Tall and Proud

I stumbled across an article on the Daily Fail website today, written by a tall woman offering 'support' to Malia Obama, who has recently shot up and is almost as tall as her 5'11" mother Michelle. The article is supposed to offer words of wisdom to her to guide her through her teenage years but somehow the author confused the words 'support' and 'discourage'.

I was a tall teen. I pretty much stopped growing when I was 14 - I think I maybe grew an inch between then and turning 18/19. I'm now 5'11" and proud of it.

Being a teenager in the 90s at my height was tricky... shops like Long Tall Sally were virtually non existent back then (I remember being given my first Long Tall Sally catalogue by a similarly tall friend in 1998 and almost crying with relief!), and trying to find shoes for my proportionally large feet (size 9) was a nightmare.
But somehow I never let it get me down. I was a head and shoulders over practically everyone in my school at one point! I will never forget being lined up in height order for our whole school photo aged 14... guess what? I'm in the MIDDLE of the photo.

I have never slouched, never been ashamed of my height. Frustrated yes. Ashamed, never. When I went to see an orthopedic consultant about my hypermobility (yay, tall and super bendy!) and he was very impressed by my posture, which, thanks to years of my mother telling me to "stand up straight, shoulders back" is apparently very good for someone my height.

If I experience problems because of my height, like banging my head on the ceiling of a pub, or not fitting in an airline seat comfortably because my legs are too long - then its because the world is wrong, not because I am.
The boys at school used to call me bean pole. I told them to be more original. A friend starting calling me Elon (as in elongated) which I thought was cool, at least it was different.

I personally don't think it matters whether you are tall, short, fat, thin, clever, whatever, when you're a teenager there is always something that someone else will pick out and try to make fun of. The trick is to hold your head up high and be proud of who you are.

Like father like daughter: height runs in the family

Festivals are bad for your wallet...

My 2 recent purchases, both related to my trip to Rock Im Park in Nürnberg, Germany. 

I've debated Converse All Stars for a while, thinking that they would make my feet look like clown feet. A combination of factors (mainly heat and New Rocks that need repairing more than I thought) led me to buy these exact beauties at the festival. They are very comfy and look cool. I can see them becoming a bit of an obsession. 

The watch is my new wrist candy - unfortunately the festival claimed my previous one. I don't know where it went, so I went out when I got home to buy a new one. The cool thing is that the seconds are on a digital display, which has a button which changes the way that the seconds tick over :)

 Its from Fossil, and cost £75.

Where to next?

I think I am stuck in a rut. Or maybe its just that annoying in between season bit of the year where the weather can't decide whether to be warm or cold. Either way, I am stuck in a rut it seems. Maybe its just, shock horror, that I don't actually want any new clothes. That can't be right, I always want more clothes!! I just can't seem to find anything that I like enough to buy. Nothing making me go "I must have that".

I'm going to attempt shopping again next week, see what happens. But unfortunately at the moment my primary objective is to find something to wear for my friend's fancy dress birthday thing next weekend - the theme is 80s cartoons and I am going as Jem from Jem and the Holograms. If you need a memory jog, try this:


I think it will leave little time for worrying about adding to my already considerable wardrobe!!

Its all about the leather :)

Despite the spring coming, I am not ready to shed my outer layers just yet. Especially as in the South West the weather tends to be somewhat unpredictable and at times damp, so a coat is a must have item in the spring months.

Having quested long and hard, I finally managed at the beginning of March to find the perfect leather jacket. And at £50 in TKMaxx it was an absolute bargain. Leather jackets are still big news for Spring and Summer and that means they are everywhere.

On the mainstream fashion front, military and post apocalyptic fashion is big news. Alt. peeps will undoubtedly have polarising views on this: either it'll be considered a BAD THING because that means the 'fashionistas' will have the look but none of the soul behind it, or its a good thing, because suddenly buying clothes became a whole lot easier.

Having had a browse around the alt. fashion blogs that Google gives me on the first page of my search results, there seems to be a distinct snobbery going on about the adoption of more alt. fashion by the mainstream. Personally, I don't think that anyone has the monopoly on fashion - just because a certain fashion type was adopted by a particular 'scene' doesn't mean it is their's and their's alone.

I have to say I do have a certain dislike for the way in which clothing is badged against music, and I think this is particularly prevalent in the alt. world. If you want to wear military fashion, you should like EBM/Industrial. If you want to wear corsets and Victoriana, you should like another type of music. Why do we have to be so rigid? Why, as an alternative community, which prides itself on its supposed individuality, do we have to categorise and box up?

Clothes, like music, are subjective and as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I hope people can remember that before becoming too closed mind about things.

Except Nazi uniforms. They should never ever be worn by any self respecting person. There is just something so so wrong about wearing the uniforms of a mass murdering regime for fun. Unless of course you are a neo nazi, in which case I don't want to talk to you.

Here is a photo of me sporting my recent skirt creation (ably assisted by the wind!) and my new leather jacket. Shirt from Topshop Tall and waistcoat from H&M. Tights by M&S. Boots by New Rock. Sunglasses by Dolce and Gabbanna.

New year, new wants....

So now its 2010, I foolishly promised myself I wouldn't do too much shopping.

Well I broke that rule pretty much straight away by spending a small sum buying MAC online and by stocking up in Neals Yard at the weekend. Essentials don't count though, do they?

Yesterday I bought a new purse from TKMaxx. Its by Cynthia Rowley and only cost me £15. I think it should have been a lot more, judging by the prices on her website. TKMaxx had a lot of her bags in as well, for around £50-60 each. Given that they are around £180 on her website there are some bargains to be had!!
The purse is lovely, dark green leather, with a strap to hold it together as well as the poppers on the inside, with room for all my cards, photos and things I carry in my wallet, which I am very pleased with!














This morning I made the mistake of looking on the Pia Jewellery website (www.piajewellery.com) to see what they had in the sale, and spotted this:



















I was actually in TKMaxx yesterday to buy a bag, and this is just what I am after. I don't much care for black leather bags, or anything that looks too structured - I like soft and squishy, and that applies to the colour as well. I already own a fabulous squishy leather handbag from Pia that my mum bought me last Feb in the Cambridge store, which is a gorgeous pinky beige colour, but I like bags (I own quite a few). And its in the sale. Umming and ahhing about it didn't help, but then in a stroke of genius remembered that it is my birthday in 3 weeks and have used the website's hint service to send a note to my mum (seeing as she asked what I wanted for my birthday). I've also sent her some hints about a set of stacking rings from Pia that I like too, but the bag is the important bit!!
The rings are these:
















Again, I've been after a new ring/set of rings for a while and I think these might be the thing I'm after. But we shall see what the birthday gods grant me!!

Finally, some new sunglasses!

Possibly an odd thing to be buying in winter, but my eyes are quite sensitive to light and squinting into the sun gives me headaches. I bought some new shades in the summer, but by the end of the summer I wasn't quite feeling their style, so I have been on the look out for some new ones for a little while.

A quick trip into House of Fraser whilst the bf was at the barbers before Christmas found me these little beauties. Not my first pair of designer sunglasses (I had a pair of D&G ones before) but certainly the most beautiful pair I have ever owned. I am seriously pleased that the weather both in Vienna and here has been nice enough to warrant some shades wearing!!

Dolce and Gabanna shades, from House of Fraser, £108 (reduced from £155).

Its been a long time....

Wow! I didn't realise it had been so long!!

Download was a lot of fun, beautiful hot weather, despite the promise of rain, and I didn't get a single patch of sunburn thanks to preparation and suitable clothing. The same couldn't be said for many people there who seemed to forget that the British weather is severely unpredictable and when they say rain, they probably mean sun. I may return next year, but the plan is to go to a festival in Sweden or northern Europe somewhere.

The main reason I've been AWOL for so long is that I have been incredibly busy, what with holidays, my best friend moving, family get togethers, work and life, I've barely had time to breathe. That and I've been struggling with clothes a bit lately, and have only just now got back to a place where I'm good to go.

So...

Last weekend was Halloween, and I joined many other people in the world in celebrating. I'm currently a little bit obsessed with vampires, thanks to watching True Blood and reading Charlaine Harris' novels that the series is based on, the Sookie Stackhouse novels. So, it seemed only natural to go out on Halloween dressed as a vampire. Accompanied by my bf, who was dressed as the Sexual Harassment Panda from Southpark, and my best friends, one who was dressed as Alice from Resident Evil, the other as a Fangbanger. Unfortunately my fangs didn't work out (going to keep hold of them and get some proper fixative though) but luckily I have quite long pointy incisors of my own, so a cocktail of agave nectar and synthetic coccineal colouring gave my mouth that freshly fed look.

My dress was from New Look last year, bought for a bargainous £10 in the sale after Christmas. My tights are from Primark and are footless. I think they were £2. My boots are my New Rocks, my choker I bought in Dorothy Perkins I think, many many years ago, and my earrings I bought in River Island last winter. My corset is from Burleska, who have a stall in Camden Market. It was £60 and despite having put on a couple of inches since I bought it, its still very comfortable.

The Alice costume was made from a satin nighty from Primark, a lot of fake blood and some Primark glossy tights. The black skirt was something my friend had already. My Fangbanger friend was wearing a gorgeous dress from ? which looked black but as you can see from the photos is actually purple with a black lace overlay. It looked amazing!

A good night was had by all, much wine and drink was consumed and we danced the night away!

Next time: I have finally found what I think may be the best pair of jeans ever. Clothes from my new wardrobe and musings about stuff.