So it’s really warm in London. Like, proper hot. On the tube, in the studio, walking around. I have spent the last week trying to balance wearing the least amount possible to not roast (I’m Irish, I’m not used to the heat!) and wearing enough work-appropriate clothes to not get fired for indecency. Here’s what I came up with today. My Nike basketball tank is one of my new favourite things, I got it in Brixton for £1. Win.
Not such a win is taking pictures in the morning – note to self: next time, check the light before you take photos. Idiot :/
Top, Nike, thrifted; Skirt & Shorts, American Apparel; Sandals, H&M
So last week I went to Westfield in Stratford. They are two places I never need to be again. Shudder. However, the pain was worth it to see Julie literally brandish an umbrella at people*, and for this, my new favourite thing for all time ever, my shiny GOLD dress. I mean, like, who doesn’t need a pleated lamé gold dress? It’s so practical. It’s a midi length, dipping at the back, which I like. So versatile too, I can wear it to gala’s, dinners, work….I do one of those things. And I did in fact wear it to work on Friday. Do you have a job where you can wear a gold dress to work and it’s no big thing? Oh you DO, do you? Well then you must be a textile designer too then
It’s very disco, and glitzy, but also casual enough to stick a massive thing over and have it as a fun day time skirt. You know how it is. Also I got new boots in the market, they are Asos, but were market stall prices. WIN.
Oh, and I got a new lipstick. Summer pink. Fuchsia. LOVE IT.
*I’m talking proper wave her umberella in front of her shouting “get out of my way”. Actually, that sounds a lot more obnoxious written down than it was at the time.
I am a lazy blogger and a busy non-internet human so my outfit posts are sporadic at best. So technically I wore this over a week ago, but it is very very rare I am out and about (in the Tuileries, Paris, bitch) with a camera and a friend to use it. Hence it stays. I love my Nikes. The french didn’t. I always think I love these jeans til I wear them and halfway through the day I realise I like the idea of them. D’oh.
Hmm, do I have a point? Here’s me wearing clothes. In a foreign country. Just out of shot are a load of disapproving looking French people wondering why on earth I look like houndstooth threw up on me. And lace. And denim. Although later that day I went to the most amazing vintage shop in the world and met the nicest man ever – calm down, he runs the place. He didn’t judge me for looking weird. Which was nice of him. The shop? Adom in Bastille. It is quite simply my favourite vintage shop in the whole world – so much so I dragged Julie around the whole of La Marais for about three hours trying to find it only to finally realise it was the wrong district. Ooops. Hey, it’s not my fault all those pretty Parisian streets look the same. I found the best boots ever but alas was too poor to buy them, so I am currently negotiating with nice man (speaking francais over the phone is DIFFICIL) to send them to me. Cross your fingers for me.
Oh, and I need to get some clothes that are not American Apparel. Literally 70% of my wardrobe is Apparel. I don’t know how I feel about that.
Jacket, Thrifted; Shirt, Tshirt worn over, Jeans, all American Apparel; Nikes, Nike
Last weekend I went to Paris. And ate my body weight in cheese and drank red wine like a red wine drinking fish. Needless to say it was immense.
Here’s what I wore on the Saturday. The Parisians didn’t get it at all, they kept staring at me like I was a crazy person. They really really don’t understand colour, or pattern. Or they probably understand it, but think it’s ridiculous. Note to self: next time, wear black. On it’s own. Maybe with a hint of grey. But no colour, no pattern. You will get funny looks. Oops.
Hat & sunglasses, H&M; Skirt & Sweater, American Apparel; Shoes, Office; Bag, Topshop; Jacket & denim shirt, thrifted
Last Saturday was glorious so I hopped on the train to Brighton. I took my lego camera, which is super fun looking, but takes really bad quality pics. I also took my trusty Olympus, so fingers crossed I’ll get back some good stuff. In the meantime, I wore this…
Sleeveless shirt, chiffon tank, American Apparel; Leather skirt, Urban Outfitters Vintage, Lace trim cycle shorts, American Apparel; Shoes, Carvela; Jacket, Vintage
I have been meaning to comment on something for a little while now. Recently, one of the searches used to find my blog was “fat people wearing American Apparel disco pants”. OUCH, sucks to be me. I’m a UK10/US6, not skinny skinny or model thin, but defo not fat. I have the “OMGGG I’M OBEEEEEEEEEEEEESEEEEEEEEE” moments. Which are not helped by eating greasy breakfasts in Premises and Pellici’s and I could probably (definitely) do with toning up and stop eating a million chocolate bars a day. I have fat on my body, but actually, I’m not overweight. Unless you talk to the internet. It has somewhat peeved me, because it has anonymously and insidiously knocked my confidence when I wear my favourite item of clothing. I LOVE disco pants. But now, when I wear them I feel just…..fat.
I have two points here. The obvious one is that I’m raging over the fat thing. Am I blinded by the shiny spandex into a misguided sense of security? Do I, in fact, look somewhere between a beached whale and boiled ham? Should I take the hint and put the disco pants away, fat girl. What IS a fat person in this case? Someone who has more than skin and bone to put in their disco pants? What is the line? Are disco pants a no-go for size 14 girls (or size 10 girls, seemingly)? What are the rules? While I think there’s a lot to be said for dressing according to your style and not your dress size, I definitely try to pick things out that sartorial venn diagram that flatter me*. Why can’t these internet creeps do like normal people and just bitch about me behind my back, leaving me with my ill advised, happy shiny pants.
The other point is why disco pants cause such controversy. They are skintight trousers I suppose, and American Apparel are really good at marketing their clothes as provocative, but they are no more loud or extreme than a lot of things. However, they seem send out a weird message I am not fully aware of. Obviously, wearing tight things puts your figure on show, but I have loads of tight clothes, many of which are also American Apparel and disco pants just bring it to a whole other world of attention. I just like that they are SHINY, which is fun. They are more jazzy than skinny jeans and more sturdy than leggings. They are comfortable for doing things like dancing, and running around doing your daily business. And dancing. So I just don’t get why they always cause such a furore, and why people are so mystified by them. Maybe fashun has turned my brain into mush and I can’t see the obvious problem with wearing shiny pants like it’s a totally normal thing, unless you are some insanely thin person.
Anyway, here’s my “fat” self in my favourite things ever. There are two pics, because they are in fact somewhere between these two levels of shiny. Harsh flash + reflective surface = :/
Disco Pants & socks, American Apparel; everything else, charity shops and stolen from my mum
*Unless it’s too unbelievably-freaking-amazing-like-have-you-seen-how-cool-this-top/dress/trouser-is good to pass up. Then I will wear it anyway and not give a flying monkeys what anyone else says.
All of the following is true, and some of it may have influenced what I wore to meet my great aunt for lunch at the V&A this afternoon:
I saw Olivia Palermo last week and I now LOVE her. I live in West London. I recently decided it wouldn’t be the worst thing to look like a real girl sometimes. I love that it’s jacket weather again. Elderly aunts don’t appreciate that whole wearing Nikes with “smart” outfits thing. I have very few shoes that go with this dress. I wanted to wear green because it’s rugby day and I am fiercely patriotic when it comes to rugby – GO IRELAND!
Dress, Urban Outfitters; Sweater, American Apparel; Jacket, Stolen from my Mum; Boots, from Ave Maria years ago; Hat, Urban Outfitters; Sunglasses, present from my mate one very hungover morning
My flatmate told me I had to smile in the pictures because she doesn’t like the whole moody blogger thing and that I look “much better” when I smile. Which made me do the face on the top.
Hung out in Somerset House again today with my pal and blogger extrodinaire Ana aka Ripped Knees. She was kind enough to take a pic of me to share with you nosey parkers. Here I am wearing clothes, in front of the Fashun Week hoarding. A nice lady from Company also asked to take my picture, I think because her iPad case was the same colour as my skirt!
Shirt, American Apparel; Cardigan, Comptoir des Cottoniers; Skirt, thrifted; Coat; custom hacked to pieces; Shoes, Carvela; Hat, American Apparel; Scarf, Urban Outfitters, HOLGA
acid pop colour for the win!
I have been meaning to features these shoes for ages as I bought them in the sales at Christmas and I love them to pieces. They are half-brogue-half-creeper and really this picture does the soles no justice, but they are comfy and awesome. My mother thinks they look like nun shoes and she may well have a point but no matter because they look GREAT.
Also loved having my lil Holga with me among the millions and millions of ever clicking DSLRs. Yes, I had my slr and was snap happy too, but I just always feel a bit more comfortable using film – you have a finite amount of frames, so you are forced to think more. One of the things about the circus that is Somerset House is how many pics people shoot off – I wonder how much they really think about what they are trying to capture or whether they are hoping their expensive lens and body will accidentally capture something special. Perhaps I give my fellow bloggers less credit than they deserve but it’s definitely a thought.
It is a very lucky thing when you find a place that is truly your own; somewhere familiar, comfortable, fun and full of adventure & mischief. For a full on decade (gulp, old much!), the Pod was my spiritual home, guiding me through my teens and early 20′s, opening me up to every kind of music, meeting all kinds of everyone – some of whom have become my closest friends – and generally shaping the person I am today.
photo by the very talented Johnny McMillan before he was famous
I am deeply saddened by its sudden closure last weekend, without even so much as a massive blowout night. It marks the end of a massive chapter of my life. On a less selfish note, it marks the passing of a cluster of venues run by people who always stood by their musical ideals, who maintained integrity and quality of acts at all times. They brought really really really good music to Dublin. They also supported local talent, enabling local promoters, bands, producers and djs to put on some of the best nights Dublin has ever seen.
One small silver lining is that the Pod’s love child, Bodytonic, is still going strong, keeping Dublin awesome. And I have been assured by the powers that be that Pod will still be running gigs, just not in the Pod complex…And so, in a final personal tribute to possibly the most influential place I have ever spent time in, here is a small history of the Pod, according to me:
This track forever reminds me of POGO, run by Bodytonic, and Nic James, the lobby bar dj who was and still is one of my favourite djs of all time ever. And he’s a real nice lad to boot. Also, this track is a bitch to find, it’s all white label and jazz, hence the lack o song :/ Although I do have the vinyl. Even if it’s not much use to you, and really it’s just a bit of a brag.
2) The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
This track reminds me of my friend Carol, who brought me to one of the first ever Antics, where I ended up djing and messing for several years. It was, literally, one of the funnest times of my life, and it’s weird still meeting people now for whom Antics was their first club experience and how it has in some ways shaped them.
3) The Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
At the start of the electro craze I used to play the Jacques le Cont version, mixed with Soulwax’s NY Excuse. They go real well together. People used to go ape, and that is one of the best feelings in the world and is the reason I love djing.
4 Outfits that define the POD. Without pictures, for soon to be very obvious reasons
1) Grey low waisted skinny jeans, u neck tank top, massive elasticated waist belt, long slim knit cardi, teamed with slouchy boots.
This look was so 2007. I wore it religiously to nights like Backlash, which was briefly in the Pod, to Antics, to every gig I ever went to at that time. It was cool, relaxed, and handy for blending into the going to work brigade if you ended up at a party til all hours, which invariably is what we did every night. It’s actually funny how there used to be a stage that I decided what to wear out on the basis of what looked least ridiculous the next day on the rollover…Ah those were the days!
Denim skirts pretty much define Antics for me. It was the age of the indie cindy. What more can I say.
3) Day glo jeans, oversize Bonde do Role tshirt, bright yellow massive vintage embroidered jumper, converse
When Nu Rave kicked in, I jumped on board and took to wearing RAINBOW as my colour story. That Bonde do Role is one of my most favourite tshirts of all time ever – bought at a gig they played in Crawdaddy.
4) Disco Pants, oversize tshirt, pumps
Over the years, disco pants have become something of my dj uniform – they are comfy, but shiny enough to be a bit fancy and the baggy tshirt thing is probably a learned behaviour from all the boys that I dj with (two of my favourites pictured above – but shhhh don’t tell them it’l go to their heads)!
me, circa 2008ish. the STYLE.
10 Best Gigs
This is really difficult because I have been to SO MANY and I almost forget what I have seen!
1) LCD Soundsystem, Tripod – twice
2) Jurassic 5, Redbox
3) Switch, POD – this was literally one of the most mental nights of my life
I have been avoiding outfit posts like the plague recently, mostly out of laziness, but also because I felt like I was in a bit of a style rut, and nothing annoys me more than unnecessary, pointless or uninspiring outfit posts. But I know what nosy monkeys you all are, and I have a bunch of new clothes that I am really delighted, with so here we go I guess!
Since I started my new job (yay) and no longer have to wear one brand all the time, I have re-ignited my love affair with charity shops. And thankfully, they have taken me back with open arms and bountiful supplies of cheap-as goodies. Like this acid lime green bouclé skirt. For £2. And the ’90′s tastic jumper for….£2. And my CryBaby-esque houndstooth blazer for the extortionate sum of £6. The shirtdress is also charity but from before and the hat was a whopping £5 in the Urban Outfitters sale. WINNING.
Me, wearing clothes. And a stroppy face.
As much as part of me wants to gloat at my new wardrobe on a shoestring, another part has a point…I think.
Point #1: I am dressing like a bit of a frump at the moment…Lots of midi lengths and things I am not used to wearing, so I feel like a bit strange. I am trying to power through, and just keep wearing them until I feel like a real girl, telling myself that it’s actually a bit glamorous and chic and ’70′s/’90′s as opposed to bat-shit crazy cat lady frumpy…RIGHT?!
Point #2: Charity shopping is amazing. Who doesn’t love a ridiculous bargain?!! Once you find a good charity shop, TELL NOONE. Ever. Seriously. Not even your best friend. Especially your best friend, actually. That bitch will steal all your £2 bargains quicker than anyone.
Point #3: Sundays are great for the following reasons: friends, coffee, food, and western films. Oh, and pikey rings that remind me of home!
