at a different length. I'm not sure weather this was made for someone much shorter or it is meant to be worn with pants. That not being my look I try to get away with it by wearing shorts or skirt underneath.

London Red II

Sandy Still in Red

Sandy: Still in love with variations of this outfit.
The bag says NDS Airways as if I'm taking off...

London Red

Sandy in Red

Wendy: And you made fun of me for wearing a lot of red! 

Sandy: I never said I don't like red. 

This color makes me think of London. I've never been but I know what I'll be wearing if I go. 

This… I guess you could call it a dress… is second hand and apparently it's french kids wear. Or the french are tiny. It almost fit me so I opened the turns to get the crucial few centimeters and moved the buttons around to make it look almost not-weird. I also cut off the cuffs and reattached them lower. That's a good trick and no-one will ever know.

A couple days back I found this canvas bag that is the exact same colour! The colour bytheway is neon red, I haven't fiddled with the colour in photoshop at all. (My spell check is complaining about my spelling of colour. How sad.)

Maybe it's the colour that's reminding me of london. It's as red as a telephone booth.

Wendy: Or a double decker.

Twins?

Identical!

Sandy

Moomin Bag (Tutorial)

Sandy with Moomin

Sandy: I found this blue mess that once was an umbrella in the ditch. I took it washed it in the tub and threw away the (broken) metal parts. (In the recycling bin, not the ditch.)

So, in the likely event you encounter a similar tossed-away umbrella, here's a tutorial.

1. The plastic had holes in it so I didn't have as much material to use as the picture would suggest. (I didn't take any actual before pictures since it was before I started this blog.)

Before Before

Simply cut out the sides and the strap.

Hei Muumit!

2. Sow the pieces together. You don't have to worry about threading, it's plastic! 

I used the snap from the umbrella to close the bag.

I still had enough material and an old zipper to make a small clutch / pocket book. (I don't know why it looks so shiny and wrinkly in the photo.)

Sandy's Hand

Circue du Ballet

Wendy Step1

Wendy: First I started with a black girly, sort of ballet-esque outfit. It was fine but I was among for something more whimsical.

Step two included a white collar.

Wendy Step2

Sandy: Which I made by taking it off an old shirt and adding a snap. I plan to make another one as soon as the next shirt gets ruined.

Wendy: Now the outfit looks like the girl from the Addams family. So.. I added some colour. Red, black and white is a classic combination.

Wendy Step3

Sandy: It looks colourful though it's mostly black. Sort of clowny.



Wendy Wendy Wendy



Bumble B (Part Two)

Wendy

Sandy: Wendy’s version of the bumble bee is even better than mine.

Wendy: My what? A version of what?

Sandy: The black tulle seems to go with anything.And everything, lately...

Twin Set

Sandy, Wendy

Sandy: We decided to be good twins and wear mating clothes.

Wendy: I bought this skirt from a flea market and Sandy found a second hand top with the same pattern, just a little darker stripes.

Sandy: The top and skirt would look so stupid worn together. Like a pyjama.

Wendy: luckily we can mix and match.

Sandy: If you think matching is childlike or uncool check out our favorite designer duo Dan and Dean.

Dan & Dean, which is which?

Shortskirt

Wendy

Wendy: It looks like a skirt, it walks like a skirt but it is not a skirt.

I went to an actual shop that's not second hand which I haven't  done in ages. And I found something that made me forget my Scrooge-like attitude towards spending more than 5 euros - these amazing shorts! They are great for avoiding that Marilyn effect.

Yes, these are shorts!