Get the London Look...

Hehe. Perdy.


I set myself a challenge about 30 minutes ago - to make a great outfit for under 50 pounds. I failed. I got distracted.

I did make a good start though, seeing which sites work well with the import option for Polyvore...then I just started throwing in the designer as well.

Whoops! I like the results though!

RAWR by pamjalibri featuring Lulu Guinness bags

Items in this set:

Asymmetric Bow Shell Top, 16 GBP

Lulu Guinness London Taxi Clutch Handbag, Black, 295 GBP

Studded leather gloves, $395

Lee Angel Crystal-embellished earrings, $90

Gloss Unlimited Pink Collection - PK378, $22

A New Obsession Has Struck

I just discovered Polyvore.

I can tell you how its taken this long - I knew of its existence and yet, for the life of me, I could remember nothing of its name apart from it beginning with 'P'.

However, then a kindly blogger article on IFB jogged my memory and now I have no need to work, because I could quite happily play with this thing all day long.

The only issue is that a large proportion of the clothes are not actually availible on the highstreet...they are designer. I never knew I had expensive taste before this! Its a terrible development, so now I guess I really need someone to employ me, if not so I don't starve, then just because I need (need!) the gold and black stud spike ring from Landver. *sob*

 

  

Adore Polyvore!!!

Tribute

I love Lady Gaga, and I just saw this tribute song from the Brits for Alexander McQueen.

She looks like a delicate, ethereal alien with such a distinctive voice. Check it out...

Lady Gaga Alexander McQueen Tribute

A Sketch here, a Splash of Paint There

I am toying with the idea od building my own portfolio website for my photography. I have been looking around for some inspiration as to layouts and so on, and I stumbled upon this graphic designer, Rik Oostenbroek

I love this image:

 

Anyways, I was looking at it and thinking about the classical easy-to-wear outfit of a white t-shirt and jeans and how everyone, but everyone, wears that same combonation completey differently. It never looks the same on anyone. Another model and that image above would be completely different. 

So today, I am going to put together three alternate t-shirt and jeans looks. Its going to take some imagination to get the look right, as I can't actually don these outfits myself unless I become a hardened criminal mastermind...

The first has a sort of pretty grunge thing going on:

The Miss Selfridge One Shoulder Tee paired with the very funky Diesel Ripped Skinnies is almost (but not quite) an Uptown girl morphology into Downtown girl. Bizarre. However, paired with the pretty Miss Selfridge Bird Print Scarf in very seasonable nudes to keep the chill off your left shoulder, it works with the Miss Selfridge Black Lace-up Boot to create a good 'stomping about town' look that works for dealing with boring chores at the post office to meeting friends for a drink in the evening at the pub. The ASOS Metal Geometric Earrings make it a bit more glamourous, so that even if it is so cold you have to cover the whole lot with a massive woolen coat, there is something there that sparkles.

The second look is kind of preppy, with a bit of a 70s thing going on:

I'd wear the ASOS Puff Sleeve Tee tucked into the ASOS Kickflare Jeans and then cinch in the waist area with the ever-so-groovy Miss Selfridge Floral Corset Belt to create a sexy silhouette. The Miss Selfridge Tan Satchel would hold everything one needs for a day trip, as well as leaving hands free for phones/touching fabric/eating delicious bakery goods...yum. The Mango Peep Toe Espadrilles round off the 70s/flared look of the jeans and also prove more comfy than mega-heels for a day on your feet.

The third, and final look, is going to be called 'comfy eclectism'. Just because:

The fairtrade cotton, deliciously snuggly-looking Mango Zip Back Tee and the cosy Miss Selfridge Cuffed Jeans  would work together to create a subtly confident look. The Dorothy Perkins Teal Heels would keep posture good and put a spring in your step that comes from looking fabulous while wearing stuff that could essentially pass as pajamas. Lastly, the Dorothy Perkins Clock Necklace and ASOS Bowler Hat add a bit of edgy style that keep it all looking pulled together and good, instead of 'tumbled out of bed and dressed'.

I looove the last look so much, I want it now. Desperately.

Which of the three looks do you like best?
	Look 1: Grungy Pretty
	Look 2: Preppy 70s
	Look 3: Comfy Eclectic
pollcode.com free polls

Studs and Swishing

Thank-you for the goodwishes for my interview! Now comes the waiting game for the hearback...fingers crossed!

I have been wandering about looking at backdrops that may prove useful for photoshoots recently. I am really excited to get out and about and start styling up some shots again.

Thus, today, I find myself putting together an outfit that suits my mood of striding about directing things.

 

The New Look top/tunic is a lightweight chiffon in a lovely warm slate grey with some awesome studding and pocket details. Its ladylike, but tough at the same time. I've paired it with some acid wash leggings from Topshop, which keep the legs streamlined and the tunic decent.

The New Look shoes, with their lace-up detail and strappy bits look secure to walk in apart from anything else - but I think they add something to the outfit.

I have a weakness for a rakishly tilted trilby paired with dangly earrings, and this black felt from New Look, along with the New Look earrings are exactly what I had in mind.

I'm thinking a low ponytail, maybe pulled to the side a bit, with lined eyes and a pink lip for a pop of colour.

Then I can accessorise with my camera bag and tripod and I'm good to go!

Distraction Techniques

Okay. In order to keep my brain in a state of calm, having done all the prep in advance and now having two hours before I have to leave for my interview in which to, potentially, run about the house whimpering, I have done a blog post.

So, having decided previously that I needed new shoes in oreder to look presentable, I popped into New Look yesterday, knowing that they would have something that would look the part, feel relatively comfy and also not necessitate that I buy no food for the next week.

So I tried all these on...

 

I realise its quite a few, but one can never be too careful when purchasing shoes...

Anyways, I went with the ones on the top right in the end, as they are business-like without being too 'fashion' and the strap means they won't suddenly fall off and make me fall over as I step up to shake hands.

Those grey ones are gorgeous, very 30s and the small heeled black ones with the studded bow are seriously comfy, but a bit too cutesy for the situation.

I don't usually like pointed toes on my shoes, but the lace-up ones in the bottom left were actually pretty funky, especially paired as they were with my bright purple tights! (Not the tights I will be wearing to the interview, you may be pleased to hear!)

Whoop de Whoop! Call Back!

Wahey! So I have finally been granted an interview!

The question is, what do I wear? Now I know I did a feature on this not too long ago, but having actually got an interview lined up, I checked out some sites on appropriate attire - turns out my lovely bright mint dress and pink coat combo would probably create a very bad impression at anything other than a fashion magazine. Quite possibly not work too well there either. Doh.

The word on the scene is conservative. Black/grey/navy suit, plain white shirt, shined matching shoes...ideally ditch the handbag altogether! Horrific as this statement of interview attire is, what is worse is that it has thrown me into a veritable tizzy.

My only plain, sensible shoes are some old black courts, scuffed on the front. My blazer jacket, while black, is also pinstriped and therefore not matching to either my black skirt or my black trousers. White shirts? What do you wear under a white shirt so that you are not indecently showing off your bra? Questions, questions.

I have come to the conclusion that an emergency run on the shops will have to be made. New shoes are definately in order, thats a given. But do I just cave to the pre-interview jitters and buy a whole new look to obey the stringent rules of interview dressing? Afterall, the whole point is to gain money...does one spend money for the potential to make more?

What is more, my hair! It has not been properly cut since before I went on my gap trip round NZ and Oz...I returned three weeks ago, but does my hair need to metamorphose from its scruffy traveller look to a more upmarket do? Geesh! Who knew that merely being granted an interview would be so stressful! This is before even having to go through with it!

(You may be interested to know that for men, a tie must be worn, it must be silk, 3 1/4 inches at the widest point, with a modest pattern and, ideally, in red or burgandy. How exacting! How do they not end up with a queue of matching man-clones standing in the corridor?)

Any ideas? Anyone? Please?!

Design and Make

I know I mentioned the build-your-own Converse, but when I previously tried to go on it, the web crashed.

So I went on it again today, and now I am addicted. It is beyond awesome to play with - and so customisable! Usually, they let you change a single colour or something, but here you can actually change everything, with prints and colours! Here is my first go. I am loving it so much! Now I just need to rustle up the money to order them in from America...also, the willpower to not plaster the blog with millions of different versions of Converse...

Raining, and I Want to be in a Coffee Shop

So, today it is in that weird state of grey, colourless void outside. It can't decide whether to rain or snow. I'm lazing about inside, applying to various jobs I find online, knowing that later I have to go out and do the grocery shopping, or else I will starve. Joy.

To soothe my fractured spirits, I have done a brief bout of outfit shopping...Here's my lazy look for the day.

Sooo, the Warehouse Playsuit looks divinely comfy - I adore playsuits and since they have come into fashion they are way more affordable than they used to be! In more designs too, which is always a good thing. The silkiness should go some way towards keeping me warm too!
I'd layer the Cheap Monday Tee with its groovy diamond print underneath, and pin the whimsical little polka-dot teapot Dollydagger Brooch onto one of the straps of the playsuit. Then I'd team the whole ensemble with these button detail Topshop Socks (probably layered over nude tights so I don't freeze) and these bright and cheerful Yellow Converse.

I found on the converse site that you can design your own! There is my newfound love!

Catwalk Clone Dress

So, I was checking around some sites for dresses (its my birthday party tonight and despite already owning the dress I want to wear, it never hurts to look...) and I found a dress on boohoo.com which is a dead ringer for this Luella frock (Style.com).

 

Well, you can see how it was styled on the catwalk, but with its obvious Vday featurette, I figured I would give it a go - its a definately noticeable dress, but how versatile is it?

So first off I gave it my spin on the fifties rockabilly look, just for funsies.

 

So thats the boohoo.com dress (it is like deja vu, I swear), paired with these absolutely mental Polka Dot Platforms for some real height and to make that skirt swing! Geesh, those things would give anyone legs like a giraffe...if you can still walk in them, props to you.

Then, some shiny shiny black agate Lola Rose Earrings to peep out from a less fifties, more 2010 tousled 'do, and finally (because it is still freezing outside) an awesome studded Miss Selfridge Leather Jacket to top off the whole thing and give it a bit of attitude - attitude that would need to be backed up, because as already mentioned, there is going to be no running happening in those shoes!

The second look is more Spring than Autumn. It focuses on the trend for pastels which, weirdly, I have fallen for, hook, line and sinker. Usually I only like brights, but hey.

I am loving this look. Okay, I'd wear the Miss Selfridge Parka open over the dress, as a pop of colour and to show off the French Connection Floral Belt detail - texture and the satiny sheen will pick up the flowers nicely against the dress. The ASOS Boots tie the look together as chic rather than scrubby, as does the Net Bow Clip which, if worn at a rakish angle adds a little bit of British to what is a more Parisienne colour-scheme.

I guess it is quite versatile after all - there were loads of looks I could have gone for, but I restrained myself :p

This Day is Just Another Shade of Grey

Okay, today is a bad day. I've been waiting around all day for a job offer which has not happened and I am now miserable.

However, I am going to pick myself back up by going upstairs, dusting off my sewing machine, making some cushions with the awesome fabric remnants I bought recently and starting my own, fabulous money-making empire of comfyness. So there, World.

I did see these earrings though, and I thought they were pretty cool. They are from MissBibi.

Dreaming of Working..?

What with my slight obsession with securing a job to earn me the monies over the last week or so, I have been trawling the net and the ad rags ceaselessly looking for suitable vacancies and applying.

Now interviews are on my mind, and what with the bleak greyness outside, I think my interview-wear fantasy took a definate turn for the colourful. Well, I know it did, because I have visual evidence.

 

The majority is from Dorothy Perkins, my go-to place for instant work-oriented pieces and the brooch is a smoky blue glass heart from prizmatic. 

The lovely grey shoes work nicely for a day sitting in interviewing style and come in blue and cream as well. (I want all three colourways. Now. I am sure they would boost my credibility).

The cuff says 'elegant', and picks up the button detailing on the fitted dress, in a gorgeously eye-catching mint (very Spring!). With the pink coat worn open over the top, I have no doubt I would leave an impression in the interviewers mind...and thats before I say anything, too!

A Bit of a Mad Rush on Topshop

Ok. I saw this Ashish for Topshop jumper and immediately thought - 'Wow! Impractical as, but wow!'

So then I was thinking what I would wear it with. The fact that it would have to wait until it was warmer notwithstanding (unless they start making jackets with spike holes in the shoulders, which seems unlikely), I ended up trawling the Topshop site in a bid to create two different outfits using the same jumper and only Topshop products. Not hard, but fun :)

In the end, I have a sexy, lady-like look and grunge girlie look.

The jumper, worn tucked into the body con skirt, with its demure ruffle stripe and topped with the waist cinching studded belt to hide the 'join' would show off the waist nicely, the sky high grey platforms are just necessary to echo the spikes on the shoulder and the pencil-like fit of the skirt.

I think the studded gloves and fabric-strung pearls are just enough 'lady-like' to tie in but also whimsical enough to make the whole thing interesting. Lots of textures and shades of the same colour - grown up rock chick glamour!

As for the grungy girl look, obviously battered workmans boots are going to make an appearance somewhere (hopefully the feet) and the floral shorts are floaty enough to denote 'girlie' (along with the print) but still allow you to sit however you like and climb trees without flashing. Always a good thing in an outfit!

I have a weakness for veiled headpieces and the bow, combined with the heart-print tights, just add a cute-cool edge to the outfit. I'd wear the watch loose over the wrist with the sleeves of the jumper tucked up and over my elbows.

All I need now is some wild-child punk inspired hair and a crazy coloured lip and there are two awesome outfits!

Jumping the Gun to Vday Casual

For those not entirely obsessed by the pink and red season, I suggest a more off-beat and less obvious V-Day attire. For day anyways, why not go all out frock fabulous for nighttime?

I doubt my boy or I will have money by V-day for any sort of celebration, and I always feel it would hypocritical of me to go out and do something on the day in question as I am one of those miserable, 'Its all for Hallmark' people. Not to mention it comes after a succession of no less than six birthdays in the two weeks prior, including those of myself and my boy. So the urge to go out and party is replaced by then by the urge to sit in with a duvet and a DVD.

Still! This is what I would wear during the day, or to a more relaxed evening date.

 

Everything is from Miss Selfridge.

This top caught my eye for its classy cream and gold look and its vintage feel. I've been lusting after a pair of nude heels for, oh, about two weeks now and these defintely tick all the boxes.  

The matt, leather-look leggings streamline everything and keep it edgy instead of moving into frump territory by covering up with jeans or, worse, venturing into undressed mode with a mini. Shorts could be fun with it in summer, for a festival or garden party, but I'm feeling the black at the moment.

The bow is just the icing on top - no jewellery should be made to compete with the beading on the top. All in all, a highly desirable outfit, methinks.

Everything I Want in One Picture

So, one of the side-effects of being officially unemployed and having no more money to my name than that that buys me some pasta sauce on half price from Tesco for dinner, is the desire to be buying things.

It is unfair - at no other time than when I cannot buy stuff am I so pulled together and stylish, and yet unable to actually be pulled together and stylishdue to the inability to be buying the stuff. Grr.

Thus, I indulge my need with a quick scan of the sites...this look below is a random one, occurring quite by chance, in that I picked all my favourite things around at that precise moment and put them together and it kinda, actually worked. Now I want this outfit.

 

The shorts and necklace are Miss Selfridge, the boots, body and tights Topshop. I am seriously jonesing for something with braces right now, I'll even settle for just a pair of braces to attach to stuff I already own! Coloured, maybe some printed - they would be awesome!

For some reason I just love the whole streamlined, non-over-the-top sexiness of a body (even if they are seriously impractical...although the New Look ones have poppers!) and I am attempting to channel some Parisienne chic this season with greys and powder pinks and navies.

The tights and necklace add a splash of cute and quirky that I'm finding irresistable at the moment for some reason. Not my usual style, but hey, it is definately having a moment with me. 

As for the boots - what is not to love? Desperately trying to find someone who has money and loves me enough to by them for me for my birthday...unlikely, as everyone I know is broke too. Hmm, beg, borrow...steal?