Quick Picks

My student loan finally arrived in my bank account, and my mum very kindly (and surprisingly) allowed me to go shopping with it! I thought I'd share with you my top picks. Over the coming weeks I will be posting pictures of my daily outfits, and am hoing by blogging I can remember what I liked/ disliked about an outfit, and hopefully to encourage myself to try and wear my clothes in different ways, rather than buying new clothes I can't afford this time. If you have any tips, let me know!

 

Leopard Satchel: £9. Cable knit skirt: £5. Cameo print Scarf: £3. Silk Scarf: £3. All Primark.

Floral peasant dress: Zara, £9.99. Terracotta blouse: Topshop, £32. Black Chiffon dress: Primark, £15. 

'Titantic' White Star pin: Southampton Maritime Museum, £1

Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excites me

By now, you should all have seen the saucy video for Rihanna's S&M video. The song is infectious, but its the video I love; not only is it crazy, colourful and very very rude, but it has also taken its cue from several of the key Spring/Summer 2011 trends that were seen on the catwalk in September.

Rihanna is wearing acid yellow eye-shadow, as seen at Derek Lam's show. Whilst I don't think I would ever have the balls to pull off such a daring shade, I will be looking to update my make up with some bright eye-shadow, although my colouring is more suited to green and purple tones. However if you are a bit braver than me, I've found a similar shade in the 'GOSH' range in Superdrug, for the bargain price of £4.24 which comes with three other colours... my favourite is the green, although blondes could carry off the aqua if they took care not to look too eighties! You can buy this palette here.

Rihanna also borrows one of her best friend Katy Perry's signature looks, by slithering into a latex leotard. This upcoming season is all about crazy clashing brights, and I particularly love her orange, yellow and green platforms, especially as tangeringe is a colour that is going to be everywhere by May.

My other favourite scene from the music video is where she can be seen in the ah-may-zinggg zebra print room, which I am coveting! With the huge red perm, crazy furs draped over her and Perez Hilton being whipped in the background, it has to be one of the most entertaining videos released in a long time. Also, if anyone spots a bandeau similar to Rihanna's 'censored' one, then please let me know as I have a friend who would kill to have it!

When I first watched the video I thought it was so original, but since seeing it compared to the photographer David LaChapelle's work I can see that he has definitely been ripped off, which is shocking as he has come forward to say that he has had nothing to do with it. Why don't you have a look at the comparisons?

WFC takes New York

Back in December I was lucky enough to visit New York with my course (WFC - Writing Fashion and Culture) and I can honestly say it was one of the best trips of my life. I went with my flatmate and best friend Anna, and several other girls, who I have got closer with in the months since we have been back.

 We were only there for four days, but a complete lack of sleep meant I was able to take in nearly all the sights and activities that I wanted to. We arrived in Newark, New Jersey and took a short coach to the city and to our accommodation, a hostel/prison in the Chelsea district. Whilst the accommodation was revolting (think sparse metal beds with thin mattresses, a single pillow shared toilets with smelly strangers and lockers for a wardrobe) I tried not to dwell as I was so excited to be there. After unpacking we went out in small groups with a lecturer, and we ended up in Times Square with absolutely no clue where to start.

 We ended up in an incredibly cool and packed diner called Shake Shack where we ordered hot dogs, milkshakes and burgers. We then wandered the streets, and bumped into a few very strange New York natives; I was offered drugs by a homeless man within an hour of being there! 

Times Square, first night

The first full day of our trip saw us rise early (Thanks jet-lag) and we went to the 9/11 site as a group. The site itself was crawling with construction workers and looked like a vast wasteland, although there was a very moving plaque dedicated to the servicemen who had lost their lives in the tragedy. 

After paying our respects, we moved onto the designer outlet emporium 'Century 21' where I was hoping to snap up a few bargains! However the shop was huge and crammed, like a  designer TK Maxx, and didn't really contain any of the goodies I was wishing for; I wouldn't recommend it.

The rest of my course were going on a Sex and The City tour trip, so Anna and I decided to feed our Gossip Girl addiction and hop on the tour for that instead. We walked to he Palace Hotel, the home place of the Van Der Woodsen's in season one, and the hotel that Chuck Bass (my one and only!) owns.  

Hat: H&M kids, Scarf: H&M, Coat: H&M, Satchel: River Island, Boat shoes: Dorothy Perkins

There was plenty of time for Anna and I to practise our best Blair and Serena poses outside the huge decorative Christmas tree, and it was so surreal to be standing in front of the hotel that I have watched a hundred times on TV, especially when it looked so festive and similar to the episode where Dan and Little J smuggle in a tree with Lily's help to surprise Serena. The doorman was kind enough to allow us inside, and we managed to get lots of pictures of the beautiful interior, and we even used the toilet where I stole a napkin with the Palace's crest on it! The Doorman also told us to come back and have a drink in the GILT restaurant which is the where Blair and Serena meet for drinks shortly after Serena returns in season one, and where Dan finds Serena's phone after she drunkenly drops it after rejecting Chuck (how could she?!) We did consider returning, but as the drinking age is 21, we were too scared of the humiliation of being turned away!

After leaving the Palace and clambering on the tour bus, we were taken all around the city and saw Chuck's burlesque club, 'Victrola' which is actually a rather dingy building called 'The Box'. We also saw the Archibald's house, which has the same chandelier in the window that can be seen in the programme, Penn Bagdley's real life apartment and Blair's apartment building, among other places.

West Broadway

We also made a pit-stop at Dylan's candy store, which aside from being the largest candy store in the world, was also featured in GG when Dan told Vanessa about Rufus and Lily's love-child.  The interior of the store was decorated with huge fake lollipops, and every available surface was littered with sweets, and I parted with yet more dollars to buy a hugeeee and delicious red velvet cupcake, chocolate bar and mini photo frame. 
The tour was expensive, at $40, but for a dedicated fan like me it was really interesting and fun, and took me to places in new York I may not have otherwise have discovered. 

Necklace: Forever 21, Beige Frilly waistcoat: H&M, Pink Dress: Topshop

The food in New York was amazing, although bring your appetite, as they are biiiiiig portions. On our third night Anna and I met up with Harriet, who writes the great blog http://sugarlipsjournal.blogspot.com/ and Emily from our course. We had heard that a nearby restaurant, Lasagne, would serve you without ID, so we popped in for a bite and a cocktail or two! We started off with a round of Cosmopolitan's from our cute, charming and very gay waiter, and then ordered our delicious meals - I had spinach and artichoke fettuccine... heaven! Followed by more cocktails, by this point we were all really quite pissed. As Mariah Carey warbled on the stereo, we looked around and realised that we were literally surrounded by male couples and all our lovely waiters looked to preened and pampered to be straight! Our gaydar's seriously needed some work, as we were CLEARLY in a gay hang out spot! It is now the infamous 'Gay Lasagne Night' something Emily found vital to drunk text our lecturer to tell him, which led to some embarrassment the next day!

'Gay Lasagne Night'

Poisonous Passion Fruit Margherita

Anna, Harriet, Emily and I in Times Square

Hat: Primark, Cardigan:Forever 21, Khaki Cardigan: H&M,  Scarf: Chanel, Dress:H&M, Satchel: River Island, Leggings:H&M, Boots: Primark

Like all tourists,we shopped til we dropped, and took in all the views that make the Big Apple so famous. We got the free Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, walked through Central Park, saw the Plaze Hotel, and went to the Rockfeller centre to watch the ice skating and admire the huge Christmas tree and decorations.  we went to visit the Empire State Building, however Anna and I were too lazy to wait the two hours to see the top views! However the lobby did have a beautiful display of mini Empire State buildings, such as this beauty made of LED lights, and another made entirely of sweets.

One of the displays in the Empire State Building's lobby

The Christmas decorations at Macys

Me, with the 'Statue of Liberty' in Times Square

My time in New York was so amazing, and I can't wait to go back, and hopefully drag my boyfriend this time if he feels like treating me...;) I loved how the city literally never slept, even though its a cliché; for example the morning after 'Gay Lasagne Night' and the numerous cocktails, I woke up at 7am on a Sunday with the beginnings of a horrific hangover, and in desperate need of water and caffeine. I walked out our hostel alone and in my pj's and coat, with only a few days knowledge of my surroundings and feeling like absolute shit, yet managed to find a cute little grocery store that sold freshly made coffee, and had a an extensive breakfast menu including the BEST burrito I have ever tasted!

Being the loser that I am, I made a New York stalker wall when I came home, to remind me of all the amazing places I went, and things I've done. It includes the NYC poster of my name that I was drawn in Times Square, the cheesy photo booth pictures of me and Anna from the huge Forever 21 store, a map of the city, a Dylan's Candy bar wrapper, the receipt from Bubba Gump, The Gossip Girl tour booklet, the Lasagne restaurant menu, my stolen napkin from the Palace, and millions of postcards!

If any of you EVER have the chance to go to New York then do it, and please please please bring me!

Future Beauty: 30 years of Japanese Fashion

Entrance ticket and exhibition leaflet

I visited the Barbican museum on the 31st of January, as I need to write an exhibition review for one of my course modules. Whilst the rest of my course were travelling together on a coach, I had to go solo to the museum a few days before as I had friend's visiting on that day. 

I will admit I was dreading the trip a little, as I have never really explored Japanese fashion (shameful, I know) and have found most museums boring on school trips over the years, however I was pleasantly surprised.

The museum itself was a huge and rather ugly building, however the exhibition, which was set over two floors, was very calm and serene, a direct contrast to the Moorgate area of London outside.

There was a clear trail which led you around the pieces on the lower floor was all clean lines, with white gauze material serving as a backdrop to each of the displayed pieces. The mannequins wore designs by esteemed designers such as Issey Miyake and Rei Kanakuboo, and it was really interesting to see how they manipulated fabrics to create such unusual clothes. 

whilst I enjoyed the lower floor, I found the upstairs more interesting, as they decorated many of the room's according to the designer; my favourite was Jun Takahashi's display featured four mannequins in four different beautiful outfits, and each outfit was matched to the wallpaper behind it.

 I also particularly enjoyed the room named 'Cool Japan' which focused on the Harujaku area of Japan that was infested by cool young designers who set up small kitsch shops when the economic bubble burst in the 1980's. Behind each of the displayed clothes was a collection of cute and fun Japanese sweets and magazines, and the mirrored walls were painted with owls, trees and bumblebees.

 I left just over an hour to visit the museum, and unfortunately it wasn't long enough, as they had rooms showing films, documentary's, and runway shows that I could only watch for a few minutes each. The exhibition finished this week, but I'm definitely now more open to aspects of the fashion world I previously had little or no interest in!

I did manage to take some contraband snaps, but they are EXTREMELY poor quality, so I apologise!

A Re - Vamp

Despite my last post's promise that I would be a faithful blogger, I have spent far too much time watching American TV and on facebook and have once again let my blog fall by the wayside. 
However, my (rather late) new year's resolution is to keep up my writing, as I think it will help me in my university work if I have a creative outlet to write, and will encourage me to document what are the most important and interesting years of my life so far. 
With a new attitude comes a new blog, so I picked a beautiful template of a chandelier picture to hopefully add a bit of class to my ramblings, and my ensuing posts will be less crazy colours and fonts, and will hopefully let my writing take centre stage.
Fingers crossed I can keep it up!


X

I'm back!

I have been absolutely awful this summer with my blog and haven't written anything since May! So just in time for the new term I have decided to pick up my pen (well open my laptop) and make a renewed effort to post on here at least three times a week.
I haven't even had a busy summer - I went to Spain waaaay back in June for a Sun and Sangria holiday with my best friends, and also managed to survive Reading festival (for those followers who know me, mud rain and slumming it are not things you would associate with me) and actually had a brilliant time! Ok, so my £16 bargain pop up tent wasnt waterproof, and also wasn't big enough to fit it me AND my 6''5 strapping lad of a boyfriend, and yeah my blackberry broke within the first few hours, and I did come back with a respiratory virus which I am STILL recovering from, but honestly it was one of the best weekends of my life. I haven't got round to printing of my disposible cameras yet, so you'll have to settle for me telling you some of my highlights on here!
1 - Blink 182 closing the weekend. Without a doubt the best of the few bands I saw, they sung beautifully and Travis Barker played the drums upside down on a rotating platform, which was incredibly cool. Watching them with 100,000 other people singing along, the only thing that would have made it better would have been seeing it with my boyfriend, who got lost in the crowd :(
2 - Festival headbands and Festival songs. Despite getting teased for bringing a huge 'beauty bag' containing make up, nail varnish, hygiene stuff and accessories, by the second day i was giving out headbands and mositurising the boys, proving festivals don't neccesarily mean getting filthy! I also had the best time drinking from ridiculous o clock in the morning in the girl circle and changing lyrics to well known songs about people we know/what we were doing.
3 - rating and hating other girls festival attire. The standard uniform for girls was a cute dress or denim shorts with wellies and long socks, plus several layers of cardis and coats, and had me extremely jealous of girls that have the pins for daisy dukes! However the worst outfit? A brave/stupid girl in denim shorts and a slutty white cutout bodysuit...in the rain.

While I'm not sure if I could physically and mentally handle another year at Reading, I am proud of myself for sticking it out and only sneaking home once for a shower (in my defence I only live half hour away!)

Anyway, I'll put the pics up soon and be back tommorrow for another post. Also, hello to my new followers, sorry I haven't given you anything to read for so long!

xoxo

This photoshoot was by Annie Leibovitz in the March edition of Vogue. Partly inspired by the release Tim Burtons movie, which was of course based on Lewis Carrolls masterpiece. I absolutely love everything about this shoot, from the dresses to the use of colours and props (nice flamingos) to the range of couture designers that Leibovitz managed to persuade to pose together, something I have never seen before.

Even though its a couple months old, I'd thought I'd share it with you incase you haven't seen it, as its absolutely gorgeous!