Wednesday 30 October 2013

Happy halloween

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Asos patent skirt
cobweb cape made by mother
Topshop heels
H&M hat
pumpkins by me

Possibly the first time I've been organised enough to do a holiday themed post! Hope you enjoy your Halloween and I'll post photos of my costume soon! :)

Monday 28 October 2013

Open arms for broken hearts

^ Elbow

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Urban Outfitters sweater
Cheap Monday denim skirt
a completely random mix of gifted makeup

A Sunday morning drinking tea and learning makeup techniques, inspired by my dance teacher's daughter who did my makeup for a dance show the other day. I've been facepainting a lot in the last few days (practising for Halloween, duh) so I figured it was a good time to finally nail this whole smoky eye thing. And blusher. I know for some people, this is something they do every day/weekend but for me it's a huge revelation (and way too much effort to do regularly). I also changed my nose ring to a gold one, as per mother's insistence, but it's substantially bigger and a LOT shinier than my original one so it's taking some getting used to! :)

Saturday 26 October 2013

Do I Wanna Know?

^Arctic Monkeys

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Asos skirt
vintage denim jacket
really old fluffy gilet/vest
father's tshirt
self-made necklace
Doc Martens

This outfit is right up there with my all-time favourites. The contrast of the shiny shiny skirt and the fluffy pink jacket kept me happy all day. Before I buy something, it typically has to become part of my virtual mind wardrobe and this vinyl skirt has been in my head for weeks. :)

Thursday 24 October 2013

Why'd You Only Call Me


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Arctic Monkeys tshirt
old leggings
River Island shoes
Miss Selfridge coat
H&M bag
vintage brooch

I went to see the Arctic Monkeys yesterday and since then, refuse to take off this top because it is super comfortable and also just about long enough to function as a socially-acceptable dress. Maybe. Anyway, it fills the raglan-sleeve baseball top hole in my wardrobe. :)

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Factory girl

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Asos jeans
vintage denim jacket
H&M shirt
Sekonda watch
Doc Martens
grandmother's scarf

...Or, you know, car park girl. I received this scarf, which was originally my English grandmother's a few months ago but didn't know how to wear it for a while since it's too precious to tie on the handle of the bag I schlep around all day. :)

Sunday 20 October 2013

Long Walk Home

^Bruce Springsteen

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Asos jeans
shirt made by my grandmother
father's jacket
Underground creepers
backpack from Spain
gifted earrings

Found a new place to take photos while on my way to meet friends for a chilled Sunday lunch. Also had multiple arguments over the definition of "coat" versus "jacket". The definitive (read: my) answer being that you can wear something (ie. a coat) over a jacket but you can't wear anything over a coat because it's the top layer (belts don't count). At the moment, it's jacket-and-optional-sweater weather, which is my favourite kind of weather. :)

Friday 18 October 2013

Inspiration - Teddy Girls


Images from Glamour UK, We The People Style,
a real Teddy Girl by Ken Russell, Sea of Shoes, Jak and Jil

Pale coats, slim (and cropped) pants, chunky creepers/winklepickers/loafers, long skirts, silk scarves, structured handbags, netted hats, shiny skirts, bare legs and fluffy jumpers are the images going round and round in my head right now. I'm just so in love with (my romanticised idea of) the 50's, from the sweet poodle skirts to the badassness going on in the above photoshoot inspired by the widely unknown Teddy Girls. :)

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Interlude - Inspiration trickles

I only post inspiration pictures after I've already been inspired by that particular theme for a while - if I can't get it out of my head for a few days, I'll still be feeling it in the next few weeks. But I've noticed that it can take quite a long time for that inspiration to filter down to my more unplanned "easy" looks. For example, it was maybe a year or two ago that I was super inspired by everything grungy but it wasn't until earlier this year that I realised that my go-to down-time look consisted of grey, plaid and old denim. I think what I'm trying to say is that sometimes I deliberately try to channel a theme I'm inspired by and sometimes, after a while I just do it without realising, but that no-one can tell which case it is by just looking at me, which is an interesting thought. But at the moment, I'm deliberately trying to dress like the photos in my latest inspiration post because what is personal style if not having fun dressing up and testing yourself?

Saturday 12 October 2013

Alternative images

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The results of two of my Friday projects for art school. The first set of photos is from a project on "alternative images" for which I used spray paint to create images of safety pins on clothes, inspired by the clothes I saw at the Met's Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibition this summer. The other photos are of wire jewellery I made for a project on signs, symbols, words and numbers. The double bracelet/handcuffs describes an internet "journey" in symbols and the veil in words. They're made out of wire to symbolise the iron hold technology has on us... ignore me if I'm getting too conceptual. :)

Thursday 10 October 2013

The best day

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H&M hat
Miss Selfridge coat
Topshop chambray shirt
necklace from Amsterdam
American Apparel skirt
Converse
H&M bag
Sekonda watch
Underground creepers
Topshop jeans (cut by me)

Yesterday was my favourite type of day: chilly and autumnal with clear blue skies and a bright warming sun. There might only be one day like this a year here but it's worth it because this is the sort of weather that makes everything else pale in comparison. These are the photos I will be thinking of as I struggle through the miserable days to come. :)

Ps. However it was also very windy which explains why I am casually hanging onto my hat for dear life in every photo.

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Mink pink

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Topshop top and skirt
L's jacket
Urban Outfitters shoes
Asos earrings reworked by me
self-made necklace

I've been dreaming about this skirt since the first moment I saw it in Topshop's "Margot's World" collection lookbook (posted a few days ago) but I originally wanted it in blue. However I didn't manage to get to the shop until they'd all sold out, but I did spot this pink one on the "last chance to buy" rack so I nabbed it! And realised that I already have a pale blue full skirt so good job I ended up with this pink beauty. :)

Ps. This top is so soft and the perfect shape that I also have it in white and I think I'm going to have to go back to stock up on all the colours.

Sunday 6 October 2013

Common People

^Pulp
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old Topshop jeans (ripped by me)
vintage denim jacket
tshirt from Ebay
Zara boots
H&M hat
Topshop earrings

After stinking the house out with spray paint and burning metal, it was the perfect time to vacate to take photos in the laundromat I've always wanted to visit. I actually had to go three times because the first two times the same guy was sat in there. I love the industrial but bored what-the-hell-am-I-doing-wasting-my-time-here feel of these photos. Also I fiiiiinally got round to getting these boots re-heeled so expect to see them a lot in the next few weeks. :)

Thursday 3 October 2013

Let's go to Prada Marfa

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second-hand shirt
Asos jacket
brooches from markets in Sydney
random chain
Topshop earrings

My first full week at art school has made me pretty exhausted but on the plus side, all the reading of random art blogs 'n' stuff I do to waste time is now an officially valid and expected form of "contextual research" (hence Prada Marfa, one of my favourite installations). Also, helloooo mis-matching collar pins. :)