MAGIC RAINBOW BEAR

A psychedelic mixture of vibrant fur, and a trippy description: Do yourself a favor and answer the call. Sink your teeth in and watch the colors shoot out your finger tips transforming everything you see and touch into Magic. There was no way I could resist this rainbow bear when offered to join in a competition with SpiritHoods UK.. as well as gifting me this amazing hood I'm in for the chance of winning a trip to Alton Towers Live 2013, and you guys KNOW how I feel about Olly Murs. I don't know much about the other artists but it would still be an awesome day out and I would go on the rides and eat loads of sweets and run around like crazy and AAAAAAAAAHHHH. I get a plus one too and I pledge to take one of my blogger besties, so you can imagine the super shiny hyper rainbow blog posts that would come from that ;)

So excited to wear this in the winter to keep my head warm, but also on a trip to Madrid this summer: we're travelling mega-cheap and staying in hostels so this will be my best friend, ideal for making journeys comfy and also covering my face to say leave me alone, I'm in rainbow bear land.

Of course, boyfriend had to try on the magical bear. It's totally not his spirit animal (he's more like a rabbit, or maybe a tortoise) but I'm cross that it seems to sit back happily on his head rather than slipping forward like it does on mine. Maybe just because his head's gargantuan..

You can vote for my look at the SpiritHoods UK Facebook page until Friday 7th June. Go go go, vote for me, and cute lil' Magic Bear!!!

I'm wearing:

Magic Bear c/o SpiritHoods

Neon knit c/o Glamorous

Vintage skirt

Topshop socks

Jeffrey Campbell Pointe shoes

(in green or burgundy at Solestruck, black at Miss KL)

By the way, do you guys know the M83 song Raconte-Moi Une Histoire? The Magic Bear & its description reminded me of this...
The biggest group of friends the world has ever seen, jumping & laughing forever. It would be great, right?

It's very funny to be a frog!

BIENVENIDO A SOUTH BEACH

Around April time, just when the sun is supposed to be coming out - and usually just as I've booked my holiday - I suddenly catch Swimsuit Fever. Just check my Tumblr for the evidence. I obsessively check all the websites I know looking for The One: the swimsuit that will instantly make me look like Candice Swanepoel and will ensure my fun lasts aaaall summer long.

Nah.. I know that doesn't exist, especially not when I live in England and summer isn't quite so summery anyway, but it still doesn't stop me from being a swimwear lover. There's been a recent crop of new swimwear websites which feed my obsession perfectly, including South Beach Swim, who held an event last week at Spinningfield's Frurt frozen yoghurt store. My pick was the Lauren swimsuit - a pink, fringed one-piece, all of my favourite things rolled into one. The rest of the collection is mega-bright and mega-fun, ideal for standing out by the beach or the pool - plus, the team are expanding into loungewear for next season: think super fluffy dressing gowns and comfy all-in-one pyjamas you're unlikely to want to get out of when morning comes.

Delicious swimwear and fro-yo aside, the brand name is fairly genius: there's something about it that really makes me desperate to go Spring Break in Miami and live it up like V-Hudge (sidenote: have you guys seen that movie? James Franco somehow makes himself incredibly ugly, and the Britney-on-piano scene makes me extremely uncomfortable and full of joy at the same time). My mum and I once had a five-hour stopover in Miami but did nothing more than sit around the airport, not leaving the front doors for fear of immediately getting lost... plus the air con was infinitely more comfortable than the August humidity. I'd like to go again though, and at least see some of the sights Miami has to offer, South Beach and Will Smith dancing on a rooftop included.

Anyway.. talk about a tangent. Kinda looks like I was just hanging around on my own on these pictures, but I'm not quite that antisocial (yet). You can see South Beach Katie above (who is also blogger extraordinaire The Quick Red Fox) plus there were a million and one other Manchester bloggers present. We seem to be growing exponentially as a species, which can only be a good thing for the future of Manchester fashion.

And who knew I suited a snap back hat? Little bit too reminiscent of the days of wearing a sideways-cum-backwards flex fit to look cool like Tom Delonge (I'm sure I could find a photo of that hanging around somewhere) so it's been donated to my boyfriend to stop his bonny bonce getting burnt on holiday. Still, it's good to have headwear options other than the usual beanie or fedora!

I'm wearing:

Wildfox tee

Vintage skirt

Waiste Starry Nirvana jacket

Jeffrey Campbell Lonestar shoes

Minkpink bag

South Beach Brooke snapback

SPRING BREAK FOREVER!!!!!

BEYOND AVERAGE

Exam season is well and truly upon us. If you can't hear the sound of students tearing their hair out then you can definitely tell from the quiet of the blogosphere.. everyone's got their heads down revising, or rather trying to learn an entire year's worth of work in one week. Me.. well, I actually quite like exams; the pressure makes me work harder and ultimately gets me a better mark than most of my coursework. I am still feeling the effects though, I've been wearing the same Sugar High jumper and ripped jeans for the past week, sweating my way through Financial Management, International Business and Fashion Marketing revision.

Part of my Product Development final mark is a presentation, which I did with my partner Zabrina to a room of tutors and industry professionals last week. Weirdly enough I enjoy doing presentations too, and doing this one about our own fantasy store was the best yet. We put together everything for our shop Beyond from the target market, business plan and marketing objectives, to the in-store layout and window display. Our USP was that we were a plus-size store, but aimed at women aged 18-25, with seriously fashion forward stuff. Think Nasty Gal for size 14 and up. It was so much fun and we really loved our brand, so much so that we almost wanted to launch it. Almost. Not sure I am quite ready for the plunge into business yet.

Business dress was the requirement for the presentation so that got me out of my jumper and jeans, but I couldn't resist putting a twist on it and looking on-brand for the shop. This is my favourite outfit ever so don't be surprised if you see me outfit-repeat in the future. It's actually a Christmas dress and I think it originally cost about £150 ish full price, so I couldn't resist when I saw it in the sale for fifty squid. Of course I'll wear it at Crimbo but I don't think it' too festive to wear the rest of the year as well. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself!

I'm wearing:

Emma Cook at Topshop dress

Oasis blouse

Jeffrey Campbell Pointe shoes

(there's some on eBay right now)

I've got a giveaway live for a neon orange Glamorous cropped knit! Go go go.

STYLE, GLAMOUR & A NEON GIVEAWAY

Feeling rather weary after a days' work, and soggy after a walk through the rain, I really wasn't feeling up to being sociable at the STYLEetc x Glamorous party last night. I scrolled through excuses in my head: people who I could send instead of myself, sudden illnesses I could feign, but realistically I wasn't quick-thinking enough and as I went downstairs into the belly of Sakura on Deansgate Locks I was still thinking how lovely the thought of my cat, my sofa and a cup of tea seemed right now.

Well, just look at the pictures below (not above - the whole group was supposed to be doing and intentionally silly face, THANKS A LOT GUYS) to see how fast a person's feelings can change. I don't think a grin left my face all night, thanks to the drinks, the sushi, the most excellent company; plus a Certain Celebrity was present, talk of which really set the atmosphere abuzz. We weren't allowed to mention she was present at the time and I really don't know whether we are now, but oh, I feel confused. I don't care about celebz but I really felt the need to peer over people's shoulders and out of the corner of my eye to see exactly what she was up to (nothing, mainly). I do know I can say that Chelsee Healey was there and she was a lovely lady, plus looked amazing in the coolest white Topshop t-shirt.

A plethora of blogger babes were present and it felt great not to be in the minority at a fashion industry party, or to be made to feel like less of a person because I have a blog. No shameful selfies or taking photos from us guys though, we were too busy for that blogger behaviour: just hardcore necking glasses of fizz and browsing this season's (and next) Glamorous collection. Spring/summer was full of neon brights and disco pants, which really seem to have been done to death now, but autumn/winter's was much more edgy and unusual - think high street-style Alexander Wang. The extremely fluffy leopard jumper I'm sporting was a big hit, and I think the brand were lucky I didn't wander off with it..

You can shop Glamorous on their website - enter ETC20 for 20% off - and read the spring issue of STYLEetc here. I'm off to lay on the sofa with my cat (my natural habitat) and read my print copy.

All together now: "bloggers suck!"

PS. Weirdly I had two knits in my Glamorous goodie bag.. I'm not sure whether I was supposed to or not but I definitely feel selfish keeping them both (the pink one's obvs mine): see below for the Rafflecopter widget to win this extremely neon orange cropped jumper. There's no size but I can imagine it on an 8-14, depending on how you'd like it to fit - I'm a 10-12 for reference.

Giveaway closes in two weeks and is open worldwide. No cat included, soz. GOOD LUCK!






a Rafflecopter giveaway


Photos: my own mostly taken by Lola, Sven Eselgroth & iamvip

SUNNY DAY SWEEPIN' THE CLOUDS AWAY

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

I've been locked in my living room busily working on my CAD portfolio (with a window, luckily) but I did manage to get two hours outside on the grass yesterday. It really was dream weather, best we've had yet, and I would so love summer to carry on like this. Doesn't need to get any hotter, I'm perfectly happy in this, wearing a t-shirt and bare legs.

My CAD portfolio was handed in this morning which means I am now only three exams and one presentation away from finishing my second year of university. Crazy how time goes so fast but also seems to drag, especially when you're doing boring assignments.. I don't care about the "it's not the work that's boring, it's you" thing teachers used to say, some things really are dull, like a garment comparison I handed in last week. The whole thing struggled to hold my attention and in the end I just got fed up and didn't do the greatest job. You'd think I would be old enough to work hard on things with enough time to spare but nope, I still find it hard concentrating on things which don't interest me, even for the sake of my degree!

I've been thinking of my position as a mature student a lot recently, and I'm not sure it's something I'd recommend to everybody. It's difficult coming away from a full time wage, that's a given, but it's also tough working to support yourself as well as doing assignments, looking after a home, and keeping a relationship together: plus the older you are the more likely you are to have to care for your elders, too. If the now me could talk to the me at the time of applying I'd probably advise against it, but as it stood getting a degree was the only way forward for me. Now I'd say network, intern, then network and intern some more.. which, again, is not easy with a full time job.

So I guess what I'm saying is that getting into the fashion industry is not easy whichever way you go at it, especially if you're above an age where it's acceptable for your parents to fund you through your education. You've just got to believe it will all be worth it in the end.

I'm wearing:

Wildfox tee & sunglasses

Vintage skirt

Ralph Lauren denim jacket via charity shop

Topshop socks

Ju Ju jellies

Adidas backpack from when I was a kid

Mr Freeze ice pop from the local shop :)

YEAH YEAH YEAH

I've seen the Yeah Yeah Yeahs quite a few times before but always at festivals, the last time being Leeds 2008, which is when the band last played in England I believe. They're an amazing outdoor band: the slower songs carry beautifully across open spaces and the faster songs make for the ideal dance party en masse in the mud (Date With The Night is perfect for this). A fond memory of mine is hearing Skeletons at the Leeds main stage with my buddies Todd and Chris and a lukewarm pint of Tuborg. OK, maybe the last bit of the memory isn't so fond, but what I'm saying is that Wednesday's YYYs gig at the Apollo had a lot to live up to.

Initially there appeared to be some sort of sound issue and I'm not sure they could hear themselves properly, but when they were about four songs in they seemed to iron out the kinks and hit their stride. Lucky for me as it was one of my favourite songs, Zero. Karen O was her usual bonkers self, and her yellow shorts suit, tie-dye knee sock and bandy leg look had a ring of Angus Young about it. She really is a bit of a hero of mine: she acts just how she wants, wears what she wants, and gets to be who she wants to be every day. I mean I would love to prance around wearing a tinsel cape and not give two fucks what anyone else thinks because I am a ROCKSTAR.

Maybe I was just being grumpy and old but I found the crowd around us really irritating.. one group stood with their back to the show and somehow had a screeching conversation over the music. The encore was Maps and some guy stood behind me decided to bellow tunelessly into my ear "WAIT THEY DON'T LOVE YOU LIKE I LOVE YOU" meaning I couldn't hear KO's singing at all. Or maybe it was just because I was completely sober (Apollo, u r so annoying to get to without driving) because with a few drinks inside me I'd inevitably be the one tunelessly bellowing to my heart's content.