The Big Smoke (part two)

Velvet blazer: vintage. Top: Zara. Shorts: Topshop. Brogues: River Island (I think...?). Bowler hat: H&M. Bag: vintage Russell & Bromley. Necklaces: Urban Outfitters, vintage and family heirlooms.

There's something about the angle of this photograph that makes my legs look weirdly tiny in comparison to the rest of my body. I swear, in real life I don't look like this much of a Tim Burton character. But I took very few outfit photos while in London so we'll persevere and use it anyway.

This is the debut appearance of my velvet blazer. It's wonderful and it makes me feel like Hugh Hefner. Not that it makes me want to make millions of dollars from the objectification of women. Just smoke a cigar and maybe wear some monogrammed slippers.

...That was an odd tangent we went off on there. Moving on...

Second day in London. We headed down to the Southbank to go to the Hayward to see the new David Shrigley exhibition, which was predictably wonderful and hilarious and I would recommend it to anyone. Then we wandered around the book market and I picked up a biography on the Mitford Sisters for next to nothing. And of course we fitted in at least 10 coffee breaks over the course of the day.

The Big Smoke (part one)

Blouse: Throw Away Treasures. Shorts: Topshop. Cardigan: Topshop. Coat: Dorothy Perkins. Boots: vintage. Bag: vintage Russell & Bromley. Belt: vintage. Necklaces: vintage, Miss Selfridge and family heirlooms.

I recently went to London for a few days with the family. My mum got to see Les Mis and I got to see the new David Shrigley exhibition at the Hayward - and an unexpected Jeremy Deller retrospective that I didn't even realise was on. So everyone won! And actually, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Les Mis too. Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of musicals with no dialogue - you know, with people just singing at you for hours on end. I've seen Cats three times and each time has been more painful than the last. However, Les Mis I liked. And I may or may not have teared up during 'Bring Him Home'. That's between me and the usher.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

(Bonus points if you sang that title in the voice of David Bowie)

So, I know I went awol there for a little while. The last term of uni got pretty intense and I decided the easiest way to not go completely insane would be to give up all periphery interests: my social life, regular sleeping patterns and, unfortunately, this blog. But I'm finished for summer now so I'm all set to get back to regular outfit posts. But it's been a while since my last post and there are some changes afoot that I think I should update you all on:

• I got a summer job at my favourite vintage shop in Liverpool so that's pretty amazing. I very rarely finish a shift without having bought something so we'll see how the whole 'saving-for-next-year' thing works out.
• I got a new camera! I now have a Fuji X10 - it's lovely leather case is in the photograph above, sans camera obviously. I was using that to take the photo, you see.
• I changed my perfume. This may not seem like a big deal but I'm very particular about perfumes and I normally stick with one scent for years at a time. But on a recent trip to London, I tried Ofresia by Diptique in Liberty and completely fell in love with it.

And... I think that's about it. Told you I'd given up my social life.

Tweed, navy, polka dots

Tweed blazer: vintage Burberry, Camel jumper: Next, Polka dot skort: vintage, Tan brogues: vintage, Bowler hat: H&M, silk scarf (tied onto bag): vintage, Necklaces: vintage and Topshop.

Look! Actual, real sunlight! My poor beaten up point and shoot digi camera didn't know what had hit it. Unfortunately, neither did I which is why I was stuck at home for the weekend on an unexpectedly sunny day with nothing in my suitcase but jumpers and tweed. But we persevere. If I can saunter around with bare legs in November and pretend I'm not freezing then I can wear wool and tweed and pretend I'm not boiling. Besides, it turned out that the sun was only superficial and it was actually really cold. Ah, good old England.

Anyway, I can't believe it's taken so long for this blazer to appear on the blog. It's quite possibly my favourite possession, aside from my Macbook and my lovely secondhand copy of Oscar Wilde's plays. The only downside is that I can't pass it off as an incredible find I just happened upon at a fair or charity shop - it was Etsy. But damn it, designer vintage in good condition is hard to just stumble across. I spent an arm and a leg on it but I wear it all the time and occasionally sit and stroke it in my spare time so, all in all, I think it's paid for itself. And I always get comments on it. They range from the complimentary (like the lady who stopped me on the stairs today at uni and told me it was "stunning" - she also asked if I made it myself, one of the hazards of going to art school is that everyone assumes you're super-crafty) to the bewildered ("Are you going horseriding later...?") to the slightly mean ("Ew, you look like a farmer). But anyway, here's some gratuitous close up photos of it's loveliness: