White Writing

Lost

2008-07-21T21:18:00.004+01:00

I'm really annoyed that I lost my little pinky ring today! It wasn't valuble in the monetary sense but I've worn it for about three and a half years (I even slept in it!) so I feel like it's seen a lot of things with me. Sentimental aren't I?! I've already ordered a new one though, another plain silver D band, because my hand just feels wrong without it!

Mr Brown took this photo of me on the beach back in May when we actually had some decent weather here, grrrr.

Inspiration: Luella Autumn 08

2008-07-15T22:42:00.008+01:00

The first collection to really inspire me this autumn is of course Luella. I adored the S/S collection but I'm definitely ready for a change and I think the new collection will be the perfect transition inspiration from Summer to Autumn.

There are so many lovely details, the intricate stitching, frills, lace and ribbon, and the basic garment shapes are incredibly wearable. I actually already had this outfit in my wardrobe, I just hadn't styled it like this (I borrowed the hair from the model by the power of Photoshop of course!). Now I'm looking for some navy and red opaques, black lace and striped jumpers too. Plus I'm wearing the Black Cherry nail varnish I mentioned in my last post - it's gorgeous!

Black Cherry Nails at Luella

2008-07-13T13:46:00.015+01:00

This is a just little prelude to my next post on the Luella A/W 08 collection. I don't usually pay much attention to catwalk make up but I was delighted to see these delicious black cherry coloured nails. I don't care that black nails are probably long over, I think they will be the perfect compliment for all the pagan and goth inspired looks this coming season. Anyway, these aren't quite black. The eyeliner is a little bit scary though, I don't think I'll be trying that!

You Are Beautiful

2008-07-09T20:43:00.005+01:00

You Are Beautiful is the Graphic Design and Illustration studio of Kerry Roper. Roper is one of several artists who are collaborating on the latest Topshop t-shirt project, and as Vogue say 'At just £22 for a T-shirt or £35 for a T-dress, owning your own contemporary artwork has never been so affordable.'

You Are Beautiful showcases Roper's wonderfully diverse portfolio, he uses mixed media and different illustration, photographic and typographic styles, on everything from album art to bags. His work really appeals to me, it's organic and dirty on the surface but the shapes, colours and type treatment are sophisticated and structured. My favourite is the stamp, designed for a car ad, it's gorgeous!

DIY Bow Vest

2008-07-06T19:58:00.005+01:00

I nearly bought a vest top with a lovely big bow on it, then I decided to buy two (much cheaper) plain vests and some ribbon and make my own bows. I've only made one so far, the first one was ridiculously fiddly! I very nearly gave up after stabbing myself in the finger a few times, but I managed it in the end. I'm not the best person with a needle and thread!

100

2008-07-03T18:31:00.007+01:00

I've made it to my 100th post, I'm pretty pleased about that!

Mr Brown is doing his best to interupt my train of thought as I write this, as he always does, by talking to me about things like the new Batman movie (thanks sweetie!).

I'm sure everyone has a different reason for blogging, for me it's being part of such a supportive, friendly and inspiring community. Although I have some wonderful close friendships in real-life, I don't have anyone who shares my obsessions with clothes and shoes!

I often feel that I'm a bit rubbish at all of this, I can't keep up with those of you who post twice a day (how do you do that?!) I struggle to post every other day. I feel like I'm way out of my depth talking about fashion too, that's why I definitely prefer to call this a style blog! But somehow, 100 posts later I feel like I'm starting to find my stride.

Thanks for reading everyone. Group hug! xx

Fantasy Glastonbury

2008-06-29T20:42:00.007+01:00

It's Glastonbury this weekend but I don't go to festivals. Whenever I hear about them I suddenly wish I was I was going. I love the idea of hanging around outdoors watching all my favourite bands. I'd have definitely watched Santogold, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Goldfrapp, The Kills and Neon Neon (photos from BBC). I just know that the realities of being cold, queueing and using the revolting facilities would ruin it for me. I don't mind a bit of mud, I grew up in the country, but I am not a happy camper!

So, if I had my own winnebago and I'd gone to Glastonbury... I'd have worn this outfit, with special edition Hunter WaterAid wellies, a whopping £50 from each pair goes providing safe water, sanitation and hygiene education in Madagascar. If I could afford a winnebago I'm sure I could find £75 to spend on wellies!

Dolce and Gabbana Fall 08/09 Campaign

2008-06-24T21:50:00.003+01:00

Oh my! I love the drama and the hyperreality of the new Dolce and Gabbana campaign, beautifully shot by Steven Klein. I liked the collection, the touches of English country, the clashes of colour, pattern and texture and the lovely little silk scarves. This campaign seems to have really brought it alive for me. I'm not quite ready to start thinking about autumn but I can see Dolce and Gabbana being very influential on my wardrobe.

Just my luck

2008-06-23T22:08:00.005+01:00

I've had good and bad luck when it comes to shoes recently. I was thrilled to win a $100 voucher for shoes, thanks to the fabulous Imelda Matt. I finally chose a pair, a pretty good copy of the Dior Extreme Gladiators, only to discover that the postage and import tax from Australia was going to cost me a fortune. Amazingly, Imelda waved a magic wand and the kind people at Wittner offered to pay the postage! I was starting to believe in the shoe fairy, then I discovered I'd have to pay a money transfer fee of around 70%... so in the end I sadly declined my prize (it's up for grabs again if you live in Australia). I would like to say a huge thank you to Imelda Matt, who did everything possible to get shoes to me!

In the meantime I managed to order a pair of really similar shoes from ASOS. They had been sold out for weeks (thanks to the Sex and the City Movie...) but suddenly they had a pair in my size! A day I after I placed my order they emailed and apologised, the shoes weren't actually available after all, they blamed an admin error. I think that a friend of someone who works for ASOS is wearing my shoes. Grrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, after all that, I thought I well and truly deserved these little lovelies from Topshop!

British Summer Essentials

2008-06-19T20:39:00.008+01:00

We Brits are well known for our obsession with the weather and of course, I'm no exception. The reason for this is our weather is very changeable and completely unreliable. It makes it almost impossible to plan outfits in advance, I check the forecast 10 minutes before I get dressed in the morning and even then I end up wearing the wrong thing! Leather gladiators in the rain, floaty skirts that get caught in the wind (which I hate!) then black jeans on lovely warm days ... yeah, I'm pretty fed up with this time of year.

See the original set if you'd like to know where these things are from.

Helmut Newton Machine Photos

2008-06-15T20:41:00.004+01:00

I wish I'd made it to the Oxford Street Topshop in time for the Helmut Newton Machine, today was the last day. It's such a brilliant idea, Topshop provided a rack of clothes to play with and set a camera up so customers could be both model and photographer. The photos have been brilliant, it's wonderful to see how people style the same items so differently!

How I wore: High leg gladiators

2008-06-12T22:43:00.005+01:00

I wore my new high leg gladiators for the first time the other day. They seem to work quite well with neutral clothes, I think they need to be the star of the outfit! Although I love the look and I'm usually pretty brave, I was quite surprised at how self-conscious they made me feel. It wasn't helped by the way the straps kept twisting around my legs and sliding down my feet. It drove me crazy! The main problem was the leather wasn't fixed together, so I attacked them with superglue which seems to have done the trick.

I didn't really think my last gladiators post would be the final one and this probably won't be either!

Too. Much. Choice!

2008-06-09T00:00:00.016+01:00

I was thrilled to be tagged by The Clothes Horse who called this 'Best Tag Ever?' and it has been so much fun! Here are the Rules:

1. Choose runway pictures from ANY season you like and choose 3 outfits for Day, Evening & Party.
2. Briefly explain why and state the name of the designer & which season the outfit is from.
3. Tag 3 other bloggers once you are done and let them know by posting a comment on their blog

I've limited myself to Spring/Summer 08 otherwise I'd have still been choosing outfits this time next week!

Day looks
1. Salvatore Ferragamo - This is so me, I love the bold stripes and bangles.
2. Marc Jacobs - This is mostly about the wonderfully clashing red and turquoise, and the red jumper, and the gloves!
3. Luella - I'd be lying if I said this wasn't the biggest influence on my wardrobe this summer.

Evening looks
1. Lacroix - The dress is my favourite colour. Maybe without the turban though, I'm not that brave!
2. Balenciaga - The sandals!
3. Chanel - I love the unexpected touches, pearl earrings with silver lace-up boots.

Party looks
1. McQueen - This appeals to my inner rock chick.
2. Dolce & Gabbana - Show stopping/drink spilling!
3. Miu Miu - The perfect little party dress.

I'm tagging Vulgar Moon, Fashion is Poison and That's just my vibe.

The 3rd & final gladiators post*

2008-06-05T22:40:00.005+01:00

Yes, I now have both feet firmly on the Gladiators bandwagon. This is my second pair, the ones I really wanted. They bear more than a passing resemblance to the D&G gladiators, but they were a fraction of the price from Schuh. I just wish it would stop raining here so I can wear them!

*Probably.

Childhood outfit trauma

2008-06-02T22:01:00.005+01:00

I smiled when I saw this photograph on The Sartorialist. It reminds me so much of an outfit my Mum dressed my little sister and I in when we were little. Matching white shirts, black leggings with stirrups and one of my Dad's black bow ties. It was my favourite outfit for a while back then (yes, it was the 80's) but ever since I've shuddered at the thought of it! This photo has been some what therapeutic, maybe I didn't look so ridiculous after all? I'm still not convinced that the little seven year old me looked good in bow tie though!

How I'd wear: My new skirt

2008-05-29T23:13:00.003+01:00

I could have called this post 'Hey, I just discovered Polyvore!'. And god it's addictive (and it's also the reason I didn't post yesterday). I'll still create my own collages in Photoshop for the blog but Polyvore makes it so much easier to find clothes and accessories to play with. Plus it's brilliant to see how everyone else chooses to style the items you've picked. Anyway, enough Polyvore love...

This is actually my new skirt. The other things I don't have but I'd like to have, especially the bird necklaces. Have a look at my original set on Polyvore if you're interested in where the items are from. I'll be wearing a similar outfit to a house party soon, I needed something suitable for traveling (3 hrs - yawn) then sitting around in the sun, heading out for a few drinks and then dancing all night. That's a lot to ask of any outfit, hopefully I've chosen the right one!

The socks (I'm not getting)

2008-05-26T19:55:00.004+01:00

I loved The Sheltering Sky photo story in the May UK edition, unfortunately so did the rest of the UK. After waiting 7 weeks for these Celeste Stein socks mytights.com have just emailed to say they won't be getting more stock. It's pretty rare for me to find something in Vogue I can actually afford, and dammit, I really wanted those socks!

Gold headband

2008-05-21T21:51:00.004+01:00

I've been looking for a gold headband for a while and I finally found the perfect one in Accessorize yesterday. I've seen them worn beautifully by many people in street style photos but Bat for Lashes is definitely my main inspiration. She has such a fearless, eclectic style (and her music is fantastic too).

I won!

2008-05-21T21:00:00.004+01:00

I won something!! Many thanks to the wonderful Imelda who picked my name out of a hat and is sending me a $100 voucher for Wittner Shoes. Now all I have to do is choose a pair and cross my fingers they make it to the UK all the way from Australia! Which do you think I should go for?

DIY Margiela T-shirt

2008-05-17T17:07:00.005+01:00

These DIY t-shirt projects have become more frequent than I planned, I don't even wear t-shirts that often! I found this wolf tee for just a few pounds last Sunday when we went to the seaside (it was that kind of town). So, this is my version of the Maison Martin Margiela t-shirt. I chopped of the arms and sandpapered the print to take off the shine and fade it. If you want to try this be careful, it's really easy to sandpaper right through the shirt. It could still do with going through the washing machine about 50 times, but I'm quite pleased with it. I still haven't decided if I'll wear it yet though...

Fashion Market

2008-05-14T20:51:00.003+01:00

This is a book I bought a while ago but then totally forgot I had, it's a little bit like getting something new! Fashion Market features interviews with 13 UK artists and designers from Spitalfields Market in London. It's a fantastic source of inspiration, full of colour and creativity. I love the unique stitching on the cover too, no two copies are quite the same.

Beside the seaside

2008-05-11T20:55:00.003+01:00

The weather has been fantastic in the UK this week, so Mr Brown and I jumped on a train today and headed to the coast with our cameras and the Polaroid. We went to an exceptionally tacky seaside town, full of rundown amusement arcades, kids and old people. We didn't care though, the sun was shining we took loads of photos and ate too much ice cream! I wore my new Topshop gladiator sandals, they're not the fierce half-way up the leg ones I'm planning to get, just a quick fix until I have some more cash... They were surprisingly comfy, not a single blister and given the amount of walking we did that's pretty much a miracle. Ooooh and check out the muscles on my man!

Summer Inspiration

2008-05-08T22:32:00.006+01:00

These two outfits are my idea of perfect laid-back summer style!

Photo Credits - Face Hunter and Garance Doré

It's not Luella

2008-05-05T18:07:00.003+01:00

I didn't think it would be a Primark dress that lured me out of hiding but here I am, wearing my £12 (!) purchase. I'm definitely not going to be making a habit of shopping there, but I couldn't resist this little Luella look alike.

Gladiator Sandals

2008-05-04T15:09:00.007+01:00

I know gladiator sandals have been around forever but this is the first year I've found myself really wanting some. My favourites have to be the high-leg ones from Topshop. I'm a little bit concerned about the possible tan lines, although in the UK that isn't so much of a worry. Mr Brown hates them and thinks they look like old people's shoes. What?

I also have to mention those brilliant red Wayfarers, I need some coloured frames!

Photos top Cochella and D&G at style.com.
Sandals left to right Oasis £30, Topshop £50, Aldo, £35.