FL does etc. magazine

So Hannah and I ended up styling a shoot for etc magazine. We borrowed a bunch of lovely clothes from the likes of Skirt, Attica and Best Vintage of The Lane, Newcastle. Plus we added in a few finds of our own.

I think it turned out OK, the theme was dark glamour - all new for autumn. Our friend Liz did the make up, victory curls and dark lips and we took the pictures at Belsay Hall. It was such a beautiful place, torn and faded vintage wall paper with exposed oak floors. Lovely. Plus some very unusual art exhibitions downstairs. Well worth a gander.

August Days

Last week an entire day of sunshine arrived, so naturally FL headed to the banks of the river Wear to take some bright snaps. I do hope you like them, we went for a vintage feel. Note the polka dots. I particularly enjoyed the cream Pearl Lowe tea dress (with the peter pan collar). Delightful.

Anyhow, we had a lot of fun. Thanks to the girls in the pub for letting our lovely models get changed upstairs, and many thanks to the fella's who run the boat hire place. You were lovely, and so were your boats!

Bethan wears, green dress, topshop (old). Alex wears, Pearl Lowe dress, £30, Peacocks.

Bethan wears, shirt, Topshop (old). Skirt, American Apparel, £50. Shoes H&M, £19.99. Hat, vintage, £10. Alex wears, vintage dress, shoes, NewLook £25.

Alex wears, party frock, Miss Selfridge (yeh really!), £35.

Bethan wears, white vintage shirt, £30, Attica. Navy pleated skirt, handmade, £23, Darlington Indoor Market. Satchel, Cambridge. Alex wears, vintage Laura Ashley shift dress.

penshaw/sheer.

So we went down to Penshaw monument at midnight with a heap of clothes and a camera for our sheer shoot - this was the result. It was cold, and we had to climb up a tonne of steps, but it was nice up there, so take a trip. Most of the clothes are from American Apparel. They love see-through things. It's completely their bag, in fact they put more sheer things on their site this week. Sweet.

Anyhow, do let us know what you think.

April wears: Bodysuit, American Apparel, £35.

Skirt, American Apparel, £50.

T-bars, Zara, oldddd.

Books: Sherlock Holmes Investigates/ Just William/ A Children's Shakespeare.

Laura wears: Leather Jacket, Topshop.

Bra, American Apparel, £15.

Skirt, American Apparel, £12.

Mesh Tank, American Apparel, £11.

Jodhpur Boots, Robinsons, £12.50.

April wears: spangly gold top, H&M, £30.

Lace bra, American Apparel, £15.

Black skirt, H&M, £2.99.

Shoes, vintage, £35.

Laura wears: Mary Quant bodysuit. Best Vintage, Newcastle. £10.

Crocodile print pants, Fenwick. £20.

sheer soon

Get inspired by Stanley Donnen's Arabesque (1966), channel four showed it a couple of weeks ago and it was beaut. Christian Dior gets a wardrobe credit and Sophia Loren shows us how to work sheer and smokey eyes. I reckon Alexa stole her look. Lovely.

Anyhow, we'll be having a go soon, so watch out for the results.

monday's trench lovers.

FL. spotted these trench lovers whilst wondering around the University and Northumberland street just today. Fellas, note the tanned brogues. Plus the breton stripes, always a winner.

We also found an adorable old man in the most amazing trench which he had paired with a delightful Russian hat. Alas, after we tried to explain to him what a blog was he was simply too confused to be photographed. Theories abound that he was a mysterious Russian spy, we all know spies love trench coats, perhaps his polite refusal was simply to safeguard his anonymity. Sorry lovely man.

Trench is here.

This month we’ve cinched in our waists with classic trench coats. Boys too. Hurahh.

Although classic cream was looking sharp, I rather enjoyed exploring the realms of the navy trench and of course the checked (n.b. Alex). Nods to Burberry all round. Hope you like them too, do let us know what you think.

get your trench on.

...look out for our new trench coat shoot, it's almost mac weather now so we felt it was about time. I only wish we could've found some lovely hats, like these ladies did.

finally pastel…

…step into spring with this sugary palette. The Courier loves lemon, nude pink and cornflower blue. They’re the perfect shades to add a little colour to the grey skies Newcastle has been so frequently blighted by of late.

We’ve teamed our pastels with vintage accessories, cropped jackets and the odd Enid Blyton book (this one’s The River of Adventure), I think this makes it feel a little preppy-er.

If you get the chance to have a look at Leazes Park, it’s up near St. James’s Stadium, walk right around the back of it to find these lovely old stairs, and bizarrely, an old Victorian urinal, there’s a sign and everything!

Many thanks to Frances, our lovely model; it was hideously cold when we took these snaps and she managed to look chipper despite the onset of frost bite.

coming soon...

...the courier does ethereal pastels for spring, we went to a beautiful old stone staircase in Leazes Park (if you haven't been already, take a trip) to take pictures of pretty pastels. Photographs coming soon.

Look to Derek Lam's lfw spring 2010 collection for inspiration, complete the look with pastel eye make-up:

The Courier says NO to rules…

…here we are breaking two rules at once; doubled up denims and socks with heels. Denim is inescapable right now, just look at H&M on Northumberland street! Double up quick before this trend goes cold.

With The Guardian saying this season is all about the ankle it’s time to invest in cute socks, you can get the ones we used here in a five pack for just £4.50 (at John Lewis, or Bainbridge's if you've been in Newcastle a while).

As for the denim platforms, I can only apologise, but breaking the rules should be fun, right? Let us know what you think, feedback would be greatly appreciated on those platform wedges...

in a preemptive strike on double denims...

... alexa and pixie show us how it's done at Henry Holland's lfw show. The courier loves mixing dark and light denim this season. Watch this space...

the courier begins it's foray with fashion blogging

Newcastle University's 'The Courier' begins it's FIRST ever fashion blog here...

...look out for the first shoot; denims for spring.