Dancing With Glee!

Okay, so I probably don't have to explain what the Glee phenomenon is right? It's awesome... And pour little ol' moi, one of the best bits about this awesomely amazing tv show is the outfits that Emma Pillsbury wears!

So imagine my happiness when I stumbled across *this* blog today... What Emma Pillsbury Wore.com

They have challenges, and this week, it was to put together an Emma Pillsbury outfit using a Nanette Lepore green cardigan!

So, here is my outfit I put together:

(Nanette Lepore cardigan, Marni dress from Browns, Bottega Veneta handbag from Browns, Christian Louboutin pumps from Barneys and vintage daisy brooch from RockinRubyVintage on Etsy)

I'm not cool enough to have mastered Polyvore, so it's a Paint mashup... But still!

And HOW CUTE is the Marni dress?!?!

Xxxc

Playing the leopard

Ok, so I have a confession to make... I know I said there were no more photoshoots for a while, as T-B has gone home, but we maaaaay have done one the day before he went home that I haven't put up yet... What can I say? I'm sneaky like that ;-D

It was a  lovely warm day last weekend, and I had just got a leopard print top from ebay that I wanted to play with ASAP... I love the playfulness of it! The fact it has leopard faces hidden in the print and the material is so heavy and nubby, it seems lightyears away from anything remotely tacky or difficult to wear. Leopard and other animal prints have really got a resurgence going on at the moment, and while I'm quite far away from the femme fatale / rock chick that usually rocks it, I don't think I did tooooooooo badly ;-D

Prowling leopard, leaping cat

skipping along the riverside into the more 'townie' part of Cam.

See the print?

I am most likely Actually falling over in these pics... No balance.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Spin spin spin spin spin...

How cute is that cat!?!? He looked a bit like our college cat, but when he didn't decide to hang off my arm in a fit of schizophrenic action, we were disabused of any notion of similarity between this lovely and Captain Haddock!

Only in Cambridge... It's a please don't chain bikes to railings sign... Except not in English, but in Latin and Greek. This is the street where several of the college houses for fourth years are (we live in college for 3 years and if we stay for a 4th or more, then we get put in accomodation like these cute little houses... Or in the divinity schools across the (cobbled) street from college, which they're currently renovating for Grad accomodation. It's so pretty, but tumbledown inside...

So... What was I wearing? Vintage leopard print top off ebay, vintage skirt, Jocasi leather belt, vintage tooled leather bag, Jaeger brown court shoes, Vintage porcelain pendant, Toy Watch, very very old tiger eye bracelet...

I should really be in the library now... But I'm rather happy, sitting in my "work room" (i.e. my room mate's bedroom that I've converted into a study pour moi over the holidays while she's away... My own desk is too untidy ;-D) and still in my nightie and big comfy cardie, not quite bothered to do anything. Possibly something to do with having just finished watching the last episode of Swingtown (so so so sad it was cancelled) and now my brain is too lethargic to be productive ;-D Ooops! Holidays are baaaaaaaaaaaad for work ethics!

Right. Off to find food.

Xxxc

Trashy TV Talk

Now I do like a bit of TV related procrastination... 

I have just finished watching my Party Animals Season 1 box set (2007, BBC production). It stars the *new Dr Who* who is a sweet and floppy bunny-ish MP's researcher, alongside an excellent cast, a great script, and some clothes I wouldn't mind having myself! Only problem is that Matt Smith buggering off to play a time lord means no more... SOB! 

It really truly is an excellent series and anyone who gets a chance to watch it should... They're re-running it on BBC4 at the mo and one can find it on BBCIplayer and surfthechannel (for those of you outside the UK). 

My favourite bit is the cuteness of Andrew Buchan who plays the older brother... Fit As! And he was in Bones at the beginning of this latest season, so that just adds to his kudos points ;-D - I don't normally like the party boy type, but the character is just so well portrayed and scripted that you can't help yourself - especially as the series draws to a close. Oh and Andrew Buchan is from Stockport where my family is from, so that makes me happy too lol.

And the outfits of Kirsty (chintzy but smart, and she has a killer green top in the second to last episode... couldn't find any good photos tho. :-0) and Ashika (sex in a suit) are MINT!

Also, is anyone else looking forward to new Gossip Girl? I just found out (probably hugely belatedly) that they're doing a spin off series about Lily and Rufus in the '80s... How much fun isthat going to be?!?! Hehe. Saying that, I found out via a slightly catty article from NY magazine, so not sure about the girl who's going to play Lily... But we shall see!!!

I don't know why, but I just have images of her a la Pretty in Pink hehe.

Oh, and with the gossip about Blair / Nate coming thick and fast... I'm undecided... Which is the more sartorially satisfying pairing?

Xxxc (having a non-highbrow day...)

Love for Literary Feeling

Jumping on the Clothes Horse's beautiful bandwagon... I love bookshelves. When I go to a lecturer's office for a supervision, nothing fascinates me more than taking a gander at their bookshelves. One thing in this place that makes us lucky (in my view) is all the lovely lovely space for books. I have 11 good sized book shelves in my room... Far more than I could fill with the books my parents allow me to lug back and forth, but I do my best!

So... Up first we have my two 'down time' shelves... Top Shelf: One half filled with dvds (a strange and mildly embarrassing selection of Studio Ghibli cartoons, Buster Keaton silent loveliness, Star Trek films, chick flicks of an extremely unintellectual nature, and lots of French films), the other half, with juice (and alcohol out of the picture... Such a student eh ;-D)

Bottom shelf: Holst - The Planets score, psychology books, bibliophilia and fashion interviews, my Ghana guide, a bit of (soc and bio) anthropology and some 'classics' - I believe we can see Tolstoy's War and Peace...

 

Now we have a little further along the same bookshelf, missing out Mitford, Golding, Dante and Rillke, we come to my depressing Russian novel, Kapuscinski and Tenessee Williams obsessions, part of my Cambridge Pocket Shakespeare collection, Henry James spine chillers, the obvious Austin, the Bride of Lammermoor and Wuthering Heights... The stripy spine is a book of ghost stories. The rest of this shelf contains marshmallows and a lot of books on sewing and costume, a book on Mikhail Baryshnikov and my college's 500 anniversary book.

Next up, we have my 'everyday' bookshelf... The one with academic books; my own and library ones. They're made up of lots of archaeology, a few tomes of theology, a bit of art history and a few biographies and historical accounts. We also have my BRIGHT folders, some of my birthday cards, my Fresh Horses DVD for a moment when I can justify the procrastination, pictures of my cats, my Greek orthodox rosary, lots of post-its, some NARS and paul and joe make up, my CdG perfume, rescue remedy and my notebook stash. No particular order to that. FIT huh! ;-D

My room mate and I really are different in too many ways to count... One of these ways is in our bookshelves. Firstly, my room has quite a bit more book space... Secondly, we have completely different book-taste! Lookie-see...

See! Lots of scary science and management... Though some of those management tomes might work their way onto my shelves next year since I'm (*crossed fingers*) taking it for part III... What a strange thought!

Lots of DVDs, a few art materials... And the Badger-Pooh! I got these (Squirrel, Deer, Beaver and Badger) for myself and my closest friends a little while back... Mine will probably be shown in my next room post...

Bookshelf organising aside, I really am a bibliophile... I love spending hours in book shops... Independent, new booksellers or Dusty old booksellers. Just no high street chain, thank you very much! My favourite places have to be Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street and John Sandoe Books off the King's Road, both in London. The former is an amazing building, filled with travel writing and fiction mostly, but they have a gorgeous 2nd hand gallery above the Western Europe room. John Sandoe is probably where my heart lies... I've been going there since, well, I was pushed around in a pushchair! We used to live in Chelsea, on the KR itself, and it still feels like home to me. I try to make a trip to John Sandoe about once a fortnight when I'm home, as the people in there are so amazingly knowledgeable, and I've known several of them since I was teeny-tiny... They can find anything, from anywhere too!

I also love to read books about books. If you ever want a quick and uplifting read, Anne Fadiman's 'Ex Libris' is a beautiful little collection of essays. And looks cute too!

Finally... If you're ever in a bookstore with me, get out of the way... I'm a fiend when it comes to buying the things. Always have been, always will be. 

At least I don't buy Mills and Boon by the bucketload anymore!!! (Yes, that was a middle school phase...) Hehe ;-D

Xxxc

yay or nay on this style?

you may tell from this blog that i love my tv... or at least a few programmes i watch religiously... dr who, csi, csi miami, grey's anatomy.

watching csi miami tonight, i found myself wierdly attracted to this rather flamboyant outfit. it's american preppy smart i guess, and i love it! normally not a fan of pastel colours, but the baby blue, cream and the dark tie really look great! the pic isn't that great, but was the only one i could find on the net...



i think it's the actor's colouring - but the details of this outfit really hit hard. the dark button, the cream pattern on the dark silk... yummy!

a scarf like this is currently on my wishlist!

what do you think?

ideal man style?

okay, so i've just finished watching dr who... and while on my way back from the jcr, i had a thought - what kind of style does my ideal man have?

i don't really pay much attention to the menswear catwalks, preferring to pick up basics in menswear sales for myself (gap, urban outfitters and m&s are goldmines!!!), and not being too discerning when becoming attracted to a guy. my ex was a die hard, all black, baggy jeans wearing, metal-head... i got him into one bright orange polo shirt, and otherwise just got really frustrated with his conformity to the standard rebellious teen who likes rock and metal 'look'...

i guess so far i haven't really been exposed to guys with a sense of style in the same way many women do. it just doesn't really cross my mind, in the same way as kind eyes, strong arms, and a rather skinny build Do.

and this is now becoming a point of note in my strange brain. my latest 'date' - a.k.a. 'CbC' (cute but clueless...) - he's lovely, taking it (extreeeemely) slow, cute, and is just as stylistically clueless as my ex.

i know, for most guys, wearing the same t-shirt several days IN A ROW is not a big deal, with the same jeans, shoes, jumper etc, but i dont understand WHY?!?! CbC wears plain polos, stash (theatre production / rowing / choir / band) tops and fleeces - but there's nothing INTERESTING! and therefore, to me - nothing particularly attractive in a sartorial sense.

now i'm not dating him for his sense (or lack) of style, but i do wonder why my brain skips over the sartorial niceties when choosing who to be attracted to. i don't want to change him, but i do wonder if i can change myself. i know it's shallow, but i at least want a guy who doesn't see clothing and attitude towards style as frivolous and something to be put to one side. it's important to me; to who i am, and, though minor in the schemeof reasons, it was probably a tiny niggling thing that contributed to the whole picture of me and my ex's break-up (tiny, tiny, tiny - but reflective of our incompatibility as a couple...)

another ex of mine, is a relative cosmopolitan. this one dresses well - sleekly - in smart, mainly black, charcoal etc - as he needs to to maintain his 'image' in the world he chose to live in (he's a film producer). he gets facials (his skin is softer than mine, and kissing him was like kissing a girl his mouth was so soft... slightly creepy...) and cares about what labels are in his clothes / how shiny his shoes are / what influences he is channelling.

but that kind of self-conscious, media - world vanity in a man, i find unnattractive. so where is my happy medium?

in dr who, that's where ;-D



in all honesty, i love the unself-conscious, but damn cute brown with blue pinstripe suit, the converse, coloured shirts, unobtrusive but interesting ties, the big coats... all of it screams a guy who knows who he is, and has a style identity he is comfortable with. he doesn't have to try too hard, but just IS. i know it's silly, but 'the doctor' is HUGELY intelligent too, gorgeous etc etc... why can't i find a guy like this! (okay, without the alien bit hehe)

it's the smart-but comfy, slightly public school, but with an edge, a sense of humour, that i know i find attractive, but just can't seem to find... so i settle. as its not REALLY that important how a guy dresses... right?

in all honesty, the best dressed guys I know are not all gay. some are.

my friend 'M' manages to carry of some out there stuff, mainly because he is S-K-I-N-N-Y... as in, Seriously so... and he knows how to dress for his frame. being gay means he has more freedom i guess, to wear things like v neck tees, stripy jeans, skinny scarves...

but my male style icon, is my best friend, 'Dodo', we shall call him. totally straight, skinny, but built, blonde and slightly awkward. he grew up with academic parents at oxford and has a lot of female influences in his life, after his dad passed away. he knows how to sew, and find a bargain. and while he is a bit of a spend-thrift, buys interesting, good quality stuff, that really suits him and his personality. this boy wears no jeans, instead - cords, and suit-type trousers with shirts and jumpers. he uses colour, and wears everything with confidence. he has a lot of formal wear, but even in that, always looks slightly dishevelled. he wears vintage military coats, denim bomber jackets and silk scarves... not too dandyish, no trace of emo, and not particularly preppy... just him. if there was any sex-spark between us, he'd be the perfect boyfriend hehe. i love his style, cos its so distinctly Him.





thats what i think is missing from so many guys my age (and older). and thats what i think i need to find in a boyfriend - on top of the sensitivity, strong arms, GSOH, tall stature etc etc. because to find a guy with confidence in a style that suits not only him, but me, is to find a guy who works on my wavelength...

here endeth the lesson ;-D