This, Madame, is Versailles.

Hello! I just wanted to show you my favourite dress ever!

I bought it from ebay in February (well, technically my dad gave me the money for it as a birthday present!), and I've been waiting to post about it for a while because it felt almost too beautiful to wear. Like I should frame it and put it on the wall or something.

But, clothes are for wearing and that is what I shall do. (I think I may have unintentionally bastardised a Nancy Sinatra song there.)

Ahhh. I am just in love with this dress. Too lovely for words. The Marie Antoinette-esque toile de jouy print is so darling! I love the pastoral scenes and the architectural style details and the pretty pink exotic birds. I just love everything about the dress haha!

This dress just makes me want to float around a summer garden making daisy chains and twirling a paper parasol. The full skirted, 1950s shape makes it perfect for swishing about in a feminine manner.

dress - vintage via ebay, headscarf (I know, I know, I wear this too much!) - vintage, petticoat - charity shop, tights - dorothy perkins, necklace - car boot sale.

Back detail of the print.

Sorry for the lack of wordage in this post, but I'd rather let the dress speak for itself this time.

i'm a fool to want you

on monday night, i went to the 18th birthday party of one of my best friends who i've known since i was about nine years old! she's very interested in eras gone by, much as i am, so she had a 1940s themed party. a group of us clubbed together to buy her some vintage records we thought she'd like as a present, & i've just received a text saying she's just been listening to them & she loves them!

it was such a lovely night (even though a couple of annoying, inconsiderate people ruined it for me at the end, but we'll say no more about that) & i can honestly say cathryn - that's her name, by the way - is one of the cutest people i know. unfortunately, there really aren't any pictures of me from the night, but i have a few i took before i went.

this was my attempt at pin-curling my hair, although you can't really see as my hair is so dark in photographs! i was pretty pleased with how my hair turned out, as i have next to no experience in styling hair. in fact, i may have to try it again some time!

as the 1940s aren't really a decade i know a lot about, i didn't have much in my wardrobe that i could wear for such an occasion. thankfully my mother, amazing woman that she is, has forgotten more about decades of fashion than i could ever know so she was the perfect person to guide me.

i love this dress so much, the style isn't 40s in the slightest but the print is so i think i got away with it.

forgive the disaffected youth pose, my camera has a lot of trouble focusing in low light & this was the only shot that came out alright. this is pretty much the same outfit i wore in this post, so i didn't do any full length shots as it seemed slightly gratuitous to me. the only thing i'm slightly annoyed about is that i forgot to take a picture of the tights i wore as they were the most 1940s-ish thing about the outfit!

i'm wearing pearls in these photographs, but i decided to change my necklace at the last minute to this typewriter one i got for christmas from my cousin (the very same cousin who features in the post below!). i thought it was very appropriate, & of course it meant i could spend the night pretending i was one of those wonderfully mysterious women who spent the war working as a code-breaker. or something like that, ahem.

this will be my last post of 2010 (gasp), so i shall see you all in the new year! (:

awake my soul

results day tomorrow, i'm pretty cool about it.

...

hdgdhkdksjdkodlsdldffkgldfkglfgdl NOT.

good luck to anybody out there who is awaiting their results (as or a2 levels), i hope you get what you want (:

me & my friends are hoping to meet up after ours in the local park, provided everyone feels up for it.

anyway, i just wanted to update you all on a new dress i bought recently. it's from ebay via primark, & cost me about £6. i actually adore it, even though it's very different from what i normally wear, ie. it's black. i never wear black. seriously, it's like i'm allergic to it.

note the facial expression showing my disdain for results day.

i wore this dress to go out for a picnic with my friends on monday, which was very lovely (even though i got sunburnt on my elbow! i know, my sensitivity to sunlight amazes me sometimes). we had an awesome day, being extremely childish as ever.

i really like the pattern on this dress, floral isn't something i wear a lot - not through choice, i just don't own many flowery items, but happily that seems to be changing as of late! yay! i just wore it with black opaque tights, although i think it would go quite nicely with some pink or maybe cream ones, what do you think?

this is my new favourite jewllery of the moment, my miniature harmonica necklace - which actually works! and yes, i was playing it at opportune moments all day. my friend joanna & i received one each as a gift from dolls & molls for helping out with, well, you'll just have to wait & see! muaha, i'm such a tease!

just showing off my amazing harmonica skillzzz. i could so be in an alternative folk band! marcus mumford, johnny flynn, give me a call ;)
*
edit: i'm a bit of a banana & forgot to say before, but i'm going away on holiday to spain as of the 21st, so won't be around to reply to any comments unfortunately. i will be scheduling a couple of posts though, so all is not lost!

feel alright

while in london, i visited the british music experience gallery at the o2, as i mentioned before. in the mid-60s gallery, there was (of course) lots of beatles stuff there that i was completely in awe of - ringo's suit, george's guitar etc - but one item i was really in love with was a dress worn by an usherette at the premiere of the beatles' 1964 film, a hard day's night.

unfortunately, photography wasn't allowed in the exhibition (although i was going to take some super sneaky photos but i was scared in case they had cctv & threw me out. yeah, rebellious) so you'll have to make do with the pictures i found on google.

see, isn't it amazing? the one in the gallery was actually blue, but this is pretty much what it looked like. this picture linked to a website where it looked like you could actually buy the dress, but it was sold out sadly!

this is sort of the closest i could get to finding the blue one on the internet...

yeah, i know it's on a freaking sindy doll, but what can you do? her eyes really scare me actually.

i would really love to own this dress, so either i'll be stalking ebay & google & many beatle devoted websites to find it, or i may try & make my own! which could be ambitious, but let's see how it goes.

to dress extravagantly

hey! (:

i'm doing this like post more often thing, it's cool & I LIKE IT.

sorry, i'm writing this at like half past midnight after watching harry potter (the half blood prince, oh yeaah) so my thoughts are kinda scrambled right now. i'm scheduling this 'cause i've got family coming until saturday so i can't post until then, & i actually have a huuuge list of things i want to post about. so yeah, apologies for the rambling that shall no doubt fill this post.

henceforth i shall commence my list of purchases from londinium!

i bought this dress at spitalfields market, & i kind of love it. although i really should stop buying so much blue.

it's kind of unlike anything else i own, as i don't have many floral things or *ahem* low-cut-y things.

i do like it though, it has a kick ass bow at the back.

points for the messy bed in the background.

what's that i can hear you crying? "ohmygod, more beatles things?! will this girl never stop!?"

in a word; no.

adding two more; i won't!

from the british music experience, i bought two postcards - a sgt pepper era one of the beatles & a john lennon imagine one. i also got a couple badges, the mod one & a hey jude/revolution beatles single cover one.

yes, i know i go overboard with beatles information. deal.

purchases from the imperial war museum! now, i actually really don't like seeing things about war (surprise!) or the army but this place was quite good.

the badge was an impulse buy at the desk, i own far too many badges. i need to get myself a dashing jacket & emblazon them about it joe strummer style. or like effy from skins, if you didn't get that reference.

i bought some postcards; a 1940s lady, a keep calm & carry on one & one that says "to dress extravagantly in war time is worse than bad form it is unpatriotic".

that last one makes me laugh, i just feel it's pretty arrogant.

on the last day of the trip, i met up with my cousin & we went around spitalfields market together, which was possibly the coolest place in existence. i do wish i'd gone to brick lane though, maybe next time.

anywaaaaay.

besides the dress, i bought a pocket watch thing, which i think is actual vintage! although i can't be sure as it was cheap if its real. it's a bit broken though & i can't figure out how to set it to the right time. i need to get padre on the job to fix it.

i also bought this really cute bow! they had loads & i couldn't make up my mind which one to buy, but in the end this turquoise beauty stole my heart. just look at that lace! LOOK AT IT.

when you're done looking at the lace, you could have a look at these lovely flowery buttons i bought at the same stall as that beautiful lacy object.

i think they're pretty darn cute, & i really want to use them for making some jewellery soon, but i don't quite know what for yet.

shake, rattle & roll.

- scheduled post -

i am away in london until the 9th of august

*

my friend joanna & i went to town yesterday (which is like, 2 days ago because hopefully this is posting on the 4th) to wander round some shops, & joanna showed me this vintage clothes shop she found called attica vintage.

this is the upstairs of the shop, which was lovely.

they also sold furniture & home furnishings & things. there was this table that i basically fell in love with, it was glass & had illustrations of musical instruments all over it. alas, it was almost £75 & unless i go back with either of the parents there's no way i'm getting it.

there were old photographs of musicians, actors & actresses everywhere which was so amazing. the beatles kept popping up a lot of the time too, which is always lovely.

the fitting rooms. oh, and us as well!

joanna's nail varnish matches the dress! how very serendipitous.

who could that be awkwardly holding a fur coat? oh, i think it just might be me.

there was a music shop just opposite from attica which looked really good, although we didn't stay long. they had lots of vinyl which i may have to go back to look through, i found a bob dylan bootleg album which looked really good, only it was £69! sheesh, i think i need to win the lottery soon. they had signed pictures up as well, which was really awesome as they had some from the kooks & jamie t.

after shopping, we went to have a bite to eat at the american diner (another of joanna's finds!)

which has pictures of 50s icons all over the walls; marilyn monroe, elvis, james dean & more.

we had icecream sundaes, joanna's is the chocolate on the left & mine is the honey nut thing on the right.

i actually finished it! i am very proud of this achievement.

say hello to james dean's crotch.

the jailhouse rock elvis photograph in the bathroom. this is the only photograph that i took by the way, the rest can all be credited to joanna.

joanna's present to me, which makes me very happy (:

i do love a good bit of john lennon impersonation

sheila goes out with her mate stella

happy april everyone! i won't say april fool's because it's after noon, & that makes me the fool i think?

so FINALLY i have a break from the relentless draining work of school (well, to revision & art work, but it's not compulsory!), & i have slightly more time to relax before the horror of exams.

i promised to post about my friend's birthday party last week, & i didn't because i have absolutely no free time whatsoever. yes, i know it's an old excuse but sadly it's becoming more and more true.

we began the night with a spontaneous wind-up spacehopper race.

yes, it was my idea. yes, i am utterly normal.

this is the nearest i could get to an outfit photo; i decided to wear my new dorothy perkins dress with lilac tights. i'm actually not sure if it really works, especially with the pink cardigan, maybe there are too many pastel shade. what do you think?

i also had my bad-ass black tartan heels on, but i took them off.

we danced, A LOT.

i believe this is me in the middle of rapping along to jamie t's if you got the money. oh yes B)

there were also many, many sweeties. right here i'm eating a coca cola flavoured colin the caterpillar. yes, you read that correctly. to my british readers out there; we also had percy pigs - hell yeah!

i think this is from when my friend kate (on the left with the bloody gorgeous skirt, it was her birthday) was trying to teach me the charleston.

which i was not good at. at all.

sorry the photos are mostly of me, but i didn't want to put photos up without my friends' permission. oh, that reminds me - these were taken on my friend joanna's camera (she's the one in the flowery dress) & she took most of them.