Hastily Flung On

This is not what I had planned to wear. I pulled an outfit together before bed last night but had extreme thigh dramas this morning - no idea what changed in the space of 6 hours! So my new jeans were left in a heap on the bedroom floor and I flung on an assortment of random things instead. I feel prim and proper on top and slightly crazy on my lower half. I'm embracing it.

Jumper - Dorothy Perkins
Skirt - vintage, made in West Germany
Tights - Tesco, I think
Shoes - Irregular Choice via ebay
Pearls - BoBijou
Coat - H&M via ebay


I love my new coat. I had a sudden urge to buy spring jackets on ebay last week and the ebay iphone app is a terrible enabler. This was fairly cheap and doesn't look like it's ever been worn so I was super chuffed with it. I sense perhaps the sizing came up a little small for the original owner as it's labelled a 14 but fits my size 10 friend really nicely too. I will admit that it looks better with straighter line skirts and jeans than it does with today's outfit but it was the closest thing to hand today so on it went.

Itchy Feet

Not literally.

I just want to be on holiday. I feel like I'm lacking mojo at the moment. It isn't too long till my annual family Easter jaunt and frankly it can't come soon enough. We've been all over the country in previous years but we're going to Kent this time and having a seaside holiday. Must pack a bucket and spade... I'll be finished with the book ban by then so it'll be charity shops and bookshops ahoy, with lots of days out to castles and historic houses. It's our idea of bliss.

Despite the fact that I won't be taking my usual European city break until September/October, I am starting to ponder where I want to go. Over the past few years I've been to:

Dubrovnik

Bruges

Florence

Pisa

Barcelona

I absolutely loved them all. Florence was probably my least favourite because it lashed down with rain most of the time we were there and it was full of giant groups of bored teenagers on school trips getting in the way and being annoyingly teenagerish, but I still had a whale of a time.

I don't want to ruin the record by picking somewhere rubbish this year. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd quite like somewhere closeish to a beach so we can have one day sunbathing but mainly I just like to explore the history and the winding streets and sit drinking coffee and wine and people watching.

(pics found at random online. All my photos are trapped on a password protected hard drive which I've forgotten the password to. Doom.)

Fill In The Blanks

I saw this a couple of days ago on The Girl's blog and fancied having a go. For someone who doesn't like to talk about herself much in real life, I am a surprisingly big fan of answering questions online. I'd be an interviewer's dream!


I am...an incredible procrastinator and not very organised in my private life. This is odd considering I administrate in fine style at work. I am continually surprised by how easy things actually are to finish when I've been putting them off for so long that they've reached horrible, scary proportions in my brain. I am a bugger for putting correspondence and paper and other stuff in piles around my bedroom. They just stay there until I'm desperately procrastinating from doing something more important, at which point I'll eventually tidy them up into smaller piles, which stay there until I'm procrastinating from something else...

The bravest thing I have ever done...probably put this post on the internet for all to see. It was hard to write it. It was even harder to look back at all the truly hideous pictures of me. It was bloody nearly impossible to pluck up the courage to put them online. In the grand scheme of things, probably not so brave. In my little world, quite a big thing.

I feel prettiest when...I'm drunk. Is that bad? I don't niggle at myself when I'm drunk, I just lash on more eyeliner and lipgloss and occasionally think "check you out" when I look in the mirror.

I have a complicated relationship with my face. The food allergies have the curious effect of making it swell sometimes. It's probably not very noticeable to most people (apart from the one who goes "hamster face today eh Alex?" ) but I am very touchy about it and don't enjoy looking like I have a double chin, so I don't feel pretty on the days when it's like that.

Something that keeps me up at night...my body clock. I just don't get tired until about 1am. I was alright until I went to uni and then I worked 6.30am-8.30am five mornings a week and my sleep pattern just went haywire. Actual insomnia is very rare for me and only tends to happen when I'm heartbroken and not coping with life very well. It's gruesome to go through.

My favourite meal is...something that I haven't cooked myself. I like all sorts so I don't think I can narrow it down to a particular favourite. There would probably be some bread and a delicious pudding involved though - I am addicted to both.

The way to my heart is...thoughtfulness. If we're talking romance then I don't like the obvious. Sod off with your boring red roses and chocs I can't eat. Track down a book you think I'll like, find me interesting, make me feel happy. In friendship or in general, unexpected kindness is good, as is a bit of effort. I don't like to always be the one doing all the work. Or tell me you like my shoes, that's always a winner.

I would like to be...lots of different things. Prettier, happier with my body, braver, cooler, not so paranoid about people not liking me, more glamorous, more interesting, better informed about so many things, able to play the cello and piano, not allergic to milk. Some of those I can work on, some I just have to put up with. Mostly I would like to be not so hard on myself.

Wow, that turned out a lot deeper than I was expecting. Should you also wish to spill your guts, do have a go!

Revamping A Frumpy Floral Frock

Today I am working from home, so my outfit is the classy combination of jeans, a t-shirt and a Kermit jumper - cosy, but I ain't blogging it! I may not be frocking it up this Friday but I'm there in spirit. Here's a little something I've beeen working on over the past couple of evenings:

It's a Sportcast frock, picked up on a whim from Oxfam last weekend, just because it was pretty. I assume it's vintage but I know nothing about the brand so who knows really. Anyway, look at the print! And the Peter Pan collar. And the detailing on the bodice. So pretty! And now look at how hideous it looked when I got home and tried it on:

Ick! All was not entirely lost though - I saw potential. With a little help from my mum (because I'm still excessively feeble when it comes to sewing machines), I commenced on the following:

• Unpicking the waistband and removing the elastic
• Hacking a chunk off the width of the skirt and repositioning the pocket
• Braving the scary sewing machine and sewing the pocket and new side seam up
• Tacking the bodice and skirt back together
• Trying it on, to realise that I was a moron and I'd done the tacking with the bodice the right way round and the skirt part inside out
• Giving up and going to bed
• The next day, fixing my rather daft mistake and sewing them together properly
• Much cursing of my utter crapness and inability to sew in a straight line
• Chopping a heck of a lot off the length and rehemming it.

I know it's all very simple stuff but I'm a real novice when it comes to this sort of thing so I'm chuffed with myself for managing it. The next stage is to make a sash/bow belt for it but I need some sort of stiffening fabric for that, so for the meantime I shall wear it with a Dorothy Perkins sale belt. Oh and a cardigan because it's still freezing!

The finished result:

Ta da! Much better than before, yes?

Brrrrr!!!

I was hoping that the arrival of March would mean that I could start to venture into some springtime dresses. Ha! It's been freezing recently! I've had to pile the layers back on, dig out my gloves and scarves and scrape the ice off the car in the mornings. Luckily I have a lovely new charity shop find to keep me warm.

I have no idea what I'm doing with my hand here but I was having a very bad, fat sort of day (can you tell from the face of doom?) and I look thinner here so the photo clearly has to be used!

Jumper - vintage, 100% cashmere, via Oxfam

Shorts - George sale

Brogues - River Island sale

Necklace - Stolen Thunder

resemblance to Rupert the Bear - entirely unintentional!

I won this fab necklace and a matching ring in Jen's giveaway last year and the extremely nice folks at Stolen Thunder have been in touch with me since to offer up a shiny discount code.

Never fear, my integrity has not been compromised - no freebies have come my way (still haven't quite worked out my stance on those). I just like to let you all know about shops that I approve of, plus I thought you might appreciate the chance of a discount on some lovely jewellery! Use the code FROCKS at checkout for the next month and you'll get 15% off.

They'll be taking custom orders soon and I can't wait; I have a very cool present planned for a friend. She reads this though so I can't reveal what it is just yet...

Anyway, here are some of my faves:

Tiny Birdcage Necklace

Upright Owl ring

Floozy ring

Almost as good a word as trollop, yes?

Babushka Face stud earrings

Anchor brooch

Go forth and treat yourself...

Books!

I have been hanging back from posting much this week. I'm feeling quite crappy and rather dispirited. Consequently outfit photos have not turned out very well and I haven't really felt much like writing interesting blog posts. I've also been pondering what exactly makes a good blog post but perhaps that's a topic for another day.

Turns out what I needed to cheer me up a bit was a trip into town, some extremely good coffee, a vintage frock (although am not entirely sure it actually suits me now I've got it home...), going to watch The Adjustment Bureau (excellent fun, plus lovely Matt Damon) and then Wagamama for dinner. Oh and a FREE BOOK.

Yes girls, I am struggling on womanfully with my non-book buying mission. I went into Oxfam solely to look at the clothes and didn't venture near the books but then I got to the counter and a very nice lady brought in armfuls of books and was giving them away. It being World Book Night tonight, a million books are being given away in the UK today in a variety of events. Free books = happy Alex. I've been watching all the fab programmes about it on BBC2 but didn't imagine I would actually get one myself so it was very much a case of huzzah and hurrah.

Taking inspiration from the very interesting My Life In Books programme which has been running recently, I decided to share 5 of my favourites with you. This list is entirely subject to change depending on which day you ask me about it - I find favourites lists on any topic extremely hard to narrow down. I also have a whole stream of much loved authors who've written a lot and I find it impossible to pick a favourite from their books.

So, in sort of chronological order according to when I first read them:

Tubby and Tootsy by Willy Schermelé

I am a huge lover of children's fiction. I have so many childhood favourites that it's incredibly difficult to narrow it down to one book but this has very sentimental memories for me. It's a very short book about twin bears who get separated. The lost one gets taken in by a kindly badger and eventually they're reunited. It went missing when we moved from Leeds back to Liverpool and I was so sad. Back in the early days of having the internet at home I discovered the wonderful ABE Books. Mum bought me a copy of it as a replacement and I was so happy to have it back on the bookshelves that I cried when it arrived.



A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones

She is one of my very favourite authors - her books are always amazingly well thought out and entertaining. Please don't be put off by the fact that they're children's books. They're better written, more intelligent and often funnier than a lot of the pap that gets churned out as adult fiction nowadays.

This is the story of Vivian, who is kidnapped whilst being evacuated during WW2 and is taken to Time City, a place that exists outside history, in the mistaken belief that she's the Time Lady and can save the city which is crumbling due to lost polarities. There's lots of time travel and history, some deliciously garish futuristic clothing but the two things that seem to stick in the memory of everyone I know who's read it are butter pies (ice-cream like on the outside, warm and gooey inside - nom!) and time ghosts. Oh and it's very funny.

In fact it's so good that someone has borrowed my copy and not given me it back. Grrr.

(aren't the Pan covers hilariously awful?)

Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer

Probably my favourite book ever. Lots of people scorn Georgette Heyer and lump her in with Barbara Cartland and all the modern Regency rubbish romances. I think these people are idiots. She basically created the genre of Regency romance, although her books are so much more than that. A lot of them are comedies of manners, some are mysteries, some are straightforward historicals; all of them are immaculately, captivatingly written. Don't be put off if you don't like girly books or romances - give one a go and judge it on the quality of the writing and storytelling. She puts most authors to shame.

This is a Georgian romance rather than Regency and is a sequel of sorts to These Old Shades which is also rather glorious. Dominic, the Marquis of Vidal, is a very wild young man; a reckless gambler, drinker and dueller. Totally swoon-worthy though. Mary Challoner's younger sister Sophia, a rather ditzy piece, is about to flee to France with him when he's forced into exile but Mary intercepts a note and takes Sophia's place (masked, of course) in order to save her reputation. Well as you might imagine, things don't go exactly to plan. It's a tremendous romp through France with elopements, shootings, duels, fibs and confusions aplenty and a wonderful hero and heroine.

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

I love Bill Bryson. There's a quote on the back of one of his travel books which goes along the lines of "not to be read in public for fear of emitting loud snorts" - it's so true. He's such a funny writer.

This book is about the English language but basically starts at the dawn of language and takes it from there - there are chapters on where words come from, pronunciation, spelling, names, word play and swearing amongst other things. Might not sound so thrilling (well it does to me but I'm a geek) but it's utterly wonderful. It never even verges on being dry and boring. It's endlessly fascinating and entertaining, full of brilliant anecdotes and stories and leaves you with a head full of knowledge.

Ancestral Voices by James Lees-Milne

I discovered this book mainly because of work. James Lees-Milne was a writer, diarist, architectural historian and expert on English country houses. This book is a selection of his diaries from 1942-1943. He had been invalided out of the army and was secretary to the Country House Committee of the National Trust, so this book is in part a series of descriptions of him pedalling round England on a bicycle, staying in freezing cold, dilapidated mansions and persuading the owners to hand them over to the National Trust rather than sell or demolish them. He's rather rude about the place I work at and describes the furniture as "a gruesome lot" but I'll forgive him that. His impact was astonishing - he saved an amazing amount of significant houses for the nation.

It's a wonderful depiction of London during the war years as well though and for those of you who are interested in mid 20th century aristocracy/artists/novelists/society folk, it's a must-read. He was very well connected - the Mitfords, Churchills and Sitwells get frequent mentions, as do most of the intellectual and social figures of the time. It's all written with typical candour and wit and deserves to be a lot more widely known than it is at the moment.

Distinctly Lacking In Glamour

I wish I'd been born with the glam gene.

Christina talked about resorting to Batiste dry shampoo yesterday. Well you wouldn't know it from her pictures - she looks like a goddess. It's most unfair.

Being the lazy type, I preferred an extra couple of hours in bed this morning to getting up and washing my hair. Bad move - it is gruesome. Batiste made NO difference. The only thing to do, other than ringing in sick with a bad hair day, was to wrap a vintage scarf thing round my head.

I look like Mrs Mop. Posing in the work loo probably doesn't help...

Any type of hat or headwear immediately gets "funny" comments from the people at work. Apparently today I've either suffered a head injury or I'm Carmen Miranda.... think I prefer Mrs Mop.

Oh well, at least I have coffee and cake to console me. First attempt at marble cake - it's gorgeous, even if I do say so myself!