Boxing day buys + December Haul

Today was the third year of mine and Laura's annual Boxing Day sales shop. And just as last year, Topshop let me down greatly and I didn't spend a single penny in the sale at all....I did however purchase a small amount of other items:

The above are all my Boxing Day buys and I opted for an array of tops and shirts as I'm pretty lacking in that [articular department. 

I was seriously iffy about the first purchase, a loose halter-neck tee from Topshop, £27, size 12. I bought this purely because it was a little out of my comfort zone due to the very open back (which you can't see) but if I really don't like it, returns it always an option. 

The second is a super seemingly boring grey tee from H&M but i'm in need of the basics, this was £8, size 12. I also bought this super cute light-pink bra from their sale for £7.

The last tee is very much sticking to the Christmas/New Year theme. I've been eyeing up a few glittery tees from Topshop for a while but this deep night-sky-blue is so lovely. This was £22 and a size 12.

The last Topshop purchase is this ring which I bought solely because I've been needing a lot more silver jewellery in my life. This was £2.50

I'm so in love with my new Pony-hair slip-ons from Topshop. I bought these last week for £20. The pony-hair just adds a little texture and perfectly balanced out todays very top-heavy outfit.

This cable knit I also received from my Mum for Christmas and i's so cosy and warm and has also been hanging around my wishlist for quite a while, this was £20 I think from H&M.

Rachelxo

Home for Christmas

With first semester over I've moved back home for a couple of weeks for lots of food eating, sitting by the fire and watching hours of Netflix on my huuuuuge t.v (which makes a massive difference from my teeny tiny laptop screen). 

I have a tiny suitcase that i have to try and fit all of my junk in every time i come back home and three weeks is difficult to pack for, believe me. The above picture is everything I brought with me and is probably a very accurate representation of my current style/winter essentials so I thought I'd share.

1. I chose four pairs of shoes; my black and white vans, ox-blood Docs, Black ASOS boots and (you can't see them but) my burgundy brogues. I needed enough so that I wouldn't get bored easy and, besides, I could just stuff tees into them to maximise suitcase space.
2. I have three pairs of pants, two pairs of black skinnies and my pair of navy trousers from ASOS just to be safe. I also threw in my navy cord skirt from Urban Outfitters. I find that I can only wear my pats and skirts on specific days, when I've really eaten a lot, they're too big for me and i'm really taking my time going to get them taken in (money probs).
3. My playsuit (left) is perfect for autumn/wintry colours and feels just like jammy's when I wear them.
4. I brought a couple of tees, one being my staple-stripy top from H&M, my grey strappy crop from Topshop and my Bombay Bicycle Tee that I got from their gig last Monday. Along with my White American Apparel Turtleneck and my Cream H&M shirt. Obviously there is a black and white theme forming, mixed in with a little deep blue and burgundy, my style-subconscious is doing some good things right now. 
5. I only packed one sweater, my fave vintage blue one from some store i can't remember the name of, and my Levi's plaid shirt as a back-up. It's getting cold.
6. My three dresses consist of: my florally peach number, my white lace dress and white feather-hem dress (all three from Topshop). My peach PU jacket and Black full-length kimono accompany them.

Of course I also brought my big black fluffy biker jacket from Topshop with me, as alwaysand my trust Primark bag.

Summary: black, white, peach and little specks of navy and burgundy are what's summing my winter wardrobe up at the minute. 

(Left: White feather-hem Topshop dress, Topshop black suede boots and H&M necklaces.)

(Right: ASOS black skinnies with zipped ankles, American Apparel white turtleneck, ASOS mohair boots, H&M cardigan)

Hope everybody is having a jolly December so far xxx

Liverpool shoot

Two weeks ago my friend Karin asked me to help her with her Fashion course and model for some photographs, here is the outcome:

It was a super fun day, though posing in front of the Met Cathedral in 6 inch heels was rather embarrassing.  Karin did a super job editing and shooting and I hope she does great in her project, she works so so hard! 

I've been ordering a lot of clothes in recently so a few lookbook posts might be going up near christmas time, I haven't been posting as much due to such a hectic schedule regarding essay deadlines and exams and such but I aim to get right back on track. 

xxrachelhelen

Juxtaposition Pieces

 

A few clothing items i've acquired recently are really making me feel whole again, like there is no longer a salmon-coloured PU vest jacket hole missing in my wardrobe and i now no longer feel in need of any more suit pants

My need for clothes has transformed into a need for savings and I wonder how long this will last

I ordered this pair of navy suit trousers from asos last week and oh heck their size 10's are fucking huge (just a warning) but i've really loved working them

They're a super fun item to work with, dressing them totally down with a pair of vans or trainers is a good way to go about things i find, the juxtaposition makes me feel very cool

I haven't really worn them any other way since getting them but i'm sure i'll eventually venture out to suede boots or something

The floral dress, working as a top, is kind of very loose, so loose that i have to pull it back to prevent flashing my boobs to everyone, on occasion, It works super well with my new PU leather jacket from The White Pepper, i faced the dilemma of whether to go for black or salmon colour but i 100% made the right decision, it's a good break down of colour. 

The brogues i sort of just bullied Mum into buying me from Primark, they did good for me last week as usually I'm never a huge fan of primark (not out of snobbery, maybe, it's just not a tip top place for me personally) but these brogues are first class. My new Vans are so super versatile. I believe any casual pair of shoes a person should own ever in their life should probably always be a pair of Vans. So super durable, especially if you opt for the suede pair like I did. 

I also made sure to pick out a pair of grey tights from Topshop! (last photo's) I have a weird dislike towards normal nylon tights, the feeling of them makes me cringe and woollen tights are so much more wintery, they don't make me as afraid to touch my legs really

Leather vest, suit trousers, slip dresses and trainer shoes are how i'm going about things this winter.

French Film + no self-esteem

I don't know what an identity crisis is and I don't know if this is it.

For the past few day's I've been feeling really detached from everything and I've been experiencing really low self-esteem. I was ill with tonsillitis and, really, the main battle is with my hair.

Such a "first world problem" but to a lot of people their hair is a lot to them and it usually is the decider on whether I feel good or not.

I think I definitely need a haircut, I haven't had a proper haircut in over a year (besides the little trims I give it myself every now and again) and I think it's really taking it's toll. It's so thick and wiry, fluffy and it goes so knotty in the underneath part. My fringe is STILL growing out and so is my undercut, I'd just give a lot for hair I could feel confident about doing nothing with. 

Secondly, work. It's only 5 weeks till the break-up for the Christmas holidays so the work is piling up more so than it has previously been. I have two (soon to be three) essays to be handed in this month, it isn't that I don't have time it;s just that I'm struggling to come to terms with how I do them. I'll get used to the working style, which isn't really what I have a problem with. Is it a "thing" to suffer really low self-esteem when workload piles up? I'm hoping.

In order to procrastinate to the best of my abilities, I've spent the entire past few days watching a couple French films and creating playlists. Or one well grafted playlist.

I know "The Dreamers" isn't so much an entirely French film but the English/French/Italian collaboration means I'm counting it. Blue is the Warmest Colour is the other I watched. Although it is 3 hours long I didn't feel like it dragged on so much but what I lacked in boredom I made up for twice as much in the fact that most of the characters got right on my nerves. 

I know I am probably taking away from the entirety of the film but Adele, the main character, is an extremely irritating character. We start the film as Adele is around 17 years old and follow her life through to her being a young woman, y'know as she figures a lot of stuff out: her sexuality, friends. The film mainly revolves around her relationship with Emma (Lea Seydoux). 

The little character quirks that Adele possesses really got on my nerves, such as the lip smacking and the CONSTANT PLAYING AROUND WITH HER HAIR. It made me feel really uncomfortable seeing her playing with it all the time and throwing it up. There should have been an on-screen counter for every time she took down and retied her hair. 

I feel bad for letting these things annoy me so much and (not really, maybe) ruin the film for me, it was very distracting. 

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The rest of my weekend is probably going to consist of trying to plan at least some of my essays and finish The Time Machine because I have a lot of reading to finish which I should have done a while ago. 

xxrachelhelen

Photodiary - 2/11/14

Today was a good day for a couple reasons:

- I bought a few books, which always makes me happy

- I bought a ticket to attend a talk with Mick Fleetwood this Tuesday

- I went on a long walk and christmas is settling in

It's only 2nd of November but the dark that consumes so early in the evening and the crisp air makes me feel so festive. Today I took a wander to the Caffe Nero that sits behind my flat, I sipped on a White Chocolate Mocha and ate a Ham and Emmental toastie whilst reading The Time Machine. There is a crazy lovely girl who works there, like genuinely crazy, her chat with the customers is unreal and she often refers to me as "awesomeness". 

After I hit part 3 of my book i proceeded down town to Waterstones to pick up a copy of A Taste of Honey for my English class. Whilst there I spied copies of Bukowski compilations (which i so kindly requested off my Mother for christmas) and also advertisements for An Evening with Mick Fleetwood this Tuesday!! I rang my Mum and Simmy gave me the £25 for the ticket and i am so stoked!

I took a walk down to Oh Me Oh My, where the talk is gonna be, and kinda got distracted and took a walk down some side streets and all the way North by Princes Docks.

I took so many pictures of the church and gardens because the juxtaposition of that and the more modern architecture in the background really pleased me, also the clouds look super rad.

This is Matthew Street though the photo doesn't really depict how nice it looks in person.

"Happiness is a journey not a destination"

I walked around for four solid hours, came home to a bowl of steaming tomato soup and now i'm sipping on a mug of Ginger tea. Absolutely tearing my hair out at the amount of work i have to do over the next month and a half.

xxrachelhelen