CAPSLOCK

I haven't posted for a while and my mum has started to ask me about it (that sounds as if we only communicate via our blogs- don't worry, we do actually talk to each other on occasion), so here I am, posting. Hurrah, fanfare, etc. We have recently had a system restore done, and our reborn computer does not like to upload photos to Flickr, display Google Ads, access an ever-increasing number of sites (including Wikipedia, I see) or really do anything useful, so I have been ignoring it.

1. Arvon. Here is a link to the photographs I took. I will talk about it when I make the time. I'm dashing this post off quickly because I want to go and watch House. I feel that if one is going to cut corners and procrastinate, one ought to at least be honest about it. ;)

2. Moi. My future is a little bit up in the air at the moment, due to continued health problems and the problems they pose re. exams, but I have been writing poems, taking photos and drawing. I have also been invited to read at the Great Grog bar on Rose Street, Edinburgh on October 12th. I'm very excited about the prospect of reading my work in such a historic location; many of last century's major Scottish poets congregated in pubs on Rose Street, including my icon Norman MacCaig.

3. Style. This spring, I am creating a range of looks incorporating key pieces such as the absurdly baggy jumper, the fleece blanket, the hot water bottle, the slippers, the scruffy jeans, the unbrushed hair and the giant, duvet-like school coat. I have bought two lovely pairs of shoes. The weather is too unpredictable for me to wear them yet, but here are photos:

Mary Janes from Hing Sing Chinese Supermarket.

Plimsolls from Cath Kidston.

4. Edinburgh. THE SPRING BLOSSOM IS BLOSSOMING. I am thrilled about this. I shall go out and take many, many pictures. Meanwhile, the council seem to be shooting for a new record in terms of how many roads they can dig up at once. They are gutting Princes Street to put tramlines in, and on Sunday I saw some of the BIGGEST PIPES EVER lying there waiting to be laid. Enormous blue pipes I could fit inside. I am very easily amused.

5. House. I am hooked and I love it. House is absolutely the best programme on TV ever ever ever, everyone should watch it, Hugh Laurie is incredibly appealing in every possible way, it is brilliant, WATCH IT NOW. When House is not broadcasting, I watch it on DVD, I watch it on YouTube, I read fanfiction, I look at fanart, I read quotes from it on Wikiquote, AND SO SHOULD YOU. (I tried to put a video here, but the interface just doesn't like me today. Here is a link instead.) By the way, I ship House/Wilson. IT SHOULD BE CANON.

Thoughts on Style

On Flickr. My granny- one of my style icons- very kindly gave these to me after I commented on how lovely they were (they are slightly too big for her). I think they are close to perfection.

Recently, I've been wondering whether it's accurate to say that I'm interested in fashion. I've been reading fashion books, browsing fashion blogs and keeping a notebook of style cuttings, but many aspects of 'fashion' leave me stone cold.

-For every item on net-a-porter that I adore, there are fifty that I just scroll straight past.

-I hate, hate, hate the idea that only people who look a certain way are entitled to be stylish.

-I don't care what the hot trends on the catwalks are. At all.

That said, I can spend hours favouriting outfits on wardrobe_remix, sketching clothes I would like to sew, scouring the shops for the perfect hairband or pair of jeans, and looking for pictures that fit in with the aesthetics I like. When it comes to colour, I am frankly obsessive. If something is slightly too light a pink, too warm a grey, too orange a red, I will leave it on the rack. I can spend half an hour deciding between three shades of dress fabric. I can reel off a list of my personal style icons. I have used Makeup Alley to research products which could make my hair fluffier...

I'm not a person who is into fashion; I'm a person who is into style. I'm interested in style because I love beautiful things- that is, things I find beautiful. I like the aesthetic dimensions of fashion and can't stand the commercial dimensions. I don't think my perception of beauty will ever change according to what the trends of the moment are. I'd be very sad if it did.

1. 1959-1960 Homecoming Queen, Ann Wallace Collier, 2. Outfit, 3. '60s pink party dress, 4. Untitled

More posts soon to come- I have just returned from a wonderful week in Shropshire at an Arvon Foundation writing course. As lovely as it was, I'm incredibly happy to be back home again.

Flickr Favourites

I love Flickr, and I love favouriting other people's photos on Flickr to build beautiful mosaics of colourful squares. Here are some of my recent loves!

1. There will be times on this journey, all you'll see is darkness, but out there somewhere light finds you, if you keep believing, 2. *, 3. The Enchanted Morning Light, 4. under the trees, 5. Strawberry Gummi Puff Candies, 6. candy floss girl, 7. tam-is, 8. small meal in Hello Kitty dishes, 9. New Old Desk + Chair, 10. 365:020 - pink explosion, 11. obento 81506, 12. bookshelf spectrum, revisited, 13. bookshelf, 14. wall of books, 15. Cynthia - SkyCam, 16. Sweet candy, 17. Reyes, 18. stencil, 19. Latest Banksy, 20. The Mac, Reyes, 21. Reference, 22. 02142008, 23. Kuan Yin, 24. Snow: One of my favorite things in life (Japan: March 17th, 1998), 25. It´s Written In The Stars, 26. Abandoned Canadian Coffee, 27. Doughnuts and Coffee Cupcakes, 28. Wardrobe remix 8/28, 29. My Sanity has been Disconnected, 30. november 1, 31. Think Pink week 6/52, 32. One of my favorite vintage nightgowns, 33. Shy, 34. quick 'n dirty no sew tutu, 35. down*with*love, 36. a jungle in old rose

A Little Update

First, my sincere apologies for not updating since last week! I owe you two batches of Friday Links, at the very least. I haven't been posting any new items because of some things I'm dealing with regarding school and my health, which have been taking up most of my mind-space recently. However, I hope to resolve these issues very soon. I have a lot of topics lined up for this blog, and intend to post something interesting over the weekend.

Cassie Style

I completely missed all the hype about Skins last year. Teen dramas are not really my thing, so I won't be watching the second series either. However, after watching some clips on YouTube out of curiosity, I am now hooked on the personal style of Cassie, one of the show's main characters.

(Screencaps from in-a-dream.com.)

Cassie dresses in a way that perfectly matches her personality: gentle, feminine, dreamy and eccentric. She wears summery colours and floaty shapes, complemented by long and tousled blonde hair and set off with quirky accessories- sunglasses with thick white frames, golden tap shoes, a gorgeous wide-brimmed straw hat. Her makeup is minimal, accentuating her natural English rose beauty, but she can sometimes be seen with 1940s-esque cherry-red lips. Cassie's overall look is innocent and otherworldly, two qualities I love to express in my own style.

I'd love to know where this sailor blouse is from. It's exquisite on her. Also, she proves that it is possible to wear a sailor blouse without looking as if you're cosplaying a Japanese schoolgirl.

Try to ignore what Cassie is doing in this picture (yes, she is filling a water pistol with vodka; this is why I don't watch Skins) and focus on that incredible-looking dress. She appears to be wearing stockings, too, which is a lovely old-fashioned touch.

I had a go at using Polyvore to come up with some outfits inspired by Cassie...

Vintage Ginger Group by Mary Quant smock; 3.1 Phillip Lim shorts; Cath Kidston scarf (on my wishlist for spring); fcuk Mary Janes; Topshop tights.

Topshop dress; Repetto shoes; Monsoon Accessorize socks; Vince cardigan.



Topshop dress; Monsoon bolero; Cath Kidston plimsolls (also on my wishlist); Flower Clip hairband.

Official Skins site; Skins on MySpace; Cassie fansite; Skins Season 1 screencaps.

Pure silliness

I am writing this post because I am in the middle of an Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn reading binge and need to cleanse my mind with something very silly indeed. (I appreciated- 'enjoyed' can hardly be the right word- both One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Cancer Ward, but Cancer Ward will stay with me longer. It's a personal thing, a small fascination that made me suddenly very interested when I understood that the book was set in a Soviet hospital in 1950s Uzbekistan.) Anyway, I have an inkling that Ivan Denisovich would have had more impact on me if I hadn't read Cancer Ward and part of The Gulag Archipelago first- the details didn't come as such of a shock. But to return to the subject of the post, well, there is something I would like to share with you:-

A Guaranteed Effective Method of Dispelling Unhappiness

Stand on your bed; walk, skip or bounce around in a circle, whilst chanting "Miss-is Pepp-er Pot, Mis-ter Pepp-er Pot, Miss-is Pepp-er Pot, Mis-ter Pepp-er Pot" (etc). Continue until you are too hampered by laughter or have fallen over.

You may scoff; you may think this a glib or trivial suggestion. Try it. It works. If your bed is on the small side, spreading your duvet on the floor will produce a similar effect. This method was given to me by an old friend- thank you, G.

Aside from this, I recommend Douglas Adams, Monty Python, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, reading capslock_house (epileptics beware!) and doing the most random Quizilla quizzes you can find.

P.S.: everybody in the world should watch this.

Lace-Printed T-Shirt

Whilst at the Red Door Gallery on Saturday, I found some ethereally screenprinted T-shirts. I wouldn't normally spend £27 on a T-shirt, but these were so beautiful I made an exception. I'm not very good at spending; I felt guilty about it all the way home! However, looking at it, I think it was worth every penny.

The label says 'Georgina Lewin', and I believe this may be her website.

Believe me, the photos in which I tried to look normal were a lot worse.