How to Dress For Your Bodyshape - Underwear

Everyone wants to look their best and the easiest way to do this is to dress for your body shape regardless of what your size is.

Dressing for your body shape is all about creating the right silhouette by keeping everything in proportion and    balancing out, minimising and disguising areas that you feel uncomfortable with. A good silhouette starts with great underwear which will not only make look good but feel good too.

I love this infographic which gives some great tips on which underwear to choose depending on your body shape. No matter what it is vitally important that you get underwear with a great fit both for your own health and well being but also for a smooth and streamlined look.

Dresses for Spring Summer 2013

We have been getting plenty of style inpspiration for dresses for spring summer 2013 lately from style-is.co.uk. If you haven't already checked out this website, it is jam packed with amazing fashion which not only looks great but is also sustainable and ethically manufactured. The site features clothes, shoes and accessories for women, men and children including fair trade, organic, recycled, second hand, vegan and vintage. It is pretty quick to search and find what you are looking for whether it is a pair of vegan shoes or a supersoft organic cotton t shirt. The site is also great for discovering innovative and fashion forward brands that you may not have considered buying from in the past. Here are just a few of the dresses for spring summer 2013 that we are loving.

This dress by Ruby Rocks really does rock. We love the bright colours and beautiful tropical print. It also has a lovely cut out back. We would wear it with a pair of brogues by day and with killer heels by night. Ruby Rocks clothes are made in an ethical factory in Bali where workers receive a fair wage plus benefits like health care and have a good working environment. 

SkunkFunk are another red hot sustainable brand making great clothes with eco fabrics. We love this midi length dress with a great texture. We would wear it for work or drinks in the evening, with a pair of court shoes. Skunkfunk makes sustainable fashion using eco friendly fabrics like organic cotton and recycled polyester. They also minimise their environmental impact as much as possible in many other ways.

Stripes never go out of fashion and we know we would wear this fresh People Tree striped dress for many seasons to come. The peplum also gives this dress a contemporary twist. People Tree are ethical fashion pioneers creating beautiful clothes as well as sustainable livelihoods for those involved in their supply chain.

This cute Pippa dress by Seasalt Cornwall would be perfect with sandals or flipflops for a day at the beach, a summer holiday or even a walk in the park. Seasalt Cornwall used eco friendly materials like organic cotton where possible and manufactures in ethical factories and in the UK.

This pretty lace dress would look great for a wedding or garden party. It is made by Komodo, another pioneering ethical fashion brand whose clothes are made under fair trade principles.

Bidding for Vintage

Lovers of high quality vintage clothing and designer labels will love Barneby's a new online auction service which allows you to find and bid for genuine vintage designer labels, bagging yourself something amazing and unusual to wear, a beautiful piece of history and something to treasure.

The great thing about buying your vintage clothing from an auction house is that you can be guaranteed some thing that is genuinely vintage and that designer labels are genuine too. Barnebys have a fantastic fashion and vintage section which lists clothing and accessories including beautiful 1950's Dior gowns, 1920's beaded handbags and luxurious evening wear.

Bidding in auction is great fun and you can often get yourself a great piece of vintage clothing at a much lower price than you would pay in a vintage shop. Of course, you need to be careful that you don't get carried away, set yourself a budget or decide how much you want to spend before hand! I am definitely going to be keeping my eye out for an amazing piece of vintage clothing to bid on.

Fashion Blogger's Sustainable Outfit Competition

Just in case you hadn't already seen it, style is... our favourite destination for sustainable fashion from ethical dresses to vegan shoes is running a sustainable fashion outfit competition for fashion bloggers throughout April with the chance to win a fabulous prize of £100 of shoes.

All you have to do is to put together an outfit, either in real life or on Polyvore, then feature it on your blog. The outfit need to contain at least one sustainable element which is pretty easy really considering most fashion bloggers have at least a few charity shop, vintage or second hand clothes in their wardrobe. The outfit can also feature clothes by ethical and sustainable labels but it is not just about the sustainability, style is... are looking for the most stylish outfit so it got to look amazing too!

Not only do you get the chance to win a great prize but all entries to the competition will be featured on the websites blog, so that your amazing outfit can inspire others to give sustainability a go.

So what do you think, will you be sharing your sustainable style for this competition?

Ditching the Killer Heels – 3 Vegan and Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Leather

Cork

Cork shoes by Vegetarian Shoes

Cork is probably one of nature’s closest plant match for leather. Not only is it completely free of animal products but it is also natural, chemical free, sustainable and biodegradable.  It is soft, durable, looks good and even ages a little like leather. Cork is the outer bark of the tree and its removal does not actually harm the tree as it regenerates approximately every 9 years. It is usually harvested by hand. Nike have even used cork to make a special edition pair of trainers, the Nike Lebron X Cork shoes.  Cork shoes are fairly few and far between at the moment but designers are starting to take note of what a great material cork is and how contemporary it can look. Maison Martin Margiela and Antipodium for ASOS are two of the latest collections to use cork in their shoes.

Recycled PET

Recycled PET Shoes by Beyond Skin

Whilst it doesn’t sound like a particularly exciting or fashionable fabric Recycled PET is pretty amazing in terms of its innovation and highly versatile making it useful for both clothing and shoes. Fabric made from recycled PET is strong, breathable and moisture wicking. Timberland are one brand that have been making good use of some of the millions of pounds of PET that is available for recycling each year. Patagonia also use recycled PET in their sports and leisure shoes. The vegan shoe brand Beyond Skin use a luxurious faux suede made from recycled PET for their range of fashion forward shoes.

Plastic

Plastic is a tough and long lasting material and is extremely versatile allowing all sorts of shapes, colours and textures. Melissa shoes use a thermo moulded plastic for their shoes which interestingly have a delicious sweet smell to them. The brand has won a cult like following for their bright shoes and designer collaborations which have included Vivienne Westwood and Jason Wu. They recycle 99 percent their industrial residues and reprocess, recycle or safely dispose of all other waste. The jury is out as to whether plastic can ever really be considered completely eco friendly but the plastic used in Melissa shoes does offer a more eco friendly alternative than many other synthetic vegan alternatives out there. The long lasting qualities definitely have to earn them some sustainability brownie points.  

This post was written by Ceri Heathcote, fashion blogger and founder of style-is.co.uk, a search engine for ethical fashion which features vintage, organic, fair trade, recycled and vegan fashion.

Seasalt Cornwall Sale

At the Fashion Buzz, we are really excited to see so many amazing bargains in the Seasalt Cornwall sale. Seasalt is one of our favourite brands, with a fantastic range of clothes which are perfect for the changeable British weather, whether we are enjoying a weekend by the seaside or a day in the city. The clothes are inspired by the Cornish coast and feature their own unique prints. They also have a great range of cosy knitwear including hats, gloves, scarves and jumpers.

We also love that Seasalt Cornwall clothes are sustainable. They use organic cotton and other sustainable fabrics to make many of their clothes. They have even developed their own unique waterproof cloth for making their colourful macs, made from organic cotton and inspired by the waterproofs worn by Cornish fisherman. They also manufacture many items in the UK helping to support the UK economy and preserve some of the traditional artisan skills that exist around the coast of the UK.

Here are some of our favourite pieces in the Seasalt Cornwall sale.

The Seasalt Cornwall True Love coat is made from cotton and spandex. It has received some fantastic customer reviews. Its light weight makes it ideal for spring.

This Seasalt Cornwall Thalia dress is so pretty and flattering. It has a lovely folk inspired print.

The Seasalt Cornwall Tallow dress is a drapey jersey dress with  unique print. It looks great worn over a pair of leggings.

The Tidal Cardy is a Nordic knit cardigan in soft lambswool that looks great with denim. 

The Seasalt Tabarnacle jumper feature traditional stripes and is made of lovely soft lambswool.

Statement Handbags at Bright Colours

Bright Colours sell a range of new handbags in a choice of styles, colours and materials. The latest collection features:-

The Camberwell work bag/ brief case which is available in  fuscia pink, electric green or deep violet.

The Southbank Tote hand bag, a slimline leather tote with a black handle available in purple, yellow, turquoise and blue with a contrasting Peckham pocket internal organiser.

Bright colours also have a range of slouchy style statement handbags available in plum, red, orange and blue in either glace leather or silky suede.

Bright colours also make some colourful wrist warmers which are ideal for brightening up a dark winter coat.

Designer and founder of Bright Colours, Debbie is inspired by the glorious technicolour surroundings that she experienced when growing up in Singapore as well as the bright colours of the changing seasons. She recognises the power of colour in giving people that feel good factor and her bags are not only designed to brighten up an outfit but to enhance the mood and give relief from the monochromatic days of winter. Bright Colours also manufacture in the UK where possible to reduce their carbon footprint and donate £1 from every sale to Development Workshop, a charity helping some of the poorest communities in the world, developing local capacities to improve lives and livelihoods.