Tick Tick Tick Boom

Much Love!

Sarah

xx

Who wears short shorts?

Yesterday was spent with my little cousin Rhiannan; I miss the age when everything within 7 feet of me was pink and that was considered cool! I was enlisted to demystify an enigmatic birthday present named MegaCoolFashionFunOmatic or something to that effect; it turned out to be a glamourized tagging gun. It was essentially just a big purple machine that tagged hearts and flowers loosely to bits of fabric and was nowhere near as effective or stylish as the examples on the box suggested, so we gave up and played Operation.


Then I headed off to my mates house to what I thought would be a revision session where I'd work on my English Lit essay work; when I arrived eveyone was finished revising and had spiralled into a state of general distraction, so I spent most of the afternoon modelling glasses and devising Bond-worthy weapons. I say Bond-worthy, it turns out you can just name things and then say "but it's really, like, a gun!" and have it be a legitimate super-spy weapon.

This scarf was originally something I picked up at the RSPCA for free because it was all stained. One particularly sleepless night I had nothing else to do, so I tied in some lengths of this wool to act as retro-look tassles. The dress is actually a skirt I got last year from the tynedale community hospice shop and it's cinched in with a stretchy belt also RSPCA from last week.

Today I left the house in a H&M dress I picked up last year, the RSPCA stretchy belt, a tesco skirt and purple tights, and after having a brief charity shop crawl I picked up a £3.49 dress from Save The Children and a £3.99 frilly shirt from Oxfam; wasn't too sure of it at first but after playing dress-up oh how I'm adoring it now! And it goes well with my who-wears-short-shorts-I-wear-short-shorts DIY denim shorts (Ok, I just needed a reason to tie in some song lyrics so I can have a relevant title, and for some reason I've had a complete block where the only lyrics I can think of are short-shorts or the theme to Scrubs)

Much Love!
Sarah
xx

Young and sweet only 17!

Well I'm back, and if anyone noticed my absense then I am sorry! I've come to the realisation that blogging is something only to be done by someone who is in the proper mindset to do so, after I'd missed putting up one post it just became a case of pure procrastination to the point of completely forgetting I had a blog.
So update; in the past 2 months or so I had a birthday (woo 17!) where I got a camera of my own and so have lost the need to theif my mum's one, but have developed an impulsive need to photograph most things.




















I went on a 3 day english literature trip with school to ford castle (wasn't actually a castle) where I had my birthday and gained a newfound respect for poetry, although 3 full days of reading Wilfred Owen does kinda bring the mood down in most situations. It snowed, which was mint and of course snowball frenzies followed, I made a snowman and a snow angel so my inner 6 year old was pleased. It did get a bit scary when the lights started flickering for an hour or two and the electricity went out; all the teachers thought we'd have to walk miles through the snow because the bus wouldn't be able to get down the drive to the castle, plus the corridors were resemblant of the Overlook hotel. It is no help in a bad situation when people start comparing it to the shining!


I went on a week long trip with school to Paris (aaaaah! Paris!). We hit all of the art galleries and saw all the sights. I bought some fabulous clothes which I'll be displaying in due time, the shopping was alright but we were always either in the really commercial areas where everything was the same as a British high streetor in the tourist spots which weren't bad for gag gifts such as I heart Paris condoms or eiffel tower necklaces but not quite my cup of tea.



















We did go to one amazing spot which was full of fabric shops, discount clothes shops and loads of costume-y type shops which were full of outlandish shiny garments (aka heaven!). And one of my personal highlights, we went to the Louis Vuitton fashion house, and I found the most adorabley illustrated ABC book for only 13 euros, which was actually the cheapest thing I found. The plan was to go in and find a keyring or something small like that so I could have the bag, untill it was apparent that I'd need 200 euros for a keyring, then we got lost in the maze-like building! And the experience had a bit of a downer from my friend who realized she hates the superficial, false nature of the fashion industry; I can completely see where she's coming from but my jaw was dropped from the second I walked in and was a little ashamed of myself for having such an enthusiastic adoration for the place when she was outlining why it was everything that was wrong with the world.





















The hotel we were staying at was in a town about an hour away from Paris itself, I can't remember what it was called but it sounded like gonnorhea (well we called it that because it was actually the place where dreams go to die). On the first day when we were allowed to roam around the place and get our bearings we found a dead dog at the side of the street, and everyone could tell we were English from a mile off. Since there were no clubs or bars around we drove into Paris for a couple hours each night which was incredible, I love the latin quarter but could do without the amount of over-friendly men!


Also we were there on valentine's day, so I was at a little cafe (the only cafe in Paris where it wasn't 5 euros for a hot chocolate!) and the waiter made a little heart on my hot chocolate! Of course my mates and me replied in a chorus of 'Aaaaaaww!!' which caused the entire cafe to laugh at us a little bit-obviously just jealous!




















I saw electric six, pete doherty and and all metal tribute to the beegees live at the carling academy (not all at once!), all of which were amazing! Pete Doherty was brilliant, I was almost in tears at how good the songs were, all of the man's songs are anthems. It was sad to see afterwards when we were waiting for our lift home there were lads telling us he was outside, so we went over to look and saw the bouncers having a hell of a time getting the crowd away from him; Doherty was being pulled onto the bus by one of his entourage with the most disconnencted expression on his face while people around him who only minutes ago were cheering for him were shouting abuse to him. It's ridiculous that he's tret like this by people who say they're fans but it's just sad to see him so out of it that he needs to be led back to his bus. I felt a little ashamed that the only one of those acts I knew absolutely all the words to was Tragedy, the all metal tribute to the beegees, however they were the mintest most entertaining thing ever to exist onstage and me and Gez got a picture with one of the guys from them!

And finally I have planned to go to India for August and volunteer at an orphanage for a month and am currently arranging fundraisers and such. I'm going through an organization called Global Volunteers Project which is based in newcastle, which is handy for me as it's just 20 mins away. I have to raise about £1500 ($2196) to cover all the costs so I'm brainstorming fundraising ideas like mental at the moment. I've currently got a clothes swap evening in the works, with posters under construction (proud of my badboy photoshop skillz!) just presently waiting for confirmation off the venue that I can have the hall. So if anybody has any good fundraising ideas then all suggestions would be much appreciated!

Much Love!
Sarah

xx

A little less conversation, a little more action

Skull skirt- DIY

Shirt - Red Herring

Belt - RSPCA (rag bin)

Shoes - Brown-always-wearing-TCH-heels

Shirt - Dad's

Dress - RSPCA

Belt - RSPCA

Leopard print tights

Shoes - Brown-always-wearing-TCH-shoes

Cardi - tesco

Tee -TK Maxx

Skirt - Diy Dad's

Boots - River Island
HairClip - costume shop

Shirt - Clothes Show Live Vintage

Belt - RSPCA (rag bin)

Skinnies - H&M

Boots - Barrats

Hoodie - H&M

T-shirt - Age Concern

Skirt - Asda

Boots - Barrats

Last week I was ill again, working/dancing all weekend, mates birthday/snowball fighting today. 2 hours of school tomorow unless it's a snow day then a 3 day trip to Ford castle, then my birthday on Friday.

I've been occupied, and frankly I needed a breifly worded blog as opposed to the essays I generally churn out.

I promise to write more detailed posts as soon as I get back on track.

Much Love!

-Sarah

Go on, take everything, take everything, I dare you to

Hello There,
How are you?
Tuesday's outfit consisted of an Asda denim waistcoat, Primark random fruity slogan t-shirt, black Primark strappy, swapped skirt and big green River Island boots.

On Tuesday I had a trot around the charity shops Hexham has to offer; not that I'm complaining, but does a quaint market town honestly need 9 charity shops?

We have TCH, RSPCA, Age Concern, Oxfam and Oxfam Books (on the same street!) Relate, Save The Children, Cancer Research and Scope; which inevitably leads to all 9 vying for attention and donations.

I must admit, I do enjoy analysing each store's average shopper, for example the very ostentatious upper middle class country lady saunters about the Cancer Research, so it's a goldmine for blazers and pencil skirts of the Ralph Lauren-esque persuasion.

For tuesday work, I shoved on my ripoff uggs with checked H&M shorts, black shirt and TCH belt. I checked the worker's manual and I have almost broken every dress code, but I work without a supervisor or boss around, so nobody knows! Bit scared as I've just found out that this saturday I'll have an assessment to signify the end of my probationary period of work, so I'm meeting with my boss at Tescos so she can quiz me on procedures and such; hoping I don't get asked anything I don't know!

The dress is H&M via Scope for £3.95. It was a size 12, and usually I am a size 12 but its a touch too big, so either I've lost weight or H&M configure their sizes in an attempt to make me feel fantastic (well it worked!) It's navy with square spots and it makes me want to skip around and pick flowers a little bit!

I tried on as well a gorgeous vintage frock, it was a slinky fitted velvet mini and had a rather glamorous sequinned halterneck detail. I was smitten, but it was £8.95 and I was only planning to spend less than a tenner on clothes. I should probably know, but I'm not 100% on when I'm getting paid, and I need to save to go out next week/the multitude of birthdays coming up. I would've asked them to save it for me, but I didn't want to say 'hold this untill further notice'

The shirt was from Age Concern, and I have worn it at every opportunity since I bought it! for £2.50, I'm rather pleased! It doesn't show too well in the photos, but it has a little checked pattern on it. I think I love it because I always loved Debbie off the wild Thornberrys, being all crazy cool and laid back, and I swear I'm just channeling Debbie in this shirt.

And oh!! excitement! On the 1st of march I shall be attending a vintage fair in Newcastle. One aspect I am completely looking foward to is buying vintage buy the kilo. Yes, clothes are being sold like a pick n' mix! When I first heard this I was a tad apprehensive, because upon hearing the word vintage my mind flickers instantly to the thought of heavy taffeta or velvet hollywood gowns which paractically require a crane or a spine of steel to support their weight. Fingers crossed it's all light and floaty.

After going medieval on my wardrobe/general accumulation of clothes, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm craving new clothes. For a while now I've ventured into my cupboard or drawers and stumbled across something I never wear, or that just doesn't hang right and added it to a growing pile of clothes at the side of my bedroom. My clothes have now been whittled down to the items I love, wear frequently and look good in, but there remains the question of what to do with the pile.

I usually tell my mates and let them have a rummage through and let them take anything which tickles their fancy, but this time I've had the idea to arrange a clothes swapping event.

My birthday's coming up on the 6th of Feb, and I don't really have a party planned yet. This saturday is my mate Katie's birthday party, then next saturday I'm being taken out by 3 of my mates to Newcastle, but the rest of the crew aren't going along. On my actual birthday I'm on a school trip to Ford Castle, then chilling with the 'rents, and 3 days later I'm on another school trip to Paris for a week, then a day later I'm to be in Barcelona with my family (woo budget airlines!) Not to mention Sam's birthday on the 2nd and Becky's on the 14th.

So I was trying to slot in a party somewhere, and my mum and I wanted to go a bit Abba and have a themed party, I could be the dancing queen only 17. Frankly the only time I could celebrate with the crew would be around March time, and by then I'd probably be used to the idea of being 17 and not in the party mood.

Basically I love birthdays/Christmas/festivities, but I hate the idea of getting presents. Well I don't mind presents, I guess I just dislike the idea of being the reason for somebody to part with their money, I hate being spent money on unneccesarily.

Instead of a party, I was thinking to hire out a hall or ask permission from the school to use one of theirs and arrange a clothes swapping event. If I asked for a small charge at the door then the proceeds would go to a charity, along with unclaimed clothes. I'm not too positive on how to host one though, and maybe if anybody has hosted one or has advice then all would be much appreciated!

For wednesday, I wore my ubercute david and goliath t-shirt (it has a piece of cheese on a bread roll, and the cheese is saying I'm on a roll!) along with a belt I got free with a jacket, my swap skirt and my Debbie shirt. The pumps are some little things I picked up at shoefayre over a year ago, and through wear and tear both soles have holes which made them a bad option for the rainy day. For work I wore my barrats boots, H&M skinnies, pink strappy, Debbie shirt and one of my mum's belts from the 80s.

Much Love,

-Sarah

PS - Did anyone see skins? What do you think? I'm still undecided as to whether I like it or not.

Barack Obama!

I watched history happen on my TV in England,
I can't imagine how it must feel in the USA!
xx

Let's get physical!

Hello There! How are you?

You may notice my cool-kid/not-so-cool-kid posing. When a camera's shoved in my face unannounced then I'm fairly photogenic (can I hear the vanity fairy calling?) however for my outfit photos, pictures where my face isn't contorted in such a way to look like a twat are few and far between. If I do wacky poses then I can side-step this issue, as the healthy dose of loser-pose is on purpose!

Wednesday I wore my Miss Selfridge via Age Concern top, dad-skirt and big green River Island boots along with an array of necklaces.
All this before me and my mate Vicky went to the gym.

I will just elaborate on this for you. You see, in Hexham there is a sports centre called the Wentworth centre which had the basic trimmings of a sports centre; tennis court, running track, fairly complete gym, water fountain, etc. It had big halls and rooms where I went to a couple birthday parties in first school, and a ball pit that I never went to.

Last year when PE was compulsory we took buses down and got free usage of the gym every lesson along with a free induction . This triggered Vicky and I's complete conviction with going to the gym, and since we went along to the Wentworth for free we've vowed to start going to the gym. Needless to say we didn't, but we did talk about it! And we also were adamant that we would go for runs. Didn't do that either.


Last year the Wentworth launched a complete renovation, where they installed 2 swimming pools and a hip, new-fangled, completely decked out gym. Work was completed around last october I think, and so the plan for the gym was back on, almost, Vicky and I decided it would be better for after new year's. So 2 weeks ago me and Vicky got all excited that we were actually going, after procrastinating so much and being the cause for much amusement for the rest of my crew we were going to the gym!


We planned it for last wednesday, and I was ill so it didn't happen. And the crew laughed at me because they all thought I skivved out of fear from the gym, and the run on the sunday was off too due to illness.

Finally on wednesday, we made it down to the Wentworths after school, and I realised I hate tracky-Bs because they hate me! I have never felt more self-conscious or out of place, so thank goodness Vicky was there for moral support. I almost wore my massive "Geissler" t-shirt, because it's big and cosy, however glad I didn't as pretty much everyone who does PE at my school was there and I didn't want to be that girl who has her last name on a t-shirt.


The gym was so cool, the cross-trainers had tv screens on them! So of course afterwards we headed over the road to Tesco and pigged out on chocolate filled chocolate chip cookies and mango pop (eurgh, by the way). But the next day I was ill again, and when I was at school on Friday I got so much stick from people simply thinking I'd overdone the gym and couldn't move on thursday, which wasn't what happened! But my mum did advise me against the sunday run and any more gym-ing untill I'm fully recovered.

And I realise that there may be a fair few people who read this and think 'what's the crack with her? i go to the gym all the time! it's not THAT interesting!' then you should either chuckle at my humble naive adventures out of my comfort zone, or keep your thoughts to yourself!

A while ago I got this leopard print top from the RSPCA, and it looked great when I tried it on, however the moment I got it home it was apparent that there was something about it which was just odd. I don't know if it was the cut or the drape of it, but it hung in the most unflattering way. So I dealt with it the way I deal with all problematic clothes, I attacked it with scissors.

Now it hangs a lot better as a cardi. On Friday I teamed it with a strappy I made froma primark tshirt, the dad-skirt, my kaffiyeh (thankyou very much Ivana!) and my complete heels of the moment.

On Saturday for work, both paying and volunteer, I wore the leopard cardi again, with an H&M dress and a skirt under the dress, because frankly it's the most see through dress and I should like to think I'm not an exhibitionist! I have on with it a little brooch and waist belt, both RSPCA, and my heels!

After work I met up with the crew and we headed up to mine; I live fairly central to everywhere in Hexham whereas most of my friends live at the edge of town or a couple towns over, so my crib is generally the venue to crash.

Whilst I was working away, Vicky bought some hair dye. Me and her used to have the same colour of hair which wasn't really definable as a colour; it was too light to be brunette, too dark to be blonde and too grey to be auburn. I remedied this by attempting blonde which at first ended as outrageous ginger, and I'm still in a rut hair-wise as I can't get it blonde myself, but I don't trust hairdressers.

I worked at one for two weeks with the school work experience programme which was fine, and from that I got hired at another hairdressers. At this particular establishment, the girls were nice enough to me, but they were so bitchy about the customers! And I'd never get my hair done there as I'd like to know my attitude toward the hairdresser wouldn't be a factor in the price of a haircut.

In all fairness, I am a little bit spiteful that I got sacked after 4 weeks, oh well!

But now I cut and dye my own hair (which explains why I have long hair), and on the occasion my friends are skint and need a trim. So I dyed Vicky's hair in the kitchen sink, which in every other aspect was completely professional! So her hair looks all pretty and brunette now, and we have both escaped our weird, dull, non-colour hair!

So I'm preparing myself for tomorrow at school to explain to most of my teachers that I didn't do my homework as I've missed too many important lessons to understand what on earth we're doing, I hate how my genuine reasons sound so contrived and false!

Cheers so much to everyone giving their thoughts on universities! It's such a help to get different views on it, and in Hexham I wouldn't be able to get such an array of people giving their input as I do here on the blog!

Very much love!

-Sarah

It's been a hard days night

Hello there! How are you?

I made my triumphant official return to school Monday! Yay! I'm better, despite still sounding like a man. I was certain that with throat problems comes a mannish voice, then a sexy husky voice, but my voice is perpetually mannish and doesn't show any signs of letting up. So my sexy, husky voice will remain a dream for me...

The outfit I don here is a vintage dress from Attica, my H&M skinnies and my white boots. I'm besotted

with the collar detail of the dress. It's a bit on the conserative side, but I was working the RSPCA so I was rocking the innoffensive chic.

Lately I've been checking through gap year options and unis. I'm definitly to be studying fashion design, but the question is where!? I've accumulated a large array of prospectuses/prospecti, and to be honest I have been a tad bit over-ambitious with my options;

• Parsons in New York, which is the dream because I could only dream of being rich enough to attend there. It's alrady been ruled out, but it's a nice thought...


• The Academy of Art in San Francisco, which is my somewhat attainable-but-still-not-really-attainable option.


• Polimoda in Florence, which is much cheaper, and although I'd have to learn Italian, I pick up languages easily and they offer a free course in Italian.


• Esmod in Paris, which would be pure perfection as it's the birthplace of fashion and I already know French enough to hold a conversation without sounding like a twat.


• Central St. Martins in London, need I say more?

I'm trying to rule out places I want to attend simply because I'd like to go there, similarly I am taking into account that I am 16 and there is something innate inside me which wills me to make a break for independence and move as far away as possible, so I'm trying not to base my decision too much on the excitement of the city. I have always been an avid traveller and I love the thrill of being in a seperate country speaking a different language, but I wouldn't go to a uni based upon this.

Studying fashion is something far removed from what my eldest brother, Greg, is studying which is electrical engineering. Electrical engineering is something which fundementally will be the same everywhere, the laws of physics, mathematics and technology won't be swayed by London or Sheffield Hallam, where he is now, only the quality of teaching would be altered. The point I'm trying to convey to my parents is that to study fashion I'd like to be somewhere rife with fashion, somewhere where I could be inspired on a daily basis and somewhere which wouldn't get old for at least a year. I recognise that fashion exists everywhere, and the quality of my education should come before the surroundings, perhaps somewhere outrageously diverse and cultured would turn out a terrible place educationally, but I can't help but think I'd feel much more creative in a creative environment. Maybe I'm just dreaming that the grass is greener.

I'm begging for any suggestions/help/advice for uni, as I only know people who study academic subjects or who dropped out of fashion school.

And it doesn't help when every teacher emphasises that this time next year I will have EVERYTHING sorted!

So clothes! Monday - I picked up these little shoes £2 from the Tyndale community hospice shop on Saturday, and I'm in love. I wore my Walmart "Hard day's night" t-shirt, I love that I saw more Union Jack in America than I do at home! leopard print tights, of course! A 50p waist belt, tch shop again, a black primark strappy underneath my tshirt and my dad skirt.

As a recovering ill person, I have returned to school expecting to have kept up with all essay deadlines set while I was away, which is why I spent all evening after work tonight writing 2 essays, 2000 and 1000 words. I got that done, but that explains why I'm finding recreational time at ridiculous hours!

On the plus side, my mate Hell got me a get well soon prezzie, being the absolute sweetie she is! She texted me saying she saw it and thought of me, so initially I thought Oh god, what could it be? But she was shopping last week at the metrocentre with her brother, was in H&M mens, and remembered that I adore man jewellery. There was a sale on and she couldn't help herself. So come Monday morning, I was one happy camper! check out my diamonte-studded trainers! I actually know about 3 people who have the same necklace who are all girls, so it's not just me!

So today I wore my emo scarf (I'm sure it has a name, if anyone could kindly tell me, all my friends associate it with the emo movement and call me emo as a result, I dissagree!) trainers necklace!, a primark tshirt, primark strappy, tch shop wonder-shoes and a skirt i picked up at a clothes swapping event.

So hopefully my homework levels will calm somewhat over the coming week, because essays are bum! I'm off to listen to Janis Joplin and read Sophie's World.

Much Love!

-Sarah