OOTD ; Exploring York, Vintage Finds + New Dr Martens

Cardigan : Primark , Blouse : Vintage Find! , Shorts: Levi , Fluffy Bag : Topshop , Pompom : Topshop , Dr Martens: Cherry Red 1460 , Socks : H&M , Floral Headband : Primark

Today was the nicest day! Me and Chase went up to Sheffield yesterday and had fun wandering around Meadowhall, eating nandos, watching (and chase obsessing over) Ant Man + staying oveernight watching hotel tv !

Today we carried on our journey up North and reached York! First stop was a yummy breakfast in a little cafe,we then walked under and over the city bridge, explored vintage shops, went on a guided tour around the cathedral, had fish and chips and went all round 'The Shambles'! York is so pretty and you can feel the history as you walk around, it was a perfect day out in my new Docs! (which im in love with!) and I managed to get some cool photos with this cat ^.^ I recently got this cockatoo blouse from a vintage shop in Nottingham and I am in love with it! It reminded me why I love to rummage for good finds and I definetely want to make a point of going round charity shops + car boot sales through the summer to see what else I can find ^.^

London ; Hyper Japan and OOTD

Skirt+Cardigan: House of Holland | Top: Lazy Oaf | Shoes+Socks: Topshop | Bunny Bag: Hyper Japan 

Yesterday I got the chance to go to 'HyperJapan' in London at the o2, which is basically a massive convention of all things Japanese + all things I love ^.^ I managed to secure myself a press pass and spent the day taking photos of everything cute, kawaii + colourful including all the girls amazing style, which ranged from lolita to cosplay to everything bright, awesome and inbetween! I've never been to anything like this before but I'm a HUGE fan of anything Harajuku/Japanese and so this was amazing to be able to see everything that encompasses these districts of amazing fashion and culture. I fell in love with the alpacas (Alpacasso I think they were called !) and I saw them everywhere, I think I may have to go online and order myself a small one soon, I'm a sucker for cute faces, ofwhich obviously there were many! The Jewellery/Clothes + Art were all amazing and I picked myself up the little purple bunny bag you see above ^^^ I liked being able to take away a bit of Japan with me! It was an awesome day with awesome company ^.^

London ; OOTD, Southbank + Alexander Mcqueen

Dress: Asos | Midi Skirt: Topshop | Fluffy Bag: Topshop | Socks + Sandals: Primark | Flowers: H&M 

Yesterday I met up with one of my favourite friends to hang out in London + see Mcqueens 'Savage Beauty' exhibition. 

I moved back home last week so it was nice to get away to my favourite city and feel immersed in a city culture that inspires and excites me. Leaving university has felt sad to me, mostly for what it represents: freedom and friends, it was nice to feel like neither of those have been taken away its just learning that by moving home I'm not moving backwards but forwards and I still have all the people and memories and freedom of the past 5 years but temporarily I'm having to figure out where to go to from here.

In London we wandered around the southbank area, eating amazing food truck food, drinking local brewed cider (where I learn't that asking for a fruity cider like Koppaberg is not the said thing...), enjoying the sunshine and talking ALOT ^.^

Angie had booked us tickets for the Mcqueen exhibition at 4.30pm so we wandered over there super early, raided the giftshop and got our phones ready to take sneaky photos (which apart from one blurred attempt neither of us managed to get any!). It was AMAZING to see Mcqueens collections, going from his MA graduate collection in 1992 through to his final collection in 2010. Seeing how far he came as a designer, the beauty and structure of his clothes and the knowledge of his craftsmanship was insane. He was a true genius. If you haven't been you need to get down and see it before it finishes, if you appreciate any form of art then you'll love this!

We finished the day by getting some photos of my outfit outside the infamous white houses, I loved my outfit for the day except when I went into the exhibition and just felt so boring compared to the exquisite work of Mcqueen... however I'll let that slide because y'know nothing I can afford is ever going to compare ^.^

OOTD ; Sundays, Christenings, Flowers and Shaved Hair

 

Floral Crown: Newlook
Dress: Asos
Tutu Skirt: Dorothy Perkins
Jacket + Shoes: Topshop
Lipstick: Mac's Heroine

Today me and Chase went to a christening which was pretty cool, the last time I went to one I was 4 and so singing along to some well remembered primary school favourite hymns was a nice start to the day ^.^ I've been a bit bored since finishing Uni and in that awful phase of obsessively checking my emails for job acceptances/declines and awaiting my final degree result. Last night I decided to shave a bit of my hair off just because I was bored and I wanted to do something different and so I made Chase (who didn't want to haha) shave a small piece of my hair off at the front, it can only really be seen when I'm wearing my hair up and although I may shave more off over the next couple of weeks I like how it is at the moment ^.^ There was that moment of dread as I saw my hair coming off that I was like 'What am I doing'.. but only I know its there when I wear my hair down like in the photos above ^^^ I really want to dye it something different but I like the colours too much to change them at the moment.. hair feels like the most affordable thing to play around with at the moment as I'm so stuck in my student overdraft its horrible, I just want to be rich.. or if not rich with at least enough money to rent a little cottage like Miss Honeys in Matilda and have a toy poodle (unclipped.. because then they look like teddy bears). Or to live in london and be famous. ^.^

OOTD ; London, Fashion + Friends

Dress: Topshop (LOVE)
Leather Jacket: House of Holland
Socks + Sandals: Primark
Scrunchie: New Look
Sunglasses: Monki
Harness Belt: Paige Ryan

On Friday I went on an adventure down to London for the weekend to exhibit my Graduate work at Free Range, this consisted of a portfolio, an illustrated book, business cards (and later), cava, sample sales, hotels, photos, trains, peroni cocktails, more photos, markets, cider, street food, old friends, new friends, best friends and new memories.

I had the best weekend, the idea behind exhibiting your work down in London is to try and make as many connections as possible and get a job! I haven't come away with a job but perhaps my business cards are sat in peoples pockets who are interested in me or if not if they enjoyed my work and I made an impression and that is amazing in itself. Its crazy that I have now officially left university, I'm scared and excited at all the prospects but being down in London made me focus on what matters: being creative. If  I can be creative I'll be happy, I want to surround myself with people and with art and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts and I'm hopeful this summer can bring me more memories, (I hope!!!) a new job and (again HOPEHOPEHOPE) somewhere to live ! ^.^

The jacket (above ^^^^) I managed to get for £20 from a house of holland sample sale, its real leather, its beautiful, its literally me in a jacket and it makes me so happy I LOVE it. I bought a few other pieces from the sample sale, it was opposite our exhibition which was pretty much mean't to be because house of holland is one of my favourite brand and I came away with super expensive pieces for £5 here and £10 there! I LOVE sample sales ^.^

OOTD ; Jelly Shoes, Tutu's & Pink Hair

Jelly Shoes + Socks : Primark
Tutu Skirt : Lola Rose
Top : Topshop
Cardigan : New Look
Bugs Bunny Bag : H&M
Coat + Flowers : Zara
Phone Case (Designed by Me ^.^) : Claires

 I wasn't planning to come back home this weekend but after having my final catwalk show for my grad collection on Thursday night and staying up all night and going into work on Friday, by Saturday I was worn out and needed to go back relax and feel at home. I find it strange that no matter what I'm doing or what I'm achieving a small piece of me always wants to go back where theres countryside at every turn, it helps me to feel better and to want more from life, living in a city in student housing can sometimes feel suffocating, although with only 5 weeks left I know when its time to move out I'm going to be missing my freedom and shops on my doorstep.

Today I sat in the park, reading and looking a little out of place for the bumbling town of Oakham (although I feel I look a little eccentric most places I go !).

 I got these Jelly Sandals for my Catwalk Collection but after buying a size 6 I later found out my 6 models were all 7/8 (and one was even a 9 !). I was pretty happy to keep these and try out wearing them, I've been opposed to jelly shoes since they re-emerged and I have no idea why, there so me: glitter and plastic! I like wearing them with socks and skirts and I like these more than the flat jelly shoes as I feel like the 23 year old me is wearing the grown up version of the ones I wore when I was 5 at the seaside ^.^

Fashion Fashion Fashion

All Work My Own.

I'm sat in my room with one week till my final major hand in (6 days to be more precise. I am a constant calender/clock watcher right now) and I have no motivation to sit on Illustrator or Illustrate with the abundance of promarkers strewn across my bed. I have an interview on Wednesday for an accessories company based back home and a list as long as my long long arms of garments to be made next week and its just too much. I'm at the stage where I've cared about everything so much for so long that I dont love it anymore I just want to be rid of it and then maybe in a month (if) when it goes down those catwalks I can fall back in love with my HOURS and HOURS of hard work and be proud of what I've achieved.
I'd quite like to just sit and watch Pretty Little Liars all day every day and not worry about invisible zips, flatlockers and portfolios.