Under my hat

(Stripe tee: Topshop, black trumpet skirt and bag: Zara, Fur Stole: H&M, Shoes: DIY, Hat: Unknown, jewellery: Misc. ) #teenvogue

Discovered that taking photos in a public place at midday on the weekend was a bad move. There were kids on scooters everywhere. A little embarrassing for me I have to say. Oh, and the parents, very sweet and all, but still. "Kids, look at that ladies shoes! Aren't they lovely, Lets all stare for 5 minutes and watch her squirm". Okay, so they may not have said the watch her squirm bit but I was uncomfortable regardless.See the first picture, that's me watching the kids scoot off for another circuit of the gardens while trying to work out how long I had before they ran into me again with their Dora the Explorer scooter. 

Bought this skirt for Zara recently. I am a big fan of that kind of fabric at the moment so it ended up in my basket. It does make me wonder why I have added yet another black skirt to my collection of black skirts. I hated wearing black when I had to in school and stubbornly wore my grey skirt. Why now as an adult with my only outside activity being University do I love wearing black? So many questions. 

With love from,

Emma x

Penny Lane

(Paisley dress: Topshop, Floral shoes: Forever21, Purse: Mulberry, Stud hair-clip: ASOS, Bracelets: DIY, Madewell and Forever21) #TeenVogue

I am pretty sure there are rules about wearing patterns with patterns. This dress is a great piece where unconventional prints actually work together without looking like something someone high on drugs made in the Shite-shirts factory. This dress is pretty busy, so I continued the theme to my feet, my shoes do not match either and I was not under the influence when I made the decision to wear this. This dress also makes me laugh because doesn't the cut-out remind you of a teletubby, or is that just me? I feel there should be a vaguely sinister baby in a sun giggling above my head.

How impressive is the colour of this wall? I did very little editing in these photos and wow. Bright.

Hope you have all had a lovely Monday! Enjoy the rest of your week!

With love from,

Emma x

Favourite Things

1. Oddly got an urge to charity shopping, this never happens. But I actually scored some delights. All this pictured above cost me £7.75. Bargain. I am not sure about the pressed flower in the frame, it's almost a bit too Grandma Edith for my liking but the frame is wood and is beautifully made. I plan on using the teacups and the strange shaped glass jar for jewellery. I am currently using the big glass jar for risotto rice, but come summer when it is berry picking time, it will be stuffed with my mums homemade jam. All year round our family collect suitable jars for my mum to make jam in, it is honestly the best jam ever, I tried to get her to teach me but when it started to boil she shouted at me and said I'd hurt myself. This was last year, at the tender age of 21.

2. Barely there underwear. I love this kind of underwear, so comfy! To be honest, there really isn't any point in wearing them, zero support, zero coverage but look how pretty! I have I think five of these unwired ones and they are all great. Especially around the house where it is warm and there are no showing people how your body is feel about the temperature. Black and White: Topshop and Sheer Lace: Cos.

3. Handmade Necklace made by my friend. I am a bit fan of a chunky necklace and this one is beautiful and special as it was hand made for me. I love the little leaves on it and the beautiful velvets and chain she used. She out crafts me every time.

What are your favourite things from this week?

With love from,

Emma x

DIY Kitty sleep mask

Ingredients:

Two fabrics of your choice, a pretty one for the front and a silky/ soft one that would be nice to have against your eyes.
Felt
Elastic

Equipment:
A sewing machine
Pins
A white pencil
Hand needles
Thread to match your fabric
Scissors

1.   Get out your felt and draw the mask shape out with a white pencil or tailors chalk, I already have a face mask so I used that for the template and then added the ears. When adding the ears I would make them bigger than you actually want them, as when you sew the fabric it will make them a lot smaller and less defined. Once you have a basic shape fold it in half down the centre to ensure that the mask is symmetrical. And cut around the shape. This felt pattern is the size of the final mask so make sure you are happy with the sizing.

2.       Cut your two fabrics about 2cm bigger than your felt mask to allow for the stitching

3.       I quilted the front of my eye mask but that is optional. When doing this the spotty fabric was really handy as the lines between the dots made it easy to make sure I was sewing in a straight line. If you are not quilting then I would lightly tack around the outside of the felt to keep it in place. 

4.       Measure the elastic around your own head, cut to size and pin to the front of your mask. Sew the ends to the mask, either by hand or with machine. Making sure it is in the 2cm allowance of fabric.

5.       Pin the backing fabric to your mask so it faces the front of your mask, this is so you can sew the mask neatly and hide the stitching within the mask. Make sure your elastic is tucked well inside the mask so it is not sewed into the outside of the mask. 

6.     Sew around the outside of the mask leaving a good inch at one side, I left a space where the elastic was on one side.

7.       Turn the mask out and poke the ears out with the pencil. Hand sew the side you left open so you could turn out the mask and you are finished!

And you get to go to bed feeling like Batman/ Catwoman . There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

I hope you liked this tutorial! Just as a warning, this gets a bit addictive, since making this cat mask I have been thinking of other ears that would be cute on a sleep mask, like bear ears or a giraffe if you are being adventurous.

With love from,

Emma x

Prima Ballerina Assoluta

  (Dress: Rodarte for Target, belt: Miu Miu, Shoes and necklace: River Island) #TeenVogue

I wish I was good at dancing, I am just so rubbish at it though, too much arms and legs. I almost resemble Magicarp, embarrassing for all who have to witness so I normally sit down and giggle at others. However, if I could dance I would be a ballerina, that would be fun and I could stand on my toes as my party trick. If I was a ballerina, I would wear this. It has tulle and looks like underwear, but you can wear it out, and it has massive bows on the shoulders. All good things. This dress is from many moons ago, but it's a firm favourite, and not just because I have never ever seen anyone else in it, well in person, inner hipster battling out there. I think you can still get bits of the collection on eBay if anyone is sold on it's nude, prettiness.

Also, meet Steve. He is one of four stray cats that haunt our garden and that we feed in hope that one day they will love us back. Steve is my favourite, when he was a kitten I hand fed him from a spoon so I am convinced he loves me back.

With love from,

Emma x

Favourite Things

1. Chocolate mice in a glass bowl from Zara home. They are probably going off quicker than if I left them in their packet but they look much prettier now. I loved chocolate mice as a kid. At after school club we had a tuck shop and because I didn't and don't like jelly sweets the little 2p mice is what I spent all my money on. Sickly sweet and set your teeth on edge but hey, I am taking one for my four year old self.

 I got these super cute hair ties for my Christmas and I have been wearing them a lot this week. They are great because they don't pull on your hair or break at the join. Also, they are glittery, no hair band I have had before was glittery. Fun! Find them on Anthropologie here click to see a set of 5 and here for a set of 10. 

Another place to look is on Etsy where they seemlingly come in any colour you could dream of and they are a better price. You can also pick your own colours so you aren't stuck with a poopy-brown that no-one else wanted, see here for set of 3.

 3. This is my life at the moment. My dissertation is due on the 14th of February, Happy Valentines to me and I am crapping myself. I love to research but when it comes down to sitting down and writing anything my mind crashes. I have been all over Scotland and England visiting archives trying to get primary sources, I have let some lovely librarians and some mean ones and the phrase "Having fun isn't hard when you have a library card" is starting to wear awfully thin. This also acts as a bit of a forewarning, posting may slow down noticeably as all I am wearing at the moment is a mixture of underwear and boys clothes neither of which are appropriate for the internet. Or I may have been squished to death by my piles of books I still have to read. Anyone got any tips for coping with the stress of handing in a big project that in all honestly, you started maybe a bit too late?

Happy Sunday lovelies!

With love from,

Emma x

Because you're finally golden boy

 (Shoes: Miu Miu, Tartan trou's: River Island)

Love, love these shoes. I am all for over the top, gaudy furniture and decor so these are pretty much my ideal shoes. They remind me of a chaise-long or something that Marie Antoinette would love, not just because they would be great for kicking peasants... Anyway, these are great, I don't even care that they make my feet look big/ normal. They are surprisingly not heavy either, because they look like they would be. These shoes are amongst my dream shoes, including these and these. Alix from the Cherry Blossom Girl has the best shoes....!

So, my question to you, what are your dream designer shoes? Let's share dreams this Thursday night!

With love from,

Emma x

Portions for Foxes

(Mental leather fox skirt and grey tee: Topshop, Pink wedges: ASOS, Cat Ears: Boohoo, Necklace: River Island, Other jewels: Miscellaneous) #TeenVogue

Yeah, so I actually ventured out in public in cat ears. It was met with surprisingly few stares and double-takes so maybe I will try again soon. I know, you can't contain yourselves with excitement, right?

Anyway, lookie at this skirt! It's hard not to look at if we are being honest. It is painted leather and has foxes on it which gives me a reason to wander around with foxes on my butt while singing Portions for foxes by Rilo kiley out loud. There, listen to it here so I am not singing alone. I particularly enjoy the foxes faces and that it reminds me of this Rousseau painting (except the foxes don't appear to be suffering from apparent toilet issues like this tiger):

Gaudy. Next time I wear it I promise to be a bit more adventurous than just wearing a grey tee with it, but I just got it this morning and the foxes were giving me heart eyes so I went for the easy way out. Oh, sorry for the seemingly graininess to the pictures, the gardens I was in are quite humid so it played havoc with my lens by steaming it up! So sad. Might explain the frizzy hair that is rocking in this post too, I'd apologise for that too. 

With love from,

Emma x

P.S. Not sure if anyone noticed the change in footwear, I think I may have hidden it with expert cropping but I managed to ruin my feet by being over confident in a pair of unbroken in heels. I assume you other girls are used to pulling faces like this when your blisters make any form of footwear impossible.