Halloween

So Ive always made a big deal out of Halloween ever since I was little. This year has been a little different, maybe its because im growing up but Im pretty sure its just because most of my friends are away this weekend.

I went to a small house party last night in my costume which was partly handmade (ive been really skint recently so i couldnt go all out). So I made the top and I made some spooky cakes as well. I knew that orange food colouring would be used again! haha

i made the top by just gluing paper bones, i tried to sew them but they would have ripped off too easily.


I had some tights with bones painted on them too but i didnt take any photos! silly i know.


tonight will be the first halloween (that I can remember) where im not doing anything. Im gonna just watch nightmare before christmas and corpse bride I think. If i watch anything scary i wont sleep because im all alone in my house! eeep!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 'Goodnight out there...what ever you are!' (or I might watch Count Duckula!)

another yellow brick road

I just found Annie Leibovitz has taken some Wizard of Oz themed photographs with Keira Knightley.





(I think this is my fave)


I like how Leibovitz always puts her own spin on characters and stories, which is hard when the tales have been portrayed so many times. This is not all of the images from the series you will have to look them up yourself if your interested.
If your not satisfied by this tiny nugget of Oz amazingness:

check this gorgeous necklace out from Tatty Devine

http://www.tattydevine.com/boutique/index.php?cPath=120_117

Bedroom Photos

So you might have read the post about my newly decorated bedroom. If you did you will know I promised some photos of it finished. It still needs a few finishing touches but this is how it is now.

I wanted a bedroom fit for Marie Antoinette. I couldnt do tonnes of gold because its such a tiny room so I went for the Petit Trianon country style.










(this is my duvet cover, i love how instead of poppers there are little ties to do it up)

I definitely need some kind of headboard for my bed.
I am still looking for the perfect chandelier.
And I know there is a lot of blue and white and not much else so im trying to incorporate pale pinks and yellows into the room as well, by way of flowers and photo frames.

I dont know if anyone saw Ferne Cotton and Paris Hilton on ITV1 the other day but Paris has an amazing house! There is a lovely french style cinema room some of it is a bit over the top but thats Paris Hilton and to be fair Versailles.

Vintage Dress up

This is my 1970s Miss Selfridge day dress, it belonged to my mother and then she gave it to me because it doesnt fit her anymore and it just hangs sad and alone in her wardrobe.I like the style, it is a 1970s dress but it has the look of the 1940s about it.My face looked kind of silly so I cropped it out haha


My mum has a few more of her old clothes but she (like many others) thought the 80s would never be back in fashion so chucked most of her stuff away!

I love this dress because its good quality, at the beginnings of the highstreet store when the clothes were all made in England and workers were paid a fair price. How times have changed in just over 40 years!
This dress has a beautiful floral pattern.


here are some close ups, ignore my face again if im taking a picture of myself i have to concentrate wayyyy too hard!

Im no good at recreating hairstyles despite the books and tutorials Ive got/watched, so forgive my cheats pageboy look and quiffy thing. I need more practice!

My shoes were from Peacocks ages ago i love them! I wear them so often I had to get them re-heeled! I like the t-bar shoes because A) I can walk in them with ease no matter the hieght of the shoe and B) they are reminiscent of the 1920s my favourite era :)

Embellished Jacket

One of the key pieces you need this Autumn/Winter.
Topshop of course is right on the pulse of this trend.

here is a selection of their best. my fave is the blue number on the end.

Ranging from a respectable £40 to £150 Topshop have a large collection to choose from for every budget.

www.topshop.com

Not to be outdone River Island came up with this nice structured piece with shoulder pads, definitely harking back to the 80s.

at just under 50 quid id say that was a good buy. When you think you will essentially be wearing this until spring with body con dresses and tailored or hareem trousers.

however if your looking for something more unique have a look at these:

Frank Usher jacket



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Frank-Usher-Embellished-Jacket_W0QQitemZ220493535301QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWomen_s_Clothing?hash=item3356705845&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These jackets are all quite dark, so how about this for those of you who are a bit braver. from suzysparklesalot on etsy:



http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30746740&ref=sr_gallery_11&&ga_search_query=embellished+jacket&ga_search_type=vintage&ga_page=1&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title

House of Helen on ebay


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Silk-Embellished-Trophy-Sequin-Jacket-12-14_W0QQitemZ190338401035QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Women_s_Vintage_Clothing?hash=item2c510d830b


This jacket is slightly more pricey but then again it is a piece from the 1930s!


http://www.katykane.com/20s.htm

The price works out at around £277.



I love how fashion comes full circle and designers are always looking back to past fashions to inspire their own clothes. Look back at my post on Schiaparelli if you don't believe me, and check out some of the similarities in her designs and these pieces above.

http://domesticblogess.blogspot.com/2009/06/lobsters.html

Fabulous! Id feel a million dollars in any of these jackets :)

Disney Collection

So you might have seen from my profile that I am trying to collect all the Disney Classics on DVD. I thought I would just tell you what I have so far, I will post something every time there is a new film released to DVD.

I currently have:
Alice in Wonderland
Basil the Great Mouse Detective
Brother Bear
Dumbo
Fox and the Hound
Robin Hood
Sword in the Stone
Sleeping Beauty (my all time favourtie)
The Aristocats
The Little Mermaid
The Rescuers Down Under

and as of today Pocahontas!! some great songs in that film :)

Country Girls

I went to the Ffotogallery in Penarth again today to see an exhibition entitled 'Cockroach Diary and other stories' by Anna Fox. I enjoyed the exhibition because of the humour behind all Fox's images, being British I can relate to a lot of her subjects and it feels familiar to me.

My favourite image was from her series 'Country Girls' it reminded me of the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy falls asleep in the field of poppies.

The model in the picture is none other than Alison Goldfrapp.


If you like the work of Martin Parr then Anna Fox should also appeal to you.

http://www.ffotogallery.org/exhibition.php?ex_id=340&p=

Birthday Baking

It was my boyfriends 21st birthday last week so I made him a cake. I was the first time id used the rollout icing so it was all a bit of an experiment.
Ben is basketball crazy so I decided to make an actual basketball cake. i had originally planned to buy one of those round cake moulds so the cake was 3D but i left it a bit late to order one online and the only mould I saw in the shops was so expensive I couldnt justify buying it!

The first cake went badly, it didnt rise properly because I was being too lazy and cutting corners. So I decided to decorate that and make a new one for Ben's Birthday.

you can see where i nibbled the corner to taste it haha.

The 2nd cake came out perfect but I forgot to take a photo of it so this is the cake after it had been iced, the edges were slightly creased, I'm going to have to practise at that.


I then painted the cake with orange food colouring a la basketball and added the black lines. I probably should have kneaded the colouring into the icing but because the icing was ready rolled out I was reluctant to screw it into a ball and roll it out again.

Here is the finished cake complete with candles at Ben's party.



The cake was actually pretty good, even if I do say so myself, who knows maybe next time I will be more organised and do a better job!
byeeee x

Loving the 18th century look

Just some lovely 18th century inspired pictures I found.
mostly Marie Antoinette film stills and stuff, but I love the pastel colours and all the lovely fabric in the costumes :D




Have you seen the photographs taken by Annie Leibovitz? She did an awesome set of Alice in wonderland images and also some of Kirsten Dunst in her Marie Antoinette getup.

while I do like these images, the dramatic lighting is very different from the film, the natural lighting i think suited it more than these shots. The Alice in Wonderland ones are really suited to the style though, so definitley google them if your interested

If you like those shoes above check out these Louboutins that Dita Von Teese is wearing, I also love the vibrant yellow ones!

They will set you back around a cool £3,975. totally worth it if you can afford them, in my opinion!

Even Girls Aloud had a go in their 'I don't speak French' video, slightly more like underwear but I like it!


Ive seen a few costumes online like the Girls aloud ones, check out this one its my fave (ignore the sarcastic looking model):

from www.joke.co.uk its a little pricey but it looks like a nicely made one. If I ever get invited to a historical character party or have my own 18th century French tea party, then this is what I will buy!

If your interested in the more accurate historical side to the 18th century there is a great blog here:
http://18thcenturyblog.com/

by for now :)