Dinnerlady

This is not a proper post and not a lovely shiny blog outfit - but we'd had a fairly dull weekend and after I'd nearly broken my foot at Benicassim (funnily enough, not a picture I'll be posting here!) I thought we deserved a picnic in the park!

Regent's Park is definitely my park of choice, being at the top of our road and just the prettiest public park in the vicinity (and of course, it was in 101 Dalmatians but that in no way influences my decision...). Unfortunately, the day I decide to become Betty Crocker and make a lovely wicker picnic was the day it decided to be HELLA GREY.

But never mind, with the best of British spirit, we marched on through the wind and went anyway. I took a caesar salad with some Thai fishcakes, some potato salad and a cheesecake (how much of that was bought straight from Sainsburys, I will not divulge) and of course some IPA as that's our new thing, and I fell straight for the sign that said PERFECT FOR PICNICS. Ever wonder who those drips are who fall for that? It's me.

This weather is impossible to dress for so I've found the only way to do it is to layer. I stuck on my trusty Topshop boots (I do own other shoes! Trust me...) with some 20 denier tights. The denier is important, regardless of what the men in your life will tell you. The devil is in the detail. I love this dress for its all-round appeal - I wear it to work with a sleeveless white shirt underneath and a statement necklace (I like to wear my creepy Kos seeing-eye necklace to keep it from looking too prim) but on days like this, I just wear it on it's own, all pinafore dinner-lady like, quite apt for when I'm dishing out the potato salad. It has a natty leather pocket though to stop it from becoming TOO hairnet.

I love this hat and everybody else hates it, which obviously just makes me want to wear it more. This was a brave move (it blew away at one point) - I've been considering ways to tie some elastic round it to wear under my hair. Is this too far?!

Anyway - boring outfit, slightly boring post, lovely food. And I like these pictures, they're a bit creepy with the grey skies...

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Hat - Topshop, £25
Denim Dress - H&M via eBay, £5
Cardigan - Topshop, £32
Boots - as before
Bracelet - Primark, £3
Basket - La Fromagerie in Marylebone

Benicassim

So I have sucked at posting for various reasons. Work got crazy busy for both me & Louis, and then I won tickets to Benicassim...

I haven't had my disposable cameras back to be developed yet (ouch. That sentence was so hipster it was practically a triangle.) so I'll do a proper post then, but in the meantime - ever wondered what a pseudo-goth, colour-hating pasty bird wears to a 40+ degree festival with no shade?

Well, this very exciting looking selection!

I won't bore with minutiae, but my priority for UK festivals is usually 'don't look boring', however for Benicassim and it's relentlessly sweaty/burny/blistery heat, it was COVER UPS. I'm pretty good at this due to a lifetime of being 'ivory', so...chiffon, florals, anything that'll look a little more bohemian Florence Welch than Ibiza bronzed babe.

I'll do some proper outfit posts when I get my photos back but in the meantime...

Hat - Topshop, £25
Bag - Charity Shop in Leek, Staffordshire, £8
Hairbow - Primark, £1
RayBan Wayfarers
Cream Floral Dress - Next, £22 (about fifteen seasons ago)
Specials T-Shirt - Vintage, £3
Polka Dot Dress - Primark, £8
Denim Shorts (Black & Blue) - eBay via Topshop, £4.50 each
Chiffon Dress with crochet stomach panel - Topshop, £38
Top - eBay via Topshop, £4
Top - Topshop, £22
Black dress with metal fastenings - Topshop, £45

Undoubtably the best thing I took with me was this Topshop fedora. It almost succeeded in keeping me from the grips of sunstroke, and hid my frizzbomb hairdo. It also somehow made it through being battered and bruised on the arduous journeys, via several gigs, midnight parties and hungover beach days - true wardrobe hero!

I also have a lot to thank these two dudes for.

A last minute dash to Topshop before I went (we found out we had tickets three days before - I was not remotely prepared...) resulted in this pair of lovely jubblies. JW Anderson's collection for Topshop was one of my favourites in recent times - I'm a sucker for paisley. I had spied this bag for ages, but I never really have a use for a backpack. This was reduced to £15, and is made of super sturdy denim and covered in locks and bolts to bat off potential robbers (I got stung once in Barcelona and NEVER AGAIN!). It was super useful, and I somehow managed to get all my wordly goods in it!

This costume (yes, it's a swimming costume, no, I'm not 7) is my favourite buy of recent months. It's definitely the brightest thing I've bought in a while. I had a slight misdemeanour as I fell asleep in the sunshine and the cut-out design I so LOVED in store turned into my peely burny enemy, but it hasn't faded my love for it. I felt like Rihanna crossed with a My Little Pony - which is pretty bad.ass. And it was a tenner in the Topshop sale.

This bad boy was my only wardrobe buy in Spain. Arctic Monkeys were just ridiculously good and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get this t-shirt elsewhere so I had to buy it. 25euro well spent.

Apologies for the rubbishy post but I don't have any nice holiday snaps yet...

Now, I'm all yours, Benicassim. But the question is, R U Mine?

Tinfoil

What should someone who hates being sticky and hot wear on the hottest day of the year? A SILVER LEATHER SKIRT!

I dug out these Topshop flat Mary-Janes the other day - I bought them from the sale about three years ago when I worked in the Sheffield store and knew I loved them so kept them with me throughout various moves, but never really found anything to wear them with. Then Christopher Kane came and changed my life (almost) with his silvery iridescent accessories, and there they were, waiting for me! So I was already way on a silver streak. Then I accidentally fell into H&M on the way back from the park on Saturday and found THIS bad boy. I love leather skirts - they go with everything. I also now love silver. It was like the H&M stars aligned and made this skirt THREE POUNDS. Yes, yes they did.

It being several thousand degrees outside, a silver skirt needs some breathability. I did attempt it with a shirt (which is how I'll probably wear it in future - crisp cotton shirt with a statement necklace) but I caved and went for a cotton t-shirt from Topshop via eBay. I love this top - it says 'bisous' on it (which means 'kisses') and is a really nice faded charcoal colour. Luckily it goes with most stuff so is ideal for hot sticky days. I chucked on a silver necklace from Matalan and my favourite Joomi Lim bracelet which was a parting gift from my friend before she moved to Miami. I hadn't really known that much about Joomi Lim before I got this bracelet from Matches but it's beautiful. I did take it off halfway through the day as I was scared of losing it during the Wimbledon excitement pulling a Kim Sears fistpump!

This wasn't my favourite outfit of the week but it was fun for the sunshine and the silver skirt deserved a chance to serve its original purpose as tinfoil...

Top - Topshop, eBay - £4
Skirt - H&M - £3
Shoes - Topshop - £20
Necklace - Matalan - £8
Glastonbury Canvas Bag - £3
TOTAL - £38

(+ bracelet - £225)

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Regent's Park

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful, so off we went to Regent's Park to take a picnic, read a book, play football (not me) and generally do that whole British Summer thing. We didn't take the camera to the park as football + beer + camera would probably spell disaster.

I really struggle with dressing for the summer - I'm not sure if it's my pasty skin or my general dislike for bright colours but it is just not my time to shine. I tend to stick with basics in the summer as I have the patience of a thirsty gnat and if anything is tight/sweaty/restricting it makes me turn into a total frizzy haired monster.

The other week I saw this top on eBay and decided that I MUST HAVE IT, because it totally looks like something Cher from Clueless would pick from her magic wardrobe. It's half 60s, half 90s, which is my favourite way to go. It's a really dark green and navy check, with a big pointy collar and a zip down the middle. It's apparently a dress - but unless you're 5 foot 1, there's nae chance. So I dug out my favourite navy velvet skirt that I got from a Charity Shop in Stoke (see earlier posts!) and put that over it - Velvet + Navy Tartan + Collar = a wintery summer look. Which is exactly where I'm happiest.

In a move that will shock - I teamed it with my black Topshop strappy boots (TRANSITIONAL BOOTS ALERT) and handbag, and even a preppy bow in my hair. This outfit is about as cliched me as it could get. I promise to try and stop being so boring.

Top - Topshop, eBay - £4
Skirt - Vintage, Charity Shop - £3
Boots - Topshop, eBay - £8
Hairbow - Market - £1
TOTAL - £16

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Lazy

I have been really bad since last week. I promised to myself I'd post at least twice a week - but didn't post once. Tut tut.

Anyway I was kind of spending my time productively last weekend (more productively than watching reruns of Criminal Minds as I usually do) so here's a little peek of what I got up to...

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to get some freebie tickets for Hard Rock Calling with my lovely friend Gemma. The weather was laaavly and the atmosphere was amazing. I haven't been to a festival this year (sob) so it was nice to go for a day and be able to shower at the end of it! We saw Kasabian who were actually much better than expected, as well as Klaxons, The Cribs, Miles Kane (partying like it's 2008) and Paul Weller. Who has aged worse than...well I don't know but he should ditch the peroxide.

On Sunday, I had a slight change of pace as my mum, sister, and pretty much entire family descended on London to see our Stoke homeboy Robbie Williams sell out Wembley Stadium. I wasn't sure what to expect, since last time I saw him he was riding round on stage on a remote controlled toilet basin, and the start was pretty shaky to say the least. But after his...rider...wore off, he was back on form and it was amazing fun to see him do all of his old classics. And have a cheeky little dig at Mr Gallagher... there was also a bit of a weird repeated motif of his (rather plumped up) face. All in all, it was really good fun and I had a lovely weekend with my mum, with a cheeky trip to Wimbledon and Marylebone on the Monday. But maybe the 'okie dokie blokey from Stokey' should step away from the Cokey...

Anyway - back to our regular scheduled programming shortly.

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