New year

Happy New year family

I know this is 9 days late and some but it would be rude if I just jumped into just talking about myself. 
This year I am hoping to grow my content and bring more original posts your way. My aim is not be a brand new me with brand new ideals. Instead I want to expand on the me I've been in the last 18 months. This year will of course be bigger and better. We can't change the past but we can certainly be better. 2015 is about expanding the Tiwi's Closet brand. I want to blog more about my hair, vintage fashion and lipstick. I want to do more hauls and share more about me. I want to meet new people and learn more about the fashion industry.

You know what they say speak words of life into your life and you will get all that goodness back. ( I just made that up)

A new year for me means reviewing my wardrobe , life , plans and everything in general. Adding new things and perhaps bringing old favourites back.

I believe I wrote about this topic last year but hey. I thought why not cover it again with a few new added twists ( maybe a lot of added twists and a few surprises).

Tiwi Tips and plans for 2015:

Vintage meets Modern

This is definitely an old favorite for me or even something I have been doing from the birth of Tiwi's closet. Mixing vintage and modern pieces to create my own statement. This year I want to say. Hi I am Tiwi and I'm sharing how I see the world with you. I have a lot of pieces that have not seen the light of day. I plan on doing a lot of lookbooks. If I can't wear it in an ootd or ootn then I can surely share my ideas on how I would style my pieces. 

I've starting out the year by investing in jewllery pieces that reflect the concept vintage meets modern. I love vintage pieces that look timeless and modern pieces that look vintage. can you tell which pieces are vintage or modern?

I guess I am trying to say in a round about way that I will be mixing a lot more vintage into my everyday looks. I want to leave my comfort zone and find some new things.

Decluttering for a fresh mindset

My decluttering process works like this. Things I am selling Vs Things I am giving away. This year anything I haven't worn that is vintage is getting sold on my etsy store.  The none vintage stuff is being sold on my ebay account. You can check it out here. I currently have more than 32 unique items up for sale. I have also given out alot of things and this includes furniture, books and much more.

Tiwi Tips for keeping a somewhat organised closet:
Decluterring creates room for new things. It also gives your unwanted items a new home. Every 6 months I have a wardrobe inventory to make sure I am not holding on to stuff I don't need. Try it to get a bit of cash and create space for new and better things. Watch the program hoarders if you have a problem letting go of stuff ,believe me you will get the motivation to let go and let new things flow. You don't want to accumulate a lot of stuff you don't use.

Change of environment

This year I am totally alone. My whole family has moved continents and I am on my own. I will be moving into my own apartment soon. I am excited and I have already started buying stuff to decorate my new place. I've discovered that I like my decor just like I like my clothing. Unique and vintage.

Tumblr and Pinterest have been a good source of information. It is helping me identify what my style is. What I like? I know that I love a lot of light and vintage pieces ( as you can see from the few things I have already invested in)

Health and Fitness

I've been singing this song for a while but I just couldn't get motivated or I would start and then stop with the exercising. At the end of 2014 I invested in this program called the Fitgirls program. It only cost $24.99 for the ebook which gives you a break down on food and exercise for achieving Fitgirlness. I will do a more indepth review about the program when I finally go through it. What it is is a 28 day jumpstart to living a healthy life. You can follow them on instagram to see how women and men have transformed their bodies and their lives.

My goal is to be a size 12/14. I am currently a size 16 and I have been slowly losing weight because I stopped inhaling junk food and soft drinks last year but I want to make a more active change this year. I have a Virgos lounge dress that I bought 3 years ago and I am dying to fit into that baby. The poor dress is sitting at the back of one of my closets crying out to be worn.

As part of my Health and fitness regiment I want to drink more water and detox as often as I am supposed to. I have invested in the Boo detox tea ( It's currently on special in Holland and Barrett's so do go and get it if you are interested in detoxing)

 I will be doing a follow up post on the results once I finish with the teatox.

Makeup ,Skin care and Hair 

Investing time in these things is about building on my knowledge and pampering myself. 2015 is about showing myself love inside and outside.

Make up

For those of you who don't know I don't wear a full face of my make up ever. ( that's a lie a wear a bad full face a handful of times a year). 2015 is more about learning the skill/art of applying makeup properly and investing in all the necessary tools for said application.I had a massive purge of the little collection I had so at the moment I am really low on make up. I only own concealers, eye liner , dying mascara and a handful of brushes. I do have a huge lipstick collection but I do want to learn about other make up things.

So far I've invested in a eye shadow palette and a handful of lipglosses. So far I hate the lipglosses because they smell of sickly sweet. I am very particular about the smell of things. I will probably give these away. I thought they would be a good start as they came in a set ( they were £2.99 probably should've known better). I bought this particular makeup palette because a girl on YouTube convinced me Makeup revolution do good eye shadow palettes. I will let you guys know in a review of the product 
( Woowee I am making all these promises already)

Skin Care
 My current regiment is ok but sometimes I feel like it isn't working especially when I have random break outs. Also towards then end of 2014 I was having weird rashes on my face I'd like to see the end of that in my life. I am aiming for a great skin regiment not just an OK one. Of course I will be keeping you guys updated ( another promise fingers crossed).

Hair

My hair isn't growing guys and I am not happy. Or should I say it is growing but I'm not retaining any of that new length and it is annoying. So I am on a mission to find out what I'm not doing properly. It's been four years and I still feel like I don't know what I am doing ( Jesus take the wheel with my hair growth). 

This year you will see me trying out a different hair styles and some new products. You will have to watch and wait for the updates. 

Trying New Things

a) Day time heels
Yes my people I want to wear heels during the day. It's something that honestly scares me but I have such a extensive collection of heels and I don't go out at all these days that I need to start wearing some of them out and about. It is a skill I want to master ( even if it means me carrying flat shoes in my hand bag for when I just can't take it anymore). I just can't justify having shoes I wear once a year! It goes against every efficient saving gene in my body.

b) Investing in more slips on, plimsolls and other funky day time shoes.

I started the mission of building up a reputable day time shoe collection 2 years ago and I must say I am happy with the progress so far.  Good shoes take your outfit to the next level. This year it's all about saying bye bye to some old favorites ( see my eBay account) and hello to the different and funky. I am currently in love with over the knee peep toe heeled boots ( quite a mouthful for a simple pair of shoes). I have found my perfect pair. I am just waiting to afford them. I did however find some knee length peep toe heeled boots in the New look January sale. They were only £14.99 and I love them.

c) Music
I want to go to more concerts. I missed Dwele in London last year because I suck at saving and planning ahead of time. That will have to change this year because I can't keep missing amazing concerts. Experiencing live music will be a new experience for me and I can't wait.  I especially love Afro jazz , soul . jazz and gospel so I will most definitely be on the look out for those type of concerts. I also want to pick up the acoustic guitar. I've been saying this for the last 3 years. I at least have to buy the damn guitar this year. My dream is to play the song ' In my Head' by India Arie and sing along. The live version in Brazil ( see video below) really speaks to me. 



d) Travelling

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I really would love to visit Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam this year. I am not much of a traveler. ( If shopping malls or fashion are not involved then I ain't doing it). 2015 is about challenging myself and become a tourist who loves old buildings and art O_o . I want to explore new places and broaden my horizon. I always seem to meet pretty interesting people when I travel so who knows what these places will bring for me.

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f) New Skills

I did home economics in high school and I hated it. Therefore I never paid attention during the dressmaking lessons. 10 years later and I need those skills. So I've signed up to do a sewing class. Yes I've set myself a goal. I want to make my own dress by the end of this year. My year is packed y'all. I will also be signing up for a photography class as soon as I find £70. I am one of those people who needs structure to learn a new skill. So signing up for an actual classes that teaches me how to use my camera and sew are right up my alley.

g) Reading more informative books

Yes I am already a big reader. However it's 98% racy romance novels ( My secret vice). I have been working on building a library of informative and educational books. I especially want to invest in African Literature. Here are some books I've already bought/ found in my house. 

As you can see from this post 2015 will be and interesting year. Here is to better content and self exploration. ( you might need a glass of wine to make this toast with me) 

At the end of this year I want to achieve this and more. I want to be a better version of me. A me I trust and am proud of. I want to achieve so many things. If I had to write about each goal in full detail Lord knows how long this blog post would be!

Here is to you and your year.( Another glass) May you be blessed and may you be the best you you can be.

Love and light

Party Season : Lookbook

One of my favourite things about blogging is putting lookbooks together. I especially love this because I get to share some of my styling ideas with you guys. I also get to flex my styling brain and I find all kinds of gems in my wardrobe

So it's that time of the year again. Many people have a lot of functions to go to and are looking for ideas on what to wear. It's Party Season people :D

I will be sharing 3 looks I came up with. They are very easy and simple to recreate and I am sure you could find these pieces . You might even have them in your closet already.

My tips for this party season

• Look in your closet first. Play dress up and see what you come up with
• Glitter, sequins and bold lips you can't go wrong.
• Look in charity shops. During this time of the year most charity shops have a party section. You might just find something great. Both my dresses are from charity shops.
• You can't go wrong with a little black dress. I think this is simplest piece to style. Black dress, red lip, clutch bag , heels and you are ready to go.

The LBD.

The little black dress is a time less classic. Mine is an empire waist dress with a plunging neckline. The empire waist line draws attention to my bust area. It also sits on the right part of my body creating the illusion of a small waist. This dress is made from velvet material and also features gathering at the waist line which makes the dress skim over my figure .I love this dress as it's not short, it is sophisticated and chic.

I styled mine with gold accessories and a pearl choker. I went for a vampy look with the purple lips which I created using 3 different products. For a more sultry look I could have used a red lip colour or pink to go with my nail polish. This dress was a lucky find in a charity shop. It was only £4.50.

What I am wearing

Dress : Linear ( thirfted) // Shoes : Zara // Clutch : Accesorize // Choker : Primark

The knee Length body con dress

I love this dress because of it's multi-purpose use. This is the type of dress I would wear to work during the day ( with a camisole people no ta ta action at work and a black blazer). Come night time I would transform this dress into a sexy party dress by adding a choker , some sexy heels, a clutch , some sultry lip colour and lastly putting away that camisole and blazer. This is why women carry large bags people

This dress is from Jane Norman although I got it from a charity shop brand new for only £5.50.

Tiwi Lesson : Charity shops are a great place to find gems. You just have to check them regularly. It's a skill it requires patience and knowing what kind of pieces your local charity shop is known for. For instance my dresses are from the same charity shops. I've developed a map of all my local charity shops and I know where I can find the best pieces at a price I am willing to pay.

I added my favourite lion belt to add my personality to the outfit. The soft pink lips add a pop of colour and go with the pink theme.

What I am wearing

Dress : Jane Norman ( thrifted) // Shoes: Zara // Choker : Top shop // Belt : Vintage // Clutch : Accesorize

The Full Skirt and Crop Top

This last outfit is a more conservative outfit because of the full skirt ( no curve action here) but it's still daring because of the crop top bra combo. I could not find the right bra for this look so I created a new top using a bra and a crop top. The mesh paneling on the skirt also add to the daring factor. All around illusions.

I think this look is perfect for curvy girls. It highlights the assets , while hiding the problem areas and creating a waist. I would obviously add some kind of cover up to this outfit. Perhaps a cropped jacket to tie in with the crop top. This crop top has a lingerie feel to it with the velvet material and lace. I love it.

This look is another prefect example of taking what you already have in your closet and making it into a party worthy outfit.

What I am wearing:

Skirt: Top Shop// Crop top : Top Shop// Necklace : Primark // Shoes : Dune ( thrifted) 

So I'm sure you are wondering where I would wear these looks to. My answer is any party depending on my mood. The LBD is my safest bet as it is easy to style and requires minimal effort. 

Will you guys be going to any parties this season? It would be interesting to see what other people come up with.

On that note. Have a happy and productive week.

Love and light 

Trouble

hello lovelies

So this weekend was great for me because one of my bestie's came to up to Skipton to spend the weekend with me. After debating not to go on a night out in Skipton. We decided to drive down to Tesco, stock up on an interesting variety of snacks and watch the Grinch ( which we knew a lot of the lines and scenes to). A quiet night in with your friend is better than going out sometimes. We got to catch up, talk and laugh. On Sunday we decided to go around Skipton charity shops. We were very good and only bought one thing each. I got an amazing dress I plan on sharing in an upcoming party season look book. 

Here is the outfit I wore on Sunday. The recurring colour scheme : green, blue and gold. It is very 80s inspired with the double breasted jacket and high waist tailored trousers. I wanted to stay warm so I wore my ' Trouble jumper' and layered it with a statement necklace. To make the outfit pop I used an orange colour. I achieved the colour by mixing two, Revlon's 'Mischievous' and Rimmel's ' In love with ginger'. I mixed the two colours as I wanted a matte finish with a glossy tone. I'm not a big fan of lip gloss. 

Outfit Specifics:

Trousers : Vintage// Jumper : Mr Price // Jacket : Vintage // Shoes : Vintage// Bag : Vintage // Statement Necklace: Ali Express.

I am trying to be more consistent with my blog posts and I believe it's working. I am also working on more informative blog posts similar to the 'skin care' post. I am happy with the direction of my blog and I am looking forward to sharing more of who I am with you.

Love and light

Tiwi