The Look for Much Less

For those of us who love a flat shoe then the coming season is a joy due to the wonderful Chanel collection and the sublime Valentino one. Both shows gave us flatties a get out of jail card to eschew the high heel fashion brigade, although I am mightily tempted by some mules.

 Chanel S/S12

Valentino S/S12

The fact the minimalistic and strappy flat sandals were worn with formal suits and dresses changes the nature of wearing this style of sandal which typically has been a casual option. 

Now the chances of me getting my mitts on a pair of Chanel or Valentino flats is nigh on nil so the high street will be scoured for options that fit the flat bill with a nod to the catwalks. You need to look for an element of black, strappy and a metallic detail. It will be a few weeks yet before the options get going but for now I'll kick off with these pair of sandals from M&S.

M&S Limited Collection Block Heel Sandals £29.50

Chanel 509 giveaway

Of course Chanel 509 is Paradoxal. Due to the cunning and tenacity that is Make Do Style not only did I have the ability to purchase Paradoxal and Rose Satin for family, friends and moi, but I've got one left over. Now of course I could be super selfish and sell the blighter on ebay but were is the fun in that. I'm in the mood for dispensing good cheer.


This little pot of happiness and perfect polish can be yours! The usual applies for a chance to win - be a follower of the blog and leave a comment on the subject of your best make do tip on anything from fashion, beauty, food, culture or adventure. The giveaway is open until Friday Sept 3rd (which is next week!)

Just to clarify the rules (thank you Pearl for being the organised one!)

1. Leave a comment containing 'WIN' so I know who wants to be entered and I will put all the names in a hat to draw the winner.

2. You must be a follower of this blog, new followers are welcome (Google )

3. For an extra entry tweet or retweet about the giveaway and /or mention it on your blog (and leave in the comment that you have done so).

UPDATE: forgot to say this is open to the world. Whether you are in Melbourne, Mumbai, Massachusetts or Malawi or Mexico. I know I've mixed up countries and towns.

3 little pots of joy

Why Chanel nail varnish completes me is an answer I will never fathom. Believe me I've tried to love the others. I can recommend Essie, Opi and a few others. I was supplied with a lovely selection of Essie by their nice PR company when I was using clothes from one of their other clients for a shoot. Essie applies and stays on well and I can't fault it. But Chanel nail varnish is my weakness. I love the box, the pot and the colours. I was bereft when they stopped Paparazzi and wish they would bring it back.

I buy all my toiletries and useful things in Boots to get the points on their reward card which helps my nail varnish fix. At £16.50 Chanel's little pots of colour aren't cheap but they dress up a look in an easy way. Oh and I love the names, well nearly all of them.

This week saw the introduction of three new summer colours, Mistral, Riviera and Nouvelle Vague. I would have bought all three if I hadn't got Orange Fizz earlier in the week, plus I have my eye on Dragon and Intermezzo - is there a Chanel nail varnish self help group?

New acquisitions

Technically I had my Vogue subscription as a Christmas present, my newest charm, a starfish, was a prize (courtesy of Tor's Aussie comp on Fabfrocks) and the Chanel nail varnish 505 Particulière is as a result of points makes prizes (Boots Advantage card).

However I've decided that I have acquired these items, I'm above the how I got them for once! What with the flipping cold I'm treasuring anything that doesn't require venturing outside. Shame I've got an editorial meeting later...


My favourite thing in the March edition - Christa D'Souza's article on poo.

High drama

Gosh I suffered a blogger malfunction last night. It was dreadful, I couldn't post, couldn't comment or anything. I had a 'bad error'. Not being able to blog is a bad error. Choosing not to post or being busy is okay. Being cut off by blogger is hideous. It was weird to be able to look but not get involved. Worst point, painstakingly replying to 12 comments and losing it all! So thank you to all who left comments to the thought of the week post and I did respond individually but a bad error happened. I gave up resigned myself to telly and watched the Good Wife instead. Although I soon realised that I would be enjoying the show for its storyline and writing not its costuming (plus a bit of Chris Noth).

I've suddenly rediscovered telly and thankfully this week so far has yielded 24 (Sky), The Good Wife and I'm contemplating the new series of Desperate Housewives (both Channel 4), which I haven't watched for a very long time so I can be persuaded out of this one. I've tried to get into Material Girl (BBC)but find the clichéd characterisation and predictable storyline looking very D list next to the gloss of American dramas.

Which neatly brings me to this bargain at Net-A-Porter of an Oscar de la Renta dress at £568.40 from £2,030. I can hardly contemplate the less pricey amount but if you are a size 8 (US4) then Oscar is pure gloss for the wardrobe.

After the Chanel adverts, it was de la Renta's Spanish vibe dress from his S/S10 collection that took my fancy.

image: style.com

Will my love for black or white ever end? Do you have a favourite colour for clothes? Are you all gloss or pedestrian!

Just a hint

As a French housewife (yes I know I'm not really) I remember the joy of the rare sighting of the Chanel Camper Van. Yes, in the days before waiting lists galore for nail varnish or lipstick. Before the advent of mass media and the new fangled penchant for blogging. Now where ever I look there is an advert, a celebrity with yet another Chanel bag. There is no longer the mystique, the moment where you are briefly and fleetingly reminded of your Chanel parfum you smile. A quick dab of it on your wrists and oh la la.

image courtesy of Delicious Industries and Sell Sell

Thought of the week - S'now complaints

Err...I started this post before opening the Style magazine of the Sunday Times. Then I read Shane Watson's column and it was spookily similar to the musings I was undertaking as thought of the week and it equally contained my previous post regarding no spending.

Now of course all this is merely coincidence, but Shane if you do read this blog - love your column.
The similarity lay in two points. Point 3 regarding money concurred with me regarding no frittering. Basically buy nothing at all for months and go get a great item. If I was earning proper money again and not paying off a masters loan then without a shadow of a doubt I'd be selling the family silverware as well to bag myself a look from top to toe. Forget the rule of not wearing designer gear from head to toe, I'm completely beguiled by the new Chanel adverts, my particular favourite is the white suit with the Aline puff skirt. I only wish I'd asked wife in the city to get me one of the hats on her recent visit to Argentina. Instead I had to content myself with pinching this image from Wildernesschic's blog



Sigh and crossing fingers Zara does a homage! Well.. actually I'll go without because this brings me to what I was going to say and Shane mentioned in a similar vain in her first point on 'six steps to de-stress'.

I've really been enjoying the snow as I've had to wear the contents of my ski bag which I pulled down from the loft because we've been deluged with snow. It's about 16m from my front door to Oxford St via road, and far less as the crow flies, yet we on the outskirts of Greater London are marooned in a snow fest. This has been good for lots of reasons, Fashion or being stylish is currently pointless, warmth and mobility are the first waking thoughts. I need to be warm to get things done and my Hunter's wellies are my shoe of choice to get me from A to B. I have to wear silk socks plus thermal socks to keep my toes warm as wellies aren't the best when it comes to insulation.

I'm wearing my ski jacket and layers. When I went to an appointment in Mayfair on Thursday as I stepped out at Bond St tube station I did feel mildly foolish attired in my half Ray Mears survival kit teamed with jodpur leggings and long fine knit jumper and red lipstick. I'd gone from compacted snow to a wet pavement without a trace of the stuff.


This is Mr MDS and petit garcon yesterday as we tobogganed with countless others on the Epsom Downs racecourse. And this morning I woke to further light smattering of snow although it is meant to that this wee.
Having gone without for nearly a week I've sort of lost any pressure to be perfectly presented or stylish along with an organised diary on my blackberry. I've been lost in a world of wellies and fun with a four year old. We've wiled away many an hour with a Toy Story memory card game, the hungry hippo and the Gruffalo snakes and ladders games.

This has helped in breaking any doubts I might have had about 'stepping out/away' from my own personal bind of retaining an edge in the style stakes. I'm never not going to be a fashion junkie but at the moment I can't afford a cup of takeaway coffee and so I'm going to relax on this matter.

I do think it is hard as a fashion industry person to admit to being broke and then sticking to your guns of not updating your look and making do. I had a good little spurt last autumn with some much need additions to my wardrobe and apart from a couple of things they are all thankfully keepers.

Also when Queen Marie does a post like this I'll have no complaints about making do except when I gaze upon the Chanel adverts.

Broom leaping for Chanel

When it comes to shoe talk I usually leave it to the Queen of Shoes,the one and only Imelda.
However, when it comes to clogs I have the claim on them. Years of practice for the traditional clog dancing for the Eisteddfod season rendered the best bored face I could muster to prevent any revelation of my disdain for Welsh clog dancing. I love dancing and I love clogs but my school participation in clog dancing was supplemented by extra curricular ballet and Irish dancing, both far superior to clog dancing. There I've said it!

The traditional Welsh clog dancing, making the right stepping beat, plus my own spirited interpretation (as was encouraged) never put me off the wearing of clogs, because outside of the stricture of the performance they were great to wear. I moved on from the traditional clogs to Swedish ones which I could get away with wearing outside of the house and this love of clogs has been a secret until now, mainly on Mr MDS's insistence. Come on who would 'fess up to this.

Whether you like them or not Karl Lagerfeld has propelled me into the fashion forward stakes with his inclusion of clogs in the Chanel S/S 10 ready to wear collection. My battered old black numbers will have to be replaced by one of these!

images: style.com

Admit it you'll be joining me...

Make Do Style Givaway, Modelling Session, Rant and Repairs (or challenging stuff part 2)

Firstly this is not a fantastic donation from a fabulous brand...but it is more fun!

I'm offering a tie dye t-shirt to a lucky Make Do Style reader. Go on jump for joy!

All you have to do enter the competition is be or become a follower of this blog (just click to follow at top right, just a little something for moi) and specify in the comment box - what colour, what size tee-shirt, what shape of tee, choose from a vest, round or v neck style t-shirt and state which choice of tie dye, circle, small circles or marble effect - you would like. I can do more but I find these give the best results. If you would like marble effect please choose two colours!

The competition is open to all and closes on the 17th of September.

Below we have the marvellous petit garcon who is modelling the t-shirt to perfection.

Pucci Headscarf
Make Do Style Tie Dye T-shirt
vintage Chanel chain belt (family heirloom)
Gucci bag (I bought it in Milan in 2000 so nearly vintage)
Roger Vivier shoes

Now I know I'm being fully exploitative of my little darling but there is a serious side to this little modelling session. It is my spoof of what is a worrying fashion trend - that of using prepubescent girls to display vintage wares or couture/designer ready to wear clothes intended for women. In comparison, lest you think I don't appreciate youth, there was the marvellous Teen Vogue shot of Emma Watson - a young woman in her first throws of adulthood, embarking on her studies at university in New York. It was in the right setting and context in respect of publication. And actually you can work at 16 when you've left school so supermarket or modelling who am I to care.

Yet we have Pop magazine with a pull out booklet featuring a styling collaboration with M/M(Paris) and Manula Pavesi. Pavesi has been collecting designer clothes since the 1970s and beautiful items they are - so why dress a girl up in them? The theme was young adulthood and correct me if I'm wrong adulthood starts at 18 in most societies. A young adult is 18, an old adult is 80. Therefore a 12 or 13 year old is a youngster leaving childhood on the way to adulthood and mainly prepubescent. Dressing them up in women's clothes to take pictures is questionable. I'm all for pushing boundaries of taste and concepts of beauty and challenging gender stereotypes but the dichotomy here is of making a child look like a wealthy bourgeoisie sexual adult, and the placing of women's fashion on the body of a youngster/child i.e. prepubescent, doesn't enthral me.

one of the offending images (in my view) from Pop

Rant over - does anyone know a good person to repair a broken Chanel belt. Should I take it to Chanel - it is from the 70s though. I dropped it a couple of years ago when juggling, for some stupid reason, belt and baby. Being a doting and loving mother, I dropped the belt not petit garcon on to a wooden floor.

My broken chain belt!

Yipee!

For tomorrow Coco Avant Chanel (2009 dir. Anne Fontaine) is in the cinema.The film is based on this book by Edmonde Charles Roux and deals with the early years i.e. pre Second World War and her dubious involvement with a German officer.

The book is a fabulous read and I have high hopes of Fontaine's film.

Best Programme Alert!

BBC Four is reshowing the marvellous House Of Chanel series!

8:30pm on BBC Four TV not available on iplayer so watch or Sky+, the ladies of the House of Chanel are not to be missed!! Madame Jacqueline et al...