115. Style Crush-Dress Like Cara Delevigne

I really admire model-of-the-moment Cara Delevigne's downtime relaxed style. Slightly hip-hop, slightly skater, slightly rocker, slightly luxe. Looks totally casual and DGAF-ish at the same time as screaming "FASHION." In interviews she's mentioned she drums, plays guitar, and even tries rap. When you consider these hobbies alongside her modelling career, you kinda start to "get" her style that bit more!

If you would like to echo this look perfectly, try these buys on for size.



T by Alexander Wang Joggers , Current/Elliott Stripe Jeans, Ash Trash Studded Boot, Viparo Quilted Leather Jacket, Calvin Klein Knit Tank , IMA READ Cap, Red Vans Beanie, 3.1 Phillip Lim Sunglasses


If you would like to echo this look, but are on a more average budget, then these are the things for you!



Topshop Side Seam Trousers, ASOS Green Joggers , Missguided Quilted Leather Jacket , Boohoo Studded Boots , Ebay Cap , ASOS Red Beanie , Accesorize Grey Rucksack , Trapstar London Tee ,

114. Cloud Nails

Just a quick post to show off the ultra cool Wah-inspired nails my best friend painted on me tonight. The blue sky is Barry M Nail Paint in Blueberry Ice Cream, and the clouds are Barry M in Matt White, dotted on with a bent kirby grip.

113. Attitude Clothing Co

"Established in 1996, Attitude Clothing Co. is the UK’s original mail order and online retailer of men's and women's alternative clothing, streetwear and footwear.
Fuelled by a love of Metal, Punk and heavy rock music we’ve been at the front line of the alternative clothing scene for over 16 years bringing you the best designs in Emo, Gothic, Punk and Rockabilly clothes, footwear and accessories first along with the coolest tees, hoodies and skate shoes from the world’s hottest brands."

Over the last few years I've made the odd order from attitudeclothing.co.uk particularly when I was about 18, when camo print skinnies, Iron Fist tees, tartan skirts with over the knee stripy socks and multiple facial piercings were my uniform. I've mellowed in my old age, and whilst my Iron Fist zombie heels are still my faves, them and anything overtly in your face "emo, gothic, punk and rockabilly" have been retired from my wardrobe.

However, since I still order plugs, tunnels and boyfriends birthday t-shirts from Attitude, I receive a nice little brochure in the post every now and then. A few days ago, I did indeed find one of these brochures popped through my letterbox...and my once teenage heart beat faster, faster Panic! style again. Pretty dresses, cosy looking knitwear and foot-envy inducing shoes. I eagerly logged on, and whilst happily the full on bondage-and-zombie-skulls apparel was still going strong, there was plenty to choose from for my now diluted yet nostalgic tastes.

Here's my picks! So drool-inducing, and importantly, affordable!



1. Eyeball Crop Top  2. Disco Pant 3. Flatform Boot 4. CC Drip Earrings 5. Cameo Bracelet

6. Wailing Winds Tee 7. Stripe Knit 8. Glitter Heel 9. Swallow Necklace 10. Swallow Dress



11. Wednesday Dress 12. Fox Tee 13. Bunny Jumper 14. Pixel Zombie Dress
15. Stabby Cat Brogue 16. Pixel Zombie Knit 17. Studded Pleather Short 18. Lucky Cat Plug (I own these)


What do you think? Would you consider looking on the attitude website now for some girly items? Or perhaps just for your homicidal feline foot needs?

112. Wedge Trainers and Pretty Dresses

Dress-Boohoo, Cardi-H&M, Trainers-Deena&Ozzy at Urban Outfitters

Concealed wedge trainers have been kicking about for some time now. I absolutely loathe about 90% of them. But then that other 10%...ohhhhh that gooooorgeous 10%, I want to marry and make tiny little shoe babies with.

Awkward lovemaking aside, these are my personal pedantic rules on the wedge trainer.

1. The wedge must be CONCEALED. Otherwise there's something about the aesthetic that just seems so so awkward to my eye.

2. NO BRIGHTS. Blacks and greys are my favourites, though I also like pale neutrals. I'm even partial to a bit of print. But the bright block colours that others seem to adore, scream junior school sports day way too loud to be allowed near my tootsies.

3. They must have a big fat tongue. The appeal to me is the chunky look. I like a wedge trainer, not a wedge plimsoll. Now a flatform plimsoll is something I can admire...but that's another subject for another time.

4. I prefer something of the hi-top about them. Again for the chunkiness, and also to distinguish from some kind of thigh toning exercise aid.

5. This is perhaps hardest to explain but very important. At the back, I like them to be shaped in a straight line. No shaping round the foot form. Otherwise they can look like they're trying to be too elegant. And c'mon, it's TRAINERS.

6. NO BUCKLES. Laces or velcro, whatever you fancy. But not buckles. Buckles are for proper shoes for proper people.

With these rules, I think you can team the trainer with numerous styles of outfit! Pretty antithetic dresses like above, simple skinny jeans and tee, perhaps even a tailored jogger if there is such a thing.
Now for your viewing pleasure, feast your peepers on my cream of the crop.
Ok, that sounded like some kind of innuendo.
Ahem, please look at these shoes what I think are the nicest ones. I think you'll see what I mean by "a straight back".



1.Deena & Ozzy Banks Concealed Wedge £48  AKA the ones on mine own feet.


2.River Island Wedges £40 Various Colours, Brown is my pick.


3.ASOS DENY Wedge High Top £38 Various Colours Similar to Urban Outfitters but a tenner cheaper!


4.XTI Sneaker Wedge at Office £75 Nice option for a neutral colour

111. Maybelline Superstay 24 Color-THE TEST!

Maybelline Superstay 24 Color in 510 Red Passion RRP £8.99

One of those wonderfully tempting, purse draining offers from Boots-the 3 for 2-led me to purchase Maybelline Superstay24 Lipcolor. I have to say, the idea of 24 hour colour appealed to the lazy girl in me. I always forget to take lipstick or gloss out with me, and on the rare occassion I do remember...yep, I forget to actually reapply. DOH!

Long out-dated pop culture catchphrases aside, it does bug me that I spend my mornings carefully applying the slap, only to look flaky and faded after a few hours of tea drinking, sandwich eating, and if I'm very lucky, some smooches.

So here's what Maybelline say:

"MEET THE LIPCOLOR THAT STRETCHES THE LIMITS OF LONGWEAR AND LASTS UP TO 24HR.
NO CRUMBLING.
NO FADING.
NO TRANSFERRING.
NO DRYING.
NO SMUDGING."

Sounds perfect/too good to be true right? After perusing the amazing colour selection, and finally settling on 510 Red Passion  I decided to put these claims to the test!

HOUR ZERO: Freshly Applied


Applying easily like a lip gloss, this goes on so smoothly. You have to leave it to dry for 2 minutes before you apply the nourishing balm. I like to finish the rest of my make up, or style my hair in between the two steps to avoid waiting around like a bored thing. In those two minutes, I can feel my lips dry out and practically weep for the balm-or at least they would if they had the moisture for tears. After the balm is on, I absolutely love the colour and how matte it looks considering the gloss style application.

HOUR THREE: After tea drinking



Still a gorgeous striking red-though not a patch of this striking red was left on the rim of my mug of tea! So far, so good,!

HOUR SIX: After lunch (...and more tea) and balm re-application



After devouring most undaintily, some toasted cheese sandwiches (plural); this is the result. Strong even colour remaining on the majority of the lip, but starting to fade at the edges and corners. This is something that was barely noticable in person, and is just more obvious in a zoomed in lip focused photo. After going outside in the cold air, my lips had started to feel a bit dry, so I popped some more of the balm end on, and they felt soft once more.

HOUR TEN: After dinner and beverages



Starting to notice some definite fading at the corners of my mouth now, as well as some of the fine lines in my lips showing themselves. I have to say though, that as a whole the colour has remained, and it has remained very bright!

HOUR THIRTEEN: After smooching and teeth brushing



That's right, I brushed my teeth and removed the rest of my make up but avoided my lips for the full 24 hour experience. The colour has definitely faded all over, and come off completely at the inner edges and corners of my mouth. As I was just having a hot date with my kindle this didn't matter, but obviously if I'd have gone out for drinks without re-applying, fully trusting in my 24 hour lips, I'd be disappointed as well as a bit skanky looking.

HOUR TWENTY FOUR: After more smooches and a good night's sleep



This attractive image was taken the next morning, 24 hours after application. There's fading all over and obviously quite a lot has completely come off overnight-what can I say? I'm a mouth breather.

So lets review Maybellines selling points:

NO CRUMBLING: Perhaps if I hadn't eaten so heartily or drank so much tea, this would've been true, but its clear from the photo's it happened at some point.

NO FADING: Again with the eating and drinking, but the colour did remain remarkably strong for much longer than any other product I own.

NO TRANSFERRING: Very true! Apart from my lips, I saw not this colour on any glasses, mugs, cutlery, clothes or boys lips! Congrats Maybelline!

NO DRYING: Half right. I found the lip colour part of the product very drying, but presumably this is why the balm end is included. As long as you keep topping up with the balm, your lips will be perfectly soft. Though if you have the effort/memory to reapply this, I assume you'd previously have been making the effort to reapply colour.

NO SMUDGING: Correctemondo as far as I can tell! No "red passion" smeared its way down my face or on my teeth, which I am very very pleased about!

To summarize! If for some bizarre reason, you truly are planning to wear this product for 24 hours-perhaps you're going out straight from work...to a sleepover-I recommend either not eating and perhaps just drinking through a straw. However, if like me, you'd just like to look nice for more than a couple of hours, either at work, a day out, or a night on the town, then I think the staying power of this product is better than most, if not the best! Just be sure to top up on the balm!

110. Burgundy is the new Black (PLUS DUCKS)

Jumper-H&M, Shirt-Lee plus DIY, Shorts-www.missguided.co.uk, Boots-Topshop

Last week I hopped on the train for a little while to visit my fantastic pal Matthew in Brighton. According to ASOS  "burgundy is the new black" so I'm feeling oh so on trend with this H&M knit number. Of course I had to trash it up a tad with some inverted cross shorts. Aren't I a devil? (I'm not even sorry.)

Anyway we had a lovely time eating lots of food at Black Lion. We somehow always end up there and it's always delish. After consuming far too much, we burnt away those calories by prancing about in Queen's Park on the children's zip line and posing on trees. Perfect day no?








My friend Matthew is an occassional reader of this blog, and every now and then I'll receive a complimentary/creepy ass text telling how he has spied on my most recent posts.

SO THESE ARE FOR YOU!!!







Ain't he a beaut?

Anyway, for a final bit of pleasure, here are some ducks I saw and photographed, also at the park.





AWWWWW!

109. Style Crush-Zoe Kravitz

HEY! KRAVITZ! ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY?!

Ahem.

Aside from her fantastic coat wearing skills (yes, it is a skill, it's certainly on my CV) this girl has got that grungehemian (sooo copywriting that shit) look down to a fine art form.

Unless you're completely braindead, you too should wish to pull off the grungehemian way of dressing.

HERE'S HOW.


1. Black Sparkle Jumper £23 lavishalice.com, 2. Lace Neck Skate Dress £10 SALE Rare, 3. Vintage Pork Pie Hat £55 rokit.co.uk, 4. Blue Embellished Twist Dress £10 SALE Rare, 5. Vintage Acid Wash Jeans £22 Beyond Retro, 6. Aviator Sunglasses £10 Topshop, 7. Mink Pink It's All Happening multi colour coat $134.99, 8. BB Dakota I'm With the Banff long fur coat $154.99, 9. Tracy Reese Rooftop Rock Coat with turquoise fur $297.99 all from www.modcloth.com, 10. Crop White Tee £17 American Apparel, 11. Navy Chiffon Dress £45 Rare, 12. Tan Namesake Boot £75 Office, 13. Rings and Bracelets all Vanessa Mooney,  14. Wrangler Check shirt £45 asos.com,

108. Bodycon In The Daytime

Dress-Asos, Blouse-Primark, Boots-Topshop

Bodycon in the daytime?! Oh yes! This sexy little number recieved its first outing on my birthday where it was worn with heels and false lashes-very evening. However, today I wore it dressed down with thickest of thick tights and a high necked blouse. As soon as I put my specs on I felt a tad secretary/teacher-esque, hence the tacky posing with pen and pad. This picking up of a sketchpad for a prop did lead me to draw for the first time in absolutely ages. I used to draw every single day, but doing it for further education sucked the creativity out of me a tad. Its been too long and I mean to start it up again and regain some of my skill! Charlotte Free was my first victim today, but hopefully there will be many more to help me get less rusty!

107. Current/Elliott The Girlfriend Short

Recently, I signed myself up to shopbop.com merely so I could add things to a wishlist, and then gaze upon pretty clothes I couldn't really afford, but could maybe find similar items on the high street. I did not realise I would be alerted by email every time something I had added to my wishlist was low in stock, or when it went into the sale. But I was. Which is why I am now the owner of some cosmically coloured Current/Elliott shorts originally priced at £104, dropped to £31. Shipping and taxes took them to £45, but in my eyes, still a bargain, particularly when they are so incredibly good looking.












Shorts-Current/Elliott from Shopbop, Jumper-Sparkle and Fade from Urban Outfitters, Purse-KG Kurt Geiger, Creepers-ebay
For reference, I am a size 10-which is a waist 28. The 28 waist had sold out, leaving 27 and 29. After reading a few reviews I went with the 27 and they are the perfect size-a 28 would have been a little large.

106. Bath Mini-Break

View from hotel...



Roman Bath visiting (top from H&M £3 in sale! skirt and creepers ebay)



Looking confused at the Roman Baths (bag by Mulberry)



Kir Royale with impressive curly lemon



Bath By Night



The Abbey



Shopping Day! (top-Brighton Lanes, skirt and creepers-ebay, bag-Mulberry)



The boy looking pensive about the tiring shopping times ahead.

Last week the boy and I took a hard-earned week off work, including an overnight stay at The Best Western Abbey Hotel in Bath, which only cost us £40 for bed and breakfast after we had used a voucher from the hotel voucher shop that my dad and stepmum had given us as a Christmas gift-a really useful present! The first day we did touristy bits-hitting the Roman Bath's, and just generally walking around pretending we were cultured. The next day-what I had been waiting for-WE SHOPPED. I use the term "we" loosely-I spent about £200 on clothes and accessories...Tom bought us dinner and an ice cream. Lovely boy. We also booked trains really cheaply-travelling mainly with Great Western trainline. Per person, it cost £6 to get there, and £7 to get back. Ridiculously cheap, and we didnt have to travel at stupid times or anything.

It's now one week after we went, and I am back at work. What I wouldn't give to be prancing about in front of amazing architecture, drinking cocktails and eating an immense wild boar burger instead of dutifully serving customers then collapsing on the sofa in my pants...

105. New Purchase: KG Kurt Geiger Purse

It's a thing of beauty right? Even though it pained me to empty out my old faithful H&M purse, I had lost too many coins out through a hole in the coin section, as well as the fact it would randomly come undone in my bag and empty my cards everywhere. This would cause me great embarrasment in shop queues as I scrabbled about "It's in here somewhere...!" listening to people sigh behind me. Yes, I definitely needed a replacement.

I did not realise how difficult it would be to find the perfect purse-in budget, not hideous looking and large enough to hold my passport which I carry around just in case I spontaneously decide to jet off somewhere. That's a lie. I use it for ID as I don't have a driving license.

After several months, yes, months checking shops whenever I popped in, and browsing online casually, and then one full on six hour hardcore session of shopping, I finally found THE ONE in Kurt Geiger. I finally smiled, and my boyfriend more than smiled with relief that he did not have to traipse round anymore accessories sections in a lost manner. Apart from being big enough, with enough card slots, and a seperate zip section for coins it is black, with gold hardware, just like my handbag. PERFEC'!

If you also like it very much, you can get it online for forty British pounds here. There are other colours and other materials too. Enjoy!