I miss you

I'm not going to lie, I miss my blog terribly.

However, for the moment, my absence from here shall have to remain as I have no internet at the flat I'm residing in, and my parents's house is freezing and a building site still, so can't go there.

I currently sit in the library, but I'm only permitted here for 2 hours at a time - majority of which I am forced to spend job hunting, and the other small proportion I spend trying to keep in touch with the friends I only keep in touch with via internet.

So as a whole, this is the area that must take the majority of my neglect, but I hope (I really do) that it won't be for long and then when I return it will be with my whole heart and all my love.

Last Day

So today was my last full day in London and this is what I wore when I eventually hauled my ass out of bed:

Shirt (Uniqlo), strap top (Primark), black skinnies (Criminal Damage @ Blue Banana), boots (Matalan), necklace (Vintage) and belt (Primark).

Today I went into central London to go collect a last few bits and pieces from work and to say one last goodbye to everyone. Despite the lack of layers here, I was actually surprisingly warm which was nice. I was also quite impressed that my quiff stayed put despite the wind. Win.

Anyway, tomorrow is the big move day, and after that I'm going to be with minimal internet, which isn't cool, so blogging will return to being sporadic (surprise, surprise). I'll try and do what I can, when I can.

Some Body Told Me...

Last night one of the girls I was out with told me I would enjoy being a student, if I could just skip the education part. I have to say I agree on that, especially when I didn't get home until 4am, didn't get to bed until 5am and still got up at 9 to call my mum and let her know I was ok after the events of last night (stolen purse anyone?!)

Anyway, so this lack of sleep is resulting in a lack of motivation - obviously - and this lack of motivation can't help but be put into everything today. So I went for an old autumn/winter favourite of mine: black skinnies (Criminal Damage @ Blue Banana), jumper (store in New Zealand), black and white striped vest (H&M) and black hoody (Primark). I also wore my new vintage (now there's an oxymoron for you!) scissor necklace.

My full length shot wasn't fantastic, so I just put in the pretty, layered bit :)

Drinky Drink.

Yesterday I had my last day at work. Today I have my drinks. And yay what a fun week it's looking likely to be.

The joys of being unemployed aren't too bad either, for now, as it means that I can sit around in my dressing gown all day until I need to get ready for tonight (only a couple more hours to go then)...

Anyway, all this free time should, in theory, give me more time to maintain this blog before I move back to the countryside and am forced to endure the cold even more so. But for now, I'm going to try and document my looks for the final 5 days of living in London town.

So, here we go. Day one of being unemployed: I spent a good chunk of the day in my dressing gown, before eventually changing into this:

And I'm gonna go right ahead and admit I cheated and used an old photo because I forgot to take a new one and it just wasn't happening quite honestly. I didn't wear the necklace either, I wore my new gold vintage one. I did however, definitely wear all of this stuff:

Playsuit (Topshop), Tartan skirt (New Look), Nude tights (Falke @ Selfridges), Heels (Vivienne Westwood). Now I just have to settle on a jacket of some description for tonight so I don't freeze my ass off, and then I'm set. Should be a good night.

Oh, and on a side note - foundation lips are not an attractive look. Please never ever EVER do this:

(Picture found after a google search leading me here)

That is all.

Bethnal Green Affordable Vintage Fair

That's where I spent a good chunk of my morning/afternoon today, and boy did I love it - even if the entrance stamp does look like a tattoo gone wrong on my skin...

See? Although it actually looks slightly clearer in the photo than it does in reality, but ahh well.

Anyway, after much deliberation last night, I ended up with 2 main outfit choices. Option number 1:

Denim playsuit (Topshop), Leather jacket (Florence & Fred @ Tesco), tights (Jonathan Aston @ Selfridges), white stilletoes (Primark). Loserish pose not included usually.

And option number 2:

Black jumper (Marks and Spencers), Belt (Primark), Tartan skirt (New Look), nude tights (Falke @ Selfridges), Socks (River Island) and shoes (Vivienne Westwood with Melissa).

Needless to say, in the end I went with option 2.

I'm now thinking of wearing option 1 for my leaving drinks on Wednesday night, as it definitely seems more of a night outfit. That said, my outfit today got a few comments including "aren't you cold?", "did you forget your skirt?" and "well, aren't you dressed rather provocatively?!". Needless to say, these were comments from my work mates (who I popped in to see, because I'm a loser) and therefore entirely acceptable.

Anyway, I'm completely digressing. Whilst at the AVF, I found a gorgeous skirt that I loved but decided to think about before purchasing. Needless to say, when I returned, I couldn't for the life of me find it. Clearly wasn't supposed to be I guess. It was a beautiful piece though, and different for me. It was bordering on granny-schoolgirl-chic. Because that's a real combination of looks... But it was brown and pleated and just generally rather lovely.

I did have some success though. I saw a couple of necklaces I rather liked, and at a bargain £3 each, I was tempted to snap them up straight away. I did the logical thing, however, and walked away to have a think about it. Upon my return, I stuck with my original choice on one of the two, but picked a different one as my second choice. This is why my mother was always right about walking away and having a think about things rather than impulse buying.

Aren't they pretty?! I don't usually wear yellow gold (real or pretend), but I've realised more and more of my shoes/bags/etc have gold clasps etc on them, so I figured it was about time to tie this in.

Stuck on You

When I'm getting dressed, it can often take me several hours and numerous changes to decide what to wear. Not just because I'm indecisive (though I'm sure this plays a big part in it), but also because I get an idea stuck in my head. I'll decide that I want to wear a specific item or two from my wardrobe, and I'll be damned if I can't find a combination that works with it to create the look I've dreamed up in my head (even if other parts of the outfit are fuzzy in my mind).

This is what is happening this morning, well probably afternoon by the time I'm done dressing. I've got my heart set on wearing my khaki green trousers (H&M) and my black knee high faux suede boots (Matalan) but goodness knows what to wear on top. Obviously I want to be warm, as I hate to be cold, but layers are also a definite necessity as it's hot on the tube and so many stores have their heating on now (yes, I have a day of shopping planned when I get my lazy ass out of bed). So let's see how this goes.

*20 minutes Later*

Eventually I got there, a lot quicker than I anticipated actually, as in the end, the outfit combination I had dreamt up in my head, actually worked - wowza!

So here's the stages I went through to create my final look:

First, I got on the trousers and boots I wanted to wear, after all, the whole outfit had to be based around this... Then I decided I'll try my long sleeve striped top (Primark) that I knew wouldn't work just on it's own.... But my goodness, wouldn't my mother and father be proud? I've actually tucked my top in! (me being the girl who point blank refused to ever tuck her tshirts into her school trousers, even though it was uniform policy, haha)

From here I decided to throw on my black jumper (Matalan) from last winter...

Which got me to this point, but something was still missing...

So in the end I figured it out - I need a waist, which is when this lovely cheap and cheerful belt (Primark) came in, that I actually bought for a couple of work outfits that needed some waist cinching too.

And that was how I got dressed this morning/afternoon. I still need to do hair and make up before I go out, but that's not too difficult really.

In other, less self-obsessed, news; tomorrow is the Affordable Vintage Fair at Bethnal Green. I'm planning on popping by (all being well), and who knows, maybe I'll actually find something this time!

The Coldness Sets In...

Winter is well and truly setting in, which means for only one thing for me at the moment - hobo dressing!

This at the moment, around my shifts at work, consists of black skinny jeans (Criminal Damage @ Blue Banana), my black and white check scarf (Next), my black hoody which has been around for yonks (Primark) and my favourite fingerless gloves/mittens (Florence + Fred @ Tesco). These may be my favourite invention ever quite possibly as it means I can still text and such like, whilst still warming my fingers when I have nothing to do with my hands...

Actually, mine aren't too dissimilar to this pair:

(found in a Google Search leading me here)

Mine are a little bit frayed around the edges now, but of course this only contributes to the lovingness of my hobo image.

And now I'm actually vaguely excited for work as I have been granted permission to wear my Vivienne Westwood heels for work instead of black heels (as per our uniform). This is partially due to the fact I broke my usual work heels, and refuse to buy another pair for the 3 shifts I have left; but also because one of my managers is rather weird and can't imagine me being interested in shoes and heels like that.... Erm, ok, she clearly doesn't know me very well!

Anyway, I might stick a picture up of my work outfit tomorrow (including the heels) if I get a chance/have the motivation to take a picture before work. Will be super duper great :)

Oh no...

Quite frankly, I've been a crap blogger of late. I have no excuse as to why I've been absent for over 10 days, other than having been working my ass off and being tired. But anyway, I'm not here to make excuses, I'm here to post a little story.

Of late, in the evenings, I have been watching 4od. Nothing in particular, just whatever rubbish takes me fancy. Tonight I ended up watching "How To Look Good Naked...With a Difference". Now, back in the old days, I used to be an avid watcher of How To Look Good Naked. Then, in January/February of this year, they did a special series consisting of 3 episodes around 3 disabled women. I only watched the first one, and ended up forgetting to watch the following two at the time. However, tonight, I have watched those 2 other episodes, and it has to be said they're the most inspiring pieces of television I have seen in a while. The third and final one in the series is probably the one that will still with me the most, not only because I watched it last, but because it gave such hope and such joy. The lady featured in the third episode is blind. She has been blind for 37 years and will never regain her sight. Having started the episode miserable and with the completely wrong view of herself, Gok worked with her to help her "see" again... to see herself how the world saw her. It was truly wonderful.

So if you live in the UK, click onto 4od, or more specifically, click here. This is the episode in which you meet Di (the blind lady) and hear her story. And to be honest, if this doesn't warm your heart a little, well then, there's something wrong with you :).

On a completely different note, I have unspecified plans for Halloween. All I know is I'm going out and I want to wear my black &white tutu skirt with my Vivienne Westwood heels..... Now I just need to figure out the other parts. Any help on that, yeah?

That's it for now, I hate to do no picture stimulation type stuff, buuuuut, there's nothing I can think of that will really go with this. I hope, hope, hope, I'll be able to get back up to normal blogging levels soon.

Foot Fetish...

I've come to realise that I'm going to have to be careful over my last month living here in London, else I'm going to end up with a bad reputation. A shoe/foot fetish reputation that is by the way.

Because, y'see, being the nervous creature I am (and also complete muppet), I don't like to ask people if I can take a picture of their outfit or shoes or whatever it is they're wearing, so 9 times out of 10, I don't do anything about it, I just lust after it. However, on that 1 out of 10 time, I will try and grab a sneaky shot and I believe I may have this down to a fine art on late night tube journeys, haha.

Anyway, the whole point of this, is I snapped another picture tonight.

I'm not 100% sure what it is I love about these shoes; perhaps that they're so pretty but so basic still?

They were basically like a denim fabric with this green ribbon through them. If the heal had been a bit higher, it's the sort of thing I would have worn with my denim playsuit - in a nod towards double denim - but also because I think they would have just complimented it went. I also just liked her outfit as a whole; it was so casual but so chic. I guess, in a way, this was a great example of true glamour and style. I also kinda had the lust for her bag... But shh!

Anyway, think I'll leave it at that for now - no outfit posts at the moment because just feeling uninspired around work and with my feet hurting so much (seriously, heels for 8 and half hours a day, minimum, 5 days a week, is killing my feet slowly but surely) it's hard to find any shoes that I actually want to wear. Give me my slippers and woolly jumpers any day at the moment! Haha. We're heading into that miserable time of year that I hate, because I'll be freezing one minute and boiling the next, not cool.

Hiding Around

I have to admit I've been hiding of late. My outfit choices have been lame (or non-existent).

Anyway, here's what I wore this evening. Uber geek chic.

And here's what I wore all day whilst out on le job hunt (because this is my only day off in the space of 11 days). I also chucked on a pair of heels (Debenhams) but of course, my feet can't survive those all day, so y'know.

Shirt and trousers (both H&M), jumper (menswear section of Primark)

What else is there to say? Not a lot really. Autumn/Winter is truly underway, so I'm slowly having to accept this in my outfit choices (bye bye skirts and strap tops, hello jeans and jumpers). Boo hoo.

Turning Over New Leaves

A few months ago, I scored my "dream" job. 21 weeks ago today, I started my "dream" job. Today, I quit my "dream" job. It was my dream job, only this dream had become a nightmare.

So in the next 4 weeks I have to find some where else to live (leaving London town baby), find some where to work and figure it out. But life goes on.

Hey, who knows, this could be an excuse to buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes, right? Haha.

Anyway, as per usual, this may (i.e almost definitely will) affect posting as all days off are gonna have to be used for travelling out to find a job and find a flat in the town near my parents. No one can say I don't like a challenge!

Short and Sweet

Just thought I'd pop a quick outfit post up seeing as I'm wearing new clothes that I bought during my time off for work.

After much whinging to my mother about having nothing to wear and wanting to get away from black, grey, jeans and leggings, I mentioned that I wanted a pair of trousers for a change, but something casual, something that was still "me" as such. Soooo, this is what we ended up finding. No black, no grey and new trousers. Apologies for the poor photo quality, but I couldn't seem to get the lighting right and wasn't quite in the mood to faff around with it for hours.

Anywho, basically, these are my new trousers (H&M), my new jumper (H&M) which is brown -  a shocker for me, I know - and my old boots that  thought were waterproof, but after Thursday's downpour, I discovered this was sadly no longer the case. Squelchy! 

Anyway, won't stop for more now. I'm off to Westfield to go get a birthday present for my brother (hopefully) and do a bit more retail therapy (definitely).

Epic Failings

As per usual, there's been some epic failings on the posting front again. I have no excuse for this other than those previously cited in my last post. That and general exhaustion at returning to work. Haha.

I don't have much to say right now, but I wanted to let you know I'm still alive and loving, honest! Whilst on "holiday" from work, I did a bit of retail therapy, and bought a few nice new things, so they'll make it up onto the blog in the next few days hopefully :) If not in the next few days, then certainly over the coming weeks!

Last night on the tube home, I also saw a man with the most fantastic pair of shoes. It was one of those times when I wished we were living in 2110 rather than 2010, because I would like to think by then that we'll be able to upload metal images, and use those mental images to Google things etc. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera on me, and my phone camera is a bit crap, so I was unable to get a picture of these amazing shoes. But first things, first: THEY WERE MAN HEELS!

Now, normally, man heels would creep me out a bit, or make me think of that greasy haired, rather weird guy that everyone seems to know of... But they worked for this guy, some how, I'm not sure how, but they did. However, embarrassingly, I did get caught by him staring at his feet and got a big cheesy grin in return... mildly embarrassing.

Anywhoooo, I just googled man heels (not a search I would recommend if you've eaten recently or are weak stomach... there's some pretty scarring stuff there...) and I found a picture that closely matches these shoes that I'm now obsessing over. Unfortunately the picture only matches in style, and not in colour.

(Picture found from Google search leading me here)

Now, the shoes that he were wearing were actually a bluey-greeny purple two-toned boot. It was beautifully shiny (that's actually what caught my eye in the first place, I'm like a bloody magpie sometimes "ooo, shiny!"). To add to, and contrast against this, there was then an elastic insert to make them easier to get on, but this wasn't just any insert. Oh no, this insert was done in the shape of a slightly more elaborate cross, and in a lovely contrasting dull brown. I'm not sure why, but this all just worked for some reason.

And the final lust factor for me? He adjusted his position slightly, and this resulted in a mini-flash of lining of the inside of the boot... it was red! And looked like red velvet or suede or something. 

Basically, all I know is they looked sooo divinely comfortable and were so out there, they really worked. It was odd, but I'm ok with that :)

It's Time.

London Fashion Week officially kicked off this morning and from the sounds of the tweets, it's off to a fabulous start. Despite living in the capital myself, I unfortunately won't be attending any shows because I'm not cool enough, but also because work and the likes don't permit the time unfortunately. Life fail much.

Anyway, last night I had my friend and fellow blogger, Jennily, stay over. This was the first time we'd seen each other in some months due to now living miles and miles and miles apart instead of just 5 minutes walk. Bummer.

After insane amounts of Chinese food, sugary crap like doughnuts and trifles, and a fair amount of alcohol, it resulted in these crazily attractive pictures of us:

We're so beautiful, aren't we? Haha.

Anyway, yeah, so after taking awesome pictures and being amazingly awesome ourselves we crashed out, went to bed and got up late this morning. Managed to some how to both shower, dress, wash up last night's stuff and get ready to go in the space of just over an hour and then leave. I think the bit that genuinely took the longest was for me to decide what the hell to wear. Decisions are not my strong point. But eventually I settled on this:

With a helluva combination of cheap and not-so-cheap. Hoody (Primark), t-shirt (Marks and Spencers), Ring - not seen (DKNY), Skirt (Primark), Tights (Falke in "Crystal" @ Selfridges) and heels (Melissa for Vivienne Westwood). This shoes are my complete favourite at the moment, I'm genuinely obsessed with them and how ridiculously comfortable they are. The only things ruining this picture is my hair and my expression, but ahh well, I can't help my face, haha!

So now I'm off to catch up on what I've missed of LFW so far, which unfortunately will only increase over the weekend as I unfortunately have the joys of working both Saturday and Sunday before hopping on a train back to the 'Shire to visit my parents and have a few days break there. Pictures will be disappearing in that time, but I may try to whack out a blog or two whilst I'm there, we'll just wait and see I suppose.

Insane Amounts To Do...

None the less, here I am, blogging to procrastinate. All I have to do is strip my bed, remove my nail varnish, get work clothes ready, tidy my room and remake my bed... Erm, sure.

Anyway, few things to say. First things first, Lady Gaga. 

At the MTV Video Music Awards the other night, she caused her usual stir by wearing a dress made from meat. Erm, ok... Apparently it was designed by Franc Fernandez, who it would seem has designed a few of her other outrageous outfits (like that chain mail piece in her video for Bad Romance). 

So what is my point of bringing this up? Well quite honestly, I find it a disgusting thought, but I am the sort of person who doesn't really eat meat in the first place (no, not vegetarian, just don't really eat it often) and I can't stand raw meat. It makes me want to be sick. HOWEVER, and this is a big however - we did put it in capitals after all - credit where credit is due, this is an amazing piece. It's an amazing design and the amount of work that must have gone into it is truly mind boggling.

(picture found from a Google search leading me here)

Look at the shape of it, it hugs to all the right curves and has the right shape of a classic dress. The cuts of meat that have been used on the front and side almost give a corseted look and I only wish (sort of) I knew what cut of meat must have been used to create the bottom of this dress.

She has been quoted by multiple sources as saying that part of the reasoning behind this dress is to show "[she] is not a piece of meat" but who knows the entire reasoning. Also, who knows if it is even real, because quite frankly, if it is, it must have stunk and she would have been very lonely all night! Haha.

Anyway, moving away from disgusting, slightly creepy things, and onto pretty, lustworthy things. As many of you have probably heard in the press coverage, Selfridges' Shoe Galleries completely open tomorrow. With events related to this opening running for a week until the 23rd. I'm super - or should that be shoeper? - excited about this opening, and it's been much awaited as far as I'm concerned. At first when I saw the plans for it (ahhh, the joys of being a Selfridges employee) I was a bit hesitant and couldn't help but think "really? You're really using these concepts?!" However (there's that bloody word again!) when I saw the first few galleries that opened about a month ago, I was pleasantly surprised. The concepts used (such as concrete and rust) actually genuinely do work. The space is very light and open, and beautiful. Just as they promised it would be.

So, all I can say is: Get your ass down tomorrow! Though be warned, the galleries are closing early (5.30pm to be exact) for a big celebrity party. I should perhaps be worrying whether or not this is top secret info, but seeing as it's going to be noticeably closed tomorrow, I'm assuming they'll give the real reason. Anyway, after tomorrow, as far as I know, the galleries will be open with the rest of the store from 9.30am until 9pm every day, Monday to Saturday; and from 11.30am until 6pm on Sundays. Ahh, such exciting stuff.

And to be honest, I'll be glad when this is all over, because then it means our tacky shoeper-hero will go away. Can't say I'm particularly keen on that "great" publicity idea, but y'know....

Models Need to Cheer Up!

Today I was browsing through MSN news' coverage of Victoria Beckhams Spring/Summer 2011 collection, and I couldn't help but notice how grumpy some of the models look!

I know the whole point is they're probably supposed to be straight faced and not draw attention away from the clothes - they are just walking hangers after all, but even so, a smidge of a smile is always nice, or even just a genuine blank face rather than a really moody one.

Take this picture above for instance, (came from here). This girl is wearing a beautiful drapey purple dress (not necessarily my cup of tea, but I can acknowledge it's nice-ness) and she looks like she's ready to throw a tantrum. Seriously, what is up with that?

I am, however, totally loving this stud dress:

(from here)

Please, please, please, fashion gods, let there be a suitable high street alternative, because unless I can find a verrrrrrryyyy rich man in the next few months, I simply won't be able to afford this piece of gorgeous simplicity. And, Dear Diary, I REALLY want :)
I think I might even be able to pass it off as work-appropriate which is always an added bonus!

I love the simplicity of this dress as well. It's not necessarily something I would wear, it's too much of a classic design, and me and classic don't exactly work always. But I really do appreciate it's beauty.

(from here)
I'm also rather liking the chunky briefcase-type-handbag (prizes for best description ever, no?). Imagine how much stuff you could fit into that, and still be able to find! It'd be a dream come true for me, as I am forever losing things in big bags that have no structure to them, because it's always hiding in that little corner that you can't quite get your hand into for whatever reason.

Overall, I'm really liking Victoria Beckham's collection for next year, it's very classic, as per usual and I think that works well for her. Of course, I'll always be a little bit biased as I did grow up in the era of "GIRL POWER", Spice Girls and all that jazz, but having grown up with it and been able to watch her go from this young, slightly snobby seeming girly-girl to a fantastic designer who is really making her way in the fashion world... well, it certainly inspires me to persevere with what I want in life.
Girl Power to ya!

It's Funny Where Opportunities Occur....

Today, quite honestly, was not a good day until late this evening. Today I was having one of those days where you doubt everything you know, everything you've wanted, just everything basically.

But then things started to look up. I made some pretty important decisions, and I got some pretty good information. Turns out, one of the girls I work with interns with a stylist, but she wants to leave and needs to find some one to replace her. Opportunity methinks.

I've also finally made the decision to look at moving within the company, so applications will be made over the next couple of weeks with the intention of doing this.

So what started as a pretty horrendous day, ended up being not too shabby. And now I'm chilling out before bed with a good ol' bit of The XX. An amazing band that escaped my knowledge for far too long as far as I'm concerned. Something about their music makes me feel very chilled out and want to wear lots of floaty hippy-ish clothes.

Maybe I should get this sexual outfit. (That I found in a Google search leading me to this website).... Or maybe I should just stick to my own clothes.

I got told repeatedly today by one of our lovely temps, that I look like I'm a very rock chick girl. This complimented me more than it possible should.

I also got mistaken for a mannequin by a customer. I'm undecided as to how I feel about this.

That basically means that I can pass for one of these... (a pictures I found from a Google search leading me to this website)

I apologise for the lack of my own pictures, but it's one of those days where it's just not going to happen. There will, however, be pictures of my own later in the week as I (as it stands) have fellow blogger, Jennily, coming to visit me for a girl night in with a bottle of wine, Chinese food and chocolate cheesecake. Sounds like a pretty perfect night to me, and will probably result in our usual crazy style pictures, which'll be fuuuun. 

Hint for ya though, Jennily, you need to blog more ;)

Practicality is Not My Style.

Ok, sometimes practicality is my style; the majority of time, however, it is not.

Hence the reason today I thought that this outfit...:

...Was a bloody good idea to wear. I did change my mind very quickly though when I popped into a room with lots of windows open  and was freezing within seconds.

So I made the mature and sensible decision to change the shorts (Baxter Topshop jeans, customised by moi) for my black skinnies (Criminal Damage @ Blue Banana) and keep the top (Topshop). I also made the sensible decision to chuck my grey boyfriend cardigan (New Look) over it. Probably quite a good idea, seeing as when I went out to do food shopping (gosh, I lead an exciting life!) I was just about warm enough.

I ended up doing quite heavy make up as well, so I've ended up with this slightly rock chick look - especially with the wind messing up my short hair... oddly enough, I'm ok with all of this. I quite like the messy rock chick look. I think I shall be playing more with this as autumn progresses.

Anyway, will leave it at that for now. I'm off for a coffee with a friend, because that's what us hardcore rock chicks like to do with our Sunday afternoons. Pahahaha.

This Is The Way The Stylish Live

Or not...

I'm sat in on a Saturday night, with no intention of going out that front door again until tomorrow, stuffing my face with a massive bowl of pasta (yes, a massive bowl of carbohydrates, shockers!) and not giving a damn about what I look like. I'm not even wearing any make up. But gosh it feels good. After a week of having to be on form (and epically failing on at least 2 days), it's nice to not have to worry. It's also the first Saturday night I've been staying in at home in I don't know how long. Which is lovely.

So instead of going out and killing my liver some more, I can relax with my Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and mentally spend all of my rich boyfriend's money... The rich boyfriend that I haven't actually got yet, but we're working on that, haha.

But onto fashion related goodies, we're moving into Autumn/Winter clothing at last which I'm excited for, even though I've realised I don't really like any of my clothes or anything, but ahh well. This is the season for layering, which is something I love to do the more layers I can have on, the better, because more layers mean more warmth. I'm really fancying a cashmere v-neck jumper of some description I think. 

Actually, I quite fancy this jumper from Crew Clothing:

It's only £55, a price which unfortunately I can't actually afford at the moment, but none the less, I don't think that's too shabby for a jumper that's 95% cotton, 5% cashmere. Yum. 

(Direct link here if you want to buy it for me ;] - I think I want it in "chocolate" which is the colour I've shown here as well... Size 10 or 12 please because I don't want it too tight)

I'm also craving some really chunky knit grey ribbed tights for layering as well.... I seem to have really got layering into my head for this season. Not sure why.

Anyway, moving away from clothing for a moment, and onto lingerie, after all I do work in the lingerie department of Selfridges... there's a few things I'm really lusting after from Autumn/Winter collections - yes, that's right, even lingerie has it's seasonal stock.

The first thing, I can't show you because they don't appear to have it on their website yet, but Dirty Pretty Things have done a gorgeous bra & knicker/thong set this season that it is like a base colour of black, with a nude colour on the cup, covered by a black very fine mesh that has detailing like spiders webs in etc. Not the best description ever, but trust me, it's beautiful, if you can get your ass down to Selfridges, come and take a look at it. The only downside is that the bra is retailing at £80, the thong at £35 I think and I'm not sure on the price of the briefs, but I think it's around £45 or something... So somewhat expensive :( Boo hoo.

Another one that I'm loving is from Myla, and I actually have pictures for this one:

This gorgeous slip is called "Gardenia" and I'm also hoping to get the bra and matching briefs at some point as well... This is all down to a kind, kind friend who wishes to spoil me a little bit. Who knows, I might manage to make him the "rich boyfriend" I mentioned earlier. Haha, doubt it though.  But isn't this just divine? It feels so luxurious as well.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now, I'm off on a hunt for some pieces I can purchase to do the underwear as outerwear thing that has been a big trend on and off, and is suitable for my nights out with the drinking crowds I operate in. That sounds incredibly slutty, but it's not like that at all.

More soon...

Just Gonna Stand There and Watch Me Burn?

But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts.

Just gonna stand there and hear my cry?
But that's alright, because I love the way you lie.

I frickin' love that song at the moment. It's pretty much on repeat on YouTube for me at the moment for a few reasons.

One. It's an amazing song, that hits a few home truths with me.

Two. Rihanna has amazing hair in it, and an amazing outfit.

Three. Megan Fox... PHWOAR. If only I looked as good as she does in cut offs, boots and a vest. Sheesh.

Watch it here:

Anyway, on a more fashion related note, I finally managed to figure out an outfit for tomorrow. This may be subject to editing (i.e. changing the jacket etc) but this is the basic idea.

So I'm wearing jacket (New Look), vest (Topshop), skirt (Henry Holland @ Debenhams) and Vivienne Westwood shoes. I'll also be wearing my Falke tights (Selfridges) tomorrow in Crystal - the only "nude" tights I've found that are pale enough for my whiteness. Ahh, and I'm wearing my Lady Luck Rules OK logo necklace in this picture which I love, love, love.

I can't think of much else to say right now. I'd love to tell you a story about a customer I had today, but I think I ought to leave it a bit longer, plus I don't have the motivation to find all the pictures I want to create the post, so we'll leave that for now. Let's just say I meet some interesting people in my job; but that's the reason I love what I do, because you never know who you may meet or what their story may be.

Weekends Away and so much more...

I got home from my parents about an hour ago and am now fed, watered and caught up on my email so decided I'd finally get around to blogging properly again.

First things first, I wanna show off the outfit I concocted for Thursday. I'm not really sure why I haven't done this outfit for work before, I think it's because I was lacking the belt until recently, but anyway, with the world's dodgiest photography and "quick run and get into position before timer goes off", here's what I wore Thursday:

Lace top (H&M), strap top (Florence + Fred @ Tesco), Black skirt (Marks and Spencers), tights (Debenhams) and belt (Primark).

Today I also went shopping and managed to get some more work clothes which is awesomeness (in my opinion anyway). They'll be winging their way into my photos soon, no doubt.

Not much else to say for now, I got my October issue of Harper's Bazaar which I'm working my way through at present (and loving every second of it) and will inevitably be chucking up my wish list at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Anyway, I'm off to do some work related goodies, and read more of my magazines. More blogging soon.

Excuses

Ok, so I honestly swear I had this whole post planned out; I'd even hand written a good chunk of it down the other night whilst in a lull at work.

But quite frankly, it's a load of twaddle, I have no pictures to back it up, and I just generally lack motivation to sit and write it all out. Had a bit of a dodge week at work.

So instead, I pinky-promise I will blog decently from Sunday and/or Monday onwards. I'd say from Saturday, but I'm travelling out to the countryside to see my parents and a few friends from back "home".

But yes, basically, epic fail on the motivational front. Chat soon :)

Let Me Get This Straight...

I have to leave for work in half an hour and I'm still not dressed. I'm showered, fed and watered; but alas I am not dressed in a work appropriate manner. So why on earth am I sat here blogging?

Errrrrr, that'd be because I can pretend to be doing something useful by going through the process of decision, yeah? 

So today, I'm really not feeling in the mood for work. At all. This may be because I know I have the horrendous experience of walking through crowds of screaming teenage girls who are trying to get their books (and other things I'm sure) signed by JLS who are in store at Selfridges today... and just so happen to be instore based around where the staff locker room entrance/exit is. Fun. It's also because my bed was so warm and cosy this morning and I never want to get out of it. Ever.

Anyway, the idea with being a lingerie girl at Selfridges is that we're to look slightly seductive in a business like manner. All skirts are supposed to be knee length, and heel & make up is mandatory. Such a lot of fun that is. So, my solution for today it would seem, is to wear a skirt I haven't worn in a long time - my just-below-the-knee pencil skirt. That still fits, awesome.

But what top? Here we have four main options. The scoop neck tee (jacket required with this), the top with a shrug style bit on it (I really need to find a better way of describing this), the top with the bat wing style sleeves or the shirt. The shirt would be my managers' ideal. But who wants to obey them? 

The first two tops are good because I can wear a jacket with them, and it does get bloomin' cold on shop floor... but the other two don't get outings much...

Decision making never was my strong point in case you hadn't guessed.

So, what did I decide...? Drum roll please....:

Yep, we decided on black shirt and long skirt. Exactly what the managers would love. Bleugh. Now I just have to find some satisfactory hosiery and we're good to go. And with 15 minutes to spare?

Wow, I might actually get to do my make up at home. 

Have a good day, there may be more later.

Woah, Crazy Stuff

Call me slow, call me stupid, but I just realised I have managed to maintain this blog for over a year, bar a short break due to internet issues. I'm somewhat proud of this, so just going to have a little celebratory moment...

*dances*

Ok, so now that's out of my system, and I may have burnt your retinas (I kinda burnt mine a little doing that), let's swiftly move on to the original point of this blog.

It's been over a year of doing this blog and I can't get over it. So doing the logical thing, I decided to go back to the begin and laugh at my younger self and my writing style. Ahh how things have changed (I hope anyway), and how I've grown. I'm also quite amused how so many of my very early blogs point at my excitement of going to London with a friend for the day. Bleugh, how delightfully loser-ish that seems now that I live in the city itself. And the best one being about how I forked out money for tights at Selfridges, just to get a Selfridges bag. Aha, now that I have an unlimited supply of the bags (we carry our lunch from locker room to canteen in them), and I buy the tights at work like they're going out of fashion, it all seems to weird and childish. I must remember that things do change over time though. And this is one of those changes.

The other thing I can't help but notice is my flat tummy from last year. Ahh the joys of turning 18 and then moving to London a few months later and remembering why you love beer.

This is my poison:

Ahh Peroni, how we love you. We don't, however, love what you've done to my tummy.

Though we can't entirely blame the Peroni - it's also the Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cocktails at B@1. Simply amazing and I recommend you find your local one and try this cocktail, it's under the ice cream section. Wiiiiin.

Anyway, enough of this totally unrelated-to-fashion blog. I'm going to go watch a film and eat popcorn. I'm cool like that :) Have a good evening.

Busy Busy

So today I had a day off, always good. I also had a list of 21 joyous things that I had to try and get done today. Out of these 21 things, I managed to cross off 3 things as unnecessary (I mean, ironing, really? If it's hung to dry those creases are supposed to be there blatantly) and I've managed to successfully cross off all but 4 of the other things. One of those things will not happen now, and the other 3 I'm in the process of doing. Fun fun fun.

Anyway, the long and short of that ramble? There's been a minimal amount of fashion present in my life today which saddens me greatly.

So instead, I'll just show you some pretty ball gown dresses I've been contemplating getting, as I've been invited to some one's ball at the end of September and am under strict instructions that it can be no shorter than just above the ankle. Erck.
So here are the three I love the most at the moment. From left to right you have Ben de Lisi at Debenhams (£130), Jane Norman (£80) and finally Debut at Debenhams (£130).
So far, I think the Jane Norman one is probably my favourite as it's very simple but rather in keeping with what I like to think of as my style - there are studs down both sides of the body and it just seems amazing and slimming and wow. Because they're brilliant descriptive words, honest.

I would muchly appreciate thoughts on this one though as I'm useless when it comes to finding "appropriate" dresses for me. Haha.
Have a good evening.

What I Wore Today

Today I had to work. Bleugh. The joys of working in retail means Bank Holidays are not a guaranteed day off. Boo hoo.

Anyway, due to the way my rota worked out, it meant that I had epically failed at having much time to do things like washing etc, so I was forced to wear the new dress I bought on Saturday, for work today. What a shame.
The fact I bought this dress especially for work, so not the point.

But yes, I just wanted to show you how pretty it was, I rather like it anyway:
(Bailey Blue @ TK Maxx)

So, there's not actually much left to say for tonight. I've got a much wanted day off tomorrow, with an incredibly long list of things to do, but hopefully I'll find time to fit a bit of blogging in there too.

Things I Should Really Be Doing Right Now...

• Doing my washing up from the last 2 days
• Tidying my floor so I can see it again
• Putting sales figures for the week into my spreadsheet
• Taking make up off
• Going to bed.

Needless to say, none of these are actually happening, nor do I think they are likely to happen tonight.
But this is because I've become somewhat distracted by my obsession with underwear. This is a downside, and occupational hazard, of working in lingerie departments - you recognise bras and their makes quite quickly. You also get the urge to fit random strangers on the street because they're bra is so ill-fitting that it's annoying, but that's another story all together.

Anyway, tonight, having been out for a lovely meal with an old friend, I was stood at King's Cross waiting for a tube to whisk me home, when this girl walked by as part of a group. The group as a whole were dressed in what I would class as a more "alternative" fashion... That sort of "look at us, we're so hardcore cool, we're dressed like teddy boys and emo girls" type group. One girl caught my eye in particular (after I was done checking out the incredibly cute guy - I'm only human after all) and I believe she caught my eye due to her jacket. It was a big jacket that had fallen off one shoulder, and appeared to be covered in black "fun fur" She has a black tshirt dress type thing on and black army-style boots. She also looked thoroughly pissed off, it has to be said. As I was taking in her outfit though, I caught a flash of pink.I did a bit of a double take and realised it was the edge of her bra I could see. Being the loser I am, I immediately recognised it as being D&G Summer 2010 - a range that we currently stock in Selfridges lingerie department and is very pretty.
I mean, see, look how pretty!
I did "borrow" this picture off of D&G's underwear website (direct link being here), so I'm sorry if that was naughty, and in which case I'll just photograph it at work and swap the picture or something. I still need to figure out the copyright laws etc for blogging... Hmm.

Anyway, not much else to say for tonight. I just wanted to share that uninteresting little story that shows exactly how work obsessed I am.
Have a good bank holiday Monday people, I'll be stuck at work, but oh well.
More tomorrow perhaps (:

It's Official!

I'm back. I have proper broadband for internet at last which *hopefully* means I can actually upload pictures again easily and fun fun things like that :)

So out comes my camera to see what we've missed... and disappointingly there's very few pics on there of interest... I may have actually been good and moved them onto my computer instead. Wow.
So here's what is on my camera:
This is a pre-work photo from time ago in which I was feeling very classic in my shift dress (Marks and Spencers), my pearl necklace (vintage gift) and my red lippy.
Since this picture was taken (I'm serious, this is months old now), I've had all my hair chopped off (thank goodness!) and haven't worn red lippy in a while.
This picture is from when I got epically bored one evening so just painted my nails and drew all over them with black eyeliner. It looked pretty good on my left hand (in my opinion), but right hand was waaaay to much of a mission for me to have bothered keeping it.

I also finally managed to buy a denim strapless playsuit that I loooooooove.
Here it is!!! Please excuse the overly poserish stance. But that's it on it's own. And here's my favourite way to wear it:
The denim playsuit is from Topshop, the tartan skirt I think is New Look (but is tiiiiime old) and the necklace I've forgotten the origin of. Epic fail on outfit placement, but y'know, it's the look that matters, not the product placement, plus I need to get back into the swing of this. So give it time and we'll be back up and running at normal pace soon :)

Oh, and just before I sign off for the night, I got Vivienne Westwood with Melissa shoes the other day. Epic win. I adore them. Pictures of those beauties soon!

Update

Ok, so just an update as to where we stand at the moment, darling blog of mine. I'm fully intending to return, and hopefully, hopefully it should be by the end of August as we're getting broadband installed in my house. Wahey!

Thus meaning I will be able to upload pictures with ease, browse the 'net without it cutting out and generally have far less issues when it comes to delivering a blog.
I'm also hoping that this break from blogging means my passion will be fully renewed in it when I can do it with ease again!

So yes, hopefully we will be seeing each other again very soon, and hopefully we can pick up where we left off.

Love and kisses
xx

Just a Short Note.

I'm not intentionally neglecting this blog.
My internet since I moved here has gone from being great to being shit quite frankly. It refuses to upload pictures, takes ages to open webpages and cuts out randomly. It's incredibly frustrating and therefore I don't feel like I can properly maintain this blog.
As much as this upsets me, as I do enjoy keeping this thing going - even if no one really reads it - for now I feel it is best if I leave it be until I can sort a better internet connection.

Hopefully this won't be a permanent situation. Hopefully it won't even be for too long. But for now, farewell.
♥

Where to Begin?

There's lot for me to write today as I've been meaning to blog a couple of times but my internet has been having hissy fits or I've just outright been too tired/alcohol-soaked.

Sooo, I guess this means I should try and go chronologically-ish, but my memory is rubbish, so let's just go with stuff earlier in the week. Which means, first:
Spotted!
As I work in Selfridges (have I mentioned that enough, d'ya think?) it's not uncommon to see minor celebrities, and slightly more major ones, browsing our rails. I've see a few people, most of whom I end having to be told by some one else that they're famous (like some bird from Coronation Street). Others I reckonise out of my own passions (like the woman who plays Christina in Ugly Betty)... and there's the well known ones. I had one of the well known ones on Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?). I saw Kelly Osbourne.
I have to say she was look very lovely in what I think was a mui mui skirt and top. She'd had what looked like a blue rinse on her hair, which had resulted in it being an odd lilac/blue/blonde/grey colour, but none the less she pulled it off and looked fabulous. She was far shorter than I thought, but even more gorgeous in the flesh. I didn't get to speak to her as she was just passing through my area, but none the less it was pretty cool. :)

Also, on Tuesday I decided to make an effort with my outfit, and ended up wearing this:
There would be a picture here, but my internet/Blogger is being rubbish and has refused to let me upload this for nearly a week now. I'll show it at some point.
I was mainly making an effort as it was one of the girl's leaving drinks and I didn't want to have to change after work. So I decided to chuck on my lace top (H&M), my strapless dress over the top (Cult) and I also got truly Essex and wore my white stilletos for drinks and the first half of my shift.

The rest of the week was a bit rubbish until I saw Theo Paphitis. I had a small cringe moment with this "Spotted!" moment as I didn't realise it was him until I had already gone and opened my big mouth to do my introduction that I do when some one walks into my area... (along the lines of "Hi there, are you looking for anything in particular?", they respond no, just looking and I reply "ok, just so you know there are more sizes available of pretty much all our styles, just let me know!") Half way through the first bit I realised who I was talking to and the way he was smiling/smirking at me and sort of trailed off into a mumble. Bit embarrassing but ahh well. He was clearly in on business related matters rather than personal, and looked smart casual in a pink shirt and light coloured trousers.

On a couple of the evenings whilst I was chilling out, I ended up wearing this:
I thought it was a different version of smart casual for me. I only brought these tailored shorts (Primark) from Oxfordshire to London, the other week, but have worn them quite regularly since. I've then just been combining them with this tshirt (Vintage) or similar baggy style ones for the stark contrast of casual with smart tailoring. Perhaps not the best outfit ever, but it worked.

Finally, today... well yesterday now, I went to Clothes Show London at Earls Court. It was amazing! So amazing, in fact, that I think I'm going to save itfor it's own blog post as I'm rather tired and do have to work this apparently-going-to-be-warm Sunday. But all I can say is wow, amazing. Yayyyy (:

Proud of My Stuff.

As you may, or may not, know; I work in Selfridges. Also, as you may, or may not, know; I work in the lingerie section. Within this section I cover the brand Eres. Never heard of that brand? Neither had I, until I started working there.

As you may, or may not, also know; I'm an avid Harper's Bazaar reader. And in July's edition (which has been out for, like, ever now, I know. I just haven't had time to read it until today) there is loads of Eres stuff on their pages. Win. I am proud enough of my brand that I have gone through and photographed the stuff and can *sadly enough* tell you what colours Selfridges actually stock these pieces in.
So now, prepare yourself for like a gazillion and one pictures.
Now this picture was on Kate Moss' page for her summer wear. I think this is the noir version, but I don't think we have any left in black at work. We do, however, have it in papou (a sort of charcoal), rouge and bleu... I think. I'm not 100% sure on that one. It's a lovely shape though and I do rather like this one on a slightly fuller bust. The weird light coloured bit on the crotch of the bottoms is actually a flipflop they layered over the top of it in the montage of the page.
This swimsuit we don't stock. However, we do a similar one that has straps. It's still a gorgeous one though, no idea why the buyer's didn't bring it in!
Finally there's this one. Again, our buyers have been a bit rubbish, and haven't bought this in for us in white. We do, however, have it in bleu sultan. I think we may have it in black as well, but not 100% sure on that either.
Finally, there was this little mention on one of the pages (the bottom line). I can personally vouch for this statement being true - Eres really does streamline the thighs with their gorgeous cuts. They provide a bit more coverage on the bum, which is lovely. And don't I just sound like a walking advertisement for Eres. Tch, I should be getting commission for this. Haha!

Anyway, whilst I'm here, and harping on about pictures in Harper's Bazaar (no pun intended, genuinely). Here's a picture of a swimsuit I love love love. I wonder if it's still available anywhere. Doubt it.
This swimsuit is by Norma Kamali and was photographed in 1987 for Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition (as you can see in the caption - just click to enlarge photo). If it was still available, I'd love love love some one to buy me it... but maybe in a different colour... like black or purple or something as I'm far too pale to wear white.

Finally, here's a quick crap-snap of what I've been chilling out in today due to the lovely summery weather we've been enjoying :)
I adore this top(H&M in Canada) as it make my waist appear waaaay tinier than it actually is. I also chucked on my tailored shorts (Primark I think) which I brought back from Oxfordshire with me the other day. Accessorised with being too hot, a bruised knee, a weird pose and my DKNY ring... and I was pretty happy with this random outfit. I can literally say it's the first thing I grabbed this morning because I couldn't be bothered... Actually, it was more like this afternoon by the time I got dressed.

That's all for now kids. More blogging later in the week perhaps.