Free Cinema!

Some slightly um- *mischevious* looking kids from "The Children".

Do you live in the West Midlands area? Fancy watching a film at the cinema for FREE?

If so head over to the Screen West Midlands  site to find out about the free screenings until November 29th as part of the Festival of Films season. There are all sorts of genres covered during the filmfest from romantic comedy to horror and everything in between. Films are free but you need to book your seat in advance. Click here for full schedule and venues.

Chaka Khan in Reveal Mag

The Christmas campaign at Evans featuring Chaka Khan kicks off today and I’m looking forward to seeing all the images from the shoot, some of which are in  this week’s Reveal magazine. I’m already a sucker for anything polkadot so the reclined shoulder bearing come- buy- my- jumper pose is  effortlessly working its magic on me. Resistance is futile.

Click image to view large

Another Competition!!!!!

I have in my possession one Lane Bryant gift card to the value of $50 that I’m offering to one lucky reader. Lane Bryant don’t do international shipping so this contest is really best suited to stateside readers or someone about to travel to the US very soon.

To win you need to do no more than leave a comment on this post and you’re in with a chance. Competition ends on Friday 20th November, 21.00 GMT where a winner will be drawn at random. Good luck!

Real Live Reindeers!

I was out shopping yesterday afternoon and I saw hoardes of people gathered in the middle of the street along with around 20 security guards. Being nosey I had to go and see what the attraction was so I shuffled through the crowd and there they were- real reindeer!

This was truly an OMG moment for me because I don’t remember ever seeing reindeer before and I was struck by how beautiful they are. Also, as you only really see them portrayed alongside Santa on christmas cards and not throughout the year you kinda forget- or rather I  forgot that they are not mythical creatures. I stared at them for several  minutes just wanting to stroke their faces but of course I didn’t lest I lose a few fingers. My reaction was much the same as it was when I first saw buffalos in Brooklyn Zoo and I was all- OMG BUFFALO as I had only ever seen them in films.  Did you know reindeer even have fur on their antlers? That makes me sound like a complete idiot but really- I didn’t know.

Truly stunning creatures but my awe was shattered as someone shouted out that they should be out in the wild not kept in behind bars. I don’t know where they came from or where they are usually kept but I hope they are well treated and have ample space to roam about and just be.

Why were they there? It appears that they and “Santa” were being used to give sleigh rides to people but I didn’t hang around to see this as it wasn’t scheduled to start for another 45 minutes and I had to move on. I did feel a bit uneasy though that they were going to be put to work pulling people around in circles just so that they can have the full jingle bells experience.

You Will Always Hear Her Coming

It’s finally happened. Two months after their catwalk debut someone has dared to wear the ugly ass McQueen armadillo shoes out in public (Lady Gaga’s vid doesn’t count) and that person is Daphne Guinness- well it would be really wouldn’t it as Ms Guinness loves her showstoppers.

Image from Huffington Post.com

Apparently people have been trying to get their hands on a pair of these monstrosities since the show, but I sit firmly in camp fugging ugly. Just look at the size of them- they’re much the same height as her lower leg so how she managed to walk in them is a mystery to me. Armadillos aren’t a good reference point for anything IMHO and my stomach still churns at the thought of the bleeding armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias- Ugh!

Horrid footwear aside, the rest of Daphne’s outfit is stellar.

Item of the Week 14/11/09

Lavinia collar £90, Loulou Loves You.com

The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog

Since the iron fist ruling at my secondary school that you had to use a fountain pen for all work I’ve been pretty much against them despite being a moderate stationery geek. I still have memories of ink stained hands and leaky nibs ruining my pencil cases, though I do have one fond memory of deliberately flashing ink onto the back of the nice white cardigan a supply teacher was wearing, then acting like I had no idea who did it. Until today I’ve never confessed. It was me. She was horrid and deserved every blot. I hope it was permanent.

Over the summer my fountain pen aversion softened and I made an impulse purchase at Paperchase (the row of pens at the counter gets me every time)of a Papermate disposable fountain pen with turquoise coloured ink. Its my new BFF and its made me shed the baggage of my past and want a new fountain pen. I was looking online and I saw this beauty…..

……..from thepenshop.co.uk for the modest sum of £45,000. No that isn’t a typo, it is actually FORTY FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS which is approx $75,000 USD for my American friends. Is this the most expensive pen in the world? Nope, a quick search brings up a few diamond encrusted numbers that go for around $730,000 USD. I do like this pen though and it reminds me of Lara Bohinc’s signature fretwork…

£260 Harvey Nichols

but needless to say, my fountain pen will cost considerably less and won’t be even a fraction as luxe.

Sample Sales!

There are two sample sales going on that I think you need to know about but you probably already do….

Jibri are having a sample sale at their Etsy shop where there are around 35 pieces available, mainly in sizes 16-18.

Igigi are also having a sample sale but unfortunately for the majority of us, its only at their San Francisco showroom *pout*. Sale takes place on November 12, 4-8pm and you need to RSVP to attend. See their website for more info.

Another sale which isn’t quite a sample sale but is a sale worth noting is being hosted by Maria from Corazones Rojos who is selling off some stuff because her closet is overflowing. This woman has great style and I’ve long been ogling her wardrobe but unfortunatly, I would only ever be able to fit one forearm into any of her clothes as they will mainly be sizes 14- 20. Still, I’ll be having a look once she opens up shop on Friday at 8am PST because just maybe…………

 

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to all of you for entering the contest, I loved all of your styling suggestions and have finally decided on a winner….

RUTH!!

…whose suggestion was-

I would wear this belt with the beautiful zebra print dress I got from the evans sale. It was only a tenner and it fits like a dream! I canny wait for the weekend so I can go out dancing in it, and that lovely belt would just set it off! (along with some nice purple courts )

I loved the pattern and texture clash that I visualised in my head along with the flash of purple to highlight.

Other ideas I liked were the suggestions of wearing it with neon and other bright colours, and those of wearing it back to front or as a necklace. Your imaginations were running wild!

The shop is now open and you can click here to visit. There are five belts available at the moment and I will be adding more over the coming weeks.

Lane Bryant is actually making me weep with want

Jacket- $399 USD

O-KAY now Lane Bryant, this is what I want you to come with. From now on when I hear you talk about catwalk inspired looks I don’t want to see anything less than the caliber you’re demonstrating here. After a rocky start you’ve proven that you can up your game and create a completely covetable item that any woman of any size would want in her wardrobe. This jacket is making me feel more badass by just looking at it. I’m glad you don’t have a UK store because I’d be in there right now thinking up a lie for christmas morning to explain why I’ve spent everyone’s gift money on myself. I love it.