I N T E R I O R / Floating Clothing Rack

Perhaps you've seen our coat rack in previous posts. It's made with the same principle as the DIY branche clothing rack. Making this one is even easyer. You'll need a tube, two hooks and a metal cable. Put the cable through the tube and hang it onto the ceiling and you're done.

We have this one hanging in our hallway, it's perfect for tiny Dutch homes where every space needs to be used as efficiently as possible; underneath we can put shoes, umbrellas and bags. I like to put different kinds of hangers on it, a couple of leather studded hangers from the 1980's, a few metal ones from IKEA and a couple of very thin ones from metal wire.

INTERIOR | DIY All Purpose Lamp

You'll need a plug, a wire, a fitting for your lamp and a large lightbulb. (Be sure to use an energy-efficient lamp which doesn´t get hot.) Connect them and you're done. Even I, so non technical that sometimes I can't even figure out how a printer works, can make this. You can lay this lamp on the table when reading, wrap it around a hook on the wall or carefully tie it around a high piece of furniture.

D I Y / Backseam Tights + Video

music: The chemical brothers - Where do I begin

What you´ll need:
a pair of nude sheer tights (or whichever color you like)
a pair of black opaque tights
a fabric marker or permanent marker

Laying them down or stretching them out won't work.
To be able to draw on your pantyhose the easiest thing is to do it while wearing them! Wear a pair of opaque black tights underneath so that you won't be sketching on your legs. I used a fabric marker that I found at a toystore for a few Euros but a regular permanent marker works just as good.

Other drawings
Possibilities with this DIY are endless, with it you can draw anything on your pantyhopse. I still get questions about a post I did one and a half year ago about a pair of nude tights on which I had not only drawn a backseem but also a front seem and some knee pieces. Finally, the tutorial is here!

D I Y / Replacing A Button

My beloved silk vintage shirt lost it's top button. I replaced it with a tiny sliding lock.
I sewed the lock in place with rayon thread, regular cotton thread could fray and break by the sharpness of the metal. Then I squeezed the part where the lock should slide into(see detail picture) so that it becomes more rigid and harder to close. This way when the lock is closed it will stay in place and not open by itself.

D I Y / 1990's Inspired Sleeveless Turtleneck

I'd like to re-post an article that I earlyer shared last November.
For some time now I've been inspired by the thought of underdressing instead of overdressing and images from the 1990s; Kate Moss in a floorlength white tank dress, hair combed back, no make up. T-shirts are my favorite garments, but this morning they bored me. I craved something even more closed and block-like than a tee. Nothing-to-wear moments always lead to a DIY

instructions: Snip Snap, off with the sleeves.

______________________________________________________________
Much Ado About (Nearly) Nothing
By Amy M. Spindler
New York Times, June 13, 1993


Minimalism is as noncommittal as fashion gets without leaving a body naked.
At its best, minimalist fashion is like Mission-style oak furniture: inviting, architectural, sturdy, elegant. At worst, it's plain. It can put demands on the wearer. It won't inspire your friends to apply adjectives to you that you couldn't inspire alone. A minimalist dress is the only $2,000 one that you might wear to meet the Dalai Lama without feeling obscene.

What sets the minimalists on this page above the rest is their deceit and their conceit. Deceit because these clothes look so simple but can in fact be the most difficult: many are cut on the bias (diagonlly, across the grain of the fabric). The bias cut makes them drape. The conceit is the richness of the fabric. There is nothing plain about chiffon backed with silk, or cashmere woven into the rib knit of a sweater.

Minimalism is best described not by what it is, but by what it lacks. There's no lace. No tulle. No fringe. No flouncy tiers. No rows of pleats. For those who subscribe, it is defined the way obscenity ofter is: they know it when they see it.

D I Y / Instant Tank Top Make Over

top COS, jeans Acne

As the COS dress is falling apart and is fraying out of control, I can no longer wear it as a dress. I need to find new ways to wear it. Today made a spiral out of a left over piece of rose gold colored metal thread and wrapped it around the back of the tank-dress. And Voila, it instantly looks a bit more interesting! Instead of using the spiral, wrapping a chain bracelet around the back of a tanktop will also do the trick.

D I Y / 15 Minute-Two Toned Platform Heels

Back in January I did a guest post for the lovely DIY blog A pair and a spare about my two toned heels. After my previous posts I got a few emails about the heels, so here's the tutorial on how I altered them!

Stripper heels?
I found these babies at a secondhand market. Their perfect shape struck me immediately and reminded me of a pair of pointy Jil Sander platform heels. Though their silver color in combination with their heel- and platform height made me doubt about the possibility for them to be part of a tasteful ensemble. Did they used to belong to a Spice Girl or a stripper? Yes the shiny silver had to go. Or at least half of it.

Materials
These heels are made out of a synthetic satin-like material. Special fabric paint would probably work best on cotton, canvas, velvet or any other real fabric coated shoes. For Leather shoes there are special leather paints for sale at any shoe maker. But this cheap material almost feels like woven plastic, a permanent marker was perfect for the job. Permanent marker also works like a charm on faux leather.

How to
Draw a line along the exact middle of the shoe with chalk. If you have a very steady grip draw along it immediately with the permanent marker. Else you can always stick a piece of tape along the line to avoid making mistakes. Then fill in all the color, remove the tape and Voila! Two tone heels!
I don’t care to which 1995-stripper, -Spice Girl impersonator or drag queen they used to belong, with this 15 minute alteration they became a nice addition to my shoe collection!

D I Y / Hardware Store Rings

Stop by the plumbing section of the hardware store next time you are looking for new jewelry. These brass things apparently are made to connect two tubes with eachother but they look more like rings to me. They make the most delicious clicking sound when wearing them.

DIY | T Strap Bra

Who doesn't love all those sheer tops, blouses and loose transparent knits? Well. When I have run to catch my train with the knowledge that my fashionable bra has no straps all that love kind of disappears for a moment. But there is no need to hate anymore though, a few beautifully placed black lines give endless layering possibilities and practicality. I'm even thinking about wearing this one over a tee.

This DIY is a simple one: Attach a some broad elastics to your strapless bra.
I chose to do a simplistic T shape for my straps.

INTERIOR | Hanger Hanger

silky blouse | Monki , necklaces | thrifted

I am not even going to explain how to make this hook-hanger out of a hanger.
Oh and the best part was that this solution to keeping my door knob free of
the usual clothing, necklaces and towels was done under five minutes.

D I Y / Hair-On Purse

Hair on leather, goat hair purses and jackets that have blown my mind plus my obsession with hair resulted in this project.
I created a new hairy friend, the perfect piece to give any outfit an odd touch. It could come right out of Morticia Adam’s wardrobe.

What you’ll need to make one is
-45 minutes
-a boxy leather flap purse. (I used an old vintage one that, as you can see, was already a bit damaged)
-one package of short human hair strands (for sale at wig supply shops, also online or on ebay)
-Glue (you can also use needle and thread. I tried it but the leather of my purse was in a very bad condition)
*Optional, I also added a golden chain to the strap. I felt all that hair needed some hardware to not look too much like a wig on a strap.



What you are going to do is glue on ‘rows’ of hair on your purse starting at the bottom. Depending on how large your purse is and how much hair you have to cover it with decide on how much space you are going to leave in between each row. I left about 2 cm between each.




Measure how long your next row is going to be, cut the hair to the right size and glue it on your purse. You’re going to be left with some short left over pieces of hair. Use those for the lower rows, or the rows on the back of the purse. Be sure to save some entire strands for the top of the purse, because those are going to be visible.

Go on gluing the rows upwards until you reach the top. Then glue the last two in the same direction at the back and make the hair go over the top.(see image that the hair looks like it’s flipped from that back to the front) You can even style it into shape with a straightening iron.

D I Y / Two Tone Shirt

Instructions:

Needed
-Two shirts of the same size (I used two from Zara)
-scissors
-a few pins
-sewing machine/needle and thread



step one.
Cut both shirts in half. An easy way to do this is laying the shirts flat on the ground and aligning the side seems. Pin the seams together at the top and at the bottom of the shirt. The fold that is created should be the exact middle. What you could do to make sure you cut straight is ironing the fold before cutting the shirt in half.



step two.
Pin two halves of the different colors together. It is important that the top and the bottom align perfectly. Cheaper shirts aren't made flawlessly, the shirts I bought differed slightly although they were the same size. The white shirt was 2 cm larger than the tan one. The solution was to make a tiny pleat at the bottom.



step three.
Sew together the four halves.



step four.
Voila now you have a pair of two tone shirts!
I gave one of them to a good friend who I've missed a lot since both our schools started in September and we haven't been able to see each other much.
How adorable is it that this is like the shirt version of a BFF- necklace!? Although with these ones it would look ridiculous to wear together. So when you're giving away the other halves of your shirts don't forget to make arrangements about when (not) to wear them!

D I Y / Zipper Jacket

Before // After

Was about to throw this military inspired jacket from last year's H&M to the trash when I realized the cut and quality(70% wool) were actually quite nice! So I decided to give this piece a second life this winter. Inspired by Burberry's zipper jackets from this season I added two zippers and decided to remove all the golden buttons.

I can't wait to wear it tomorrow! I literally jumped in the air when I realized that I managed to align the two zippers perfectly, this feels even better than buying a new jacket!

D I Y / Branche Clothing Rack

branche + paint + metal wires + hooks = amazing minimalistic looking floating clothing rack

A new space to hang and display my favorite frocks, jackets, blouses, shirts and accessories. I found this amazingly shaped branche lying at the side of to the road in Brussels. I took it all the way back to my home in The Netherlands, painted it white with regular water based wall paint(latex) it turned out lovely and matte. Then I hung it between two metal wires that I attached to the sealing with hooks and... Voila! A new storage solution!

D I Y / Plumber Bangles and Knotted Tees

layered two knotted tees in sizes L an S, DIY bracelets, vintage sunnies


Check out the plumbing department next time you visit a hardware store and find beautiful thick brass pipe connections and metal screws. I used them as beads on these bangles I made out of thick leather.

Sass & Bide "Inspired"

It started off with a few tiny tubes and an American Apparel micro mesh legging.It's still not finished, but I'm determined to close the entire knee area with beads, some are allready coming off and it's not entirely symetric. (need to work on my patience and sewing skills) but I'm pretty happy of how my Sass & Bide "inspired"(not much choice, i've read that there has only been taken one of them into production) legging is coming along!