Fashion

Do you want to give someone a gift? You may be wondering what gift to give. Do you want to give something that the recipient will cherish and hold dear?

Well, you can gift a personalised necklace. Do you know why?

Great experience for both taker and giver

There is no better gift than a necklace that has your name on it or a photo that reminds you of good memories. It is exciting to receive a gift that is just for you and not a generic item picked from a store. It shows that the person giving it to you really thought about the present.

The giver also enjoys the experience of having a unique product made just for the taker. There is great joy in knowing you are having something extraordinary made for that special person.

Can be customised based on givers preference

Do you want the necklace to have a name, place or date written on it or do you want it engraved with a picture? Should it have a birthstone? When you are getting a customised necklace, you can have it added whatever you prefer. You have a say on the outcome.

For example, you could have it inscribed with a date special to both of you or a name that has special meaning to the taker.

What’s more, you can choose the design and the colour that you prefer. There are many types of 1personalized necklaces. These include name necklaces, Russian rings, bar necklace, photo engraved necklaces, interlocking heart necklaces and many other styles. The necklace can be in gold, silver, rose gold or gold plated among other options.

Gift wrap

Once the necklace is personalised, it is then wrapped as a gift by the jeweller.  This makes it easy for the giver since there is no need to gift-wrap it again.

Helps to preserve great memories

Was it your first kiss or the place you went on your first date? A personalised necklace provides a way to preserve those special moments. Such a necklace is unique and can be kept for a long time. Some of these are passed down as heirlooms.

Can be worn by all

Men or women can wear a personalised necklace. You can have mum necklaces or dad necklaces personalised using names of spouse or the kids or engraved an important image. For example, you can have a personalised necklace with the names of the kids engraved or with a family photo and gift it to the mom or dad or both. You could have a similar necklace made for each of them.

Personalised necklaces make perfect gifts for bringing families together and strengthening their bond. A family photo on the necklace or interlocking hearts engraved necklace or name necklace can be a constant reminder of your love for family or that special moment. This can make an ideal gift from a spouse, from the kids or any other family member. It will keep the memories alive and that special person close to your heart.

Engraved necklaces in the UK are very common in the jewelry market. Engraved necklaces are those that have words, phrases, dates, and quotes engraved onto the metal used in making necklaces. The metals used in the jewel making industry include gold, silver, platinum, and titanium. These metals are used because they are strong, durable, and can withstand wear and tear. However, cheaper necklaces are manufactured from cheap metals like steel are common because they are easy to acquire. Currently, necklaces are used for beauty. However, traditionally, necklaces were used in ceremonies like funerals, weddings, and rituals.

Components of a necklace

• The Band

This is the part of the necklace that is wrapped around the wearer’s neck. This part of the necklace is mostly made from precious metals that can withstand the constant pressure and tension subjected to the band. The band is also known as the chain or the cord. It usually comes with a clasp depending on the size. Necklaces with long cords do not have clasps as they can easily be worn over the head. Types of necklace bands;

1. Marine/anchor bands- these are majorly similar to those that are used in the marine to connect to anchors. The anchor band consists of interlocking ovals with bars at the center. This type of band is strong and more durable than the latter. They are more common among men than women.
2. Ball bands- these are bands that consist of a series of small beads that are linked together to create chains. The balls can also be connected very close together or with small spaces in between to allow for movement. This type of chain is commonly worn by women because of the delicate nature
3. Box bands- this type of band consists of square links that are connected. The connections make a continuous smooth chain. Necklaces with this type of band are worn by both men and women
4. Curb bands- this is one of the more standard designs of chains. They consist of interconnected yet uniform links that are designed to lay flat whether or not they are interlocked. They are common among women and men as well.
5. Robe bands- this one is made up of several metals that are connected using twisting patterns that resemble that of an actual rope. Perhaps this is the most common type of band among women as it also happens to be the most beautiful.

• The Attachment

This is the part of the necklace that hangs from the cord. The attachments come in varying types. Some of these types include pendants, lockets, amulets, and precious rocks like a diamond, pearls of rubies. The attachments are mostly made from different materials to those used to make the cord. However, they can also be from the same material. Necklaces with attachments made from precious metals like diamond tend to be more costly than the latter.

Conclusion

There are several necklace styles, some of which were developed centuries ago. Some of these styles include Sautoir, pendant, festoon, graduated, and lavaliere, to name a few. Each of these styles differs in cost.

Unquestionably, massive improvement in women’s dresses designs and styles have been experienced over the years.

Consequently, individuals have become more stylish and fashionable when it comes to their outfits. Subsequently, multiple Lolita style designs have been experienced in the market as well. Now, let’s have a look at the common Lolita dresses.

• Classic Lolita dresses

A classic Lolita dress tends to lean more on the Victorian era bearing muted colors such as brown, burgundy, ivory. Common motifs designed on the classic Lolita include forest themes, fairy animals, and cherubs, among many others. Due to its features, it is considered to be a more mature style of Lolita, thus making it an ideal women’s special occasion dresses as it has the popularity of being longer than most Lolita dresses, which are knee-length.

• Gothic Lolita Dresses

Dating back from the earlier Lolita design, the gothic Lolita dresses have drastically changed in fashion and design. Still retaining the bell-shaped Lolita design, the gothic Lolita dress can be considered as a gothic maid dress. Unlike the older gothic Lolita dresses, which were only limited to black and white colors, the up-to-date gothic Lolita dresses tend to use other darker colors such as navy blue, burgundy, and even at times with a touch of gold. Gothic Lolita dresses tend to use gothic motifs such as vampires and gothic architecture such as cathedrals.

• Old-school Lolita dresses

Old school Lolita dresses are the best dresses for girls opting to pull off that old-school look. Dating back to the ’90s, the old school Lolita has that casual old school design of a simple lace dress. The old school Lolita tends to look different from the recent Lolita designs having its old school design.

• Punk Lolita Dresses

Borrowing from the western punk fashion, the punk Lolita dresses have been influenced fashion-wise from the punk but still retain the Lolita fashion. The punk Lolita dresses tend to be a little bit shorter than other Lolita dresses but should not be too short in the sense that it will not be safe and comfortable for one to bend over. If you are looking for a pretty little dress, then the punk Lolita is the best option to consider.

• Sweet Lolita Dresses

Sweet Lolita dresses can be vouched to be lovely dresses for ladies due to their pastel colors such as pink, baby blue, and mint green and prints with motifs such as carousels, among many others. This is seen as a transformation from the previous sweet Lolita designs which were over-the-top (OTT), which involved bold pastels and tended to be detailed with lace and embroidery. Still retaining its adorable and unique sweet flare it tends to be still considered as very cute and girly. Despite the significant transformation of the sweet Lolita design, more straightforward looks can still be found.

In conclusion,

Indisputably, there are multiple Lolita women’s dresses in the market today. Subsequently, individuals have had a variety of choices to choose from when purchasing the attires in question. Some of the common designs are punk Lolita dresses, old-school Lolita dresses, sweet Lolita dresses, gothic Lolita dresses, and classic Lolita dresses.

There’s no other feature in your home that is used more than your kitchen sink. A kitchen sink can do various tasks, and other than choosing a brand-new toilet – shopping around for a kitchen sink might be the most important choice that you’ll make. Hence, the decision that you make will affect you and your daily life for countless years to come.

In order to avoid making a decision that you would regret later on; we’ll help you out by providing you with valuable information on choosing the right kitchen sink for your home.

3 Factors to Consider

Sink Style

1. Under Mount

The trick to choosing the right kitchen sink is to determine how much space you can work with based on the different types of sinks. One of the most cost-efficient types of sink out in the market is the under-mount sink.

One great advantage that under-mount sinks provide is the ability to seamlessly clean your countertop surface down to your sink with a single wipe. One drawback of an under-mount sink is that it isn’t compatible with every countertop material.

2. Drop-In Sinks

This is the most common sink among households partly because of how easy it is to install. Drop-in sinks are installed in a hole made on your countertop. Because it already has the support of your countertop, no internal support is needed anymore. One drawback of a drop-in sink is its inability to be easily cleaned.

Materials

Since you use your kitchen sink daily, it’s subject to huge wear and tear. Due to this, you might notice that some sinks get worn down much faster compared to others. That’s because of the material used in creating that sink.

In choosing a sink, choose one that’s made out of stainless steel. It is significantly durable than iron sinks because of it’s scratch and heat resistant properties. Although most stainless-steel sinks create a considerable amount of noise, technological advancements have allowed the development of sound-absorption technology to be implemented on sinks made of stainless steel.

Bowls

Knowing how much space you can work with will allow you to determine what size you want your sink to have, as well as the bowls or basins. Usually, a standard sink has double-bowl features, but for kitchens with limited space, a lone bowl might be more ideal.

While single bowls are more ideal to save space, double bowls can provide you with better functionality and more options. For example, when hand washing huge pots, pans, dishes, and etc. you will need that extra oversized bowl to hold your other dishes.

Final Words

As you can see, every choice matters in selecting your next kitchen sink. When browsing around for the kitchen sink material, style, color, and amount of bowls take in mind how much kitchen space can you work with. Your countertop material also needs to be considered.

In order for everything to go smoothly, you can consult a professional during your planning stage to provide you with professional opinions and suggestions.

April set sail in style with the launch of our latest fashion title, Nautical Chic and a fabulous partnership with Beyond Retro, Sailor Jerry’s, Vintage Vacations and Red Funnel Ferry Travel. We’ve also teamed up with a bright young voice from the world of vintage fashion blogging Rosalind Jana of ‘clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com‘ to bring you this guest blog post. Here Rosalind responds to the themes of the book and unearths forgotten treasures from within her own wardrobe.

What can fashion tell us? Well, look at the clothes being worn in any particular era and you’ve immediately got access to some of the interests, anxieties and events of that age. Our sartorial choices aren’t made in a vacuum – they’re responsive to what’s going on around us. Whether it’s a dazzle camouflage swimsuit emulating the look of WWI warships or Coco Chanel’s beach pyjamas transforming a working man’s uniform into leisure wear, people have often adorned themselves with things pointing to particular moments or preoccupations.

Amber Jane Butchart’s Nautical Chic pinpoints this meeting of time, place and personal appearance perfectly. Her study of naval style is located exactly where it should be: at an intersecting point between power, nationhood, aesthetics, cultural change, the odd flight of imagination, and some bloody great outfits. All of those colliding influences and shaping forces point to something neatly summarized by Rosalind Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass in Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory: ‘Clothing is a worn world: a world of social relations put upon the wearer’s body.’ And if there’s anything that Butchart’s exploration of the worn world of naval chic proves it’s that ‘the story of high fashion on the high seas’ is a smart, multi-faceted narrative – a rich thread to unravel and pull at.

The history of various nautical trends and looks is completely interwoven with what we might term BIG themes like war, the economy, working lives, sexuality, gender, class, and aspiration. Although I knew some basics like the cable knit’s transition from fishermen to fashion statement, or the continuing popularity of sailor shirts, or the status and wealth inherent in American sportswear, these sketchy estimates lacked any of the minutiae or context offered here. I had no idea that epaulettes originated in the French military – but were viewed with some distrust by Lord Nelson. I’d hardly considered the striped top’s transition from pragmatic working wear to catwalk (a transition emphasised time and time again throughout these pages), instead happy to rely on some hazy image of sails and decking brought on by the label ‘Breton top’. And the influence of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise on Jean Paul Gaultier and Marni was a complete revelation…

To me, that’s what the best fashion books do: enlarge and illuminate things one might have been vaguely aware of, giving them so much more solidity – and a backstory too. Before reading, a pea coat was something I mainly saw as a gorgeously cut garment. Now I’ve seen the movement charted from early 18^th century navy to 60s YSL reimagining to present status as ‘style classic’. I also have a novel respect for various items peppering my own wardrobe: the navy blue 80s Jaeger blazer, the funny little leather fisherman’s hat I picked up at a flea market, the children’s straw boater, the striped tops, cotton sundresses designed for beach lounging, and a particularly fabulous shell print Liberty two piece. Still on the lookout for my ideal sailor dress though.

However, I might be in luck on that last point, as Amber has teamed up with vintage treasure trove chain Beyond Retro, picking out items from their vast collection with a distinctly naval feel. Oh so appropriate for a vintage chain with an anchor for its logo. Incidentally, the first dress I bought from Beyond Retro, back when I was a skinny fourteen year old – all bony knees and waist-length hair – was a mint green shift, resplendent with naval style gold buckles stretching down the front. But now there’s potential for setting sail (I’m sorry, so sorry) in any number of sartorial directions, with shorts, shirts, skirts and swimsuits a-plenty. It’s an ideal collaboration, not least because the presiding strength of Butchart’s book is not merely in the history – but also the cross-cultural links to contemporary designs. She drew out more of these links in her engaging talk at Beyond Retro last night, shaking out the history of items from Schiaparelli’s trompe l’oeil sailor jumper to Jean-Paul Gaultier’s regular use of Dixie-cup hats – though, as she pointed out in the spirit of true “fashion geek” observation, one of the muscled men in his Le Male ad is wearing the wrong style hat for that particular striped top…

What’s apparent from Butchart’s book (and her talk) is that past and present are always colliding on the catwalk, but here those intricate relationships are drawn out with dexterity. Mermaid bodices, bell bottoms, thigh high boots, skull insignia, penny loafers, striped wide skirts, knitted jumpers, decadent waistcoats – all these items can be traced back to watery beginnings, whether on the back of a captain, a pirate, or a keen yachtsman. The term ‘naval’ is as equally applicable to Tommy Hilfiger as it is to Vivienne Westwood (an unlikely pairing in the same sentence). It is indeed a wide-ranging ‘world of social relations’, whether those relations are all about rank, status, uniform, subversion, celebration, or imagination; each outfit or garment a material marker of our relationship with the sea, whether somewhere for work or play.

Nautical Chic, by Amber Jane Butchart, is a glorious celebration of the perennial nautical style, tracing the history of its trends and impact on the clothes we love.

Rosalind Jana is a writer, blogger, sporadic model and full-time student. Her writing has been published in Vogue, Apartmento Magazine, Guardian Online and Teen Tatler. Her debut book ‘Notes on Being Teenage’ is released next year – clothescamerasandcoffee.blogspot.com

Check out the Nautical Chic Collection curated by Amber Jane Butchart for Beyond Retro!