Dr Whitwood I presume...

Well hello everyone! It's been a little while. With good reason I'd like to hope, I have spent the last few weeks prepping for my PhD viva which was this month.

The viva is the final hurdle of the PhD where examiners read your thesis and point out all of the mistakes and quiz you on what, how and why you did what you did. I spent most of the last 4 months terrified of this event but when it came to the day I was pretty nervous, but somehow not as bad as I expected.

My PhD has been very draining mentally and emotionally and as the culmination of 4 years hard work the viva is simply a daunting prospect.

Anyhow, I have good news! I passed! The dream is realised an I am going to be able to call myself doctor *big happy face*.

I got a pass with minor corrections so I need to rework a paragraph here or there and adding a couple of extra figures to my intro. It was a better result than I dared hope.

Deciding on what to wear on such a day was an absolute nightmare but I thought I wanted to feel comfortable and confident so I decided on a black dress from Monsoon, it has a swishy skirt and lace around the collar and shoulders.

I wore my hair down during the day, but for going out celebrating I put it up into a 60s inspired beehive.

I know this is a fairly short post, but I hope to see you more often now!

Cosplay Cosume: Trailer Trash - Sci-Fi and Rachel form 'Blade Runner'

On the 23rd of April 2011 many Brightonians shunned their St. George's day pride and dressed as their favourite Sci-Fi characters at cult movie themed club night 'Trailer Trash'

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Trailer-Trash/276064050718

It has been a over a year since the last trailer trash so there was a lot of excitement around what to wear. In the end my decision for a costume choice was inspired by the list of movies on the poster, in particular, Blade Runner.

Now Blade Runner is a film I have fallen asleep through once and watched twice and i still managed to block out most of the actual plot except for the flying overhead city shots, the music and the character Rachael... So naturaly a dark haired vintage inspired vintage noir lady felt like a natural choice for a costume.

Rachael's key looks are the shoulder pads, the 40s inspired doo, the fitted coat and the wiggle dress underneath, of course all in black



Here is my attempt:

The dress was from the Collectif sale online or in Camden Market London:
http://www.collectif.co.uk/
and was £25

Shoes were my own from Clarks
The jacket was £3.50 from eBay
and the scarf was borrowed from a friend

Total Cost:
£28.50
(Although I had the dress anyway so I'm not sure that counts)






I'd like to give a special mention to Sadie who dressed as Barbarella for doing my hair!

 

Hair itself was limited as I have quite a layered cut which meant it was very dificult to put in.

However much fun was had with 80s make up! (Especially the blusher!)







On a side note, one of the burlesque acts chose a the same costume and character to base her act on and this is not the first time this has happened to me! I later saw a photographer who said 'You were just on stage?' to which I laughed and said 'That was another Rachel, it would be pretty impressive if I had managed to put my clothes back on that fast...'

Of course one of the interesting things about trailer trash is the costume contest, and with regards to this i have only one thing to say...

 

AT-ST!!!!

I  think it goes without saying that no one minded losing to this guy!

Anywho, thats it for now!
The next theme is David Lynch and I have no idea what to do for that...