Judge a Book by its Cover.

Articles bemoaning the end of the physical book shop sadden me... 

I can't describe the feelings that well up when I am in a book shop, from Waterstones to the rows of antique book stores opposite the British Museum, or the light, airy confines of the London Review of Books shop, or the dark pannelled Daunt's on Marylebone High Street. I just love trailing my fingers across spines old and new, picking things out, excited about the journey ahead.

My favourite book shop of all is John Sandoe's, just off the King's Road, where I remember a very deep, involved conversation with one of the proprietors about the relative charms of the Jennings books. I was a fan of Jennings' Little Hut, whereas he liked According to Jennings best of all... I must have only been about ten, but that conversation, standing in the shadow of bookcases so tall you feel dwarfed, with all that black wood and the slick, colourful spines, will stay with me forever. The time taken by someone who could have chatted to my parents, rather than me, in an effort to make a sale, will forever be treasured, and that is just one of a thousand moments I've had in that shop that remind me that selling books is more than just about ease and low price. (Hello Amazon!) 

Okay, so sometimes it is... When I need a book for book group, which I don't particularly fancy, and know will probably go charity-shop-wards soon enough, or if I am getting an excruciatingly expensive employment law book that's £50+ in Hammicks Legal Bookshop ( - not that I don't love it, but god, the prices are EYE WATERING!!!) and it's £12 on Amazon.

But I still want the little stores to be there. The ones that present me with the greatest adventures you can have in your own head. I love finding treasure, from the day Claire talked me into buying Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache in an anonymous Waterstones, to the expedition where I asked Karen in John Sandoe's for a recommendation of some unusual books to read on a plane; coming out with Richard Russo's Empire Falls and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. Empire Falls remains to this day one of my personal high points of literature, and represents a great achievement for me. It was the first book - aside from one of the trashy romance novels, literally Mills and Boon stylee, that got me through two years of ilness (and still do get me through the bad patches of depression and panic I am still occassionally plagued with), that I read from cover to cover when I recovered from a debilitating and incredibly confidence sapping health issue that kept my teenage self from getting up, going to school, and having a normal life for far too long. The concentration it took to read that book was something I did not think I could do, but thanks to Karen, and to an amazingly rich tapestry of words, I found the experiences I had been sorely missing during my "lost" months of ilness, and gained back a small ounce of confidence in my own ability to bounce back.  That tiny achievement in the scheme of things still keeps me going today.

I digress.

When you're in a book shop, how do you choose the book? I tend to go for a cross between an analysis of whether or not I have heard of the author, whether I like the title and the cover, (nothing pink or curly or too fussy thank you!!!) and whether it feels right in my hand. I like little slips of books, and massive doorstops too. I hate a book to be too large or chunky to hold, though if it is large in size, let it be easily opened - and kept - at the right page... 

Some of my favourite "come to me" books I've encountered lately have been:

The Coralie Bickford-Smith designed Penguin Classics... Particularly The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Seriously... How awesome are all the bugs? I'm not the world's biggest Sherlock Holmes fan, though Benedict Cumberbatch did do an awesome turn... But this book, with all its Antipodium tones really ticks the book buying box for me. Judging a book by its cover? Oh yes.

I so want this skirt... But that book is the Next Best Thing!!! =D (Photo from Cupcakes For The Eyes)

This Jane Eyre edition is also stunning. I think it really evokes the atmosphere of the book, and as I take great pride in choosing to own the editions of books I think are the best representation of the words inside, I'd buy this over other editions any day...

The cover art is by Petra Börner. I think her work is generally pretty awesome...

What about The Long Song by Andrea Levy?

I just LOVE the colours of this book, shortlisted for last year's Man Booker Prize. Take Andrea Levy's name, add a story about Jamaican Plantation life - my mother spent a while in Jamaica in the 70s, and its culture and history fascinate me - and put a kick ass cover on the front, and I'm SOLD!

What about you guys? Any stories to tell, or books that just took your breath away?

Hope you're all having a truly lovely long Easter weekend!!!

Xxxc

My New Best Friend.

Evening!

Decision made.

I've decided I need to broaden out this blog a bit. Just churning out fashion titbits isn't doing it for me anymore, as it really just brings home quite how limited my capacity to run this blog on clothes alone is. My beloved photographer is miles away, my own camera is just a tad shoddy, and I'm too busy to spend all my free time researching my fashion loves. Not only that, but to be honest, my miniscule salary doesn't really cover much more than minimal spending on clothes, and so I need to focus on other things for a while...

That's not to say I'm not going to blog about fashion anymore, I will be doing that, but I will also be doing posts on theatre, film, travel, work, play and, my favourite of all, food... In particular, on that last score, the wonders of healthy home cooking, and the trials of being a celiac who can't eat dairy or potato either!

It's been a very long road for me to come to accept how my body needs to be treated, not feeding it things that make it run slower, or cause me pain. Instead, I have had to find alternatives that fit in with all aspects of my life, and make it easier to keep up with the hectic pace of 21st Century 20-Something living! I've been helped with that to a large extent by my awesome boy who makes sure that I don't just eat hummus and rice cakes 10 times a day. He's very into three square meals, and has been nudging me to keep me from using my old food-as-punishment device I used to give in to most of the time. The one where I'd make myself sick eating things I knew would degrade my intestines, give me headaches, and blow out my stomach to three times the size it should have been. For this, and a million other things, I'm so grateful.

Anyway, moving on from the mushy stuff... Hope anyone who already reads my blatherings here will stick with me. Hopefully there's plenty still out there to inspire me. It just won't necessarily be fashion, at least not every day...

Off I go to eat some gluten-and-potato-free toast (trust me - hard to find!!!) and hazelnut butter... Nomnomnom.

G'night.

Xxxc

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine...

Ah, Sunshine... Nature's best medicine. And today I'm home early from work so can ENJOY it! (Admittedly because I had such bad back pain I couldn't stick the rest of the day in front of a computer and I have plenty of stored up flexi time to use... Bah.)

So here I am, basking in the sun, with my work suit airing on the line, in a white strappy top, green denim skirt and bare feet, feeling on top of the world.

Since I'm still sans camera, here's what I would be wearing if I was wearing clothes that are still in the shops:

Splendid White Ribbed Strap Top, YSL Green Denim Mini, Seiko Gold Watch, Lanvin Leather Heels, Betsey Johnson Bee Necklace, Badgley Mischka Bag

I actually really really really want that necklace... I'm always strangely attracted to things with bugs on, and that is JUST TOO CUTE! =D

Hope you're all enjoying the sun... I'm off to make a cocoa-banana-almond smoothie. Nomnomnom.

Xxxc

Is it odd...

That I have a bit of a thing for Laura Ashley?


Picture from the book on Laura Ashley by Martin Wood

Not the new stuff - I don't really like the layout of their stores... - but the old stuff, and the ideas that are conjured up by my experiences of the brand. I have vivid memories of a wall in one of the sixth form classrooms at my school covered with a display on the History of Fashion. A page from a magazine had been cut out and stuck to the top right hand corner, showing a girl in a Laura Ashley sun dress, wandering through long grass. I wish I could find that image now... It has stayed with me for more than 5 years, and will continue to feature in my thoughts on summer dressing and florals for a long time to come!

These photos by Jane Ashley for example... There was an exhibition a year-ish back at the Arden and Anstruther Gallery in West Sussex. I really wish I'd been able to go, as even the images I can find on the internet show a wide variety of styles, but a beautiful, consistent aesthetic.


Image from The Guardian by Jane Ashley


Image from the BBC website by Jane Ashley



Image from Arden and Anstruther Gallery by Jane Ashley


I also adore the fabric patterns that have surfaced... A couple of my favourites are these:

 

What do you guys think? I'm really really really tempted to buy the Martin Wood book...

Xxxc

How I love...

... PRESENT HUNTING!!!

Who doesn't?!

Shopping, with a slightly larger budget than usual, trying to find the perfect thing. At the moment, I'm trying to find something from my old roommate. She's not the girliest, but has converted to jewellery relatively recently. So, I'm trying to find her something trad-jewellery-ish. Thoughts?

How about the classic charm bracelet? Everyone's gotta have one, and I rather like the bar detailing on this one.

Or these lovely porcelain bangles? (I am a sucker for porcelain plus jewellery!)

Or this extremely cute dinosaur necklace?

Or these lovely little earrings?

OH GOOD GOD, NO, IT HAS TO BE...

A MICROSCOPE NECKLACE!!! =D Okay, so this is probably only the perfect present for the Organic Chemistry PhD student... (Which my friend is, by the way!)

Oh, how I do love present shopping!

Xxxc

Shirtless.

As Springtime appears to be inching into our midst, I have to contend with cool walks to work and a boiling office once I get there... The time for light jumpers is passed, and it has to be light tops and cardies. Unfortunately I have very little in that area, aside from a few dry clean only shirts, and some vintage finds. Thus, I am on a hunt, people! For reasonably priced, okay, make that low priced, tops that are suitable for a relatively-smart-workwear office.

Today I had a mildly successful charity shop hunt, which unearthed a white cropped broderie anglaise top that might fit with high waisted skirts and trousers, and a black silk shirt for potential work use... Can't wait to play, particularly with the black shirt, next week!

What are people thinking about TopShop for workwear at the mo? I bought their mint green short sleeve, voluminous, slightly sheer shirt, which I wear tucked in with grey trousers and a shell pink cardie and white boots. Sheer? you may ask, but I have only had compliments on it at the office...



Tempted to invest in another couple of their shirts...

 or 

Do you think buying the same thing in different colours is a good way to go? Or is too similar every day a bit unoriginal? Or is the fact that it's workwear mean being original isn't top of the agenda...?

The thing about these is, I know they fit. If I weren't so worried about fit, I'd go for this shirt at Rokit...




Sigh. Only 2 days to pay day! Then, I might manage a shirt or two... I just feel like such a scruff with my endless cycle of slightly tired outfits. I really do hate feeling Blah, even if it is "just" the office.

For a quick overview, my office is very female dominated, with no clear dress code. It's pretty hierarchical to be honest. The men are all at officer level (middle rank) and wear suits and ties. The women at manager level (top rank) are all similarly smart, wearing suits and classy dresses. The female officers tend to go for more of a top and skirt approach, with the assistants generally bringing up the rear in - for the most part - generally scruffy workwear. It was the oddest thing for me, starting 6 months ago, to find that people think it's acceptable to turn up to work in clothes I wouldn't even wear on a scruffy-day on the weekend. Okay, so I probably sound mean, but I happen to feel that at work, you should dress for the job you want in the long run, not for the job you have. In an office where the majority are at least well-dressed enough to hold a meeting with a client, I think it's bad form for the assistants to turn up looking like they don't bother, or don't notice, that we work in a professional environment.

Don't get me wrong, I have a few days where I wear a pretty skirt, or a sheer shirt (with cami, obviously), i.e. clothes probably too frivolous for, say, a lawyers' office, but generally, I try to present a professional image. Amusingly enough, of the six of us at assistant level, three of us take the dress-for-the-job-you-want route, with three taking the other, and guess what...? The two groups sit together on different "pods". Groupthink mayhaps?

What do you guys think of this? Is it important to you to project a professional image at work, or are you more about comfort?

Xxxc

If only I was older and wiser...

I'd maybe be able to act on some of my fantasy wishlists!

Today, I've been yearning for Jonathon Saunders' acid brights, up now on Net-A-Porter.

Quite bright, I must admit... But I feel that it would be suitable for the spring days ahead!

(Jonathon Saunders dress, Crumpet cardigan, Proenza Schouler bag, Aurelie Biderman bracelet, Marc by Marc Jacobs bracelet, Lanvin brooch, Lanvin ballet pumps)

Ah to be able to afford even just one of these cute things!

Xxxc