Leather (for all kinds of weather)

As I said in the post below, Vero Moda kindly gave me this perfection of a jacket last Friday, and it has not come off ever since (you can view it here in much fuller glory).

~
Lola Leather Jacket, courtesy of Vero Moda
Dress, Topshop
Tights, gift
Shoes, vintage
Wellingtons, mama's
Headband, Accessorize
Bag, freecycled

P.S. The 4th of November, 179 Oxford Street, be there.

A Vero nice afternoon

Vero Moda collection preview last Friday. What can I say, apart from youlovecheesytitles and: spectacular and more. This is the one occasion when my photos really don't speak for themselves - you'll have to get yourself to their grand London flagship store opening on the 4th of November and maul everything yourself because the detail and the quality is above and beyond. 'Fur realz'. Vero has always been a brand I have craved but never had the opportunity to buy, enviously flicking the pages of mother's La Redoute catalogue and bending the corners pretending I could afford the supa-high international delivery charge. I therefore felt marvellously honoured to be invited to get a feel for the Very line, Vero Moda's edgier child with numerous very fashion-forward yet surprisingly comfortable, 'sling on and go' pieces. Vast amounts of leather and black, with a few leggy jumpsuits, cosy knits in grey and cream and torn jeans thrown in for good measure (although I sadly left the latter well alone as right now anything trouser-like makes my legs mildly resemble those of a newborn elephant. Pass the weight watchers menu). Almost all of the pieces seemed very versatile and I am sure would transfer with ease across many a season. My particular love went to a certain leather jacket and a double breasted black jumpsuit the ladies convinced me to go for and I gladly succumbed to the pressure!


I also got to see a sneak peek of the spring collection which is yet to arrive in stores, which made me fall even further in love... Think Zara with a touch of Topshop but a quality that seems to far exceed the two; lots of trends transferred directly from the catwalk, i.e. these Burberry-esque lovelies:


...as well as this beautiful cape (shown here with the even more beautiful ladies), which I wanted to grab there and then before being told it was only a sample - cape embarrassment stories.co.uk. I'm returning for that one come Christmas, purse in hand (if my awfully inappropriate cape conduct was forgiven)!

I'm certain that the long-overdue arrival of Vero Moda's first London store next Thursday will be a refreshing addition to the high street. Of course, it only gets better - the first 100 early bird arrivals on the day (10am opening, but be there sooner) will get a special gold tote bag that entitles them to receive an entire outfit for absolutely free! Sounds like a dream? Head down to Vero Moda's Facebook page and follow them on Twitter for more opportunities on getting your hands on a gold bag...you have no excuse! I will be down there myself to document the excitement, as well as trying to steal this leather skirt without anyone noticing...

A makeshift sea will do...

So many "water-feature" posts but I cannot resist...it's just too lovely to photograph! It's funny because I literally have not a single room in my house that I can take photos in, I wish our house interior looked like it came straight out of a Laura Ashley/Cath Kidston catalogue, but alas, no such occurrences planned for the foreseeable future. Like I sang at a recent Les Miserables audition: I dreamed a dream in times gone byyyyyy *choke*.

That is why I have so few posts with outfit photos taken in or around my actual dwelling-place. Believe me, I have tried long and hard; I have the loveliest wallpaper in my bedroom but the furniture arrangement is thus that it is near impossible to take a full length photo with my permanently zoomed-in lens (one of the downfalls of the "nifty 50", I do still love it a lot), note to self: must. buy. remote. Camera balancing on myriads of stacked books, tripod, chairs, my music standyounameiti'vetriedit all deemed futile, I'm sure we've all got a pleasant camera balancing story to tell...

The point, for believe it or not there is one in this waffly knackered-as-hell Monday evening post, is that I always make the most of photographing opportunities when I do venture out once in a while. I've always moaned about not having any pretty locations to shoot at within close proximity of my house, so you can imagine my elation when I suddenly discovered some lakes all of a 5-minute bike ride away! I couldn't wait to show my sister (as we both have a penchant for water features), and we finally ventured down with Pa last weekend for an idyllic walk in the streaming golden sun, blowing dandelions and swan-watching and wading through goose poo ...no, it really was most wondrous :)

~
Cat Print Dress, Zara
Cable-knit jumper, Vintage from Camden
Tights, gift
Shoes, thrifted
Locket necklace, gift

P.S. Shoe crisis slowly dissolving... Mama picked up these mint condition M&S beauties in a local charity shop for £3...I heart her for it.

P.P.S. She said the photos look like we are right by the sea. It made me miss tasting the waves on my lips so terribly.

Stripes, Macarons and Carry-ons

A Belgian Laduree?

This post is part of my back-to-school resolution programme to be more organised and post more often...I've just had a complete re-jig of all my A-Level subjects, having had an epiphany at the end of last year that I won't be as passionate as I thought taking English Literature at university than Art, and that I missed the latter uncontrollably. Suddenly, I couldn't believe how I could ever find visits to galleries and museums boring, and over the summer I've become a ravenous artpig, devouring the Ashmolean, Pitt Rivers, Tate, the Dresden Art Gallery with such ferocity I'm a little bit scared the dinosaur skeletons and the Sistine Madonna are still standing... so I dropped two of my A-Levels (one very reluctantly) to take Art in one year. I shall withhold the details, just in case you're about to watch the X-Failtor (this will be the first and last reference to that dismal programme on this blog...although "Abbe & Leesaaa" was to date one of the most hilarious things in ma lyf) and don't want to be held up any longer... Just, in a nutshell, life's been majorly chaotic; I don't know when I'll next have time to blog but hopefully it will be soon. Oh I forgot to mention - after becoming really, really agitated and worked up about my results, upon my arrival at home I found out that I got 4 As! And a D in General Studies, but then again I've never been in possession of a lot of info on the impact of glass buildings and waste on society...

My sister took these photos of me in Namur, Belgium, where we spent the night on the drive back from the Czech Republic (we are yet to master doing it in one day). It's a shame we never spent more time there, as the riverside houses were a dream. Just can't get over how versatile this top is, I don't think I'll leave it alone for a laaang time! Oh, and I'm more than aware that those boots figurate in almost every bloomin' outfit post I do, it's just that I really have a shoe crisis atm, they are one of about 2.5 wearable pairs that I own....oh woe. I've been really into headscarves recently too, having been inspired by the turbands that have been springing up all over the place (note the lovely Jazmine right here), hence the weird concoction around my head (approximately 445602 more tries before I get it right...).

It is Papa's birthday today and I must make myself scarce before Mama's signature apple pie is all gone. Til' next time!
~
Striped crop top, Reserved,
Denim shorts, Firetrap
Boots, Clarks
Headscarf, vintage

See you when I sail back in my boat

Photos from Lake Garda in Italy back in July. Breezy boat rides across the lake, frame of towering mountains, seagulls flying in triangles, sun shadows on green hills, narrow cobbled streets with fresh flowers on every window, diving head-first into freezing pools, listening to a roaring waterfall millimetres away, my choir singing in a riverside concert, visiting aquariums with nebulaic jellyfish, a sea of sparkling lights floating in the valley at night. I won't be lying when I say I'm going back.

~
Boat print tee, River Island
Denim shorts, Firetrap
Belt, car boot sale
Flip flops, Hollister