Sunday 29 April 2012

A kerfuffle and crumpets

"FRESH" hat - sister's, denim jacket - vintage, striped leggings - local shop, boots - Doc Martens' Pascal boot,  black shirt (even though you can't see it in the photos) - Punkyfish
So blurry, sorry!
I am so glad that I have my stripey leggings, they are pretty much perfect. Here is the post I wrote when I first got them. High waisted - check, thick enough material to wear as trousers - check. The only one thing that annoys me is that they are more white than black and I am very wearing with wearing white bottoms, but I think they look alright.

Only after I finish taking these pictures I realise how much this outfit is inspired by Stacey from devorelebeaumonstre. I think its the beanie and the hair! For once I actually managed to wear a beanie without getting headache from my head getting too hot as it was absolutely freezing outside!

To make matters worse, it was also semi raining since British weather is pretty dire at times like these. It probably wasn't the best idea to stand outside, since I've already got a bit of a cold. However, since I love you guys so much (and I don't want to do revision), I bared standing in the rain and the cold to take these outfit photos - I had to awkwardly balance my camera in the doorway so it wouldn't get wet, so it was all a bit of a kerfuffle, but I think it kind of worked in the end. I had to reward myself with some hot tea (Chinese of course) and toasted crumpets with marmite and butter (YUM) afterwards to warm myself up.

I do realise the pictures are still really blurry as I haven't worked out how to focus the darn camera yet, but hey, I think it is an improvement as I actually have my bottom half in most of these photos. Yay.


I hope to take lots more outfit photos as I have loads planned out in my head - yes I'm weird like that - but since I wear school uniform 5 days out of 7, it only leaves me with the weekend where I can actually wear my own clothes.

Anyway, catch you later,


Rebecca x
P.S. My hair is super faded - I need to dye it again!

Saturday 28 April 2012

Hoochie mamas, show your nanas!

Today I have a music post for your guys today, since the weather has been beyond rubbish with continuous showers so I have not been able to take any outfit photographs, which is rather annoying. It's only a short one, but hey, it's quality over quantity and I think today's included some awesome tunes.

Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans ft. Azealia Banks (Smims&Belle Extended Remix)

Okay, I know I should stop mentioning Lana Del Rey, but this remix of "Blue Jeans" featuring Azealia Banks is so slick and makes me want to rave.

Just generally King Charles
I'm literally so so happy to have found King Charles - every single song I have heard from him I loved. His music is so sincere, quirky and likable. If you like bands such as Vampire Weekend or The Maccabees, then you'll like him. Plus I am also a huge fan of his flamboyant look with his dreads and moustache. He slightly reminds me Darwin Deez, but he's portraying more a 80s dork look, when King Charles is definitely more 17th Century English-esque.
These two guys epitomise cool.
I love his music so much, its hard to recommend just a few songs as in one interview, he said that he liked to include lots of elements from various musical genres, thus all his songs are often quite different
I love how light-hearted "Bam Bam" is. It's just a cool song that makes me happy and is all-encompassing of his awesomeness. And oh my, that hip thrusting...
This is the first song I heard from him on the radio and it is awesome. I love the steel drums as it slightly reminds me of The Lion King, but slightly cooler, if that is possible!

I also recommend "O'England" for something a bit more folky and acoustic but nonetheless very beautiful. If something electropop-ey, then "Julia Nostalgia" is for you, but unfortunately neither of these songs have been put on Youtube which makes me very sad. If you like something more indie and definitely very Vampire Weekend influenced, check out "Love Blood". If you can't tell, I've been really getting into King Charles recently!

Blood Orange - Champayne Coast
I found this dude from Florence and the Machine's Facebook feed since he will be supporting her on her US tour and I trust that lady's judgement 100%, and I am so happy I did. This guy combines R&B grooves with atmospheric keyboards, creating something really chill and awesome. If I had to compare him to something similar, the closest I can think of is Jamie Woon (who I LOVE), but less vocal lead and more emphasis on the beats. It's just a really cool and effortless sound: check it out!

Jack White's entire album - Blunderbuss
Okay, I promise I will stop mentioning Jack White soon, but I have finally been able to listen to his album in the entirety and it is ridonculously good. I'm not going to link a song as they are all epic so just go listen to the album already!

S Club 7 - S Club Party
Okay, I've had some peer pressure from some of my friends to include some S Club 7 in this music post, so here it is "S Club Party". I really do miss music like this, so recently we have been rolling into school with these tunes being banged out from the car stereo. "Ghetto boys, make some noise! Hoochie mamas, show your nanas!"- such words of wisdom.
See you tomorrow with hopefully an outfit post, if it stops rainings - it's ironic since we are apparently experiencing "drought" conditions.


Rebecca x

P.S. Hello new followers, you are rad.
P.P.S. I think I'm going to make rad my new word as I'm pretty sure it's just about to make a comeback.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Procrastinator

I was inspired by this outfit by Hannah Louise Fashion, so I thought I may as well do my own take on an all black outfit. Of course, I hardly ever wear all black, so I thought I may as well add a blue beanie to match the blue accents on my socks. All I needed was some round John Lennon-esque sun glasses to complete the look, but alas, I have none.
Again, I had major camera trouble. It was absolutely pourring outside, so I decided to take photographs inside in my bathroom, as that is where my lighting is best. I also liked how my towels in the backgrounds add to the colour scheme of the photo. But yet again, I have not managed to get a whole body shot, and the lighting was still a bit dodgey... Sigh. Meanwhile, I just thought waste not want not, so I just decided to roll with it and make these pictures into a post. One day I will get it right!
I am so please to have found these shorts as I think they are quite similar to the American Apparel disco shorts, but they only cost £7!
Beanie - M&S, Choker - Claires, Shorts - shop in my hometown, Top - DIY from China, Tights - Primark, Football socks - my sisters yonks ago when she played football, Denim shirt - Camden, Shoes - New Look, Bracelets -  market, Lipstick - Rimmel's Starry Eyed.
Derp.
My lower half since you can't see it in any of the photographs - should've worn my docs!
I took this photograph by accident but this camera is so good. Check out those split ends!
Anyway, regarding the title of this post, blogger is going to be the reason why I fail my GCSEs. No joke, recently I have been spending so much more time on my blog than usual and it is having a detrimental effect on the amount of revision I am doing - I.E. none! I'm afraid that I'm going to have to start posting way less - which tears my heart apart - as in the end and in the light of everything, it's really not that important... *cries*.

See you later, alligator.


Rebecca x

P.S. I can't believe I'm writing this stupid post when I have so much work I need to do. ARGH. 
P.P.S I do have some more outfits planned out in my head for the weekend to photograph. YAY.

Monday 23 April 2012

A rant about train fares

Between the ages of 16-18, the majority of young people are still in education and do not have a disposable income, or in fact an income of any sort for most of us. Instead, we are encouraged to continue our education, rather than get jobs and head straight into employment.  So why are we being charged such extortionate prices for rail tickets?
What's all the fuss about? 
Most people my age are completely put off travelling via the train, as it is quite extortionate. Fundamentally, train fares are ridiculous in this country anyway as on average, fares are 50% higher in Britain than on the continent, and especially living in the South East of England, rail fares are sky-high. I understand that the cost of crude oil is exponentially rising, thus it is fairly being reflected in the cost of rail tickets, but I think that it is ridiculous that it is expected that we have to fork out the same amount as adults with jobs and a disposable income. I do realise that there is a 16-25 railcard, and I think that this is a good option for university students aged 19-25, but between the ages of 16-18, I believe that having an extra 1/6 of a rail ticket off,would make a tremendous difference for us who only has pocket money of a few squid a week.

You think I'm how old?!
To make things worse, I have had various pompous experiences where I have been wrongly forced to buy an adult ticket rather than a child's ticket such as at Euston station earlier this year (at the age of 15), Being only 5ft, this was a strange experience for me as I always get mistaken for being far younger than I am, rather than older.  I was charged an adult single instead of a child's single, simply because I did not have any form of identification with me. This is ridiculous, as at this age, the only piece of identification I own is my passport, and that is something that I do NOT carry around with me willy-nilly. Lost, scared, afraid and without my parents, I just forked out the cash, but I was extremely annoyed by the terrible costumer service who were not supportive of this lost child at all. Shame on you London Midlands.

I love London, but I refrain from going there as much as I would like and spending my money there (thus helping the economy (tenuous link there, but a point!)), simply because I cannot afford the train ticket there. It costs me £8.50 for a railcard, which is ridiculous considering my friends who live in Chesham/Amersham can simply ride the Metropolitain line into the city centre for a measly £2! Damnation to the fact that I just live outside the underground tube system. I would like to participate in various free events, courses, visit more museums in London, but I do not have the cash for going regularly to London.

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE.

From the annoyed one,


Rebecca x

P.S. I know this is random and badly written, but this has been something that I have wanted to post in a long time. I've written this super quickly so there may be some mistakes!
P.P.S. Don't take some parts of this too literally, but my underlying message is true.
P.P.P.S Hello to all my new readers, you guys are awesome.
P.P.P.P.S More outfit posts like yesterdays? I really want to do more, but this may be hindered by the fact that I wear school uniform 5 times a week. I will try and put some more out though! 
P.P.P.P.S. Some kind of related music to leave you guys with - there are probably some more closely related songs out there but my musical brain is dead today. :)

Sunday 22 April 2012

Pray for the people inside your head, for they won't be there when you're dead

Mullet skirt: Primark, Belt: Topshop, Denim shirt: mother's from the 90's, Longer necklace: China, Fishy necklace: Accessorise, Cardigan: M&S a few decades ago
Quack, quack.
For once, it was actually lovely and sunny, so I decided to take some outfit photos, but alas, I could not get the camera to do what I wanted. I had to use the self-timer, which wouldn't seem to focus where I wanted it to, even though I changed the settings to centre focus,  so the pictures came up really blurry. The photos are also far too over exposed, as if I changed the aperture the bottom would either be too dark or the top would be too light.

Anyway, long story short, I decided to just edit the images loads to try and conceal the fact that I don't know how to use my dad's camera. I'm going to have to pass it off as a "vintage" effect again... Eurgh. Something else that is also really annoying me is the fact that my feet aren't in any of the pictures, but I thought I might as well use the images and not waste them.
I love this necklace apart from the fact that it is sooo noisy.

I rolled up the skirt a few times at the front as it was too long.
I will try and actually learn how to use the Canon sometime or later and take some pictures that are actually of decent quality.


Rebecca x

P.S I really hate it when people put lyrics to a song in the title or caption of a post - yay for being hypocritical. Here is the song from my title (Gasp, Johnny Flynn with brown hair and without his guitar with a dobro resonator):
P.P.S. Bonus picture I decided to edit. Oh yeahhh. 
I love MS Paint. Also, how embarressing, I spelt my URL wrong... It's scatterrbrained with two r's.

Saturday 21 April 2012

90's Nostalgia

Even though I was only the ages of 0-4 years old during the 90s, for some reason lately, I have been really obsessed and inspired by with 90's style fashion, mostly due to the fact that I have discovered some awesome fashion bloggers recently.
Oh yeahhh
Things I want: 
Turtleneck crop top:
Combining two trends into one, I never thought I would like a turtle neck again. However, recently, I have been opting for high collared clothes and this with high waisted jeans, hair up in a high pony tail would be awesome. Unfortunately, the only brand I've seen selling them is American Apparel and I'm afraid I'm not rich enough to afford them.
The inspiration:
Beanies: 
Oh I love beanies, but I can never wear hats as my head always gets far too hot and I get a headache. I am on a mission to find a really thin beanie as I feel like I have been missing out.
The inspiration:
This girl's blog is so 90's-tastic I love it: http://www.norelle-rheingold.blogspot.co.uk
Yin-yang necklace, spiked choker and tattoo choker: 
I am on a mission to find these necklaces as I have suddenly had a desire to own them. I remember my sister a decade ago wearing necklaces exactly like this, it's funny how things always come back into fashion (or at least I think they're cool again). I already have a spiked collar necklace but the spikes are so measly and tiny - I want one that can impale. I can't find the stretchy black necklace ANYWHERE though. :(
 
The inspiration: 
This blog has quickly become my favourite fashion blog: http://vi0lettae.blogspot.com



 And here are some clothing items not related to the 90's, but I still want them anyway. 
  
  1. Lace cycling shorts: I have this weird vision in my head of them being paired under some black high-waisted denim shorts and looking awesome. I can't seem to find any anywhere though! 
  2. Converses: I need these in my life - perhaps change the laces to some coloured ones?
  3. Army jacket: I'd like a jacket like this, but slightly more over sized, chunkier with lots of pockets and sewed on patches. I think I'm going to have to go to Camden soon again, as I saw loads being sold there.
Lastly, here is some 90's music for you to enjoy.
 So yeah, that's what I want to buy as I love trying to be cool.


Rebecca x
P.S. The formatting of the pictures are really pissing me off, but I can't be bothered to change them.
P.P.S. Here is a bonus GIF I made earlier as I think I'm cool.
Don't take this serious.
P.P.P.S. And here a bonus furby as we all used to love these creepy things.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Choooons

I think it's time for another one of those music posts. Here is my selection of "new" music. I try to make each list varied in music genres, but it is very much a list of guitar bands and dance-y electronic music this time simply because it has been what I have been enjoying recently.
Bands:
Twin Atlantic - Make a Beast of Myself
Where have these guys been all my life? This is a solid rock song; one of those you end up singing all day. I love how they utilise breaks in their songs, it's so good! Twin Atlantic are definitely up there along with Biffy Clyro and Paolo Nutini with my favourite Scottish musicians.

The Crib - Come On, Be a No-One
This is one of those songs that get implanted into my brain due to it being played constantly on XFM, but I've been enjoying listening to it loud. It's a short, simple song, with a catchy chorus complemented by some distorted guitars. 

Dry the River - New Ceremony
Dry the River are on the BBC Sound of 2012 list along with other amazing people like Lianne La Havas Azealia Banks, and Skrillex. There are so many good folk rock bands in the UK at the moment, and these people definitely are one of them. This song, "New Ceremony" is really powerful and my kind of music. I also enjoyed the video - it's brilliantly shot and visually fantastic. 

Neon Trees - Everybody Talks
Neon Trees is definitely a band that makes me happy when listening to their music. 
Jack White - Missing Pieces 
I know this is another song by Jack White, but every song I hear from the album could be a single in their own rights as they are all so good. I reckon Jack White's debut solo album "Blunderbuss" is shaping up to be the album of the year.
Electronic Music:
Delilah - Breathe
This song is just sublime - it's so atmospherical and entrancing. The video is also really powerful and realistic. The blonde girl in the video is really pretty and I also like Delilah's outfit in the video: studded denim jacket, sheer white blouse with gold jewellery. There is also a Sub Zero remix and version featuring Liam Bailey, but personally I think the original version is so simple and effective. 

Rudimental ft John Newman - Feel the Love
 Such a tune, plus this music video is beyond awesome with this dude's gravity defying moves. Definitely worth a watch/listen. 
Hot Chip - Night and Day
I love Hot Chip and their 80s geek chic, retro synthesised sound. So happy for their return!

Rita Ora - RIP
Okay, Rita Ora is so hot and written by Drake and produced by Chase & Status, this song was bound to be huge. 

Tally-ho,

Rebecca x
P.S. So proud that I actually started some revision today. Woop.
P.S.S. Just a heads up for my blog followers, I am most probably going to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays now that I am back at school.

Monday 16 April 2012

A Hairy Dilemma

Everyone seems to like talking about hair, so I'm currently planning what to do next with my barnet. The red ends have faded a fair bit, but the bottom of my hair is still pretty light compared to the rest of my hair. I still love the red, but I'm getting a bit bored of it.
A quick image just to show you guys what my hair looks like now. My face looked stupid, so I covered it with a yummy cheese burger...
The Options: 
  •  Go over the ombre with the same, permanent red dye
    1. Damage caused: pretty bad
    2. Longevity: very long
    3. Awesome factor: average
  • Go over the bottom red bit of my hair with a semi permanent red/other colour (will blue make purple?), such as manic panic or something. This way, my hair will not be damaged anymore, but I can imagine this being very messy and lasting not very long or being very vibrant.
    1. Damage caused: minimal
    2. Longevity: short
    3. Awesomeness factor: average
  • Bleach the life out of the ends. I mean, the ends are pretty much dead anyway, I might as well squeeze any last moisture out of it. This way, the ends will be very light, so I can go over with a semi permanent and it will be super vibrant and I can change the colours if I wish. My ends will truly be frazzled, so I assume I'll have to get them hacked off, but it will be fun whilst it lasts. 
    1. Damage caused: apocalyptic to my hair
    2. Longevity: short
    3. Awesomeness factor: off the scale 
  • Say tah-tah to the dip-dye and go short. 
    1. Damage caused: none - it will be better for my hair 
    2. Longevity: as long as I want
    3. Awesomeness factor: not sure, depends on how it turns out.
Hair Inspiration: 

SHORT
Here are some reasons why I want to go short - these people are super awesome...
  1.  Kat from On the Ganges;
  2. Sarah from ClothesEncounters
  3. Claire from Stolen From Grandma
  4. Christine from christeric
  5. Buttercup from Powerpuff Girls
I couldn't find a decent song with the word "short" in the title, so I thought I may as well settle for a short length song.
LONG
But I could stay long like these awesome people...
  1. Jenn from ClothesEncounters
  2. Lidi from GiddyLidi
  3. Random girl from Google
  4. Brittany from Britkneegirl1
  5. Marge from The Simpsons
Oh I love this song and video so much.

That is all for today!


Rebecca x
P.S. School has yet again commenced for the summer term. This means exams are just around the corner, eek!

Saturday 14 April 2012

Paris Day Six: Musée d'Orsay and Musée Guimet

Don't shoot me, I'm sorry! I did not post yesterday, as I was so tired from travelling back home from Paris, that I only arrived back home at around 10.30pm, and blogging was not at the forefront of my priorities. But here is what you guys missed - it's crazy to think I was at these museums only yesterday! Here are my last positives and negatives, both of the day and of the holiday in general.

The negatives:
  • Yesterday was our last day in Paris, and my mum decided that we should go to Musée Guimet, even though I wasn't particularly fond it, she seemed to like it. It holds Europe's largest collection of Asian arts, so I found it rather boring, but my mum's fond of that sort of thing.

  • In the Musée d'Orsay, I accidentally got an audio guide only for a temporary exhibition (Degas and the nude, which contained lots of naked bodies), instead of the entire museum, which was bit of a waste of money, as it cost 5euros, and I didn't want to pay another 5euros for another audio guide.
The positives
  • I loved the Musée d'Orsay, especially the symbolism section of it. The paintings in this section were really thought-provoking and striking. Some people say it encompasses the Gothic elements of romanticism. Unfortunately I don't have any photographs to show of my favourites for obvious reasons. I also enjoyed the really massive canvas paintings, as well as the famous pointillist paintings, such as The Circus, Georges Seurat
  • I had this AMAZING eclair from a pâtisserie outside the Musée d'Orsay, which had Chantilly cream and loads of strawberries. Just thinking back to how delicious it was is making my mouth water.
  • Another snack I loved in France were these things below. Oh they were so yummy, with their crunchy outer and raspberry centre. I ended up finished a total of two boxes in two days.
  • I love how all the French seem to love wearing Ray-Ban glasses, or simply glasses with statement frames. From toddlers to OAPs, they all seem to have very stylish choices in frames - I am impressed. 
  • I love the feeling when you just come back from holiday, or you've been away from home for a prolonged period of time, and then you return to familiarity and everything just feels just as it was. I don't know whether it's just me who gets this vibe. The annoying this is though, after about 5 mins, this sense of euphoria is quickly expelled by the stresses and pressure that come with home - in other words, my looming exams! 
  • It's just generally a beautiful city!
 I can't wait to go visit it again!


Rebecca x

P.S. Sorry for this lame post, I have been very uninspired today. Posts will be of a better quality asap!

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Paris Day Five: Palace of Versailles

"The Château de Versailles began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it, moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added improvements to make it the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art."

The negatives: 
  • It was, again, ridiculously busy at the Palace of Versailles. When we were visiting the King's Grand Apartments, I was quite disgusted by the body odour of some of the other tourists that I was squished up against. 
  • Luckily the weather was lush, but it was too sunny! The sun was really strong and since the grounds and palace were mostly all white, it was all reflecting into my eyes. Furthermore, I had forgotten to bring my sunglasses, so my eyes were killing. 
The positives: 
  • Everything else! The palace was beautiful, so excessive and extravagant. 
From the outside.
Th famous hall of mirrors
There were many marble statues.
The gardens were nice, but nowhere near as good as ones in England. In France, there is too much sandy white gravel, not enough green!
I think they are planning on planting more plants here, as outlines are marked out with chalk.
The elaborate ceiling of one room.
A water fountain of some people on horses drowning
This sign in front of Musee d'Orsay is funny. 
  • Today I had the chance to try out some snails, or escargot for the first time and I loved it! They taste pretty much the same as other shellfish and mollescus, which I love anyway, so they were great. They had a lovely garlic, herbs and olive oil sauce drizzled over them and it was delish.

Last half day tomorrow!


Rebecca x

P.S. Replying to Wendy's comment on yesterday's post about the scariness of Montmarte: I know it's crazy! I just read something online about these guys who were at the bottom of the hill carrying threads of string. Apparently they ask you for your wrist to try out the string for length, and they quickly braid it into a bracelet and tie it around your wrist, which can't be untied by yourself. Then they demand an extortionate price for the rope bracelet, which you can't refuse to pay, as you can't take the bracelet off and they'll keep holding on to both you and the bracelet until you cough up the money. I'm so glad that I quickly walked past these people and didn't make any eye contact with the creepy men, as I was concerned that I might get attacked or stabbed or something worse...

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Paris Day Four: Notre Dame, Sacré Cœur and Panthéon

Since Tuesday is the day museums that are closed tomorrow,  today was a day of big religious buildings: Notre Dame de Paris, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur and The Panthéon.
The Pantheon
The negatives:

  • The weather was pretty rubbish since it was raining almost all day. We visited all these places today, not only because everything else was closed, but also as they were all indoors.
  • Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur are both functioning churches so I felt quite bad for the minority of people who were actually at the church for worship, rather than just for some superficial sight-seeing. Even though photography was forbidden in the Sacre Coeur, many people were still taking snaps. Though, it was even worse in Notre Dame as the rules were less strictly enforced, so even though you weren't allowed to take pictures with the flash on, many people still were. Lots of tourists were also really noisy - there were some annoying Americans in the Pantheon visiting the crypt, which contains the remains of distinguished French citizens. It's really quite similar; just respect the places you're visiting. 
  • The Montmatre area surrounding had lots of people were trying to sell those tacky Eiffel Tower key rings that I mentioned in my post here. Turns out that if you are court illegally selling souvenirs, you could get sent to prison for 6 months. Also, there were some soldiers/police patrolling the area carrying some hefty guns, so these shifty men selling these souvenirs definitely have balls. However, the area was ridden with "Beware of Pick-pockets" signs, and we couldn't use cash to pay for our tickets in case of theft, so I was not suprised that some people say the area surrounding the Sacre Coeur is plagued with drug dealers and seedy men.

The postitives:

  • The architecture today was breathtaking (both literally and figuratively for the Sacre Coeur as it is up the Montmatre hill). I cannot be bothered to describe it, so here's some pictures for you to enjoy. 
Pictures not too fantastic because of a lack of flash
  • We had another awesome meal at Chartier! This time we had a beef stew, duck confit and some pork which just seemed to be gammon. I also tried foie gras for the first time and I surprisingly enjoyed it! One portion of foie gras probably had enough calories for an entire meal, but I was quite yummy - I do like liver anyway. We were also hoping for some snails, just because we are in France but unfortunately, it wasn't on the menu today! 
The old lady sitting on the table next to the two other ladies was so cute! She was by herself, drinking a bottle of beer and had a salad, soup and a dessert for dinner. She ate so slowly but attentively.
So that was day four, see you tomorrow for my second to last day in Paris!


Rebecca x
P.S. I know the formatting is messed up here, but I'm tired now. I'll fix it tomorrow morning. If you still can read this message after that time, I've been lazy and left it. 
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