Axolotl Fabric

Fiddled with my layout a bit- I think it's a big improvement! I used one of my fabric designs as a background, this Axolotl Print.

Above is the fabric all ready printed out. I can't wait to use it, I have big plans for a dress for Lillian! I think the colours will be great for summer :) 

Brighton Binge!

Fun daytrip time! I love daytripping, it's my favourite thing to do on my day off, especially if it's Brighton. I always feel like I've been on a mini holiday and come back all happy and refreshed.

It strikes me that my hair from this period would be quite fashionable right now- really overgrown roots with super fadeout. I could have been Tumblr famous if I was 2 stone lighter!

Cardigan: Topshop

Necklace: Cicely Margo (My favourite necklace of all time!)

Fairground Dress: H&M Kids (borrowed from Lillian)

Tights: Also borrowed from Lillian

Glitter shoes: Primark

Sunglasses: Shop in Brighton

Off to the Serpentine

These pictures are just before we went to the Serpentine gallery to see Jeff Koon's Popeye series, which was amazing. I don't know how to feel about Jeff Koons himself since he apparently believes he somehow owns the rights to the stuff he appropriates for his art, but I do love his work!

I'm wearing:

Flamingo Cardigan: Topshop 

Necklace: Cicely Margo (check her out, she's amazing!)

Dress: Home Made

Tights: H&M

Shoes: Office

Poodle Tote Bag: Cram Cream

And here is a final picture of Lillian werkin' those blue lips:

A Very Quick Picnic

Just a nice relaxing picnic in the garden- so nice until it decided to pour! I remember we ate the rest of it indoors watching Strictly Ballroom :P We still had fun!

French Fancy

Haha, here are our cheesy French stereotype outfits to go to Pinkles in Brighton! We spent the whole day with people thinking we were on some weird two-person hen do. Whatever, I like this type of look! A stripy jumper and beret combo will always get a thumbs up from me.

Mini Beret: Home made (Lillian is wearing one too) 

Jumper: Primark

Petticoat: A shop in Camden.

Tights: Anywhere

Shoes: Topshop

Summer Walk

Uggh, I feel like the whole of London is under one giant dark raincloud at the moment- It's freezing cold as well (winter coat weather) and to top it off I woke up with a cold today! It's meant to be June!

At least I can blog about summery things, right? Like this summer outfit from 2 years ago: 

T Shirt: Lazy Oaf

Pettipants: Malco Modes

Sunglasses: From a shop in Brighton, can't remember which one! 

Lace Tights: Topshop (these are really cool, they have a back seam)

Glitter Shoes: Primark 

Royal Makeup

I found these old pictures of when Lillian did my makeup! She posted about it here already, and here is what I am wearing copy and pasted from her blog because I am a scumbag:

Face: UD surreal skin cream foundation in Illusion, avon face powder, Illamasqua powder blusher in Sin

Eyes: BFTE Lace (on browbone and inner corner) and Sugarpill Goldilux Chromalust on lid, black mascara

Lips: NYX round lipstick in Black Cherry

 And my crown is from the Buckingham Palace gift shop. I should have worn it again for the Jubilee, but personally I don't think you should need a special occassion to wear one! I love crowns, I have a small collection of them.

I was a terrible person to apply makeup to, I couldn't stop giggling and moving and stressed poor Lillian out with my inability to sit still. She still managed to do a lovely job! I felt really pretty.

When we were done I posed with Yetta the ferret. She was my ermine for the day :)

Brown Checks

Here's a little OOTD from two years ago. I remember being so proud of this dress, but now I can't see why! To see what I mean, the pattern I used is this Simplicity vintage re-issue. I thought it would make me look like Peggy Olson. Hmm. Maybe it's because I've learned a lot more about fitting and getting the right sizing in general when making clothes, but I didn't make a test garment with this one and it came out huge, so I had to take it in nearly everywhere, and it turns out that isn't a great idea when you've made it in a loud check! I swear the skirt was of sleeping bag proportions instead of the slinky pencil skirt depicted on the envelope.

Anyway, enough of my bitterness! It's a dress, and I could wear it- and goodness knows a lot of the stuff I start doesn't make it that far!

Dress: Home made

Shirt: H&M

Tights: Dunnes

Shoes: Topshop 

Tie you can't see: Thrifted

Check out lovely Pippa the Collie in the back there!

You can see the fabric better here. I love it, I wish I had more.

 Digby looking thrilled to receive a cuddle.

Also, a big hello to my new followers! I followed the blogs I could find back, you guys are a really interesting bunch! I have a day off tomorrow so I'm going to get read up. <3

The Deep

I'm dying to go to the Natural History museum. It's half-term though (shudder) and with the Jubilee and Olympics double-whammy I'd have to be crazy to go now, so maybe I'll get to go in the autumn.

So here's a trip to there from two years ago to see The Deep- a special exhibition focusing on the deep sea. Oh man, it was incredible!

 Jumper: Espirit

Shirt: Hawes & Curtis

Tutu: Miss Selfridge

Tights: Just plain black tights

Shoes: eBay

Ring: Disney Couture

Pipe Necklace: Anna Lou of London

Dachshund bum: Digby

Silver Brocade

Here's a quick post about a dress I made and wore only once. I only wore it once because after this it got far too hot, and then I sort of forgot about it. It's made from silver fleur de lys brocade, the sort they make men's wedding waistcoats from. The pattern is 60s- I shortened it a lot and shaped the skirt out though, as the skirt was kind of sack-like before. 

 Dress: Home made

Ruffle Shirt: Hawes & Curtis

Tights: H&M

Boots: Vivienne Westwood for Melissa

I still can't decide if I like it or if it's one of my white elephant sewing projects better forgotten...

Trip to a Castle

If you're wondering why we look totally different here from the last couple of posts, it's because this is from 2009. The continuity in this blog is terrible, and won't get any better, but that's so I can get caught up and start posting stuff from this year!

Jumper: Upper 5th

Tulle Skirt: Home made (I made tons of tutus like this in lots of different colours)

Tights; Just plain ol' fishnets

Headscarf: Scrap of leftover tulle

Glitter Shoes: Primark

Lipstick: MAC Morange

 This is one of my favourite photos ever. Look at me and Perry having a laugh!

Silver Eyes, Purple Lips

Here's a FOTD to break up the constant flow of outfit posts! I'm not that great with makeup, but I do love doing it.

Eyes: Sugarpill in Tiara and Royal Sugar

Lipstick: I think this was the one I tried to make, because it was a total failure!

Earrings: Miss Selfridge 

If you happen to have bags, try highlighting them with silver glitter. I find it really brings out the eye.

Scotties & Checks

Here's a look from summer (not too hot I guess, considering the cardi and tights...) I don't normally wear pencil skirts or dresses in warmer weather unless I know I won't need to be very active, as I find them quite conscricting, but I really like how sleek and classy they look. This one is especially lovely, it's easy to wear and doesn't feel too heavy or flimsy. It also has the added bonus of fitting me well everywhere, which can be a problem for me and my pear shaped-ness!

Scottie Dog Cardigan: Topshop

Dress: Benetton

Tights: H&M

Shoes: eBay

Earrings: Primark

Lipstick: Morange by MAC

Can you spot the poodle? :)

Tweedy

This was us off to see David Devant and his Spirit Wife at the 100 Club! They don't gig very often, so it's always a huge deal for me to get to go and see them.

This is me at the height of my tweed-mania, where I wanted to look like a posh equestrian patrician type. I think I was aiming to look a bit like 30's Marlene Dietrich. I fell very wide of the mark. 

Hacking Jacket: Vintage Harris Tweed

Shirt: Hawes & Curtis

Scarf: NOT Hermes- Tie Rack :P

Skirt: Home made

Tights: H&M

Boots: Real riding boots from eBay

Trashy pink outfit

Looking back on these old pictures, two things strike me: One, wow, we are obsessed with Marine Ices. Two, it makes me want to dig out stuff I haven't worn for ages to wear them again- I love that pink heart pointelle jumper so much. (You can see the hearts if you look closely.)

I like this outfit, it's Barbieish and tacky. I don't really wear this type of thing anymore, but that sort of makes me sad. I need more trashy clothes!

Jumper: Upper 5th

Skirt: Home made (I used to live in that skirt)

Tights: H&M

Shoes: New Look

Necklace: Knock-off Vivienne Westwood from eBay :P

A Marine Ices treat

Still in August, this is from when we decided to treat ourselves to a trip to our favourite restaurant, Marine Ices. (There will be lots more trips from this particular place I have to show- it's just that good!) We went to see a re-screening of Jurassic Park before this, so looking at these pics always remind me of dinosaurs.

T Shirt: The Disney Store
Skirt: Home-made
Tights: H&M
Shoes: Office

St Patrick's Picnic

Dress: Topshop

Shoes: Office

 Shirt: Ebay

Bowtie: Primark

Tights: Marks & Spencers

On St Patrick's Day 2010, we decided to have a nice picnic in the garden, since it was so warm for the time of year. We also had a cheesy all-green theme for the day. I was happy because I got to wear my lovely green satin dress!

Lillian looked adorable in her Betty Page dress :)

Brighton Sailors

Wow. I've really neglected this thing! Time to catch up.

I'm wearing:

Beret: Elys

Bathing costume: Made myself

Socks: Elys

Shoes: Office

Okay, so imagine it's still 2010! And it's a trip to Brighton. I don't really remember if we dressed to coordinate, (if so I can't compete, Lillian has so many lovely sailor outfits!) but I do recall that I made that Victorian-style bathing suit I'm wearing. It turned out okay, but was a real pain to sew because everything on the pattern was much too oversized. I'd like to make another someday that doesn't look like a cheap costume!