(Christmas) Holiday

Getting a pair of insanely comfortable Toast pyjamas and sheepskin slippers for Christmas has sealed the deal for me. While I'm still back at home in Bristol my days have been characterised by their indulgence; but it would be rude not to luxuriate in the fleecy cotton comfort of new bed wear. Even, you know, in daylight hours. If there is any time of the year in which this slumminess is marginally acceptable, I'd say it is any date falling between the 24th December and the 2nd of January. So while this is still 'marginally acceptable' behaviour I've been doing lots of catching up with films and tv series with the dedication of a martyr.

On Christmas Day I watched Holiday with my parents (not that 'Holiday', Cameron Diaz's girlish snow tumbles and Jude Law's fluttering eyelashes were thankfully absent) and rather fell in love with it. I'm always a sucker for a Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn pairing but for me the brilliance of Holiday was down to the supporting characters. Lew Ayres as the brilliant but doomed alcoholic Ned and Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon as the Potters, who just about overshadow Grant and Hepburn with their wry comic coolness as a couple. This is my favourite scene from the film, when the lot of them escape a stuffy engagement reception by heading upstairs to Hepburn's old nursery to play Punch and Judy and practice acrobats. And naturally, to take turns kicking Grant on the arse, all of course, with champagne on tap and a heavy dose of silly humour. (Like all good parties, the interesting people have disappeared to congregate in some other room) This film really made me laugh. Maybe it was something to do with having my own Christmas Day glass of bubbly in hand but I think I was just surprised by how modern Holiday seems in its silly satirical humour. Serves me right for doubting that a film from 1938 couldn't be fresh and still make me guffaw today.

Films I Saw This Year and Liked

Who doesn't love an obligatory end-of-year round-up list? These are 6 films I watched this year that stayed with me for various reasons. From a young and sexy Christian Slater to a bloated and seductive Marlon Brando, from Glaswegian Sci-Fi to caravanning serial killers, these are some of the films I saw this year and really, really liked.

Holy Motors

Where to begin with Holy Motors. I was baffled and in awe of Monsieur Oscar and his ever-changing characters the whole way through. What was his job exactly? Or was the whole of Paris made up of actors in some Truman Show fashion? Exactly what was going on in Holy Motors was never clear but it was refreshing to watch a film by a director who didn't treat the viewer as someone who required spoon-feeding. Each segment was more miraculous than the last. At times I was overwhelmed by the beauty of a scene, very often repulsed and sometimes on the edge of my seat waiting for something, really, really awful to happen. There isn't an easy way of describing Holy Motors, but it is exactly the sort of film that thrives from being watched without any previous expectations. 

Shame

I watched Shame in the Pleasant Street Cinema in Northampton, MA while I was studying in America. I went with a new friend, gobbled down some tagine in the Moroccan place next door beforehand and then sat back and relaxed for 100 minutes of unbridled shame and sex. Lots of skin-on-skin contact and wet sound effects. Perfect for an early friendship date. But we both left completely moved by Shame and the continuous shot of Michael Fassbender running through the streets of New York at nighttime to Harry Escott's beautiful 11 minute score stayed in my mind for days and months to come.

Death Watch

A sci-fi set in the future. In Glasgow? I was intrigued to see Death Watch which was rereleased this year 22 years after it originally hit cinemas. In a spooky precursor to reality television culture, Harvey Keitel plays an employee of a television company who has cameras inserted into his eyes in order to film and broadcast the death of terminally ill Romy Schneider to the world. The television show lends its name to the title of the film, 'Death Watch.' The result is a bizarre and brilliant dystopian film which is simultaneously very futuristic and very 1980s. Watch the trailer here.

Last Tango in Paris

I watched Last Tango in Paris for the first time about a month ago and I fell in love with it pretty hard. I've rewatched it about 3 times since and downloaded the soundtrack so that I can listen to it's sexy, jazzy saxophone melodies whenever I like. Who am I? I'm like my 4-year old self who used to watch the Little Mermaid every single day. Or my 10-year old self who used to watch Clueless on repeat without tiring of it. But being really, really into one film when you're 21 years old isn't really cool anymore. I'm going to try justify it with legitimate and clever-sounding reasons. Like 'the script is really good.' Seriously, it is. See here. 'Jeanne: What strong arms you have! Paul: The better to squeeze a fart out of you.' I don't know about you but a film which involves Marlon Brando talking about farts in a romantic setting is the kind of film I'm into.

Pump Up The Volume

There are people of a certain age who know all about the charms of the adolescent Christian Slater. I was not one of those people until I watched Pump Up The Volume. Which thankfully obscured my  present-day visions of Slater-with his wincing eyes and a villainous hair-line- with the cooler Christian Slater as Mark "Hard Harry" Hunter.  The freaky, sexy high school student who anonymously airs a pirate radio show from his bedroom and woos Samantha Mathis with his anti-establishment persona. His brilliant playlist of Leonard Cohen, Jesus and The Mary Chain and Richard Hell probably did a lot to help in the wooing department too. This film is a classic example of the 90s era films that have been revived in public popularity again. Mark's desk overflowing with cassette tapes tugs on the heartstrings of those who know that swapping High Fidelity-style mixtapes on memory sticks or on mixcloud just doesn't cut it. And Mark's Ferris Bueller-esque 'fuck the system' messages against the stoopid bureaucratic school-system and entrenched social hierarchies is perfect if you're in the mood for a film that'll make you fist pump and shout 'Yeahh!' 

Sightseers

How can a film be brutally, gruellingly violent and yet simultaneously hilarious? It's something about British comedy at its finest and darkest and most discomforting that does it. I saw far too many heads smashed on stone obelisks and bodies crumpled at the bottom of ravines (sound effects and all) and yet I was disgustingly charmed. If a little wary of the problems my long line of pet-hates might one day present- do I have it in me to let the sight of a litter-dropper be the catalyst of a murder spree? Morals aside, I guffawed a lot through this one. From Tina's baggy-arsed blue jeaned shuffle to her scheming Mother at home in Birmingham who throws herself down stairs, call-alarm in hand dialling Tina in a bid to make her leave her caravan holiday. She ain't coming back though. She's in love with a serial killer and 'thinking outside of the box' herself. This is the sort of film that makes me really proud of British cinema. 

Not Another Gift Guide

Leather Pinafore, Topshop/ Horse Meat Disco III CD/ Earrings, Kenneth Jay Lane/Caran D'ache Felt Tip Pens/ Clear belt, Rachel Comey/ 'Boy Oh Boy' Leather shoes/ Nag Champa incense/ Mexican Ibarra de Mesa Hot Chocolate

After last months gruelling run of deadlines I went last weekend to Warehouse Project to celebrate the end of term by seeing James Murphy and The Chemical Brothers. Actually, I missed The Chemical Brothers because the other room was far too good to leave with James Murphy and then Horse Meat Disco playing a brilliant set of funk and italo disco. Turns out the name of this blog has come full circle in relevance-I started writing this as a 16 year old lover of Indie but these days blowing off steam by dancing to Disco is where it's at for me. 

So the Horse Meat Disco III compilation album sits pride of place in this gift guide, a theoretical present for my friends and fellow lovers of Disco (Tolly, Tom and Ned-I'm looking at you) and probably also a pretty good way of making washing of dishes on Christmas Day a 'groovy experience'   (haw) See also big dangly earrings for swishing. And a whole bunch of other stuff which is a shameless fantasy list on my part and a set of Caran D'ache pens because I use mine all the time (indispensable for making last minute and garishly coloured birthday cards) and if I was made of money I would buy them for Gigi, the most talented 20 year old colour-inner I know. 

Songs To Start Your Week

'Spanish Harlem' by Ben E. King and D Train's cover of 'Walk On By'. You know it makes sense.

Over the weekend I worked behind the bar at The Whitworth Gallery for the After Hours New York Loft Party event which was one big ode to Warhol-era loft parties (a nod to accompany the Hockney exhibition which focuses on his trip to New York in 1961) with live dance performances, bands and a screening of Dog Star Man with a live score. It was a brilliant night but it was the Billboard Hits of 1961, which were playing as we set up, particularly the plinky-plonky hip shakes of Spanish Harlem that stayed in my head as I went to sleep that night. 

D Train's 'Walk On By' was one of the songs that streamed through WEFUNK Radio which my friends played on Friday night, once our early Christmas dinners were sufficiently digested and the banquet tables cleared to the corners of the living room for some boogieing. Nice.

I'm a sucker for a seasonal gift guide

Grace Coddington's memoir 'Grace'/ Victorinox pen knife, Goodhood/ Checked scarf, Topshop/ 'Lulu' underwear, Monki/ 'F' Alphabet sweater, Opening Ceremony/ Duralex tumblers/ Geranium soap, Liberty.

There are some gifts that will always be specifically Christmas-y. Like socks or smelly soap or a shiny new hardback with the spine ready to be snapped. Sometimes the seasonal charm of these gifts is viewed as boring ("Ah, socks. Thank you Grandma..") but in my eyes that's a mistake because I rather like christmas presents that stick to a formula. Knitwear, novels, knickers, something functional (to counterbalance the inevitable christmas clutter -see penknife) and something the receiver might not buy themselves (whisky, flowering tea, a bag of good coffee beans, a wooden box of turkish delight) were all made to be swaddled inside wrapping paper underneath a tree. Maybe it's the fact that for the past five years me and my parents have had a loose 'book and a bottle' policy when it comes to presents and so the idea of a variation on a tested theme appeals. When tradition is such a big part of the running of Christmas- the same angel being dug out of the decorations box or the Christmas carols CD with that eternal scratch on Track 4- it doesn't seem too much of a stretch that presents stick to a formula too. That doesn't mean a conservative formula per say, but one that you've found to work and prevents an abundance of mind blanks when faced with another year of buying gifts. I think I've just about got the hang of my go-to formula and it makes shopping a lot easier.

For stockings or people who will appreciate small novelty items I like Fortune Teller fish, Tiger Balm, Magic Flowering Gardens. And for the family members who I'm always slightly stuck with, the ingredients of Christmas period lazing are good- a thick blanket, an old Annual and a bag of German pfeffernusse biscuits. Presents that are a nice mix of functional and treat-y and presents that you'd like to give and receive in equal parts.

declaration of stuff

I said I'd come back. There was a moment back there when I wondered if I would but then this evening I was cycling back from the cinema feeling all energised and peddling fast with the cold stinging my ears and it just felt right. So this feels good to be typing away again. Here, have some photographs of the outfit I'm wearing. Also, I have some news. Are you ready? Last week I made my first purchases from Primark. Yeahh I did. A couple of pairs of trousers (which may have to be returned after realising that whilst they look great on they are not sit-down-able. Must remember to do 'fake sitting down' in fitting rooms..) and this jumper which I've been wearing a lot and enjoying slinging over things and looking less pregnant in it than I do in the rest of my knitwear. 

The film I saw tonight was Declaration of War. Essentially I went to see it on the basis of liking this promo still of a couple in the bath with their toddler and thinking it was pretty sweet. The film itself was odd in parts - sometimes it felt like the director Valerie Donzelli (who was also one of the two leads) was experimenting and mixing it up as she went along which mostly lead to jarring and unintentionally hilarious effects (see inappropriately timed bursting into song about sex and hips on the way to a hospital.) But the central couple were so gorgeous together as a set of young parents and the storyline moving enough for the bizarreness of the rest of the film to be redeemed. It also mildly helped to solve my current hair funk because a) it was a French film. French films solve style funks. and b) because Donzelli wears her hair in a side-parting. It looked like a very good idea so I scraped mine into an imitation when I returned home. 

I've managed to watch lots of films over the last month. I'm a member at the Cornerhouse cinema so I get reduced tickets and it's so easy to hop on my bike and cycle down from University in the middle of the day. Holy Motors blew my mind and is probably my favourite films of the year. I also watched Last Tango In Paris for the first time and fell deeply in love with it. With Brando and with that fantastic soundtrack by Gato Barbieri. I listened to it over and over again during a week of essay writing in the library and attribute my satisfying grade to the sexy jazzy swaying it induced in like, my soul, and my typing hands. I also promptly bought a Last Tango In Paris film poster because I am a true individual just like, showing my passion for things on my walls blind slave to the system. 

A little note

I can't believe it's been two months since I last posted. Spurred by a few people asking where the hell I've gone, I thought I'd write a little note. Firstly, I miss blogging, and I want to return to it really soon. I've been going through a stage of feeling slightly devoid of inspiration and in some cases plain bored by the thought of writing about fashion. It's been a while since this was purely a 'fashion' blog anyway but I want to continue to make it a space in which I write about the other things that really interest me as well. I'm now almost half-way through my final year at University and I'm really making an effort to engage as much as possible in all areas; academically but also by throwing myself into lots of activities as I'm aware that time is passing quickly and before I know it I'll be graduating. I want to pack as many fun things into my time as possible before that happens. Blogging is certainly something I love doing, I'm just figuring out a way to integrate the two so that they tick along nicely together. So that's a little summary of what is going on in my head at the moment. I'd really like to be back into the swing of things within the next month with new updates. I miss having a dialogue with everyone, especially some of you who have been reading this blog for years. So hopefully when the show is back on the road you guys will be up for picking up where we left off (wait, is this turning into a break-up reunion note?..) 

Hope you're all swell and filling your time in lots of nice ways as I am. Back soon!

neon good time

Angora jumper, H+M. Neoprene skirt, Topshop Boutique. Floral hologram iPhone case, Amazon. Nail Varnish in Neon Green, American Apparel. Cat Eye sunglasses, Topshop.

This is my 'GOOD MORNING WORLD, I have a new neon lime angora jumper and the sun is shining, and I'm at peace with life' stance. Yes. I'm back in Bristol again after spending a couple of days in Manchester where I went with some friends to see Africa Express (absolutely fantastic) and did my best Cher Horowitz impression by hitting the Manchester Arndale centre, ducking the ever-present clouds of perfume, and buying myself some nice new things to fill the gaps in my wardrobe after being paid. Traipsing around big shopping centres really isn't my bag but this trip was fruitful so it was very satisfying and it's always more of a pleasure to roam the shops in Manchester (far superior to those in Bristol with better layouts and canny merchandising for optimum perusing). 

H+M is absolutely on form at the moment, as it generally is in the autumn and was very 'poor man's Cos', which beautiful rows of colour-blocked angora jumpers and metallic straight legged trousers in pink and gold. There was also a large section dedicated entirely to dalmatian spots; top marks. I left with not one but two angora-mix jumpers; the one pictured above as well as one in hot pink to add some colour as my wardrobe. It's my 'thinking ahead to Winter' strategy when the persistent bleak North Western climates turn life into a pretty monochrome-mundane existence and wearing a bit of fuck-off neon lime is the best coping strategy I can think of. 

I also enjoyed a good poke around Topshop and left with a pair of their leather trousers which I've been after for a good couple of years now. My inability to fit into them before is what had stopped me but this time I bit the bullet and had to buy two sizes too big just to get them past my thighs. Ah Topshop sizing-what do you do to us? But this pair fits nicely and looks rather fantastic with some bright angora, my Nikes and a flash of American Apparel nail varnish just for some extra 'safety wear' channelling. The cherry on the cake of this haul has to be the neoprene Topshop Boutique skirt which ticks all the boxes where my gaping skirt void was concerned. It's completely lightweight as opposed being scuba-thick and has a nice skating skirt hang to it without being too jutty and feminine (like the American Apparel circle skirts which are too..circular..for me) But this is super-flattering and comes proudly with a 'Made in Britain' label which fulfils some semi-idealistic manufacturing fantasies. 

Lessons learned from Possum Living

Though the production of the 'Teenage' film itself seems to continue to pootle along slowly (it was originally expected to be finished by this Summer) the accompanying blog provides endless gems where old documentaries and various nostalgia-laden 'teen memorabilia' is concerned. So in my book the website surpasses my own expectations of the yet-to-be completed film and continues to be one of my must-reads when it comes to finding 'totally awesome' stuff I might not otherwise know about. 

Possum Living falls under this category of cool stuff unbeknownst to me (although I'm sure that plenty of you are already in the loop) and since watching the three-part documentary on youtube which follows Dolly Freed, a teenager living off the fat of (suburban) Pennsylvania in the late 70s with her Dad, I've been thinking about what exactly Turtle Soup must taste like and I've added 'Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money', Dolly's guide to self-sufficiency to my reading list.

In my search for more things Dolly, I found this brilliant interview with her over at Vice Magazine. It turns out that in addition to dropping out of school at the age of 12 and writing Possum Living at 18, she went on to become a NASA aerospace engineer. Awesome! I recommend you watch Nancy Schreiber's documentary in full (the second and third parts can be found here and here) I'm always interested in hearing about how people live frugally, and though after two years of studying at University without a job I've rather reached my 'poor threshold' (of course my use of the word 'poor' is relative-I always have enough money to actually eat, just left to treat myself to nice things that might cost a little bit more money) and I'm now enjoying earning once more, it's still nice to think about the little ways that we can maintain some frugality even whilst earning. Buying second hand clothes is something that is pretty much second hand nature to a lot of us, but it would be nice to also apply this creativity to what we eat too. Yesterday I was in the park next to my house picking blackberries for the cafe I work at (to be used in our fruit compote) and realised how ridiculous it is that I rarely buy fresh summer fruits like strawberries or raspberries (or in Autumn, blackberries) from the supermarket because of how much they cost when all along there are hoards growing in abundance in the park right beside me. And instead of moaning when I can't find kale in the supermarket, why don't I just grow some in a window box instead? Despite the whole 'buy local, grow your own' ethos having been the food manta a la mode for a pretty long time now, it's still easy to miss the glaringly obvious solutions and still fall in the trap of buying overpriced vegetable boxes when you could grow some of your own greens and spend those saved pennies on..well, a delightfully overpriced jumper. Those are my priorities for now, at least. To continue to embrace frugality but to stop being such a martyr about it. Less 'all or nothing' and more 'I like Lidl and I also like pricey mojitos and the two needn't be mutually exclusive.'

Back in the Groove

Hello, hello. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Apologies for the unexplained absence but I'm back. I've been having a bit of time out and doing a bit of thinking but writing again feels good. 

Some things that have happened recently: I celebrated my 21st birthday at the end of last month in a beautiful field in the Cotswolds with some friends. There was quite a lot of Cava and dancing to Disco and I wore a baby pink feather boa which has since lead me to the conclusion that baby pink feather boas should be worn more often. (Whether this sentiment was intact cava-induced remains to be seen..)

I've been kicking around a lot in my new Nike Air Safaris which were a birthday present from my Stepdad. I've been sticking to my usual 'it's new and I like it and I'll wear it all day and everyday if I want to..' formula. This is along with some simple gold hoop earrings I bought at the start of the month from (ahem) Claire's accessories.

The Olympics.. who wasn't glued to the screen? Bit of shame it's all over now, really.

I've signed up to do a 160 mile bike ride from London to Paris with some friends. It was floated as an idea and I booked a one-way Eurostar ticket back from Paris before I could change my mind. It's only a month away and the reality of what I've signed myself up for has started to sink in, but in order to remedy these nerves I bought a fairly ridiculous bike top from one of my favourite second-hand shops in Manchester today. (Does it even have a name? The one in the United Buildings on Oldham Street.) Hof hof hof..I may be in head over (sweaty) heels but at least I'll look tropically Wiggo. I also bought this mustard yellow cardigan from Ryan Vintage which is fairly more conservative in a Land Girls kind of a way. 

More updates soon. Until then, what have you all been up to? I'm always interested to know what you've been listening to/watching/doing with your summer. I've been listening to the Beegees, and working at the cafe a fair amount. I also cooked a rather fantastic 'Bristol' Slow Roasted Jerk Pork last week (Jamie Oliver's recipe from when he visited Bristol as part of the Great Britain series) Absolutely perfect on a summers evening enjoyed with plenty of Coronas and lime and chat with one of my girlfriends.