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Category: lifestyle

INDEPENDENT FOCUS: Cupcake Couture | Queenbeady

I’m always on the look out to find new brands and clothing apparel that is a little unusual to what you might find on the high street. Imagine my delight when I came across Cupcake Couture whilst browsing through Instagram one day. Ever the profile stalker I seeked out who was behind it all and it led me to Cara’s own personal Instagram/twitter account. Since that day I have ogled the website deciding what garment I should order when I finally had money again after the wedding. Rather than me ramble incessantly about what an amazing brand it is I thought I could do a quickfire Q&A with the lovely Cara from Cupcake Couture (so she can do an equal if not more level of gushing!)

Hi Cara, tell us about the lady behind this cute brand?
I’m a 26 year old fashion lover from Leeds. I like tea, polka dots, cheese and wine. When I’m not busy working and sewing I like to go out with friends, spend time with my family and boyfriend and go hoarding round the charity shops for my latest little find. I have a degree in Theatre& Performance from Leeds University so I particularly enjoy watching musicals and going to the theatre. I love cooking (which I think my boyfriend really appreciates) and I am always looking for new and exciting recipes. In my spare time I like to take Cupcake Couture to different vintage fairs to share my brand with different cities and I have recently become a registered trader for Britain Does Vintage and Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair so keep an eye out for an event near you.

What made you start picking out these amazing pieces and also creating them yourself?
I originally started experimenting with sewing because I wanted to have unique and one off pieces of clothing. There’s nothing worse than being on a night out and spotting someone in the same outfit as yourself, especially if they look better in it. I started off just sewing embellishments and bits of fabric on tops and dresses to make them different and then it developed from there. I am self-taught but I think I inherit it from my mum as she used to knit us dolls and clothing when we were younger. My first proper dress made from scratch was one I made for a family trip to Ladies Day at Ascot – I felt so comfortable knowing that nobody else would be wearing it and got complimented on it so much I decided to start designing and making dresses more and more. As my confidence grew I branched out into skirts and tops and I now have the Couture Unique items on my website which are solely handmade by me. I finally took the plunge after thinking about it for a while and did a Fashion Course at college in 2012 where I learnt lots of new skills and techniques which I have used going forward on my handmade pieces.

You’ve won my heart with your clothes but seriously, you bake cupcakes too?! What is your favourite type of cake & why?
I absolutely love baking, if I’m ever feeling down or a bit stressed there’s nothing I enjoy more than grabbing my mixing bowl and whisk and whipping up some cupcakes, buns or brownies. I think it’s kind of therapeutic in a way. On the down side it’s extremely difficult to stay skinny and diet when I am always trying out new baking recipes, my colleagues at work are always being dished out treats so I don’t eat them all myself when I’ve been testing out ideas. My favourite cake has got to be chocolate cake. Forget diamonds, I believe chocolate is a girl’s best friend, the more chocolate the better. I love making the ‘Chocolate Joy’ cupcakes, they are chocolate sponge with buttercream icing and a large white chocolate button decoration and they are yummy if I do say so myself.

What’s your most favourite piece on your website?
I pride myself on sourcing the best quality vintage and using durable fabric when making my handmade pieces so my customers receive the best they can get so I do have quite a few favourites. My all-time favourite piece, and something it took me a while to put on the website and not keep for myself is the 80’s Polka Dot Blouse. It reminds me of Bette Midler in Big Business (whose wardrobe in most of her films I envy) and the shoulder pads just make it amazing. The fabric is soft and really flattering and it can be worn with anything. I found this piece in a charity shop in Tenerife (I really can find one anywhere – it’s a gift!) and fell in love straight away. Clothing from the 80’s is my favourite – statement blouses, big shoulder pads, large faux-gold earrings and clothing covered with sequins and diamante. A lot of trends from 1980’s are coming back which I am very pleased about; jelly shoes, crop tops, patterned jumpers and oversized blazers so when I find a genuine piece of vintage from the 80’s I get very excited indeed.

You are a local Yorkshire lass (honorary sister in my eyes!) so where do you shop when you aren’t wearing Cupcake Couture?
As the Arctic Monkeys would say I really am a ‘Topshop princess’ however I do like to support local and small clothing brands too. I look out for brands on Twitter and Instagram and try to vary where I buy my clothing. My wardrobe is a bit of everything ranging from Urban Outfitters to clothing imported in from American brand ModCloth. I really do have a bit of everything. Recently on my shopping list is Drop Dead Clothing, ASOS, Fashion Union, Ark, and Zara. I also love to have a snoop round other stalls at the vintage fairs I do and use DIY blogs to create cute accessories and handbags – www.abeautifulmess.com – this is a personal favourite of mine and I am looking at making their Leather Cat Purse.

If there was one piece of clothing you had to wear FOREVER what would it be? Pick good!
Ooooh that’s a toughie! It would have to be my liquorice allsorts skirt I made; it sums me up to a tee. I made the skirt because my surname is Bassett, it’s also what everyone calls me – to most people I don’t have a first name. Since making it most of the family with the same name want one too. It matches my personality because I’m fun, unique and quirky and it’s got a personal touch with the Bassett’s Allsorts pattern on it. I am absolutely gutted that it is now too big for me so has taken a place on my website but I will be without a doubt making myself another one.

Last but not least sum up your clothing brand in 3 simple words!
Buy. Something. Now! Just kidding, I’ll go with: Unique. Fun. Memorable.

Thank you so much Cara. So what are you all waiting for, go & head over to Cupcake Couture and have a look at all things pretty or you might just catch Cara at one of the local Vintage Fairs this summer.

Let me know if you buy anything!

Rebecca xxx

August 5, 2014
LookALike Collaboration: HAIM | QueenBeady

Hello, Hello, Hello & welcome to August! Can you believe another month has flown by? This month I am super excited as it is the month of Leeds Festival and I cannot bleeding wait. It is such an electric experience being at a festival and you cannot compare it to anything else in life.

When the lovely SOPHIE asked if some of us wanted to get on board with a ‘’Celebrity LookALike’’ challenge/collaboration I jumped at the chance.

Most of you know my absolute LOVE for the band, Haim. It sounds big headed but alot of people tell me about my resemeblance to resident Baby Haim aka Alana. Now I don’t know if it is because I’m pint sized or rock the middle parting? But apparently, I do. And of course I am ever so humble when people tell me that…. YEAH RIGHT?! You have to scrape me from the ceiling any time anyone says that because to me, they are my idols. Simple.

So because I’m not a huge make up junkie or beauty blogger as such, I thought I would take my own spin on things by doing a more ‘’Fashion’’ related post by depicting their style. If you want to read my post on Alana Haim’s Outfit Inspiration you can read it here! I tried to keep it very simple because that is exactly what Alana’s style is like.

My Hair. I literally wake up on a morning and this is what it is like. slightly wavy or kinked (in slightly annoying spots!) with my middle parting. I should probably do more with it, but it is just how the Haim Sisters rock it?!

The Top. This was another eBay find. ‘’MORE ISSUES THAN VOGUE’’. I absolutely love the over sized feel to it & I will be taking this to Leeds Festival with me this year. YAY!!

The Shorts. These are an old vintage pair of Topshop roll up shorts. Excuse the legs, lumps and bumps galore. But, you know whatttttt, I don’t care bitchessssss! Alana never goes on stage without parading around in the teeniest, tiniest shorts in her wardrobe and she looks super duper cute!

The Chelsea Boots. I love my chelsea boots but I haven’t worn them much as it’s summer and I want to get my tootsies out whilst I can. During the winter these are my staple, go to boots. They were from Barratts and cost £50!

The Socks. Oh my little frilly socks. I feel like I have rewound back to class 4 and I am just starting a new school year, with my brand new uniform on. Those were the days where you could get away with frilly socks. Not at the ripe age of 24! But, again, Alana rocks it. So that makes it ok, right? They were from Primark of course, priced at a cool £1.50.

Now, time to send you over to all the other girls collaboration pages to see how they rocked their celebrity inspired look! Head over to:

Little Bit Soph– Lorde

Polished Literacy– Taylor Momsen

Petite Lab Rat– Jamie Chung

BeautyBnk– Kat Dennings

Let Me Try This For You– Sophia Vergara

Kenna Benna– Sophia Bush

Eye Have A Lot Of Feelings– Ellen Page

By doing this blog I have come across some great bloggers so that is so great! I hope you enjoyed and that you give everyone a good cheeky follow!

Rebecca xxx

August 1, 2014
Snapshots of Sorrento & The Amalfi Coast | QueenBeady

I must apologise straight away. This post is and can only be described as ‘’PHOTO HEAVY’’, but there is reason behind the madness and lack of the written word. That is because Sorrento & the surrounding Amalfi Coast happens to be what I consider as, the most beautiful place I have ever seen.It wasn’t just any old holiday, it was the big one, our Honeymoon. We searched endlessly for our Honeymoon and despite me being a travel agent at the time we just could not draw to a conclusion. When an ex-colleague returned from her own Honeymoon and described Italy to me I was quite literally blown away.

So we set to it, finding a perfect spot. Italy is known for being notoriously expensive (however, on arrival it wasn’t quite as bad as we had been lead to believe!) and we managed to find a gem of a hotel that offered All Inclusive which is a rarity in Italy. We stayed at The Hotel Mar Alimuri & Spa located in Meta de Sorrento which was a few kilometres from the centre of Sorrento itself. We were discouraged from walking all the way there, however, never ones for following rules we laced up our new running trainers and did it. Boy, was it hot!

As the hotel offered a free shuttle service in to Sorrento we sampled a few of the lovely restaurants to get a taste of the ‘’Real Italy’’ which I can assure you was very tasty!

Amongst the beautiful hotel and Sorrento City Centre we ventured to the Amalfi Coast which is jaw droppingly beautiful and when I say ‘’jaw droppingly’’ make sure you don’t wobble and fall off that cliff when your jaw drops because it’s a long, long, longggggg way down! Positano & Amalfi are a must see and if you are privy to using local transport and aren’t shy of exploring I would suggest using the Sightseeing Red Bus that leaves from Sorrento’s Train Station every hour and exploring the Amalfi coast that way because it is only 8 euros each and each time you hop back on it is 4 euros. Much cheaper than the hotel or tour operator excursions. Did I mention you get free earphones to listen to the commentary too? If you only have a couple of days to explore, this handy guide of things to do in the Amalfi Coast will help!

(I did say this post would be laden with photos!)

I do hope you have enjoyed a few of my snaps from our honeymoon. Other hints, tips and guides to some of this regions hotspots are coming in my next blog posts so be sure to come back and check then out!

Have you been to Sorrento & did you fall in love with the area?

Rebecca xxx

July 30, 2014
I am a Blogger, but I am none of these | QueenBeady

Contrary to popular belief not all bloggers are clones & drones of the mass marketed brand demons. We say what we feel, we do what we want and we enjoy writing about it all on the World Wide Web. We are a strong set of individuals who have the time to share our inner most thoughts, our wardrobes, hints & tips all for the love of writing and the subject we are passionate about.

That’s where I think a lot of my blogging similarities end.

I’m probably going to get shouted at & berated for the below but here goes;

1) Cats. I dislike them. End. I never have and never will like them, if you find me professing my love for cats you will most likely find me a) on drugs or b) lying in a ditch somewhere and some imposter has taken over my blog. I have no desire to wear clothes covered in cats. I am a self confessed DAWG LOVER, nothing will ever change that…. (Unless someone was waving a million pounds in my face, I may change my stance!)

2) I just heard “Let it go” being played in my next door neighbours house & do you know what I wanted to do? Guess. Go on. I think you are quite warm there. You guessed it. I wanted to rip my FRICKING ears off. Don’t get me wrong I adore Disneyland & it’s happy go lucky atmosphere but seriously, the pandemic of Frozen needs to stop before we all go insane. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see someone professing their love for the animated film! I would like to point out that the Frozen DVD is not on my Christmas list this year & I will not take kindly to it being in my Santa’s Sack!

3) I have no desire for make up. I end up looking like a clown, it’s a pain in the arse when you are melting in this heat & I have no idea what makes a good lipstick or mascara? If someone wants to enlighten me then please feel free but you will not catch me giving you make up tutorials on YouTube anytime soon.

4) I have no idea what I am doing. I write what I feel like, whether it be something I love or like in this post, have no inclination for. I ask the same question on twitter all the time “what da fffff does self hosting mean?” and no matter how many times someone tries to explain it still does not go in. So, for the foreseeable future my blog will stay ugly if that’s ok with you?

5) I don’t have a wild, exciting London-esque lifestyle. In fact I’m pretty boring. I live in a little house in the countryside and I wake up every morning, go to work (which I must add is not freelancing/fashion/beauty related) come home, cook tea, talk to the husband, go to bed and then you guessed it? Repeat it all over again. Eat, sleep, ~~rave~~, repeat. It’s that simple.

I’d like to add that in no way, shape or form are my opinions right or correct on any of the above matters. I am most definitely NOT HATIN’ on you if you like or do any of the above. But I wanted to express that the above just ain’t me & never will be. I thought you might just “like to know.” (more…)

July 25, 2014
If You Go Down to the Woods Today | QueenBeady

I was lucky enough to be invited to a VIP Launch evening at a local attraction, Stockeld Park. It is right on our doorstep and for some reason I have just never thought about going as I have heard that the entrance fee’s are quite high, so we have always steered clear. I’m so glad they invited me along because I realised that it was worth every single penny that warranted the £12 ticket.

Blue Fluffy Jumper, Miss Selfridge (eBay) || Skirt, H&M (eBay) || Shoes, Birkenstocks || Leather Bag, Gloves (Italy)

I was really excited because I got to bring along a guest so I decided to bring along my little sister so we could act like big kids of course. I’m sure you can see from above just how much she enjoyed it.

We made our way round Enchanted Forest first of all which took a good 45 minutes to walk round. At each corner as you can see from the photographic evidence, there was something exciting lurking and awaiting our arrival. From musical tree’s to a belching Ogre, not only was everything visual it was a delight for all the senses too!

The best way to describe it would be that it was a slightly lesser version of Forbidden Corner. I was surprised to find ourselves keeping busy for the 2 and a half hours we were there and we didn’t even take part in all the activities!

We made our way round the Maze which was a rather bad idea. Navigation is not my strongest point. However, we came across some fun little treasures and also a Tardis (or two!) which made my sister VERY happy as a Dr. Who fan.

When we eventually managed to work our way out of the Maze (I promise it wasn’t because I took a photo of the map to help get us out. Brownies honour!) I was desperate for an ice cream so we headed over to the Ice Cream Parlour before we headed home. On site you will find a cafe, picnic area and toilets for all your amenity needs.

Alongside the Enchanted Forest (which, you can motorised scooter around also!) and the maze, there are also go karts, various play parks in and around the Enchanted Forest and also a Skating Rink! You will be spoilt for choice.

Tickets cost £12 per person or you can purchase a family tickets for £42!

If you are thinking of heading to Stockeld Park, click here!

Rebecca xxx

July 24, 2014