Suuuuuuuuunshine on a rainy day!!!

So last weekend was a London one, as I mentioned in my last post. (Gosh, almost a week ago. Oops!)

Of course, I had to see T-B and his lovely missus. They had just got back from Mexico, and apparently had a craving for burgers. So we headed from Sarf Laahndan to Soho for lunch! (I would like to point out that, due to gluten / dairy / potato issues I had a squash and goats cheese salad... Nomnomnom. They had biiiiiiig burgers though...) And of course, we did photoshoot-ness. YAY!!!

- Moi in the burger joint...

- Sheltering from the London-rain under a rather dysfunctional umbrella...

- Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiindy!!!

- Giggle. Standard.

- Ooooh, and look at this lovely necklace that Becks has... It's from Mixco on Etsy. IWANTONE!!! :

And how awesome are the elephants appearing around London at the moment?! Street art for a charitable cause? WIN! I love this one in Covent Garden...

It was a lovely day, despite the rain... Home is such a sanctuary for me. London makes my heart beat faster and calms me down all at once. Yay for graduating and moving back! (Well, ish... More to come on that conundrum.)

Anyhooooo... In this photoshoot, I was wearing a vintage floral dress from Etsy (putonthatdress), vintage yellow slouchy cardigan also from Etsy (joyelizabethG), a vintage white leather bag (from Topshop's Peekaboo vintage concession), Jonathon Aston white lace tights, black Converse and a fabric and button brooch I made myself... Oh, and the watch is a Lego Star Wars one with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo lego men on (- now sold out but they have some cool new ones in... I quite like the C 3PO one). Hehe! Funsies.

Hmmmmm. Quite sleepy now, and I haven't finished my dinner yet, so I should probably get to that before boy grumps because I haven't eaten all the yummy food he made me... Night all!

Xxxc

Boater Success...

Morning all!

After a beautifully sunny (if a little chilly at times) day yesterday, it's chucking it down this morning. I'm home for the weekend and desperately trying to get my head together to get dressed and off to lunch at T-B and Becks' in Sarf London. But I thought, before I left, I'd post a photoshoot I got my long-suffering mother to do with me yesterday!!!

The light in the back garden was gorgeous, and I was so hyper about my new boater, that I neeeeeded to get some pictures done! The boater is hilarious, as it's a men's large, but since the price was a steal, I didn't really care... I'm planning a costume-wench bodge (boy-word alert) with a foam ring and some glue!

Wearing: Antique Store Boater find, Gap teeshirt, Jaeger Jacket (courtesy of mother's wardrobe), St Michael (i.e. v.v.v. old M&S) skirt, vintage suede belt, TopShop tights, Kate Kuba boots, 1940's WI badge...

How pretty are those sleeves!!! (And my dad's flowers... :D)

Nattering on at Mother... Standard.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! I do love our old swing... (And yes, that is a farm, and yes, I live on a London underground line, about 20 minutes drive / 30 minutes tube from most destinations in Central London... Oh Yes. Best of both worlds win ;D)

Crouching Tiger... (With a Boater)

Boater in the Bluebells...

LOVE this badge... Another Cambridge antique store find.

Oh, and meet my cat, Jasmine... She's a completely crazy little critter who I adore beyond all other crazy little critters. She was given to us when her owner went to Africa, and when she came back, Jaz had settled in so well, we were given her to keep! She has a habit of sleeping *under* my bed and sitting on people for hours at a time, and is the most lovely reading companion, until she starts chewing the pages... Attention whore!!! ;D

Right, I really should be off... Half an hour before I should DEFINITELY not be here anymore... Oops!

Xxxc

Exams over... At last

Well, the last exams I'm going to take in this place are over... Management Studies has the awesome feature of seriously early exams that means that we lost our Easter vac, but can enjoy all of what the approaching summer has to offer! I do have a project to do, but it's nowhere near as stressful and much more structured than the impending doom of exams encroaching upon one's happiness and health!

So... I am going to try and return to the blogosphere. Slowly, softly, perhaps, but freedom awaits in a few months with graduation, and as I'm still unsure what the future holds, I might manage to reinject some life into this little side project of mine. I do miss it when I drop off the face of the earth for months at a time, and since I will be rejoining T-B in London-town in July, we might even get the occassional photoshoot done!

Anyway, what brings me to the computer today? It's another installment of the fab Aussie Angel initiative. I am, as ever, slow on the uptake. Claire posted about it a while back, and I'm proud to have my little "Luscious Long Tribe" pack which arrived at college today.

The wonderful people at Aussie have sent me a Welcome Pack for "surviving until your Tribe party" - in July, and when I'm supposed to be in France, but that may not happen, so I'm keeping an open mind!

They have been so generous and sent some of their lovely, yummy Luscious Long shampoo and conditioner, a mini brush, a compact mirror, some badges to display my allegiance and some chocolate... I have to admit that the chocolate will be going to The Boy, as my body hates me and does not allow the consumption of dairy. The Boy will likely be very pleased...

Awesome huh!

In other news, I went shopping for the first time in yonks today. After almost giving into a tapestry bag covered in cats in Ark Vintage in Cambridge city centre, and trying to decide whether I should buy oversized stripy shorts from Joules (- my new shop crush... All those pretty candy colours! All that outdoorsy blowsiness! YUM!), I wandered into Karen Millen. Now, I don't have much occassion to wear what they do best - gorgeous luxe night-out wear - but I have to admit, they have upped the ante from what I remember from the last time I seriously browsed in there, as a teenager... Searching for hot house party outfits, out for the afternoon with my mum, shopping on the King's Road. I seem to remember coming out of there with an outfit involving an orange crochet shell encrusted halter top... Strange memories. Sigh. Nostalgia.

Anyway. Browsing in there today was rather fun. And I have to admit to falling for a dress... A £165 dress. GULP! As a girl who shops either vintage or designer sample sales, I get a bit cranky shelling out almost two hundred quid for glorified high street. But that's the snob in me. (Please don't hate me! I just have an issue with our hardcore, wear-it-once, who gives a shit about quality, consumer culture...) But here I must admit I can see where the money is going. Ish.

The embroidery is awesome and it has the most darling bow at the back... Sigh. If only I had the money, or the event to wear it to!

Right. That's all for now folks... Xxxc

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go?

So today, I have managed a two hour bar shift at the theatre, and an epic queue in Borders, and not much else... Post-term lethargic FUG-time. Joys.

But to cheer me up was a dress I'd been sent by the lovely people at Covert Candy, a great site dedicated to both vintage shopping and swapping! It revolves around a "credit-based system" where if someone wants an item of clothing you no longer need, you can send it to them in return for credits you can then spend on someone else's lovely stuff! They also have a section of the site dedicated to a small, but well selected Vintage Emporium run by the site owners, and there, sitting in the Clearance section, was this adorable dress. It has such a cute print and perfect colours... It's definitely about to enter my day dress collection!

Ok, so it's not remotely wintery, but WHO CARES?!

My room is lacking in any accoutrements with which to dress up this little number, as I'm halfway through moving out, and have no high heels due to a bottom-of-the-foot injury a few weeks ago. Thus the outfit photos with bare feet or Converse!

This was my attempt to play with the length... Thoughts?

So, I should really be packing... Instead I was just distracted by boy, then started watching Angel, then started organising holiday theatre... Might leave Cam by 1am. Maybe. Oops!

Night guys! London tomorrow! Woop!

Xxxc

Secretary Chic

Gosh I'm bad at this lately... But I'm crossing fingers that I'm going to get my mojo back as I'm starting to get excited about styling again. I've had a good week and have made a select few purchases and started thinking dreamily about the return to the gilded spires of Cam.

Don't get me wrong; I adore London and my people in it, but working where I do has in some ways stifled my love of fashion even as I've been immersed in it. Odd eh!

Something about the worthless feeling that comes of interning. Not for me really.

The rest of the office have spent today organising an event, while I *miraculously* was not called upon to work said a-list extravaganza, and had an extremely fun and fashion-filled day despite non-work-involvement. Woop! More to come on today's adventures in a later post...

Firstly, however, I want to do some catching up!!!

Here is a photo shoot that T-B, his lovely assistant / girlfriend Becks and I did in his set pretty much the night before before I set off home for the summer... So mid-June time. Yikes! Haven't I been a bad blogger this summer!!!

Peeping, Laughing, Not Yet Sleeping...

Wearing: Face a Face glasses, vintage mustard blouse (bought from The Stylish Wanderer), ICB silk skirt, Kate Kuba navy suede shoes, ToyWatch, Vintage silk scarf (bought at Ark Vintage in Cambridge) and vintage navy suede belt.

I went to T-B and Becks' for (yummy scrummy) dinner tonight... Their new flat is AMAZING but it's wierd to think when I return to Cam in a fortnight's time, they'll still be in London. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! They're both grown-ups now!!! Or maybe not... Hehe.

Right. Off to sleep with me... Early rising tomorrow!!!

Xxxc

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down...

So I come home for the summer, and have to move out again in the space of two weeks...

Hmmmmm. Not ideal. Basically, our entire house is being rebuilt around us over the course of 5 months for reasons far too dull to go into, and all furniture / books / clothes etc that we don't use on a regular basis has to either be chucked or put into storage! Of course this was the plan, until my roof sprung a second leak, waking me up at 4am during the other morning's thunder storm... So now I am moving out, and into my old maths tutor's house ( - she's also one of my mum's best mates - ) for a while... Of course, this would be fine if my room wasn't Stuffed With Stuff, and we had more than 24 hours to do it.

Thus, all of this is why I might be a little lax on my posting every day rule for a while, but I'll do my best!

Anyway, life chat over with...

And onto some of the promised (for weeks) photos...

This post is dedicated to the finalists garden party, given by the Master of College in his gardens... Think Pimms and reminiscences and commiserations about how screwed we all are with the current economic climate haha. It was great fun actually, and I'm afraid it's a dress you've seen before ;-D - This wasn't a photoshoot in athe usual style, as obviously, T-B was taking photos of the event, not just me and my crazy outfits, but there were quite a few nice photos anyway!

- Oh yes, I'm just so serious... (And the old dude in the background is "The Master". Lovely guy.)

- Me sticking my tongue out in photos may be replacing the ubiquitous twirling ;-D

- How kwl is her dress?!?!

- The amazingly comfy, if slightly out of focus shoes, which cost me £15 quid in M&S and I wear ALL THE TIME! (Either those or the same ones in black which I also have :-D) - Oh, and evidence, that I don't iron my clothes hehe!

- The only full length shot... How serious do I look? ;-D


The outfit, elements of which have all been used before, was: Vintage handmade dress, M&S sandals, GAP shell pink cardigan and Vintage tooled leather bag, with my ToyWatch and BarryM purple nail polish.


So there you have it... Garden partay numero uno. Sorry it's taken me so long to post... I really do love this dress...


I'd had such a rushed morning before this, having overslept into a breakfast meeting, so I had to rush out in jeans and t-shirt and no make-up, knowing full well I had two garden parties later. Of course, I was late to both... And looked rather the ghost having just shoved on the first make up I could find, i.e. my going-out-foundation, and no blusher... (as I'd left it in T-B's kitchen cupboard. Don't ask!)

It seems weird to think that I've been gone from Cam for 2 weeks... It's also amazing how much one changes on starting work and settling back into big-city life. I'm much more routine-ised, and my style's subtly shifted; probably partly due to the environment I'm working in, but also because of how I'm feeling I guess... Up until yesterday, I had no idea what was going to happen when I've finished my internship in October. I was basically still waiting on an official decision from Cambridge's Business School as to whether I had been accepted onto their Management programme for 4th year. If not, I would have to get on applying for more internships and jobs in fashion PR and Marketing which is probably the career direction I'm going in...


And yesterday, the crisp white letter headed Judge Business School, University of Cambridge came in the post... And I've been accepted! So back to the 'Bridge in October. I am really excited, though I was quite ready to get on with "real" life... Scary eh!


Right. As usual this was supposed to be a short post, so I must be off!


Xxxc

Polka-dotted exam-crazed girl...

Since it's been pretty much a week since my last post, and it's pretty self-evident that I'm being a crappy blogger whose spent the last week in the library, I'll just put up a few photos and not make any excuses. Promise!

So... Today's photoshoot:

Pleated Prettiness! Run, Run, Run!

Anyhoo. This outfit is a work-in-progress, of the Susie Bubble school of not-quite-happy-with but posting-experimentation (though her "not-quite-happy" would make me happy enough to cry ;-D).

And this work-in-process outfit is made up of: "Surprise Inn, SW3" teeshirt from the mothership's wardrobe, navy polka dot pleated skirt from Love Miss Daisy Vintage, peach tights from Topshop, Kate Kuba navy suede heels, Toywatch and my Maptote Cambridge (the Massachusets one ;-D) bag.

My life now revolves around archaeology, not clothes (sob!) so my sartorial instincts are a little off... But I'm IN LOVE with this beautiful "new" (well, vintage) pink, pleated, navy polka-dotted skirt that plopped into my pigeon hole from Love Miss Daisy Vintage last week, along with the aforementioned cocktail dress and a beeeeeeyoooooooteeeeeeeful scarf that the lovely Laura included in my parcel. Oh I Adore that site. Sigh. Not sure about having teamed the mildly unflattering teeshirt with the skirt, but never mind... It was comfy ;-D

On that note, I really need to get back to the library. I've had an hour's more break than I should have and am sleepy, so needs must, or I'll not get anything more done before bed. I will try to post more frequently, as I have another photoshoot, some Amnesty Fashion Show stuff and other bits and pieces to show you as well, but the blog's had to go on the back burner until after finals... Do keep checking in though. I may even post on the weekend... You never know!!! ;-D

Xxxc

Grey Day So We Invade Trinity

Ok guys, it's a photoshoot day!!! I was going to save this 'til tomorrow, but I think the next couple of days are going to be spent in la library removing myself from the internet... No shopping. No procrastinating. Just attempting not to fail exams... At least 'til Tuesday! ;-D

But, since you're all so lovely, I thought I'd leave you with this *attempt to make the world at least pretend to be sunny and warm...*

I'm Blue! Dabadee Dabadi Dabadee Dabadi...

I just love twirling TOO much... But the skirt does FUN THINGS!!!

Gratuitous accessories love...

Pose... And TWIRL!!!

Stumbles...

Fights with tree... And giggles.

Oops! Sorry Tree!

Lost.

Hop, skip and a jump... But not quite home!

As you can see, the sun has decided to desert Cambridge for the time being... I'm trying to keep in the sunny feeling, by wearing bright colour, but I have a feeling all this spring chicken energy may sap away the longer this grey dreary spell continues. Let's keep our fingers crossed tomorrow brightens up!!! 

The location for this shoot was Trinity, which is the college next door to mine... We're supposed to be mortal enemies. 

Trinity has canons pointed at John's!!! 

No Kidding!

In this shoot, I'm wearing a GAP tee and GAP men's cardigan, vintage skirt, Accessorize and confirmation present bracelets, vintage tooled leather belt, Melissa for Vivienne Westwood T-Bar Mary Janes, ToyWatch and Anya Hindmarch woven clutch. 

                                           

So, that's today... I'm well behind on an essay, and rather sleepy, but never mind! 

I've mostly spent the day admin-ing and searching for the perfect Stepford Wife half-apron with Angie (@Norwegian_Wood) via Twitter and Etsy. I got a new haul from Love Miss Daisy Vintage today, including a raspberry pink  cocktail dress that just *screams* silly themed dinner party... WOOP! for post-exam planning! My current favourites for the job of *my apron* are these:

from Serendipity Treasures and phase three

from Boojiboo

from Spice Rak Designs

Also from Spice Rak Designs, and currently very much the favourite... Hmmmmm.

I was thinking I could attempt to make my own, but THE LEMONS ONE IS SO DAMN BLAST PRETTY!!!

Thoughts, comments and suggestions are welcome. I'm also looking for a hair tutorial (youtube?) for 50s Stepford Wife hair:

Definitely thinking about this waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much... Hehe.

Oh, and one final thing:

Can we all express the LOVE for T-B's teeshirt...??? (From teetonic.com - they have a girl's version in lilac too!)

Hehe. The boy done good.

Night all!

Xxxc

Vintage Loveliness, Family Goodness and Inspirational Architecture...

I have mentioned a couple of times in the last week or so that it was my confirmation on Sunday. It was lovely as my parents, several close family friends and my godparents came down to attend, and, of course, my best friend was there, as always. 

Getting confirmed while at uni was really important to me, as if I go into academia, I'll most likely do church history or theology, so being involved in college chapel life is a big part of what has made this year really, truly, one to remember. We have *the most gorgeous* early George Gilbert Scott designed chapel, adorned with truly beautiful carvings and a roof covered in paintings of obscure saints - this means I spend most of my time in there, neck craned back, staring at the ceiling, trying to identify the saints above me based on my very crude knowledge of iconography!

image copyright 2008 St John's College, imported from www.joh.cam.ac.uk/chapel_and_choir

Anyway, enough about that, here's the photos of *the dress* I wore... which is far more important ;-D 

Me, chattering away about something. Looking rather pale, but that's usual, so not giving away my completely shattering - physically and emotionally - previous 48 hours... Oh, the WONDERS of MAC concealer and foundation, NARS blusher and Max Factor mascara ;-D

These were all taken in the lovely gardens, overlooking the Cam, of the Master's Lodge in college... (The mothership is in green and my daddy is the big guy between Will and me.)

Since, I believe, it was Mother's Day *everywhere except the UK* quite recently, I thought I'd show you a picture of my mother and I... She's my rock and my confidante. I am quite a daddy's girl too, but I couldn't do without talking to my mum most days. Silly huh. She and I are quite different but equally, we are *exactly* the same in so many ways... Though she's far more *chic* than I could ever be! Something to do with the rail thin, ex-model / alpha-female, senior-partner-lawyer thing lol.  I also find the deathly pale vs. healthily tanned / nut-brown from 2 seconds in the sun contrast hilarious... Shows what years living in Jamaica will do ;-D

This is probably my favourite picture... Sitting between the two men in my life may have been a bad plan... ;-) Hilarious!

This silky floral shift dress is *absolutely* my favourite thing in my wardrobe now... It's vintage from the 1960s and, as far as I can tell, handmade. I love the subtle, wide boat neckline, the high waist (- mine falls higher than average, so "waisted" stuff often looks crap on me -) and the unusual colours - the orange flowers matched my watch and nails ;-D. It was perfect for the weather and the ceremony (though it was covered up by a massive floaty white piece of cotton  - a surplice - for the service - all members of college have to wear one on Sundays, Saints Days and for special services like this one... It's just college variant academic gowns for others!)

I got the dress from a website called Love Miss Daisy Vintage, which I have to say, is probably the best online vintage emporium in terms of service and quality I've so far encountered. They have some really beautiful pieces, in great condition and which are extremely good value - prices range from £18 to £100+ for dresses... I stalk their new uploads most days, and yearn for quite a large percentage of things! Today, I gave in and ordered a skirt and completely unneccesary cocktail dress to compensate for the pain of revising the 1948 UN convention on Prevention and Punishment of Genocide! Laura of LMD is so so lovely, and you can add her on twitter (@LMDvintage ) to ask questions and just generally chatter! :-D This site is *seriously* worth your time, and they're featured in quite a few magazines and on celebs so the stuff is only going to get *hotter*! I'm greatly amused by the fact that my new dress is going to be in the July issue of Woman & Home hehe.

Thanks tonnes to the Novelista Barista, who gave me an award yesterday!

She has a really lovely blog, so you really should all check it out. I think the rules run to something like - I'm supposed to give out 15 of these, but I'm just going to give it to the people who immediately spring to mind, irrespective of numbers :-D

So, Claire, Laura, Winnie, Tina, Liz and Casey... Have this award, you are all AMAZING! 

Also, thanks to everyone who commented such lovely things on the last post... The location was in fact, not a castle or park, but one part of the (massive) gardens of my college, down by a stream-tributary of the River Cam. It's my new favourite place as it's sheltered from the wind and covered in daisies! Nice place to revise on a warm day :-D

Right... Talkking of revising, I should be doing that now... 

Xxxc