Union Jack Month: The Diamond Jubilee

I am super patriotic. I adore the United Kingdom, the Union Jack, the colours red, white and blue and absolutely anything British. You know that T-Mobile advert, the one with Harry Hill going on about what Britain likes? I am the epitome of that.

So this is my year. The jubilee, combined with what the media is embarrassingly calling Olympics Fever, is making me feel all warm inside. It's enough to make me want to blast God Save the Queen out at full volume. Almost.

So I have set myself a little challenge. Since June is jubilee month (and, more importantly, my birthday month), I will only wear red, white and blue all month. It will no doubt be tricky. It will involve creativity, imagination and a whole lot of forward planning but hopefully, I can pull it off. As I said, I love red, white and blue so I have more than enough clothes to have a good shot at it.

Wish me luck!

26th May 2012

It has been such a beautiful day today! Despite this, I didn't leave the house except to take these photos in the garden. Still, it's half term next week so I'll have plenty of opportunity to run around in the sun!

I've been rooting around under the spare bed today, digging out all my summer clothes. That makes me very excited!

Earrings: Vintage deadstock.
Top: Erdem for Topshop.
Skirt: Vintage.
Shoes: Primark.

Unlikely Style Icon: Chuckle Brothers

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear! I will admit, my family loves the Chuckle Brothers. I loved Chucklevision as a child. My little bro (who is now 12 and has got too cool for them, I think) was an avid fan when he was younger. He saw their touring shows about 4 or 5 times and even met them a couple of times. So I feel a bit of an affinity with the Yorkshire double act.

(If you don't know who I'm talking about, Youtube them. Though I'm warning you now, they are not at all funny. Part of the charm I think!)

Anyway, never one to shy away from a challenge, I decided to create an outfit inspired by their primary colour blocking. I think I did a pretty good job too!

All together now: To me, to you!

Yellow jeans. £25. Dorothy Perkins.
Floral print shirt. £12. River Island.
Mint cardigan. £28. Topshop.
White loafers. £48. Topshop.

Catwalk Copycat: Meadham Kirchhoff

I adore Meadham Kirchhoff. When I first saw the SS12 images, I pretty much died inside. In a good way. I'm not entirely sure how that could ever be a good way, but nevertheless...

I have been waiting months for the high street to come up with something vaguely inspired by the collection. All I got was an abundance of pastels. Ok, I love pastels as much as the next mint-clad blogger, but it hardly exudes Meadham Kirchhoff. Especially when Louis Vuitton, Prada and the like have also been sending peppermint princesses down the catwalks.

I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Meadham Kirchhoff was just too insane for the high street. (Although, if Regina George could inspire an army of high school girls to embrace the cut-out-boob look, why can't MK?). Then I saw this Topshop dress.

Get in!

Dress. £48. Topshop.
Knee high socks. £4. Debenhams.
Cat's eye sunglasses. £16. Topshop.
Suede flatforms. £25. Boohoo.

20th May 2012

Today I am mostly wearing clothes that I bought in 2004. It's nice to be able to fit into clothes I wore 8 years ago. Though, admittedly, it would be difficult to outgrow a poncho and shoes.

I lived in this poncho when I was 16. I don't know if anyone else remembers the brief poncho fad of summer '04 but I lapped it up. This was my favourite. It made me feel like an art student.

The sequinned shoes I bought for my awards presentation on leaving school. I was given a certificate for improvement in maths or something along those lines. Something that basically meant "you were rubbish but now you're almost passable". It wasn't much of an award, to be honest.

Poncho: Per Una at M&S.
Vest top: New Look
Jeans: New Look
Sequinned shoes: Peacocks

Treasures: Spitalfields Vintage Market

Ok, this post is pretty overdue, I'll admit. Nevertheless, here it is. Better late than never, I suppose.

I had a lovely time at Spitalfields Vintage Market at the beginning of May. To be honest, I was expecting something bigger from the "biggest vintage market in Europe" hype on its page. I don't know if it was just a quiet week or if there is just not a lot of competition but it certainly wasn't as large as I thought it would be.

Despite this, I managed to pick up a fair cute things and actually spent below my budget. Which is always a good thing!

1960s pearlescent sunglasses.

Set of 4 Babycham glasses

1950s corsetiere and prefect badges.

I also picked up a couple of adorable 1980s deadstock earrings (you can see one pair here) and a set of 1960s building blocks that spell out I LOVE YOU. Super cute!

14th May 2012

It's a week until my birthday and the sun is out! I am so freaking happy about this. I adore this time of year since I'm one of those truly irritating people who is perpetually too hot in summer and too cold in winter. This transitional time is perfect for me.

I'm so happy that I'm working all-pink matchy-matchy today.

Bow: Accessorize
Sunglasses: Asos
Earrings: Vintage deadstock
Top: Primark
Skirt and belt: Primark
Shoes: Primark

Then I went a little crazy in the sun and decided to try some jumping photos. I'm generally pretty bad at these but some of my favourite bloggers excel at them so I decided to give it a go. I do like this one very much but it is the only useable one I got. I love my fingers in this. My Latin American dance experience is showing!


And here's a little close up so you can see my lovely earrings. They're like little pink bunches of grapes.

My Motel Stripe Jordan Jeans Experience

I knew this would happen. I absolutely knew it. Back in March, I declared my love for the Motel Stripe Jordan Jeans. Here they are, in case you don't know what I'm talking about:


I finally bit the bullet and got them. I have the perfect occasion at the end of the month (Slam Dunk Festival- Check it out!) and have the best outfit lined up. It needed these jeans. These amazing, beautiful, Burtonariffic jeans. No others would do. So I bought them.

I opened the bag with eager squeals and almost melted when I felt the denim. It is the softest, most exquisite denim I have ever experienced. I gave it a little tug and was elated to find that it was super stretchy. Hooray!

So, with a slight pause to consider whether I was emotionally stable enough to take the risk at that moment, I tried them on. I wriggled my left leg in and then my right. They were tight. Super tight. But- and it's a big but- they fit! Incredibly, I had squeezed into them. The fabric was so soft and stretchy that they were pyjama-bottom comfortable. More flattering than anything I have ever worn in my life. They were perfect! And they were all mine!

...and then I fastened the button. Or, at least, I attempted to fasten the button. Let me warn you all now- When Motel say the waist measurement is 30", they really mean upper hip measurement. My waist, my biologically defined waist, fits a 30". My "in fashion we say waist but we really mean hips" waist does not. Not even a little bit. Not even in a stuff-one-of-those-maternity-button-expanders-on-and-wear-a-long-top way. Mind you, I'm not sure if any jeans would be worth maternity-proofing anyway. Not until, you know, I'm actually pregnant.

Unfortunately, they had to go back. They were flumped down on the Post Office counter this morning. I am heartbroken. However, I did manage to pick up a similar New Look pair (size 16) that definitely do fit me and were half the price. They're not the same but, until I lose a good few stone, they will do.

I'll tell you something though, no more Cadbury's Caramels for me.

12th May 2012

Would you believe it? The sun is out! I have been waiting two weeks (since I got my new continuous wear contacts) for the opportunity to wear sunglasses. I can't believe how miserable this month has been but I'm so, so happy to finally have a lovely day. We had a barbecue and everything- The first since we moved into our house just before Christmas. Happy days!

Sunglasses: Vintage
Blouse: Primark
Vest: Primark
Jeans: New Look
Shoes: New Look

I'm feeling very 1992 Eva Herzigova for Guess in this outfit.


Here's a close up of the awesome sunglasses I bought at Spitalfields Vintage Market. They are so lovely and they were an absolute bargain. Very happy Becky!

6th May 2012

On Sunday, I went to visit my grandma. I've been telling her all about my new skirt and she was desperate to see it so I wore it just for her. She absolutely loved it!

Jumper: Topshop
Skirt: Marc by Marc Jacobs
Shoes: Primark

5th May 2012

Saturday was a great, if very busy, day. I spent the morning in London, visiting the Spitalfields Vintage Market. It's a regular event- the first Saturday of every month- and this was my first visit. It was great and I picked up some lovely things. It also gave me a great opportunity to get dressed up and indulge in the style freedom that London brings.


Can you believe it's May and I'm wearing my winter coat? I was still nippy even with this on! Insane!

Scarf: Primark.
Earrings: Vintage deadstock.
Jumper: Vintage.
Skirt and belt: Primark.
Bag: Vintage
Coat: Topshop
Shoes: New Look

Then, after a very quick pitstop home, it was straight back out again to a colleague's birthday do. I spent far too long on my hair and had to rush out of the door as quickly as possible so I didn't get a chance to snap a photo. I did, however, get these quick shots of my hair at the train station.

Coat: Topshop.

Ooh, you can see my new conch piercing nice and clearly in that second photo. By new, I mean a month old but hey!
I love this style- definitely one to try again soon and really easy once I worked out the method.

Beauty Friday: MAC Cremeblend Blush in Something Special Review

I know, it's not a Benefit review! Shocking, huh? The problem is that my Benefit binge was so huge that it's taking forever to get through it all. Still, thought I'd mix things up a bit with a MAC product today.

Ok, so I bought this cream blusher in Harrods a couple of weeks ago. I had been after a peachy blusher for ages and stopped off at the counter to see what I could find. I was unsuccessful with the powder blushers then this one caught my eye. I'd never used a cream blusher before but I tried a bit on my hand and the shade seemed ideal.

I have to admit, I did a bit of Googling to find out the best way to apply it. I found out that stipple brushes are best but, as I don't have one at the moment, I had to make do with one of the free brushes that come with Benefit blushers. They're pretty rubbish for powder blush but it seemed to do ok with the cream. At least as a stop gap until I pick up a decent one.

I found it goes on easily and it is really easy to build up. It was a lot less scary than I imagined! The end result was natural and dewy. I really like it, although it takes a while to build up to my preferred look.

What do you think?

Sneak Peek

I'm planning a mega vintage shopping spree in London this weekend and, as this is a bit more interesting than my bog-standard Primark peruse, I'm putting a bit more effort into my look.

I was playing around with my new scarf the other day and this is what I came up with. I adore it! Really digging this vintage gypsy thing at the moment. So consider this a little sneak peek of my outfit to come at the weekend.

This was taken on Instagram, by the way. I'm @Beckybedbug.