Puttin’ stuff round your neck…

This time- ties.

I don’t know about you guys, but I feel weird without something around my neck. Not that way, but it’s reassuring. To have a tie on, or even just some good neck jewelry. It makes me feel confident, and smart, and yeah, gives me a bit of swagger. And it’s ALL about the swagger. When you walk down the street, you should feel like you own it, right? The femmes have their heels and their flouncy hair. We dappers can work the tie, and yeah, often the shoes…

So, ties. There are as many options with ties as there are with shoes- you have length, width, flat-bottom or tipped… you have fabric choice, colour choice, pattern choice… It’s easy to get a bit bewildered. I tend to run with a slim (but not skinny) width, mostly because I think the regular mens ties look a little too guy like for me. That’s not the look I aim for. I also find they draw more attention to my chest area and bring the eye out rather than down. I don’t want that attention. I like how a slim tie breaks my torso vertically, because I’m not exactly a tiny lady…

The four fabric types I have in my arsenal are cotton, wool, silk and leather.

Yeah, I said leather. Grey, vintage skinny leather. And it’s THE BOMB.

Right now, it’s cold out there. When it’s cold out there, you need to amp up the textures you’re playing with. Thin cardigans can be replaced with chunky cable knits, canvas shoes: meet leather brogues. Silk or jersey scarves morph into chunkier, heavier, more sturdy knits. Don’t leave your ties behind. Silk ties look odd against Aran jumpers. Too flimsy. Try a cord tie like this one from riverisland.com with your tweed jacket.

Burgundy cord tie, River Island

You have a tweed jacket, right? If not, you need one.

Put a leather tie with a velvet blazer- it’s party season coming up, after all, and what’s more suave, Christmassy, and cool than velvet? Trust me, it invites stroked arms, just trust me.

I’m currently on the hunt for this tie from River Island (can you tell I’m loving their winter collection?), so if anyone sees it, leave a comment!

Fair Isle tie, RIverisland.com

I’m trying to figure out a way to photograph my tie collection for your perusal, but I’m happy with them yet. And I might also soon bite the bullet and start showcasing my every day looks- not because I think I dress better than anyone else, but more to show what I mean about different topics. Until then!

 

What a stylish cinema we have at the moment…

Hello hello!

Inspiration- there’s millions of people and places it can come from. We all find inspiration in many many places- magazines, the street, catwalks… But at the moment, I am finding some serious inspiration in movies that are out right now (or recently) in the cinema here in Ireland.

Now, I tend to take my inspiration from masculine cues- but I can’t copy them exactly, thanks to my body- I tend to try and take inspiration where I want, but I’m also trying to figure out how to make these looks work with my frame and feminine body. It doesn’t always work, but I try. And regardless of whether I can use all the elements, one thing remains; I like looking at men in clothes (and women out of them…)

So, recently I have had a real feast when visiting the cinema, and I’d like to highlight 3 movies I’ve seen and the men who look awesome in them, and whose looks I am currently trying to pilfer a little.

1) Friends With Benefits

Not only do you get to look at Mila Kunis semi naked for a large proportion of the movie (which can only be a good thing), Justin Timberlake looks incredibly stylish throughout. He plays the art editor of American GQ (which, incidentally is a great place to get some style inspiration on its own!), and he dresses for the part, mixing tailoring with a couple of casual elements. Tie bars feature heavily, and I adore tie bars. Clean lines dominate, with slim everything being the order of the day, which works well for slimmer dapper folks.What I took most was the one of strong block colours without much patterning. Very clean, very cool, very dapper…

Key looks from Friends With Benefits- casual mixed with classic tailoring

2) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Full disclosure: I really didn’t like the movie. The only thing that kept me in my seat was the stylishness of what I was watching. Classic British tailoring in fantastic fabrics that made me drool. And these guys are all wearing the hell out of their glasses. If nothing else I realised how much more wear I need to get out of my brown leather brogues and my tweed blazer…

3) Crazy Stupid Love

With a cracking cast and a great storyline, I’d have loved this movie even if it wasn’t just gorgeous to look at! A lot of the jokes and storyline comes from style (or the lack thereof), so of course it was going to be great. Ryan Gosling (who is fast becoming my favourite actor- seriously, check out Lars and the Real Girl for proof of how great he is) wears the hell out of his clothes and oozes confidence- which is a good illustration of what wearing clothes that make you feel good can do for you. There no one particular thing to pull out of the style on this movie, but I just think there are some great looks to think about.

I know Emma Stone isn’t exactly a style icon for dapper lesbians, but she’s really cute and I couldn’t not include her.

So, there are 3 movies recently which have got me thinking of new things in the style stakes. I think in part to these movies and the whole ‘colour blocking’ thing over patterns has been the thing which inspired me to buy bright red cords and a bunch of plain tees from American Apparel. This winter I have made myself a promise that I’ll stay away from overly dark colours.

What about you guys, have there been any other movies that have floated your boat, style-wise?

 

Dublin Fashion Festival

Hey folks!

Just a very very quick post tonight to let you all know about The Dublin Fashion Festival that’s happening this weekend in Dublin! It’s the 2nd year of the festival, and I’m going to be popping to a few events over the weekend- in particular, the Barnardos pop up vintage shop in ‘Fashion HQ’ (where Waterstones bookstore used to be on Dawson St). You never know what you might pick up- plus Barnardos is a top charity, so it’s all for a good cause.

I do believe there’s something going on in the Hackett store too, so I’ll have to hit that at some stage!

Full details can be found on http://www.dff.ie/.

If anyone finds an event that’s particularly noteworthy, drop a comment!

Later guys!

 

I have a new addiction…

Ok, I have to apologise to anyone who is reading this blog semi-regularly. I am a bad, bad lesbian. I haven’t updated in weeks. In my defense I have a PhD thesis to write, and family to visit, and a girlfriend to kiss, and these things all take time if they’re going to be done right.

Especially the kissing bit.

Anyway, I’ve been pretty negligent. Not from a style point of view, I like to think, but from a writing point of view. It’s just hard to think up stuff to write about- or more accurately it’s hard to narrow it down to one topic per post!

But here’s a quick one, while I keep drafting topics (and more importantly trying to find a decent place I can take photographs without it looking like I’m just taking them in my flat…). Have you guys gotten onto the Pinterest bandwagon yet? If not- GET ON IT!

Pinterest is basically an online scrapbook. You see something you like- you ‘pin’ it onto a ‘board’. It’s a handy way to keep track of bookmarks, for anything, really- but it comes into its own when you’re browsing around looking at style blogs/ online stores, you name it. Like that lookbook pic? Pin it. Like how that shirt goes with that tie? Pin it. Never seen cufflinks quite that that before? Pin it.

Better still, there’s a social side of it too. You can follow peoples boards, and get to see what they’re pinning from around the web too. There are some stylish cats out there on pinterest, and I have seen some seriously interesting and cool looks get pinned from sites I’ve never even heard of! It’s brilliant.

My Pinterest 'style' board.

You really can do an awful lot with it, I’m pretty sure I’m just scratching the surface. It’s invite only at the moment, but leave me a comment if you want an invite and I’ll hook you up!

Til next time- seeya style freaks!

 

It’s getting colder…

I don’t know if any one else out there is as fond of cold weather as me…  Autumn/Winter is my favourite fashion season. Big chunky knits, scarves, layering as de rigour… It’s all good baby!

This year, I have a serious want list. I’ll do a quick whizz around, because I know I’ve been lax in posting in the last few weeks… stupid real life!!

I’ve just bought myself a genuine Navy issue peacoat on order from Armyshop.ie (EDIT: My coat arrived and it’s awesome but the shop seems to have stopped trading!) on order. I’ve always wanted to have a navy peacoat, but they’re hard to find in the cut I like, without too many ‘girly’ embellishments. I’m not too sure how that’ll look on me, the double-breasted cut, but we’ll see when it arrives! I’m hoping to accessorise with orange, which is my favourite colour, and also pretty ‘in’ this season! (I love when that happens!) I have a handmade orange and white snood that my girlfriend made me, which will look great with these gloves:

Leather Gloves from Marks & Spencer

I have a weakness for accessories, so I tend to go a bit crazy on hats, gloves, ties, scarves… I guess that’s my girly side coming out!

Til next time- when I think I might just talk about that quintessential dapper accessory- the tie!

 

“I’ve always looked at shoes as being immensely beautiful things” ~ Graham Coxon.

Shoes.

SHOES.

I love shoes, although I didn’t always. You see, I have big feet.

REALLY. BIG. FEET.

Bigfoot. But not the kind I mean. I'm not quite as hairy...

Anyway, I’m between a Irish 9-10. That’s (according to this handy thingy) an EU 43 or so, and a US something else (I can’t work out why my size is different in US men’s and US women’s? Are men’s and women’s feet fundamentally different? Do American women have extra toes? It’s the women’s that are bigger… Answers on a postcard, please!)

Whatever it’s about anyway, I always had major problems finding shoes that might fit my feet that were vaguely feminine (when I thought I should dress feminine…). At one point I asked for a 9 in a pair of Converse trainers, only to be laughed at and told “the men’s sizes are upstairs”.

Nice, eh?

I should also add- I like unusual shoes. My girlfriend despairs of me. I think I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve pulled on a pair of shoes to have her look at me with that look- that look that just says “No. No, you can’t wear them”. I tend to ignore that look…

Anyway, back to shoes.

The Dapper wardrobe, from what I have been figuring out, lends itself to a few different types of shoes, of which we should have a range.

Casual:

Let’s start with the casual stuff. Because let’s be honest, we can’t be ‘on’ all the time. But, we should always be mindful of what we’ve got on.

For casual I tend to stick with leather or canvas, depending on the weather.

Converse trainers are always good. They’re classics for a reason, folks! While I have usually gone for the high-tops, I’m getting more and more into the low cut versions. I will admit to buying a few knock-offs in my time (I am a student after all!) but currently I’m lusting after these bad boys:

Brown Vintage Converse

Stick them with jeans, a plain t-shirt and a cardi, and you’re away.

Slip-ons more your style? While Vans are the classic yardstick for this style, I picked up a pair of incredible, embroidered Evisu slip-ons a few years ago in TK Maxx for about €35. What is beautiful about these shoes, is that the designs are different on each shoe. It’s a little detail, but it makes all the difference. Unfortunately, because I love them so much is that they’re completely busted, and I need to find someone to put new soles on…

Look at the different designs!

If you can catch little details on shoes like this, it lifts the whole outfit, and turns your tee and jeans into something that bit more stylish. Besides, girls look at shoes, right? Always good when wooing…

Smart:

I will fully admit- I have far too few smart shoes in my arsenal. Which is a change I need to make- but I do love smart shoes, and lust after them greatly. A classic (which I do actually own!) is a pair of brown leather wingtips. They can be worn in lots of different ways- with jeans, with chinos (or whatever the hip kids are calling them these days…) even sockless with shorts (although that one’s not for the faint hearted, I will admit…)

Brown leather wingtips (photo via Overstock.com)

I do have a pair of silver pointed toe wingtips that I only pull out on VERY special occasions…

Silver wingtips from TK Maxx

Ok, I think I’m done. I’m sure as time goes on I’ll be updating with new purchases and what I’m lusting over, but I will leave you with a little something that I want. Badly.

Blue deck shoe boots: Available at riverisland.com

So come on, what do you guys have on your feet? Or what do you wish were on your feet?

 

Getting started

Lesbian style- it’s not an oxymoron, I promise.

Ok, it might be a little. But maybe I can fix that. Maybe you’re a bit like me- kinda butch, kinda girly, kinda… something, but you’re not sure what. Oh there’s lots of blogs now for the girly girls- some great ones, too. And there are some great ones for us more… dapper of ladies. And that’s what I’m calling it (although it’s not new!). Dapper. Taste the word. Isn’t it lovely?

Dapper. 

But I haven’t found any that aren’t based in a progressive American city. Dublin ain’t NYC. You still get weird looks if you don’t wear a skirt to a wedding here.

For real. I’m having a wedding outfit dilemma as we type, but that’s a post for another day.

But the Irish lesbian scene (in my humble opinion) has been kinda rubbish for a long time. Lately, it’s been changing, and it’s been awesome. But it’s still not easy to be a girl who wears a tie here. But I want to, cos let’s face it- oooooooooh they’re cool. And all the stuff that goes with it- Cufflinks! Tie pins! Scarves! Oxfords! Oh, the choices! SO much more interesting than the girly clothes, right?

So anyway, if you feel like following, please do. I’m going to try and post my new wardrobe additions, and basically just stuff I want, stuff I see that I can’t pull of, but maybe you can? And I’d love to hear what you dapper Irish dykes are wearing out there. Let’s strut, folks, and show the girly girls how it’s REALLY done…