Voyage

Sincere apologies, really. I've not really got an excuse for my ridiculous absence except the fact that I've been crazy busy. Finally finished school for summer today, but cried my eyes out because my the nicest man in the entire world (my French teacher) retired.

This is a pathetic little excuse for a post as I'm going to Italy on Friday (YAYAYAY!!) with choir and then staying on for another 5 days with my parents. I'm very excited - we're singing in the Vatican!

So, here are four pairs of shoes that made my heart melt four times in a row. I'm planning my birthday present already - my mum said she'd go halves with me on a pair of designer shoes (thank you mummy!!) The (current) contenders are:


Hmm, a lot of writing today. I'll be back on the 20th, hopefully with photos! :)

Silk and Chloé

Until Friday, I'll be frantically revising crude oil, the limestone cycle and radioactivity, amongst other things, for my last two exams (YAY!!). In the meantime, I have two little dilemmas. Okay, so not really dilemmas, but decisions that I need to make. First, I have this pretty big piece of beautiful cream/white silk from Hong Kong, and I'd love to have it made into something by my wedding dress designing cousin. Only problem is, I don't know what. Here are a few ideas that I'm toying with. I'd really appreciate opinions!!



Option 1: the perfect plain white tee, except it's in silk!
Option 2: a basic button up white shirt, but in silk
Option 3: a simple silk blouse with some sort of black front detailing.

Second dilemma is between these two beauties. I can, thanks to my budget, only buy one, even though they're both on sale. So which do you think I should go for? The See by Chloé floral dress or the Chloé wedges?


I've always been terrible with decisions, so I hope other people's opinions will help!
Have a great week :)
P.S. you might have noticed that I've had a bit of a switch round layout-wise and I like it much better like this! What do you think? Gosh, a lot of questions for you today!!
P.P.S. My dad was looking at cameras on the interwebz yesterday. . . here's hoping he actually buys one soon.

Freedom

At last, exams are over! Well, until next Friday when I have my actual Biology unit 1 GCSE, soon followed by Chemistry and Physics. But we'll not mention those, hey? Sorry for abandoning the blog for two weeks, but it's been a rather stressful period. I'm not looking forward to getting my results at all, especially not my science ones. Although I actually did well in Music, contrary to what I thought! I've got 86% at the moment, which could be raised or lowered depending on how I do with my composition. :s

Anyway. Here are a few photographs from an editorial I found recently and I just thought they were completely beautiful. Click to enlarge if you so desire.



Apologies for the annoying spaces. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

P.S. Is the music player annoying? Wondering if I should take it off, even though I try to put pleasant songs first. Let me know!

Pollen Influx

Summer, I love you, but let me prepare myself first, please? See what you've done to me by coming prematurely? You've turned me into an itchy-eyed, runny-nosed mess.

Yes, so first sunny day in a good month or so today. I admit, it makes a nice change from the rain and cold, but how I wish I'd taken my hayfever tablets earlier!! After dosing up, my mother and I went on a little outing to a French antiques shop where we acquired a gargoyle (it looks more like an angry bear if you ask me) for the garden, and the most beautiful cream Louis XV mirror for my bedroom. I of course wore the newest addition to my wardrobe, which I purchased yesterday from Topshop:

I also bought a marinière/Breton-ish top and the perfect plain white tee from Gap. Thanks to some lovely comments on the last post I've decided on the second dress, the stone coloured ASOS one. Perfect for summer, I think! Another perfect summer outfit is this one I randomly created the other day, when it was far less sunny:

Completely-overpriced-but-still-gorgeous-dress from French Connection
Wedges from Topshop, via eBay
Boater hat from ASOS

This will probably be the last post for a while as my exams resume next week (it's half term now, but I still have to revise). Last week was okay, but I made a complete hash of Music. Everything else went pretty well (I think!)

Have a great bank holiday all you English people, and have a nice Monday everyone else!

Rainy day

Yet another rainy day in England. I've chosen to spend mine surrounded by highlighters, pads, pens and Spanish and French orals that need to be learned. AHHHH exams on Monday!!! Maths and Physics. I've mastered simultaneous equations and the quadratic formula, but I'm more than a little worried about Physics!

Anyway. I've been having inexplicable cravings for sun dresses this week. Maybe it's a reaction to the non-sun dress worthy weather, but I really cannot get the things out of my head.

Here are my three favourites, two of which I will have to rely on eBay for as I missed my chance last summer when they were in the shops. Which one is it to be?

Topshop (eBay)

ASOS (which colour do you like best?)

Kate Moss at Topshop (eBay)

Personal?

Style is a funny thing. For something that's supposed to be an extension of your personality, who you are and how you want the world to see you, there are so many teenage girls with their jeans tucked into UGG boots, a tacky slogan tee shirt and a cardigan. In fact, three just walked past my house! This clone effect makes me want to parade around in clothes that are different to what the average English teenage girl is wearing - it feels good not to be the same as everyone else!

The reason I started this blog was to help me find my own personal style, as I was having difficulty finding what I felt comfortable in, what I felt was really me. And you can see that process in the few posts that I've made. Earlier ones are darker and more modern and hard - lots of leather! But more recent posts contain light, pastel coloured clothes. And I do think my style has become more girly, but I still lean towards darker colours in real life. I feel more comfortable in them, but at the same time, I don't feel like myself in the leather leggings and biker jackets I used to lust for.

I think that I have finally found me, and I would describe myself as a mix of old and new. Not just in the sense that I love the femenine elegance of days gone by and more modern tailoring equally, but in the sense that I am a mix of my current self and the person I aim to be in the future. I'm English, and time spent on rolling green hills and wild moors that evoke images of Cathy and Heathcliff has certainly left its mark on me. I think this 'old English whimsicality' (as I like to call it) is mixed with a smarter, more modern, more elegant quality that I think many Parisian women posess. It is no secret that I'm more than a little obsessed with Paris, and I cannot imagine myself living anywhere else, so that's the 'future me'.

That's my style, and it's something personal to me. Obviously it can change depending on how I feel on a certain day, but it expresses who I am and who I hope to be. I know that it's only fashion but I still can't understand how these clone girls can all dress the same and not feel that they're living a monotonous life that is reflected in their monotonous clothing choices!

Okay, rant over. Congrats if you actually read all of this!!

P.S. sorry for the completely sporadic posting - I've got exams in two weeks and GCSE modules in four weeks. STRESSING!!!!!!!!

Easter sunshine

On Sunday, after gorging myself on a chocolate based breakfast, I spent a glorious morning in the sun drenched garden with my mother, my cat and a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon. Guess who had fun with the ribbon?! (Hint: she's small, black and furry). In a particularly spring-ish mood, I put on my prettiest blouse and pinned my fringe back with a pink flower clip, but I cannot share the mood with you because I am the most useless person alive! I've spent all my money on new spring clothes and so I can't afford a camera. . . whoops!!

Yesterday was not as lovely. It started off nice - we went on a family outing to a medieval house with gorgeous gardens called Sizergh Castle. It wasn't overly castle-y but nevermind. The fun started when we were driving home and all of a sudden a tyre popped. That lead to us sitting by the motorway for three hours waiting for the AA man to come and save us. The traffic was bad, apparently!

Anyway, to remind us of the sun (here it has now retreated beneath a thick grey blanket), I'll share with you some beautiful images of spring.

The moors in spring, a 15 minute walk from my house

Flowers in Cornwall

'The Green Venice' in France

A particularly lovely spring day in Paris

Thomas Hardy's birthplace, in Dorset

Easter sunshine

On Sunday, after gorging myself on a chocolate based breakfast, I spent a glorious morning in the sun drenched garden with my mother, my cat and a rhythmic gymnastics ribbon. Guess who had fun with the ribbon?! (Hint: she's small, black and furry). In a particularly spring-ish mood, I put on my prettiest blouse and pinned my fringe back with a pink flower clip, but I cannot share the mood with you because I am the most useless person alive! I've spent all my money on new spring clothes and so I can't afford a camera. . . whoops!!

Yesterday was not as lovely. It started off nice - we went on a family outing to a medieval house with gorgeous gardens called Sizergh Castle. It wasn't overly castle-y but nevermind. The fun started when we were driving home and all of a sudden a tyre popped. That lead to us sitting by the motorway for three hours waiting for the AA man to come and save us. The traffic was bad, apparently!

Anyway, to remind us of the sun (here it has now retreated beneath a thick grey blanket), I'll share with you some beautiful images of spring.

The moors in spring, a 15 minute walk from my house

Flowers in Cornwall

'The Green Venice' in France

A particularly lovely spring day in Paris

Thomas Hardy's birthplace, in Dorset

Lemonade and cut grass

First of all, not that I have any readers to explain to, but as March has proved to be the month from hell, posting will be somewhat infrequent until this month is over! I've been practising for The Sound of Music for 11 hours every weekend, and every lunchtime this week. The performances are all next week (and Saturday too), and my French coursework is due in on Monday after only one week to write it. Oh, fun fun fun!!! I'm tearing my hair out, I'm that stressed!!

I think the sun does things to me. At school yesterday, I found myself wishing I was in a field wearing a little cotton sun dress. . . whilst I was walking across the road to lunch, the sun warm for the first time in months. Due to this glimpse of summer, all I want to do at the moment is wear pastel colours, floral dresses and flowers in my hair. If money was not a factor, I'd buy all of the following in an instant:

Chloé strappy wedges

See by Chloé floral dress

APC polka dot sun dress

APC shift dress

APC polka dot blouse

I may have to succumb to the APC blouse or the sun dress. I can imagine myself wearing the dress in winter with a pair of thick grey tights, a black mid-thigh length peacoat, a great big wooly scarf and chunky black or tan heels.

A proper introduction

I feel like minus a camera (because a picture is worth 1000 words!), nobody really knows anything about me as a person. . . and I think I need to provide you with a better introduction! So, here are 10 things about me that I think are fairly important parts of me/my life and so possibly influence my style. Plus a few random ones - i.e. number one!

1. My birthday is New Year's Eve (so cool. I get fireworks every year! And normally snow, too).

2. I used to wish I was artistic, but now I'm glad that I can't draw to save my life, because I'm musical instead. I think I'm more passionate about music than I could ever be about art (although I admire artistic people, and I can really appreciate art), and music really is my creative outlet.

3. When I'm older, there's nowhere I want to live more than in Paris. Every time I go, I instantly feel at home. England is familiar, but it's not where I want to be.

4. I like snow. A lot. And skiing is the only sport I'm good at (apart from gymnastics - I'm freakishly bendy). You never ever want to be within a mile radius of me when I'm in possession of a tennis racket and ball. I'm dangerous!

5. I'm an only child and I've always been really close to my parents. I feel like they've brought me up with different focuses than some of my friends' parents, but I'm grateful for that because I think it's given me a broader view on life.

6. I like to watch films and read books. My parents like foreign films and they've passed that on to me, and I've always been encouraged to read a lot. I couldn't choose a favourite film or book, though - there are too many!

7. I live in a little town about half an hour from Manchester city centre, and its name is also my surname. It's so embarrassing when I have to give my name and address, like to get the takeaway delivered! (That sounds like I always eat takeaways. I don't - it's a rare treat!)

8. My parents are both pretty creative in their own ways, which I reckon influences me. My dad's an architect and my mum really loves photography. We've got loads of her photos and other photos, paintings and prints she likes hung around the house. Although, I'm looking at the photo of my dad's entire school in 1973 right now. . . haha, he was 11 and had hilarious hair!

9. On the subject of schools, education is pretty important to my parents. They both went to grammar schools, and I go to the same school as my dad did, but I go to the girls' part over the road. Yes, single sex school. No, it's not awful - boys are a lovely novelty when we go over to lunch! (The dining halls are joined and separated by the kitchen, so we can see eachother).

10. I love to travel. The excitement of going to a new place is great, and I love seeing different cultures. I'd like to travel the world someday, or at least travel Europe, maybe on a train like my dad did with his friends back in the day! I also love languages and I'd like to study French and Russian at uni. I'd love to go to Oxford, as my cousin studied Spanish there and she loved it, but so few people are accepted, it probably won't happen!

So now you know a bit more about me. Hope I didn't put you off coming back to the blog (when I finally get a camera)!