Dressed and Pressed - fashion, shopping, style, shoes and stuff

Victim of their own success

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:02:00 +0000

So Uniqlo launched it's +J collection of affordable luxury knitwear today. All the items are avalable online, with a selection appearing in the flagship shop in Oxford Circus.

I've been trying all morning to get past the front page to no avail, so the items must be popular. Although it has to be said that all I've seen are a selection of coats, jumpers and cardies in black and grey, s not sure what the deal is.

Anyway, the most interesting thing about the whole shebang is that Uniqlo has put a cap on how many items an individual can buy from the collection. Basically, you can only buy one colour and one size of each item "to enable as many people as possible to buy the exclusive +J collection and to prevent resale of these items". To which I cried a lusty "yeah!" but on second thoughts still leaves 49 separate items for crazy Ebay pirates to buy and sell on, so ho hum. At least they tried.

I know I've been away too long...

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:44:00 +0000

I've been really busy. Cutting my hair(!) and putting on make up.

I've gone from this:

L'il miss bushy hair

To this:Ms Moody Chops, to you!

But mostly I've been mega busy with the day job. And with life.

The best thing about the new hair is that it fits in perfectly with my new style. I'm all about the dark right now - studs, sturdy boots and black, black, black.
I'll be writing all about it. When I get a free minute that isn't taken up with work and sweet oblivion.

Welcome to the dark side

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:00:00 +0000

I've been having a bit of style rethink of late. There are many reasons for this but mainly it's because I've got stuck in a sort of rut where the colours are clashing, the prints are loud, the forals are everywhere and the cuts are ladylike and girlie. Which is fine, if that's how you feel.

But I'm feeling a bit more like kicking arse and taking no prisoners. I'm feeling chunky boots assymetrical hair, lots of black and a perma-scowl. I basically want to dress like an extra from Mad Max channeling tank girl by way of Freakangels. But everytime I buy something it ends up being the same boring girlie prom dress (or variation of).

Luckily, as the seasons turn a darker, edgier look is coming into play. A more black, biker meets grunge look with exposed zips, buckles, rips, studs, pvc/leather and serious attitude. The dark side, that's where I'm headed.

I was recently invited to view the Warehouse Christmas 09 collection and it's as if they've read my mind because they've have put together an amazing collection with studs, sequins and lashings of black. There are severe military jackets with the obligatory strong, exaggerated shoulders, studded dresses and matching leggings and panelling effects that give you the impression of urban armour, all of which I am very excited by.

However, I'm most excited by the jewelry, which is bold, chunky and dangerous looking. I can't wait to get my hands on it. My camera was - and still is - out of commission so I don't have any pics of the accessories table, but here are a few press pics from the day.

The philosophy of fashion

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:31:00 +0000

I suppose because I write a blog about dressing up, it could easily be assumed that all that fills my head is clothes and shoes and other matters of style. And while I'd freely admit to being completely fascinated with what people wear and how they wear it, I have other fascinations too.

One of my other fascinations is philosophy. The endless rumination about how we live our lives and how we can learn to live better lives by examining how we live now and we have lived in the past is something that adds meaning and insight to everyday humdrum existence. Much like the human preoccupation with adorning ourselves.

One of my favourite philosophers is Alain de Botton because he makes philosophy so much more accessible and less fusty and academic than most. So when I found this video on Style.com of him holding forth on the importance fashion to society, I thought I'd share it.

There's a lot you can do with Cotton... Apparently

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:46:00 +0000

The thing about celebrity and the money and fame it brings, is that people will keep knocking on your door offering you new ways to use your advantage to sell things. If you're smart, you choose wisely. You only get involved with projects that you know for sure that you can do (or pay some poor sap to do for you) and you leave the rest well alone.

But sometimes, you start to think you can do anything and that's when things go awry. Case in point: Fearne Cotton has just designed her first ever clothing collection. Now I may be wrong, but I think it looks shit. Not only does it look cheap, tatty and dated but it's also wildly and optimistically overpriced.

Take a look for yourselves:
Frankly, I've seen better stuff at BHS. The clothes are ill-fitting and boring. They make her look like a Mouseketeers reject. They don't even fit in with her edgy, rock chick image, so why do this?

There's moral to this story: stick to what you do well. Fearne Cotton, great at presenting on telly, pants at designing clothing. End of.

He wore an itty bitty, teeny weeny

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:20:00 +0000

... pair of shorts. And it seems that by doing this, sulky but fit, metrosexual footballer du jour, Ronaldo has sparked a trend. If the breathless spin of the Debenham's press office is to be believed, "Cristiano Ronaldo has created a huge surge in sales of men’s super-tight, figure- hugging sports shorts".

Far be it for me to miss out on using a picture of the dashing Ronaldo - sans shirt and avec teeny weeny shorts - on this blog for the delectation of my female readership.

It does worry me slightly that there must be a lot of contortion involved to fit in all his dangly bits though. I mean, wherever does he put them? Mystery.

Says Paul Baldwin, Director of Buying for Menswear at Debenhams: “His sense of style has moved men’s shorts into an entirely new ball game." This is a direct quote, I did not make it up. Make of it what you will. I just spent an hour LOL-ing like a LOLcat on laughing gas. Truly.

Anyway, the up shot of it all is that our eyes will be assualted this summer with the sight of many men squeezed into too tight shorts in various pastel shades. It won't be pretty but it'll be pretty hilarious. As the ever erudite Mr Baldwin puts it: “Alas, they may not be the best choice for more generously proportioned people such as Peter Kay or John Prescott.”

Word, Mr Balwin, WORD.

Happy Friday!

Get a load of V V

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:06:00 +0000

There has been a lot of buzz around indie popstrel VV Brown over the past few months, enough for her to enter my peripheral consciousness and prompt a Youtube trawl to find out what she's all about. Pleasantly, I kinda like her happy, poppy, "doo wop indie" sound.

It's the kind of music that reminds me of my childhood spent listening to Elvis Presley and trying to tease my, frankly unmanageable, think afro hair into a slick quiff, whilst perfecting my lip curl and jumping around like a possesed wind up toy. Ah... Good times...

It helps that Ms Brown is utterly gorgeous and quirkily stylish. I do like a good dose of eye candy in my music videos. "The suits" have been quick to jump on the cool kid status bandwagon and purveyors of fine mobile phones, 2 for one cinema offers and music sponsorship, Orange have had V V design their orange poncho for Glastonbury this year, which means that I can use this totally gratuous shot of VV with said Poncho on my blog.
Isn't it fetching? Don't you want one for your very own? Well, there are 100 free limited edition ponchos up for grabs at Orange's Chill 'n' Charge tent at Glasto this weekend.

Now let's see a bit more of the divine Ms Brown in action, shall we?

A woman's right to (cheap) Choos

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:33:00 +0000

Far be it for me to even pretend that I'm still running this blog regularly but sometimes the news is so stupendous, you have to come out your hole, blink shortsighted at the sun and say: H&M have somehow managed to convince Jimmy Choo - THE Jimmy Choo - to design a range of accessories for them. How do H&M do it?

The collection will include bags and shoes for both women and men and will be hitting 200 stores worldwide in November. Dear lord! I can just see the long queues and the mad scrum that'll ensue. There will be blood, I tells ya.

Guilty Pleasures: Crank 2

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:23:00 +0000

I love Jason Statham movies. They are always a pure slice of adrenaline-fuelled, testosterone-ridden campness. So when I saw this trailer for Crank 2, I had to post it.

No, it's not fashion, but when the premise to a movie is that someone has stolen the hero's heart and replaced it with a an artificial one that he has to charge up with electricity every hour and it contains such gems of dialogue as: "You're gonna tell me exactly who's got my heart!" You've got to stop the presses y'all.

Check it out:

Mr Statham, I salute you.

Leaving the tag on*

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:35:00 +0000

I'm very bad with blog Tag posts. I used to not get tagged at all but then when I did start to get tagged, I'd either completely miss it or just not get round to doing it. This time I have space and time and an uncommon sense of discipline, so I'm going to do this tag that the lovely, and frequently hilarious, Tor of Fabfrocks has given me.

The guidelines:

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.
2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

What is your current obsession?
At the moment, it's poetry. April is national poetry month and I along with some pretty darn awesome poets have taken a challenge to write 30 poems in 30 days. So far it's going pretty well and I've just written my 8th poem but it means that all I can currently think about are airy fairy words.

Do you nap a lot?
I'm not a great napper. I like to be up and about or I feel cheated out of the day. What a bizzare question.

Who was the last person you hugged?
Ben and Emma (Yes, that's two people but they sort of come as a set so it doesn't count) yesterday when I went to meet the gorgeous Maximus Babyus, who just cooed and gurgled and smiled until I was heap of mushy babylovin' goo.

What’s for dinner?
Usually it's eggs or beans or whatever's left over from the night before.

What was the last thing you bought?
Fringed and studded peeptoe ankle boots from New Look.

What are you listening to right now?
Tears for Fears greatest hits. The sound of my teenage-hood. Head over Heels is probably one of my favourite songs of all time and I will forever have a crush on the young Roland Orzabal (though I don't fancy the older one much). Check out the vid... God, I like 'em dorky!

What is your favourite weather?
Sunshine. The hotter, the better.

What's in your bathroom cabinet?
Oh dear, I'm not sure you want to know the entire contents. I'll just say moisturiser, and body scrub and leave it at that, I think.

Say something to the person/s who tagged you.
Tor, you have the rockingest rock chic hair.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
Right in the middle of the space-time continuum vortex thingy, so that I could be everywhere at once. What? It's not cheating.

Name the things you can’t live without.
Writing. Amazing friends. Good times. My lappie and t'internet.

What is your favourite tea flavour?
There is only one tea and it's builders tea.

What would you like to get rid of?
The 5 day working week. Why can't we just work weekends instead, eh?

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Only an hour? I'd like to drop in my friend Peter in Chicago.

What did you want to become as a child?
Oh lord! Everything. Explorer, writer, artist, archeologist, footballer, ballerina, comedian, singer... the list goes on and on

What do you miss?
Mostly, absent friends and family.

What are you reading right now?
I've got three books on the go at the moment: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, PopCo by Scarlett Thomas and Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. I always read more than one book at a time, so I don't get bored during the slow bits and I have a bit of variety.

What's your favourite brand of jeans?
Any that will fit and that I don't have to pay more than £50 for. Because they are jeans, the garb of the masses and should not cost hundreds of pounds no matter what the designers say they will do for your bum!

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)?
I would love to own something from Maison Martin Margiela. Or maybe these Berardi boots?

Will you have plastic surgery/botox etc.?
I would rather have full mobility in my face, so no botox thankyoueverso. True beauty is character and expression, the very things that botox erases. Also, am I the only one who thinks that injecting yourself with botulism to look younger is rather sick? As for plastic surgery... I don't know, I kinda like looking like me.

I tag:

Mikkle @ Blogue , Juliet @Fashion Lolita, Rowena @ Rosie Pop , Birdy Moola @ Oola Moola, Wee Birdy

*Don't laugh at the pathetic excuse for a witty pun in the title. Other "winners" included "a-tag of the 60ft woman", "remember the tag-tans" and "tig tag toe", so be grateful is all I'm sayin'.

Outfit of the week 07/04/09

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Isn't London wonderful when the sun is out. After a couple of days of sunshine (finally!), people actaully smile at you on the street, the chat to you on buses and you in turn gurn at screaming toddlers and can actually bear to be around a few hormonally challenged young 'uns. It's like it's a different city.

And when the sun is shining I like to look at summer dresses and make up pretty summer out fits like this one:The shirt dress is perfect for summer a nice little girlie, checked number. I like that it's red, because - in case you haven't heard - I have a thing for red anything but also red is a great summer colour. I could have gone vaguely Americana and teamed with a denim waistcoat and cowboy boots but where's the fun in that? Instead I've decided I want the full on summer treatment with accessories in an even brighter colour - yellow.

I'm calling this "lazing on a sunny afternoon" after The Kinks. Video below for reference kiddies.

Outfit details:
Dress, Warehouse
Corsage, Evans
Belt, Dorothy Perkins
Bag, Aldo
Hightops, Reebok @ Schuh

Shoe Lurve - Bronx wedge gladiator, £68.50

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Boots, they look good on most people and really go well with summer denim. One problem though, they are essentially cold weather wear. No matter what we tell ourselves, the denim shorts/summer dress and boots combo borders a little too closely on WAG territory. What to do then? Step forward, the summer boot.

Here's a prime example of what I mean. Schuh have decided to call them gladiator sandals but we know better, don't we? This is not a gladiator sandal. This is not a sandal at all. This is clearly a boot; one made to be worn in the summertime.

Note the cutout detail and the peep toe, note the way the back rises to embrace the back of the foot and ankle (muck like an ankle boot would) and it has laces. Come on!

They would look damned good with some jazzy socks (especially if your like me and think that your bare feet are not fit for public viewing) and rolled up jeans. I am also totally smitten by that covered wedge. The perfect boot for summer.

Fringed benefits

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my outfit of the week post earlier this week, the High Street is teeming with fringe at the moment. Fringing, tassles - call them what you will - those dangly strips of silliness seem to be beckoning from every shop window on everything from bags to clothes to shoes.

I love the sense of movement created by fringe. You wear a fringed item and it immediately feels like you added another dimension to yourself almost hyper-real. Like you are your own stop action movie or an animation of yourself.

I love the fringing on this waistcoat from ASOS precisely for this reason. You can't get the full effect from these images but if you watch the catwalk video on the site, what I mean becomes obvious. And here is another fab pair of leggings from Topshop, this time with added tassles. I also love how the added fringing around the neck of this vest from Urban Outfitters makes it a two in one piece of clothing with jewelry attached. Accessory problems solved.

There's also plenty of fringeing going on at foot level. My favourites so far are these Suede peeptoe boots from Oli that remind me of old cowboys and Indians movies. There's something of the squaw about them. I think they'll look great with tanned bare legs.I bought the fringed, studded limited edition ankle boots from New Look because I was simply powerless to resist. They just looked so lovely on and comfortable too, considering the height. I haven't made up my mind what to wear with them yet but I think could add some edge to short summer dresses, and interest to denim shorts and a t-shirt.

I'm going to start calling peeptoe boots, summer boots because that's essentially what they are. They're wildy impractical for winter and if they were closed toed then they'd seem a little overwrought for sunny days. Somehow, however, we've managed to have another invention thrust upon us that it is neither boot nor sandal but something in between. I'm not complaining because I quite like the idea of them.

I've deliberately not included tassled bags in here as they are too numerous to mention and Tor of Fabfrocks has already done a brilliant piece on them. Check out the plethora of tassled arm candy on her blog.

I want it now! Topshop rainbow brief case, £35

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0000

I have long held the opinion that no matter how much you may like what you do for a living, some days work is just... work. And it's a non-stop, angsty, stressy slog that starts the moment you leave the house and join the general flow of drones until you get back home again. It's doubly annoying in the winter when you have to get out of your bed in darkness and return in darkness. So depressing.

So yay! for springtime and also this lovely rainbow brief case, which should bring on an instant personal ray of sunshine that'll combat any work related dreariness with it's cheerful, colourful presence.

So bright and colourful is it, that I am convinced it was actually made in a factory in the mythical land of Oz. Could it have magic powers to immediately make you bolder, brainier and more loving of your fellow man? Who cares? It's gorge.

Make your legs smile

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:50:00 +0000

I know that leggings get a bad rep, especially patterned leggings. But I think that's because people sometimes people take them a little too seriously and let their body hang ups get in the way of a little playtime.
These variously patterned leggings I saw on the Topshop site brought a smile to my face, precisely because they're ridiculous but in a good way. They're like cheerful wallpaper for your legs, meant to be worn with levity and sense of fun.

I honestly can't think of of anything I'd like better this spring than to wear a pair of these to cheer my legs up and get them ready for baring in the summer. Can you?

Outfit of the week 31/03/09

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:04:00 +0000

Hark! What's that sound? Why, it's the sound of distant jungle rhythms that herald this week's outfit. Yep, helped along by Louis Vuitton and that atrocious grass skirt confection last seen on Madonna, the high street has gone tribal... again. But this time it's all aztec patterns and fringe-y sandals.

So, on to our outfit:The dress is suprisingly restrained, considering but I immediately put that right with a few more "literal" accessories. You've got your fringeing and your beading - shoes, necklace; you've got your wood - bangle; you've got your marvellous, bright aztec pattern - clutch; and just in case anyone misses the point, I've chucked in these funky little zebra stud earrings.

You are Cinderella and you shall go to the jungle ball, dammit! I'm calling this one "jungle boogie".

Details:

Dress, River Island
Shoes, Topshop
Clutch, New Look
Earrings and necklace, Accessorize
Wooden bangle, Dorothy Perkins

Quick housekeeping update

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:09:00 +0000

I've been using blogrolling for my links for years now but last year they started fannying around with the system and doing what they called :"updating", which turned out to be another word for: "sneakily adding advert to you links" and also meant that I couldn't update my links for months, motherf*ckers!

Anyway, the upshot of that is that I'm taking all the links down and reverting to Blogger links in future, so if you suddenly notice that there are no links, fear not. They shall reappear shortly, new and improved. The will also be updated. If you've asked me before to update your link and it hasn't happened yet, sorry, and now's your chance to remind me again.

TO ADD: Phew. All done bar the shopping links, which I'm thinking of ditching anyways (any thoughts?) If I've left you off the list, please let me know and I'll add you in. BTW got a comment from the folks at Blogrolling telling me I'm wrong and stating their case. Like I give a rats arse. You're gone. That is all. You can read their comment in the comment box... No, wait... I deleted it. Ha ha!

Matthew Williamson for H&M preview

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:54:00 +0000

I'll state for the record now: I'm not a huge fan of Matthew Williamson's designs. That whole "Club Tropicana does Eurotrash in a floaty dress and jewelled tones by the Riviera" look is not really where my own personal style mojo lives.

So I can't say that I was particularly excited to hear that he was doing a summer collab with H&M. It just doesn't strike me as being anything special, and it's sort of done already. Afterall, for years now, he's been one of the Designers and Debenhams and you can always pick up something from his Butterfly range there. So where's the wow factor here? What would make me want to buy into this particular collection?

Having seen the preview images from H&M, I've got say the answer is: I don't know. The clothes are okay but nothing we haven't seen before. It would have been interesting to see something a little more edgy, maybe even boundary pushing, especially after the Commes des Garcons collab last year. But I'll be real, edgy is not what Williamson, does.

So my other question is: What was H&M thinking? Do they really think their consumer base is that boring? And how much will they be expecting us to pay for this?

Anyway, here are some preview images. What do you think?

Designalike - YSL Vs Topshop

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:03:00 +0000

YSL Caged Heels, £905

I have seen these caged boots from YSL so many times now that they are firmly imprinted on my subconscious. I full expect to one day sleep-walk to the nearest YSL store, order a pair and then calmly go back to bed, bankrupt and unaware. I'm also fully aware that the entire high street has tried to make something approximating the caged heel's charms.

Topshop caged heels, £70

The most passable copies I've seen out there so far are these from Topshop. We've all had a look at the original caged shoe and marvelled at the feat of engineering involved. So have Topshop by the looks of it and have opted for an easier and no doubt cheaper heel alternative. Still, good effort considering.

I want it now! Liberty of London Bug Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:59:00 +0000

Bug-ger me! Now normally, I hate bugs. They are evil. Think about it: they have flappy, buzzy wings and they mostly bite and they have hive minds - all the better to club together on some balmy night and smother us all in our sleep... OH LORD, THE BUGS ARE COMING. THE BUGS!

It's the one thing I hate about summer, all those creepy crawlies mistaking your fascinator for a flower and trying to pollinate you; wasps buzzing around with an evil glint in their big shiny eyes... Yeuch!

Which is why I can't believe that I am actually genuinely liking this bug shirt. It's a great alternative to the ubiquitous floral look and even though it's got cockroaches and beatles and all sorts on it, they all look so colourful and cheerful and friendly that they can't possibly be scary.

Unless... they've been planted there by an evil bug genius who plans awaken them all from their summer shirt slumber some balmy night and make them smother us all to death in our sleep...

Okay. Must watch less scary movies.

The shirt's from Liberty of London, and if you've got a spare £175 left lying around - as we all, no doubt, do - it'll be the talking point of your summer. Unless the bugs get you first...

Nummy scrummy come to mummy

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Happy mother's day to all you hot funky mamas out there. Especially all the newbie sprogging machines. Honestly, I am drowning in photos of cute little bundles of joy from every angle at the moment. It's lovely... like spring lambing season... er... I guess.

Anyway, as it seems increasingly likely that I shall die a childless old crone (my mother is of course delighted at this turn of events), I shall have to console myself with these babies instead.

They look ridiculously precarious and should probably come with a health warning but they're also an irresistible vision of yummy pewter and faux snake loveliness.Available from April at Faith, just in time for pay day. Being a shoe mom is just sooo rewarding.

The lady vanishes

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Oh, hello! Remember me? Well let's just recap here: This used to be regular blog about stuff; mainly my love of shoes and shopping, what I was wearing, what I wouldn't wear if you smothered me sugar and brought in the fire ants, that sort of thing. I like to think I did it all with good humour, that I did it well and that I did, well, regularly.

But, as you can see from the date of my last post, that hasn't been going all that well lately. I want to apologise for that. Not necessarily because I've been away so long - you know, sometimes shit. just. happens. and when it does does, well, you can't see the woods for the shit storm. No, I'm apologising because I just left y'all hanging. No explanations. No return date. No nothing. And that's... just not very polite. So yeah, sorry.

The shit storm still rages but I have found myself a clear bit of window to look out of, and I'll be back to blogging. Not as regularly as I'd like. Not yet. But I'm hoping there'll be a post or two a week.

Just wanted to let y'all know that I am alive. Thanks to everyone who enquired about my health and my sanity. Especially you Rowena and you Kate.

Right, that's it for now, see you in a few.

Talk to The Hat

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:31:00 +0000

There were many, many impressive things about yesterday's inauguration of America's first black President: Obama's pitch perfect speech, and just how tall and imposing Michelle Obama really is, for example.

But I have to say I was very impressed by the sheer presence of The Hat that was wearing Aretha Franklin. Let's just take another look at that baby: That is some hat. That hat looks like it has it's own condo and pays alimony to it's former wife. That hat is holed up somewhere in Reno, making plans to take over the world and WILL NOT BE DENIED! Mwahahahaha!

The rumour is that The Hat is the work of the Mr Song Millinery in Detroit. Of course, I had just had to take a look at the birth place of such a superlative affair. Athough I could find no sign of anything quite like The Hat, this came close.

There are also many other fine pretenders to The Hat (I would show you but Blogger image loader seems to have had it with cooperating for the day. *sigh*).

But The Hat is special and therefore one of a kind. I guess.

Doing it white

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:50:00 +0000

I am not a huge fan of white clothing. It seems to be the preserve of those impossibly chic people who call white shirts a "staple" and holiday on yachts. Besides, and despite what the many washing powder adverts would have you believe, it's hard to keep whites white.

In other words, white clothing is a faff and I try to steer well clear of it. So I can't believe in the past week I have bought not one, but two white items of clothing. The first, is a white long-sleeved t-shirt in the Zara sales. It's the shape that drew me to it - sort of slouchy up top and fitted towards the bottom - a great shape for wearing with big slouchy trousers.

The other item is a pristine white TM Lewin shirt, thrifted for £1. I like the long tail at the back and the fact that it has holes for cuff links. I used to collect cuff links when I was younger and still into my Drag King look but I have no idea where all that stuff has ended up, so I had to make some new ones out of metallic elastic and mismatched metal buttons to wear it.
As I mentioned, I've also been getting my DIY on with with a beautiful grey cashmere sweater, that I cropped, altered the neckline and shortened the sleeves. It's now a crop sweater with matching snood. It looks particularly good with both the white shirt and t-shirt.

Click on any image to enlarge.

About last week

noreply@blogger.com (Dressed and Pressed) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:35:00 +0000

So, you've probably been wondering where the hell I've been over the past week. Well, let's see...

I've been job hunting, as my last work contract ended just before Christmas. So I've been doing the round of interviews, etc. (BTW if you know anyone who could use a an experienced Web Editor/Manager/Copywriter with added technical and design knowhow, please tell them that I'm available to anyone who's paying!).

The lease is up on the house in "The Nethers", so the bloke and I have been house-hunting and managed to find a great place nearer to actual civilisation (with it's own cinema and everything!) and are now doing that entire angsty, stressy, expensive, moving thing again. What japes!

Because money is tight, I've also been doing my best to avoid shopping - very hard, especially during sales time. I've ended up making a few sneaky buys but mostly I've confined myself to a new addiction to buying old sweaters at thrift shops for various bits of DIY-ing (more of that to come in other posts).

Speaking of addictions, after a long and loving friendship, I have finally given up smoking (or "fellating the evil cancer weed", as I liked to call it in my darker moments of reflection). I am currently fighting my addiction with nicotine replacement, delivered in a handy-dandy inhalator (why it's called an "inhatalor", as opposed to your common or garden variety "inhaler", remains a mystery ). It's white and shaped oddly like a cross between a cigarette holder and a tampon dispenser. I realise that might sound disgusting but when compared to smoking a mixture of formaldehyde, tar and tobacco, it's a fair trade-off, I think. I'm looking forward to fresher air, cleaner lungs and a life-long addiction to nicotine replacement.

In other news, one of my favourite bloggers Liberty London Girl is back. Yay! Catch up on all her adventures so far, here.