Sales Success!

I hate hate hate sales shopping. The crowds, the heat, the smell; but I especially hate the fact that the sales make Selfridges look like the Bolton branch of Primark at the end of busy day of the dregs of society buying ethically immoral, already-yellowing vest tops.

So you can imagine my reservations when there was a family announcement that we would be braving the crowds and going, spending money in Juicy Couture purse, to Selfridges. It started off badly. We couldn't park. *sigh* After we finally smuggled ourselves into the car park, I was given an hour to go merrily off into the wild (the ground floor)and come back bearing the fruits of my labor. Well, All Saints was scoured, as was Diesel, Miss Sixty (cringe)and Pepe Jeans (double cringe)and only one skirt was bought from All Saints. A blue bubble skirt to replace my worn out black one.

I was in a terrible terrible mood as when I was sent out on my second excursion for another hour into the wilder wild (the third floor)I STILL could not find anything. Not even in my absolute favourite Marc by Marc section where I found my wonderful William Broome illustrated leggings. I tried on a Vivienne Westwood suit, but to no avail- it seems that suit was destined for Amy Winehouse only. The only success I had on the thrid floor was a really pretty black chiffon Whistles skirt, but that doesn't count as it was from their new collection- I seem to gravitate towards nice, neat, orderly rails of clothes.

But alas! I had forsaken the second floor! So down I trot and as I search I see a lovely maroon pleated skirt from Hobbs' sister label, NW3- it's A LOT nicer than it sounds. So i tried on a skirt in my size that I didn't really like just to see if that would be the right size. It was maroon again but with blue, black and white stripes going diagonally across it- think grown up Lolita. I tried it with a cotton, off-white shirt with a little neck tie of the same material around it, and- success! With just ten minutes to spare, I literally ran to the checkout to pay for my suprise finds. When they were paid for, I started smugly strolling back to base for debriefing and cocktails.

Hark! Is that an almost exact copy of Vivienne Westwood pirate boots I see before me in the softest leather? Yes, I do believe it is! But wait! I only have two minutes until I have to be back at base for debriefing and cocktails....*rush rush rush* "Can I get these in a size five, please?" *wait wait wait* "Argh! I can't get them on! Oh, yes I can! They are the perfect fit, like I'm gliding on clouds. Lets get 'em!" *run run run* Success!

Dear reader, it is my belief that Karma helped me secure sales success. I have been a good girl all year (as my heftily filled stocking will testify- an iPhone, a sewing machine, a Nikon camera, Moleskine goodies and The Prodigy tickets to boot!)and Karma knew this about me. Oh, fat Buddha of the mountain, everytime I wear my cloud shoes made of the finest, oh-so-softest leather, I shall think of you and mentally rub you tummy as a geture of appreciation.

I don't like Mondays...or trousers

It's Monday today and I am in a BAD mood. I woke up in the Amazon Rainforest that is my room, stood under the trickle that is my shower,got my test results back which say there is something abnormal about my liver so I need MORE tests, and realised that I am a complaete failure and should go hide under a rock until third year is over.

With all these calamitous factors conspiring against me, I usually turn to my wardrobe to cheer me up. Dress the way you want to feel I say, and I want to feel beautiful. *Opens wardrobe* "Oh, look! All my dresses are in the wash, I'm going to have to wear trousers today." Trousers I say!

Now, when I was a wee lass, I used to live in trousers and shorts. Wearing skirts and dresses when climbing trees was just not conducive to my life. And then when I came to university, I realised that I hate wearing trousers. In fact, I now only own three pairs and they are all jeans: one pair of blue denim high waisted, wide leg jeans from Abercrombie; another pair of blue denim stretchy jeans from Abercrombie that I've had since I was fifteen (I hasten to add that I only wear these when I am ill); and one pair of ultra skinny black jeans from All Saints that I hardly wear anymore becasue they are generally made for people with eating disorders.

So imagine how upset I was when, at the one time I needed cheering up, all my dresses were unwearable. After planning on going to the library for the rest of the day, I have been forced to stay inside away from people who might see me in this depleted state with only a cup of black tea for solace (no rich tea biscuits to boot!).

Dresses make me feel happy and girlie, even when they are teamed with my faithful All Saints boots and never fail to cheer me up. But for now, I am afraid that I will have to make like a leper and rot in my room until my washing is done.

Shoes for thought

I have to say that I have always been ardently Team Flats. When I wear a pretty tea dress, I much prefer to team it with my All Saints boots than with a pair of heels. So what is heels are supposed to make you look taller (obviously) and make your legs look longer and thinner and all that jazz, I just can't really be bothered to put myself out there and wear them all the time.

I give kudos to people like Victoria Beckham. Most of the people I admire are people that are opposite to me and Victoria Beckham is in terms of shoe-love. I just love how she can totter to the shops with 10 inch heels and not think anything of it. It is so fabulous!

However, this past Sunday, I decided to stop being so prejudiced against heels and venture onto campus with some on, just to see what all the fuss is about.

So, mock All Sanits Office heels on, I drove up to uni. (Well, I couldn't very well WALK up Church Lane in heels could I??) So the drive was a bit jumpy- driving in heels is hard! But Victoria Beckham gets driven round everywhere so it's all right on the night for her.

I park up and start navigating my way through a car park of loose stones, which I am later told by my friends that I do VERY well. And also incidently, I run EXTREMELY well in heels. I run in them better than I walk in them. Anyway, from the car park to the union, which was my destination, is about a 200m walk. In that time, I passed about 15 boys and 10 girls. Every single boy gave me a cheeky little side glance thinking 'Wow. Look at her, she is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.' Or something similar. The point is, that every single boy I passed noticed me. Every single girl I passed also noticed me. But you should have seen the looks they were throwing me! 'Look at her, what a show off! She's an idiot.' No honey, you just wish you were as fabulous as I am. Shame!

It was so much fun getting noticed like that, and all for a pair of shoes! I then pranced into Media Resources feeling very smug at which point Wendy Woo and Dominic started 'oooooh'-ing at me. I then told them of my little experiment when my other Dominic said that he hadn't even noticed the fact that I was wearing heels and he was just admiring the way I was walking- confident, looking like a girl who had things to do and people to see!

Because I was having so much fun, I went for a little walk in the library. Again, everyone was checking me out! When I glided down the stairs, I like to think it was in slow motion, like in films, and that a few people's jaws dropped. Ah, now I know how Audrey felt.

I also noticed that I felt different. I felt better in myself and a hell of a lot more confident than I usually do which is saying somethig in itself. The outfit I was wearing was nothing special at all, All Saints black skinnies, plain black t-shirt, brown Grandad cardigan and bright pink paschmina. The way the heels transformed the outfit was incedible.

I wouldn't go as far to say that I am a heel convert but I will most definately be venturing a few more places heels-on-feet, if just for the jealous looks girls throw my way. Go back to West Quay dear, I'm off to Selfridges.

Bring on the LOL

When I see videos like this, I never know whether to be worried. Of course these people don't account for the whole of Americans who have the power to vote but they sure as hell make up for alot of them. NONE of them know what they are talking about, 'errr, I don't know her exact policies' 'well, I just know that she stands up for America.'

She had no idea what the Bush Doctrine was when she was asked in an interview during the election campaign last year. She bases her foreign policy credentials on the fact that her home state of Alaska is next door to Russia and before she was McCain's running mate, all politics career extended to her being the mayor of a really, really small town in Alaska.

If these people do as they say they are going to do and vote for her to be President in the 2012 elections, I need to know if she genuinly thinks that dinosaurs were walking the Earth 4000 years ago. That is important to me. Becuase she's the woman who is going to have the nuclear codes.

Shimmi Shimmi Shami!

Shami Chakrabarti has to be the best person in the entire world. Not only is she the head of Liberty (the UK's leading human rights group for those of you who have obviously been living under a rock for the past eight years) but a few years ago she gave the OK to team up with Vivienne Westwood to create the I am not a terrorist t-shirts. Ah, the power of fashion...not so mindless now, is it?


I digress, many of you may also not know that the UK has been colluding in the torture of suspected terrorists with the PM allowing so-called rendition flights to land in the UK. It's bad enough of the American's to pawn off suspected terrorists on Cuba. But the fact that the flights these suspects who have obviously been subject to what we normal people regard as torture land on UK soil and all we do is turn a blind eye is a little too close to comfort. The UK government have been adopting a 'see no evil' approach to these rendition flights with David Milliband and the Prime Minister outwardly defying a report stating that it was in our public interest to know whether the government we elected is with full knowledge allowing the torture of suspected terrorists.

Terrorist or not, what kind of people are we to turn a blind eye to it? Hundreds of people are willing to line the streets to welcome back dead soldiers flying back from Afghanistan but the airports used to bring said soldiers back are the exact same airports used to refuel these planes carrying victims of torture. Nobody gives a shit though.



Except Shami!!! Her appearance on Question Time was inspirational, if just for her passionate soliloquy and I hear that her one woman crusade is recruiting.

Do something good today!

My muse is hiding

Okay, so maybe this blog is a convinient way to procrastinate without having to venture onto the Devil incarnate that is Facebook but my main reason for creating this blog is to talk about those things in life that I love and inspire me; fashion, literature, fashion, the pursuit of justice and one last sprinkle of fashion.

This week sees an oppertunity for me to design and create the fashion page for my university newspaper, Wessex Scene, and after initially having a Birkin bag full of ideas I find myself at a loss for what to include in my final design. The muse has left me and, I presume, migrated south for the winter. As it will be the Christmas issue I could do the token Crimbo wish list, but alas even as I say this I cannot even think of what every fashionista wants in his/her stocking!

Muse, if your reading this poolside, put down the Mango Martini, grab your Keepall 55 and come back to me and I promise to deliver the most fabulous fashion page Southampton (cringe) has ever seen.