(7) First week finished!



Purple and Silver Scarf - Florence and Fred

 I wish I had time to take a photo that showcases these shoes better as they are the most beautiful and comfortable thing I've bought this year. They're tan suede wedge desert boots.

Busy day today. I started a DAFNE course which is all about diabetes and now I have to walk the dog before meeting Mr M to ring in his 21st birthday at midnight (because 2 parties this weekend is apparently not enough). I'd also just walked home before this photo so that is genuine wind-swept hair and british winter cheeks.

My pose remains pretty awkward but at least my face doesn't look so gormless, and I kinda like the cheeky collar pop.

I'm wearing a different outfit tonight, what's the protocol for two outfits in one day?

(6) - Keep it cool, Keep it warm

Scarf - Liberty for Comic Relief
Seriously loving this scarf, buy yours here
Also, Comic Relief T-Shirts here. I got Queenie.

Busyish day today. I went to the gym this morning with Mr Good and then had lunch in a supermarket cafe (his choice). Then home and cleaning out the rabbit shed.

You know, I love America's Next Top Model. Seriously, love it. I've seen every cycle. And every cycle there is at least one girl that gets criticised for 'forgetting her face' - her poses are great, but her face is vacant. Every single cycle I've been like "WTF dude?? Just look at the camera all serious! How hard can it be?"

Seriously, why am I so stupid at taking pictures of myself? Here's my process;

1. Turn on crappy camera. Put on anti-shake, flash and self-timer mode.
2. Balance camera precariously on something. Step tentatively back.
3. Realise camera will definitely fall. Move it to somewhere more solid.
4. Press shutter button to begin 10 second beeping countdown.
5. Rush back to the agreed* photograph area.
6. Arrange body into casual/hopefully non-awkward stance.
7. Wait for camera to take photo.
8. Watch flash.
9. Realise did not do anything with my face in the photo.
10. Review photo. Be disappointed in my face. BAD FACE

Seriously, man, it's hard.

That aside though.

I bought some new wellington boots from the supermarket, they were only £12.50 and they're really comfy. They're a softer rubber then my old ones, and have more of a Hunter-esque molded foot, as opposed to old-fashioned boot-style wellingtons. I decided to take Darcy for a muddy walk to test them out. I took my camera and got a few pictures of myself enjoying the cold weather.



Waterproof Coat - Marks and Spencers (Similar)
Wellingtons - Asda

I adore these wellies. I had a proper squelch in the mud while Darcy minced around it, not wanting to get her feet wet. I think I might get some pink rhinestones and bedazzle them a bit, just on a couple of the swallows perhaps.


Pretty dubious accessory choice but I always do this so I leave my pockets free.
Lead, worn as belt - Jollyes (always a good selection, this particular number was on sale!)



Ear muffs - Christmas present, so ask Santa ;)
Scarf - $5 from a guy on the street in New York


What do you think? Should I bedazzle my wellies? What do you think of my practical, dog-walking look?

(5) Manchester Presents...

Today I went to Manchester with Miss J to get a present from Miss H, whom I'm soon to visit in Germany.

I enjoyed playing with patterns today, wearing lace and florals together. I think it was subtle and worked well. I was originally going to introduce another texture to the outfit by wearing my leather jacket and converse pumps with this outfit, but as it happened the weather disagreed. I ended up wearing my boots and my mum's mac from about 1993.



Coat - Marks and Spencer (Vintage)



Out of my hatred for paying £10 for parking in the city, we got the train in, checked Primark for what I needed to buy later and then went along to TK Maxx to buy some Red Nose Day merchandise (it's for charideee).

Edmund Blackadder ♥

We had lunch and then went to Selfridges. I bought a couple of bits from the groceries section, got myself a yellow bag and then headed for the beauty counters. Since reading this post I've really wanted to try Benefit's newest blusher Bella Bamba I asked Miss Benefit Counter about it and she gave me a quick demo. She first used Hoola to warm up my face, put Bella Bamba on the apples of my cheeks and then finished with Girl Meets Pearl (couldn't find GMP on UK site... odd) to highlight my cheek bones and eye area.



Chubby face - Nature and Nurture
Paloma Heart Necklace - Tiffany and Co
Pearl Necklace - Grandmother's
Scarf - Liberty for Comic Relief

Even though the flash has washed me out a little in the above photo, I definitely think that the blusher stands up to its claim that it creates the illusion of sculpted features. Bella Bamba was a really pretty colour on the cheeks and Hoola is a gorgeous bronzer that I definitely want to try again; it's so rare to find a bronzer that is neither glittery nor orangey!

I then made Miss J embarrassed by insisting on painting each of my nails a different colour using the testers at the Nails Inc counter.



Shades L-R - Shoreditch, In Style London Sky, The Hurlingham,
Montpelier Square (metallic), Neal Street (matte), Chinatown, Union Street (matte),
Seven Dials, Belgrave Place, Carnaby Street



I've used a lot of Nails Inc products before but I had a lot of fun just playing at picking up bottles at random. Even though I only managed to splat on a quick, single coat I got surprisingly good coverage. I'm really impressed with all of the colours here except The Hurlingham, which is an orange red which just doesn't really suit my skin tone. I was really excited by both of the matte colours, as this is a look I haven't tried before. I really want to invest in Shoreditch, which is a true Barbie pink, Carnaby Street (a totally fitting bright yellow) and London Sky.

I picked up the presents I need to buy and after all this our feet were getting to that stage so Miss J and I headed home as soon as I was finished photographing her Jack Wills bag.

I also went to Afflecks Palace for the first time in about two years time, I'll post a follow up about that later.

(4) Errands & Welcome Home Cardigan!

Tights: Dorothy Perkins
DP are fab for tights, great selection of colours and a really nice velvet, opaque feel.

Bit of a lazy day today, just running errands with Darcy, so I had to be comfortable. First thing this morning I checked the post and found that my uncle had posted my floral cardigan to me so I was so excited I had to include it in my outfit straight away, so I worked down from that. The boots are really comfortable and grippy so they were good for conducting myself properly while the dog pulled on the lead, whereas the skirt is a stretchy, jersey number so very comfy.

The top I actually bought last summer, it's a really nice cotton with a bit of embroidery on it. The hems are sewn with purple thread so I was tempted to wear my purple pumps, but they aren't quite so useful for dog management and I wasn't quite sure about the red tights/purple combo - is that something anybody else would try?

I let my hair dry naturally too today, so it was quite wavy and bushy (thin Hermione in the first few films) but I quite like it wild. I kept my makeup basic too, although I did wear on of Urban Decay's lipsticks in the shade Buzzkill. I also have two sticks of Lovechild from UD. I love their lipsticks; gorgeous colours, easy to apply and really moisturising, they feel like a balm and yet deliver fantastic colour.

Also it's Darcy's birthday tomorrow so I went and bought her a few presents. She's settled into her haircut, but I'm not sure if I have quite yet; she looks very different! Still very cuddly though :)



I love Darcy's collar, it was a hand-me-down from her big brother. It's patterned with red, yellow,
green and blue hearts so we matched today.

Close up hair and necklace, which I bought in France whilst
skiing about 3 years ago.

(3) - Day of the Super Awkward Poses

I really need to invest in a better camera, a tripod and a less incredibly awkward body.

Also my face looks unusually aggressive.

I liked my hair today though. I love putting bows on high pony tails, it gives it a real fifties feel.

Quiffs are my fave.

Here's a dreadful quality full length too.

Darcy has had a hair cut today so she feels awkward too. Or at least she looks like she does. Possibly because I can see her eyes properly for the first time in several months.

Excuse the rubbish bags.

(2) Working the 60's

I was in work today so I had to wear black and white.

Sorry about the fuzziness/bad lighting; I was in the office/stockroom while the photographer was in the toilet/locker room.

I quite like wearing white tights instead of black for work. It really lifts the whole look.

Also I've only realised from seeing these photos how much you can see my bra through this blouse. Cami next time.

Have got my Bumpit in again and my hair half-pulled back. Big on top + Half back = Country and Western Singer to me, for some reason. A colleague said I looked very sixties though so that's nice.

I also wore my Laura Ashley knitted blazer for travelling and these photos in the garden.



Darcy decided chasing was more fun than photos



Windy today, so cold even though the celcius is up.

Fringe needs trimming. A bit too Claudia Winkleman for my liking.
I love this brooch; it makes this jacket look really Austrian.

Just realised I have to leave for the gym in like thirty minutes to make it to my aerobics class. I am so tired :(

(1) Lunch Date

Went to have lunch at a secret location today with my best friend. I got him to snap this picture just as we were leaving. It was taken at about 2pm and yet look how long the shadows are! Definitely still winter.

Ideally I would have worn my floral cardigan with this outfit instead of the jumper, but I realised today that I don't know where it is! It's either been left at my uncle's house or it's properly lost, in which case I will swap in another cardigan.

I ended up folding the jumper under and wearing a knotted belt over it so it was on my waist, not my hips (which made me look square and a lot wider).

Here are a few more awkwardly-taken self-shots.



Quickly taken in the garden to show detail on
back of skirt and vest - brr!



Believe it or not this is third-day dirty hair, thrown
up using dry shampoo and some nifty JML bits



 Kept the styling pretty simple today; black tights, grey scarf, Ray-Bans and a grey handbag. Not sure how successful the jumper alteration was, it looked alright in the mirror, like it defined my waist a bit, but not so much in the photos. Hmm.

My hair took literally a minute to do using one of these and one of these, both of which I got for cheaps from Wilkinsons. JML videos seriously make my day, I love when they are showing the alternative to their products when people are going made, like acting as if their bulldog clip is injuring them or frantically hitting a carrot with a knife.

My 30 for 30 Selections

So I'm starting my 30 for 30 wardrobe remix today, and have only just finished my selections due to my ridiculous amount of laundry. I'm actually going to spend most of tomorrow finishing washing and ironing my clothes so I don't end up actually doing a 17 for 30 remix, as the rest is lost in the laundry bureaucracy of my house.

Also my camera batteries aren't charged and, as I said, a few bits are still soggy/in the wash so I thought "Hey! I can't be bothered photographing 30 items of clothing, so why don't I DRAW THEM INSTEAD?? GENIUS!"

An hour and a half and a very cramped hand later, here we are...

Pussy-bow Blouse - Peacocks
Cotton Top - Asda
Cape Blouse - Next
3 Basic Vests - Jack Wills
 Long Sleeved T - M&S
Tunic - Top Shop
Lace Top - Asda



LBD - Next
Maxi - Dorothy Perkins
Floral - New Look



Pleated - ???
Cotton Black - Dorothy Perkins
Jersey Black - M&S
Tulip - Oasis



Leggings - Dorothy Perkins
Skinny Jeans - Asda
Jodhpurs - Next
Bootcut Jeans - GAP



Jumper - M&S
Floral Cardigan - Florence and Fred
Long Jumper - Red Herring
Knitted Blazer - Laura Ashley
Leather Jacket - TK Maxx



Wedge Desert Boots - New Look
Suede Courts - New Look
Leather Boots - M&S
Trainers - Converse
Pumps - Dorothy Perkins


So that's it! That's what I'll be wearing for the next 30 days! I'll put photos up of myself for each day and then you can attempt to match what I'm wearing to my dubious illustrations.

Fresh February

I'm currently in the process of what I call 'Sorting Out My Life'. I am reliably informed that this is commonly referred to as 'Growing Up' by people in some circles, but I will not subscribe to this nonsense.

In order to do this I am doing some boring money-ish things, but I'm also doing some exciting-ish things such as;

1. Re-decorating my bedroom
2. Getting rid of old stuff
3. Not buying ridiculous disposable fashion
4. Sorting out my bloody wardobe.

In order to do this I've decided to have a bit of a Fresh February and to help me along I am doing a couple of challenges I've found on other blogs.

For starters, I am doing Shoeperwoman's Shoeper Shoe Challenge. It starts on the 14th of February and lasts for one year. The idea is to count up all of your shoes and wear every single pair before the 14th of February 2012. Every. Single. Pair.

Oh my. The point it that if you haven't worn a pair after a year then you throw it away; use it or lose it!






I'm also going to blog along with Kendi as I do the 30 for 30 Challenge. She has done this several times as a way of Remixing her wardrobe and I think it's a brilliant idea! The rules are;

1. Pick 30 items from your wardobe (not incl. accessories ie; gloves, scarves, necklaces, hats).
2. Style them into 30 different outfits over 30 days.
3. Do not shop for 30 days.

  
I'm so excited to give this a try. I recently organised all of my laundry and I had seven loads of washing. SEVEN. That is RIDICULOUS. I think that after 30 days of not wearing certain items I'll be able to make much more rational decisions regarding getting rid of old clothes ("If I've gone without it for 30 days and had forgotten it existed...."). So I'll be starting that on Tuesday the 1st of February and blogging my outfits. I'm hoping I'll be a little more imaginative with my styling as I'll have much fewer pieces to work with.

I've also noticed that Gemma of Big Girls Browse is having a Frugal February and not spending on non-essential items for a month. I think this is a good idea that I will try and stick to as much as possible (avoid the stationary... it's like crack to me), probably excluding my trip to Tuebingen to visit Miss H. I won't be buying clothes anyway for the 30 for 30 Challenge so hopefully it'll be easier, and much kinder on my pathetic bank account. She's now posted a few more detailed 'rules', click the button to see them!




So that's it for now, all that's left to do is do it, really. I'll be posting photos irritatingly often from now on, probably. Oh my.