old hollywood

If all goes according to plan, at the time this posts I should be presenting on my dissertation topic, and answering such delightful questions as "how would you define public space?" Given that I can't even think of a title for this post at the moment, it promises to be a good time.

Anyway, more pictures from last weekend in Bonn. Sigh, life was so peaceful then... mostly because I was procrastinating. This outfit is mostly from the same charity shop, and illustrates a point, sort of. I know a lot of people, to streamline their closet, like to determine a colour scheme for themselves, and only buy items that fit into it. I've toyed with this idea, as simplifying is always an attractive concept, but this outfit just shows why it wouldn't work for me. The skirt would have made the cut, since half my wardrobe seems to be red or orange, but the mint ice cream belt? Or the blouse... what colour is that anyway? Wimpy peach? Anaemic salmon? Not one of my go-to colours for sure. But now it's one of my go to blouses. Even anaemic salmon deserves a chance! Although I'll try not to resort to that argument tomorrow maybe....





On a slightly saner note, I love the "Ava Gardner on vacation" way these photos turned out. By the ever-talented Albert, as usual.

skirt, blouse and belt: charity shop, shoes: Fly London, sunglasses: H&M

low-key

I just spent a lovely relaxing weekend in Bonn. It rained a bit, but I didn't mind since I find that rain makes it acceptable to spend most of Saturday in your pyjamas, taking naps at 2 pm and reading. I'm the type who, if I sleep in past 9:30 on the weekend, is then in a black mood for several hours thinking of the wasted time. So napping to the sound of rain pattering against the window was highly unusual and just perfect.

Albert is renting an attic room in a flat, and I love sitting on the sofa looking out at the sky. I've always wanted to live in an attic, it appeals to the Victorian orphan in me, and this one fits the bill, except for some really nasty nudes the landlady saw fit to decorate with. Including an enormous paper maché one right outside the door that is pretty dangerous on night-time fridge-raiding rambles.

Anyway, these pictures were taken after all the napping, when we popped out to the local Beer Garden on the Rhine (I love life in this town). I took my new favourite dress for a spin, although it's not showing to its full potential underneath the sweater. Still, there will be several more occasions to bring it out when the weather heats up.





Photos by Albert

dress and sweater: charity shops, necklace: Les Jumelles, bag: Middlesex University fundraiser, espadrilles: Primark

urban beach

Okay, this outfit only goes to prove two things: I should iron occasionally, and I should not try to take pictures at 1 pm. But anyway, it doesn't much matter, because this is only what I wore to the beach! Now, London, being on a river rather than the ocean, is not exactly famed for its beaches. But in recent years, there's been a trend within Europe towards "urban beaches;" that is, cities that don't have them, fake them. In the case of London, this essentially means a large sandbox sitting next to the Thames on Southbank. But who's complaining? It's running in Tandem with the Festival of Britain, which means there are also colourful beach huts, performers, bars, fish and chips wagons, opportunities to sponsor an Albatross...in short, there's lots of fun to be had! A friend of mine from my course is doing her dissertation on urban beaches, which means she gets to spend the summer sitting in the sandbox doing "research." Man...

So, we got off the tube at Embankment and crossed the river


The huts each have an exhibition inside: my favourite one included jars full of sand from many different beaches around the UK, along with some fun trivia about those beaches.


The "beach!"


I know you're not supposed to take pictures of people's children but a) I think that's ridiculous and a sign of the extreme paranoia of our culture and should be fought tooth and nail and b) this isn't a child: she's a fashionista. She also had on awesome red floral sunglasses


I buried my feet, and gazed at the bunting, which, like 95% of bloggers, I am obsessed with at the moment


And generally enjoyed reading my Sunday Observer in the glorious sunshine and occasional sandy wind of London in the summertime!


Pictures of me by Raquel, who I'm currently staying with!

dress and scarf: charity shop, shoes: ancient Victorias, bag: from this event

send in the clowns

So, now that heads have presumably rolled at Google HQ, I'm back to my colourful, gallivanting ways! These pictures were taken in Bonn, and actually, I'm back in Bonn for the weekend, but since my blog doesn't start to pretend to be up-to-date, you won't see evidence of that immediately. : )

I find myself at a rare loss for words, so let's sum this up with circus = awesome, except in Mexico where they kept something like 8 tigers locked up in a cage together all day long, which was not cool. But the Germans have better regulations about these things, so I felt no qualms whatsoever about exploiting the excellent background that set up camp a block from our hotel. Also, be warned, it's about to turn into the summer of the headscarf around here.





Photos by Albert

jeans: Warehouse, blouse: Desigual (gift), headscarf: vintage, bag: hand me down, shoes: Steve Madden via ebay

striking a pose

So... I'm sure all my fellow personal style bloggers have had those days, and those photoshoots. Suddenly your location seems less magical, your outfit unremarkable, and there's a small cluster of Germans watching you curiously and intently from about 10 feet away. Well, maybe the last one has limited application. To cut a long story short, I was feeling shy.

So clearly the only solution was to take Albert's advice when he said "models don't look shy. They don't try and look pleasant for the camera. You should make some crazy model faces." Yesh. So all I'm saying is, don't judge me! On the plus side, I felt way better, and my uninvited audience eventually left, scratching their heads.







Photos by Albert (who couldn't keep a straight face in his own "model poses"). Everything I'm wearing is second hand in one way or another

vitality: of dracula and kippers

I already posted a few pictures from my week in Yorkshire with my dad, but it wouldn't be complete without some shots of Whitby, the nearest town of any size. Whitby has continually frustrated my efforts to take pictures of it down the years... no matter how I try, I can never capture the charm of the place. It's a charm that is equal parts gothic (the ruined abbey atop the cliff, the Dracula connection), and earthy (the accents, the fishermen, the no-nonsense tea and toasted tea-cakes we often have for breakfast at The Singing Kettle).

Since it's impossible (at least with my camera) to capture the panorama, I decided to focus in on some of the details. Above: the bridge at twilight; the Abbey, a seagull eyes a woman intensely while she eats her fish and chips.

Below:
I stand in the graveyard by the Abbey, on top of a cliff that you must climb 199 steps to reach. The sound at the top is invariably "I only got 198... I must have missed one..."


I try, again, to capture the panorama at twilight


Kippers (smoked herrings) are smoked in a pungent hut


The seagulls circle


My dad and I shared the best cheeseplate ever for desert at The Magpie Café... washed down with port!


The beach at low tide


Anyone interested in my Whitby posts from last year (aww, right at the beginning of my blog) can find them here, here, here and here.

coffee rambles

A normal morning in Barcelona consists of me waking up, blearily checking my email, and then sqawking "coffee?" Usually we just go somewhere in the area, but on this particular day we headed into the city centre, to have a little wander around before I got back to essaying. We went to Els Quatre Gats, which used to be a modernist cafe were Picasso and his friends, among others, passed the time. It has been reborn as a tourist trap, but the building is still impressive and an enormous painting by Ramon Casas (this one)hangs inside. Afterwards we went for a long and procrastinating stroll through the streets of the Gothic Quarter. I'm sure anyone who has ever written papers is familiar with how many other things there are to do, outdoors, when you have an encroaching deadline...





dress: Pepe Jeans, sweater: H&M, scarf: gift from a student, necklace: Les Jumelles, shoes: Fly London, bag: Yorkshire Tea

mas que nada

So, (almost) everyone guessed correctly that I was in Germany... though the vote for the Canary Islands was pretty random! Haha. Anyway, I was in Bonn, which is a pretty quiet little city near Cologne, for almost a week, and now I'm back in London, purged of my essays, and trying to figure out what I'm doing with my thesis. THe fun never ends. Nor does the out-of-sequence fun on the blog. ; )

This was just an outfit I wore while essay writing one day in Barcelona. In all my Barcelona pictures it looks like it was sunny, but actually it kept up with the Easter tradition of being pretty chilly, blustery, and occasionally raining. So this was just something comfortable and reasonably warm. You can't be a fashion plate every day, but this is better than nothing.

The location is in Parc Joan Miró, which also appeared, with some explanation in this post. I've got to try to get to the Miró exhibit at the Tate this month!





red jeans: Zara, sweater, Urban Outfitter, shoes: Steve Madden via ebay.

guess where I am?

The food and drink is a big hint!

I just thought I'd drop in and say hi, and sorry for ignoring everyone all week again. I'm going back to England tonight, and the big hand in of papers and course-work (gulp) is tomorrow, so I should be back in action tomorrow sometime. Life has been exceptionally hectic the last week or so, as Albert got a new job and I've been holed up in a hotel, alternately hyper-ventilating over papers, trying to look for apartments in a language I can't speak very well, and, erm, drinking beer. I guess it hasn't been all bad!

Thank you all so much for your comments and interest even though I've been absent!