Off Away for a Little Bit

I'm off down to London town to stay with my parents for a bit, see Foo Fighters at Milton Keynes and go to Sonisphere! Busy busy. I won't be blogging while I'm gone, but have scheduled a couple of posts to hopefully keep you on board until I return on 11th July.

I've been in packing hell this afternoon but managed to turn this:

Into this:

Good work I think. Have a lovely week and I'll see you when I get back!

Guest Blogging on Summer Shoes

Today you can find me guest blogging over on Chloe's blog Memoirs of a little thing called life. When I heard Chloe was looking for guest bloggers I was excited to take part and it's my first ever guest post.

Trot on over and let me know what you think?

The Smoking Issue

Smoking has always been associated with the fashion world, I think it is an assumed fact that models will smoke as it suppresses appetite and helps them to keep their "model" bodies. I have never smoked, not even once, and I am proud to say that my parents gave up smoking for me and I went from growing up in a smoky household to a smoke free and healthy one.

As something to do it has never interested me, why would you want to spend all that money on cigarettes which are proven to be linked to cancer and other illnesses, when you could spend it on clothes. Seriously, the fashion world would rather spend money on these death sticks than the latest must have item of clothing. Really?! I just don't understand it.

I've never really had friends that smoke, a few of them are "social smokers" (or just smokers who are lying to themselves - you are still addicted, just admit it) but I've never had to be around smokers, however, some of my lovely friends in Leeds (you may smoke, but I still love you, don't worry) are quite big smokers when we go out, and I got home last week from a night out in York stinking of smoke with a sore throat. My clothes actually reeked, and I ask myself again, this is something that people who love fashion do? Make their expensive clothes stink of smoke? Really?! Again, words fail me.

The smoking ban has been great for me, I love the fact I can go out and not have to be around smokers, it is now completely my choice if I want to go outside and be near them, but it doesn't seem to be having a large an affect on girls and women smoking that it should be. The message should be going out to teen girls that there are healthier ways to control weight, and models should be ambassadors of this message, instead it is still accepted that this is the way models maintain their figures. I'm not trying to get in on a debate about the size models should be - but if the only way they can stay a size 4 is to heavily smoke, shouldn't this be a key reason for the fashion world to consider working with larger girls? And by larger I may just mean a size 8 (god forbid!), but a natural size 8. I don't want to start campaigning to for size 16 girls to be models, it just isn't the point I'm trying to make, but shouldn't girls who eat healthy and exercise be the famous ones, not the girls who eat junk and smoke all day?

What are your thoughts on smoking? Do you smoke? What are your reasons? Please share your thoughts.

Image from http://modareel.com/kate-moss-for-louis-vuitton/

Style on a Sunday: One Pair of Jeans

As I may have previously mentioned on this blog, I'm not a big trouser wearer and I in fact only own one pair of jeans. Some people find this quite shocking, but if those people could take me shopping and find me a pair of jeans which fits and is comfy then that would be much more helpful. Here is an outfit I've worn a couple of times over the past few months (again, apologies for my weird face in this photo - why do I look worried all the time?):

Top: Topshop, Cardigan: Topshop, Jeans: New Look, Sandals: Primark

This top has served me well, I think I got it in 2007 and it was a wardrobe staple for me and my Uni housemate (and best friend) Laura, who coincidentally I stole this cardigan from...I hope she's not missing it too much. I'm really not sure about these sandals, everyone told me they were really comfy and so cheap but I can't really walk in them and ended up changing into my Havaianas. 

What do you think of jeans? Where do you buy your favourite pairs? I'd love to hear your advice - I definitely need it! 

Lust-have #4: Palazzo Pants

This new trouser trend had passed me by until earlier this week when I saw a girl on the train wearing a black pair and looking really effortlessly cool, well apart from the fact that in certain light you could see straight through the fabric and could tell she wasn't wearing any knickers...anyway...

So, this got me thinking about Palazzo Pants, and now I don't think my mind will rest until I've tried a pair on and found out if they look utterly ridiculous or crazy fabulous on me (I'm thinking ridiculous right now). They just look super comfy and would be a great way for me to wear coloured trousers as discussed last week, and depending on the cut could be a good work-wear trouser.

I'm not completely sure what you wear them with (knickers for one, I guess), t shirts? Blouses? Vests? They could become a money drain for my wardrobe if I purchased a pair and I wanted to buy various tops to accompany them.

This pair is from ASOS (photo c/o myfashionlife.com) and also come in black which I think would be a great way to look smart in the office, as I tend to go for wide leg trousers anyway.

As usual, here are a few of my favourite palazzo pant looks that I've been lusting over this week:

Ooh, I just love this hat and the pattern on the trousers is really cute but simple. Love it.

Seriously swooning over every aspect of this outfit, the pants, the scarf and my gosh THAT bag. SWOON.

I can't resist a polka dot, can you? Stunning. And those sunglasses? To die for.

What are your thoughts on Palazzo Pants? Do you think they're just a fad or will they be around for a while? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Coyne-Operated Culture: Swan Lake

I have been hit by ballet-fever ever since I saw Black Swan in January this year, now don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to ballet, I had lessons from age 8 to 14 and my Nana took me to see Swan Lake in Covent Garden when I was 12. I also saw Romeo and Juliet not so long ago, but being at Uni I just kind of forgot that I loved it. Then I saw Black Swan and I fell in love again, so when my Mum told me about the Bolshoi Ballet broadcasting performances from their 2010-11 in cinemas across the world I knew I had to try and go.

York Picturehouse was the nearest cinema for us to go to to see Swan Lake, and for £30 I thought the price was really reasonable, it's a really great and affordable way to watch ballet, especially when your other half doesn't even know if he likes ballet! I didn't mind spending £15 on him seeing Swan Lake with me, especially when afterwards he said he really enjoyed it.

The performance includes some interviews and backstage footage, which to us seemed a bit unnecessary, but the ballet was absolutely beautiful and more than made up for watching interviews translated into different languages in the interval. Now, Swan Lake is a pretty simple story (typical of any ballet, really) about a Prince and a girl (who is a swan) who fall in love, but then he declares his eternal love for her double (um, also a swan) and they end up dying/heartbroken (this tends to change dependent on which company you see perform). Yes, from an outsiders perspective it does sound pretty crazy due to a lot of loving going on between a human and a were-swan, but it does result in absolutely stunning costumes and some gorgeous dancing.

We saw Mariya Aleksandrova as Odette/Odil (the white and black swans) and Ruslan Skvortsov as Prince Seigfried, and I have to say I was completely blown away by Mariya, she encapsulated both characters perfectly and her Black Swan Coda was spot on. I loved the costumes and the set was very simple and quite modern (I'm not sure my Nana would have liked it) but I thought that it gave the dancers a lot of space and really let them show off without an intricate set taking away from that. Tchaikovsky's music gives me goosebumps anyway, and this was no exception, if you've seen Black Swan you will also notice how much of the original composition is used to soundtrack the film, although I am sure the instrumentation is different to give the film an altogether darker tone.

I had an absolutely lovely time watching Swan Lake yesterday, and I'd highly recommend going if you're interested in ballet, as for not much more than the price of a cinema ticket you can see a world class ballet company perform.

Images are not mine and are not necessarily the Bolshoi Ballet. They are from various sources.

Style on a Sunday: To The Ballet

Today my outfit was a homage to ballet fashion, I teamed a cream cardigan with a pleated skirt and ballet pumps, topped it off (excuse the pun) with this coral t shirt from Primark.

Apologies for my slightly odd expression in this photo, it looks like I was angry with Ryan at the time, which I definitely wasn't, and apologies for the awful editing, I was trying to make the colours a bit better and now I just look a bit grainy:

Top: Primark, Cardigan: Primark, Skirt: ASOS, Shoes: Primark, Bag: Brussels Train Station

I was a bit scared of teaming the midi skirt with flats but I don't think it looks too bad, I think that it would look better with heels but I didn't feel comfortable enough to wear them . I'd really like to find a sandal with a small heel, you know the ones that look a bit vintage? I am on the hunt for a pair! I liked the whole ballet look though (I actually went to watch Swan Lake, but more on that tomorrow) and the first outing of the midi skirt was a success. I also just want to mention this bag - how awesome is it? My mum got it for me when we visited Brussels, we saw it at the train station and I fell in love - I think it toughens up any outfit a little bit and I'm not too great at being too girly so I think it really sets this outfit off.

What do you think of a midi skirt and flats? Would you try it or do you think they should always be worn with heels? I'd love to hear your thoughts.