The Year That Fashion Forgot

Hold tight, count to three, gotta stay close by me

2012-01-08T19:16:00.008Z

I think this picture sums up everything that was fantastic about my Christmas.

I’ve never been so excited to give presents before; John Lewis ran an advert about a little boy who just couldn’t wait for Christmas and was restlessly counting downthe days until the day finally came. Instead of rushing to the tree to unwrap his gifts, he rushed to his parents’ room to give them their present from him, and that’s exactly how I was for the whole month!

At the pub I work at home, a few regulars came in on Boxing day after watching the football at another pub and were telling me about these two guys who instead of wearing their Newcastle shirts were donning ridiculous, matching, reindeer cardigans. To which I had the pleasure of informing them that those two guys in the ridiculous, matching, reindeer cardigans were in fact my Dad and eldest brother!

Matching festive cardigans? Always a great present and sure to make you and your family the talk of the town.

So what have I been making of the new year?

I always stare out of the windows when I’m on trains, and every time I’m travelling to Waterloo I always notice this extremely colourful complex of buildings out of the window with WWW.MAKESPACESTUDIOS.CO.UK protruding from the roof. And every time I see it I always think ‘hmm, I really should check that out when I get home’. And every time it completely slips my mind until the next time I see the studios. This went on for months until just before New Year’s I finally checked it out.

One of the studios belonged to a costume and styling team, so I got in touch with them about maybe doing some work experience with them. I’m doing a design course but I keep on feeling like I’m much more interested in styling and costume, so this team would be perfect for me to work with. So I was over the moon when they arranged for me to come in on Thursday for an interview!

After a good hour or a few of playing dress-up and helpful input from my housemate, I found the winning you-should-absolutely-hire-me outfit. The heels were £20 New Look (sale, aw yeah!), trousers £10 from a street market, top £3.50 from Cancer Research and the necklace and bracelet both came from the RSPCA.

Now these were buildings I’d only ever seen from a train, so when the directions called for me to go down an alleyway then ascend a pink and black staircase I stopped knowing what to expect...

Upon walking in I was greeted with walls coated in doodles and colours, odd sentences scrawled all over the place and a long, narrow, winding corridor. To top it all off it was at 8.30AM and I was the only soul there, so I was creeping around in an eerie silence.

I snuck a couple photos of the studio's communal area...

Now I’m not Alice, and have never fallen down a rabbit hole as far as I know, but this was definitely the closest I’ve been to it!

I met with the team’s assistant who looked through my work and CV, she asked me questions, I asked her questions, we shared a giggle… so I think that went well. I made sure to add that I spent 3 years styling the windows at the RSPCA shop and that I make a great cuppa, both of which I’m sure were equally impressive to her.

I heard back on Friday night that the team would like me to help out for the next three weeks on a re-cast of a production they’re doing, so at the moment I’m just feeling like the cat that’s got all the cream!

So apart from a bastard of a cold that’s bothering me, 2012 is going pretty well for me! I shall keep you posted.

Much Love!

Sarah

Let's Get Ready To Rhumble!

2011-12-07T04:39:00.003Z

Well hello! Welcome! How are you?

A bit of background to what this whole blog is... well, was.

When I was 16 I made a new year's resolution to not buy any new clothes. I embark

ed on a year-long project to reject new fashion. I sourced things only from charity shops, vintage shops, car boot sales and clothes swaps and did swimmingly well for most of the year.

I tracked my progress through this blog, taking pictures of my outfits everyday and posting updates about the latest additions to my wardrobe.

I didn't do so well in terms of regular updates, but I did try to crack out a post every now and again!

Now 3 years have passed since my first post; I'm a little older, a little wiser..? (Pfft!)

So please allow me to re-introduce myself.

My name is Sarah-Mary Geissler, currently a young lady of 19-going-on-20.

I have moved from the North-East of England and now reside in Epsom, about 30 minutes outside of London...

...Which is far enough away for there to be holiday posters about my hometown.

And I am in my first year studying Fashion Design at the University for the Creative Arts.

I'm pretty much restarting this blog as I just enjoy rambling.

It was a pleasure to meet you!

Much love!

Sarah

The girl that I knew somewhere...

2011-12-02T00:58:00.004Z

You!

Stop!

Wait right there!

I'm planning on re-starting my blog.

But I cannot think of anything witty/clever/fantastically charming to write about at the moment.

I'd rather not post a picture as I'm just donning a band t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms.

So here's a picture of the Fendi girl.

And watch this space.

Much love,

Sarah-Mary

X x x

Tick Tick Tick Boom

2009-05-13T19:45:00.005+01:00

Much Love!

Sarah

Who wears short shorts?

2009-04-14T23:47:00.008+01:00

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!

2009-04-10T02:38:00.010+01:00

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

A little less conversation, a little more action

2009-02-02T19:32:00.005Z

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

2009-01-22T19:35:00.016Z

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!

2009-01-20T21:25:00.002Z

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!

2009-01-18T02:00:00.008Z

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

2009-01-11T02:19:00.015Z

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

Tear it up! Rip it up! Kick it up!

2009-01-08T16:24:00.010Z

Hello there! How are you?

I've just come across something which frankly should've been glaringly obvious to me since I first began this blog. All these photos, bar the new year's when someone else was taking them, will be backwards.

This has only just occurred to me when I thought it weird that my Kings Of Leon t-shirt looked just like random scrawl!

I could take this opportunity to reverse my photos, but dammit! I'm set in my ways!

I suppose I'd be lying if I said that my jeans were not directly inspired by http://lovemoreblog.blogspot.com/, who recently posted a blog where she went medieval on a pair of Levis. I've been looking for a while for a pair of light denim skinnies to tramp- up, but decided that this pair of garishly ill-fitting Primark £6 skinnies would suffice. And success!

For the past few days Appetite for Destruction has been my non-stop soundtrack, so I'm completely loving the 90's-dishevelled-trashy-glamorous-rock-star look.

Honestly I haven't really listened to Guns N' Roses since I was 11/12 and all the other girls were into Natasha Bedingfield (in middle school girls listening to rock were weird, golly gosh how times change!)

Today I rocked a Kings of Leon t-shirt I got 2 years ago, teamed this with a Dotty P's bangle and my white boots. Next to my other pair, these are second in command on the boots front.

The jeans turned out to cause a bit of commotion at school, I got countless confused and disgruntled glares from the lower school kids. My mates liked them, well they "liked them for me" which is code for "I wouldn't touch them with a 10ft pole, but as long as you're happy"

I actually felt rather spectacular all day! I've been trying them on with my whole wardrobe.

I didn't get to strut them too much, I only stayed in school for Graphics and Philosophy because after 2 days absent from school, I still don't seem to have recovered. I'm essentially a massive academic nerd and I hate that I'm missing so much because it's 6th form, so it's something I've chosen as opposed to compulsory education. I tried today and I'll try again tomorrow.

And oh my god! How nice is everyone who comments? Everyone is so sweet! Thankyou!

Much Love!
-Sarah

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

2009-01-06T15:18:00.015Z

Okay, I know, completely cliche title reference to snow. But c'mon! It was snowing! Yesterday morning I was wishing it was Christmas again! I completely had a little kid moment

when I threw open the curtains to reveal a winter wonderland!

For school (back at school, eurgh!) I donned a vintage shirt I picked up at the clothes show live last year. Teamed with thick black tights, Tesco Uggs and a skirt I found at a clothes swapping event. All topped off with a belt from the RSPCA.

I'm one of the silly people who insists on wearing a mini-skirt regardless of the weather, to be honest I rarely feel the cold on my knees. But I could do without the countless people constantly inquiring "Are you not absolutely freezing!?" I always wear thermal socks and a massive mack, so it's not as if I'm not wrapped up!

After that I was off to work, so I swiftly changed into something a little more conservative, I changed into my cut-off Primark skinnies, Tesco cardi and my ever-relevant boots.

I got a text off my boss saying that due to the credit crunch 6 of the stores we're concessions to have closed, so now we have to put in our all to ensure our concession positions at the rest of our shops.

These pictures were taken after my walk home from work, during which time I realised I should have worn gloves as my hands were utterly tomato.

Today I was off from school, frankly tonsilitis is just a frustration. I doubt I missed much, on Tuesdays my first lesson is Philosophy at 10.10, then break, then Graphics, then the rest of the day is free.

After assembly at 9 my mate and I always trot back to my house for hot chocolate. It's rather convenient to live near school!

My mate was ill too, so I ended up sleeping till 11, then reading Sophie's World for a couple hours.

Now I'm gathering information for my Graphics project's art history. I'm looking at Las Vegas, which is an excuse for me to play with pretty shiny things. I recently invested in a £7 laminator, so now there is no excuse for things to not be shiny!

Much Love,

-Sarah

Bag it up

2009-01-03T17:48:00.007Z

Hello there! How are you?
I suppose my Brigitte Bardot-esque bombshell look was somewhat a fail, but my roots are gone! So all is well.

I was at the RSPCA in the morning, and this photo's from standing on a table in my living room, still decked from Xmas.

This is probably amongst the top 5 favourite dresses in my cupboard. If I have to go somewhere and have forgotten to plan an outfit in advance (because yes, I do plan my outfit/s the night before) then this is always a safe bet for a last minute outfit.

I got it at Camden market last summer for a tenner, the middle section is a thick orange, grey and bronze tartan, the rest is all black velvet. The detail isn't picked out spectacularly in the photo, but it has a satin butterfly pattern on the top picked out with black jewels and a black sequinned belt.

These would be my outrageously overworn boots, does anyone else have shoes or just items they always seem to have on because they actually do just seem to go with everything? First and foremost, I'd like to clarify that I am most certainly a boot enthusiast. I've had these boots from Barrats about a year and a half. I wore these bad boys down without realising that when I went to get the re-heeled they had lost over half the height.

Whilst working away, someone brought an armful of bags to the counter from the back for me to price, and instantaneously I squirreled this away behind the desk incase any customer saw it. It's gorgeous ornate embossed leather and it has that pretty heavy leather sound. The manager let me have it for £1.99.

I'm a vegetarian and don't wear real fur, but I wouldn't rant at somebody for wearing animal because I do use leather products. I justify myself that my real leather products are generally vintage, I keep my leather usage to a minimum, the products themselves last much longer than an imitation leather would. A cow is never killed solely for it's hide, it's only a by-product of the meat industry unlike furs.

After a brief power-nap I was ready to head down to Tesco to organize the hell out of the Kid's jewellery. Since I work in the store, but not for the store, and I work on my own without my boss or a supervisor or anyone then I essentially get freedom to wear whatever. With that said, there is a dresscode, consisting of no miniskirts, sensible shoes, general don't-be-a-slag rules, nothing overtly strict.
I get the feeling that all of the Tesco staff look upon my partially fabulous outfits with unaffected scorn, frankly if I had to don the starchy blue shirts and frumpy long skirts and practical shoes I'd cry quite a bit. Well maybe not, I'd probably put up with it and just bitch about the uniform with other co-workers to make converstaion. Still though, uniform, bleurgh.
Also, check the badge! I know it's not incredible in the slightest, but honestly it makes me feel a bit special when I wear it.

I have a day left before I'm back to school, so I'm off to rush the last of my coursework and such.
Much love,
-Sarah

Gentlemen prefer blondes

2009-01-02T17:29:00.011Z

Hello! How are you there?

Today was my return to work - I work for a jewellery consession company who supply the jewellery racks in supermarkets and high street shops, so I restock the racks in my town at Superdrug and Tesco.

I realised I have a bad habit for my clothes, I always assume they'll look better off the shoulder. Maybe I'm just a bit snip happy, but I've lost many a garment after realising that they aren't improved after being ravaged by scissors.

That said, this sweater seems to work better, which was a relief because it's cosy. It was in the rag bin at the RSPCA and I saved it.

I always feel a slight pang of guilt when I wear this skirt. It's an ex-pair of Springsteen-era Levis which my Dad gave me along with another pair to patch up for him. Well, they got pushed aside and forgotten for a couple months, in which time he went on a diet and started wearing jeans only when he went out on walks. After some time I re-discovered them in my cupboard and shredded both pairs, somehow telling my Dad about this decision slipped my mind. So one morning he saw me rocking this skirt...well he wasn't best pleased. In my defense he has roughly 3 shelves of jeans, including another pair of these ones!

Oh, and these photos are taken in my mum's room, she has a wall of wardrobes with mirrors on the doors which is fun to dance infront of :) and also I can't walk around in my room due to the flotsam coating my floor.

I only did Superdrug today which was half an hour so I took some time to toddle around town a little. I rummaged through Age Concern and found this lush little Miss Selfridge top hiding in the racks. It was £3.49, so one is pleased!

And it matched my River Island boots, which made their well overdue debut today. I got them on sale for about £25 over a year ago and this year I'm determined to wear them because they deserve to be out!

Oh and currently I have my hair slicked back with hair dye, I've decided I can't bear my outrageous roots anymore! Also my hair was supposed to come out a lovely blonde last time, these pictures don't really do justice to it's true jaundiced brass colour.

I'm essentially in the pursuit of Brigitte Bardot's bombshell look, so fingers crossed my hair'll turn out a gorgeous blonde as opposed to another ginger catastrophe which I will convince my friends was intentional!

Much Love,

-Sarah

Welcome To The January

2009-01-01T18:56:00.007Z

Happy New Year!!

For the past few days my crew (yeah, I say crew despite being neither pirate nor gangsta) have been inviting me to various new years shindigs, which I had declined due to health.

After a day of slouching about, feeling sorry for myself, I decided to stick on a frock just to look and feel nice when it hit midnight.

Well...just a dress turned to a dress with accessories, and shoes, and hair, and makeup. The dress was a H&M dress I found in the RSPCA shop for £3. The belt, ring, bracelets and brooch on my necklaces (which there wasn't a good picture of) were all from the RSPCA - I found all these things before they hit the shop floor! The heels were the shoes for my yr11 ball, they're from New Look and I'm intending to wear them more often this year.

So pretty much I was all dressed up with nowhere to go, I'd already declined my mates offer as I assumed I'd still be under the weather. My mum, nana and I were all sitting around the tv watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny (hootenanny! definitly saying that more often!)

Luckily enough my mother was invited to a small gathering at her friends house which we headed to after midnight. T'was fun, I'd been told someone my age would be there (but there wasn't!) so I just hung out with my mum (who according to a happily sloshed bearded man would be a fox if she were on Creature Comforts-back away from my mum mister!).

I had about 2 glasses of wine and felt a tad off, before realising I'm not meant to drink when on antibiotics, so I remained young and sober. We played charades - if I can pride myself on one thing, it is that I annihilate at charades! Also -fun fact!- apparently the cake on the Rolling Stones album cover for Let It Bleed was baked by Delia Smith, drunk acquaintances of my mum know the zaniest things!

And everyone, cheers for the feedback on my first few posts! Does anyone else get a really happy feeling when they get a comment? I saw that people had commented actually on what I'd said and not just commented for the crack of it and I felt really special! But more importantly, this is where my resolution begins, so make sure you stay in touch and watch my progress, or if you like then give me advice on clothes and such.

I hope everyone's 2009 is happy and prosperous!!

Much love,

-Sarah

Ouch

2008-12-27T17:04:00.005Z

Flu has morphed into tonsilitis
sorry but don't expect any photos of me anytime soon, my face isn't looking to well
much love,
-Sarah

"Something is not right with me"

2008-12-26T16:15:00.000Z

Hello there! How are you?

Well I spent christmas day with the flu, which wasn't too pleasant, and today it's only worsened. So whilst my two brothers and the 'rents are hitting the boxing day sales and spreading good cheer to my relatives, I'm dwelling at home in my gangsta hoodie with a nose redder than rudolph's (ooh! seasonal reference!) feeling somewhat sorry for myself.

But at the risk of sounding like a self-centered, angst-ridden teen, I do wish to clarify that Christmas was brilliant! I mostly got books and cds; a vegetarian cookbook, Sophie's World, Paper Towns, The Yellow Wall-paper, a kitch-looking baked gifts cookbook, a gok wan book on how to dress, Kings of Leon, Girls Aloud, The Killers and Cold War Kids (my soundtrack at the moment, hence the title)

A couple days ago I blitzed my wardrobe; I am one of those people who has too many clothes to fit in their drawers/cupboard, and have an embarrassingly large amount of unworn/once worn clothes. If I'm serious about this then I shouldn't start the year with an abundance of clothes, because that would be far too easy and to some extent just defeat the point.

So I went through, brutally, and ended up with 3 plastic bags of clothes and a plastic bag of belts and bags. My shoes are still all there as I do actually wear my shoes on a healthy rotation, which I'm a little proud of myself for. I dropped 2 of the bags off at the Tynedale Community Hospice shop (2 was all I could carry) and I considered dropping the rest off at the RSPCA shop where I volunteer, but I'm not sure whether I'd be comfortable with people I know so well rifling through my things, and it might be quite mean as some of the items were from there originally so I couldn't just return them.

I've worked out a couple kinks in the plan; for example usually if I go to a gig I'll buy a t-shirt. I've never seen a band play twice and I doubt that will change within 2009, so essentially that means when I go to a gig, I have a one off opportunity to buy a band t-shirt from that gig. So I've decided if I go to a gig, then I'll buy a t-shirt but only wear it in 2010. Similarly, if someone doesn't know or doesn't remember my resolution and buys me some new item of clothing then I'll put it away and wear it in 2010. I swear I'm not just trying to justify cheating!

Hope everyone had a very merry christmas!
Much love,
-Sarah

My mission not-so-impossible, but whatever.

2008-12-21T02:46:00.000Z

Hello! Welcome! How are you?
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sarah-Mary Geissler, currently a young lady - 16 going on 17. I reside in NorthEast England.

As of January 1st I am embarking upon a year-long project to reject new fashion. This will be the year that fashion forgot.

This is basically my resolution for 2009, to shop solely at charity shops, vintage shops, car boot sales, avoiding the high street at all costs. I'm assuming that the more cynical of you may see this as a completely timid feat to undertake; yeah, there's loads of people who already do this without needing the whole dramatic annoucement and blog shebang, but frankly it's a big alteration in the way I look at clothes. And also it's not the hugest of changes as I already rely heavily on charity shops and vintage for my fashion-fix.

Just running the idea by a few friends already poses a problem; for the longest time my friend has told me he knows exactly what to get me for my birthday (man jewelry courtesy of Topman, he isn't a fan of surprise) he wasn't best pleased that he needs to rethink his gift ideas. Also my dear mother, who is my brutally honest style guru and a connoisseur of costume, is somewhat dejected that she will no longer be able to buy clothes, shoes and what not for me to doll up in.

I've deciced to track the progress of my 2009 New Year's Resolution through the medium of blog, partially to allow the world to watch my style evole over the year, partially to pressure me into carrying out the resolution all year. Basically, the blog will document what I'm wearing everyday (this being a statement I will regret making later on)

Earlier in the year I tried photographing my daily outfits before ultimately losing all motivation for it, and any resolution I have previously made has inevitably went a bit Titanic (stop biting nails-fail!) unless it's been purposely made to be acheivable (finish coursework/exams and be a little bit fabulous-success!) I am making this blog, fully intent upon updating multiple times a week with a daily picture of my outfits and updates of my purchases.

Before I begin, I feel it necessary to set some ground rules to abide by:

1. Thou shalt not purchase garments/shoes/accessories as new
2. Thou shalt not purchase garments/shoes/accessories as new for others
3. Thou shalt not accept garments/shoes/accessories as new from others
4. Thou shalt ALWAYS purchase underwear as new
5. Thou shalt purchase material as new in order to produce garments

So there's my mission statement, any questions?

Much love,
-Sarah