Being Ill

I don't much like being ill, particularly when it means missing dance nights. But anyway, I made it into Windsor today, not looking quite like I usually do. Started (re)reading 'Kafka on the Shore' which inevitably made me hunger for japanese food. Made katsu curry and mushroom miso, and ramen for my parents.

Headband, green t-shirt, and jumper: hand-me-downs

Trousers: charity shop

Have a couple of cheery evening things.

Jess xx

Bookish Inspiration

Last week I decided to use my copy of 'Paradise Lost' as a colour palette inspiration for my outfit. This is what happened:

Jumper: charity shop

Dress: charity shop

Jess xx

Outfit Rotation

When people see me once a week at dance, for example, the general consensus is that I have a large and diverse wardrobe of garments ranging in style through half a century. In the day-to-day, however, particularly when I am at university, I don't often have the time to be as creative as I can be when going out for the evenings, and often wear the same clothes in rotation. To show you what I mean, and how easy it can be to do, this is what I have been wearing over the past week:

THURSDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY MORNING

Necklace: charity shop

Headscarf: jumble sale

MONDAY EVENING AND TUESDAY 

Skirt: charity shop

Rucksack satchel: Ebay

WEDNESDAY

Jumper: charity shop

Cardigan: charity shop

(I wore the cardigan because it has daffodils on it and I decided to celebrate the first day of Spring)

TODAY (THURSDAY)

Cardigan: charity shop

BOOK - 'THE UNCOMMON READER' by Alan Bennett (read it! It is fantastic!)

All of my outifts here have revolved around the same one t-shirt (I was trying to get as much wear of it as I could before returning it to my sister, from whom it was borrowed!), and two skirts.

What else have I been getting up to of late, you may well ask. Yesterday I went along to the 'Milton-athon' - a day long reading of John Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. Hosted by RHUL lecturer Dr. Eric Langley, it was a shared reading which went from 10am-6pm. In order to read an extract, you had to be given the apple (or, perhaps I should say, the Fruit Forbidden). There was also wine and 'Just Heaven' fruit juice, which was all very fitting indeed. Unfortunately I could not stay for the whole reading, and so spent most of today catching up. I am exhausted but I have finally read 'Paradise Lost' from cover to cover (although not chronologically!) I have now read 30 and a half books thus far this year, eight of those in the past two weeks, and can't wait to start on the next one.

Finally, I have been listening -utterly spellbound - to Radio 4 Extra's production of Neil Gaiman's novel 'Neverwhere'. The very nice people manning @BBCRadio4Extra's twitter have told me that the first episode of it will be available to download as a podcast. You can download and listen to it all here.

Au revoir all, I hope you're all looking forward to the weekend...

Jess xx

A Night at the Theatre

As I have very little in the way of a life, you may be surprised to hear that I went out this evening; and as I decided to write a blog post about it this evening, indeed an hour after getting home, you can see I haven't deviated far from my usual level of sophistication.
Tonight I went to see the London Swing Orchestra with my friend Alex - who was impeccably dressed as always - at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. The theatre itself is very beautiful and deceptively small, and the building itself, along with the history of theatre in Windsor and Eton, which you can read about here. The building that you can see below (unfortunately not my photograph) was completed in 1910 and was opened that December. It (only just) survived talkies coming into fashion and a variety of things, but is still here and more popular than ever.

The London Swing Orchestra (formerly Graham Dalby and the Grahamophones) were absolutely brilliant, and the worst bit of the night was not being able to get up and dance, which was lamentable indeed! They played us through a whistle-stop tour of the history of swing from the turn of the 20th century from Benny Goodman to Nat King Cole, Irving Berlin, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra.

I went for a... sort of forties-fifties look, although I don't really know what it resembles... As always my bedroom is in a sorry state. It'll be cleaned up nicely soon - once I've written all of my letters and sorted through the mountains of records - so you'll have to excuse its rather dishevelled appearance.

Blouse/top: Topshop hand-me-down

Jumper: charity shop (originally Edinburgh Woolen Mill)

Skirt: charity shop (part of a set I bought last week that I'm not sure if I love or hate)

(And if you're feeling particularly intimate - and if not, shield your eyes! - my lingerie is all from WhatKatieDid)

And last but not least, I'm sure you're dying to hear what the LSO sounded like, so here are a couple of pieces, the Tiger Rag, and 'Jeeves and Wooster' from their CD:

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend celebrating the Welsh rugby win and St. Patrick's Day, and aren't dreading the return of the Monday morning too much.

Jess xx

Beatnik

Today's and last night's outfit. Decided on a beatnik/parisian sort of look because I promised a beehive. Last night was lovely; it was my boss' leaving party, which was supposed to happen in January but got postponed as he was ill. I went on to a pub quiz with the lovely lindy hoppers (we came last). I also drank a LOT of whisky (try Jameson's if you haven't yet) and ginger ale and smoked menthol cigarettes.

Top: Topshop

Trousers: Charity shop

Shoes (not pictured): T K Maxx

Jess xx

...And back in time

I decided upon a slightly different look today...

The outfit is certainly not authentic but I bought it as my Christmas outfit because it gave off the '20s/'30s vibe that I wanted. It is a two-piece skirt and top, and has since shrunk in the wash slightly, so fits a bit more tightly.

Hat - TK Maxx

Top/skirt - charity shop

Necklace - hand-me-down from friend

Whilst I was out, I bought a couple of things from the charity shop, including some 1920s cups and saucers and tea plates. Here are a few photographs of some of the other things:

I bought these tap shoes because I thought re-learning tap might help me with my technique for dance.

Jess xx

Red, White and Blue

At present, my bedroom is a tip. I promise to clean it and show you properly what it all looks like soon. 

Because it is windy and cold and horrid outside I decided to wear the most impractical outfit - everything is thin and summery. I'll be piling on the jumpers in a minute!

What I'm wearing:

Vintage skirt - charity shop

Blouse - charity shop

Cardigan - charity shop

Stockings - hand-me-downs

Corselette - WhatKatieDid

Jess xx

" I will be strange, stout, in yellow stockings, and cross-gartered"

Today I decided to go forward in time! My room is very messy, with clothes all over the place, and I was too tired to put together a '40s or '50s ensemble, so I decided to go '60s and '70s instead! I am makeup-free because my eyes have been really dry and horrid of late and I'm trying to fix that.

WHAT I'M WEARING:

Coat - charity shop (but high street)

Dress - Handmade charity shop

Shirt - retro Debenhams

Bag- Vintage '70s Oroton glomesh (a birthday present from my cousins who went to Australia!)

Stockings - present from a friend's grandmother (I got a whole bag of different stockings from her). I do feel a little bit like Malvolio in them, though - and if you got the reference from the title, have a gold star!

Shoes - charity shop. These are my dance shoes. Yes, they are being held together by cellotape...

Jess xx

"....You haven't seen my best yet."

'The Hour' is not something one can get away from easily. As you may have seen from my many Hour-themed posts - cosplay, parties, cocktails - it is something of an obsession of mine. As I have had quite poorly eyes for a couple of weeks, I'm trying to keep off the eye makeup on non-dance days, so I decided to be Frederick Lyon.

This is my attempt: