Snowy Days and Sailor Outfits

Thanks to Lucy for this amazing photo. I love it.

I miss the snow, it seems to make everything better - despite the 'travel chaos' the local news insists that it brings. Dear oh dear.


On a far different note - and further on from the post below - the coat in the picture above is my recent(ish) acquisition to my ever-expanding wardrobe of nautical pieces and I love it more than life itself. Well, not quite, but it is the current sartorial love of my life...

There is something so simple and yet so effective with nautical clothing - the look is so classic but is never dull; It always seems to be in fashion but never seems to go out of style, which is certainly rare these days, in the constantly changing stream of new, ever-emerging fashions.

I seem to live my life wearing navy blue and white clothing and absolutely live in breton stripes, as well as anything with a sailor-esque collar (like the one on my coat of dreams) sends me into fashion rapture. I have genuinely thought about joining the navy just so I can wear there amazing uniforms - I'm not sure I'd fancy spending months of my life incessantly on the high seas however - I'd look constantly stylish, though. I also dream of wearing a proper 'sailor suit' as typically seen on (male) babies but I'm not sure anyone has actually been brave (or mad) enough to make an adult sized one yet... Perhaps I will have to crack out my 'notable' sewing 'skills' - I made a shirt with a lobster on it once, does that count? - in order to live my sartorial dreams.

When I actually 'studied' fashion at school in the Lower Sixth, the first thing I made (the lobster shirt was the second and a definite mistake) was, qu'elle surprise a nautical-themed skirt, made with a 'client' in mind who was off to St. Tropez. Genius. The skirt is actually pretty good (for someone of my very limited practicalities) although I haven't deigned to wear it as yet - that might be a nautical fashion step too far.

In the Navy

I have an actual, literal obsession with any thing sailory - well, not so much the sailors themselves, moreso the amazing nautical look. I will write more on the subject when I'm not so unbelievably exhausted but, for the time being, here is the latest seafaring piece of sartorial wonderment on my wish list of fashion dreams.

Christmas with Sting & Trudie Styler

As I live my life like Eddie and Patsy anyway, I see no reason why I shouldn't add more of their genius plans to my life. In one of my very favourite Absolutely Fabulous episodes 'Parralox', Eddie talks about her 'life aims' - yoga and to have Christmas with Sting and Trudie Styler and also of her 'daily aims'. Eddie's daily aim for that particular day is to write a pop song - the ah-mazing 'just walking down the road, looking at the people' etc etc. Whilst I have no desire to have Christmas with anyone other than my family (!) and I could never achieve such a level of musical genius, I feel that it's an exceptionally good idea to have daily aims, as new year's resolutions are wasted on me. It's not that I won't keep them up, rather that I just forget what they are after ten minutes, so daily aims it is - thank you Eddie for your constant inspiration!

Daily Aim, then, for the 18th January is - to make my University house room Holland Park worthy (ie. put clothes away, put everything back onto the walls that had fallen off over the holidays and peg photographs onto my amazing bunting). Starting simply, but hopefully achievably.

Neighbours from Hell Part 298

Whilst at University, I reside in a semi-detached house and my bedroom is, unbelievably unfortunately, on the attached side of the row. Even more unfortunately, the neighbours are - probably literally - from hell.

They scream at each other all day long, hit each other with frying pans, play awful music (they played a karaoke version of 'Don't Leave Me This Way' which I'm not opposed to when the Communards do it but, otherwise, just no) at 3am and even once threatened to kill us for leaving our bin on the very edge of the pavement for about 20 minutes longer than it should have been there. Oh and that occurred at one o'clock in the morning. What utterly charming people. I'm not much good at suburban living and these bobby dazzlers just make it a hundred times worse.

I've taken to wearing ear plugs at all hours of the day. That seems to me to be a very sensible solution - although mine are hardly as glamorous as Holly Golightly's.

On a happier note, the article attached to the above picture was absolutely fascinating and certainly took my mind off the Jeremy Kyle contestants from the hovel next door.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/05/breakfast-at-tiffanys-audrey-hepburn

Peace and Quiet and Countryside

There is nothing more I love in the world than peace, quiet and the countryside. I am, however, completely deprived of all of these things while I'm at University so I literally can't be entirely happy. I absolutely crave being able to go for a walk near my actual home (not my 'uni' 'house') in the middle of nowhere.

I'd love to be like Marie Antoinette / Kirsten Dunst in these pictures, just to experience that feeling of peaceful contentment thanks to the sound of splashing water and of nature. They - and the film - are so unbelievably beautiful, but I suppose I don't really fancy meeting Madame Guillotine afterwards...

I think I'm turning into an outdoor person after years of being happiest in front of an open, indooor fire. I certainly have cabin fever.

I've Just Realised...

... What an utterly weird blog this is turning out to be. My last four posts have been about tea, a (tremendous) fashion designer, the Tory party and Jean Paul Sartre. That is totally bizarre in anyone's book but bizareness can be good, and long may it continue in my strange, convoluted mind!

L'enfer C'est Les Autres

Or 'hell is other people'. Quite.