Still No Photos

Since, now nearly a month I am still yet to reveal my beautiful Vivienne I received for my birthday on the blog. One excuse is that I only actually put her on for the first time New Years Eve. Although I may have only managed to get one ridiculously quick cropped slightly blurred photo, I felt like a grecian rockstar.

My mum was questioning me when I was planning to wear her for the first time, worry in her voice that I never might. The delay in her debut however, was wanting to take her out for the first time on a special night. In retrospect, I wish I had planned more time in order to take photos to savour the moment forever.

My Vivienne for sure will be coming out of my wardrobe for great nights out god knows how many times in the future, so hopefully one day I will be organised enough to capture it on camera properly.

Sunnies

Whilst my birthday present (see my last post) was being wrapped, I was oggling up the accessories in the glass cabinets at the till.

Having a deceivingly small head means finding sunglasses that suit me is a rare occasion. As usual I fell in love with a pair whilst in Vivienne Westwood. Thinking that I would look like a fly, Mother ushered me to try them on anyway. And of course the designer sunglasses fit like a glove. 

£140 - Vivienne Westwood

I always knew I was born to be rich and drink champagne, but sometimes life just doesn't go that way. So, the plan is to save up my birthday money to put towards a pair. I have been looking at them online and also came across this pair below which I really like too. So I need to make a decision - if I could I'd buy the pair.

£126 - Vivienne Westwood

Although a lot more expensive than my current £12 Topshop ones, I seem to have the designer bug. I feel that I have got to the age where I want to invest in some forever pieces that are more unique and ever lasting. Although I will never loose my love for the high street likes of H&M, I am currently in my first job since leaving Uni and well I think it's time to treat myself.

Vivienne

Yesterday I ticked something off my bucket list. My birthday is in two weeks and Mum came to London to take me somewhere for my birthday present. Having not a clue what was going on, I headed down a side road just off of Regents Street with my Mother. As we walked past the likes of Maison Martin Margiela, Mum stopped and announced "here we are!". I looked up to see Vivienne Westwood shining in neon pink lights.

Overwhelmed by what was going on, Mum dragged me into the shop and casually just said "so get looking then".

Sorry... what??? Is probably the best way to describe the look on my face. So unexpected I wanted to die. I was literally in heaven. The clothes, the fabrics, the shop, the pictures of Viv.... Ahhhhhhh. After trying on items of clothing I only dream of wearing, I made my choice. The piece is currently sitting in it's sealed pale pink bag staring at me. It's gonna be a long two weeks I tell ya.

I feel truly spoilt by my amazing crazy parents. First a Vivienne purse and now this! I finally have my first designer item of clothing which I will treasure for the rest of my life. I can not wait to blog my first wear of this piece.

My graduation present from the rents from earlier this year.

WATERFALL

Jacket - H&M via eBay / Rest of outfit - all H&M

Okay, so as I started to write where each piece of my outfit is from above, I realised my ENTIRE outfit was H&M?! In past posts I have outlined my clear love of the store, I even purchased H&M items when I went to New York (however it was blimmin cheap, the new collection was out and 15% student discount. I mean how could I resist?! -- oh yeah check out my New York haul here).

This post seems to have shocked me in to really seeing my true obsession with the brand. I clearly need help.

Images by Beth Dowdell. Edited by Me.

NEW YORK HAUL

So two weeks ago I was in NYC with the Mother, my friend Beth and her Mother. We are talking a proper girly 5 days here. It was one of my dreams and a thing to tick off the ol' bucket list to visit New York, and it was just as amazing as I had hoped. 

Although I didn't actually spend as much as I thought I would, I brought quite a few pieces. After deliberation I thought I would show you what I brought in video haul format to make life easier. However, I will admit, I feel so cringe when watching this video. BUT I have decided that Uni is nearly over and it is time to YOLO. So here it is guys.

P.S. my face at the end is a picture.

Ready For Take Off

Jumper - H&M / Vest - H&M / Leggings - H&M / Boots - Office

So two weeks ago I headed to New York for 5 days. This was my 21st Birthday present from my Mother and Father, who have helped me tick a couple of things off my bucket list and made a dream come true. Oh gosh I do sound overly corny.

I had an AMAZING time!!! I will be uploading my first ever haul video to show you all the things I brought. I'm a little shakey but it's my first video. Anyways back to this post. I brought this cream roll neck jumper from good old trusty H&M (of course) to wear on the flight. It was so soft and cosy. I always get cold on flights so this was perfect. This is basically the outfit I wore on the plane, although I wore my brogues instead of the boots and had my leather jacket to throw over the top. 

Before we jet setted off, Mumma and I got our hair cut. Although you may not be able to tell, I got little bit of a fringe cut in as I wanted some form of change. I really like it although I'm constantly sweeping my blinkin' hair out my eyes. I may even be a dare devil next time and get my hair cut a little shorter. Oh my.

Maybe She's Born With It

Maybelline Colour Sensational Nude Lipstick in 725 Tantalizing Taupe - £6.99

Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascara - £4.99

Maybelline Eyestudio Colour Tattoo 24 hour Cream Gel Eyeshadow - £4.99

Maybelline ColourShow Nude Nail Polish Collection in 229 Bronze Me Up - £3.99

Maybelline ColourShow Nude Nail Polish Collection in 227 In Your Flesh - £3.99

Recently I have really been getting into my make-up hence my recent beauty posts. Last Saturday, I went to London Fashion Weekend, which was my Christmas present from my Mum's friend Rachel. it has become a bit of a February ritual, this being the third year we have been together. The set-up changes everytime, this year seeming more boutique-y and a lot more focused around the fashion industry, with lots of great talks with bloggers and industry professionals.

I went, promising myself I wouldn't spend any money, as I have a trip to New York coming up in a few weeks (so excited!). However, I can not go somewhere with so much temptation and not buy anything! As well as, spending £80 on a co-ord (yes I finally have one! But am saving it for my trip to NYC), I brought this make-up. This set worth £24.95, I got for a mere £12.50! 

I can not wait to try out the products once my eyes have calmed down (uni stress).

Label.M Mini Hairspray - £3.99

Maybelline Baby Kiss Lip Balm in Peach Kiss - £2.99

These are some of the other goodies I got in my show bag that came with the ticket. Whilst writing this I just opened and tried the Maybelline Lip Balm. The smell is so nice! It gives a nice thick covering on the lips and I most definitely feel them being smoothed and moisturised. Again I will let you know how I find these products too.

As well as these freebies, I got a free red Maybelline Nail Varnish, lots of Kinda Beunos, and also a free massage! I had never had a massage before and it was amazing. I nearly fell asleep. I can't wait to have enough money to be able to have monthly spa days. ((In my dreams!))


Here's a small video (sorry about the lack of quality) from the catwalk show I also attended as part of my ticket, which was styled by theoutnet.com. It was a great part of the day, and felt like I was actually part of the world of fashion.




Images and Photographs taken by Me.

Pinterest

So Tumblr has always been one of my fave ways to procrastinate. My excuse being that I'm actually finding inspiration for my university projects, which sometimes is actually true. After hearing about Pinterest, I refused to join the bandwagon, as I already had too many forms of social media and internet sources to distract me. However at the beginning of this uni year, my friends were going on about their Pinterests, and well I felt like I was missing out on something. So, now, amongst all the other platforms, I am now a Pinner. And proud. 

It is so addictive, you may leave it alone for a couple of days but as soon as you pin something, you have to pin at least another ten things. It is also a great way to store information for university projects, more so than Tumblr as you can form a board dedicated to that one specific subject, making it easy to refer back to that image you found a couple of days back. This doesn't mean that my Tumblr is now a distant memory, as I am still a-tumbling, but maybe just less regularly. I see Tumblr as a giant on going mood board, something beautiful I can create for both myself and other people to scroll through. On the other hand Pinterest is more efficient, organised and a great source for quick references. 

Check out my Pinterest here and my Tumblr here.

If you are reading this most and are a Tumblr or a Pinner, leave me a link to yours in the comments box below so I can check it out!

Company Reshoot

So a couple of posts ago (see here) I uploaded my final outcome for my answer to Company Magazines, Company Academy competition for the photography category. Due to the deadline for the competition being November 1st, and I only finding the competition just over a week before, it was a little bit of a rush to say the least! Although I did the best that I could within that time frame, I knew I could do better.

Due to having to enter the competition as part of my final degree mark, and having a month left till the deadline on the 9th December, I took the opportunity to push my work further and reshoot the whole thing. I slightly changed my concept, whilst still sticking to the pastel trend that is so relevant to the Spring Summer 2014 theme. I wanted to still keep the Company style and aesthetic whilst adding my own touches, such as the change in the use of font. I can definitely see an improvement in terms of my photography and lighting skills, which is something I most definitely lacked in on the first shoot. Livi the model was fab understanding exactly what I wanted and had great confidence. This time I also shot in a studio, which made SO much difference. Although it cost £50 to rent for three hours, it was definitely worth it and the owner James Thorpe was extremely helpful (see his site here). As like before, I laid out the imagery like a proper editorial on double page spreads to the size of Company magazine itself.However, I still am my own worst critic and can still see far more room for improvement. But what's done is done now as it is all handed in. So no looking back!

My boyfriend came along to help carry everything into the studio and for moral support. I got him to do some videoing of me shooting the images. Take a look below.

Photography by me, Hannah Byrne

Model - Olivia Hart

Videographer - Rich Murphy

Sultry Summer

So third year of uni is kicking in and it's stress mania! One of our first projects is competitions, one of which we had to find and choose ourselves. It was so hard to find one out there that inspired me and had an appropriate deadline. But, at last I came across the Company magazine's, Company Academy competition. Although the deadline left me just under two weeks to produce a concept, source everything, photograph and edit, I'm always up for a challenge and so went ahead anyway.

This may not be real life magazine worthy, and I will admit it's not one of my best pieces of work (photography and concept wise), but with the amount of time I had to do everything I will settle with the outcome. I want to thank Jemma Johnstone, my beauts model, as well as the boyf Richard who stood for the whole shoot holding palm leaves infront of the lights, and of course my mother who not only did the make-up, but also made us lunch and provided the school hall for me to shoot in. What our friends and family for hey!

Firework Night!

I am currently singing Katy Perry's Firework in my head whilst writing this post. After Uni grinding our gears as usual yesterday, me and Bethy hit the beach for the firework display, after being glued to Kepping Up with The Kardashians all day (i know). The display may have only lasted 13 minutes, (to be precise) but it was pretty good for a freebie on our doorstep! Due to literally living on the beach, we took with us a mug of hot chocolate each, as well as blanket and popcorn. We were wrapped up to the nines, with cameras in hand. 

Who doesn't love firework night!

New Abode

Moved back down to Worthing this Saturday just gone, and although I managed to fill to full cars of my stuff (yes, there's still more at home!) it was the easiest uni move I've had! I'm living basically on the seafront, so although there's a salty smell as you open the front door, the views and convenience being so near town is amazing. Plus, The Cottage, as it is actually called is so sweet. I am living with fellow friend and Fashion Promotion Student Bethy! I am hoping we will be encouraging each other to work work work, as we'll need motivation in our third and final year. However, we are both currently sitting here, work in front of us, yet I'm blogging and Beth's on her phone. Maybe we'll improve. . . Hopefully!

Anyway, the sun was a shining down on heavens waiting room today, so I popped out (literally outside our front door) and took some photies of the scenery. I love the rainbow that formed due to the sunlight and water fountain!!

Inspired.

Photo taken at the Istanbul Exhibition, London April 2013

Most days there are little spots of inspiration, small things, but it is rare occasions that I feel really, truly, deeply inspired by something. In such a way that it makes you really think about life, your life and the way you live, as well as thinking about the world. I love feeling this way as I am motivated, inspirited and my thoughts are stirred. Yesterday evening, and this afternoon I have incurred two of these rare moments of reflection and deep thought. 

Last night I watched the film, The Butterfly Effect, a film of which I have wanted to see for a long time, and although I don't know what I expected to happen, I was surprised by the films story and it's intensity. However, I was gripped from the beginning. It left me thinking about that every decision you make in your life will effect your future, therefore I need to do what I want and what feels right. Ok, these actions you decide may not be as extreme as the ones in the film, but they are still important.

This thought about making the right decisions and doing what is right also links in with the documentary I watched this afternoon on 40D, Fabulous Fashionistas. This documentary looked into the lives of 6 women all with an average age of 80, who were not just stylish, but a huge inspiration. Each of them not caring about age or death, but striving to live and enjoy life. All of them strong and passionate women who cared about themselves and their happiness, not letting old age turn them into a retired, little old lady.

Both of these inspirational films are a recommended watch. I wanted to write this post to share the inspiration, not to be intense and serious, but to put across that at the end of the day life is what you make it. Wear what you want, be who you want, and do the things you want to do.

"You think about death, but you choose life"

Sue, from Fabulous Fashionistas

Village At War

As I said in my previous post, on Saturday I visited the Stoke Bruerne, Village at War weekend. Once a year the village dedicates a weekend to looking back into the Second World War era. From people dressing up in the full attire, to air-raid shelter demonstrations, music, war reenactments. fashion shows, and cars... It was quite a fun few hours out, and ended up being something that can go into my uni research file. Bonus!