recent buys.

I am wishing all the best to Char and her challenge! I think maybe I should do the same as my bank balance seems to be slowing decreasing as I type this. Hmm, it will certainly be worth while in long term I can imagine!
Anyway; heres today's outfit;

Teamed with;

THE comfiest slippers ever.
OK, I did not do much today apart from clean so this is why i'm in me comfies! I love lazy-ish days.
I have some recent buys to show off too;

SQUEAH! Yet again, more shoes!(Dorothy Perkins). I'm having a bit of an obsession with black heels at the moment. Hurrah! Hopefully I will be wearing these when we go see Sex and the City movie tomorrow. Oh I CANNOT wait to see it, mainly for Mr Big/John James Preston. Lol alright, that isnt a MAIN reason, but its a little guilty pleasure!

Just because they were cute. Cant wait to team these with a fab grey dress I've got my eye on from eBay. (These were from good ol' H&M).
And finally, I've ordered this from American Apparel;

Cant wait for it to arrive, I've been needing something like this to throw over outfits when it gets a bit windy/chilly - which is about 98% of the time here in Edinburgh!

OH and one more thing, another picture of a model in her own clothes, loooove it;

So that is it for just now. I must stop spending!! Maybe...

Sea x.x.

The Challenge

Things are about to get ugly. I have devised a "challenge" for myself, which basically entails no shopping until *gulp* July! It's really more of a depressing reality of skintness and debt, but calling it a "challenge" will perhaps prevent maddening Hamlet-like craziness and a descent into madness and horrible documentary-on-channel-4 style poverty...too far? I like to shop! The aquisition of new things makes my life complete, I am a consumerist! So yes, I have no money, mainly due to my inability to just not shop. Challenge is like a competition, against myself, and in the words of Monica "That's the best kind!", so yeah "In your face last year's me!". Actually, if I wasn't me, I'd put money on my failure, for sure.

Also, another smaller challenge is not wearing cardigans for a week. Tough since my wardrobe is 90% cardigans...

Wish me luck! Tomorrow is the first official day of The Challenge.

Char x x x

Eye of the tiger, obviously. Tigers don't shop, good Challenge mascot!

modelling their own clothes.

I apologise, Char has been updating the blog the past week and I feel bad I have hardly put anything up! I do not have any outfit pictures to post as, *sniff*, I've been fulfilling my barista duties and been at work alot the past few days/weeks. I have a uniform which I cannot really make it my own like Char's!
Although, here is one outfit from a few days ago, something like last week I think?

Shoes, tights and shorts; primark. Belt; moschino. Tee; topshop. Cardigan; joy. Bag; also Primark (I had a visit to it last week and stocked up on lots of stuff!).

Although, recently I've been looknig at models in their own clothes. I love seeing these pictures (is that sad?!). So I thought I'd post some up for any readers to enjoy too!
I really love everything about this, im really drawn to the scarf, looks nice and cosy!

Squeee! Im loving her (if im not mistaken) Vivienne Westwood boots. They looks great on her, oooh theyre just fab, Id love a pair myself.

*Squeals* This is just perfection! Most likely, something Id wear, nice n casual. I love it!!

OK, these are, my dreeeeeeeeeeam boots! I know I pretty much said the same about the Viv Westwood ones, but these are easier to get a hold of (I think). They look like the ones you would get from 'Underground England'. Id love a pair o these in black.

Eeee, I love the socks, the whole outfit, I must have!!

Sea x.x.

I'm with the band...

Tonight I'm off to watch my friend's band play at a pub. Rock and roll. I decided to wear my H&M skirt which I bought a while ago but haven't worn since I was saving it for "nice weather", which has never emerged!

Artistic. I will not bow to pressure to take photos in focus.
Slightly clearer, that was a bit like putting glasses on wasn't it? Top - Topshop, Cardigan H&M, tights - Tesco, socks - Jonathon Aston at tightsplease, patent peep toes and skirt - H&M.
A little close-up of the skirt, pretty ain't it?

Char x x x

Winning streak

Hey!

I had to share my most recent ebay winnings, can't wait till they get here! I haven't ebayed for a while, since I've had no money and very little time for the compulsive hours of browsing and multiple purchases I usually rack up. Today I ended up having a look and found two really great items! I like to think of these moments as fashion fate. I was simply meant to have this:

It does look rather short, but I guess I'll be layering it over things anyway so no probs! It was one of those, "I must have this." items which you know if you let it go, you'll regret it possibly forever. I also got a sweet black pinafore dress. I've been looking for a good pinafore for ages, to wear over my many vintage shirts...I did get one from H&M and I love it but due to exam-binge, chocolate-obsession, too many meals out and alcohol it's rather tight at the moment. and since it buttons down the front I'm rather afraid of underwear exposure/button poppage.

Char x x x

Trashion

I've been thinking recently about the difference between trashy fashion and just plain trashy. Tis a fine line indeed, easily crossed. One example is name necklaces (it also struck me as something that wouldn’t require using Lilly Allan as an exemplar…). I have devised a scientific 10-point scale which you can use to place your own personalised jewellery, and thus work out it’s chav value. I'm sorry if the term "chav" goes over anyone's head, I think it's a uniquely British thing (like deep fried mars bars - Scottish cuisine!), wikipedia is here to help!

Scoring a highly respectable 2 on the scale is Miss Carrie Brashaw, of course (you were waiting for it weren't you?), with her "Carrie" necklace. It isn't chavvy because a) it is worn with a sense of fun and irony and b) it is constantly rubbing up against couture. I swear I cry every time I watch the final episodes of SATC and she loses the necklace in the vintage handbag!

Carrie is known for having a sense of fun with fashion, giant flowers anyone? And in real life too, SJP has a quirky and brave sense of style. Though I am not a fan of her Bitten line...
Sarah Jessica Parker at the world premiere of the Sex and the City movie, in London. I can't actually wait for the release of this film! Sea and I are dressing upand going for cocktails to bathe in the fabulousness!

Scoring a mid-range 5 on the chav scale is our girl Betty. She lacks the irony of Carrie, but I have read many an article praisign her "interesting" style and I have to agree, Betty rocks!

Of course in real-life, America Ferrera is beautiful and well-dressed...
After that it all gets a bit hazy...if you suspect you may have gone beyond a 5, remove the item immediatly and never speak of it again. Don't forget you must add an extra 2 “chav points” and move up the scale if your necklace was purchased from Argos. Or if it has diamantes. Or if it is fact not a name necklace but a statement of your position within a family, ie “sis” or “mum”.
Here's Kate Moss as a chav, just because. I think this was for an episode of Little Britain...

Business time

Hey!
I made it to the bank today (go me!) and then to H&M to find myself a new work wardrobe. In Edinburgh we have two main H&Ms, one (which I usually prefer) which carries all the Trend and Divided stuff and the other which I usually find fairly boring! It has the suits and suchlike, I suppose it's mainly designed for people slightly older than us, but it is allegedly the flagship, weirdly. I had put a few things aside yesterday and today added a simple sort of shift dress. I have photos but they're a bit rubbish since black never shows up well and I had to use a flash, sorry!

Suit jackets; grey (spicy!) and black - £10 in the sale, score! That's actually the 3rd £10 black jacket I've bought, may be a good idea to stop now...
Skirt - £5 in sale, also mistakenly ticketed as an 18 (probably the reason why it's in the sale...). dress, quite boring but a nice fit! Apologies if this is boring! Also apologies for the crappy photography and for the fact that I couldn't be assed to model.
Outfit du jour:

Shirt - ebay (pussy bow! and it has a Mary Poppins-esque pattern!), cardigan - H&M, skirt - boohoo, tights - Primark, shoes - also H&M (also for work, I was breaking them in. They're pretty comfy!).

The work wardrobe of my dreams is a teeny tiny bit closer...when I was a kid I always dreamed of wearing a suit to work, that was basically the specifications of my future job; must wear suit. Teenage jobs with fugly uniforms seem to have cemented this further into my psyche, I'd die happy if I never again wore a unisex, poly-blend, badly sized, polo shirt or some such. Or an apron, unless it was a vintage apron, worn by choice. Whilst baking.

Nina Ricci Spring '08

Char x x x

Don't bank on it

Hey!

Well, I am just so dumb it's unbelievable. How many times in the past few days have I heard people say "Well, it's a bank holiday". Bank holiday, as in a holiday for banks, and yet today I still get dressed and merrily skip (ok, slowly walk, there was no skipping) into town thinking "Ahh! I shall take money out of my other bank account in order to purchase things from shops". Um, no, the banks are closed, remember? Like they are on a Sunday (yesterday) when I did the exact same thing. Half way to the bank then realise it'll be shut. Still I found some nice things in H&M and put them on hold for tomorrow, should make dressing for work a little bit more interesting I hope!

Today I wore:

Silver flats - Topshop (about...a million years ago), tights - Primark, skirt - Primark, top - Topshop, cardigan - H&M, cuff - ebay. Ridiculous pose - model's own. Please excuse the childish paint job on the face but I was looking disturbingly vacant. It reminds me of a time when this girl we didn't like at school showed me this picture on her computer (why I was near the computer of a girl I didn't like remains a mystery) she had added, with the help of paint, devil horns, bogies, crowns etc to everyone in our school photo. This was high school by the way. Very "witty".

Ah well, my purchases await behind the till at H&M. I have also noticed the arrival of about a million tourists in good old Edinburgh, they were queuing (ie standing in my way with giant backpacks) for those crazy tourbuses. They actually reduce the amount of style in the city, I swear. Why is it that in your home town you'd never dain to wear a "fanny pack" a giant rucksack on your front (like some sort of ridiculous marsupial) or orthopeadic sandals, with socks? Yet when on holiday these things are uniform, why not just wear normal clothes?!

Feel free to ignore my ramblings...

Char x x x

Konichiwa kitty!

Hello!

I've finally managed to find some of the Hello Kitty in Dior from June's Vogue Nippon, despite the fact that there are no Vogue Nippons to be found in Edinburgh (believe me, I've looked...). So here is Kitty-chan in every outfit of the collection. More pictures can be found here.

I got the image from Fashion Week Daily, so thanks for that!

I've long been a fan of Japanese street fashion and the other day I found an awesome site, Japanesestreets, where you can view street fashion from Tokyo by area, or I could yesterday and now I can't work the website out...

Char x x x

The lightning round

Hey!

Today's outfit, partly inspired by Sea's previous post on amazing sock/tights combos from Vogue Italia.

T-shirt - H&M, skirt - boohoo, black tights - who knows? knee-highs - vintage Pretty Polly via ebay, flats - Dorothy Perkins. Would've been better with grey tights but alas they are all in the wash!
Close up of the lightning-bolt awesomeness
Hair clips - H&M
Ring - etsy

Char x x x

Wedding

Hello!
Sea and I attended the wedding of our manager last night. She looked amazing (of course!) but here's what I wore:

Dress - Topshop Tall, Tights - tightsplease, satin shoes - Roland Cartier at House of Fraser. These shoes were actually my prom shoes, like three years ago, but they are pretty much the most expensive shoes I own so I should wear them more than twice!

I wore this hairband too, it was a gift from my workmates when I left. The bracelet matches!

Char x x x

Weekend!

Hey!

It feels like ages since I've been able to dress how I like, although I don't object to the dress code at work it doesn't really leave room for much creativity...it also feels like forever since I had a decent outfit to post!

Skirt - Primark, shirt - asos, vest - Topshop, tights - Pamela Mann at tightsplease, shoes - Debenhams, bangles - ebay. I really need to find these tights in a size that isn't "one-size" because they are waaaay too short!

Close up view of laceness...

I went out for drinks last night with some school friends I haven't seen for a while. I basically wore the outfit I'm wearing in the header, repetition!

Dress - Primark, cuffs - etsy, cardigan - H&M
These are probably the fiercest heels I own. i know they're not even that high but for some reason they're still really uncomfortable! They were from asos like a million years ago when it was still an uber cheap website unknown to the masses. The tights are Primark, of course!

This skirt came this morning from boohoo (I know I should've sworn never to buy anything from there again after fag-gate, but they gave me 10% off and I wanted this skirt so much!) I also got a boring white shirt for work, sigh.

Char x x x

Getting down to business

Hello!

I mentioned before my new job and the strict dress code there and after reading on the clothes horse I was comforted to know that I'm not the only one who struggles with dressing appropriatly for work. The rules are much more explicit for us than the often-used, loose term "business casual". Basically at all times I must wear a suit jacket, which has to be a "muted" colour like black or grey, skirts are allowed but no short trousers. Shoes are black or muted too. How to wear tailoring without being really dull and how to do it on a budget? There are cheaper suits available but it's tough for me, being tall, as they don't tend to fit well. There is nothing worse than an ill-fitting suit. I actually have been meaning to take pictures of my pathetic attempts at work wear thus far but I always seem to be rushing out the door!

Looking at pretty pictures on style.com made me think that, perhaps, with enough imagination suits don't have to be boring.

Gucci, Phi, Nina Ricci

If I'm not too tired after work tomorrow I'll take a trip to H&M, where I've found the best selection of suits/work wear on the high street so far. I am so looking forward to a day off to dress how I please!

Char x x x

knee high.

Going through some recent threads at http://www.adorevintage.com/ forums, I came across a fantastic photo shoot. It was by Emma Summerton from Vogue Italia. The user 'pimmyheart' posted the pictures at adorevintage.com forum, but it came originally from The Fashion Spot by TFS member 'Faith Akiyama'.

Here are just a few from the shoot;

What I loved about this shoot (apart from the gorgeous Lily Donaldson!) was the use of tights & knee high socks and various other hoisery. Both Char and myself are big fans of buying tights, cute socks etc!

This shoot inspired me to have a little go at combining different socks/tights together. I loved it! Only a couple will be posted as (just my luck) a bunch of my tights and socks are in the washing! *booooo*

Not many, sorry!
Sea x.x.