THAT SQUAT BOT

Keen-eyed readers may have noticed that this blog has not been updated since January.. and the more astute among you will have picked up it was not updated with any passion for long before that (I'm still getting emails from dodgy SEO companies saying how much they "love" my updates, so they're clearly not that keen-eyed. But I digress).

If you have an interest in health and fitness, please visit and follow my new fitness blog, That Squat Bot. If not, no worries! I'll see you around.

ALL PRESENT & CORRECT

That outfit you wear just after Christmas that consists entirely of presents, even if they don't really go together.. don't tell me you don't do it.

Christmas was OK actually. Santa was very good to me (ie my mum went a little crazy) and I spent a lot of quality time in my onesie.

I'm wearing:

H&M jacket

Evil Twin dress

Topshop socks

Vans hi-tops

Minkpink clutch

Claire's screw earring

SPARKLE DAY 'N NIGHT

'Tis the season to sparkle, and all that, though this year I've taken a break from the usual rounds of drinks, meals out and socialising, rendering my festive occasion wear redundant. It's all good for the liver, the soul and the bank balance, mind you. Instead of going all-out festive sparkle, I added a little into my everyday life thanks to this sequinned bomber from Motel. I've been looking for a layering piece like this for a while - easy to wear with boyfriend jeans, though also great for nights out.

I don't have too many going out clothes; I attempt to mix up my normal clothes into something edgier, hence the turtleneck and metallic A-line skirt: great with a maxi and a fluffy knit, respectively. It's always good to trade in the sneakers for a stomping boot, too, and incredibly whilst lusting over the Tumblr trend of cleated soled shoes I forgot I had something very similar myself. Miista been doin' that '90s chunky boot thing waaay before Stella Mac.

I hope you all have had lovely festive season, and I wish you a very merry Christmas. I'm heading home today and I'm really excited to see all of my friends and spend a while hanging out with my mum.

I'm wearing:

DAY	NIGHT
Sequin jacket c/o Motel	Sequin jacket c/o Motel
UNIF t-shirt	Evil Twin for Nasty Gal crop (via Steph)
ASOS/DIY distressed jeans	eBay skirt
Nike Free Runs	Miista Luannes
Minkpink bag	Topshop bag

METALLIC HOLOGRAPHIC

When blogging there is a pressure (real/perceived? Probably the latter) to constantly showing off new clothes, and I often don't bother shooting looks I love because it's been featured here before. However, for the first time in a little while I felt really good in this outfit, and the dress is styled totally differently to the previous time it was shown - plus in reality I don't wear new things or even brand new outfits every day - so this time I shrugged the pressure off. This dress is the perfect chuck on 'n go, dress up or down, eat as much as you like kind of thing so gets worn a lot, particularly to occasions like last night: my mum's birthday meal.

The only new thing I have here is my Ciara Clark cuff, whose work first caught my eye when my friend Kerry styled her lookbook. Ciara works with the most fantastically coloured holographic perspex - it looks pink here due to the flash catching it but in daylight it's more of an iridescent lilac.

Oh yeah, and after six weeks, two bleachings, one hair colour remover and infinite shampooings, my hair is back to platinum. For now. Just looks like a blank canvas to me now..

I'm wearing:
Ted Baker dress

ASOS turtleneck

Miista boots

Minkpink bag

Ciara Clark holographic cuff

MEADHAM KIRCHHOFF

Meadham Kirchhoff and Grayson Perry go hand-in-hand, don't you think? The bright colours, child-like connotations and the disregard for conformation. Fitting, then, my Meadham Kirchhoff x Topshop scores had their first wear to the Grayson Perry exhibition at the Manchester Gallery - an exhibition of the tapestries made while creating the TV programme about Britain's classes. No photos allowed sadly, but needless to say they are spectacular so well worth a visit.

The speed at which the pricier Meadham Kirchhoff pieces flew out prove something I've been thinking for a while now - that the British high street is so dull and homogeneous, shoppers are really looking for something unusual. The two pieces I picked were among the more wearable of the bunch, and whilst I still love them (mainly because of the MK label attached) I was really disappointed with the quality. The dress is totally see-through and static, and the tights came in a matte white box. I at least feel there should have been some snazzy MK packaging - shiny candy floss or slime would have been my ideas!

Right now I definitely have bigger fish to fry than how I look, but I feel like my hair, face, and body look so crappy right now (funnily enough, I'm really into my style. Swings and roundabouts and all that). Upon complaining about how bad I look in these photos, though, Chris reminded me of my dislike of blogs whose photos are almost editorial, without a glimmer of any imperfection in their lives. So I've decided to keep blogging through this and know that things will improve. Because, as Chris said, I "just look like someone who has had a rough couple of weeks". And he'd be quite right.

I'm wearing:

ASOS monster fluff cardigan

Meadham Kirchoff x Topshop slip dress & pentagram tights

Charity shop turtleneck

Topshop boots

Daisy Thomas bag

PSYCHEDELIC DREAM

There are many sorts of friends, all of them perfect in their own sort of way: the party friend who gets you drunk, the problem-solving friend who tells you to dump him, the shopping friend who isn't afraid to say when your bum looks big. The best sorts of friends though are the ones that you don't necessarily see all that often, thanks to distance or busy work schedules, but are still there when it counts. Those who travelled from far and wide to be with me at my dad's funeral; Helena, despite losing a loved one herself, always manages to send me a few kind texts  day; and Sara, who sent me a surprise dress of my dreams.

I was actually festering in bed at around midday Friday when this dress arrived (and I am not a festering in bed sort of person) but its arrival made me jump up and want to do something with my day to warrant the wearing of this dress. I got out of the flat and spent the day in Manchester, culminating in a lovely Wagamama's tea and a few pints at the pub with friends.

I'm wearing:

Waiste vintage dress

Oasis mongolian gilet

Dr Martens Britain boots

Minkpink bag

(Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the comments, tweets and texts regarding my last post. Everyone I know has been so kind and it has been most overwhelming.)