So this is going to sound really stupid, but basically I saw almost this exact print on someone somewhere to do with the Spring 2012 shows that I've been avidly picking over. But now I can't find which one it was. Maybe it was my warped takeaway from the Dolce & Gabbana show whilst everyone else was looking at the pasta earrings. Or perhaps it was my interpretation of the Dries Van Noten lanscape black and white prints. Anyway, if anyone could help me out & prove that I am not completely mad that would be lovely.

Whatever the inspiration I am very happy I pressed bid on eBay & this shirt found it's way to me at almost the exact moment I discovered trousers, & just 10 months after creepers entered my life. Now I can dress like a very fashion conscious mod. Or Audrey Hepburn (the trousers) or a painter with the sickest painting shirt ever. Something about these black trousers makes me want to dress up as other people. Like when I tried them on wearing a black t-shirt, in my head I looked like Christina Ricci in Pan Am, all beatnik & monochrome. Maybe it's just trying to get away from the black trousers of mandatory school uniform...

On Sunday I dragged J along to a vintage fashion fair in Bath, which turned out to be the wrong vintage fashion fair rather than the lovely one. So we wasted £5 on entry, but I got a lovely silk dressing gown with holes in it for £10 which I am going to turn into a dress or a skirt... I was also on the hunt for the perfect black t-shirt because THE perfect black t-shirt that I own has developed a strange smell after I lost it for about a year. It wasn't me, I promise. Some stink fairies have infested it.

In the end good old H&M answered my prayers, but on the way we also saw a sign in Monsoon for 50% of everything! Now before you rush to Monsoon that is actually a big fat fucking lie. It was only half off sale items. So after trying loads on, which J saying everything looked lovely & generally being unhelpfully nice, I realised that whilst I would consider paying £23 for a particularly nicely coloured POLYESTER dress, I would not pay £46. No. No. No. But I was surprised how good Monsoon's stuff is actually as I always dismiss them as being a bit mumsey or weddingy. Although they did birth the epic coatigan which stands for at least something.

Anyway long story short, I landed on this yellow skirt that was in the sale. Probably all those Spring/Summer shows filtering into my subconscious making me feel that yellow is a posibility for a pale ginger person. & it is! Evidently. Although only away from my face. Yes. It also has a nice blue zip on the back. Which falls down constantly. Nothing a hook & eye can't fix though... & my New Year's Resolution remains unbroken as J paid for it because I bought lunch. 

Nice.

So there have been a few comments about the stuff behind me in recent outfit photos, so today after spending a little time adding more to my board I thought I'd explain what's there.

Photo 2:

Top left, ink blot I did & have been getting pretty obsessed with, done a few where different colours interact & create new ones. I bought a dropper from boots, well cool. Top right, jewellery by Risa Tai. Epicness. Bottom left, when I was as secondary school we did this "females in physics" day out to Bristol University to talk to loads of girls who were doing physics. One of the talks culminated in a guy putting a CD in a microwave so I asked if I could have it. It's been on & off of my bedroom walls since... Bottom middle, Levi advert with amazing eye make up that I keep meaning to try. Bottom right, a list of quotes from rejection e-mail/letters I've got recently that I'm thinking of turning into embroideries.

Photo 3:

Embroidery I did a while back using french knot stitch because it looks like stitches gone wrong & I really like that. The words are lyrics from one of my favorite Scroobius Pip VS Dan Le Sac songs Waiting For the Beat to Kick In. It's also a quote from the film Say Anything... but the song itself is full of movie references. & wherever it originates from I wish I was a level headed enough individual to think this before lashing out. Especially (lately) at stupid students ruining my good job & lovely Bristol. Oh & my blue peter badge! I got it for sending them a cookie recipe, which I think is pretty sweet.

Photo 4:

Bottom left, cards from the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin that I went to this summer. Such an amazing building as well as the exhibitions. The temporary one when I was there was on a shoe factory and photos taken for a guide on how to choose the right shoes. It sounds boring but was proof at just how much good design can improve any subject matter. Top left, playing card behind ampersand... I love ampersands. I'm actually getting one as my next tattoo, yay! Top left middle, squares of face from a textile project I did a couple of years ago, my friend found it creepy that I had like 20 photocopies of her face so she pinned them up. Waaaay less creepy. Bottom middle, photo of my brother, sister & cousin dressed up for what I thought was halloween but is actually just my brother dressed up as a wizard on a normal day. Bottom right, birthday card & postcard by Mark Titchner my mum brought back from the Tate one time. I love his work & was pissed to miss all the metal exhibitions they had in the black country a couple of months back. Top middle right, cutting from the recent Monki magazine. Top right, packaging from some tape I got in the Habitat closing down sale. It was so depressing, RIP Habitat's awesome tape (& other things).

Was that at all interesting? Probably not. I just find it interesting snooping & seeing what other people decide to keep or display so... yeah. Oh & for the other things behind me in the photos. The High Street sign I stole from Portsmouth & had to crouch in the middle of the road to get & then prize from a piece of disintegrating wood. & the screen print is of the famous Bristol cranes & I got at an art gallery in Bedminster. 

Pretty sweet.

Getting back into the swing of this blogging thing. This is another timed post because I am at work right now, serving books to people, shifting books around & generally getting frustrated at books. Yay! This is what I wore today to do that. I wrote before about my issues with jeans. That sounds bigger than it is. Basically I look around & most of the people you see in trousers have put them on because they don't want to think about their clothes for the rest of the day. My brain doesn't really work that way. So they just didn't really appeal to me. Plus they hit you at like your widest part, which just isn't flattering now is it.

So I have found a compromise: trousers. All the comfort of jeans, with a little more thought & uhr, interest? Plus these are orange & wooly which makes them pretty darn fantastic in my book. I admit I broke my New Year's Resolution for them & another pair that I shall blog later this week but... come on. I only own two pair of trousers, one of which are Disco Pants. Which most people think are leggings. They have fastenings. Ergo, they are trousers, ok? Ok. So it's ok right? Still looking for the perfect teal (this is teal in my book, there seems to be some confusion) t-shirt to accompany them though. Any recommendations?

Lovely.

These colours together have made me quite happy today. Landing happily accidentally together on the sofa of "discarded clothes from mornings past" next to my bed. Blue sky through a closed window that's covered in raindrops? Must be autumn. My favorite season. I love winter too. Maybe it's the pale thing. Or the fact that generally I tend towards hot than cold & that paleness lends itself to red cheeks the moment I'm a tiny bit above average temperature. Anyway, I'm very happy (unlike the rest of the UK) to see the back of that unseasonal heat spell & get back down to the nitty gritty of autumn winter clothing. Fingers crossed for cold but sunny days with only an inkling of wind.

I've only just got round to returning comments so I'm sorry for the delay. I time posts on my days off & then forget to keep track of it all myself. Been lounging around today having had my frolicking in the country side (even if it's raining) plans defeated by laziness. Thinking of embroidering quotes from all the rejection letters I've been getting lately, as some sort of channelling of the lack of actual things I am able to do. Oh woe is me.

What's your favorite season?

So you already know I have a weakness for neon, but when I finally found the source of some neon art that's been floating around tumblr & the internet for a while, I felt a need to blog it! Also, a little gif-ing never hurt anyone. Can gif be used as a verb? To gif. Anyway, enough of the grammar thought, these are by Kelly Mark, who is generally awesome. & has a whole bit of her website dedicated to loyal fans who have pieces of her extraordinarily complicated work etched into their skin. Check it out.

Also just to add a little update to say RIP Steve Jobs. I am an avid apple fan & I lived off hand-me-downs from my brother until I got my very own. We all knew something was wrong though, when he released a square iPhone. Lets just hope Tim Cook has at least half of the enthusiasm & vision to carry on what is, lets face it, all thanks to Steve Jobs.