A Monsoon Dress in London Town

I went on a visit to London a few weeks ago as my parents were visiting for the long weekend. Since we've been getting the first batches of warmer weather I chose to wear one of my favourite dresses.

This blue and white number of from Monsoon, and the blue and white print has always made me think of those china patterns on plates (which my mum had some of when I was young so there is probably a nostalgia thing going on there). The dress is a 50s style prom shape that was really in circa 2012. My favourite thing is that it has pockets too which is the best place to put your phone.

The scarf came as a sort of 'gift wrap' from Lush and the cardigan is Laura Ashley, its not quite the right colour for this dress, but you know occasionally too much matchy matchy is not a good thing.

The shoes are my old lady Hotter shoes. 

I think these are my favourite glasses at the moment, I love the slight cat-eye shape and I adore browline in pretty much any form. I have them in blue and pink but I think the blue is a bit more versatile, maybe...

Having a little fun with some perspective shots... not all shots worked...

We also went on the Emirates Air Line cable car across the river. It was an amazing view! Please note my hand clutching the side of the car. I don't do so well with heights...  

Dress: Monsoon

Cardigan: Laura Ashley

Scarf: Vintage via Lush

Shoes: Hotter

Have you been on the Air Line? Its definitely worth a go!

Outfit of the day: Blue and yellow on a windy day

It was my birthday recently and a very well timed Monsoon sale meant that I could get my hands on a lovely tea dress for a bargain price.

This dress is a gorgeous navy crepe with a crochet neckline. Since the colour combination of choice at the moment is blue and yellow I wore the blue dress with this yellow crochet cardigan that I got in the Monsoon sale around this time last year. The neck scarf came from Lush and was wrapped around a gift once upon a time (the best kind of gift wrap).

I wore this outfit for a mini picnic near the sea front at Whitburn near-ish to my home town. It was a glorious day, but boy was it windy!

My feet look a little bit like they are buried in the grass, but look how lush it looks! I love spring, it really brings out the vibrant colours in nature.

I wouldn't say I completely hate the windswept look, however I do think it makes me look a bit like medusa...

I went for a slightly different make up look this time too - slightly more subtle with a rosy lip.

Do you like to be beside the seaside?

Thrifty Outfit: A blue monsoon floral dress and a mustard cardigan

I went charity shopping for summer dresses the other week. My excuse is that since I've gained a bit of weight I needed to buy new summer clothes, but I think that may have been just that, an excuse. But when you're on a thrifty hunt, especially at this change of season, there are lots of bargains to be had.

One such find was a lovely 50s style prom dress from Monsoon that I wanted some time ago and had just about forgotten about. I think the print on it is absolutely gorgeous so floral, but without being overly light in colour like so many summer dresses can be. The fact that is was only £5 in a charity shop was the icing on the cake!

I wore the dress with a mustard yellow cardigan that helped to pick out the yellow details on the dress print (and the daffodils!). Although I have to say that I'm not so sure about the fit of this cardigan, upon reflection, I think a more fitted shape with this dress. 

As its not quite summer yet, I chose to wear blue tights so my legs didn't get cold and I wore shoes from Hotter. Yes, Hotter, I laughed so much when I found these blue t bars, I thought finally, I'm an old lady buying comfortable shoes. But then I thought again, and remembered that I've been buying Clarks for so many years that I've been an old lady on the shoe front for a very long time.

Unsurprisingly, the shoes are super comfy and they aren't so unfashionable. In fact I think they are pretty good for a vintage inspired look.

Just to maximise the florals I also took my Yoshi satchel. I'm so obsessed with satchels. I've had this one a few years now and its lasting super well.

I also wore my current favourite pair of glasses. I've been lusting over the Lipsy25s on Tesco's opticians website ever since Retro Chick posted her review some time ago. I managed to snipe this pair and a pink pair off eBay for £15! I did have to get them reglazed with my prescription but the website perfectglasses did that for me for £7.50 and they did a perfect job!

It meant it was a bit of a faff to get hold of them, but I saved a good £70 on the glasses so I can't really complain...

...also, they're AMAZING!

Really one of the antique shops on the street at Tunbridge Wells had some large mirrors outside so I couldn't help but take a silly quick snap.

This one was rather weird as it was a long line mirror sitting on the floor. I ended up with a weird shot of my husbands and my feet.

I want to leave you with this lovely view of the road near my flat. Look at that sky!

Dress: Monsoon via Hospice in the Weald

Cardigan: Topshop via eBay 

Glasses: Lipsy via eBay/perfectglasses 

Tights:  Accessorize sale

Shoes: Hotter

Have you managed to find and summer dresses in charity shops?

Outfit of the day: Pink in Brighton

The other week I had a flying visit to Brighton and decided to do a quick outfit post. I totally overshot the number of layers I was wearing as it ended up being no where near as cold as I had expected so I had to carry my beautiful vintage coat for a large portion of the day.

Anywho, as I was in Brighton, I decided to experiment with a colour I rarely ever wear. Pink.

I've had this skirt a little while, it came form Monsoon during the sale around 4 years ago when that folk look was all-the-rage-but-never-actually-the-rage.

I paired the skirt with a very pink jumper. Now this jumper wound up in my possession by mistake as it was listed on eBay as crimson, and my understanding of crimson was something a much deeper and darker colour than this. But unfortunately that is the colour it said on the label so I was stuck with it, so why not try it out right?

If I'm completely honest I'm still not sure about it...

I do adore my 80s across body bag, it is just the right size and so sturdy and well made! Its my go-to bag when I don't have much to carry.

I also had an amazing eBay find where I got 16 enamel bangles for 99p! In loads of different colours. They may not be bakelite, but they're good enough for me!

Here is my black vintage coat that I had to very swiftly remove once the sun came out...

Now my hair is a touch dishevelled in this pic but those curls lasted all day and I was really pleased with the shape of the set. I suppose you get the idea. This set was done with 25 flat pin curls, which seems a little excessive, but I really love the shape it gives and I really do think it gives the curl more longevity.

Skirt: Monsoon

Blouse: Monsoon

Jumper: M&S

Scarf: Thrifted

Coat: Vintage thrifted

Bangles: eBay

Boots: Clarks

What do you think then?

Pink jumper, yey or ney?

This post is largely about hair, but also features a really cute Monsoon jumper

So this thing happened the other week (because I have a huge blog back log at the moment!) where a friend that I haven't seen in quite a while text me about meeting up. Turns out that even though we've been living well over 4 hours apart for the last 10 years we now live about 30 minutes down the road from each other!

What this did mean was that I needed to make myself look presentable at fairly short notice.

Now I'm no expert on vintage hair, but from the 'experts' I have spoken too I have gained a few bits of wisdom. One of the slightly strange tips I've been given is that dirty hair is good for doing vintage styles. Something about the texture allows you to tease and create a sleek look without as much faff as clean hair. A lot of hair stylists use product and curlers to give the hair texture but it seems there is nothing quite as easy as just leaving your hair to grease up.

Here is the style I went for:

                       

This is the product of 3 and a half days of not washing my hair (yeah gross I know). I split it into 3 sections, two on the top and one underneath, teased the top two layers and rolled them into vertical victory rolls. Possibly the neatest I've ever done, and smoothed them using a smoothing comb from Boots.

(I also can't help but think that this make up somehow looks a bit 60s without the lipstick)

I split the back into 3 sections again and did one small roll under and two pin curls at either side.

This jumper is possibly my favourite at the moment, it was from Monsoon in the sale. I simply love the neutral colour and the lace pattern, but the best part is the faux button detail down the back.

The skirt was from a charity shop. It was pretty big on the waist so I used the sewing machine to take in some pleats at the back to make it fit a little better. I think this is one of the greatest gifts sewing has given me the ability to pick up things in charity shops that can be altered or adjusted cheaply to make an improved garment.

So one last thing too, the faux pearls, they were 50p from a charity shop. They're not a bad set and in pretty good condition with a good weight, they are fast becoming a wardrobe staple of mine.

Jumper: Monsoon

Skirt: Thrifted

Tights: Accessorize

Shoes: Clarks

Pearls: Thrifted

With this outfit I wore a pretty sweet coat vintage coat that I got of eBay for £4.99 (incl. postage) but I'll have to save that one for another day!

Leaving Durham in a Summer Hat, Monsoon Dress and with some New Headphones

Hi everyone, I'm pretty overwhelmed by the response to my Dita wig competition, I'm so pleased to have so many people interested :) The winner will be announced the day after the competition ends - exciting!

Anywho this is my last post with pictures in Durham for a while as I am in the process of moving. I am currently staying in Hove after ferrying some of my things to the South East while I wait for references on a flat in Tunbridge Wells to go through. So its all change!

Since the weather has been so nice all over the country I have been enjoying wearing some light and airy dresses. But it also means I am able to wear a big sun hat and not look silly - YES!

For one of my final trips into Durham I wore a really light dress from Monsoon a few years ago. I managed to pick it up in the sale for around £25 which isn't too bad, to me it has a sort of 1970s feel with lovely crochet detail around the neckline and a floaty skirt. I find white dresses are usually really difficult to wear, but this one is lined underneath so its not see-through.

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I teamed the dress with some contrasting red shoes (there will be more on those in a later post) and a red belt. But my favourite item is my wide-brimmed summer straw hat. This hat came from a charity shop and cost £5 it needed a little bit of work to re-secure the ribbon around the middle but it didn't cause too much trouble given the bargain price.

Just one little side note is that I also got some new headphones. I really like bigger over ear headphones as I find the little in ear ones so uncomfortable but finding big ones that fit well and have the kind of look that goes with my wardrobe can be quite difficult. What I did find was a great pair of Panasonic headphones that have a retro vibe and come in a range of colours, they weren't cheap at £30 but I find that for a good sound unfortunately you tend to need to pay a bit more :( Let me know if you've found any cheaper ones that do the job too I'm always open to more headphones!

That's all for now! See you soon for more adventures in the south!

A Red Sun Dress for the Durham Miners Gala 2013

And the heat goes on (haha, that was a pun... sorry).

The week before last I went to the Durham Miners Gala. It was a beautiful day for it, but I can't imaging how hot some of those people playing in the brass bands or carrying the banners must have been.

If you don't know the Miners Gala is a event that occurs every year in Durham, it is a chance for all the different workers unions to get together as a celebration of unity and a little bit of socialism I suppose. I don't really know enough about the history of the pits and the gala to give any in depth explanation of the event, but it seems to be something a lot of local communities get involved in (more info here).

It was super busy as you can see from these photos (taken by my Dad)!

 

 The different groups bring banners and bands through the roads in Durham and march towards the racecourse where I believe they have political speakers and a bit of a party. My family and I ventured into town to and looked at the banners and listened to lots of the bands.

I did manage to steal away from the crowds to have a moment of quiet and a photograph in a fairly desserted back street.

I decided to wear a red sun dress from Monsoon - one of this seasons anniversary collection that celebrates 40 years of the brand - and reminds me a lot of those boho dresses from the 1970s. Perfect for a hot summer.

Here's a closer shot of the dress too:

I'm just about finished work and packing for now until I move back to the south so I am very grateful to have a bit of time to relax in the sunshine...

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!