Fascinating?

After recently professing my love for Carrie, I have to confess that she is also the influence behind my addiction to accessories. Carrie Bradshaw is the queen of accessories: corsages, pearls, cuffs. She rocked the lot. Of course, she also rocked hats and hair accessories. See?

Source: Pretty Good Things

With this influence in mind when I received an invitation to my cousin's wedding last weekend and when I heard that my sister was planning on wearing a rather enormous and fabulous hat, I decided that I too should seek out some form of head wear. So I did.

After much research and many hours spent trawling the internet, I found this gorgeous creation:

Isn't it divine?

Well, it is actually the handmade creation of Claire:

After receiving the beautiful fascinator I decided to ask Claire a few questions about them and her. Here, she answers those questions.

How long have you been making these gorgeous headbands?

I have only been making my hair accessories for the past few months. I am a firm believer that every girl has the right to feel gorgeous, and something as simple as a pretty hair accessory can offer a little pick-me-up on the days when we’re feeling a bit low, as well as helping to enhance an outfit.

What prompted you to start making them? And selling them?

I felt that the price of hair accessories at certain retailers were far too expensive, and that I could offer a more cost effective alternative, especially in light of the current recession.

Where can we get our hands on your creations?

At the moment, I only sell my items on eBay, under the name of olliethecockerspaniel - named after my beautiful pooch. This particular headband [the one I bought!] is currently available at a cost of £5.50 plus P&P, and is my bestseller!!

Have you always been creative?

I have always been creative, I took Art & Design for my GCSE and A levels, and went on to study a foundation degree in Art & Design also, in which I specialised in Fashion Design and Photography. My career then took a different route, but my passion has always laid in the creative field.

Who do you imagine would wear your headgear?

When I first started selling my items, I was quite dubious as to how popular they would be - I like them, but wasn’t so sure that everyone else would like them too! To my surprise, they have become extremely popular, and I have now sold over 400 of them to people all over the world and, more recently, to women attending Ladies days at Ascot!!

What is your style?

I wouldn’t say that I had a particular style as such, and my boyfriend often says that I pretty much have my own style. I don’t tend to follow trends just because they’re fashionable, but opt for items of clothing that I like and feel good when I’m wearing them.

And finally, cos I've been asking everyone recently, who is your style icon?

My Style Icon would have to be Jennifer Aniston, because she always appears to be effortlessly glamorous, and has very much a natural beauty, which is what I am a huge believer in.

And last but not least, what is your top style tip?

So, my top style tip would be to encourage people to wear whatever makes them feel most happy!!

New girl on the block!

Charlotte Taylor is a womenswear designer who is launching her fashion label - CHARLOTTE TAYLOR - at London Fashion Week in less than a month's time. Since October she has been documenting her progress as she puts her Autumn/Winter 2010 collection together on her blog. Here, she tells me about what and who inspires her, her love of carrot cake and many other things!

MY VERY FIRST FASHION MEMORY IS... my pink dress. It was so over the top. Some horrible 80's meringue creation but I loved it. I was dressed for much of my childhood in my brothers' hand-me-down rugby shirts so it was a sweet blessing every time an occasion popped up to don the pink meringue and strut my stuff in front of the other kids' less puffy creations. Magic.



MY GREATEST INSPIRATION IS... old stuff. Anything with a history or a story to. My obsession started with my grandmother, whose face in itself was art - a maze of lines, I was completely fascinated. I ended up studying it within my art a-levels and with that my grannie "crush" began. It has since progressed onto the general elderly population, old cars, historic buildings, traditions, ancient cults etc. I like a good story, one that is not all fairytales and sugar coated cakes.

MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD IS... 5am: mid-summer, Isle of Wight, sunrise, clear skies, flat water, wakeboarding at priory bay, flask of tea, fresh fruit and silence = heaven on earth.


 THE THING I LIKE MOST ABOUT MY APPEARANCE IS... that it resembles my parents. I am seriously proud to be their daughter. They rock.

MY CLOSET IS... mostly fancy dress. I am on Facebook and I was looking through my photos the other day- it took me until after the 100th photo to find one of me in normal clothes. I have a problem.


I OWN SO MANY... random figurines. The creepier the better. My favourites are: dancing donkey aka Burt and door stop frog aka Jim.


 YOU MAY NOT KNOW THIS... but I am accident prone. I never slow down in time and have broken my wrist thrice running into walls. I also rugby tackled a guy in a club in France once who kindly moved out the way as I was in the midst of a full charge, revealing my new opposition, a wall... I lost. badly. I still have the bump on my head 8 years later.


 MY MOST FABULOUS MOMENT... will be when I launch my new womenswear label in February 2010 at London Fashion Week at the Freemasons' Hall with Vauxhall Fashion Scout!

 THE PERSON THAT CHANGED ME IS... my dad. He went to heaven earlier this year for 3 minutes before he was brought back to life. He had a heart attack whilst driving and his survival story is a miracle. He had a police car behind him and one in front. They got to him within 3 minutes and did CPR on him for 20 minutes with no reaction until the ambulance arrived. On the 3rd attempt the zappers worked and his heart started again. We were not aware that you can keep someone alive in this way for so long and I don't think many people are. We owe those police officers everything. Dad was in hospital for over a month and has now made a full recovery. We are all much stronger people as a result.


 MY STYLE ICON IS... anyone over 70 and Audrey Hepburn.


 MY HOME IS... the Isle of Wight. this was reluctantly at first. A proud Lancashire lass I was devastated when my folks told me about their move. The day I finished school the van pulled out the drive and we headed south. I was so against the idea I tried to convince them that they were stupid because the island would sink soon because of global warming! Although I moved straight to London and have lived there ever since my recent relocation, the island is now very much my home. I am hooked and can totally understand why people are reluctant to leave. It is super special.


HOW DID I EVER LIVE WITHOUT... tea, carrot cake and the internet.


Good luck Charlotte! Hopefully we'll catch up with Charlotte again after her LFW experience!


Love, SG xx