My absolute favourite thing to wear in the summer is a beautiful, gauzy white dress with interesting detail. A little white dress can be simultaneously youthful and timeless, begs to be worn barefoot running around in the sun, and looks good on everyone. Another bonus to the summer white is that you can find gorgeous options at every price point as displayed here!
Dresses from left: Dolce Vita, DIY Fish Scale Dress, London Times, DIY Zimmermann Applique Dress
Cheers!!
Alana
Today I bring you the DIY dress seen here! Inspired from the amazing Antonio Berardi and my life long dream of being a mermaid, this dress reminds me of some sort of magical sea creature. The opalescent leather sequin creates a subtle shimmer and you can really do anything with this technique!
Supplies needed:
a plain dress
strips of leather
nail polish (I used just under 1 bottle)
Scissors and super glue
scrap paper for protecting various objects from super glue!
To create a leather sequin (also seen here) I took strips of leather, spread nail polish on the surface and let it dry.
Next I simply cut out tons of small rectangles and leaf like sequins. How many you need to cut depends on how intricate your design will be. I found a simple white dress, and I actually turned it backwards before I started creating my design. The shape of the back was a more interesting contrast to the embellishment, but any shape dress will do!
I thought about the pattern a little bit, but started glueing freehand and let the pattern develop as it went. If that isn’t your thing, draw an outline on a piece of paper before you begin! With a piece of protective paper placed (holy alliteration Batman!) in between the layers of fabric, I began super glueing the leather sequins to the dress. With super glue all you need is a few tiny dots, as the stuff is super powerful (I think I’ve accidentally glued myself to every object in my house now!)
Feel free to play around the sequins, overlapping, only glueing one end of the sequin allowing the other end to hang out in the wind, there is no wrong way to do it! I wore it here with my DIY Chanel cuff and I had so many great compliments (the most flattering was from a 6-year-old! That’s a win in my books!)
Cheers! And Happy DIY-ing!!
Alana
The leather sequin strikes again! Taken from cues at the Antonio Berardi SS 2012 runway show (obsessed!) and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley I created this dress! The opalescent leather sequins remind me of a mermaid or fish scales which go perfectly with my under-the-sea theme!
Paired with my DIY Chanel crystal cuff , Vogue sunglasses and A red lip, this dress is light and easy with a touch of sparkle! It will be perfect for evening drinks on a patio, or paired with a blazer and heels for work. I wore it while hanging out with my local sea monster the Cadborosaurus who used to keep me company during coffee breaks at university!
Check back on Wednesday for the DIY instructions!!
Cheers!
Alana
I fell in love with almost everything seen walking down the Antonio Berardi Spring 2012 runway show, especially the jacket seen below! After a little research I discovered the sequins are made of embossed leather and I knew I had to make some myself!
Supplie needed:
- a plain jacket/blazer
- approx a square foot piece of leather
- coloured beads
- coloured nailpolish
- scissors, needle & thread and super glue
I began by painting my piece of leather with glossy red nail polish. I found this to be the quickest and easiest method to achieving a permanent glossy embossed effect on leather.
I also started stringing beads together on one long piece of thread.
I cut out several small leaf like pieces from the painted leather and secured them to the blazer using super glue. I didn’t follow a design per say, just took quick glances at the original and created my own pattern. The super glue holds the leather extremely well and is much quicker than using a needle and thread!
I kept the design fairly simple, but the great thing is that you can start with less embelishment to the design and add more after!
The leather sequins adds a nice touch to the blazer, making it less flashy but still embellished! I already have a few other projects using leather in similar ways and it’s really fun, as you can create any pattern, style, colour and effect with with the added luxe of leather accenting!
Cheers!
Alana
Cue the walk down the plank and the face plant that never was!
Welcome to my Summer Lookbook week 2! Today’s look was inspired by the incredibly beautiful Antonio Berardi Spring/Sumer 2012 runway show, where flowy pieces were embellished with embossed leather, and deep red was the standout colour. I love leather accents and the colour red, and these designs were incredibly intricate and beautiful!
I decided I has to try this for myself, taking the idea of an embellished jacket with red leather sequins woven down the arms. I used fewer leather sequins than the original to make it a little more wearable, but after looking at the pictures, I will probably add some more!!
I paired my DIY jacket with a plain soft t from Club Monaco, black pants from Zara and boots from Steve Madden. I plan on wearing this all summer to dress up a simple outfit of jean cutoffs, boots and a loose tank, or over a simple fitted maxi dress. For some reason this jacket seemed appropriate for captaining a pirate ship, much to the dismay of a few children playing that day who thought I was goofing around on the job.
Stay tuned for the DIY jacket, and the DIY leather embossed sequin instructions and more summer fun all week! To see the other looks and DIYs from my Summer Lookbook click here!
Cheers!
Alana
Photos by Erica Parsons
