werthers original

Ah, exams are all over and life may resume as normal. The library is back to it's usual empty self and everybody can finally crawl out their rooms to socialise, guilt free. I found out today that I've got a place to study at Amherst Massachusetts for a semester next year which I am very, very excited about. Just as long as I don't cock up my grades hopefully this time next year I'll be stateside with election fever in the air and lots of roadtrip opportunities with various friends also on exchange in Missouri, California and Tennessee.

To celebrate the good news I headed to Topshop and picked up some pretty underwear as well as this top. Because of course my wardrobe is lacking where brown is concerned.. (sort of embarrassing queueing up to buy this when I already resembled a human Werthers Original in brown suede trousers and a beige jumper.)

click to see more personal wears.

back in the manchester groove

Ah, back in the Manchester groove. Arrived back 'home' (is it home? I never quite know what to call it..) yesterday and it feels so good to be reunited with everybody, despite the impending exams hanging over our heads and the fact we're all unable to avoid 'oh, I haven't done any revision' type conversations which only serve to distress and egg each other on in a bad way. Today I'm wearing my new Benetton jumper which I bought from eBay the other week for a steal of 99p. Now less chat and more work. Off to the library I go..

what I wore

What I wore today: new asos top (which, factlovers, on the website was neither as obscenely short nor see-through as in real life. hey ho, I quite like a little sheerness every now and then) and my faithful topshop cords (let's face it, I never take them off.)

last night

Last night was a brilliant New Years for me. Probably because as usual the idea of staying in with Jools Holland, a homecooked meal and a bottle of wine was far more appealing, so that luckily when my friends wouldn't take no for an answer and I was persuaded to go out my expectations weren't actually that high. We ended up going to the genius if rather distastefully named Barrymore's Pool Party (fellow Brits will understand the reference to Michael Barrymore, a much loved but sadly disgraced figure in television..) which fortunately didn't involve bathing suits or any real pool party-ness but instead lots of enthusiastic dancing to Senorita by Justin Timberlake. Having everybody home from our first semesters at University there was a cosy sense of homecoming and it was lovely to catch up with everyone and hear about their 'new lives' in other cities. As I was feeling pretty laid back about going out I kept my outfit simple- a shirt which I bought in San Diego and haven't really worn since, with my green cord trousers, some chunky heels (which look remarkably similar to the type the cool girls used to wear at school) and my name hairband. As I get older the idea of really dressing up to go out isn't as appealing as it used to be-I think it's easier to have more fun when you feel fuss-free. 

How did you all spend your New Years Eve? Would love to hear some brief descriptions. Here's to 2011!

monday

Bought this little knitted flannel vest in the Northern Quarter last weekend. It reminds me of the sort of vests that would have been styled into ELLEgirl editorials back in the day with Mary Jane heels and metallic socks and a young Alexa Chung wearing an army hat. Ps, do you like my ultra lovely university bathroom? Manchester University is alll about the public toilet aesthetic. And for your Monday evening listening pleasure, my favourite LCD Soundsystem track.

yesterday

What I wore yesterday: simple black vest, suede trousers, beige cardigan, espadrilles.

This week has been pretty busy as the first semester winds down before Christmas. Not before a smattering of deadlines though; earlier in the week I submitted an essay about Holden Caulfield and Archetypal American Adolescents (think Ferris Bueller, Benjamin Braddock, Huck Finn..) and now I'm scurrying around to meet the deadline for my study abroad applicatiom, reading through all of the amazing sounding modules available across the pond. 

I went to see Somewhere yesterday and (I say this with a heavy heart because I'm a huge Coppola fan) found it quite disappointing. Visually it's brilliant and very true to the Sofia Coppola aesthetic; especially with the shots of Chataeu Marmont and it's white body peeking out from the Hollywood greenery and Elle Fanning gliding around an empty ice rink in a lilac costume. But the lacking dialogue couldn't be justified though in my eyes and the characters were nowhere near as developed or interesting as they could have been. There were lots of touching moments between the Father and Daughter characters but when it finished I felt like there was so much more that could have been explored and that the film only touched the surface of it's own potential.  Chris Pontius (yes, Jackass's Party Boy-you have to give Sofia credit for brilliantly bizarre casting) was hilarious as Johnny's best friend. To me he was the perfect incarnation of the type of cool friend of your Dad who would tell naughty stories and swear in front of you or maybe give you a brilliant album or really crappy food to eat and be the kind of adult company that seemed ultra cool and delightfully irresponsible compared to the array of sensible teachers and figures of authority otherwise surrounding you. Equally the repeated scenes with the embarrassingly bad twin strippers were very entertaining but all in all I want to shake Coppola by the shoulders because lacking in development and that's bearing in mind that convential 'Hollywood development' doesn't at all apply to her style of direction.
I'm curious to know what you all think of Somewhere, especially as the blogosphere is awash with Coppola and Lost In Translation lovers.

students dance and students shout

I spent a lovely night on Friday with my dear Joanna. It was my first time visiting Leeds and we replicated the many dinnertime noodle routines we enjoyed when we traveled around America together in the Spring and got incredibly excited about the nighttime snowfall on our way back from a long night of dancing. Joanna has been so brilliant at involving herself in various groups and societies since starting University and this morning we went along to an action meeting at the University about the proposed rising student tuition fees (she's been involved in  occupying a lecture theatre there over the last few days (as many groups of students across the country have been doing) and had stories to tell about sliding around beautiful empty university buildings in the middle of the night. She sent me back home armed with a recommended read (Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman) and renewed sense of drive to take a leaf out of her book and to scream and shout more about the Higher Education cuts. I think it's very easy to passively go about your daily routine and for some to fall into the trap of viewing the tuition fee protests as some kind of political agenda pushing, but the truth is this is something that will affect everybody and after attending the meeting it was reassuring to feel the sense of unity amongst students and the wider public too.

this tuesday sees more walk-outs and demonstrations in opposition to the proposed rise in tuiton fees. I know missing lectures and seminars to be involved can take it's toll but have a word with yout tutors and see if they're willing to reschedule. They're all on our side!

loveblogging

Holy macaroni. I've been so nervous about seeing the results of this Love Blogging video that I shot with Vice a month ago. Danielle who is the mastermind behind the project has done such a great job on all five videos. As somebody who has been blogging for a long time (and the fact that it feels completely second nature) it's quite easy to plod along without really thinking about what it all means to me and these videos reiterate that; the fact that the focus these days is on real people -blogging has helped fashion to become more diplomatic and to champion the individual and that's such a brilliant thing. Aye, spiel over.. 

Don't forget to play word bingo if you watch my video, I'm going to have to find a way to scrap the phrase 'kind of' from my daily vocab.

You can watch the video here.

november 18th

This is what I've been wearing this afternoon, indoors at least. There is still a lot of trial and error going on as I acclimatise to not only the onset of winter but a proper manchester winter which, let's not beat about the bush, is bloody cold. Maybe I'll start a daily layer count to make it a fair test. Yesterday I wore one vest, and today I upgraded to a vest and a tee under a big jumper. All very well being smug about layering until you realise half way through a tutorial that you're a sweaty wreck.  And so the trial continues..

result

Quite predictably haircut was absolutely nothing to be worried about. Nothing like making a mountain out of a molehill..

hack it off

 

As predicted, I arrived home to Bristol and my Mum was full of ideas about me getting my haircut. Well, the idea went like this "why don't I see if I can book you in for a re-style on thursday?" and all of the vague haircut orientated thoughts I'd had recently forced me to accept. only now, the night before I'm filled with a sense of dread imagining those scissors. What is it about haircuts, eh? I like to think that I'm a pretty rational person and don't get silly about something as trivial as a haircut but well, they can just be a little upsetting can't they? Of course I can equally swing the other way and often end up thinking after the deed has been done 'That wasn't bad. That wasn't bad at all. In fact I love it so much I'll spend the rest of the day looking at my reflection.' Only the fact that I haven't had anyone else touch my hair for over a year (I've been cutting it and dying it myself in some kind of tiny act of rebellion) means that the thought of handing all responsibility over to someone else makes me twitch a little. And this twitching is also because I'm having a restyle, namely a fringe put in and though I think it's time to try something new, the last time I had a fringe I spent the entire time trying to guard it from being ravaged by the wind and rain. 

Does anybody else find themselves overcome by the urge to crawl underneath the bed and never come out the night before an appointment at the hairdressers? Oh how silly we are. Doesn't help that hair naturally seems to look at it's nicest and most tame when a trip to the old snippers is just around the corner, too.

I know, I know it's very idealistic to walk into a hairdressers holding a picture of a model and asking 'make me look like her?' but this is the idea I'm going for..

halloween

A couple of crappy snappys from Halloween. I was going to go as Dead Paul the Octopus which I personally thought was a streak of sheer brilliance and wit and not to mention very relevant on my part but well, I got too preoccupied by essay writing (that's a sentence I'm not used to writing..) and sewing last minute legs was much too time consuming when I could throw fake blood all over myself and go as a dead bride.

So hey ho, here I am with Seb and Charlie (and everyone else) in Ashling's flat where we evaded indoor fire regulations with lots of supersize sparklers. Take that postgrad on-site snooper tutors!

boy

Iconic 1970s brand Boy London has collaborated with Urban Outfitters to re-release the deliciously logo heavy designs loved by early London punks and later on Boy George and The Pet Shop Boys. I, along with a friend did an awful lot of searching for Boy London pieces on eBay over the summer so although I feel inclined to have mixed feelings about a cult brand so typical of it's time relaunching now, the hypocrisy (or arseholeness) of this very thought and the excitement at wearing my new top trumps anything else.

Boy London

current wears

A couple of things that I've been wearing recently:

Old replica England top passed down from my Stepdad who is no longer a football shirt wearing kind of a guy. It was the uniform for players between 1980-83 and is a welcome addition to my wardrobe just in time for my vague current flirtation with sporty items of clothing.

Also a personalised 'Stevie' name alice band which I bought last winter after writing this post and being inspired by the girls behind Pas Comme Les Moutons. When I wear it I usually get a gooey 'aw, I used to have one of those!' reaction from other girls and I don't have the heart to admit that my name was always too unusual to find one when I was younger which clearly was the reason that years later I actually had one made. Yessir..

cord and confessions

For some time now I've been ignoring an irksome niggle at the back of my head but it's become too loud and I'm having to come out of the closet and confront who I really am. I don't like shopping. I don't know how this happened to me but I really truly don't. Maybe this should be confined to 'high street shopping' where I feel overwhelmed and self conscious and overheated. Meandering though the rails in a second hand shop to a soundtrack most likely to consist of Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks (over time I've noticed it seems to be a Generic Vintage Shop Favourite) really isn't so bad and if you throw into the equation an undercrowded shopfloor and maybe a couple of fellow customers in inspiring get-ups and strategically placed coffee/cake breaks it can be a very joyful experience but otherwise I'd sooner stay at home and do it online with a plate of cheese on toast at my elbow.

I would wonder what was going through my mind when I thought a visit to the Arndale centre on a Saturday for a spot of lunchtime shopping a good idea but clearly my 'hate shopping' policy wasn't cemented when I woke up today. Although I was unsuccessful in finding the Navy 420 New Balance trainers I'd been after, I must award recognition to Topshop as I came across this gem of a button down cord skirt in a rusty colour which acted as the silver lining to the whole experience. 

Note the slightly eery low-light pictures of said skirt which I took while babysitting earlier. Yes, I am 19 and I still babysit. I have run this by friends to check that it's still legit. The conversation usually follows this template: 'Guys, is there an age in which it will be unacceptable for me to babysit? Or did it pass when I turned 15 and no one was polite enough to say?' The general consensus is usually 'dude, hold onto that biscuit tin and tv remote rourine for as long as possible, I'm jealous.' and I must admit that I love babysitting and in a Peter Pan way hope I never grow up just so I may continue. Luckily some friends of my Dad live in Manchester so I may watch Robin Hood (the Disney version with it's soundtrack to end all Disney soundtracks) with their 4 year old and leaf through the books in their cosy house. And escape grubby student kitchens for a few precious hours. Bliss.

And now to Edwyn Collins who has filled my brain with this tune all day:

24th september

a blow by blow of todays outfit:

suede coat, second hand/tartan scarf, second hand/topshop unique SS11 totebag (free at the show on Saturday)/obama caricature tee, eBay/green cord jamies, topshop/casio calculator watch, amazon/

Today started twice for me. The first time at 7.30am when the fire alarms shrieked through our halls, summoning everybody from their 3 or so hours of sleep. We all stood outside of our flats with bleary eyes and it made for a very 28 Days Later apocalyptic sight as we assessed each others dressing gowns and various states of undress. Sadly I wasn't lucky enough to spot the guy who apparently with such dedication to safety had run from his room completely naked and casually stood in the bitter North West chill until we were allowed back inside for a continued sleepy slump.

Other notes of interest from the past 12 hours; I bought this diary at the Student Union after Sophie pulled it from her satchel during our meeting with the university newspaper. It makes me feel like I work in Parliament with it's regal red colour and crest. Also when I arrived back home after a couple of hours at the library getting to grips with the system and doing some research on The Graduate for a project I was met by 4 pieces of mail from friends and family. The nice little stack included a New York postcard from Patrice and a care package from my lovely Mum containing tea bags, post-it notes, some forwarded mail and a stash of sweets.

and onto chapter two

These are (in order) my 'leaving for university in the morning' emotions.

There are lots of things that I'm going to be really sorry to leave behind but after my spell of melancholy yesterday, some pep talks from friends and an I Ching reading from my Granny over lunch (!) I've rediscovered that feeling of excitement and anticipation about what lies ahead.

And you know what lies ahead don't you? At least a week of erratic and meagre blogging. I apologise in advance, for real, I wish I could get into the swing of things with some regular blogging again but I unless I want to encourage names like 'laptop friend' from my prospective flatmates I ought to operate a strict door wedged open, laptop lid closed policy. I know the next fortnight is a period of transition for lots of other people off to University so best of luck if you too are flying the nest!

Peace out Bristol, I'm going to miss you.

moving melancholy

 

I'm continuously yo-yoing between excitement for the start of university and my move to Manchester and sadness to have to leave behind my beloved hometown and the all of glorious people that it houses. Today I'm leaning toward the latter because having to say goodbye to lots of people is strange and not my bag and I hadn't predicted quite how tricky packing the contents of my lovely little bedroom into boxes would be. As all my go-to clothes and most used possessions find themselves in the moving pile, my room starts to resemble an empty shell and it's all feeling a bit final!

I bought this brown leather skirt from Topshop a few days ago before regretfully handing over my store card this morning at the end of my last shift. Goodbye my sweet 25%, it was good while it lasted.

Aye, I'm just feeling melancholy. Can't believe that just a few weeks ago I was champing at the bit to leave and now I'd rather just crawl under a duvet and have my Mum stroke my head..

cos because

I spent the day in London on Thursday with Ellis who had a nice wadge of birthday cash burning a hole in her pocket. Sadly I had a very meagre amount in comparrison but quite enjoyed shopping vicariously through her. Even if it meant having to leave this gorgeous dress behind at Cos. (£80 I believe, incase you're wondering). It felt quite SS10 Proenza Schouler with it's stretchy thick jersey fabric (almost Scuba-esque). As always I spent a great deal of my time wandering around Cos, stroking the woodwork and wishing I could live instore for the interiors. The day that they decide to sell online I will be a very happy bunny.

summer retrospective

with university just around the corner here are some pictures from this summer, it's been a good'un.
my friends and I are all parting ways this month for manchester (me), london (emily, josh, emily), brighton (jo), leeds (joanna), st andrews (lily) and bournemouth (george).
aw shucks guys, let's do this again sometime.