With an enviable head of long blonde hair and a fearless personal style, Penelope Armstrong has made her way onto our blogger radar. A fashion and jewellery designer by trade; her personal style is exciting and unpredictable, yet always on trend with a touch of bohemian thrown into the mix! Fast becoming one of our favourite fashion blogs, Penelope’s Fashion Fade blogspot is a must read and a mecca of inspiration for style addicts. We caught up with the gorgeous Manchester-based blogger to talk fashion and design. Check out Fashion Fade HERE.

What inspired you to start Fashion Fade?
I’m a fashion designer, so always look to blogs for inspiration and ideas. I thought I’d give it a go but I never expected people to actually read or look at what I was doing, so it was really nice when I started gaining more and more followers and then lots of lovely comments on my posts. I’ve read blogs since university and I love checking out my reader’s blogs, as this is how I find some of my favourites.

How would you describe your signature style?
I always find this question really hard to answer but I guess I would describe my style as a bit lazy; I tend to throw on a selection of everything in my room and hope for the best! When I was younger I was always encouraged to wear what I wanted by my mum and my love of “dressing up” and experimenting with clothes has followed me into adulthood. I’d say the only method in my madness would be to make sure that I don’t overdo it on the tassels and sequins, as sometimes I get a bit over excited!

Do you notice a (general) difference between the ways Northern girls dress compared to Southern girls, or is this a misconception?
I think there probably is a bit of a difference between how girls in the North and South dress. In Manchester, I tend to get inspired by the people and places around me, so there are bound to be differences in different areas. I think people do dress differently in different parts of all countries around the world, and if everyone dressed the same there wouldn’t be fashion blogs and life would be pretty boring indeed!

What advice do you have for girls who want to get into designing?
I would advise getting as much work experience as you can and learning as much as possible everywhere you go. The fashion industry is a huge and scary place, so you need to be bold and strong and take criticism. Ultimately, remember to follow your dreams.

Who is your favourite blogger and why?
My favourite blogger would have to be Mandy from Oraclefox. I’ve always found her blog to be beyond inspiring and she truly has her own sense of style, not just in the way that she dresses but in everything she does. Mandy was one of the main reasons I started blogging as I loved her blog so much. She actually commented on my blog a few months ago which was surreal, as Fashion Fade wouldn’t have started if it wasn’t for her inspiring posts.

Which are your favourite online stores and why?
I would have to say 3ELEVEN boutique. This is an amazing independent store located in Hale and it’s one of the only UK outlets that sells some of my favourite brands such as Oneteaspoon, Style stalker and American Retro. The girls in there are amazing and they hand pick the whole range themselves. I also regularly browse Nastygal, as I love the way that they style their products. I will go there for outfit inspiration, as well as perving on the beautiful clothes.

What are you wearing this A/W?
This autumn/winter I will be throwing my faux fur collar over all of my jackets, layering chunky knits and leather trousers, wearing my faux fur Russian hat whenever possible and teetering around in the snow in huge (totally inappropriate) wedges.

Do you think blogging has any negatives?
Since I’ve been blogging, the only negative that I’ve come across is people taking photos from my blog and using them on social networking sites and passing them off as their own. I suppose this is pretty flattering but is mainly just very strange. Overall, I’d definitely say that the positives of blogging outweigh the negatives and if you have the time and dedication to spend on blogging then you will definitely see the good side!

How do you see your blog evolving over the next few years?
Hopefully I will see my blog continuing to evolve as I evolve as a designer. There are a lot of things I have lined up for the next year professionally and I want my blog to continue to document this. I think that it’s really interesting that as your life changes, the way you dress yourself changes too, so hopefully my readers and followers have lots to look forward to in 2012.

Finally, what is your most treasured item?
I think it would have to be the jewellery that I have designed myself. I’ve always loved jewellery, and since doing my blog, I’ve slowly been working on a range of my own ideas. With H&M, Topshop and other high street brands making amazing costume jewellery, I wanted to design luxury one of a kind sterling silver pieces that I knew only I would own. You can see all of my designs on my blog and my favourite is my most recent addition, the cobalt crystal ring.

For more about Penelope visit her blog HERE.