11/05/2013

Little Wonder (aka Lida Tights).


Ever since I reached an age where puberty and it's subsequent curves kicked in, tights have been my mortal enemy. It didn't matter whether I was at my highest or lowest weight, I could not find a pair which would stay where they were meant to on my hourglass shape.

I brought tights too big in the hope that they'd be more resilient against gravity, but it was to no avail. I brought tights too small which would leave me walking around like a drunk marsupial. I brought tights within my "recommended size band" which would ladder before I'd got them over my knee, and I've brought tights which cost me as much as the rest of my outfit, only to find myself wearing them underneath additional knickers or spanx in the vain hope that they're stay north of the equator. Of course, they hardly ever did.

I hated tights and their anti-curve elitism and felt waves of leg envy as I was forced to resort to leggings, tights' less glamorous and frumpy cousin. I tried to convince myself that they were "more practical in the studio" but really I was just fed up with having to constantly do the "gusset almost around my knees" shuffle. On the plus side, it gave me an excuse to build up a cute collection of stockings for those occasions were leggings just wouldn't do, but stockings really aren't practical when doing the weekly shop or running to catch the last tube home. And heaven forbid you have a gust of wind attack your hem line - I've had moments in the middle of Camden and Brixton which would make Marilyn herself blush!

Enter Lida Tights, sartorial saviours of legs and curves. I was lucky enough to be given some black and nude tights to try out, and my legs have been strutting like they're stomping down a catwalk ever since!

The perfect nude tights for my Daria Halloween costume (post to follow).
Established in Poland over 20 years ago, Lida Tights design a wide range of tights and hosiery with lines specifically created for curves and plus sizes. They succeed where others have failed by adjusting to the needs of a fuller figure, with the larger sizes (2XL to 4XL) featuring double gussets in addition to a huge amount of stretch in key areas such as the thighs.

The perfect stay-put black tights for my outfit as a wedding guest (post to follow).
One other point to mention with  Lida Tights is their incredible durability. Between shooting a friend's wedding and DJing all night, neither pair laddered, bobbled or ripped. And having been washed and worn again since, they have maintained their shape and elasticity. Hurrah!

Although sadly you can't purchase their tights anywhere in stores, you can visit their website or Facebook and get in touch with them online. View their entire plus size range here and be prepared to ditch your leggings in favour of showing your legs off!

(I also want to stress that I haven't been paid to write this review, and indeed the tights were passed on via a third party and not from Lida Tights themselves. I genuinely was amazed by the incredible fit and wanted to share that in case other people have found similar issues with the fit of their hosiery.)

Until next time,
Diana xx

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10/18/2013

The Stars Come Out At Night

Christmas promotional images for Bettie Wishes and Lana Pillay.
It feels utterly terrifying to even contemplate that we're hurtling towards the end of this year, but my diary and it's list of Christmas themed bookings are making me face the truth - shortly I need to start thinking about starting my Christmas shopping!

However there are lots of advantages in the run up to the festive season; mulled wine, good food and all the Christmas market hot chocolate my stomach can manage! It's also a fun time in the studio, with my regular clients feeling festive and lots of fun taking place in front of the camera.

The studio diary is beginning to fill up with clients wanting to get their festive promo shots sorted ahead of the Christmas rush, so if you have a seasonal act you need publicity stills for, or just want a nice image to send out on a card to your business associates, family, or friends, drop me a line at diana@fashionlovesphotos.com to get booked in with packages starting from just £80 for a shoot and two edited images of your choice.

(As a special early Christmas bonus, book before the end of the week and mention "sparking Christmas baubles" to get the £80 package for just £50.)

10/15/2013

The Hardest Button To Button

Birthday treats from Sugar & Vice and Tatty Devine.
It's been a busy few weeks in photography world, which has also included bouts of DJing, my birthday and a few other fun events. And fun events mean wearing my favourite outfits!
Matt & Nat Dwell Handbag from the ASOS Sale.
Now that the summer has gone on holiday, my amazing vintage green Autumn cape in full swing (literally!), I've been in need of finding a large faux-vintage handbag to match it as the cape needs a bag carried by hand, but I also needed something which could contain my tablet, camera and the other assortment of girl / photographer things to get me through the day. My bag shaped pleas were answered in the form of the Matt & Nat Dwell Handbag which to me carries like an oversized Kelly bag - my favourite type of vintage bag shape. Although it has a front flap rather than a clip, it still works in tandem with my cape and I feel like instantly put together, even on my dressed down days.

Chelsea Boots from Primark.
Ankle boots have been the bane of my existence these last few months, with the search for my perfect boot starting back in the Summer. I don't have particularly wide feet, but everything, even lace-up boots felt incredibly narrow so was over the moon to stumble across this bargain beauties. I love that they smarten up my grungy outfits and grunge up my tea dresses so I feel I can wear and accessorise them with almost anything.

Weather-proofing hair with a silk scarf and pin-curls.
One of the other key things about Autumn when you spent much of your time shooting outside on location is how to weather proof yourself. Silk scarves and pin-curls have been a life saver to ensure I can run from shoot to event with my hair brushed out into shiny waves rather than rained on frizz. Thank you vintage styling!

Max Factor's Whipped Creme Foundation and Lush's Emotional Brilliance Liquid Lipstick.

As much as I love the seasonal transition into Autumn, my skin sadly doesn't agree. All it takes is a few days of biting wind for my face to fall to pieces, but I have finally found a drugstore foundation which moisturises, evens out and makes my skin look and feel fabulous.

The foundation is Max Factor's Whipped Creme, and I've used their palest shade in Light Ivory / 40 with an angled foundation brush. One of the other things which really stuck out was that the foundation didn't leave me with a yellow cast. Most pale drugstore foundations are still too dark on my pink based complexion, and this for me was spot on. It covered any redness, evened out my skin, covered any spots and left me feeling like I wasn't wearing anything other than my usual moisturiser.

Another new purchase was my new red liquid lipstick from Lush's Emotional Brilliance make-up range. I chose Decisive which is a strong cherry red colour with a blue base - perfect for pale skin and vintage lovers. It needs a lip liner underneath or else you'll look like The Joker after one cup of tea, but a liner locks it onto lips like a magnetic force.
Flower crown by Frankii Wilde, swallow necklace by Tatty Devine.

Dress by Lady V Vintage, cardigan, belt and leggings by Yours Clothing.

The first of my favourite outfits this month is what I wore to DJ at the last Whiskey Kittens. The photos are pretty terrible and don't do either the dress of flowers justice, but I received so many compliments on both for the whole night, and even the journey to the venue!
Bubble Blower Necklace from Sugar & Vice.

Cardigan and vest from New Look, skirt from ASOS and leggings from leggings by Yours Clothing. I literally wear those boots with EVERYTHING at the moment!
I also feel like I've been really spoilt this month with some wonderful birthday gifts (and self-given-almost-birthday-gifts!)
Cat watch from the ASOS Sale.
I very rarely get called Diana these days unless it's a client, or I'm in trouble! Most of my friends call me Kitty and have done for years, so this birthday gift to me from me seemed perfect. Puuurfect even. I'd been wanting to find a cute watch for a while, and fits in perfectly with the rest of my jewellery.
Rocket Ship Necklace from Kate Rowland.
This rocket ship necklace from Kate Rowland goes with so many things in my wardrobe. It's kitsch enough that it brings a simple tea dress to life, and gives a lift (off) to a more simple outfit.

Tortoise Necklace from Tatty Devine.
Hi I'm Diana, and I'm a Tatty Devine addict! This was something I picked up on my last trip to Brighton, but it's really been this last month of Autumn colours that he's permanently lived on my finger. Sadly he's no longer in stock as he was part of Tatty Devine's seasonal collection, but this particular one is called Horrace after my childhood Carolina Box Tortoise and I always feel happy when I wear him.
La Luna Necklace from Tatty Devine.
The second I saw the larger version of this necklace on Mary Portas, I knew I had to have it. I've always had a love of the stars and night sky, and convinced myself that since Diana was the name of the "moon goddess", it was meant to be. I'm sticking to that. Yep.
Custom made necklaces from Bette Noire.
I am a sucker for handmade creations, and love this custom cuties from Bette Noire. One is a lovely heart shape with kitty ears and "Kitty" emblazoned on the scroll, whilst the glittering double hearts have the name of my club night, Whiskey Kittens.
Birthday treats from Sugar & Vice and Tatty Devine.
With my friends knowing my love of cute perspex and personalised cuteness, my darling friend Luna had this Kitty necklace made for me via Sugar and Vice. Howard also picked up on my "subtle" hints (hah!) and brought me the adorable Dog on Wheels necklace from Tatty Devine.

Aphrodite's Child Carnival Ruff from Lovechild Boudoir.
Another stunning birthday present from Howard was this incredible Ruff from Lovechild Boudoir. I had fallen in love with it when we were kindly lent some of her products for a photoshoot with Rush Hair. Although this particular piece wasn't used, it was the one which I adored the most and was so excited when I opened it up. I spent much of birthday wearing it with my pyjamas and pin curls until finally putting on real clothes and being whisked away for a birthday hot chocolate.
Birthday hot chocolate.
I've felt thoroughly spoilt the last few days, and am struggling to get my brain back out from birthday mode to work mode. It's not helping that we are celebrating this coming weekend (the half way weekend between mine and Howard's birthdays) so it feels like three weeks of cake and cuteness. Am I complaining? Nope! I love birthdays, whether they're mine or my friends. I love this time of year for the never ending supply of cake!

Until next time,
Diana xx

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www.fashionlovesphotos.com

9/25/2013

Jean Jeanie

This morning I had a pleasant surprise when rushing to get dressed - one which was incredibly unexpected. Anyone who knows me and my particular style will very rarely see me in jeans. I'll wear high waisted skinny jeans if I'm planning on crawling around a studio shooting all day, but other than that I love my tea dresses and 50s shapes. With an hourglass shape, anything other than high waisted jeans just don't fir properly and will either slide down or give me the worst muffin top imaginable.

Despite that, for no reason other than self inflicted torture, I had a pair of skinny jeans which I had given up all hope of ever getting into. My body has steadily increased in weight through no fault of my own despite constantly dieting and fighting with it and the idea of them ever fitting again seemed a bit too out of reach. However this morning having done a bit of a colder weather wardrobe shuffle, I came across them and they actually did up.

Now don't get me wrong, they look AWFUL. They are low cut, too tight and have given me the worst muffin top in the world (it's made me appreciate my high waisted jeans all the more!) but I don't care. They zipped up, and that it something which even six months ago, they wouldn't come close to doing.

Mmmm... muffins...
It may not seem like much to most people - Newsflash: "jeans which don't fit still don't fit" - bit it was a complete revelation to me as I honestly thought I was currently at the heaviest and biggest I've ever been in my life. I've been fighting against it - eating better, increasing my jogging circuits and although I felt healthier, couldn't see any sort of physical change. The fact that stress had been making me run back to the cheese laden arms of my beloved carbs hadn't helped too, but I was persevering with making better food choices and continuing with my running. Frozen grapes, pomegranate seeds and spiced pumpkin soup are pretty much my food BFFs right now.

It made me look a little harder at myself, and see that there are changes. Only a small change, but any change in the right direction is a good one. When you're criticising yourself day in day out, it's difficult to look past any assumptions we've already made. Clothes are a great indicator for telling us that we're wrong!

It's not been easy to make these small changes, but this has given me the boost I needed to continue with them and not feel like I was both wasting my time and fighting a losing battle.

For anyone interested, I absolutely hate jogging but have found an app called Zombies Run! to be very helpful as it makes the process more interactive and, dare I say it, fun. Just to make sure I keep pushing myself, I'm doing every third run with Couch To 5K  as I can get very lazy and complacent with exercise. I keep forgetting you're meant to always be struggling to reach the end and that it's no good just running towards the café for a hot chocolate post workout!

I try not to talk about the health / exercise / weight loss side of things too much as it's not particularly fun or interesting for most people, but this felt like a real milestone for me, both mentally and physically. I'm almost looking forward to my next run across the heath! (Almost...)

Until next time,
Diana xx

9/23/2013

Pattern Recognition

www.fashionising.com/pictures/s--Movement-by-Diana-Thompson-17594-1.html
Hold the front (web)page!
This morning, I had quite a nice surprise in discovering that a series of images I'd worked on had made the front page of www.fashionising.com. The concept of the shoot was devised by Alex Hardy, Hair stylist extraordinaire from the home of RUSH Hair Salons and with an incredible team built up, was one which grew.

The shoot was intended for competition usage, with colour and texture at the forefront. However we wanted to shoot the series of a proper fashion story to fit in with Autumn / Winter trends with publication at the front of all our minds.

We were incredibly lucky to find Coco Syed to take care of the make-up, with independent designers Sasha Louse (Latex) and Lovechild Boudoir (accessories) taking care of the edgy look we were going for.







There were also lots of out-takes which didn't make the final set, but I still loved.























Models: Hope Obertelli, Natasha Boyce, Holly, Lou, India Elise Graham, Megan Darkes-Seddon.

Hair Stylist Assistant: Adam Furczyk.


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