It's pretty much officially Autumn, so it's time to bust out the warm colours & woollen trousers! I think Autumn is my favorite season, because you still get some left over sun which is all but non existant in Winter, but you can start layering, get the tights out & of course, the cashmere. I can't remember if I've blogged this top before either. I wanted a broderie anglaise top but this was the only one I could find with it all over, luckily whilst umming about the price it went into the sale & finding the white one absent in the Bristol Urban Outfitters got this peach one instead. It's actually much nicer & a colour I probably would've avoided otherwise. Getting dressed the other morning I wanted to wear these trousers & saw how perfect these colours were together, I like it. Plus peplum. Hmm. What are you getting out now it's turned colder?

Skirts left - right: Kookai Leather Mini Skirt, Mango Metallic Jacquard Umbrella Skirt, Hobbs Abingdon Skirt

So instead of claiming that the fashion trend police have minions in my head every time something I've been coveting for a while becomes a *trend* I'm going to try & make a conscious effort to blog everything first. Lately I've been really wanting A-Line skirts in heavy fabrics. Partly from a practicality angle of not liking that every time there's the tiniest bit of wind I flash the entire world in most of the skirts & dresses I own that are loose & made of light fabrics (& too short, but that's a whole other issue). Also though because I really love the polished vibe of an A-Line. It feels older in a kind of responsible way.

When I tried to look for high street version in brocade, tweed & leather there wasn't much around. Obviously tweed because of like office wear, but the designers are still way ahead on the side of heavily embroidered or flocked A-lines & the perfect leather one I'm sure is just waiting around the corner...

*Awkward smile*

This is my new favorite dress. Why? Because it's covered in concerned looking octopi. Obviously. It's also the most perfectly shaped tent dress I've ever come across, I've already taken a pattern from it to make in this crazy eye fabric I got from Ikea. I tend to shy away from sleeveless things sometimes but honestly this dress makes everything light & fluffy so you don't really care. Plus it's silk, so my "only by natural fabrics" bent isn't broken.

It's from The Rodnik Band via Asos, which is a brand designed by Philip Colbert. He makes pretty insane stuff, like a naked dress, or a pint of beer dress. He presents it like the brand is a band & is heavily inspired by Pop Art. HOLY SHIT I've just seen a maxi Lobster print dress by them on Asos for £45! Also my dress seems to be back at full price even though I got it on sale, major score. Sorry... I'm off to buy shit.

So this is how my jewellery is now displayed. I spent last week painting two frames white, finding chicken wire/hutch mesh in gardening shops & searching everywhere for tiny S hooks before settling on eBay. About six months ago I made a jewellery tree, like this but sparser & made of actual branches that I wrapped with plaster of paris & painted black. That kept falling over & didn't accomodate my long necklaces so was pretty much a fail. This on the other hand means I can actually see anything. It also reminds me how much shit I used to buy on etsy. I think some clearing out is called for so I can replace it with stuff I actually want to wear. How do you display your jewellery? I'm always amazed by people who can like "re-accessorise" everyday with every outfit. I'm more of a wear-forever-or-until-you-change kind of girl, which begs the question, why do I have so much jewellery? Also the two necklaces that I wear the most, my crystal bullet & my reindeer are not on this. Silly, silly.

My mum found these old badges the other day (at the top). I met Emily the other day when she was up in Bristol & talking about my mum I sometimes forget how awesome she is, like what she does & what kind of wisdom she's imparted onto me. With the student season coming up at work, it's just nice to be reminded that these jumped up children who think they're better than me because they're on the other side of the desk will never be as articulate, informed or observant as she has taught me to be. But anyway, how frickin cool are they? I love "The Fight Goes On" so perfect. Now I just need a jacket to pin them onto. My new leather one is just too delicate right now. I'm thinking a blazer or a denim jacket. I feel like I'd have to do it all the way though like this piece of awesomeness. Time to start badge collecting!

Yay Sunday post

So it's all over. & what a fucking deflated note to end on when it's basically been a month or more of beautiful amazingness that I never thought we were even capable of hosting. As soon as the Opening Ceremony started all my "I'm not sure about this" was gone. I squealed when Arctic Monkeys came on (luckily I hadn't been on the internet that day & it was a genuine surprise!) & their rendition of Come Together was just... wow. I was blown away, literally. It was a total surprise.

I on holiday for the first week but had the second off work & literally had it on 24/7 when I was at home. It was gripping. As it always was. But somehow more so when you saw everything working & that it was in London & all the different outfits done by Stella McCartney for the medal givers & athletes. It was endlessly entertaining.

Then the closing ceremony happened. I honestly had to keep biting on my blanket it was so embarrassing. I mean George Michael? Ok, if he sings one song & it's one that everyone knows. But not 3. & not unknown ones. That was basically the beginning of the end of the front of pride for me. The Paralympics opening ceremony did little to redeem it, minus the emphasis on Physics & also the Human Rights, which the Tories want to get rid of. & have in fact just promoted one of the most outspoken Conservatives on that front. It was like Danny Boyle's whisper was still echoing around. But it wasn't the same.

& last night after being sick a couple of times I went to bed & just watched the closing ceremony this morning. Sorry not the Paralympics closing ceremony, actually just a coldplay gig. I mean are you fucking kidding me? I know they're meant to be one of the biggest bands in the world but I have literally never met anyone who likes them, or will admit to liking them. & to pin a whole three hour ceremony that's meant to symbolise all that is great about Britain on them is like only showing the Judo coverage from the olympics & nothing else. Like we've never produced any other decent bands. 

To re-alliterate this feeling Rhianna & Jay Z (AKA Chris Martin's mates) performed as well. A song that is about Roc Nation, or at least New York/ the music business. Not the world or even sport. It's not a triumphant song. Like I'm sorry. I fucking love both of them, in almost any other context I would be so hyped to see them even with Jay Z mucking up his verses. But this is to celebrate British achievement. It's a showcase of us to the world, that we have more than handled. With ratios to size we obliterated every other country at the games & we have a rich musical culture (as showcased in the Olympic Opening Ceremony, sort of) we don't need to draft in American's to do the job. Hell no.

But this isn't even the worse thing I've seen today. David Cameron talking about triumph & overcoming adversity when it comes to disability, that "if children are like his" oh man, so many fucking quotes that make me scream mildly over most of his speech. Here's the thing. Labour brought the games to London & did so by saying it would inspire a new generation to take up sport. Labour & specifically Gordon Brown poured money into sport so that we could be the best we could be. Labour invested £2.4bn into school sport raising the participation level to 90%. 

The conservatives have cut funding to sport by £22bn at least since the first budget, mainly from schools but also from councils that provide sports facilities. School children participating in 2 hours of sport has fallen to 25% after the waves of cuts. As much anger as we should legitimately direct at Atos, the company given £100 million a year to take as many people as possible off incapacity benefits, it's the government, the conservative coalition who are driving this. 1100 people on incapacity benefit who were deemed fit for work later died. This government doesn't believe that disabled people should be granted enough money to live a decent life. The money that meant many paralympians could be at the games at all.

And finally going back to the below par-ness of the closing ceremonies & Paralympic opening ceremony I would like to point the finger squarely at Kim Gavin, the director of all three. This man made his name producing Take That's shows. Take That who include Gary Barlow. Gary Barlow who is a supporter of the conservative party, campaigned for them & got a distinctly mute opinion from one David Cameron when asks to compare his moral objection to Jimmy Carr over his old chum Gary Barlow who had done exactly the same thing.

THIS IS NOT OK WITH ME.

(photo credit: Francis Baker and Ros Barnett via Left.write.center. Stats from this article)

I've been on a bit of a William Morris trip recently. It started with the discovery of a stash of art books when we were cleaning out/moving around our house including two steller ones on him. Then I needed to make a new laptop case & was drawn to this gorgeous William Morris esque floral fabric that is hella bright, but in the same spirit. Then last week I had four days off & mum was away so I (with the help of some very lovely people) cleaned out all the crap from her bedroom, moved the ridiculously heavy furniture around & took some stuff to the tip. Now we're thinking about decoration & I had a notional idea to plaster William Morris wallpaper on a "feature wall" but she wants just a colour. Shame.

Now I'm thinking, what about my room? It would make a beautiful backdrop to my lovely clothes. Or even the back wall of my room that is currently bare waiting for me to frame an arctic monkeys poster. It would look fucking awesome. & for some unknown reason £110 for two rolls of wallpaper to do it sounds perfectly reasonable. Especially since my departure from this house is imminent (well, just as soon as I find that magical job or career path that will make me happy & fulfilled for the rest of my life) unless I really want to live with my mum forever, or raise my own family here. & then really some wallpaper turns into a whole other massive question. But the answer, incase you needed to know, is that I would like either Pimpernel in Privet & Slate or Golden Lily in Green & Red.