Riots: August 2011

Recently I tweeted that I hope people would look back at history and learn from previous riots, but it seems some people haven't done much swotting up. People are ranting and raving about 'mindless thuggery' and 'disgusting chavs'. It would be naive to suggest that there wasn't a high percentage of people who just 'jumped on the bandwagon' and rioted just for the sake it. But when have you ever heard of a random riot? In fact, I don't think that there is any event in history that hasn't had multiple factors, that hasn't had underlying issues or causes.

On Panorama tonight, a boy told the camera man that he hated everything about the police and the government. The government will always be critisised, because you can't please everyone all the time. There will always be tensions between youth and authority, be it the police or their parents but when someone is telling you that they hate everything about the running of their country then I hope those he is talking about aren't stupid enough to ignore it.

To refer back to the social soap box which is twitter: someone tweeted "Those Who Criticize Our Generation Forget Who Raised It." I'm not in favour of making excuses for any under the age of the 18. The whole 'they don't know any better' doesn't really cut it because everyone knows the difference between right and wrong. But the author of that tweet does have a point. Kids today are being born into problems that they didn't create. So when an 11 year old gets arrested for rioting, maybe think of something more articulate to say than 'chav' or 'thug.' If that 11 year old had had something productive to do that day maybe they wouldn't have been there. Surely you have to ask the question why kids that young are in that frame of mind in the first place? Some people are angered by the rioters, I'm angered by the response to the riots: the riots make me sad more than anything.

But don't get me wrong, I'm sad for the people who have been robbed and looted and beaten and I'm devastated for those who have died. I more than appreciate the fact that innocent lives have been destroyed and it's not right. I just don't think it's right either to dismiss these incidents, sweep it all under a huge carpet of ignorance and carry on until the next time social tension reaches boiling point.

Real As It Gets

"say you're looking for the real, hey well it's real as real as it gets,
as real as it gets" Jay Z

I like it when things are rough and gritty: fashion, films, music.


It will always be the Shameless of the time that gets me tuning in. The freestyle grime verse that gets me turning up; no chorus just bars upon bars. Art, in my opinion, is best when drawn from reality.
There's something so refreshing about things not being perfectly polished. My favourite films are the raw, real ones that kind of look a bit homemade but that's what makes them so great. Somehow when all the glamour is sucked out, stripped of pretence, everything just seems to become more appealing.


Not all the time. Yeah I love the glossy pages of Elle, an airbrushed Hollywood chick flick and a catchy pop chorus as much as the next girl but it's the raw stuff, the real stuff that grabs my interest and actually makes me think. Most of all I love real fashion ...

I love looking at people's style in the street, because that's often where you find the most creative ensembles. Sometimes I want to grab randomers and say let me photograph you so I can lust over your outfit forever, but I'd probably get arrested, so I don't. Luckily I have some highly creative friends and family who let me take pictures of them. There is no theme to these pictures, just real people and real places that I happen to think are really cool.

I feel like I know a very eclectic, interesting group of people, I'm no Corrine Day, but these pictures are just the tiniest snippet into all the different types of real styles that inspire me daily.

Summer Lessons

Having recently got back from Zante, I thought I would be kind and share some tips that I have learned both personally and from observing friend's experiences.

1. Wearing a playsuit when drunk can cause extreme difficulty when going to the toilet causing several catastrophic border line wetting yourself moments - cue screaming and jumping up and down on the spot

2. Leotards are easier to get out of when bursting for the toilet, but it's getting back in that's the trouble. There is only so many times your mate will fiddle around in your crotch region to do it back up for you

3. The bathroom floor is only a comfortable place to sleep until you sober up. Then it's cold and wet.

4. Just because shots are only one euro does not mean you have to get 5. In each bar.

5. Just because after one day, your boobs/back/legs are not as tanned as you want them to be, does not mean it's acceptable to just not put sun cream on them

6. If they are not the colour you want them to be on the last day, then it's acceptable: desperate times ...

 7. After you've pulled a guy, wait until he leaves the room to ask your friends what his name is.

8. Everyone thinks their hometown is the best, but the truth is no one actually cares where you're from, so if you want to make friends don't go round screaming your post code out/writing it on people at every possible opportunity. If you don't want to make friends then crack on.

9. When you get back to England, you will need to ween yourself off of sun and alcohol. I suggest a glass of wine in the morning and standing next to a heated oven or maybe even in the boiler cupboard, it depends how bad your withdrawal symptoms are

10. When you are feeling at your lowest, just remembered that there at least 3/4 days of British summertime to look forward to every year

Enjoy your summer hols! :)

Fashion is for Fools (apparently)

As a self confessed fashion addict; a girl who would spend her last hope of paying rent on time for those shoes she reeeally wants; a girl who turned down a History degree at a fairly good university to do fashion journalism at a new and not yet critically acclaimed one, (much to the dismay of every adult around me): I started to wonder if I was a little shallow. I sometimes feel guilty for my passion, but then I thought why should I? If science was my thing, and I spent all day flicking through encyclopedias and I sacrificed other things to indulge in experiments people would applaud. Even when kids start collecting stamps and Pokemon cards that's OK; but when I start collecting dresses, oh no, that's another story ...

Why do some people have such a problem with fashion? They sneer at it, look down their nose at it or disregard it completely. But why is one of the largest, most influential and most profitable industries in the entire world seen as such a joke? The words 'Mickey Mouse' subject springs to mind. Shallow and stupid come shortly after. Just because fashion occupies a part of the brain doesn't mean there's nothing going on in the rest of it. Fashion writing is the absolute lowest form of writing imaginable but is read by billions. A little ironic don’t you think?

As much as I love fashion and following trends, ‘fashion’ in itself is much deeper than that. Take away fashion and just look at clothing. It can be a uniform, a status symbol, or just a tiny snippet of you mood/personality/music taste. Clothing is an outer representation of the inner. It shouldn’t be the only point of judgement but it’s still an important one. If you have an interview in an office, a suit would be appropriate: because you want to give the impression of smartness and reliability. Showing that you take pride in your appearance, will be judged by your potential employers as an indication that you take pride in other aspects of your life, eg your job. And of course they will speak to you, read your CV, ring previous employers, but that first impression is key, and you wouldn’t want that impression to be spoilt be a bad outfit choice now would you? Clothes present to people the impression that you want to give them, whether you do it consciously or not.

Culture is made up of many things: art, history, music, politics … fashion. All of the elements that make up a particular culture are interlinked. They all influence each other. Music and fashion are probably the most closely related, having recently done research into British subcultures, every fashion fade has had a music genre to match or vice versa. Take the Teddy Boys and Girls, who put a fashionable finger up to strict 1950's society, creating the 'teenager' as we know it. Telling me that fashion has not helped shape society is like telling me that Martin Luther King had no impact on Black History.

Ted Girl

I’m not saying that every t-shirt tells a story, but the majority of fashion trends happen for a reason. There are reasons for why everyone wears everything, nothing is by accident. Even if you genuinely don’t care about fashion and choose not to indulge in it, it's still a conscious choice to wear a plain t shirt and un-branded shoes. Even the choice NOT to be fashionable is still an indication of how you feel about it. Everything in life is a choice. Including what you wear when you wake up in the morning, which is why fashion fascinates me.

I’m a little bit protective of fashion, I feel like I constantly have to prove my self and defend my hobby and ultimately my career choice. When I asked my boyfriend if he thought I was shallow and if I should have done history instead. He replied that wouldn’t it have been much more shallow to do something that I didn’t love for fear of not impressing other people? Fashion lovers: hold your head up high, because I think he makes a very valid point.

A New Direction with more Rambling and Orangeness

Rambling
When I first started this blog, I wanted it to have structure. I intended for each blog to have a specific subject. I didn't want it to just be a rambling monologue of my thoughts, because I'm really not that cool or important. Who really cares if I saw a nice dress in Topshop or if the S3 was late again? But by trying to be so topical all the time I've been missing out on lots of fun to talk about. Life digresses, people go off on tandems, so expect some more freedom in my posts (basically rambling monologues of my thoughts).

Feeling Fruity

First thing that I've been thinking about a lot is my love/hate relationship with fruit. Yes I'll admit it: when it comes to fruit, I am a bit of a diva! I only eat fruit that is aesthetically pleasing. If it's bruised - forget it! And there is no way that I would eat fruit that was deformed in anyway. (Don't worry, I don't judge human beings quite as harshly as I judge fruit.) I cannot contemplate eating fruit that is going even slightly soft - leaving me only a few days scoop and resulting in a lot of wastage - this is probably why I have a vendetta against bananas: the softness is awful! They disgust me: the smell, taste and texture! My 'friends' used to plant banana skins in my bag just to watch me squeal and run around the classroom. I won't name names, but thank you Jessica Foster (main culprit) for deepening my hatred of bananas throughout secondary school.

ewwww!

Orange!
One fruit I do like however is oranges (perfectly peeled and pipeless of course). Which leads me nicely on to my next topic: I am loving the colour orange right now! I've been on the coral bandwagon for a while and now I'm loving what I would describe as 'proper' orange - the brighter the better. I was doing a spot of windonet shopping (internet window shopping) and I came across these lovely orange things ... take a look ...

Asos

Aqua

Asos

me in orange from Miss Selfridge

Nail varnish: of course by Barry, because this fella seems to have every colour in the world

My mum found a bright orange maxi in a charity shop for £3.50. It's shirt collar gives it a nice little 70s element for S/S 11 too - pictures to follow :)

And one final thought to share with you before I go: I am trying out orange lipstick and I do not care what anyone says!

x

Wishing Away April

Roll on May
Life is far, far too precious to wish away and I would hate to waste a second of it, but if I could just fast forward it a little to mid - May that would be excellent ...

What's so special about May you ask? Well in May not only will all my work be handed in but I will get a lovely little dosage of student loan to see me through the long, lazy summer. (Before anyone starts hating on students and how we 'waste' tax payers money on our frivolities - my long hours slogging away at Gap and Sports Direct heavily supplement this loan so don't worry!)

Anyway, when I get my loan and all my overtime from the Easter holidays, I plan to stuff my wardrobe silly with gorgeous new summer purchases. And as I won't be chained to the library anymore I will actually be able to show them off. Here's just a few items on my wish list ... (and no I don't care that by the time I pay my rent, phone bill, water bill and credit card I will realistically only have enough for a brief spree in Primark - a girl can dream can't she?)

Stripes

Nautical clothing marks the arrival of warmer weather, so I plan to celebrate the sun in stripes.

Playsuit: Missguided

Quite possibly the best summer dress ever: Motel (available with Topshop)
Can you say longevity?

Ethical Tees
Also on my wish list, is one of these organic fair trade tees brought to my attention by The Guardian's Fashion Statement (of which I am a devout follower). Ethical clothing is big news at the moment which to be honest I think is long over-due: it will be nice to make a purchase with only the personal guilt of my battered bank balance and not of social responsibilities as well.

The T-shirts are the love child of Collective (fair trade clothing company) and the late photographer Bob Carlos Clarke and The Little Black Gallery. I actually cannot wait - I will have to though, as I can't find the date or location of launch just yet, but my point is I am very excited!

Espadrilles
While I'm here I'd like to give a little ode to espadrilles. I myself cannot wear them because I just look plain wierd and I have a sneaky feeling that they make my feet look the size of a canal boat. But for those of you who can wear them - enjoy - because they are quirky cool (in both the temperature and slang sense of the word) and comfortable. Plus they go with dresses, skirts, shorts, chinos, carrots, jeans ... (point made?)

New Look has a really good range of espadrilles in a few colours and patterns. The 2 for £10 offer is finished but at only £6.99 they're still a bargain. Here's a couple of example espis ...

Or why not push the boat out and get heeled espis like these Topshop ones:

Blouses

And last but not least I will for sure be buying blouse of two. Chiffons shirts are pretty and girlie. They are great for summer because they are nice and breezy. I already own a grey Gap one (pictured below teamed with a leather Zara skirt, Topshop bag and New Look wedges - (ignore the ridiculous facial expression).

me and shaunna

But now that it's nearly summer, I think a few sleeveless ones are in order. And the best bit? If your body isn't 'beach ready' yet, then they flow brilliantly over any excess lumps and bumps that you don't feel like showing off.

Pussybow: Topshop

Horsey: Republic

And here's another long sleeved one just in case, because let's be honest, British summer doesn't necessarily mean sun

L/S: Desire Clothing

I'll let you know if I actually manage to make any of these fantasy purchases!

xxx

Keep It High

I've noticed recently that a lot of mags have been picking up on the high top trend, despite it having been around for a long time now. Going from chav to chep, a lust for high tops was a natural and welcome progression from my pink air forces. Here's my ode to all things high ...



so cute but could be higher

Above: One of Elle's best buys of the week by Spring Court found in The Goodhood Store £97

Also by Spring Court ...

proof that a bit of leopard print makes everything better

Candy Colours:

sweet enough to eat

BURST of COLOUR

Tell me this is not the coolest footwear you've ever seen in you're life?