Bath in Fashion Blogger Awards

Hello everyone, I hope you’re enjoying the start of the Easter weekend! In a few hours I’ll be ensconced in paint, sandpaper and overalls as Mr Ship-Shape and I are taking the opportunity to decorate our bedroom this weekend, but before I go off to get lost in B&Q, I thought I’d share some exciting news.

A few weeks ago I entered myself into the Bath in Fashion Blogger Awards and I’m chuffed to say Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion has been shortlisted! Along with nine other bloggers from Bath, Bristol and the South West, I’ll be heading to the Bath in Fashion S/S13 Show on Thursday 18th April to found out who has been crowned the winner*.

I’ve never entered anything like this before but I love representing the South West on Ship-Shape, and I’m chuffed to bits to have made it into the top ten. The winner will be determined by the ever democratic public vote, so I’d love it if you could vote for me, either by following the link or clicking on the Bath in Fashion button in the sidebar.

If voting/blogger awards aren’t your cup of tea, or there are too many cracking blogs on this list for you to cast your vote between, then I’d like to take the time to thank you for reading Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion anyway – I love working on this blog, reading your comments and wittering away on Twitter and I’m pleased to have met so many lovely people through blogging.

Ok, gushing over. I hope you have a lovely Easter weekend!

SJ x

*actual crown not guaranteed

Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion’s Blogging Resolutions for 2013

I’m loath to witter on about making New Year’s Resolutions too much, as I find that, sometimes, the more you shout about your goals, the harder it is to stick to them. However I think it’s important to set yourself goals, challenges, resolutions – whatever you want to call them – throughout life, and the start of a new year is as good a time to start as any.

This will undoubtedly sound like a #firstworldproblem, but I think many of you will agree that blogging can be hard work. From getting the right shot to finding your voice, or having conviction in your post ideas and trying to work out that pesky piece of HTML, running a blog takes time, effort and commitment. This year I want Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashion to continue to develop and I’ve put together a short list of Blogging Resolutions for myself that you might want to follow, too.

• Content is Queen. Refining content and keeping what works and what doesn’t will be a big part of 2013. Keepers include Rock The Week and Something for The Weekend posts, plus more outfit posts and beauty reviews, plus a few curve balls, too.
• Comment and reply. Sometimes working hard on your blog can be so engrossing that you forget to check out what everyone else is doing, so this year I’m planning on reading lots of new blogs, starting with some of the #SWBXmas crew, plus actually commenting instead of mentally thinking how great someone’s outfit looks, and being more diligent about replying to the comments I receive.
• Redesign. Nothing major, but I’d like to freshen up the look of Ship-Shape, which also means getting better acquainted with HTML and not being afraid of change.
• Time management. Some bloggers work from their phones, some spend one night working on their content for the whole week, while I seem to spend every other evening glued to my computer – sound familiar? For 2013 I’d like to get better at scheduling content in advance and freeing up more time to spend with Mr Ship-Shape and our friends.
• More meet-ups. #SWBXmas was a great opportunity to meet other regional bloggers and I look forward to more of the same this year, even if it is mostly on a much smaller scale. Plus, meeting up with fellow bloggers would give friends and family a brake from me waffling on about text alignment or which software is the best for editing outfit photos…

For some more blogging resolutions and ideas, check out IFB’s resolution round-up.

What blogging resolutions are you making this year?

Happy New Year!

SJ x

South West Bloggers Christmas Party

What do you get when you bring together some of the South West’s best bloggers, a picture perfect venue, and a good cause? The South West Bloggers Network Christmas meet-up (#SWBXmas), of course!

The Birdcage on Claire Street was the venue of choice for an afternoon of festive, fashionable fun, connecting bloggers, serving us lots of tea and cake, and raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

It’s always lovely to get out from behind the computer and meet fellow bloggers, but it is weird when you follow someone on Twitter or Bloglovin, recognise them in real life, but can’t just walk up to them and ask them about their cat’s health, or if they did end up buying that Zara jumper the other day… sounds a bit stalkerish, right?

Luckily, after everyone had a chance to arrive and grab a cuppa and a slice of cake, we were all shaken out of our comfort zones and, clutching the coloured felt we’d been given on the way in, tasked with finding everyone with a matching colour and pair up for the SWBXmas Quiz, hosted by Hayley, Gina and Lyzi.

After a tense five rounds featuring Gossip Girl, Prada and  a bag inspired by Lady Gaga’s bum (yes, really), we found out that Fritha, Laura and I came in 2nd place, each winning a pampering treat at Neal’s Yard Remedies! Who knew that retaining information about the dress Alicia Silverstone wore in Clueless coud come in so handy?

As well as the quiz, the lovely Birdcage team treated us to teacups of champagne a goodie bag filled with treats and a visit from Santa (see photo above) too. Ticket sales have all gone straight to charity and hopefully this is the start of local meets in the future.

Big thanks to Gina, Hayley, Bee and Lyzi for throwing the shindig, and The Birdcage for hosting and providing us with so many scrumptious treats! If you want to donate money to Macmillian you can do so at the SWBXmas Just Giving page.

Three Year Blogiversary!

Today Ship-Shape & Bristol Fashion celebrates it’s third year in existence, a blogiversary of sorts. Three years ago I was blogging about the impact of Bristol’s new Primark store and the endless closures of local shops. The landscape of Britain’s high streets remains largely the same, but Bristol is awash with fantastic new and blossoming designers and boutiques.

Since Ship-Shape & Bristol Fashion is now out of the Terrible Twos, I’m looking forward to adding new elements to the blog in due course, which I hope you all enjoy : ) Here’s to the next three years of blogging!

Image source.

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• Olympic fever. This week Mr Ship-Shape and I went to watch the quarter finals of the Men’s Basketball in London. Although we didn’t get to see Team GB in action, we had a fantastic day, and at home I’ve been consuming London 2012 coverage like water – I’ll actually be a bit sad when it finishes tonight!
• #wkendbloglove. This month Hayley has written about her blogging pet peeves, and also her blogging loves, dedicating this weekend to tweeting about the blogs/bloggers she loves. One of the things I like about Hayley is that she doesn’t mince her words, and is frequently selfless by doing this kind of thing, not to mention setting up the UK blogger map. I recommend you check out her blog and of course all the lovely bloggers she’s been tweeting about this weekend – you won’t be disappointed!

• Garden flowers. How beautiful are these powder pink roses? When we bought the house we inherited a gorgeous rose tree, and over the last couple of weeks its rose hips have been blooming into delicate, blush coloured flowers. There are so many roses that I thought I’d bring a few inside to brighten up our living room. I’d love to use the flowers and/or rose hips in other ways, so if any of you have any cooking or DIY beauty uses for these, I’d love to hear about them.
• This week also saw the passing of a fashion icon, as the writer Anna Piaggi died at the age of 81. I fell in love with her unique look and way of working  (such as those iconic D.P.s) at a V&A exhibition in 2006. I republished a post about why I think she’s wonderful here.
• Finally, in the spirit of #wkendbloglove, here are a few blogs I’ve recently discovered… A Rosie Outlook, Trinket Box and my Bristolian lovelies Annie by Amy and Beautiful Plumage.

What’s been rocking your world this week? Let me know by commenting below…

Blogging for Oxfam Fashion

I finished work today to find a lovely surprise doing the rounds on Twitter – my first post for Oxfam Fashion has gone live!

I mentioned in a RTW post a few weeks ago that I’d been picked as Oxfam’s new fashion blogger, and the first topic I decided to tackle was how to offset buying new clothes by making sure I operate a one in, one out policy.

Sustainability within fashion blogging can often be a bit of a taboo topic, so I hope my post offers a small solution to buying brand new. Read the full article on their site and let me know your thoughts – do you have a way of controlling what goes in your wardrobe?

Have a great evening!

Bristol Flea Market at Ashton Gate

Here are a few more photos from the Bristol Flea Market at Ashton Gate. As I mentioned in last week’s RTW post, S and I were there as stallholders, not buyers, though a gorgeous picnic basket did manage to make it’s way home with me…

Bristol Flea Market isn’t the first time I’ve sold my wares, as it were, but it is the first time this year, and I hope it will become a more regular fixture. I’m thinking about adding an online shop to this blog and I’d love to know what you think – I’m always eager to see what bloggers like Steffy’s Pro’s and Con’s are selling, but I’ve never bought vintage online before. Do you buy the majority of your clothes online? And have you ever bought clothes from fellow bloggers? I’d love to know your thoughts, so let me know by commenting below…

Our stall at Bristol Flea Market

So many stalls, so little time!

Some of our vintage knitwear, including Aran jumpers

Gorgeous labels from S’s label/blog Beautiful Plumage

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• Private Vintage Club. Glamour, excess, vintage clothes and underwear. If you couldn’t make it to this event then you can read all about it here.
• Roast dinners. My mum used to cook a Sunday roast religiously, to the point where if we wouldn’t be home for dinner for whatever reason, she’d cook it on a Monday instead – sometimes that meant eating two roasts in seven days. I soon grew bored of this British Sunday staple, until I moved out to go to uni and only attempted to cook one once a year with my housemates. Needless to say, with ten hungover cooks they were often a bit of disaster! Now I love ‘em, and Mr Ship-Shape and I have been slaving over one for the best part of this afternoon, along with attempting to make some homemade soup, before our friends arrive. So. Excited.

• Girl on girl smack-downs. The fact that women always seem to be so down on other women isn’t what rocks my world this week, but it is a question that Fleet Street Fox poses in her shiny new column for the Mirror.
• Decorative tins. I wish I could explain my obsession with old tins, but I just can’t. In antique shops or at car boot sales, I’m like a moth to a flame if I spot a vintage tin or tea caddy – and I don’t even drink tea! Fortunately for me, Marks & Spencers have stepped up, and I’m now the proud owner of this Diamond Jubilee tin, above. It does actually contain shortbread biscuits, but for once, this isn’t the reason I bought it : )

What’s been rocking your world this week? Let me know by commenting below…

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• The Bath Half. I ran my first half marathon today. My body aches, I have blisters that could rival Simon Pegg’s in Run Fatboy Run and I didn’t quite make the time I wanted, but I did it! It was an amazing event to take part in, a gloriously sunny day and the people of Bath who lined the streets to cheer us on were fantastic. What blows my mind is that today was just another training session for those taking part in the London Marathon this April! I know there was also a 10k event in Bristol today, so congrats to anyone and everyone who took part in these events.
• Bristol Blogger Meet. ‘Blogging events shouldn’t just be about goodie bags and outfits – what about networking and just having a pint?!’ This pretty much sums up Hayles of Ceriselle’s reason for holding a blogger meet for local folks, which I went along to on Friday evening.  Kicking back in Start The Bus to chat about life, blogging and everything in between was great, plus I got to meet Hi Street and Martina too. Hopefully the next time will be at Bristol Fashion Week – exciting stuff!
• Moving house. I mentioned in my last RTW post that Mr Ship-Shape and I had decided to buy a house (eek!) and we moved in this week. It’s been a hard slog, especially as we’ve had to juggle it with work, a broken boiler and the half marathon, but we’re in now and I can’t wait to start decorating.
• Outfit post tutorials. When Mr Ship-Shape isn’t around, I take my own outfit shots using the self timer on my camera. It’s hard work, but Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky makes it look easy! Fortunately she’s been kind enough to share her tips, which I spotted on Harriet’s Lazy Sunday Links this afternoon.

That’s my (mostly non) fashion ramblings for the week. Normal blogging service to resume shortly : ) What has been rocking your world this week? Let me know by commenting below….

Rock The Week

Fashion related (and totally non-fashion related) things that have made my world go round over the last seven days…

• An Eye For Fashion. M Shed’s exhibition of Norman Parkinson photography is sublime, offers an insight into Bristol’s high street of yesteryear, and is dominated by 50s and 60s fashion – bang on trend for this season – what’s not to love? I went to the exhibition this week, and I thoroughly recommend it.
• New blogs! Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying to freshen up my Bloglovin’ feed with some new blogs, and revisiting a few old favourites. Florence Finds has got some fab recipes and photography, plus plenty of pretty dresses, the Oxfam Fashion Blog provides an insight into how the charity is constantly evolving its fashion sector, and this week Niki of Hip Shapes and Bristol Fashion inspired me with her outfit post on printed jackets.
• Motel vintage. Last week I found two gorgeous vintage dresses from Motel and I decided to face my outfit-posting fears and take a few photos in our garden. It made me fall in love with Motel again and I can’t wait for more warm weather so I can wear these dresses again!

• And finally, some exciting news! I’ve been waiting for ages to share this but Mr Ship-Shape and I have bought a house! We’ll be moving in very soon so I may go AWOL for a bit, but I’m very excited, if a tad nervous that we are now on the property ladder. Also worried that cheeky shopping trips to Cabot Circus will be replaced with Saturdays spent wandering the aisles of B&Q and incessant tweets about DIY, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it…

That’s it from me for this week – I’ve got to finish packing. What has been rocking your world this week? Let me know by commenting below….