Guest Post: Porcelina of Porcelina's World
As you guys know, I'm on vacation. Yay! I'm in Hong Kong until next week, so in the meantime, I thought I'd ask a few of my blog friends to help me out with some guest posts in the meantime. The gorgeous and thoughtful Porcelina of Porcelina's World was kind enough to answer my call and put together this charming post to keep you guys entertained in my absence.
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or so they say. It's in that spirit that in today's guest post I bring you five of my favourite style tips from Zella Maybe.
I tend not to get many style tips from magazines. Some are odd ("wear your half-unzipped puffa jacket like a Bardot top") or go against a vintage aesthetic ("wear your red lips imperfectly applied"). I therefore find many more practical tips from style blogs, and some of my recent favourites have appeared on this very blog. I shamelessly bring you my top five stolen style tips from Jessica. Remember it's not a contest of 'who wore it better', it's the participation that counts...
1) The headscarf and hat combo
Using Jessica's post 'Rose red, snow white' as reference, I tried to emulate the look. I got it very, very wrong at first. I'd used a dark, Fedora style hat, and it just made me look.... sinister. I swapped it for the straw hat and bam, that was the look. I also pulled my headscarf back a smidge, so that you could see a teeny bit of hair. It's a severe look, so to soften it you could pull out a few curled tendrils.
2) The Dolce gold necklace and red lips
Like many of us in vintage circles, a touch of black goes to my head and soon I'm going all gothic, breaking out the dark smoky eyes and the deep plummy lips. Jessica's post 'She wears her wealth around her neck' reminded me that there's another way - doing a Dolce & Gabanna by teaming a black outfit with red lips and gold jewellery. From gothic to Catholic in one fell swoop.
3) The tailored shirt and full skirt
The pinup look always teams a full skirt with a tight-fitting top. Switching the latter for a tailored shirt instead gives it a crispness. Isn't it a look that Audrey Hepburn wore in 'Roman Holiday'? Jessica wore it in a casual look in her post 'So you think you can't dance', but I tried a version that was work-appropriate.
4) The bad girl
This was the look I was least comfortable in. Fashion magazines have told us for years that it's not okay to be sexy. I felt really self-conscious in these pictures, and was cringeing at the fact one of the neighbours was getting in their car and potentially clocking my cat-woman outfit. Jessica is far more confident in her original post, 'Faster, pussycat! Kill! Kill!'.
5) The masculine look
I'm quite a fan of the masculine look. I like a good pair of trousers, and a bit of neckwear adds interest. Jessica's post 'Urban decay' made use of a neckscarf. as well as adding in masculine elements such as the trousers and brogues. It was raining, so instead of heading to a derelict building site, I stayed indoors and sat in a comfy leather chair.
I hope that Jessica comes back from her travels with lots more inspiration - I will be watching, ready to pounce...
Toodle-pip for now!
Porcelina x