I was so thrilled to make it through to the Miss England semi finals 2016 which were held a couple of weekends ago at Kelham Hall in Nottingham. It has always been a personal goal of mine to compete in Miss England and this year not only did I make it through to the semi finals in a heat I entered in Leicester but I also made it through to the Miss London finals and was crowned Miss Torquay 2016 to represent my home town.

Of course a massive part of the competition is focussed on recognising helping others through the charity work. So you can read my other blogs on my charity fashion show, charity music gig and other ways I have raised money for the official Miss World charity Beauty with a Purpose as well as St Christopher’s Hospice. But I also wanted to talk about the eco wear round; as part of the semi finals we were required to either make or environmentally source an outfit i.e. recycle, upcycle or purchase from a charity shop. The theme this year was Classic British fashion through the decades so I created an outfit that consisted of a different item from each decade.

Photo by Paul Carroll http://www.monsignorpageantphotography.co.uk/

My shoes were from the 1960s, they were purchased from a charity shop and have the classic mid heel and a gold shimmer. The suitcase I carried was from the 1970s and was purchased from a thrift shop in Aspen, Colorado, the original owner’s name and address is still on the name tag! I then covered the suitcase in pages from a book I had at home called fashion through the decades which depicted the trends from the 20s through to the 80s.

My dress is actually my Mum’s wedding dress from the 1980s, it’s got the 80s style flared sleeves and a gorgeous high neck, the dress had been in a suitcase for 36 years and it wasn’t altered at all! Finally the turban hat was lent to me by a Torquay based designer called Jane Molloy who owns the company Get Clobbered. Jane is a good friend of my friend Tara and so I owe Tara a massive thank you for connecting us and to Jane for being so generous.

Please check out the Get Clobbered website http://www.getclobbered.co.uk/ the couture accessories are ethically handmade, the turban I wore was a 1950s vintage and has been upcycled using recycled fabrics and the remnants of ‘fast fashion’ stores and jewels from jumble sales. It’s truly beautiful and I got so many compliments, you can see why Jane has been nominated for an Observer Ethical Award!

Devon girls – Ellie, me and Sasha Photo by David Freeman Photography http://www.davidfreemanphotography.co.uk/

I will be wearing another one of Jane’s Get Clobbered creations to Henley on Wednesday so make sure to follow me on Instagram / twitter (@lexiecarducci) and snapchat (lexiecrispin) for pictures and updates!

Why not have a go at upcycling some of your old pieces! Let me know how you get on 🙂

Lexie
xxx