Awakening..

It has been quite some time. There have been so many and so few changes in that time, and sometimes real life gets in the way of this contrived Internet world. There has been much I have wanted to share, but little inclination to actually do it. This is beginning to change. There is an awakening taking place, and I hope this blog will continue throughout. The content may be a little different, but I think that's the nature of our lives - the basic foundations always remains the same, and it is the content that changes and grows.

Piledriver Waltz

Coat: Topshop
Dress: Topshop
Brooch: Cath Kidston
Scarf: Charity Shop
Bag: Cambridge Satchel Company
Shoes: Vintage, Charity shop (gifted)

So, this is my first Outfit post in a while, I've been feeling a little lack lustre recently - inspiration has escaped me. Winter always makes me feel this way, and with a huge degree work load, and an extra day at work it means I don't get much chance for the things I love. I miss walks and regular outdoors exercise, I end up feeling all blurgh and that hibernation must be the answer. Well, I'm really hoping to change that in the next couple of weeks and make some time for the things I want to do rather than the things I have to do.
Anyway moving on...I have a new hair cut which I'm not convinced by, I think it's a little too short, and for the first time ever I think I'm getting bored of blond, perhaps time for a change? On to the outfit...I'm terrible at casual outfits. I find it much easier to wear a fancy dress or skirt then to wear flats and jeans - working in an office was my ultimate dream clothing wise, you never needed an excuse to dress up; but here's my attempt at a casual outfit. I picked this scarf up in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago for 50p, I haven't really taken it off since, it goes with everything, leather jackets, my duffle coat, cardigans...everything. I'm enjoying the contrast of the check against the stripe, it makes me think of 'Submarine', which is never a bad thing.

All that glitters

After seeing these glitter heels from Topshop I decided I wanted a pair of my own, I didn't think however, that I would get enough wear out of them to warrant the £55 price tag; So instead, one evening  I had a go at making my own, and I'm pretty pleased with the results!

You will need:

One pair of shoes 

Strong, waterproof glue (I used builders PVA)

Glitter (I got 10g of rose gold glitter for 99p from ebay)

Low tack masking tape

brush

sandpaper

The making bit

*First make sure your chosen shoes are clean, I used a suede Primark pair - so I just wiped them with a damp cloth.

*If using a PVA or leather pair slightly buff with a fine grain sandpaper, this helps the glue to stick to the shoes.

*Mask off the area you want to glitter with tape.

*Using the brush paste glue onto the shoes and then quickly pour over the glitter, I did this over a lot of newspaper to minimise mess and save as much glitter as possible.

*Leave to dry completely, then brush another layer of glue over the top of the glitter to make the shoes water proof and reduce glitter loss.

*Lastly, once the top layer of glue is dry buff off any glitter that has stuck onto the soles of the shoes with the sandpaper. 

And that's it, it really was that simple, and actually quite fun. Nothing takes you back to your childhood more than messing about with glitter and glue.

I'm planning on wearing them with my 60's party dress, or black cigarette pants next time I go out. I think they're going to be super fun to dance in.

So here it is..

Green Check Dress: ASOS.     Leopard Print Dress: Topshop.   Stars and Moons Dress: Motel (via asos)

 So it's the time of year again, it's time to dig out the party dress. This year, more than any before it, I've really um-ed and ah-ed over my seasonal dress purchase. Usually I'm all about the pretty; beads, velvet, tailoring, bring it all on. But this year I wanted my dress to work harder for its place in my little wardrobe, I want it to be (boring word alert) functional. I want to be able to wear it after Christmas and through to the spring..basically I don't want it to date, or worse, to become 'that Christmas dress from last year' - like so many others that get worn over the festive season and then are never seen again after slowly migrating from wardrobe to drawer, drawer to under the bed storage, and from there to the big charity shop in the sky. So after many hours (exaggeration) debating dress pros and cons here is my list of finalists.

It seems to come down to print over block colour. I'm a sucker for a novelty print (even at 25) which makes me instantly drawn to the Motel stars and moons print tea dress, which panders to all my 1940's desires and is slowly moving its way up my favourites list, but equally I'm in love with the red, beaded collar Topshop dress, which is just so, so pretty, but perhaps a little less, you know, 'wearable', I hate that word. Needless to say, I want them all, and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to work out the winner..

Red collared dress: Topshop.  Blue Ginny Dress: Monki.  Yellow Zanna dress: Monki

Shake it out

Even though the weather has turned, and the vitamin D deficiency has begun, I'm still not quite ready to revert back to wearing my traditional winter black and grey, instead I'm going to attempt to shake it up with blues, greens and red. Even after all these years I'm still in love with tea dresses and Mary-jane shoes, and this Polka dot midi from Topshop is on my wishlist at the moment. I know being of short stature the midi length would look ridiculous on me but I can't  help but imagine I'm 5ft 7" with relatively long legs.
All clothes Topshop.

As the tide begins to turn

Last week I tried my very hardest to spent as much time outside as possible. I spent days by the coast; cliff walking and lunching, and nights walking with a friend and her dogs. While this was my ideal week activity and weather wise, it was also not the most productive of times. The sun does not inspire much sitting inside and studying/reading, which is what I really should be doing. I have now finished Jane Eyre (review to follow, needless to say i loved it) and I am trying my very hardest to get into Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, not easy to say the least. I know I will enjoy it, Great Expectations was completely not what I was expecting (see what I did there?), and I ended up fully engrossed, but Dombey ans Son just looks so depressing, and long.  I will do at least an hour a day. I will.

Here are some Instagrams from September, I now have fully developed obsessions with nail art, neck ties, floral tea dresses, and my heeled brogues, which I finally caved in and bought. Best purchase EVER. Anyway if you are on Instagram and fancy following me I'm @elrowe17. 

Dots and Duffle

Dress (with diy ribbon tie): Topshop

Coat: Topshop

Boots: Garden Centre

Socks: Topshop

Tote: Bought at an Idlewild gig. 

This is what I wore for a walk back home in my village. It was so good to get back to the sea, and the quiet, and the trees. I do love my new home, but that doesn't mean I don't miss the old. Twenty Five years of living with a sea view has clearly made quite an impact. The sense of freedom and calm the oceans presence gives is something I will cherish forever, and something that isn't easily replaced. 

I wore my new-ish duffle coat I got when we were on holiday. I already have a green one, but the navy blue, shorter length (this is a petite) was just perfect when I put it on. It actually makes me yearn for colder weather so I have an excuse to wear it more often. The dress is something I actually bought in January, but the colour didn't seem right for the summer months, now that it has cooled down somewhat I'm wearing it all the time. Originally I was popping a little belt around the middle but I much prefer the ribbon necktie, maybe one day I'll get round to dressing as an adult. 

Tiny Telegram ♥: Orla Kiely SS12

Orla Kiely SS12 from WishWishWish on Vimeo.

I couldn't not post this Orla Kiely SS12 video that was first featured by the wonderful wishwishwish, as if the photographs from the presentation weren't exciting enough! The collared dresses and swimsuits are just so beautiful and wearable. I want it all. Now. Please?

As the leaves begin to fall...

So as the nights get colder, and the days get shorter, I'm thinking a lot about how I should of bought this dress and those shoes in London, in fact I'm not going to be able to write anymore as I know I will talk myself into it. Dammit.

Back to school

Dress: River Island
Shoes: Topshop (via ebay)
Tote: Idlewild gig
Watch: Casio (via ebay)
Lipstick: Revlon stay matte, strawberry red (discontinued)

There is a story behind this dress that I cannot be bothered to tell, but lets just say I was pleased when it finally arrived (yet not so pleased when it shrunk in the wash). I'm not usually a fan of the mini, but I got all caught up in the print and cute pockets, and now I'm hankering after some more mini shift dresses to wear with tights. It also gave me an excuse to wear the Topshop Kerb-t shoes I posted about oh, so long ago, they turned out to be pretty comfortable, if slightly childish, like the shoes your mum bought you for going back to school, that you were so excited to wear on the first day of term because you'd been made to save them until then.

Talking of school, I begin my degree again in about a month, and it looks pretty reading heavy (of course it is, it's a literature degree), with this in mind I think I think I'm going to start posting mini book reviews as I go along. I've been thinking about creating some regular features, and my degree is such a large part of my life yet I never talk about it, and this is something that will give me some focus, which frankly, last year I lacked.

So sorry in advance, I'm about to get pretty bookish on you...

Far From the Madding Crowd

Dress: New Look
Necklace: Adapted from an earring
Hat: Vintage, thrifted
Belt: Vintage, thifted
Satchel: Vintage, charity shop
Shoes: Gift from my girl
Nails: Models Own
Lips: Revlon Stay matte, smoked peach

We took another walk along the saltwater marshes, met a cute little stray dog who was very keen to play ball, and I got a little sun burnt. All in all a good day.

I love this dress, it was an impulse buy, but it was like I'd been looking for it all my life. The print is the perfect mix of kitsch and modern, and the fit makes it look like I actually have boobs. Amazing. In the winter I'm going to wear it with black tights, my leather jacket, and head scarf to toughen it up a little.

 Tough is a good word, and recently I feel like it's what I'm lacking, and hence my recent pause in blogging these pictures, and others. I haven't really felt comfortable in my choices. My wardrobe is too child like, full of animal prints (see post below!) and 'little girl' skirts. I find all I want to do is return to the days of old, when jeans, stripes, white hair, and red lipstick were my items of choice. Today I took the first steps and had my hair bleached, again. It felt good.
 The hairdressers is my weakness, I love going to the salon and deciding on a colour and cut, then seeing it created in front of you. I think hairdressers are truly underrated, perhaps if I had my time again it's something I would think of doing.

Holiday, Celebrate.

Jumper: Topshop
Lipstick: Paul and Joe 

The holiday is nearly upon us, and we have vague plans including a few days in London town (via a family visit) to go the the V&A, Tate Modern, and Oxford Street (yessssss). I'm already outfit and itinerary planning. We're also going to so some walking on the Moors. In my head this is what I will be wearing. In reality it will probably be a rain coat and wellingtons. Never mind...

Iron Bridge

Top: Vintage

Skirt: Topshop 

Shoes: Topshop

Satchel: Cambridge Satchel Company

Sunglasses: Rayban

So..This is what I wore for a Saturday evening stroll. We walked for a couple of miles, in some mildly warm sunshine, along the disused rail line and spent some time looking at the saltwater marshes, which while beautiful have the smell of a potent gas leak, it's all the sulphur they excrete. Pleasant.

 I feel like I've sort of lost it recently, clothes wise. I can't seem to dress myself in a way that I find appealing, or feel comfortable with. Everything is too bland, there's no edge anymore. I'm lost in a wardrobe abyss where there is a lot of things floating around but nothing has a specific place. This t-shirt for instance, I've had it about 6 years,  I found it in a charity shop for about £2. I used to wear it all the time, with skinny jeans (when I still wore jeans) and denim shorts. I love the banana print and the cut of the sleeves. But now, I still pick up to wear a lot, yet it doesn't fit with anything, it's a lone ranger, and there you have the crux of my whole wardrobe, a whole load of stuff that doesn't go together. I need to establish organisation, and outfits, not just buy something 'cos I like it', I need to think about how it fits, and if it's even my style. I guess I'm just a little worried that I'll end up wearing black all the time. Again...