White coats. A strange obsession for the month of June. It feels like we've had our summer though. It all started with Zara's range of white coats. The Chanel esque broderie anglaise/lace one with the pointless studded collar that made it not worth £100+, the fabric one etc etc. Then I saw the above picture of Elisabeth Olsen on Olsens Anonymous (I don't know if that's embarrassing, but the fact that their money is endless & they buy clothes I want & put them together in insane ways makes me keep going back). 

Basically the world stopped & when I clicked the link to the Philosophy Di Alberta Ferretti original (just to see, just to see how much, just to see) but the link didn't work I almost cried. That is sad as fuck but I don't care. I couldn't even have bought it but I just wanted to know it was possible to click a button & have it arrive in my life. Just to know it could've been that easy (minus the funds obviously). But it didn't work. & neither did a quick google. So fuck it, the dreams over, I'm heading to eBay instead.

Hello!

How the hell are you? THREE WEEKS! I don't even have any proper excuses. I haven't been busier than usual, I've just been sort of...absent. Mentally & blogally. Been going through that "What the fuck am I doing with my life?" circle but sort of deeper than usual & the fact that time keeps continuing isn't a great help. I need that stop watch thing from that kids tv programme really. Or to quit my job without that having any consequences. Neither of which are possible. But I have finally made myself take some photos & think about posts. Because I still enjoy doing this! Getting comments & e-mails from lovely people who like the blog helps a lot & I promise if it ever got to the point where it was forced I would stop. Pinky swear.

Phew. Well minus learning how to make video gifs I have been solidly reading just non-fiction for about 2 months now. With a slight deviation in the form of The Unbearable Lightness of Being when I was in Greece. & it's making me feel like proper clever. My primary school teacher would have been so proud, they always complained at parents evening how I only read fiction. Although I'm sure drugs, feminism & fucked up famous people probably wasn't what she had in mind. 

But honestly guys this contains like 4 of the best books (I only just started Just Kids when Girls to the Front arrived & I got distracted, & the Isabella Blow biog wasn't my favourite) I've ever read in my entire life. Bitch is probably the hardest to read just because it's so dense but the others are extremely accessible & not dry at all. So I was thinking, does anyone want to do book swaps? Either we exchange lists of books we've read or would like to read & then pick one & post to each other, returning when we're done. Or we just pick the best book we've read recently & post that instead (checking that the other person hasn't already read it). The second one appeals to me more because it would push people out of their comfort zones more. I think postage would be about 2-3 2nd class stamps each way.

 Who's in?

I literally cannot give my blood away. I've had three appointments now that have been cancelled & I turned up a week early last Monday. Today, finally, there it was. I ticked my boxes & settled down with Private Eye to wait. AN HOUR LATER I was called into a little box to answer questions about my yes ticks (tattoos, childhood fractured skull, dentists & doctors) & then the guy disappeared & was replaced with a woman who asked me some more questions about my recent tooth escapades. Then she told me because it was temporary treatment & hadn't been completed I couldn't give blood. I did the walk of shame to leave & then the car park wouldn't even take my money! Is it just me? The only stuff about teeth says you're fine after seven days & it's been nine since I had treatment. Why couldn't they have told me at the beginning when I handed over my form, rather than after an hour of waiting after I'd arrived promptly at the time of my booked appointment. Anyway, I've complained. & I don't even want to give blood anymore. It's too much hassle to do something that I thought they wanted me too!

Anyway I don't tend to post just "I got this in H&M" posts but here it is, because this top is awesome & I want to replicate it in lots of pretty fabrics since it's just a rectangle with two seams. Oh & sorry on the tights front, these photos were taken a week or so ago when it wasn't so absolutely blisteringly hot. Which it is now. So I'm going out onto my balcony to read Drugs: without the hot air by the magnificent David Nutt, remember him?

Moody face! Ah ha. Sorry, COS clothes are hard to make look good in pictures right? Online this dress looks nice simple, elegant perhaps. & I like to think it does in real life, but ask me to pose in a dress with pockets & I cannot be held responsible for my hands. Sorry. Talking of COS can I really justify spending £65 (that's over a days worth of pay) on a sheer cardigan made out of viscose & polymide? Put like that, maybe I'll just persevere with eBay or try my luck with this Forever 21 lookalike for £17. But it's just not the same dammit!

THE SUN has come out. How do all these people so easily whip of the tights & have all these floaty summer dresses at their fingertips? With all this heavily moisturised skin ready to expose? Being of the pale & easily over heated variety of human summer is not my natural friend but I tend to blossom into it. Eventually. Might need a bit of thought though, remembering how the fuck to dress without thinking about having to wear black tights.

Wore this to work last week because I was just damn tired on the grey skys & black clothes. I was also wearing a bright green coat which I hope perked up at least a few peoples days. Plus the copy of Strangest Man signed by Graham Farmelo (the author) & Peter Higgs of the Higgs Boson! Well chuffed. Also got my equation on his twitter in amazement that anyone would love the Dirac equation enough to etch it onto their arm forever. Apologies for the art teacher hair, after work & excitement my bun was a little out of control.

Last week was pretty mammouth in terms of STUFF HAPPENING so here's a neat bullet point list to catch up on:

• Monday I went to the countryside. I don't think anything else exciting happend.
• Tuesday my mum got made an Alderman. There's an article here. With a picture of her (2nd photo) & her tiny little medal that isn't even on a silk ribbon. Did also almost spit in Barbara Wank's face after she made a speech about women in politics, the exact group she diminishes every time you talk to her about equality.
• Tuesday (again) went to a feminist debate at the Watershed where I had to be marched out by my mum at the end before I punched someone. I was so angry I was shaking. Healthy, no. If you scroll down I wrote a massive rant about it. Thinking of starting my own feminist group that doesn't just have the kind of people that would join a feminist group. Impossible.
• Wednesday went to a talk by Graham Farmelo & Peter Higgs, where I sat next to (& possibly offended by not recognising) a famous physicist in the front row, got my photo taken by Graham Farmelo (because of my tat) & got my book signed by him & Mr Higgs. *!* SCIENCE *!*
• Thursday went to New Look press day, but more importantly Bauhaus exhibition at the Barbican. It has loads of stuff that wasn't at the Bauhaus Archiv which was fascinating & the timeline from creation to closure was well done (including some hypnotising fonts & tapestries along the way). The only disappointment was the gift shop where there were limited posters & the nice tights were £48!
• Friday was uneventful until I got a massive shooting pain through my tooth & then spent the whole evening on the phone to NHS Direct who promised to call me back & didn't until 5.30 the next morning. Now I'm waiting on a follow up appointment. Oh joy.

Phew, how was your week?

So I was invited to a press day at New Look to preview the A/W collection & I'm feeling a bit guilty about it. Mainly because I never started a blog to get press invites & go to these things. I don't really fit in scrabbling around for care labels in a showroom with people eating ice cream. But I am intrigued by how these things work at all so I thought I'd go along & see how it goes. I won't make a habit of it, mainly because Susie Bubble does these things better than anyone else & most companies are evil. Unlike New Look who was founded in Taunton, basically just up the road from Bristol where I live. Which is pretty cool.

The main inspiration was evidently Alexander McQueen's triumphant return to London with McQ & a new shop opening. There was a rack of houndstooth and check in red and black. Along with more houndstooth the likes of which we've already seen filtered into H&M etc. The most exciting aspect of this for me though was the knitwear. Though I'd give the jumpers knitted with crosses a wide berth, there were many heavy knits and bright colours to keep the more discerning entertained. Unfortunately the only pieces that already had care labels were acrylic & the lady couldn't answer my questions about what the jumpers were actually made of, so I reserve my judgement until then.

Aside from this there was a rack of more romantic inspired pieces, notes of Chanel with a whole load of white and cream, but the floral prints were lovely & I spotted a selection of leather through the racks. Again, she couldn't tell me if it was fake or otherwise, but the cut out dress above was a nice spin on the now classic skater dress silhouette & it definitely on my mental wish list to look out for towards the end of summer.

All in all, like a trip to New Look, there were a small selection of pieces that really caught my eye, but there was a lot that didn't really hit the spot. I didn't hang around the accessories too long because the shoes don't go up to my size & although there was some interesting jewellery - all very hardwarey, chain linked rings, studs etc - didn't totally tickle my fancy. But I guess I'm not really their target customer. I think the painted jeans & bright platforms will find oodles of admirers and I think for New Look themselves it's a pretty tight season.