"Hello Daddy, hello Mum,

I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb.

Hello world I'm your wild girl,

I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb."

Sorry I couldn't resist a bit of Runaways. I actually finally got round to watching the film a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't sure about it. I think it was good if you didn't know about the band before, but having discovered them a couple of years back & read Cherie Currie's Neon Angel I think it was a pretty glossy portrayal. 

Anywho... I never really understood Esprit as a shop. It used to be limited to the rest of Europe & then one appeared in Cabot Circus in Bristol. It's always empty & I don't really know anyone who shops there, but they can afford to hire Gisele & Erin Wasson? I always thought it must be drug money. Turns out they're actually part of the La Redoute family so I guess the money's spread about. However, I'll go anywhere for a good print & when looking up for a cover up before I went to France in August I spotted this in the sale. Silk & cotton? Perfect. Not sure about the mandarin collar which makes it harder to wear, but the cherries are worth it!

PLUS I know in my hearts on hearts it's cheesy & bad but FUCK Kreayshawn's new album is awesome. Listening to this song on repeat, getting sideways looks whilst singing along to lyrics about burning/stabbing/shooting stuff. Anyway, listen. Promise it'll never leave your head. In the best of ways.

So I've had a Saturday job since the summer after my GCSE's, basically just over 4 years. This means that I miss out on a lot of shit. Mainly I take Saturday's off for holidays or protests & that's about it. Now I work four days a week & my first day off is Sunday it's kind of sad when everything is closed. You'd think in 2012 we'd have got everything open 7 days a week. But no. Charity shops? No. Post office? No. Bank? No. So I generally spend the day moping around or possibly braving town. But this weekend I had Saturday off! Yay!

So rare was this occasion that me & my mum decided to make the most of it & seek out some quality charity shop stalking ground. Basically I find if you look for the poshos that's where you get the best stuff because it's good quality & barely picked over. So we headed out to the Costwolds, Tetbury & Cirencester to be exact. Tetbury is where Prince Charles lives & as well as having one of the best countryside hospitals (luckily we didn't have to visit it) it also has a whole street of antique shops. Seriously. It also had some amazing charity shops, & a lovely bookshop simply called "Old Books" where I got this Faber & Faber copy of Ariel (not so old) & this amazing anthology/history/encyclopaedia of Knickers! I'm not too big on history but underwear's history intertwines so much with that of women & feminism, plus it has some beautiful pictures & the author is a keen collector so she keeps off handedly mentioning this perfect pair of Biba french lace knickers she has etc... It's basically amazing.

Then in Cirencester we found an awesome upholstery fabric shop that has like discount "designer" fabrics. I got an offcut of this epic silver fake leather (I know, but trust me) plus some sort of starburst flocked fabric. I'm thinking A-Line skirts in the style of my post below, hold on for follow up photos. Cirencester was a little rubbish to be honest. There was a really nice little bookshop & one of those "gift" shops that actually had unique stuff. But it was their Oxfam bookshop (as it so often is) that threw up this little jem of a Penguin Classic. I'm developing a little collection of these along with some I picked up in bookbarn a year odd ago. Actually one of those is my tumblr background. I might have to change it to this. Because it's just so fucking amazing. Plus the illustrations inside are beautiful! I also want to print them onto fabric but feel like that would have some major copyright issues...

How was your weekend?

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