A Day in My Life

Last night I saw a performance of modern dance; Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Gray at Sadler’s Wells. It’s loosely based on Oscar Wilde’s gothic novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, transferred into the present. The infatuated painter Basil Hallward has been transformed into a lustful photographer and the mysteriously beautiful portrait of Dorian, locked into the attic is now this:

An advertisement shown on a large billboard, for a brand-new perfume; Immortal, pour homme. At times the set and dancing were beautiful, at times the actions and scenarios hilarious at times it was also very dark, such as in the final scene when Lady H finds Dorian lying dead and moments later photographers burst onto the scene to capture the fallen It-boy’s dead face. But at other times, they just failed to pull it off (mainly when a cheesy overscore started to speed up to illustrate the mounting passion of a scene).

In this respect, the events that occurred for me today, echoed the dance. It has been a strange day, one full of moments of complete serendipity jarring with the daily grind of school life. The lists have again started to take over my existence, after a wonderful month or so of banishment; I have been forgetting too much too often and have simply had to resort to listing it all.

Of course, once you’ve written the list and realised how much there is to do, essential pleasures such as relaxing for an hour with some nuts and an episode of Desperate Housewives become guilty. Today at school, when we stopped everything we were doing for one minute in memory of 9/11 for the first time in the day I wasn’t doing something, even those more inactive things which somehow still seem to sap the energy.

There were still plenty of little treats to help the day push forward, like bite-sized chocolates which give you an extra oomph, a burst of energy. The effect however isn’t very long-lasting because there is simply no time for basking in it.

Despite this the small pleasures in life are no less beautiful. Today, my teacher seemed to have lost track of time and let the class go 10 minutes early. On my way to the bus, I felt a strange urge to start running; co-incidentally I was wearing trainers, a backpack and a sports top and a little thing like breaking into a run was made easy, when any other day all sorts of niggles (wrong shoes, heavy shoulder bag…) would have arisen. So I did run, and as I reached the main road a bus arrived. One I would have otherwise missed. Elated, I got on the bus and by the time I was home, of course, not much felt special. A 40 minute walk, comfy new contact lenses, a surprisingly high score in a subject you don’t like at all and serendipitous event like catching an early bus may not last very long, but I’m going to enjoy them as much as I can.

Good Deed of the Day

I know that it's highly unlikely that I have a single reader who hasn't recently read WendyB's witty and exciting blog and already knows all about this, but I thought as my good deed (sort of balancing out the Harper's Bazaar I stole, um borrowed, from the art room at school today) I'd link to the auction held by witty, exciting, generous etc etc etc blogger WendyB.

CLICK HERE

As well as doing a good deed by winning, you'll be winning a better version of immortality. The type which doesn't involve seeing all the ones you love die, the world around you wither and suffer and change beyond recognition and your favourite Uniqlo jeans being discontinued. Plus you get free jewelry, and the knowledge that you did a good deed, in helping to raise some money for the Nielson family, who were recently severely injured in a plane crash (read what happened here on the New York Times).

Seriously though, I am really touched by the absolutely stunning generosity and non-judgemental attitude shown by the human, not just online community when showing compassion for strangers. xxxxx to all the wonderful people who inhabit the universe. Soppy, moi?

Aren't rules for breaking?

Hi. That's me, by the way, cropped artistically because my nose looked a little twisted, sort of like there was a bad smell under my nose. I wonder what that bad smell could be... maybe Trinny & Susannah's odourous rules???

Apparently, they have this fool-proof system, whereby you take out all the clothes in the colours you wear most often, 'put each item up against your face - and see what it does. Do your eyes look brighter? Your dark circles worse? Does your skin look radiant or does it go totally flat? You will soon know which shades of which colours are best for you'. Sound like totally ingenious, enlightening advice? You can click here for more.

It gets better. Say you want something a little more personalised. Some individual guidelines, which stretch a little farther than 'see which colours make you look prettiest'. No probs! They'll divide you into one of three categories (yep, that's three whole categories we beautiful and unique humans comprise of) and give you your own personal colour palette from which you can build your own entire wardrobe!

I am WARM.

Warm

People who fall into this category are easy to spot. The majority have some red in their hair, from rich brown through to auburn or ginger - there may even be some strawberry blondes.

When women in this category go grey, they are desperate to have their hair coloured because it can take on an unattractive hue. Their eyes might be blue, but not that bright turquoise blue; eye colour is more likely to be brown, hazel or a duller green. Their skin tone might be a little sallow or freckly, but generally not dark or mid brown.

Yep, that's me, as the above picture clearly demonstrates. But hang on a minute, dear T&S are telling me my hair will look awful grey.. oh well, let's see what other kind and encouraging advice they have to offer.

This colour grouping looks truly appalling in black; it is their worst colour by far. Navy comes a close second...Grey is not great either, as it will totally wash out their complexion.

Great, so wait, does that mean I have to throw out 99% of my wardrobe and every single garment in my preferred colour of blue? Plus all the hot pink which makes me happy? Does that mean that I have to dress like a Boden lady 24/7?

I've come to realise that T&S, Gok and every 'Which ... suit my ...?' guide out there realised that we don't all want to wear wrap dresses and cinched in belts to 'accentuate our waists'. Come on, if I'm going to be following any fashion law it will be the Mean Girl's rocking rules.


(seriously, coolest. game. ever)

I want a pony

The truth is, I've never been particularly fond of horses and I've never asked my daddy for a pony. I once had a horse-riding party and it was horribly frustrating seeing how much better than me all the other kids were. I don't like riding in horse carriages because they smell a little dubious and I always feel so sorry for the horses being whipped. Riding hats are so itchy, and also hugely disgusting when you have to rent them... and don't even get me started on jodhpurs. Yes, the diluted Balenciaga version may have been fashionable at one point but they will never flatter me and you will never find me in proper jodhpurs either (I.E. purple leggings)


In fact, even the whole cute equestrian chic bordering on preppy look which you can buy pretty much head to toe from the infuriating Jack Wills which is doing the rounds doesn't particularly appeal to me; the closest to horse jewelry I've ever got is a sweet little seahorse pendant (which soon broke). With all this background information on offer, it may be a little easier for you to understand my shock when I started to notice a pattern in the boots I was being attracted to.

Clockwise from top left: Dorothy Perkins £70, Office £100, Belstaff £295, Marks & Spencer £79

Predictably, the Belstaffs are the most yummy (I know, 'yummy' should be strictly restricted to kids describing their nuggets and chips but seriously, would you not eat those if you could keep them once they'd passed through the system???) but also the most unattainable. The M&S pair are out of stock, the Office boots are a little too high and pricey and the DPs are likely to look crap in the flesh. For now I shall have to console myself by reminding me that normally horse riding boots actually have a tendency to look more like this:

Loving the Lining

What are the chances that I catch a stomach bug and then another one barely two months later? Well I did and this time I think it's even worse that last time; but now I think it's starting to get better (touchwood) and I thought about what I wrote last time:
And the silver lining? At this rate, I'll be looking like Kate Moss.
This time, I completely lost my sense of humour and my little sister had to remind me that 'now you'll be really skinny'. I actually think that I would rather be morbidly obese than ever have to experience stomach pains again, but it is nice to think that everything can have a silver lining. And in the throes of my misery yesterday, I thought of a way of explaining the unfortunate reason for my posting break without making it into yet another of those apology/filler posts which I fear are becoming all too common. I could celebrate my love of linings!

Yes, dropping a couple of kilos is a nice side-effect to illness, but my far preferred type of lining comes on the inside of clothes. This is my favourite jacket, not just because of the fit and pattern but also the stunning leopard print silk lining:


I had a couple of other photos of my beloved leather jacket and some pretty shorts with equally lovely linings. But my computer is playing up similarly to my gut, so I suppose I'll just post this before the whole thing goes wrong...

All dressed up...

You may or may have not seen this post in its original form, entitled testing and at various stages of its existence featuring tiny photos, pixellated photos, and finally this. I am very proud, because I have finally figured out how to re-use pictures in my picasa web albums on my blog. SO economical - I have only used up 6% in almost so many months... well not quite, but you know...

However I suppose I have to be economical in one way, because in terms of completely unneeded evening wear, I am happy to splurge and acquire as many unsuitable dresses as possible. Almost a year ago I was willing to spend £50 on a dress (it was in sale!) for its sheer beauty and impracticality, as well as the fact that it reminded me of one of my favourite films. It doesn't matter that I haven't yet worn it; I am still loathe to spend a couple of pounds on some decent socks, which I wear every day.

Fortunately I have come to the decision that being all dressed up with nowhere to go is indeed a sorry state of affairs, and with nobody I know willing to go and get married so that I have somewhere to wear a posh frock, I am just going to have to accept that I will be grossly over-dressed and wear one of my posh frocks to the theatre. No you did not just misread my sentence, I did say one of my posh frocks; plural. Because not only do I own the evocative £50 bargain, but two other equally all dressed up dresses although these are slightly more excuseable since they were free courtesy of the old stock in my lovely aunt's dress shop. Nevertheless, I am faced with a problem. On average, I find myself with enough courage to take the plunge and go out 'grossly over-dressed' around once a year. But I have three options to choose.The first is the one I actually paid for, justifying my purchase with ideas about dressing it down with thick tights, a black top underneath and some chunky black boots (plus it comes with a detachable slip which ironically I've actually worn loads!). Yep, that failed. Still, there's a chance this dress could be saved from the realms of eveningwear and converted to extra-special daywear, on account of the slightly less dressy material..

The middle dress is the one I have had the longest, hence is the most neglected. It is also the single big-brand that features in my wardrobe, other than spectactles and nail-polish, which I don't think really count. It is... whisper... Burberry! I could also go around with the label sticking out, which would be quite nice too. On the downside, this one is the only one to have been worn out, in public, when I went to see a film 'grossly over-dressed'.

The last one is my most requent acquisition, which suggests that maybe she should get a quick airing, before she becomes stale. Don't ask why this is the only dress with a gender, perhap it's the fairy-like quality which makes me feel like she isn't quite right for the dirty and polluted city centre on a chilly winter's day.

So here I am, all dressed up and not quite nowhere to go, but not ENOUGH places to go. I think I'll just gaze at my pretty dresses a while longer and try to forget the misery. Maybe you could help me choose?

No Place Like Home Part II

I realised that if I don't write this now, I doubt I ever will, because I'm so absolutely terrible with intentions to write something. If I don't write it immediately, it will probably never get written and if I stop halfway, it will probably never get finished. Case in point. Nevertheless, I shall try to write it down.

The month which has just ended, August, was an unusual month in some ways. One thing which stood out is that in 30 days I slept in two big cities, one beach town, one seaside village and a countryside area.

When I was much younger, I used to dream about living in the countryside; being allowed 5 dogs and my own mini tractor to drive around the fields. Then I got a little older and since then I've always been determined that I'm an 'urban girl', most at home in a big city where there is plenty of fashion and a million and one things to do every night. But recently (and that's very recently, as in this past month) I've enjoyed swimming in the sea so much, and floating on boats in the night, and relaxing on the sand. Before my seaside holiday I hadn't been swimming in over a year, because I hate swimming pools so much.

And then I came back from my holidays and sat at home with nothing to do, so I rang my friend and we just went out into the city. We spent a whole day just doing all the things which London has to offer, and having a great time. I got home and thought that maybe the seaside and the countryside are just holiday pleasures and I am an 'urban girl' after all... oh how that phrase makes me cringe.

Liv has the answer...

Am I seeing double? One of these photos of Liv Tyler was taken in 1994. The other was taken 14 YEARS later in 2008. That's right, YEARS not days, or even months.

(I think jealousy of Ms Tyler might be more acceptable than of a doll..)

Spammering

I am ashamed to say that looking at my blog archive and seeing:

September (1)
August (25)
July (28)
June (33)
May (42)

I feel a sense of alarm, a disappointment in the lack of symmetry of it all. Of course, the whole thing can be justified; in May I was experiencing an acute attack of verbal diorrhea on starting this blog, realising I had a whole lot of ideas to write and a whole lot of revision to avoid. Then June and July, with relatively normal post counts, since I was always hoping to hit around the 30 mark. August's decline can be explained with my two week holiday, where posts were only scheduled for every other day. And September, well it's only the 2nd and this is my 2nd post. Nevertheless, I don't want there to be less posts this month and so I thought I might as well do a little spammering. I'm not even sure if that's a proper word but it basically means I'll take all the advertising requests I've had and put them up. I'm feeling virtuous. Besides, this may actually be useful to somebody, as well as making my blog archive count more 'beautiful'...

Lensshopper.com - a guide to contact lenses online. I think I might have received this one on account of this admittedly unusual post.

www.fanatiquefashion.com - Fanatique Fashion is a combination of a blog and an online magazine. A place for in-depth fashion writing and general creativity. The site is completely self funded and non profit. Embarrassingly, I haven't actually got round to checking it out yet but it could be interesting.

Abazias.com - a diamond shop. Probably as a result of one of my jewelry/jewellery posts. They probably forgot to read the bit where I mentioned that I'm not a huge fan of diamonds!

http://www.storeadore.com - Store Adore is a guide to
the best shopping boutiques in major US cities, complete with store profiles, customizable shopping maps, and discounts. Store Adore is described as ³Zagat meets Facebook²- a shoppers encyclopedia of top boutiques written by locally based authors from cities such as New York and LA. Store Adore is a girl¹s best friend when it comes to advice on boutique shopping, and a wonderful resource for travelers as well as locals.

212DRESSINGROOM.com and 212/BLOG an online boutique that creates an innovative merger of editorial content and online retail commerce. The 212/BLOG is written for the progressively minded fashion community, and was created to promote fashion and art from a New York perspective. Content is added through live feed daily highlighting industry news, reviews, and commentary with a glamorous edge. The 212DRESSINGROOM.com boutique will make its official launch in Fall 2008. In the meantime join the coterie of fashion eccentric contributors for the launch of the 212/BLOG .

Jealous of a Doll...

Today is my final day of freedom before going back to school. I know that as of tomorrow, I will have to start working properly if I want to do well. I hope that I will still have time to blog and comment as per usual at first, but it will probably take a while before the backlog of work which is sure to accumulate will start to go out of control but anyway...

So, on this last day of freedom I have decided that I will determinedly do nothing. This has allowed me time to think about my weekend trip and realise that perhaps a lack of mental stimulation has left me a little crazy; I am jealous of a doll.

Actually, two dolls: France and Marianne. These are the two dolls which I saw yesterday when in Windsor, visiting the Windsor Castle. If you want a full background of who they belonged to, why they were given to them etc etc and etc, you can find the history of France and Marianne here:

The Royal Collection

All I can say is that these two royal dolls have a more stylish wardrobe than anyone I have met in the flesh. Their jewelry is Cartier, and their clothes are made by couturiers including Lanvin, Louis Vuitton and Hermès. What most impressed/made me jealous was ensemble in particular, which was based around a leopard print fur coat. I have previously written of my desire for one of these, at least once. These damn dolls not only have a leopard print coat, but matching gloves, hat and a bag. I am only now beginning to realise the absurdity of my envy, but I shall try to justify it to you with the only pictures I could find of France and Marianne (not only are their wardrobes extremely covetable, they are also very exclusive).