Sunday 31 May 2015

OOTD | Old Scars/Future Hearts

Hello everyone! How are we all?

I am writing this from London today! I have arrived in the capitol for two weeks for work experience and am already having an amazing time. Luckily two of my best friends off my course are here on placement as well so last night I met Harriet for food in Covent Garden and then today I explored Shoreditch with Hannah. I've got some pictures from today to share with you all but I haven't had time to edit them yet. So instead, here are some I took in Newcastle a few weeks ago...

These lovely pictures were taken by my very good friend Hannah of Trust In Vogue. This outfit is pretty simple but I think it still expresses my character quite well. I was wearing my leather jacket as well for some of these pictures but unfortunately all the images of me wearing it are really really dark and even with Photoshop none of the pictures match and as a photograph snob I can't have the in the same blog post together! Judge me all you will but photography is my life and images have to flow! More evidence to support the case that I am truly insane.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!







Don't ask what I'm doing in this last picture. I honestly can't remember and don't care for the reason but I felt it summed up the silly mood Hannah and I were in that day. Again a big thank you to Hannah for taking these pictures, if you'd like to check out her blog you can click here.

So for my outfit. The jeans I'm wearing I bought from Zara back in February and the tassel-covered top that I'm wearing I got in Urban Outfitters in January for £5 in the sale, not bad at all! I've paired them with my black converses (obviously, cause I definitely don't wear them with everything!) and a selection of jewellery bits but I have no idea where half of them came from! My ring is Topshop, the bracelet with the hamsa charm I bought at a vintage fair and the others I was given a few years ago.

The song this post is titled with is one of my favourites off All Time Low's new album Future Hearts. All Time Low are my favourite band ever, and that's really saying something for me as there are so many bands that I simply adore. All Time Low have written more of my favourite songs than anyone else and their songs will often bring me to tears.

They released their new album in April but before hand did a small signing tour in the UK and I was lucky enough to go to the one in Newcastle and meet them all! They played a small acoustic set in HMV and then signed slip cases for the new album and seeing them play live and so close was amazing. They sung beautifully and were their usual hilarious selves. Meeting them is up there as one of the best moments of my life and I feel so blessed to have been able to go. When they finally released their new album last month its safe to say I was a little more than excited. All the songs on the album are fantastic and I've still got it on constant repeat so I thought I had better pay tribute to it in a blog post.

I hope you all liked this post and if you've got ATL's new record what's your favourite song? I hope if any of you are currently going through exams they are going well and I wish you the best of luck.

I'll see you all soon.

Holly

Saturday 23 May 2015

OOTD | Dreaming Alone

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a good bank holiday weekend.

Today I've got another OOTD for you, these images were taken back in Newcastle a few weeks ago by my wonderful friend Hannah, author of Trust In Vogue.

I chose a fairly simple outfit or these pictures as during this lovely spring-to-summer period I love wearing white blouses. They are just so simple and understated but still look classy so not a particularly adventurous choice, I admit, but very easy to style and pretty. Quite fitting for a bank holiday...




When you think you recognise the cyclist that just went flying past you...or are compelled to suddenly impersonate a duck...






In these pictures I'm wearing my ripped Zara jeans, black patent Birkenstocks and a white blouse I bought for £10 in River Island's sale last summer. My sunglasses are Dorothy Perkins bought about two years ago.

The song this post is named after is by a band called Against The Current, they've just been signed to Fuelled by Ramen but they do everything themselves. They're a sort of in between pop and rock and are quite big on Youtube. I got slightly obsessed with this song during my last few weeks in Newcastle so it seemed an appropriate choice for this post.

I hope you all liked these pictures and have a lovely bank holiday relaxing in the sun. I've got a week till I go down to London again for my second placement of the summer where I shall be for two weeks so if there is any where I should eat or go or do near Camden then tell me in the comments as that's where I'll be staying.

I hope you're all well and good luck to everyone with exams. See you soon!

Holly

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Covent Garden & The Royal Ballet

Hello everyone, how are you all doing?

Today is my last day of being teenager as I turn 20 tomorrow! I'm unusually excited; in the last year whenever one of my friends has passed the big 2-0 they say "This is the decade of big decisions; graduation, jobs, houses and weddings! That's scary!" to which I reply "Yes but how much fun does that all sound?!". Ok, fair enough the thought of graduating and having to get a job seems a little daunting but I have some really good people around me and the thought of going through all of that with them I find quite exciting. Maybe I'm just a bit weird but I think it sounds like an adventure.

Anyway enough of my giddy waffling, today I wanted to share with you guys some pictures I took in April when I went to see the Royal Ballet perform Swan Lake in Covent Garden...

This seems like ages ago now, but during my Easter break my parents and I went to stay with my Auntie, Uncle and their kids in their new house in the Cotswolds. We arrived on the Monday around lunch time so enjoyed a delicious lunch in the sun on their patio and then went for a walk on the common. It was a lovely day but us girls had to go to bed early as the next day were to set off for London to go see Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House. This was such a treat for us all, it was part of our Christmas presents and me, Mum, my Auntie Tanya and her daughter Ella were all to go.

Ella is 14 and has been dancing since she was little and is really rather good at it! Mum and I have always loved the ballet and its been something we have shared with Tanya and Ella, enjoying any opportunity we could find to watch her performances. Mum has also set herself a little bucket list to complete in the past year as she has passed a milestone birthday (for her sake I won't mention which one!) and going to the ballet of course made the list. So Tuesday morning us girls headed for the train station and made our way to London.

We spent our afternoon doing a little window shopping in Covent Garden as it is one of our favourite places in London before going to The Ivy Market Grill for a sophisticated dinner. I had the Chocolate Bombe for dessert and annoyingly I don't have a picture but it was the most indulgent and perfectly delicious chocolate dessert/dish I've ever had, I definitely recommend!






Group selfie, obviously. Me, Tanya, Ella and Mum.


Mum posing for typical-tourist pictures in front of the Royal Opera House.

My OOTD; sunglasses are Dorothy Perkins (I think), leather jacket is from Topshop, my dress is Mango and shoes are Clarks.



I felt far too conspicuous to take pictures with my huge camera inside The Ivy Market Grill but I got a few on my phone so go over to my Instagram here and you'll see how awesome it looked inside. The food was gorgeous, I had a burger which was delicious and as previously mentioned the Chocolate Bombe with vanilla ice cream, honeycomb, salted caramel sauce and obviously lots of chocolate was amazing!



Inside the Royal Opera House, which I think we can all agree looks absolutely incredible!




Swan Lake was as you imagine, absolutely breathtaking. I enjoyed every second of it and I have to say it was one of the most amazing things I've ever beheld. The costumes and set were stunning and I have only the highest admiration for the dancers. As someone who is now slightly obsessed with the gym and exercise I definitely have a few new fitspirations, the definition in their muscles was unbelievable! 

We returned to my Auntie's rather late that night as our train was delayed 40 minutes but we had a wonderful week with them. Good food, walks in the country and our favourite people, we could not have asked for more! 

I hope you all enjoyed this post as it was a little different and a bit wordy, if you liked it and you want to hear more of my adventures, tell me in the comments below and I'll get straight on it. There'll be another post by the end of the week, maybe some of my antics tomorrow as I'm meeting my flat mate in Leeds for some shopping and the cinema before going out for a meal with the family, I'll see what I can do!

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone and I'll see you all soon.

Holly

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Dr. Martens Fashion Film

Hello everyone! Hope you're all having good weeks.

Today I wanted to share with you all some of my university work from this year. Last semester we were asked to produce a 90 second fashion film for Dr. Martens focusing on Newcastle Upon Tyne and underground subcultures. As you all know, I adore Dr. Martens so I immediately rejoiced at this opportunity. As they are a brand that I so easily connect to, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve with this brief.

I decided, naturally, that I wanted to focus on music. Its my favourite obsession and the language I use to express myself. Dr. Martens has seen rock music evolve over the last 50 years and I feel like although people still look to rock music from the past for inspiration, they seem to forget or either do not know that there are new artists who are simply incredible.

I am part of a genre who adores their music; amazing instruments that come together effortlessly, beautifully poetic lyrics and some of the most exhilarating live experiences you've ever seen. I love this genre and I feel like so many more would if they knew about some of the incredible artists that create this music. I know that Dr. Martens have a huge fan base within this genre so I wanted to show through the film how much the artists and fans of this music love this brand.

Anyway enough of my babbling, here's the film. Enjoy!


I am actually really proud of this, it turned out a lot better than I thought it would! As this was a live brief and the university has connections to Dr. Martens PR company, O PR, five of the films from our year got chosen to present to them to O and mine was among them.

We went down to their offices two weeks ago to present them to the team and they really enjoyed our work. The members of my class that had also been selected had created some amazing films so I was shocked to hear that mine won! I still can't quite believe this has happened, but my fashion film will now be played in the Dr. Martens Newcastle store throughout the summer!

I found out yesterday and I can't wait for it to be played in store, I don't know when it will first be shown but I really want to be there when it does! I'm still a little in shock and I hope it gets received well, this could be huge!

I hope you guys liked it and if any of you are in Newcastle over the summer do go into the store and check it out! There'll be another post soon and I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your week.

Holly

Sunday 10 May 2015

OOTD | Boardwalks

Hello everyone!

I am finally back after a month and a half long absence with another post. Since we last spoke I have been incredibly busy, I'll quickly fill you in...

So at Easter I spent the majority of my time doing uni work as I had deadlines at the end of April so my holidays comprised of me taking pictures of chia seeds and ducks for my trend module (don't ask!) and filming my brother at the various gigs we went to for fashion film. My parents and I also took a trip down to the Cotswolds to spend some time with family friends of ours. Us girls also travelled from there to London to see Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House which was one of the most magical things I've ever seen.

Then I returned to Newcastle where I had two manic weeks of deadlines and stressful, crippling late nights. There were a few tears and many last-minute panics but we got through it! I got everything handed in on time thankfully and I was actually really happy with how my work turned out. The feedback from my lecturers sounded promising as well so fingers crossed for good marks!

I had a day to celebrate finishing second year with my flatmates and friends in Newcastle before heading home for two nights when I then set off to London for an industry placement at the Jacques Vert Group. I was there for four days last week helping out with their press event for the new AW15 collections and I had such a good time, the team were lovely and I feel like I learnt a lot so a very big thank you to the JVG team!

On Friday I very slowly began to make my way north as I set off for Bedfordshire to spend a night with my Auntie Jo and Uncle Frank on my way home. We had a lovely evening Friday night and a gorgeous walk and pub lunch Saturday afternoon before I jumped back on a train to head home to Leeds. Then tomorrow I'm back off to Newcastle for a week so as you can probably guess I'm a little exhausted from the rather hectic six weeks I've had!

I am however, finally free from coursework commitments and my summer has already got off to a wonderful start. I'm so excited about all the exciting things I'm going to be doing over the next four months before I start my final year of university. Therefore to get myself back into a blogging routine, today I decided to do an OOTD post as this blog is still relatively young so there's not many on here yet and I wanted an excuse to wear my new dungarees!






An expression of my joy over my new found freedom. In case you weren't already aware, I am completely insane. 





The wonderfully weird dungarees I'm wearing in these pictures I purchased a few weeks ago from Blue Rinse Vintage in Leeds. They had loads of unique denim pieces in there but these were my favourites, much to my despair the ones with the Winnie the Pooh embroidery didn't fit me. I paired my dungarees with a vintage shirt I bought at Newcastle's Small Change Vintage about a year ago and my trusty Converses.

The song this post is named after is by Little May. I discovered it during my final few days of deadlines and it seemed the perfect song to play once I'd finished and I only had the summer before me. Its a wonderfully lovely song and I would definitely suggest you all give it a listen.

Now that I've broken up for the summer, blog posts will be much more frequent and hopefully full of interesting adventures. I hope you all liked this post and I shall see you very soon.

Holly