The No Debutante Top 10 most read posts of 2018

We have reached the end of 2018 fashionistas! It's been a crazy mad year and it's time to show you the Top 10 and most read No Debutante blog posts of the year!

In previous years, I have shared my 'what I wore' outfits of the year and, although I do still share my colourful (and independent designer reppin') outfits with you all, the No Debutante fashion blog is now more about sharing the love than what's new in my wardrobe and I think these 'most read' posts reflect that.

I have also noticed that I am pretty consistent with the amount of blog posts I can physically create each year with 50 posts being the average, I managed a firm 47 posts (including this one) in 2018. Not bad for a person with 3 kids, two jobs, a band and a club night! 

From Instagram fashion crushes to body positivity to Bristol fashionistas to women in music, the No Debutante blog has covered many subjects and fashion related news over the past year. 

Here they are then, your Top 10 most read posts of 2018....drumroll please....

The most read post of 2018 is  Bristol's finest Insta fashionistas 

No Debutante shares her Top 5 Instagram faves which included Laa Woof, Duvet Days, Tezla Designs, She Shirts and That Thing! All amazing and inspiring local, independent fashion brands and designers. Yeeeessssss! 

Photography by Viktoria Kuti

Coming up closely in second place, is no surprise as this campaign was welcomed with open arms by everyone that came across it the Magnificent Mermaids post featured the female empowering swimwear brand Mermaid in England who use real models of every shape and size in their body positive photo shoots. No Debutante got involved too and met some awesome, brave and inspiring women along the way.

Rhubarb Jumble and That Thing in Bristol 

The Double whammy fashion extravaganza comes in third and shares the night No Debutante manahed to attend two brilliant Bristol based fashion events in one night, featuring vintage fashionistas Rhubarb Jumble and street wear queens That Thing.

In My Naked Journey No Debutante promotes body positivity and self love alongside Mermaid in England. Sharing my reasons on why I was signing up for the Mermaid in England photo shoot, my body issues whilst actually posing in a bikini for the first time in my blog.

NME Award female nominees 2018

2018 saw a change in the way the industry recognised women in music with the Female empowerment at nme awards blog post. Woman are still not where we should be in the industry but this is a positive start and an honest review. Let's see how this changes in 2019! This post made it inti the Top 5 and rightly so! 

An honour to have made it into the Top 10 blog posts of the year You go girl was actually my first post of 2018 and see's me sharing all the things I've been involved with from writing to DJing to being a Mum. Thank you to every one who took the time to read this post! 

Emotional Waterfall Art

Following the success of what turned out to be the most read No Debutante blog post of the year comes Bristol's finest insta fashionistas July 2018 post, that saw local fashionistas that I was crushing on insta in the summer of 2018, the list includes Zedhead Headwear, Emotional Waterfall Art, Dulcie's Feathers, Kokomo and Kuccia.

My fave Bristol festival had to get into this top ten list Love saves the day again features LSTD 2018 from No Debutante's eyes, expect amazing festival fashion, female djs, fun and an unexpected meeting with Loyle Carner! Roll on 2019! 

Back in March I fell in love with a kidswear photoshoot in Hooligan's Magazine and had to share it. It was loved enough by you fashionistas to make it into the Top 10! Little fashionistas at Hooligans magazine 

Manners London catsuits

I discovered many new independent fashion brands in 2018 and one of them is the London based bodycon brand Mind Your Manners introduced to me by a big Bristolian supporter of independent creatives - Joh Rindom from That Thing. I own a Manners London catsuit and I love it, everyone loves it! I'm so glad this post has made it to the No Debutante Top 10 most read blog posts of 2018! 


It''s been a fantastic year on the No Debutante blog and I'd like to add a few more of the most recent blog posts to this list as maybe they haven't been read quite as much as the Top 10 posts yet but have still managed to get your attention!

In Confessions of a big holiday packer  I mostly share my opinions on holiday packing and how I refuse to pack light. The Sonic Youth post features some photographs I took for my son Lucian's Instagram account that turned into a full on photoshoot that I really love. 

That Thing AW 18 collection

Another very popular recent post was the That Thing AW18 launch party from November 2018 and Super Stylin' took me back to my blogging roots and featured a few of my recent outfits in the Autumn of 2018. 

The Island Pop up Christmas shop Bristol, 2018

Lastly the most recent post that is still getting daily reads is the Have yourself a very local Christmas post featuring The Island pop up Christmas shop here in Bristol, which hopefully encouraged you all to support local and independent creatives this year when buying gifts!  

Thank you for all your support, love and for reading the No Debutante blog. Watch this space for more fabulous fashion moments and more in 2019 and get in touch if you want to be featured! Have a goodun' xxxxx

Have yourself a very local Christmas...

There are so many supportive Christmas markets happening in Bristol this year with a big focus on encouraging us all to buy local by supporting independent creatives and makers, there is even an amazing social media campaign named Indies in Bristol that asks you to #actlocalxmas and to consider an alternative for Christmas gifts this year. 

Lulu Harrison from Balulu at The Pop-up Christmas shop at The Island, Bristol

Today, I popped over to The Pop-Up Christmas Shop at The Island,  initially to meet up with Lulu from the amazing, fun-filled fashion brand Balulu for a Bristol 24/7 article (more about that soon) and after an amazing dressing up session in these super-cute garms and a brief chat with Bec from Dakota Rae Dust, I noticed all the other amazing goodies on offer!

Lulu and No Debutante wearing  super-cute Balulu garms

The dressing up session continues - Dungarees and onesie by Balulu

From handmade geometric earrings by Hyprnrml statement earrings and t-shirts using vintage and upcycled fabrics by Dakota Rae Dust, Super cute kidswear by upcycle queens at Duvet Days, bold Ghanaian printed streetwear by Ashanti Empress, amazing doodle art from Dixon Does Doodles and that fun-filled, super-cute range of onesies, dungarees and jackets by Balulu. 

Lulu and Bec - designer at Dakota Rae Dust. Both have handmade goodies available at the Pop-up Christmas Market

Handmade tasselled jewellery by Dakota Rae dust (left) & handmade earrings by Hyprnrml 

Amazing homewares with bold & fun cartoon art by Dixon Does Doodles 

Ghanaian printed streetwear by Ashanti Empress (left) and the coolest upcycled kids clothes by Duvet Days (right).

The final outfits from our dressing up session - I went with the red Mickey Mouse two-piece! My official Christmas Day outfit! Thank you to Lulu from Balulu for the garms and the fun! 

If you are in Bristol get yourself down to all the amazing independent shops and Christmas markets and if you're not then go find yours, support independent and support local. Consider independent this Christmas! 

Super Stylin'

I was inspired to start the No Debutante blog after receiving a lot of lovely compliments about my style. Blogging had been mentioned on several occasions encouraging me to document my style, this was way before instagram kicked off properly, so sharing your style was still relatively new to most people. 

My husband Phil had tried to get me to start a blog a fair few years earlier than I actually did (I finally started the No Debutante blog in 2011) but, I have to admit, I was a bit of a technophobe and didn't really understand what blogging was! I certainly did not see myself as a writer.

Roll on a few years and I have been blogging for over 7 years and through the blogging I have managed to bag myself the title of fashion editor at Bristol 24/7 magazine, which is pretty good going for a technophobe with no confidence in writing.

One thing I have to encourage is to keep at it. I stuck at writing a blog after many bloggers gave in, I kept at it because I loved doing it. The dream of having thousands of followers and making a tonne of money as an influencer went out the window, I just liked writing and sharing amazing things in fashion and if people were reading about it that was great too! 

One thing that got me more attention as a blogger was writing about other people in fashion, especially unique and independent fashion designers.  It's all well and good sharing photos of your latest outfit and where you can buy it but creating content that makes people listen and think about stuff, makes for a more varied and interesting blog.

The No Debutante blog started as a pregnancy fashion diary, I struggled with pregnancy styling, I didn't embrace my amazing growing body, as it brought a life into the world, I lost my identity and it sucked! That was my niche back in 2011 with a few posts on designers and high street fashion here and there.

Now, the No Debutante blog represents, supports and promotes independent designers and creatives with a few anti-fashion brands like Typical Freaks chucked in just because I love them! I also promote sustainable and slow fashion which to me is no longer an inspiring way forward in fashion, it is the only way forward.

To be clear, I still buy from the high street, I am no fashion angel, bringing awareness, for me, is a start and giving people ideas on how they can introduce slow fashion into their lives is very important to making a change. People laughed at the idea of recycling rubbish, now look at us!

Looking forward, I'm not sure how much longer the blogging world is going to continue, things will become more video based with IGTV, Snapchat and YouTube leading the way and podcasts are a big thing now too. 

One thing I am sure about is that things always change and change is good. The No Debutante blog will continue in one guise or another. I don't think I could ever stop sharing fabulous fashion stories, there is always something new happening in fashion; my style and inspirations are forever changing and developing and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next! 

Today's photographs take me back to my blogging roots with a few shots of me wearing my fave outfits from the autumn months, which mostly consists of independent fashion items, high street buys and slow fashion pieces, all in big bright, bold and colourful clashes of fun and fashion.

The independent fashion designers featured include Manners London Mango Tango Jewellery Kuccia Fruit Salad Duvet Days  Tail End That Thing  

Thank you for supporting and reading my blog and for all those good vibes you fabulous fashionistas! You are AMAZE! 

That Thing AW 18 Launch Party

Streetwear and lifestyle queens That Thing dropped their AW18 fashion collection yesterday.

Bristol really supports it's independents and this launch party was full of fashionistas, friends and customers checking out the new collection and hanging out with the That Thing girls whilst Bristol's Bitch Please DJ's provided the soundtrack for the night. There was even a queue outside to get in! 

Inspired by the mossy greens of the designer, Joh Rindom's, Scandinavian homelands, this collection features warm earthy tones of forest and fern greens, creamy golds and a black contrast.  The collection comes in cuddly knits, lurex sparkled tops and super soft jerseywear pieces, perfect for the winter months whilst adding a bit of glam for that sparkly Christmas season that is rapidly approaching. 

"I was really deep nature inspired so we have a lot of soft textures and darks greens and black, a real comfort feel for autumn/winter".  Joh Rindom - That Thing 

Joh was resourceful in her pattern cutting with this collection. By combining the top half of one design and the bottom half of another, she created block paneled garms that also reduced fabric waste. You know how we love a bit of sustainability here at No Debutante! 

No Debutante's fave pieces included the luxe double trumpet sleeve t-shirt dress, the super-soft unisex trackies, and this years streetwear staple - the bucket hat. Now what to add to my Christmas list this year? 

The AW18 collection is currently available in the Stokes Croft shop in Bristol and will be available online alongside the Lookbook shortly. Watch this space. 

Sonic Youth - A photo shoot by No Debutante

I have always been really interested in reportage photography. I am not what I would call a professional photographer but I have been photographing Bristol night life for over 15 years, recording what happens and what people are wearing. My photos are less about portraits and more about catching these clubbers in a moment, dancing, laughing and generally having fun.

My camera of choice is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-G60 and my other camera is my Pixel 2 phone! My photography is more point and shoot and very DIY! Despite this I do know what I am after in a photograph but I mostly enjoy the randomness of seeing what happens! It makes the shoot more fun.

I have taken up a more photojournalism style since becoming a blogger and journalist, which requires paying a bit more attention to detail and lighting to achieve perfect high resolution shots for online articles and magazines. It has taken me out of my comfort zone but I have learnt more through doing this. 

I love the 90s photographs that Corinne Day took of Kate Moss and the more contemporary style of Gosha Rubchinskiy's photographs of Russian Youth wearing his fashion brand, they  often feature real models rather than professionals in very urban and often gritty backdrops.

Both photographers seem to be inspired by youth and although I am usually capturing movement and moments in fashion rather than specific age groups, I have been inspired to capture my own images of youth.

Coincidentally, my eldest son Lucian, was happy to model for me. Result! 

The shoot took place at the glamorous location of 'our house' keeping it real......

Lucian is wearing a long sleeve Zoo York t-shirt, H&M jeans and Adidas trainers.

Model Lucian Hendrix Ellicott
Photography by No Debutante