Ratted & Tatted

The Art of Getting Dressed

It’s not very often that an item of clothing, or rather wearing an item of clothing is considered an art. Today I think we should change that.

I think there is an art to wearing some clothing articles, for example; anyone and everyone can wear a black dress, but only some possess the skill to let the dress tell a story about them. The art of wearing a black dress is in essence a performance. When I wear a long, slim-fit black dress, I try to express myself comfortably but with an elegant boldness. I will wear it with a black, long cardigan that I can drape off my shoulders and black Dr. Martens, today a corset was added, tomorrow? New dress, a new form of self-expression.

The art of getting dressed is taking such a simple garment and turning it into an art piece you can wear, a form of self-expression that can be as deep and beautiful as Van Goughs’ ‘Starry Night’. Any person can wear the long slim-fit black dress I wore today, but my version of it would look nothing like theirs. Self-expression is such a beautiful thing in fashion, no two outfits are the same, yes they may both be wearing blue jeans, but one has a white jumper and the other has a white shirt and a cream blazer. How you choose to style your outfit to express yourself is what sets you apart from everyone else you see daily, that is the art of getting dressed.

The art of getting dressed is so beautiful yet so unappreciated. Not enough people take pride in what they wear, and not enough people choose to express themselves through clothing out of fear. Fear of losing their job, fear of not getting hired, fear of being ridiculed, or just the standard fear of not fitting in. As much as this is fine, it is still sad. One of my favourite activities to do when waiting for my train is to look at other people’s outfits and read their stories. There is so much art, life, and story in how they have chosen to present themselves that day, I can’t help but find that a glorious thing.

Maybe I can suggest something to you as a Ratted & Tatted reader? Tomorrow, express yourself through your clothing, and practice the art of getting dressed. See how good it feels to be wearing how you truly feel, and tell your story.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s edition of Ratted & Tatted!

Stevie, Crinkle & Cronk

Long Skirts

Recently I have been loving long skirts, as the weather has been getting warmer. My friend gave me a discount on some as I wanted to have a more ‘witchy’ vibe for summer this year. I have absolutely fallen in love with the feel and look of a long skirt. They have been my go-to clothing choice since the summer weather began. A big benefit of having a long skirt is that they are so easy to style!

Personally, I style my long skirt with a cropped vest-style top and my Dr Martens. Either that or my punky vibe loafers. This outfit goes lovely with a vintage light-weight jacket, for me, this is usually one of my leather jackets.

I think long skirts are such an amazing staple piece and I am so glad they are coming back into fashion! With a patterned long skirt, you have a free lazy pass for the rest of your outfit. Everything else can be plain and one colour but the skirt does all the talking for you, no extra details are needed! (Although I do love to add my bracelets, necklaces, and rings.)

That’s my take on the long skirt anyway; vintage, affordable, and summery. If you have a chance I recommend having a look in your local charity shop or on Vinted or Depop, (especially since they are so easy to tailor and customize yourself.) What is your take on long skirts? Feel free to comment or message me:

Instagram: @stevie.drln
Twitter: @RattedTatted

Happy Scrolling!

– Stevie, Crinkle & Cronk

Shoes

As we already know, I charity and vintage shop for all my clothes. The only exception to this rule is shoes. I buy all my shoes from Converse, Dr Martens, and occasionally TKMaxx, I do however have reasoning for this exception. Personally, the most money I spend on clothing is always on shoes. I buy all my shoes directly from the brand I want, I do this for many reasons: no one has worn them so there is no risk of getting a verruca, they are comfy, they are unscratched or damaged and they are clean.

Since I am a fashion student, I can fix charity/ vintage clothes, patch, add to and resize myself. I do not however know how to fix shoes, so I need them to be new with no issues. With this decision to always buy shoes from the brand comes a lot of research to make sure I am supporting a good business, including looking at what is outsourced, how many recycled materials are used, and what the company’s carbon footprint is like.

Recently for my birthday, I bought myself a pair of Docs, I will not lie or glorify it. They are expensive and require a lot of care and careful breaking in. They are a beautiful pair of boots and I love them a lot, so far I have had no issues with them luckily for me. I would recommend getting a pair in-store, but only if you are aware of the amount of care that does go into having them.

The only thing I can say is if you are buying shoes directly from a company, please do your research and be aware of the impact you are having on the environment and the lives of others to whom the work is possibly outsourced to. It is important to be aware.

I hope you enjoyed today’s edition of Ratted & Tatted, have a lovely rest of your day 🙂

Stevie, Crinkle & Cronk

Fur Coats

I am sure it comes as no shock to anybody that I love Cruella. My obsession started when I was small and it never really went away. My obsession was only turned into a hobby when I was gifted my first fur coat (rabbit fur, dating back to the early 1930s I believe) a couple of years ago by a friend.

Let me tell you how gorgeous this coat is, the fur is a maple brown colour and still so soft to the touch, and it goes almost the whole way down to my ankles. I love this coat more than words, unfortunately, there is an issue where the old fur has ripped and I am in the process of finding some faux fur to patch it.

I have accumulated a good collection of fur coats by now, I have 3 faux fur and 1 real rabbit fur, which by far are my favourite clothing pieces I have. Although I do have a little favouritism towards my white faux fur coat, my reasoning? It looks exactly like a slim version of Cruellas’ famously worn white fur coat from 101 Dalmatians.

Almost all my clothing comes from vintage and charity shops (besides my shoes, but we will talk about that another time.) and my fur coats are no exception to that rule. All fur coats in my possession were either gifted to me or found in charity shops, an example being my white coat was £10 in a charity shop that’s profits went straight to saving cats and giving them homes. Safe to say Crinkle and Cronk were not too happy about that!

Now comes that fateful moment where I advise you to do something like commenting or liking this post, but instead, I am going to ask you to keep a lookout for a fur coat in your nearest charity shop. I promise you will not regret giving it a loving home.

Enjoy the rest of your day 🙂

Stevie, Crinkle & Cronk