♥ Matter Of Style on H&M life ♥

Recently Matter Of Style has been featured on H&M life blog! I'm thankful and impressed that someone inside the giant that is H&M found and appreciated this blog and decided to talk about it!
Below you'll find out what H&M said about Matter Of Style and a recap of DIY tutorials I shared with you during the years inspired by H&M pieces.

click on the pic to enlarge it

a close up of the article

The article appeared in many international editions of H&M life, here's the Italian one:

Margiela for H&M inspired candy wrapper bag DIY tutorial

Marni for H&M inspired necklace DIY

Marni for H&M inspired necklace DIY with reclycled plastic

Versace inspired bracelet DIY

Versace inspired jeans DIY

Lanvin necklace DIY

Lanvin dress DIY

Margiela for H&M inspired candy wrapper bag DIY tutorial

The 15h of September the Margiela for H&M collection will hit the stores. It's already been said a lot about this collaboration: we've seen the pics of the campaign, the complete lookbook and then media coverage reached the climax when H&M organized a big party in New York in which bloggers and celebrities could see and buy clothes in advance (and sell them on ebay the day after).
As strange as it may sound  the collection is already selling without even reaching the stores thanks to ebay.
All the clothes are a re-edition of iconic Margiela pieces and the most eyecatching and fun ones are the accessories.

Il 15 Novembre H&M lancerà la collezione creata in collaborazione con il marchio Margiela. H&M ci ha tenuto sulle spine a lungo diffondendo solo qualche immagine della campagna pubblicitaria. In questi ultimi giorni l'intera collezione è stata rivelata tramite la pubblicazione del lookbook e un grande evento newyorkese in cui blogger e celebrità sono state invitate a vedere ed acquistare gli abiti in anticipo (per poi rivenderli su ebay il giorno dopo). Proprio così, grazie alla magia di ebay la collezione è in vendita ancor prima di raggiungere i negozi. Tutti i capi sono riedizioni di capi iconici pescati nell'archivo Margiela e i più divertenti sono sicuramente gli accessori.

The pieces I liked the most are the candy wrapper purse and the perspex wedges.
A H&M designer collaboration is meant to offer clothes with an expensive design at H&M price points.
Apparently this is not the case of the perspex wedges offered at a price of $299!
Definitely not the H&M everage price.
I would rather invest this money on real designer shoes when they get discounted at the end of a season.
These perspex wedges were £224 (circa $360) on Farfetch in 2009. With the prices of the real thing and the H&M version being so close I wonder if the quality is also.

I miei preferiti sono la borsetta a forma di caramella e le zeppe trasparenti.

La ragion d'essere della patnership di H&M con i designer famosi è quella di offrire capi iconici a prezzi popolari  in linea con i listini  H&M e purtroppo non sembra essere il caso delle zeppe trasparenti offerte al prezzo di 199 euro, una cifra a mio modesto parere non molto lontana da quella delle scarpe originali in vendita a 278 euro circa su Farfetch nel 2009. Sarebbe interessante vedere se, oltre ai prezzi anche la qualità delle due scarpe è simile.


The Margiela candy wrapper bag from 2010 collections is an eyecatching accessory and today I had some fun making a diy version of it. It only took half a hour to make it and some sewing. I found an aluminum sheet at a local store and I decided to try to use it in this project.
You'll need:

• aluminum sheet for the sink (but you can also use metallic leather or any other leather)
• a piece of eco-leather 
• sewing machine (or glue)
• adhesive velcro strap
• scissors

La borsa a caramella di Margiela, scelta tra le collezioni del 2010 è un accessorio che non passa inosservato. Oggi mi sono divertita a realizzarne una versione fai da te in circa mezz'ora. Il foglio di alluminio che ho utilizzato è preso in prestito dalla cucina, mi ha colpito per la sua lucentezza ed ho deciso di utilizzarlo per questo diy.

Vi serviranno

• foglio di alluminio (o anche ecopelle e pelle metallica)
• un ritaglio di ecopelle
• macchina da cucire o colla
• velcro adesivo
• forbici

aluminum sheet for the sink

This sheet caught my attention because it's shiny and reflective.
In order to harden it a bit I put a piece of eco-leather inside it that will also be our lining.

Ho sovrapposto al foglio di alluminio un ritaglio di ecopelle per dargli maggior consistenza e resistenza. Inoltre la pelle fungerà da fodera.

 Cut a 40X40 cm piece of aluminum sheet and a slightly tigher piece of eco-leather.
 Sew or glue the leather at the top and bottom.

Ho ritagliato un quadrato 40x40 cm di alluminio e un pezzo poco più corto di eco pelle.

Cucite o incollate il ritaglio di pelle al foglio di alluminio in alto e in basso.

 Fold the piece of material in three to get the clutch. I made three seams close to each other to imitate the pleated part along the clutch.

Piegate il foglio in 3 per ottenere la borsetta. Ho effettuato tre cuciture l'una vicino all'altra per simulare la chiusura orizzontale della caramella.

Put the self adhesive velcro onto the top and the bottom of your square piece of material.  Now if you close it with velcro you have a silver tube.

Incollate il velcro autoadesivo sopra e sotto al vostro quadrato. Se chiudete ora il velcro otterrete un tubo argentato.

In order to obtain a rectangular shaped bag make a seam across each side of the bag.

Per ottenere una borsa rettangolare eseguite una cucitura da un lato ed una dall'altro.

 Make a zig-zag stencil with a checked piece of paper. Put it onto the bag and cut the zig zag with scissors at the edges and you new candy wrapper bag is done.

Realizzate uno stencil zig-zag con un foglio a quadretti. Sovrapponetelo al bordo corto della borsa e ritagliatene il profilo con le forbici.

Peplum top inspiration

pink waist coat - tribal peplum - open sleeves top - cat print peplum - shirt top

Lace top Warehouse - Cut out top - Longer back top Celine

Here's for you some ideas to craft a peplum top with the same technique used to DIY a peplum skirt. As you can see options are endless. Your top can be dressy if you upgrade a classic shirt or use lace or become more casual with a printed fabric like George's cat print top (that I'll try not to buy). Peplums can also be added to a waist coat or make a dramatic top with a tail at the back like Celine suggests.

Ecco qualche idea per realizzare un top a tulipano con la stessa tecnica che vi ho illustrato per realizzare la gonna a tulipano. Aggiungendo un volant potete rendere elegante una classica camicia bianca. Scegliendo invece una stoffa con una stampa vivace potrete realizzare un top casual e divertente proprio come quello di George con la stampa con i gattini. Potete aggiungere un volant perfino ad un gilet oppure realizzare un top veramente elegante con tanto di coda come quello disegnato da Celine.

Versace for H&M review

Yesterday I went to H&M for their latest designer collaboration. We've been talking about it since June and the moment to touch and buy the clothes is finally arrived. As you can imagine the queue was stressful. I think that shopping and stress should never go along together since we usually shop to relax but I waited patiently in line to shop the collection. I know that Versace for H&M will launch in US and Canada only tomorrow so I thought to share my opinion with you hoping that will be someway useful for your shopping.

two chokers, two bracelets

 

my sister bought this statement choker

the shopping bags

What we (me and my sister) bought yesterday: a skirt,a greek chocker and bracelet each and a beautiful scarf

 Studded pieces are amazing in real life especially the colored ones! This pink one is really beautiful and detailed. Even the back is fully studded, the zipper has a round puller with the greek fret. The front have 4 or more different kind of studs on it, it's definitely worth the price tag! I was surprised by the blue dress you  see on the left. It wasn't my favorite on the lookbook but when I tried on I changed my mind. It' perfectly tailored, it's smaller at the waist, it really follows the curves plus it has a funny hem: shorter on one side then longer and pleated on the other. What I loved the most of this collection are the bright colors. They're energetic and saturated. I know some people would judge them as too flashy but I like colors!

What I couldn't get my hands on: the black studded skirt (even if looked a little toyish in real life) and the baroque bag

The shopping experience:Pros and Cons

Pros

Lenghts

Donatella wasn't parsimonious with lenghts! There are no very short mini skirt! Every dress and skirt are long enough!

Quantity

H&M stocked enought dresses for everyone. If you've been to previous designer collaborations you may know that  by 11 am the collection was almost sold out and there were "3" pieces of clothing left for the poor girls without the bracelets! This is not going to happen this time! Yes, maybe when your turn arrives the most wanted pieces will be sold out but there will be still a lot of clothes to choose from and to buy. I was surprised because even in the afternoon the bomber jacket, the red and purple lace dresses,the fringe dresses and all those printed ones were still available to buy for everyone.

No, it's not that the collection wasn't a success in sales because it was (I saw people going out of the shop with a lot of bags filled with clothes!) I think that this time they produced more clothes! I'm not suggesting you to go shopping late, I know that London sold out really fast, I think it will depend on demand too.

Quality

I know I'm not the first saying this: the quality of clothes is higher than regular H&M, prices are higher but even quality is! If you're a fan of it I read that belts are made in Italy.

Fitting

I think that fitting is regular H&M for most things. I heard someone complaining on the fitting of some dresses like the black one with gold buttons and the purple babydoll, they said they needed a larger size than their regular but I think it depends a lot on bodytype. As always choose what flatters your bodytype.

Queue management

If you've never been at other designer collaboration you maybe not know how the queue is managed: the first 280 people arriving at the store get a bracelet and they can shop the collection in groups of 20 before other people. Unlike other years, this time the staff continued to manage the queue allowing only 20 people at a time to enter the fenced area even after the end of the bracelets groups. This allowed people to have a more quiet shopping experience.

No queue for men's collection

Men don't need to queue (isn't that frustrating?) so if there's a place to shop when you arrive in shop and you don't have the bracelet is men's collection!

Cons

Not every store will have home and men collection. If you check the store locator section in h&m website you'll notice that there are still different categories women, men and home. If you are interested in buying men's clothes be sure to check if the store you choose have them.

Beware that maybe not the whole collection is available in shop! Many of the dresses from the collection weren't available to buy in the H&M I've been to and not because they were sold out but because they never reached the store! Even the black studded leather dress wasn't available, I mean how could they ignore that one, it was the emblem of the collection! Maybe this won't happen in your store but I found it very frustrating! Here's a list of all the unavailable pieces in the store I've been to:the leather dress, the heavy leather jacket and the leather trench, the metallic dresses even the black boots and the pink shoes.

Prices

I think there was a lot of unjustified confusion on prices. The buzz for the collection started on June but H&M website didn't load all the prices of clothes neither the night before the launch(at least not on the italian website). Plus some of those they loaded weren't right! The bomber jacket cost 99 euros and not 129 like they wrote, the studded skirt was 99 euros and not 149 and the men leather jacket was 299 euros and not 349. Prices on these items have been lowered and this is a good thing but this last minute change can create confusion on one who decided not to buy those pieces because of their price tag. I hope you won't have the same problems with US and Canada websites.

 Limited time and other strange rules

1. You get only 10 minutes  to shop in the fenced area so try to get everything you would like to try on. When the time ends you have to get out. If you got a wrong size you can go back and ask the staff to change it but you have to give them back the cloth you tried so you can't really compare a size with the other.
2. You can have a different size but not something different! If you want something you didn't get the first round you have to queue again!
3. Each person can buy only one of everything. 

Did you know?

Dresses with hearts print have Gianni Versace signature on them!

The bomber jacket, the home pillows and the baroque bag are in velvet.

Bottom line :my personal shopping advices

1. get the skirts: they're really well made and tailored, for example pleats don't go up till the belt and this avoides fullness at the top giving a more slim figure; every pleat is decorated with a gold point and I love this details
2. get the scarves! They're soft with beautiful prints and aren't too expensive
3.  get the pink studded dress

I hope this little shopping guide will be helpful and don't forget to tell me what you bought tomorrow!

Donatella Versace opening Regent street H&M in London. She is wearing a fitted version of the studded pink dress(It doesn't have the same style of the one sold in stores, but I think it's even better)

Versace inspired bracelet DIY

 

 Gold and chains are the perfect ingredients for a luxury bracelet. I istantly loved the bracelet designed by Donatella Versace for H&M and while we wait for the collection to finally reach the stores, why don't make our version of it? You only need gold chains, a wide clasp and a big button!

L'oro o almeno il dorato è l'ingrediente indispensabile per un gioiello che abbia un aspetto lussuoso. Tra gli accessori disegnati da Donatella Versace per il marchio H&M uno in particolare mi ha colpito subito ed è il bracciale con le catenelle. Mentre aspettiamo che finalmente la collezione venga distribuita nei negozi ecco un tutorial veloce che reinterpreta il braccialetto. Vi servono: catenelle, una chiusura e un bottone e il bracciale è presto fatto.

 

the inspiration:Versace fo H&M

 il bracciale Versace for H&M

 

 

Aren't buttons beautiful? They can make incredible jewellery almost on their own. I found this big gold button at the haberdashery, you can choose any button you like.The variety is almost infinite and you'll be tempted to buy them all.

Here's the list of supply needed: a piece of metallic wire, a gold chain ,a button, a clasp like the ones you see below. They are pretty common but my local shop didn't have it so I had to diy my own with a metallic cap.

I bottoni sono davvero bellissimi e possono diventare dei gioielli unici. Io ho acquistato questo grande bottone dorato, voi scegliete quello che più preferite. La scelta è davvero molto ampia e una volta entrate in merceria sarete tentate di comprarli tutti!

Prendete: un filo metallico, una catenella dorata, un bottone, una chiusura per bracciale come quelle che vedete qui sotto. Il mio negozio di riferimento le aveva finite quindi ho dovuto "fabbricare" la mia con un un tappo di lamiera.

I just laid down the chain and tried the button on: as you can see the bracelet looks already done.

Measure your wrist and cut the chain in pieces of the same lenght; then attach the botton at the center with a piece of metallic wire. Using the pincher press the clasp at the ends to block the chains and you've done!

Ho sistemato la catena sul tavolo e ci ho poggiato sopra il bottone. Come potete vedere il bracciale sembra già fatto! Misurate il polso e tagliate la catenella in pezzi della stessa lunghezza. Legate il bottone alla catenella con un pezzo di filo metallico. Inserite la chiusura e schiacciatelasulle catenella. Avete finito!

 

what i did to make the clasp: I cut 2 rectangular pieces from the cap then I pierced it using a nail. I used a hook  to connect the chain to the metallic plate an then i pressed it down using a pincher.

Come ho fatto a far la chiusura? Ho ritagliato due rettangoli dal tappo e li ho bucati usando un chiodo. Con dei gancetti ho connesso la lamiera alle catenelle e ho poi schiacciato la lamiera con la pinza.

Big news: H&M patners with Versace

For those who missed the news yesterday, the retail chain H&M has revealed who is going to be the next designer collaborating with them and the designer is...(drum rolls) VERSACE!!!
Versace means glamour,excess,luxury!
I'm so exited! I alredy made room in my wardrobe! Can you believe the mass will have the chance to own a piece of history of fashion! It's a girl dream came true! I'm virtually already standing in the line outside the shop! This news are going to effect my sale expenses! I have to save for a Versace!
The collection will be in shops the 17th of November. There will be 40 pieces in the woman collection and 20 for menswear plus there will be a collection for home like bed sheets and pillows!
Donatella Versace is thinking big and she will patner with H&M even for a spring 2012 collection that will be available online only for those countries where H&M ships to the 19th of January (not Italy at the moment  H&M must fix this asap!).

Here's a little preview!!

   

this is one dress from the H&M collection!!

how amazing is the studded jacket and what about the skirt?
i'm already mad for the shoes!!

Are you bikini ready?

In her new video Beyonce wears a fantastic Jean Paul Gaultier dress. In my opinion it would make an amazing swimsuit! Certainly not suitable to have a sunbath, a onepieces like that is definitely stylish. Here's some swimsuits with cut out details i've found to obtain a similar look! The DSquared2 one is the very beautiful yet the most expensive;you can buy it at shopbop.com but we can get the Asos one for as little as £10 or the H&M version at £14.99.
After choosing a swimsuit like that the only problem left is the flat tummy needed to wear it!
All of a sudden i want to workout more! :P
And you?Are you ready to hit the beach?


Nel suo nuovo video Beyonce indossa un incredibile vestito firmato Jean Paul Gaultier. Non credete che sarebbe un fantastico costume da bagno? Ecco una piccola lista di costumi che ho trovato per ottenere un look simile a quello di Beyonce. La proposta DSquared2 è sicuramente molto appariscente ma anche la più costosa raggiungendo un prezzo di $900, è disponibile su shopbop.com. Non preoccupatevi possiamo sempre acquistare il costume Asos per sole dieci sterline o quello firmato H&M per appena £15.
Rimane solo il problema della pancia piatta,indispensabile per indossare al meglio questi costumi!
Improvvisamente ho voglia di allenarmi di più! :P
E Voi? Siete pronti per la prova costume?

DIY:Lanvin necklace

From now on Matter Of Style will be in italian too to conquer the heart of my own country readers too. First attempt to make the Lanvin at H&M necklace available in pink and in red.
This necklace is made with opaque beads and stamped pieces we don't have.
When i first saw the necklace i tought it was a little bit eccessive, the bold colors make it look a little naive and childish. I thought: how cute if it was opaque white and i discovered that these necklace are copies of Lanvin necklaces that were in origin white.

The version 1.0 of my reproduced necklace is with pearls.

I used pearls of 4 different dimensions.
They were all in the same box bought at co.import a shop for home accessories
This is the result. I used big pearls to substitute the bigger elements.
Once done the necklace is really a statement
This is the version with pearls, now i'll go shopping for some pink opaque beads and drops and i'll try again
please let me know what you think!

Da oggi Matter Of Style è anche in italiano per conquistare il cuore dei connazionali!!
Oggi primo tentativo di riprodurre il collier di Lanvin for H&M.
Questa collana è costituita da perline opache rosa o rosse e da degli elementi stampati. La prima volta che ho visto la collana ho pensato fosse eccessiva soprattutto per i colori accesi scelti, sembra un po' un giocattolo per bambine,la sua bellezza risiede proprio nel fatto di essere un po' naif, un elemento di rottura in un look serioso. Ho subito pensato che opaco bianco avrebbe dato il suo meglio ed infatti ho scoperto che la collana non è altro che una riproduzione di un precedente design di Lanvin appunto bianco.

Per quella che io chiamerei la versione 1.0 della collana ho utilizzato perle di 4 dimensone diverse (acquistate tutte in una scatola a co.import negozio di accessori per la casa) utilizzando le più grandi per sostituire gli elementi stampati. Che ne pensate? Oggi andrò alla ricerca di perline rosa e di gocce per cimentarmi con un po' di filo di ferro in una versione più simile all'originale.

LAnvin necklace $3000

sorry for the quality of the pics, they have been taken with a phone