Photos by Heidi Slimane.

A woman who is almost better without clothes. Because me & fashion are on a bit of a break. The "don't buy anything, you are skint" message has crossed into my "be creative with fashion" thinking & so I find myself wearing the same outfits, or a variation with them, just so I am warm enough to go to college or work or wherever. I need more awesome jumpers but for now, I'm bored of it. December magazines were deadly uninspiring too & although I do have a posh Christmas party to go to that doesn't mean I need to buy 50 dresses in different style PLUS a suit because androgyny is like so great. How many proper Christmas parties do people go to?

So instead my brain has been filled with music. Generally (still, I know, change the record, literally) The Smiths. But also We Are Scientists were fucking amazing last night, The Drums were good before everyone knew (I'm a snob ok), Everything Everything were awesome when I saw them a couple of weeks ago. But there are three songs that have been filling my head. So I thought I'd share them with you:

The Smiths - I Won't Share You

Regina Spektor - That Time

Beck - Loser


Likey?

Three months late. But here are my pictures from Paris (plus one of Jack on a tire swing in the French countryside). You can see them all here. They're done on a Diana+ lomo camera that I still haven't got the hang of but am pretty much in love with.

Today:
Listing swear words in English
Trying to get the 2nd verse of I Won't Share You down for tomorrows band practice
Sitting in my coat & scarf in my freezing house trying to write an essay
Listening to Regina Spektor
Everything smells like TCP from old school homemade tattoos of last night (not on me)
Getting really giddy & excited to finally see We Are Scientists again tonight!

What are you doing today?

Yet another window in my house used as an outfit background. There's something very flattering about too much light & slightly softer focus. The reason we have so many weirdly shaped windows in our house is because my dad used to make stained glass & when I was a baby he knocked down our house and built it back up, only keeping the original front, so he put in all these church type round topped windows. I'll put up a photo of the little one between our kitchen & hall one day...

Enough about windows. More about this coat. Jay came into his own discussing coats with the scary gun men in the Army Surplus shop. I say scary gun men because the person who was before us was asking about different types of bullet holders. & it was Rememberence Sunday so there were a lot of "warry" people around anyway. Not my natural habitat in over the knee socks & dress printed with pin up girls. But after one of the scary gun men brought out this second hand coat with lovely hood & cotton & waterproof lining & a string around the waist for a svelte silhouette (as my brother would say) I was hooked. After hanging it out to air (ie, stop smelling like wetness) for a couple of days I can finally wear it. Well happy.

Also the amazingly inspiring Jazzy Elizabeth over at hivennn has done an interview with me about SWEAT & general other things. It's a lovely blog that you should visit anyway but you can read my interview here.

Can I just say hello & thank you to all the new followers & how mathmatically lovely it is that I reached 111 followers so close to 11/11 or at least over Rememberence Sunday when we had the two minutes silence at 11.11. How perfect it would've been to be 11/11/11.

Can't wait.

Enough politics. Enough being told by teachers to "sneak" into uni this year before the fees go up, rather than fight against it for everyone. Onto coats. Parkas to be specific. I can no longer battle against the elements with a flimsy umbrella whilst trying at the same time to hold my skirt down & preserve my dignity. I want a proper coat, with a hood & waterproof exterior.

For anyone that knows me this is a pretty big step as I have a lifelong aversion to practical clothing. Until about 13 I refused to wear any coat at all, instead seeing through winter with layers of vests/t-shirts, with a hoody, scarf & some gloves. The first coat was a revelation, then came the "shoe issue" of every time it rained. Mainly the fact that I insisted on wearing my converse until they literally fell off my feet. So a couple of years ago when I tried on & bought my very first pair of Doctor Martens (after the initial pain of wearing them in, which I am now an expert in!) I stamped through those puddles, I strode through the mud on impromptu country walks & I marched through the ice & snow.

And now finally at the age of 18 I think I am ready for a raincoat that I will actually wear. So this weekend, unfortunately I will not be buying one of the Miu Miu, D&G or Urban Outfitter ones above but I'll be trawling the charity shops with Jay, the expert in practical second hand clothes buying (he exists in a uniform pretty much as if he were in the army, min using the combats for black jeans & the white t-shirt for a black one displaying some other J Rock band I have never heard of).

Wish me luck!

Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

'Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.
Link.

From what I know, a few of my friends made it into Millbank. At least one was arrested but I haven't heard anything since. Please sign this petition to support them (obviously, only if you agree). The others I have heard from, most home already had a good day of peaceful protest, against being kettled by the police & barricaded in at Parliament Square. They have proven that the only language mass media understand is violence & destruction, it is headline news, it is around the world, it isn't just 52,000 slightly angry people. It's 52,000 very angry people. Let's remember that whatever we think about those who broke into Millbank (& breaking in seems like a strong word see here) that we should be united against the government not each other.

Edit: 0.0615384615% got arrested. Interesting maths considering the coverage.

Nick Clegg, we know you
You're a fucking Tory too!

Here is a song & some devil horns for the thousands of people demonstrating against education cuts in London today. I would be there but I have physics & mixed feelings (another band name?). Mixed feelings because I feel like there are bigger issues than university fees, like the widening in the gap between rich & poor or the taking away of funding that goes directly to students (EMA) in favor of 'premiums' that are distributed evenly throughout the school system regardless of area or pupil diversity.

But hey. Here's something for everyone: TUMBLEWEED. A zine created by the wonderfully talented Samantha of Scribbles, Ink, and Thrown Out Pages. The cover alone is stunning & I'm sure the interior will not let us down. Not that I'm bias because my work is in it or anything...

Oh & I know I have posted this jumper & this skirt before but as I am a real person (who sold a lot of her clothes at the beginning of the year) I wear the same things more than once. This is the first time though, that I have worn them together, in my hall.

So there.