DIY Fashion | DIYnamic Style by Simone Heng

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April 29, 2014

Years ago I watched the film Priceless (in French Hors de Prix) and fell in love with EVERYTHING Audrey Tatou was dressed in. She looked elegant yet sexy and I decided when I could find the right base dress that I would DIY this gown:

Something to do with the combination of the grey with the gold…well it just drove me mad. Audrey has a body for sin and no fat so her version is very tight. Mine on the other hand is a little more forgiving. It’s a thrifted ASOS dress from a Fleas and Trees pop up sale in Paragon in Singapore. This is what it looked like originally:

For this project you will need: A base dress (halter or spaghetti strap works well), needle and matching thread, pins and gold cord.

Just a side note on my gold cord. I looked high and low for some great gold cord and Spotlight here in Australia was dismal. Their gold looked brassy and orange so I turned to my trusty friends at Wander and Hunt (more on my work with them soon…super excited) and they shipped from Hong Kong for me a perfect length of gold cord that would make even Audrey Tatou swoon.

Begin by flipping your dress inside out and folding over a piece of fabric that is wide enough for your cord to fit comfortably through. I didn’t want to cut the dress’s original straps away so I can convert it back to the original halter if I want. Pin down the perfect width.

From here I lightly tacked the pieces over (once again so I can remove the cord and unpick when I choose and wear the dress as originally intended).

Thread the cord through like this:

The loop will go around the back of your neck and the front will end up looking like this:

Pull the two front strands up and tie around the back:

I added a waist strap as there was enough cord:

I wore the dress out to Nobu here in Perth. Here’s a few instagram pictures (follow me there @simoneheng):

Me holding my latest magazine cover out in Singapore now:

I wish I had taken more pictures in it but hopefully I will have more time soon.

Hope you liked this. Many thanks to Wander and Hunt for the gold cord and do keep your comments coming!

DIY Marni Spring ’14 Inspired Embellished Visor

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March 28, 2014

It’s that time of year again, The Dubai World Cup, is happening this weekend and I was lucky enough to be judging the fashion on the field this time last year. In Perth, Ascot is hosting it’s special race day, Bubbles and Heels, tomorrow.

In the spirit of all things horses and hats, I thought I would create a high fashion headpiece that looks a bit more fashion-forward than your run-of-the mill feather and bird cage veil which seems to be everywhere at the moment.

This is inspired by the latest on Marni’s Spring runway:

For this project, you will need:

A cheap visor, needle, black thread, chunky beads in green, clear plastic beads cut like gem and chunky black beads.

It helps to begin by laying all the beads out in a shallow dish, this way you can see the different types and get a nice even spread in your pattern.

With the needle and thread, begin threading the beads onto the visor in a mix of colours and textures. I think it helps to work from the centre out because you will make sure you get the right mix of beads.

Continue building this up until you have covered the whole visor.

I wore mine with red lips, Kenneth Jay Lane earrings from Sophie’s Closet and a vintage green dress from Singapore.

There is no airbrush in these images, so you are going to see me warts and all!

Hope you liked this and please feel free to leave your comments!

DIY Chanel Cruise ’14 Inspired Patent Exotic Skin Clutch

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March 24, 2014

I am so sorry it’s been so long since my last post. Very uncharacteristic for me and mostly due to my sister’s wedding!

Here is a super simple project inspired by this clutch from Chanel’s latest Cruise collection:

I was thrifting and came across this authentic snakeskin clutch for just $4.25 AUD. I didn’t know what I would use it for but I kept it aside. I stumbled across the Chanel clutch online and got so excited about creating something similar really easily.

You will need: gold chain, glue gun, cream ribbon, PVA glue, paint brush, craft scissors, magic tape, paper plate and vintage clutch.

You’ll need to start by creating the patent finish by covering the clutch with PVA glue. This will take 24 hours to dry and will create that shiny finish.

Using the magic tape cover the end of the ribbon to make it easier to thread through the chain.

Prepare the chain by pressing all the links flat.

Thread the ribbon in and out as above. You will need ribbon the length of 1.5 times the length of chain.

End off the lengths of ribbon while tying a knot as shown above. Cut the remainder of ribbon off.

Tape the corners of the chain to the clutch with magic tape to mark where to glue.

Glue the lengths of chain down with the glue gun and there you have it!

Re-branding Cheapnchic.net as www.DIYnamicstyle.com

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March 15, 2014

It’s been chaos at the moment. If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest, you will know that things are being cooked up at www.DIYnamicstyle.com headquarters. Thanks to the lovely Vanessa at All Things Indulgent for also letting me know my new-look logo went up! She’s a doll.

We (my lovely Aussie intern Mica and myself) are about to launch videos onto a mobile app provider in the Middle East and something wonderful is in the pipeline with Wander and Hunt. The same great DIY tutorials will still be here.

I was in Singapore shooting a South East Asia-wide campaign for Sephora.

I then flew direct to Dubai (exhausting) working in my role as Dove hair ambassador and styling at the C.Wonder store launch (that’s me below with fash-billionaire Chris Burch, creator of C.Wonder and Tory’s ex-hubby):

Then I returned back to Perth and presented the Runway Model of the Year Award at the West Australian Fashion Awards:

Now, while all this was happening, I was laying the plans to re-launch this site as www.DIYnamicstyle.com and my little side business.

Why the re-branding? Well, turns out, unlike Dubai, doing DIY in Australia isn’t really “cheap.” The name “Cheapnchic.net” didn’t seem to apply any longer plus I decided to launch a range of products from the blog and I didn’t want them to be labelled as “cheap.” Makes sense, no?

I love the new logo and packaging. Thanks to Paper Couture Dubai (full blog on them soon) for the great tags and cards.

DIYnamic Style will be hosting Thriftspirational Op Shop Events. I’ll be producing bespoke party decorations and favours in the Perth area (check my DIY Body Scrub and Oat Mask below):

I’ll be doing crafting stations at event launches and baby showers (just like I did in Dubai). More photos of these to come at the end of April, plus my workshops with readers will stay. Stay tuned if you’re reading in Perth.

And now the part of www.DIYnamicstyle.com that has been keeping me very very busy: Handmade fashion, beauty products and gifts.

My hand painted bags are now on sale at Neon Pony in Northbridge. The Toucan bag has already sold. If you are anywhere in the world and would like to have a bespoke bag painted for your requirements, simply email me through the site on the contact fields on the right.

I will continue to balance my media work with my hand made passion. So stay tuned for more and bookmark www.DIYnamicstyle.com now!

WIN A Copy of Buffi Jashanmal’s “Make It, Own It, Rock It” Dress Design Book

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March 5, 2014

A few months ago, even before I moved back to Perth, an acquaintance of mine Buffi Jashanmal contacted me about the launch of her new book “Make It, Own It, Rock It.” Buffi is a woman after my own heart, with many passions and a love of TV. She was a contestant on Season 10 of “Project Runway” (crazy to think that show is a decade old)!

I was so happy when Buffi returned to Dubai and was promoting her love of DIY. I love that more and more people in the UAE community, promoting hand making amongst all that crazy consumerism.

I was recently back in Dubai for my Dove endorsement and stopped by Buffi’s book launch to chat and she kindly offered me a copy of this amazing book. It’s complete with patterns and directions for you to make, customise and style up your DIY dresses.