Afternoon at Affleck's

Today myself and my new resident photographer (a role she has taken on against her will) Miss J travelled from our industrial town to Manchester for a bit of shopping on a rainy day. After hitting the high street (and hard) we made our way off the beaten track and found ourselves entering Affleck's Palace, a quirky department store that caters to all people of all persuasions and budgets.



Source

  There's a lot to notice in Affleck's Palace, so basically a big round of applause to the following to catching my discerning eye.

Vanisha's Design Boutique - 2nd Floor (near the body piercing shop)
The first thing I noticed about Vanisha's Design Boutique was the reassuring clattering of a sewing machine. As Miss J had a browse I went to the corner of the store and met Vanisha, who sat tucked in a corner embroidering a beautiful pattern onto a t-shirt.

At first I was confused, as the machine was sewing circles into the pattern without her moving the fabric by hand. Instead, she explained, there is a handle underneath the machine that moves the cloth while the sewing head stays in the same place. The result is a beautiful, delicate chain-stitch that can be used to create fantastic curved lines.

Vanisha draws the pattern on the fabric and then follows the lines with the machine.
I love the peace symbol/heart here

Her pieces really remind me of Laura Lees' designs and she's very unafraid to use pattern or designs over images that are already printed.

She also had notices around the store saying that she is happy to discuss ideas with people for custom pieces which I think is a wonderful idea; if you have a dress that you love the shape of but hate how plain it is, or if you want a name adding onto a gift item Vanisha is happy to do so.

Vanisha also embroiders her own labels which I find completely adorable.

Wanderland Boutique - 3rd Floor

As soon as we entered Wanderland we were offered champagne and told that the boutique was celebrating its second birthday and invited to look around and try on anything we liked (a changing room is a rare and welcome thing in Affleck's, so a big thumbs up for that alone).

Of all the store areas in Affleck's Palace, I enjoyed the layout of Wanderland the most. They are lucky to have windows, creating a really light and airy space amongst the series of cluttered areas. The store makes more of its space by having less, which gets rid of the jumble-sale aspect that I find some vintage stores can have.

There are several shelves and inglenooks that are used perfectly to display select items. I loved this way of highlighting individual pieces, grouping looks together and also giving the store a really quirky, homely atmosphere.

Another thing I loved about this store was the prices, which were incredibly reasonable for the quality of the items on sale. On accessories they had group sales promotions on the already inexpensive pieces, so you definitely get more for your money.

I love this suitcase, used here to display earrings.

Wanderland strives to stock only the highest quality and most beautiful handmade, vintage and brand new items, which means they have a lot of variety in a small, ecclectic area.

One Man's Trash - 2nd Floor

I loved the selection of vintage, up-cycled and bespoke items on offer in this store and I especially loved the name as well as it speaks volumes about vintage fashion.

The shop was another one with a glorious layout, displaying clothes, accessories and various homewares clearly and with character. They also don't mind when you try things on.



"You look like Elton John" - Miss J

There were also a lot of places that had bits and pieces of Jewellery on display, a lot of it using handmade fimo clay pieces and some using new, found and vintage charms. Unfortunately due to the jumbled nature of Afflecks I was unable to get brand names for these items but I'll update as soon as I find out.

Love these fimo clay charm bracelets, especially the fruit and Peanuts characters!

(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.

I'm Starting to Hate My Own Generation

I have just been watching Channel 4's latest in a long line of ridiculous programmes. It's called "The Joy of Teen Sex" and seems to have been commissioned entirely to please perverted old men. I say this because I know for a fact that no teenager will take it seriously because, being teenagers, they will think that they KNOW IT ALL. It contains the following:

• Three 'experts'; A doctor who talks about STDs, a social worker who talks about personal problems and a blonde woman with bad roots and a victory roll whos entire roll seems to be pulling dildos out of a massive box and giggling whiles saying things like "Use lube. Lube makes everything more fun." Saucy look. "Trust me."
• Actors acting out sex acts. In incredibly horrifying detail.
• Vox pops from people describing their 'sexcapades', asking questions and discussing embarrassing problems.
• A horrifying 18-year-old 'Teen journalist' called 'Billie'.

I HATE BILLIE.

Seriously. I've spent the past half an hour furiously researching her, trying to establish how exactly she is a "teen journalist", like what credentials she has, and found that she has a MySpace, a Twitter, a Facebook and a Blog. She probably also has a Bebo but Google doesn't take that seriously. After a lot more effort I found out that she also writes for a horrifyingly over-trendy and hipster-ish magazine called Vice, of which I have seen one front cover and two pages of their website and it made me want to gouge my eyes out and set every vintage shit-stall on fire.


Examples of Vice Readers: Hipster Pricks


In the first episode she was looking into what people do to their genitals to make them appear nicer; namely Vajazzling. And we all know that Vajazzling is a tacky trend with a tackier name but it's each to their own, really. She went with this 17 year old who was getting a vajazzle and as she was getting the necessary bikini wax (she went for Hollywood, a bold choice) Billie was stood there with an expression that was simultaneously so gormless and appalled that I wanted to smash my television. She also watched a guy get his cock pierced which was, admittedly, horrifying.

It wasn't her expression that annoyed me the most, though (although it was pretty fucking annoying), it was the way that she was harping on in such a sanctomonious fashion, acting as though this girl might as well walk round with a "Free Sexual Favours" sign on, just for having a bikini wax and a bit of glitter dropped on her Vag.

This week Billie was researching glamour models and pole/lap dancers. She basically spoke down to every woman that she met, assuring them and the viewer that she would never do either job unless she had exhausted all other opportunities. In the same breath she said that she didn't think that Glamour Modelling was anything dirty or seedy (which I don't feel many people do any more, really) and that every man who had ever read Nuts or had a lap dance is a crazed pervert who constantly masturbates and wants to fuck every single pole dancer he gets near.

One girl that she was talking to was being very pragmatic as she talked about the "menu" of different dances they did at the club. She was studying for a Psychology degree, said that she loved dancing for the fitness benefits and the enjoyment she got from it, as well as the pay she recieved- up to £250 in one night. As she was discussing this, "Teen Journalist Billie" interrupted saying "But doesn't it feel dirty, knowing that you're dancing for a man who just wants to fuck you?". I doubt "Teen Journalist Billie" actually listened to the dancer's reasonable and well-considered response. She was probably too busy mentally congratulating herself for using the word 'Fuck' in an interview; that's just the sort of thing hard hitting "teen journalists" do, isn't it?

The only moment of satisfaction I got from watching any of "Teen Journalist Billie"'s segments was when she asked a glamour modelling agent if she could make it in the industry. Taking Billie's portfolio of moody, pouting shots he immediately told her no; she looked too fucking miserable.

"Teen Journalist Billie" is basically the epitome of every stereotype of teenagers that I have come to know and hate. Miserable, pouting and wearing too much eyeliner she strops around doing a job she isn't qualified for, sulking at people and sharing opinions that, if they are her own at all, are ill-thought out and not particularly considered. As far as I can tell all teenagers are currently suffering from the same disease; assuming that they know it all. I just hope they're embarrassed when, in two years' time, they realise that, actually, they know fuck all.