Nerds are not geeks..

This was not really part of my new year's resolution, but I've noticed that I was being a hermit (the rain is a maintaining factor to this behaviour..). I've said it to Fiona mostly that I should socialize friend, and because she is a great friend she persuaded me to go to the Science ball afters. I was a bit apprehensive at first (and my bed was the place I was looking forward to going to the most), but I forced myself to go out.

So this was how the night went..
..We went over to Fi's and wrote "The List"..and it works. Maybe I'll elaborate more on this list later on..but probably not.
..We all got ready at Fi's, and her lovely self drove us 5 crashers to the ball.
..We strutted around the hotel in the rain, but all the other doors were locked.
..We wondered if we could get away with getting in for free.
..We stood outside the smokers area (which was surrounded by metal bars) and chatted to some of our friends.
..We hiked up our dresses and jumped over the metal fence with out heels. Very classy. The boys were not wearing dresses, and they did not hike up their pants.
..We got in for free! Mission accomplished.
..We danced our asses off.
..We saw/chatted with/danced with/were introduced to loads of fabulous people.
..I realized that Med ball was pretty shite compared to Science ball.
..All our friends looked amazing.
..Best dressed girl: LOTS of girls looked lovely, and loads of beautiful outfits were spotted. Any nominations?
..Best dresses boy: Falvy. I want his grey vintage suit.
..We sat on the tables in the stairwell, and did some people watching. Great fun.
..Something exciting happened to Fi. "The List" works.
..We left the ball feeling very happy.
..Fi slept over and we had yummy pizza.
..I'm delighted that I went to the Science ball. Thanks for persuading me everyone!

My Miu Miu heels got ruined (only 2nd time I wear them..). Humph.

LJ = dress (alldressesup), earrings (Miss Selfridge), rings (Camden lock)
Fi = dress (Bershka)
Amazing night. Love you Fi!

xx-LJ

written proof that you should SaveOurShoes..

I always feel a bit guilty when I read things that aren't Final Year Project or College Placement related... However, I have one book that is easily justified to read. The Salvation of Shoes by Edward Monkton which my brother purchased for me for Christmas.

In a world where everything needs to be justified or evidence-based, this is literary proof that buying those Alexander McQueen Neon Flash Shoe Boots will in fact save you. And you them.

Keep SavingOurShoes.

Peace out,

Fi xx

A piece of Junko..

Flipping through the December issue of Vogue, I spotted a pair of superhigh neon wedges designed by Junko Shimada. God bless google for this.. She is a Japanese designer originally from Tokyo who now resides in Paris.

The neon wedges drove me to find her amazing S/S 09 collection. I see that there is more neon in the S/S collection as well, which makes me oh-so-happy. The line consists mainly of voluminous dresses, most of which are hand painted with drawings of swans, geese, fish, and space cowboys. The ocean blue intertwined with the white fabric gives a beautiful wave effect especially with the ruffles. I'm also in love with the see through plastic dresses and jackets, especially the mesh bra..though I'm not sure if I will be able to pull that off!




And now for the shoes... mmm yummy. There are some fun items of felt neon high heels with butterflies, frogs, and flowers stuck onto them. And there are also pairs of high heel ballet shoes (I don't think all the models can tippytoe down the runway!), and you must watch the video of the runway show on their website to appreciate how beautiful they are. Jen and I were talking about how the ballet pair was a reminder of our childhood dreams of becoming ballerinas. The neon pairs however slightly reminded me of Prada's summer collection from a couple of years back (except they were made out of patent leather..). I could also imagine Irregular Choice making similar pairs! They're still very playful and fun nonetheless.

I wish I had known about her before my trip to Paris. I'd love to visit her boutique there..

xx-LJ

It's always time for a cuppa..

It was Saturday night and I was home at around 10pm. We spent ages in Wagamama (I've been there 4 times this week.. I think I've hit a record. I might as well just work there..). And after that, Fu & I stopped at The Pav for a warm cup of tea. I think we were the only people at the pub drinking tea.. God bless us and save us. Fiona, Janette, Fergal and his friend Cian also went to The Pav again for tea today. I think I should find new hangout places..

Fu and I spent hours on etsy last night, and we found some pretty cool shops on there. But for now, and on the topic of tea, I thought I'd share this with you..




These are the beautiful 'fertili' series of teacups created by Sarah Burden. Come on girls, support womenhood and admire the female reproductive system while having a delicious cuppa. What a great inspiration for me to go and read on some obs&gynae..

xx-LJ

SOS! loves ASOS!

I have vowed to myself that I am no longer spending. Well, to a certain extent I suppose.. but I won't be buying anything I don't need anytime soon.

I was planning a little shopping trip to London this month, but the ticket prices were a bit much. So I was randomly browsing on ASOS one night (when I should have been working..), and I rationalised with myself and to Fu that since I'm not going to have my shopping splurge in London that I might as well do it online. And at the time, it all made perfect sense in my head. I thought 'Sure Lujain.. why not... GO FOR IT.'

An hour or so later, I ended up with 10 items in my basket. I consulted my money advisor Fu, and she gave me the green light. Thanks Fu.

Here they are.... I put together some outfits for the main pieces I got, but not the rest. It's Friday night, and I'm knackered.

Outfit 1: New top (asos), New skirt (Religion at asos), tights (Penny's/Primark), shoes (Nicholas Kirkwood), necklace (H&M), arm warmer (boutique in Berlin)

Outfit 2: new dress (Religion at asos), necklace (Topshop), ring and earrings (vintage), cuff (a boutique in Kuala Lampur), shoes (Miu Miu)

Outfit 3: new dress worn as top (Religion at asos), skirt (All Saints), tights and shoes (Topshop), shnood (H&M)

I also bought these basic tops that will always come in handy, and a pair of tights and hold ups. Most of these items were on clearance, so in reality I saved loads of money...

Unfortunately, that weekend me and Jen went onto Victoria's Secret website. We all know what the consequences were. On top of that, the fucking Irish parcel company charged us 138 euros to receive the package. Grrrr wankers. But I'm staying positive, I love all my new stuff! I can't wait to wear them out.

Happy shopping, and enjoy the weekend.
xx-LJ

"are you supposed to be in fancy dress?"

Normally people passing comments about what I wear brushes right off me. However, last night, my housemates and I went out for a dance and something was said to me. It really got to me. I walked in and a friend of a friend of mine looked at me and said "Are you supposed to be in fancy dress?". I responded with a "Yeah, sure" and a quick flash of the middle finger and turned around and walking away.
Maybe I was wearing something not to his taste, maybe it was a bit "out there", but how dare he say I look like I was wearing a costume. I was talking to LJ about it and perhaps he is jealous of the fact that I don't seem to care what other people think of how I look. But why make a snide comment about my dress. Just a minute beforehand, an actual friend of mine said that I looked so cool all the time. And later on in the night, a girl tried to take me to a club with her because she liked my outfit so much. But that one remark haunts me.
Exhibit A (the offending outfit in question)
Headband: American apparell, Glasses: courtesy of my friend Leonora, Blazer: Zara, Dress: Flashbacks (Liverpool), Kicks: Missy Elliott for Adidas
I was sorta going for a royal-tenenbaums-Long-lost-tennis-playing-sister-esque look. Maybe Cork isn't really ready for that. But when people say things, it makes me worry that maybe I shouldn't express myself through my clothes, that I should carboncopy the mannequin in Miss Selfridge/Primark/Topshop/River Island. Has it really come to this? That a girl can't wear a slightly Kooky outfit? If Pixie wore it or if Agy wore it or if Missy-frickin-Elliot wore it, there would be nothing said by their fashion copies. I guarantee that someone working for POP magazine or ID or someone in an up-and-coming band has worn something similar. So what the f*** is wrong with me wearing it down to the pub for a pint and boogie??
Rant over.
Peace and love to everyone who lets their clothes express themselves, a plague of locusts on dickheads who make comments about what those people wear.
Fi xx

My blooming legs..

I've been obsessing about ordering floral tights for quite a while now. The ones that I wanted were always either sold out from the sites or backordered, and I just didn't bother then. I had a specific picture in my head. I wanted them to have flower prints as if my legs were a blooming garden (this is not a good description.. but you know what I mean).

So I was very delighted when I heard that River Island has brought in floral tights (and exactly like what I had in mind). Their website only delivers to the UK unfortunatly. But lucky for moi, I found them in the shop in Cork last weekend (I rushed in there to the tights section like a mad woman..). I ended up buying 3 pairs.. I need to restrain myself.


They're one size fit all, and fit on me perfectly (a lot of my tights need to yanked up.. I hate that). And also, they're only 11.50 euros! These are the 3 pairs.. and I also picked up a pair of dorothy flats from Penny's (Primark) on the way..

There's a great selection of floral tights at Celeste Stein and there are a few bits in Topshop. It is way too cold and rainy now, but the florals make it seem like spring is closer!

Lets daydream of spring, shall we?

xx-LJ

shameless plugging

In University College Cork, they have started to hold a competition called UCC's Next Top Model. My lovely friend Neasa is a competitor in it, so this is me doing my bit for her, saying VOTE NEASA! She is fierce, beautiful, fantastic personality and a great dancer. I should know, I have spent many an evening under the influence dancing with her...Best of luck Neasa, from the SaveOurShoes ladies...
peace out,
Fi xx

Roll and pin..

Oh Iris.. you are so beautiful..




This is mostly where we got our hair inspiration in the photoshoot Fu and I did 2 weeks ago. I really like this girl. She is very creative and the looks she simulates are spot on eg the Dita Von Teese look video. Her hair is so beautiful, she could be in a shampoo ad. If I had her hair, I'd probably want to experiment with it too! (maybe I'm just making excuses now about why I don't practise crazy updos with my hair..)

She is very good with her rolling and pinning and makes it look so easy to do! In reality, since I'm not very good with my bobbypins, my hair took ages and ages to do. I suppose it does take some practice.. but I would love to learn how to do all these rolls and quiffs.

Anywho, just thought I'd pass on her legacy to all of you if you didn't know about ilovegerardo already! I subscribed to her straight away after watching one of her videos. They're very addictive.

xx-LJ

She's naughty but nice..

Now that the Internet, I have all the time in the world to waste. Well, not really, but wasting time is a skill I have acquired. Jen had mentioned to me over the weekend that there are new stuff on Agent Provocateur's website. After the two dark and mysterious collections by the designer 'Witches' and 'Pirates' (which I absolutely loved), comes Agent Provocateur's new collection 'Virgins'.

The collection is light and fresh for spring. It was snowing here in Cork today, so spring seems miles and miles away. The line ranges from off whites and cream lace corsets, to lime green and electric blue silk slips. I adore the new color additions of the holdups. I own a pair of red ones, but now they have irresistible cobalt and fuscia ones that look very very delicious.

I went mad last week with the spending.. and I realise now that maybe it's time for me to stop. I will stop for a little while anyway to ease my guilt. I got lots of stuff I don't really need from Victoria's Secret, so I don't think I'll be buying anything from Agent Provocateur anytime soon.

I love the photo shoots at Agent Provocateur. They really do capture the theme of the collection. I have a poster of the 'Witches' collection hanging on my wall, and I find something new in it every time I take a close look at it (I think I got it in one of the POP magazines..). I really like the 'Virgin' photos too.. especially that hunky male model. nom nom nom.

xx-LJ

a deeper shade of blue...

I went on an adventure to Liverpool last weekend with my good friend Leonora and some of her friends from architecture school. It was absolutely fantastic! We ate good food, we drank a lot of drinks, we danced the night away in our heels and teetered home to bed... and started it all again... We stopped off at the Tate Liverpool (I saw Salvador Dali's lobster phone!!), Le Corbuisier exhibition and a digital media exhibition called DingDong. All in all, it was a pretty awesome weekend. I would like to apologize to the Scouzers who had to deal with my over-enthusiasm for their accents and general wonderful scouzer-ness.
Anyway, I had a minor spending spree in a vintage shop called Flashbacks boutique. I was talking to one of the lovely ladies who runs the place and she was so lovely. The place was an Aladdin's cave of vintage pieces. I could have filled a wardrobe and then some with the things i wanted to buy. I bought a whole lotta blue clothes (a colour i never really wear but it will be added to my clothing colour pallette).
Dress: Flashbacks, Shoes: Topshop, Glasses: Courtesy of my friend leonoraJacket: FlashbacksSkirt: Flashbacks

My friends and I have been talking a lot about what we are going to do when we graduate (I'm due to graduate and hit the real world in May) and we were saying wouldn't it be great if someone would just pull the puppet strings and tell us what to do with our lives.. But i suppose that isn't always possible. At least I know I'll be happy moving to Liverpool.
Wishing everyone a lovely week,
Peace out,Fi xx

Damn you B block.

Apologies for the lack of posting over the weekend, but the internet broke Friday evening. I'm currently writing this from a cold basement of another building near by. The problem will hopefully get fixed tomorrow, and posting will resume to normal.

AAAAAAAAH I'M GOING CRAZY.
My toes are cold.


xx- LJ

Un petit rant..

Bleurgh.

Is anyone else sick of seeing celebrities in fashion campaigns?

...Katie Holmes for Miu Miu, Victoria Beckham for Armani, Rihanna for Gucci, Madonna for Louis Vuitton, and the list goes on..

What about all the poor lovely models out there? Surely they must know how to pose and take fashion forward photos more than these celebs. I mean granted, some of these ads are fine. I like the Marion Cotillard one for Dior, as well as the emergance of old skool supermodels such as Naomi Campbell for YSL and Claudia Schiffer for Dolce and Gabanna and Dior.

I don't know if it's just me who thinks this but I wasn't the biggest fan of the way the ads turned out for the people I mentioned in the beginning. I didn't think the photos particularly grabbed my attention in any way, or made the garnments look extra special.

Point is.. I'd like to see new upcoming talented supermodels as opposed to random celebs in my magazines.


Rant is over.
Fin.

I don't like this one bit.

xx-LJ

and the winner is...

SOS girls are very good at a number of things. these include dressing ourselves, dressing other people, dancing, eating indian food and procrastinating. most importantly, procrastinating. instead of studying, i have been looking at all the different golden globes dresses. and i really liked some of them. as LJ pointed out, a lot of the dresses were a bit "bla", but some dresses really stood out and i would be very happy to borrow them. ok so dress no 1 i like is Maggie's. the girls at go fug yourself were not 100% about it... but i love it. i really like the one-shoulder and the zip on the opposite side, the pattern is a lovely take on leopard print

i'm also feeling ginnifer goodwin's LBD, the sleeves and ruffles make the simple dress make a bit more of a statement.

i keep looking at heidi's dress and initially i was like "woah, heidi, looks like something micheal kors and nina garcia hated from project runway". but then i looked again. and it grows more and more on me. well done ms. klum, the 80s are back.

molly sims' maxi dress is very fresh, maybe not perfect for irish weather, but the colours and pattern are very vibrant.

kate winslet just looks lovely, as per.

and rumer willis. i can't decide if i like her or not. but i do like this dress. the cut is lovely, the colour suits her and for once she doesn't look so much like bruce willis in a dress. props to her.

now back to procrastinating... label lusting over things i can't afford and dancing my days away.

peace out, fi xx

Cut it out..

Flipping through Elle on the airplane back to Cork, I was reminded by the brilliance of YSL that has skipped my mind for a while..

The cage shoes. They are my new obsession. I'm sitting here thinking of all the ways I could wear them, what I could wear them with, and how stunning they would look on my size 39 (UK 6) feet. ehem.


There also come in gold, which is shown in the ad campaign, and that pair has a crystal encrusted heel. I hope I'm not imagining the crystal part, because I can't find a photo online. Just the sight of these lovely babies makes me want to melt. I personally prefer the patent black pair, but the golden pair is also lovely and a bit softer than this one.

I got my first pair of YSL boots last November and I invested in these tributes ankle boots withthe blue sole and interior. To tell you the truth, I have only worn them once. I wore them one time in town, when it was raining and I was trying to powerwalk on cobblestone. Not very pleasant, but the boots were still orgasmic. Wearing them only one time is a bit unfair on the shoes. I might need to write them an apology letter.

I was looking through my stuff to see what "cut out" items I had. I unfortunatly did not find any clothes, but I own these 2 pairs of brogues. The pink ones are from Jeffrey Campbell. I got these from a boutique in Boston last March. The black and white tapdance/bowling brogues are from Solea. These have to be one of my favorite pair of flats I own. I should definitly bring these 2 pair of flats with me wherever I go this summer.

The S/S 09 collections have contained a few bit of cut outs. They weren't done in an "in your face" way, but in a delicate classy way. Surely unwanted parts were hidden of atleast distracted by something else in the outfit. I'm loving this cut outs/cage thing, and would totally wear it. The only area of clothing I wouldn't want to have holes in is my tumtums (..the tummy is going to go by the way..this is part of the 2009 plan.). But otherwise, I love the pieces that I found here, and I think each outfit is quite delicious and I would love to own them. Sigh..


One could argue whether these tights are considered cut outs or just massive fishnets. But I'll just consider them cut outs for the context of this post. I wore this outfit in Jazz weekend, and the tights are from asos.com for a fiver.

I recently gave away all of my old jeans, but I would love to create a DIY denim cut out resembling Henry Holland's baggy washed out 90s jeans. I will keep this idea in mind (and will hopefully get it done, unlike the other project ideas I've had in the past..).

Now I'm going to go off to daydream about the cage shoes..

xx-LJ

i have a new crush

don't worry, its nothing serious. in fact it's more of a strange infactuation more than anything.

leigh lezark is just so beautiful and her wardrobe is fabulous. and her dj trio the misshapes are pretty damn cool. i read an article about her, she was holding parties in NY for years in abandoned warehouses and such. she met karl. she has a beautiful boyfriend. i am a little bit jealous and fancying her all at the same time. i am a disaster.

i have been busy ending my winter hibernation and am just back from a bumper funtastic weekend in liverpool (post coming post haste). i miss bloggosphering. peace and love to you all,

Fi xx

3 hours at the salon..

.. and this is my new hair to start off 2009.

that's all.

xx-LJ

Pin me Up, Pin me down

So we were supposed to go to the gym, but instead, I had a nap and Lj looked up videos on 1940's hair do's :) We decided that instead of excercising our legs, we'd excercise our hair instead! So we grabbed a handful of bobbypins, a can of spray, some red lipstick and cast ouselves back to the Roarinig 1940's and the era of the Pin Up girl. Hold onto your stockings ladies ;)



The hair styles arent very clear, but trust me things are rolled and twisted and tucked all over the place!





















The tutorials online make it seem to easy to do..but once you start twisting and rolling it takes a while to get the hang of it! But its so much fun to do, and you can add flowers or headpieces or pretty clips to add a really authentic feel to it.


Why not pin yourself up...its much better than a treadmill :P

xx
Fu