Perhaps it should be no surprise that I like the Spice Girls- I was born in 1994, the same year the Spice girls formed, Spice Up Your Life reached no.1 shortly after my third birthday, and the earliest Christmas no.1s I can remember were all Spice Girl songs. Hence I am so eager to celebrate the Girl's return to the pop culture limelight. 

Perhaps the best way for me to do this is through highlighting the best look for each Spice Girl. Admittedly, not all of their outfits were fantastic. Far from it: a lot of them were downright awful (images of a precursor to the leopard print onesie and awfully cut crop tops spring to mind). But, there were many outfits that stick out in my mind as embodying what the Spice Girls truly were: pure, shameless girl power. These are some of those outfits:

Scary Spice:

 I couldn't resist bringing up this striking black and white dress worn recently by Mel B- and, as the perceptive ones among you will have realised, also by Alicia Keyes. Who wore it better? Personally, I think it hugs Mel B's curves beautifully, but makes Alicia's hips look a little too big. Also, although Alicia's footwear goes very nicely with the dress, she's gone for something a little too obvious. Mel B's golden plated heels look killer.

Ginger Spice:


Unsurprisingly, ginger really suits red. This sparkly, sequined dress is no exception- definitely my favourite look for Geri. The delta-shaped necklace goes excellently with the dress, filling up some of the space left by the considerably low cut neckline.


More evidence for the suitability of red (sadly, the light hit this one badly- one assumes the dress is suede).

Baby spice:



Emma Bunton, it cannot be denied, looks fab in little dresses of any colour- usually light blue or purple. In fact, she doesn't wear much else- I had to trawl through several pages of google image results before I found a snap, allbeit a flattering one, of her in trousers and a top. And even that was a recent picture. I would go as far to suggest that she spent the entire decade of the 1990s encased in a dress of some sort. And who could blame her when she looks so good? Let's not forget that she's called baby spice for a reason- she's not exactly blessed in the way of height. Long legs is a definite prerequisite of wearing trousers- on that is all the more essential when you're frequently under the glare of the world's media; a prerequisite Emma doesn't meet. But that's not a problem for her when she wears a dress- then the focus is on her gorgeous petite little figure. Furthermore, it cannot be said she relies too heavily on the cute little dress look, as she demonstrates her awareness of style and pattern combinations with a sophisticated striped, pointy-shouldered blazer. Babyliscious!

Posh Spice:





Choosing a best outfit for Victoria Beckham, who, let's not forget, is a fashion designer, was no easy task. Although she has a notable collection of beautiful, elegant dresses, it would be far too predictable to show a picture of posh in a dress. Rather, I thought I'd highlight the reason why she wears trousers and Baby doesn't: her astonishingly tall, thin figure. Her legs are begging to be covered in trousers, tight or loose. She can be a smart and sexy business woman when she combines white trousers with a prada-esque shirt, or go a bit more casual with shiny black zipped trousers with a flowing top and long grey scarf and perfectly matched flats. Also, leather and posh go together like Doc Martens and bleachers.

Sporty spice:



Admittedly, this was a particularly tricky one. Of all the Spice girls, Mel C is perhaps the least renowned for her sense of dress. She is, however, and always has been my favourite spice girl. Hence I was more than happy to sift through the endless photos of her in all manner of different coloured tracksuits until I finally found a look befitting of a pop legend. Fortunately for me, in more recent years, Mel has matured a great deal in terms of fashion. Perhaps since giving birth in 2009 she's been inspired to take a more traditionally feminine, almost maternal approach to style. This superbly simple, excellently fitted red dress with draped details gives Mel C a striking appearance and a clear, complimentary silhouette. The lovely studded boots show she's still got her rock chic edge, the black bag adds a touch of class. 

Method:

1.

Turn your material around and draw a rectangle of dimensions approx: 23cm by 16cm. Cut out- it doesn't matter if the cut is a little rough.

2.

Do the same for a second sheet of fabric, this time cut it into a rectangle approx 17cm by 12cm- you can alter these dimensions depending on how big you want it to be.

3.

Do the same for the smaller rectangle. Pin the edges together to make sewing easier. You don't need to pin the edge where the two folds meet.

5.

Sew all the way around the edge where the edge is pinned. Leave a gap on the side where the folds meet so that you can turn the shape inside out. Do this for both rectangles.

6.

Use the hole to fold the shape inside out- this way the shape looks a lot neater. The corners can be tricky to turn, so I found using the end of a pair of scissors to push them through was very helpful.

7.

Sew up the hole you used to turn the material inside out. You should end up with two shapes like this (see above)

8.

If you're doing bow ties for a couple of friends, you could try mixing up some different combinations of clashing patterns, like beige zebra and polka dot, or paisley and leopard print (inspired, even if I do say so myself!)

9.

To make the centre piece of the bow tie, cut another rectangle from the outer bow tie material, about 5 cm in width and a few inches in height (it doesn't really matter how long it is, as you can cut it to size later). Fold twice in on itself to make a triple thickness strip and sew along the length of the material. You can do the same for other bow ties if you're making more than one- as you can see, I haven't been consistently accurate with the length:

Take your bow tie body, place the smaller rectangle on top of the rectangle, as close to central as possible (like in step 8). Pinch the bow tie at the centre, making sure both the top and bottom rectangles are pinched. Sew through the centre several times, as demonstrated below.


Take the strip of material which corresponds to the material of the larger rectangle in the bow tie. Wrap it once around the pinch at the centre of the bow tie, and sew through the centrepiece in the same way you sewed through the pinch.


You might want to think about customising the bow ties to give them a more personal touch, as I have done for the bow ties I'm giving to my closest friends. I warn you though, it can be quite difficult to force a claw-backed stud through several layers of fabric. It might be advisable to punch through the material with a craft knife or the sharp end of some scissors first.