stop breaking down

happy october everyone! i'm so excited for autumn, i love this time of year with its clear skies, crisp leaves and low sunlight in the evenings. at least, i love the september & october part of autumn before it all descends into a soggy november mess.

in my next-but-last post, i mentioned that i was hopefully going to buy this skirt from miss selfridge (taking advantage of their 20% student discount offer, hello) and i did! it was originally £35, but with the discount it came down to £28 which is still somewhat steep but i decided to just go for it as i really love the skirt & it's the cheapest it was ever going to be.

i really do apologise for my facial expression, i've actually discovered that i cannot smile symmetrically, the left side of my mouth always goes higher than the right! bizarre.

anyway, i decided to wear it with my grey rolling stones tshirt, as i think you need something with strong shoulders to balance the long, floaty effect of the skirt. last weekend i wore it out to the pub with a plaid blouse with puffy sleeves, although i actually think this looks better!

also, if anyone in the uk thinks this looks familiar, janet from the x factor (ie diana vickers mark two) was wearing it on last night's show.

i love the two layer effect you get with this skirt, i think it looks really different to the other maxi/midi skirts you see all over the place these days. plus, the fabric flows out behind me when i walk, which makes me feel all feminine and empowerment-y at the same time.

i wouldn't usually wear this colour, but i think it is absolutely beautiful & so appropriate for this time of year! i really want to wear it to college some time because i think it's something you can either dress up or down, but we'll be workign with clay until wednesday so i think i'll have to wait a while!

blurred photograph for the shape.

after i bought the skirt, i also had a little wander around new look in search of some new shoes, and i'm so glad i did because i found the perfect pair of brogues! i managed to get them for £17, down from £25 after another 20% student discount and some new look vouchers i've had for ages. normally i find it so difficult buying shoes i like that actually fit me properly because i have really skinny, flat feet.

love the detailing they have on them, especially the actual brogueing! i'm so sick of seeing regular lace up shoes being called brogues even though they don't have the detailing that they need in order to actually be brogues. sorry, little pet hate that i have!

skirt - miss selfridge, tshirt - ebay, socks - had them since first school, shoes - new look.

my friend matthew just started a blog about all things male and fashiony, so go check it out!

also, i've listed a few new items in the shop and there will be more autumn-y related ones coming soon!

that's all for now, hopefully next time you see me i'll have had my hair cut.

*

PS is anyone watching coronation street at the moment? i am positively gripped by the rape story line they have at the minute, i think they're handling it so well - and it's so true to life the way some people think carla is "playing the victim" or lying about it, as this is something that rape victims constantly have to deal with. i think the acting is fantastic, and hopefully this can go some way to changing attitudes towards rape in this country. did you know that there is only a 7% conviction rate for rape in this country? absolutely shameful, and apparently there are even more rapes (estimated 75-90%) that go unreported. sorry for the sombre end to this post, but it's something i've been thinking about a lot lately.

hallowe'en; part two

in the evening, i had another hallowe'en evening which was a bit bizarre (must be the spirits twisting things hmm?), it was me, a friend of mine & some a collection of friends of friends who i'd never met before.

it was quite amusing though.

it was a little bit chillier outside so i swapped the skirt for some trousers & a different tshirt.

just a quick photo as the light was fading.

cardigan - h&m, £9.99

tshirt - a christmas present from my sister

trousers - h&m, £14.99

close up of the shirt, i do absolutely love it. it goes with practically anything because of all the different colours in it.

tonight i made some jewellery (which i have really really missed doing!) from some hallowe'eny creature things i got from a friend.
this is kelly the skeleton, she's very pleased to meet you.

this is the bat necklace i made for my friend (the one who gave me the creatures in the first place).
i kind of wish i had dressed up for hallowe'en this year, it makes me feel too grown-up to be in normal clothes on all hallows eve!

hallowe'en; part one

happy belated hallowe'en everyone!

my picnic was lovely, although i can't get any photos on here because my computer is being a bit difficult, so it's just an outfit post for now.

my face is a tad sickening in this picture.

nothing new outfitwise apart from my flowery shoes which arrived on friday much to my excitement.

tshirt - ebay, 99p

cardigan - h&m, £9.99

skirt - topshop, £10

tights - no idea, i think they were a gift from the mother

flower in hair - h&m, £1.99 for two

vintage necklace - 50p

i do love this skirt, i think it translates from summer to autumn quite well.

the shoes!

oh, i love them so much.

these are the cakes i bought for our picnic, they were so lovely!

i had about three today because we had lots left over.

they had the cutest little star, pumpkin & bat shaped sprinkles on, just lovely.

cheer up dear, it might never happen.

there's been a bit of a lack of posting round these parts recently, and i can only apologise, but i have been rather under the weather for the past few days.

curse this wet weather, i knew i shouldn't have walked to the post office in the rain!

to ward off this horrendous cold/flu thing i have going on i have been trying to get into the autumn-y swing of things.

firstly, i have bought these frankly beautiful (and no, i don't think that's an ovestatement) canvas shoes off the topshop website.

in the sale these babies were only £10, and they only had my size left.

fate? yes i believe so.

i need some more robust-ish shoes for this rainy season & i think it's a small way of incorporating some autumn colours into my wardrobe. in my opinion they'll look lovely next to the even lovelier reds & oranges of the fallen leaves.

on another note, i've just joined the i will go slightly out of my way to step on a crunchy-looking leaf on facebook. seriously, who can deny they don't do that?

hallowe'en (hell yeah i put the apostrophe in, the word is not nearly as magical without it) is coming up on friday & before this illness malarkey struck me down in the prime of life, i was starting to organise some sort of hallowe'en picnic in the park with a big group of mis amigos, should be pretty fun i think.

although that does mean i need a hallowe'en costume on short notice.

eek!

also, in a bit of an effort to cheer my ill self up, i've been watching marathons of how i met your mother. that show is just so funny, i love it!

oh, and, ted? marry me please!
i've also been watching a few films that i've been dying to see for ages.

nick & norah's infinite playlist: so good. so so sooooo good. in fact, i may just have to commit bigamy cause i want to marry michael cera too.

high fidelity: based on one of my favourite books by nick hornby, it was brought to life really well, although i think it would have come across better if it was still set in london, especially as the whole "exotic american singer" thing didn't really work out. i have to say that the male characters were brilliant, and jack black in particular was playing the role he has been typecast in ever since (think failing musician who is stuck in a rut & you've pretty much got it) & for an amazing reason, he rocks at it. i also LOVED the bruce springsteen cameo.

wow, didn't mean to do a whole review there.

hopefully i'll get better in a few days, organise the hallowe'en picnic & have some nice photos to post.

thanks for reading :)

dots & stripes forever

yesterday, myself & a few friends went on a bit of a day trip to hexham as we had a day off school.

hexham is absolutely chock full of charity shops so i was in my element and bought rather a lot of things for very little money.

i got this blue & white stripey jumper for £3.50, although i'm not too sure on whether it suits me or not.

it's a mens XL and it is soooo comfortable, just what i need for the cold weather which is drawing in.

my hair is a total & utter mess so i stuck my big ass blue bow in to keep it at bay.

the rest of my outfit:

trousers - h&m, £14.99

belt - dolly dagger, £4

necklace - affleck's palace in manchester, £4

bow hairband - new look, £3.50

the other jumper i bought is white with rather groovy purple spots & was pointed out to me by one of my friends as a "very charlotte jumper".
this was only £3.50 in the same shop as i bought the one above, & i think it goes rather well with my purple striped h&m top.
the guy in the shop had THE best music taste - while i was paying a boy named sue by johnny cash came on, which has to be one of my favourite songs ever.

when i saw this bag, i thought to myself this is either the most amazing or the most hideous bag i have ever seen.

as it happens, i think it's bloody marvellous & it was only £2.99.

it doesn't have a strap though so i shall have to create one out of chain or ribbons & such.

this is the back (or front, i'm actually not sure) which is just as awesome, and kind of matches the belt below.

the colour of this hasn't really come out very well in the photo, but it is a lovely shade of bottle green & i just adore it.
it only cost me 50p which was rather fantastic, i need to punch some more holes in it though because it's a little too big to use as a waist belt.

i bought a couple more things from the charity shops too, books which i can't wait to read, an old rolling stones single (miss you), some pretty darn hilarious ties for my dad for his birthday & a lovely tiger eye pendant which i shall stick some photos of up in a bit.

i've been feeling very autumn-y recently as the leaves are turning all shades of red & orange, which in my opinion is just beautiful.

this is our old climbing frame, i used to love it so much when i was little.

i'm not normally one for taking photographs, but i thought this was really rather pretty & i wanted to preserve it somehow.

these autumn leaves are yours tonight

the colder weather is drawing in, and although i quite like crisp & frosty autumn days, cold nights really are not my bag.

obviously i need to buy one of these lovelies from topshop.

*sigh*

what sheer cuteness.