Acceptable in the 80s...

Look how tall my hair is! Wowee!

The company I work for turns 30 this year and, to celebrate, they threw us an awesome 80s themed party (since we started out in 1981). We had red carpet photography (yup - absolutely as naff as it sounds but totally fun all the same!), a bunch of free drinks, amazing tunes all night, an awards ceremony and some fantastic prizes (jealous much of the chick who won an iPad2?). But, the best bit was, without question, the fact that they got a team of hair and make up artists to come to the office during the day to knock together some 80s hair and make up for those who wanted it. Yup, part of my working day last Thursday consisted of sitting being crimped and back-combed to within an inch of my (hair's) life! Best job ever? It's hard to see from the pics but my artiste went with a pink, green and orange striped eye, slightly heavy brow and bright orange lippie. I had to tone down the eye a little but I made up for it by topping up the orange lippie throughout the night! (With my duty free purchased MAC Morange Lipstick - it's vibrant to say the least).Well, it would have been rude not to! The resultant look was kind of sad punky/new romantic prom girl. I loved it!

Dress: vintage from charity shop (only 7 quid!), Feathered cape: ASOS - gift from a friend, Necklace: Primark (£1 in the sale!), Shoes: Schuh (£15 in the sale).

Total bargain outfit, non? I LOVE this dress! It's so demented bridesmaid and I adore the ruching on the front, the rose on the waist and the heavy full skirt. They said it was going cheap as the straps were frayed. I just cut them off! It's so nipped and boned it doesn't need them anyway.It has two labels inside it "Richard Shops" and "A Herald Fashion". I haven't had time to Google them but I'm sure, when I did in the past, it didn't turn up much. I remember a shop, Richards, when I was wee though and suspect this is an 80s does 50s number.

P-to-the-S - the shoes are pair #61 in my shoe wearing challenge!

Longest day of the year, my arse.

It's little after 3pm and I have the lamp on cause it's so dull in my living room. Which is on the top floor of a tenement and usually flooded with light. (Did I ever tell you I love my house? It's awesome). Welcome to Summer Solstice in Scotland! Jeeeeeezuz!

So, to cheer myself up, I thought I'd whack up an outfit post from a night at the pub a coupla weeks ago. I say the pub: we did actually go for dinner rather than just boozes. Cos one is most posh, y'know? As you can probably tell from my too short, too tight get up:

Shoes: Schuh, Leggings and 'dress': Uniqlo, shirt: Primark, necklace: Lady Luck Rules ok, Skank attitude: The 80s.

Fuck yeah! In your face! At times like this, I'm glad of my ample thighs and behind. It just gives everything a bit more shape and interest, I think. The look I was going for here was slight 80's skank (short, tight, high heels), but grunged up and casualled down a bit with messy hair and a checked shirt. And no skank would be complete without a slash of red lippie. Am I right? Speaking of which, I treated myself (at Duty Free) to MACs Morange lipstick. It's bright orange! I've been coveting it for ages but didn't buy it, first because of fear of the colour, then because I became convinced I could find a cheaper alternative. I couldn't. It's a-may-zing. With a 'y'.

And so to the shoes. Embarrassingly, I haven't mentioned the shoe wearing challenge since my post of the 8th of May! For shame! And, in that, I was likening my weekend wear to that of a bag lady. For those who haven't heard me bang on about it (hello those!), the shoe wearing challenge is a bit of a use it or lose it approach to my massimo shoe closet. I have a year (ending in August) to wear all my shoes (not including all my Havaianas and rubber flip flops because a) who wants to see that over and over and b) did you not READ the first paragraph? I'm in S-C-O-T-L-A-N-D  and all the weather cliches are TRUE!). Those that aren't worn get sold, donated or chucked. I introduced you to this pair from Schuh a coupla posts back but they were just on the floor. Now they're on the floor and being worn! I give you, pair of shoes # 60!

Looooooook! The heel is so sparkly! Looooooooook! The suede is so soft and purple! The platform is so glorious, the heel is so deliciously chunky, they're GORGEOUS! And I'll let you into a secret. I can barely walk in them! Seriously - my 80's skank was verging on 80s bad tranny. Oh dear...

Something old, something, er, old...

I bought me some vintage, innit. As I said in my recent Primark post (and as echoed by gorgeous Vix), I do like to pick up something unique when it comes to shopping, as opposed to just more high street fodder. On a shallow note, it's great going out with the knowledge that it's unlikely someone will be knocking about in the same dress/skirt etc as you. On a slightly, shall we say, deeper note, I love the idea of wearing something with history or a story attached. Plus, recycling clothes is good for the environment and whatnot too. I'm off to polish my halo after finishing this (*she remembers the Primark post and the shoes post and climbs off her high horse*. She is, as it happens, entirely allergic to horses anyway.)

So, last week, I had an email from GiGi Vintage. They were celebrating their 1st birthday with a £7 sale from 7am-7pm. Nice. Definitely worth a look, I figured, and I wasn't disappointed. Inevitably, some of the good bits had already sold out when I popped on and it was a scramble to find things in the right size (I never like to discount vintage things on size til I check the measurements) but it was a good scramble. And here's what I came out with. I don't know their stories, just that they're awesome and they FIT!

Let's start with the boots:

I've never bought vintage shoes before (usually because shoes weren't invented in my size in yesteryear. Either that or the vintage size 7 and 8 shoes are hiding from me) and can't believe that these actually fit! They're soft cream leather and just need a wee wipe down and they're good to go. I love the detailing on the ankle and the long but not pointy toes. The soles are virtually unworn and the uppers and lining are in great condition too. All for seven quid! They're a brand called Partners? I can't find any info on them but, if you know anything, do tell me!

Next up is this:

Can you tell what it is yet (said in Rolf Harris voice). Sacramento, I think you'll like this!

Can you? It's a skirt! Well it was sold as a skirt...

'Scuse the boobs trying to break out.

But makes a cute little sundress too! And would you look at that fabric. I mean, jeez - it's awesome! Leopards prowling about in a flowery jungle. I think I was meant to find this skirt! And surely no-one else has one. If you do, let me know!

So, all in all, it's thumbs up for GiGi! Plus, they delivered fast and in a cute pink bag.

A festival with no-one there!

Really. Because I was up at Rockness on Thursday to check that the Schuh Welly Exchange (more in a mo') was looking alright so, for the first time ever, I got to go to a partially built festival. It lacked atmosphere (duh) but it was kinda fun to be there before it got all manky and muddy and before everything kicked off. Consider this mainly to be a post in pictures.

Festival dressing in Scotland = thin layers for warmth/coolness. Rucksack for your crap and flat boots (wellies are better! I'm fairly sure my boots now have an indelible whiff of cow poo.)

Sunglasses. Cause sometimes the sun shines in Scotland. And sometimes it's bright even when it's cloudy. These were free from work. They were K-Swiss branded but, as I'm not a K-Swiss fan I removed the branding with nail polish remover. Ha!

Even if you're only at a festival for the day, these are essentials.

So do you want to see the festival half built and sans people?

 Great! Here it is...

Empty.

Will the main stage be finished on time!?

Big and indeed, wheely.

The most stunning location, right at the end of Loch Ness. Can you see the Loch Ness Monster?

The view from behind the Schuh Welly Exchange - breath taking!

Building one of the bars - they weren't this posh at festivals when I was younger!

Apparently 'haggis or death' involves competitively eating haggis and, when a horn is sounded, downing a shot of Buckfast. Sounds like something I DON'T want to do when the only facilities are portaloos!

So, by now, you may be wondering (and if not, you really need to start reading the words or having a greater sense of curiosity about random things) what the Schuh Welly Exchange is. In a nutshell, you turn up at the festival in trainers/sandals whatever. You realise it ALWAYS rain at festivals and you're a soggy footed doofus. You take your soggy/dirty/ill advised shoes to the Schuh Welly Exchange and you swap them FOR FREE(!) for a shiny new pair of wellies! No joke. The old shoes go to a charity (the Newlife Foundation) who either re-sell or recycle them, raising money for disabled and terminally ill children in the UK, which means money to a good cause AND virtually no landfill on account of the recycling! Yay! Here's the tent...

And time to go home! I decided to be a train station spotter, rather than a train spotter coming home:

How gorgeous is the station in Pitlochry? So cute!

All of these pictures were taken from my train seat. They're not the best quality but I thought it felt more like a story when they were all shot from the exact same place - no cheating and moving to get a better shot. I think people thought I was weird. Or a tourist. Or both.

Gorgeous evening

The tiny glints of light are from the sun's rays reflected on windows in Edinburgh. The pictures were taken from the other side of the Firth of Forth.

The Forth Road Bridge in the gloaming. The gloaming is old Scots for dusk time.

The bridge from the train. The evening light was just beautiful.

And home! My street in the last of the evening light. By this time it was about 11pm. I love summer.

New shoes (I did a bad) 'n' shoe porn

I recently received an email from Sarah asking for shoe porn. Here's a combo of new shoes I've bought (I CANNOT help myself!) and some I'm coveting really quite hard just now...

First up, I didn't buy all these shoes at once. I'm not rich! I've just accumulated them of late so I thought it seemed like a good time to show them off. Especially as I have worn all but one of them and haven't managed to get any outfit posts on them - oops!

First pair - this divine heel from Schuh.I waited for these shoes for AGES! They appeared on the new styles list months ago and the delivery dates chopped and changed back and forth to the point I was scared the order would be cancelled. But it wasn't, and the shoes arrived at Schuh a few weeks back. I LOVE the bright vibrant colour and the super soft suede. I LOVE the glittery heel too and the fact that it's good and CHUNKY. There have been some lovely glittery shoes of late but the heels are all too spindly for my liking (I'm not into a skinny heel at all right now. I say that but I'll probably find myself wearing a pair this week or summat!) so it was love when I saw the sturdiness of this heel. Make no mistake, it DOES NOT make them easy to walk in. In fact, I fear I look like a bad tranny when I walk to far in them (a good tranny would work them). But, dang, I look GOOD when I stop!

Next up is this cutesy lil' pair of Rocket Dog sandals from Branch309 (website of awesome cheapness!). They're almost but not quite a wedge and the suede mustardy upper, cut out detailing and chunktasticness of them just makes for a lovely hippyish vibe. They're going to serve me well this summer, I feel! Plus, they're a totally bargainous £15!

These shoes are amazing! Amazing. However, the wedge almost entirely fell off my first pair! For real. I've taken a chance and gone for a replacement as they are SO pretty (florals? Yes please. GIANT wedge? Yes please!) and actually really comfy. I wore them to a hen do and had them on from about 11.45am til nearly 1 in the morning so they lasted alreet! Except the wedge falling off bit. Hmm. They're £69.99 (wince - I bought them on a total whim as I needed shoes to go with a dress I had! The dress was £12.50 vintage which makes it up a little bit. Right?!) from River Island.

Less exciting, but cute nonetheless are these floral Keds from Schuh. I needed some new trainers for kicking about and Keds were very kindly giving us an extra 20% off on top of our staff discount, so I made the most of it and got these for a song. Cute and comfy. Job done.

And the shoe porn. Cos it's always good to know what you fancy going for next...and, for the most part, it's either leopard print or hairy. Or both. If not, it's delicious shiny brogues.

Boots: £55 (I think): Topshop

Boots: £55 Topshop. I LOOOOOOOVE these!

Brogues £52 (I think): Topshop. Look how shiny!

Shoes, £85: Red or Dead at Schuh. Nope, it's not just a fuzzy picture - they ARE hairy.

Oops - I did a Primark

We don't have a Primark where I live and it's always been the case that, whenever you went somewhere that had one, you went mental and bought up half the shop, triumphantly returning home with declarations of "look at all this! And it only cost me 30 quid!". We're due to get branch this year (or maybe next. It was supposed to be last year) and how do you like this - I am totally losing the Primark feeling. Don't get me wrong, I still pop in and pick up the odd thing here and there, but I don't enjoy it like I used to. In fact, a few times recently, I've popped into Primark only to turn around and leave.

I don't know if it's all the exposes on their (and other high street retailers) alleged human rights failings leaving a sour taste, the fact that their prices have increased noticeably and while they're still cheap, they're not as cheap as they were (and I suspect it isn't the factory workers getting the difference. Yes, I know the cost of materials, transportation etc have risen sharply lately) or the fact that so often the quality and fit of things really is crap, but it just doesn't do it for me like it used to. There's definitely also an element of "she has my dress, she has my dress, she has my dress" ad nauseum. Plus, I find going into their shops, piled with stuff, rammed with people, things all over the floor, queues everywhere really offputting.

So, when I was in Glasgow last week, I thought twice about going into the shop but, not wanting to miss a hidden gem, I decided to go for it. And I bought some stuff (you didn't see this post going that way, did you?!). And I'm going to show you it! My apologies at this point if you thought this post was about becoming truly worthy and turning my back on the high street. I didn't mean to mislead you!

First up is this skirt. I know, I know, it's one of those "been on a million blogs and in a million magazines" pieces but is really is lovely on, it's super pretty, the fabric is stiff and heavy and I can honestly say that, even if 50s-esque stuff hadn't been having a moment, I'd have got it anyway cos that's my bag baby.

Skirt £16

Speaking of bags, I picked up this little khaki floral one. It's just the right size for all my bits and bobs (including my trusty water bottle - I literally cannot go anywhere without a water bottle. And when it comes to Christmas parties, my one rule is that my bag needs to be big enough to fit a cheeky wee gin bottle in. Don't tell whatever god awful hotel we're having the party in this year - I'm sure they would NOT be happy) and has a shoulder strap, a zippy inside pocket and other pockets - pockets (or lack thereof) make or break a bag purchase for me!

Bag £5

I also grabbed a shirt while I was in. I've got really into shirts lately - it's like I'm 14 again - all I wore then was oversized check shirts, dodgy t-shirts and leggings, with the occasional pair of jeans or hippy skirt. However, this time around, while I still love a checked shirt, I'm also foraying into patterns and this mint green floral number is adorable. PLUS, it's something that could be from anywhere and not necessarily the sort of thing everyone will rush to buy.

Shirt £6

Granny-tastic cardigan. This is the kind of thing I aim to pick up somewhere like Primark. As with the shirt, it's not the sort of thing you see in magazines, it isn't a standout piece and it could be old or new. But it's cute with a kind of lacey look and has gold lurex on it (can't resist a bit of gold lurex). Can I just say at this point, it isn't that I don't want people to think I've shopped at Primark (I wouldn't put my purchases up here if that was the case!) - I don't really care what people think! It's just that I'm not keen to buy the things you see every second person wearing or pieces you can't do your own thing with!

Cardigan £12

And finally, some wee jewellery bits! A flamingo brooch and a lizard ring. Well, they're just cute, aren't they!?

Ring £1.50

Brooch £1