Why can't you be yourself?

Some things I'm too excited for in the near future:

• Seeing my best friend again (imisshim).
• Bestival. (Unicorn Kid)
• My birthday. Not because of all the presents but because this is a time of year that my true friends will make the effort.
• Seeing Paramore in November.
• Seeing Thirty Seconds To Mars in November.
• Christmas. I get to go home.

Why do people feel the need to try to be SO like you?

Be individual.

xo

Listening to Angels and Airwaves' LOVE album.

New wellies (Rachael's on the left, mine on the bottom)

Lights

HEALTH

All Time Low

You Me At Six

Kele

George Craig - One Night Only

George Craig - One Night Only

George Craig - One Night Only

Paramore (just)

LEEDS FESTIVAL

I went on the Saturday (28th August) and it was incredible!

Bands seen:
Motion City Soundtrack
Lights
The King Blues
HEALTH
All Time Low
L'amour La Morgue
You Me At Six
The Drums
Kele
Weezer
Foals
One Night Only
Paramore
And Blink 182

Yes I made a really good go of running around seeing everything I wanted to. Some bands I did just see the starting or ending songs of but I still saw them all.
I was most chuffed to see One Night Only and definitely Blink 182 being the biggest highlight. I was most disappointed by L'Amour La Morgue where I was expecting to see Ian Watkins but he was not there and my friends and I spent this set most confused as there was nothing to say that the rather good looking guy playing music and running round stage clapping was L'Amour La Morgue minus Ian Watkins. But oh well.
Worth it all in the end.

Saw a guy at Leeds though with galaxy print shorts I couldn't stop staring, my friends had to drag me away. I was most in love with his shorts!
Also managed to find myself a lion hat! After a year of searching and umming and ahhing over them!

xo

Listening to HEALTH.

My Favourite Episode of The Hills

I haven't watched that many of The Hills, I mainly became hooked on it because my friend Helen was watching it and kept telling me about the hilariosity of Heidi apres cosmetic surgery. Then I watched a couple of the first series episodes and was interested in the fashion side of it, but when I came home all that was on mtv were the later series so I've been watching those.

So I watched this weekends episode, and it is by far my favourite. The group (minus Heidi and Spencer) went to Costa Rica on a week away. Kristin and Brody has an argument as per, you learn Stephanie has a fear of all bugs and animal kind, and Brody is so sweet when they climb up to a waterfall and he congratulates Stephanie on braving it and not having a major freak out, it was way cute!

Anyway the main reason I loved this episode was the beautiful scenes, the hotel, and some of the beach wear the girls wore!

I really like Kristin's top in the above images, it looks a bit tie-dye purple-pink in the episode, and she wears it with a black bikini underneath, she makes it her own by knotting it at the side making it look like a crop top.

To add to more of the tie-dye effect, Stephanie wears this dark blue tie-dye top on their trip to the waterfall. The tie-dye on her top creates a fan print, so it looks like it's been concertina'd on the sides and then put in the dark blue dye.

Audrina also wore this really pretty black tiered summer dress with a bikini underneath it. Really cool, easy beachwear.

The beautiful beach scenes, and the amazing hotel have really got me excited for my holiday to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It's not going to be exactly the same, but the sun, sea and beauty of the places will be amazing. I'm pretty excited, it's such a once in a lifetime thing since in around nine years time the Maldives will be underwater due to global warming and will cease to exist anymore. Not that many people know this these days!

xo

Watching Love Wrecked.

I love Raf Simons

I can't describe how much of a genius he is. His beautiful Fall 2010 collection, the amazingly cut and put together suits. His impeccable tailoring. I just swooned! I'd quite like to marry his collections, they are beauty in my eyes.

I first stumbled across Raf Simons when I saw the photography for his collection in 2009 with Fred Perry. I instantly fell in love with the advertisements.

It was so eerily cool, it just attracted me to look more into it. And I've been interested in his work since.

Spring/Summer 2010



Delicious. I'm feeling a bit of the Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2010 womenswear vibe pushed on to men and I'm liking it. I have a thing about brown belts... Also reminding me of the Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2002. Yummmmmmmmm!

Fall/Winter 2010



Sexy sexy cut suits. It's the bright colour pops in comparison to the sombre overall suit colour which gets me. And the general inventive tailoring.

Spring/Summer 2011



Again the splashes of colour on everyday suits, the tailoring. Men in shorts that look like kilts/skorts and cycling shorts!

And check out in the first image the back of the suit behind! Oh to see a man in one of these suits on the streets... I think I might chase after him and stroke him... sorry...

Raf Simons - one to watch!

xo

Listening to The Past Should Stay Dead by Emarosa.

Hipstamatic Prints

What is it about Hipstamatic Prints that is just so awesome?

Probably the fact that you don't have to lug round heavy equipment everywhere you go to take an awesomely vintage effect photo plus pay the extortionate price to develop the film and print it.

Plus it makes every setting ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

Lens: Kaimal Mark II
Film: Kodot Verichrome
Flash: Off

Lens: Jimmy
Film: Blanko
Flash: Off

Lens: Jimmy
Film: Blanko
Flash: Off

Lens: Jimmy

Film: Blanko

Flash: Off

All these photos taken on my friend Rachael's iPhone 4.

I do love an old camera though. Recently bought a Nikon F301 off e-bay. I'm still looking for a lens to use with it, it was meant to be a camera to use on holiday to get some incredible film photographs, but from the looks of things this will not be happening. I will probably end up using my Dad's old Canon instead or my Diana F+.

Amazingly those last three photos at the beach - it wasn't even sunny. Well there was sun, it was just overcast with cloud practically all day but the Hipstamatic App made it look all sunny and cheery!

And the last photo of the frog, his name is Phillipe. He has a very special place in Rachael and I's heart as he is our travel companion. He has been with us to Paris, been with me to Paris again, and New York, he's also been to places within the United Kingdom on our trips. He's like the traveling gnome in Amelie, but a frog... and made of rubber...

Anyway it's late because I've been trying to do some uni work. It's so hard to sit and do it when it's summer, yet everyday I spend not doing it, I spend thinking about doing it and what I should do for it. So technically I'm doing the work in my head just not physically.

*sigh*

Night all xo

Watching The Proposal.

Style Rookie

I read Tavi's blog as often as I have time to, and I enjoy it a lot. She has such interesting insights into everything, and she likes a lot of things girls her age would never have even heard of, that's from my older sister's era, such as Daria and Hole.

But she always has good points about things, and this week her letter to Seventeen magazine caught my eye, and I feel that I must re-post it because it raises such a good point.

"

Dear Seventeen,

I am writing you concerning your headline on your June/July cover, "THE PARTY DRUG THAT CAN MAKE YOU FAT & UGLY." I hope you keep these problems in mind for your future issues.

First of all, "fat" is a descriptive term. It is not a negative thing if it is what is healthiest for a person, and I mean ACTUAL health, not like how your "Health" section is really just code for "Skinny" ("Feel lighter and leaner!") It's very disappointing to see your efforts with the body peace treaty and Jess Weiner's column about body image contradicted with the suggestion that fat=ugly.

By trying to discourage the use of drugs with the threats that it will make someone fat and ugly, you're saying the worst thing that can happen to your average reader, a teenage girl, as a result of drug use, is not that she will have any damage done to her brain or become unhappy, but that her appearance will suffer (again, being fat does not mean bad appearance, but that is what you imply.) Notice anything wrong with this picture?

I know that the reality is that people do value looks over intelligence, and that therefore, the easiest way to convince them not to do pot is that it will make them unattractive. But it doesn't have to be that way. Pop culture and the media, two things teenagers especially breathe, have quite a bit to do with the way teenage girls are expected to value beauty over all else. You, Seventeen, do too, and you have an influence, so use it. I know your intentions are good, but there are ways to discourage drug use without taking away from another important message. Teenage girls are worth more than looks, and we don't need another media outlet telling us otherwise.

Sincerely,
Tavi

P.S. I'm just taking a guess here, but could it be at all possible that your valuing looks over intelligence or happiness is somehow related to your advertising content?

"

From Style Rookie: An Open Letter to Seventeen Magazine

Fat is not Ugly.

And the fact that a young girls magazine is basically advertising that it is, is truly disgusting.

How are we supposed to stop anorexia if magazines are going to carry on going like this.

Just today I watched Saturday/Sunday's episode of Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty, where she meets a French model who became severely anorexic through modelling. It was such a sad story. It's quite grotesque that to become a model in France, you're contract states that you have to be a certain weight, and they weigh you and measure you everyday to make sure you don't gain weight. And if you gain weight it's a matter of losing your job/career! It's horrible!

You know what's even more disgusting? The fact that the other day someone (I won't name names) said to me that being fat makes it harder to make friends. I completely blew up at this because it's just so harsh to think that people these days will actually avoid making friends with you because you are fat. It's beyond shallow. Maybe we should just start avoiding the really skinny people... What the hell is coming to the world? Just imagine that, if this happened, we all separated ourselves from each other because of how much we weigh and how we look. Gross.

More things need to be done to stop this.

Which is why it was nice to hear that Isabelle Caro (the anorexic model from Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty) modelled naked to advertise the troubles with anorexia during Milan Fashion Week 2007.

See the image here.

xo

Listening to City and Colour.

Nails

My friend just told me about WAH Nails company, who have a place in Topshop.
I never really liked fake nails or thought that much about my nails. I love nail varnish and I paint my nails as often as I have time, but they don't seem like a big thing to me....
Until NOW.

Miu Miu inspired nails

Chanel nails

Fruit nails

It's amazing because they can do this on your nail! It doesn't have to be a fake nail!
I'm impressed!
So my friend Charlotte has been raving about how good they are for ages and about how she's wanted to go, but until now has she sent me the website.
And well... we have a trip planned!

I think I want a galaxy print on mine....

xo

Listening to Young Guns's new album All Our Kings Are Dead.

All images from Wah-Nails.com