Long overdue!

Hey y'all! Did you have a lovely Christmas?

Mine was awesome. It was just Alex, Roxy & I. We hung out with some friends in the evening and had a lovely time. The Christmas feast was a triumph too! Due to some uncharacteristic organisation on my part!

Alex bought me a .co.uk for Christmas! So my blog can now be found at www.gemfatale.co.uk!!! I was so chuffed! He also got me a cute nightie from Topshop, a huge bottle of Vera Wang Rock Princess, A box of Ferrero Rocher, A diary with cats on from Paperchase (possibly my favourite shop ever), and a Tote bag with cats on that he commissioned our illustrator friend to make! Check her out!

Here's a couple of pics from xmas day!

Me following my shoddy schedule (written on an envelope. What a domestic goddess!)

Roxy & I post-feast:

Alex & I in the 'hilarious' headgear my mother gave us to wear! Haha.

I started my new years resolution to lose my festive flubber a little early, on boxing day. This picture depicts the ongoing tension in my life between a desire to shed a few pounds, and an addiction to snacks. On the slimming subject, I did 30 minutes of Wii Fit yesterday and am practically paralysed today! Awful! I'm pretty sure I heard my muscles screaming earlier when I had to do a spot of light lifting at work!

On Boxing Day night I went to stay with mum and sis for a few days in Bexhill, home to the greatest Charity shops on earth, where I found the following knitwear gems!

Long navy cardi:

I bought the 'LOL' necklace in M&Co kids section for £3. I declared it the 'greatest piece of jewellery ever made' to my sister at the tillpoint, to which the sales assistant remarked, 'God, you're sad'. Charming! She obvious lives a lol-less life.

Awesome coral Cardigan!

Shorts - Topshop, Top - h&m.

So that's the dillio in my life. So sorry for the wall of silence! Hope you all have a radical New Year's eve. Mine will be spent at a friend's house with DVD's, snacks (oops), Rum and LOLZ.

Be safe. xoxoxoxo

Have been to stay with my family for a few days, who neglected to tell me that the internetz were broken! Sorry for this hideous abandonment. Going to cinema tonight (to see Nowhere Boy!) and will be looking forward to hopping back aboard the blog boat tomorrow!

Hope you all had the most delicious Christmas! xxx

#Oh I wish it could be Christmas never agaaaaiin!

That's what 9 days in a row at Topshop will do to a girl!

I'm only kidding, I've just got in from my last shift until Tuesday and am looking soooo forward to my first Christmas with Alex. Sorry for being a bit quiet on here, but my outfits have been pretty questionable and I've just had no time to myself to ponder fashion issues or whatever I usually blab on about, or even read other blogs!

We're having friends round tonight to watch Home Alone 1 or 2 (I'm gunning for 2, it's blatantly the best one!) and then I'll be in charge of our Christmas dinner tomorrow (eek!). I'm about to charge up the camera so there'll definitely a bombardment of pics of what could end up being a disastrous day!

Bear with me during this blog dry spell! It'll be over very soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

Hope you get everything you asked Santa (I just genuinely typo'd 'Satan'!) for and enjoy lots of good food! I can't wait for Cauliflower Cheese and Roast Potatoes! Providing I don't burn them!

♥

Snow last season!

Erm, is anyone else in the UK freezing their butts off?! I couldn't sleep last night because my nose was so cold! I was annoying Alex by clinging onto him like a baby monkey and stealing all his body warmth!

If I'm a little quiet on the blog for a little while, its because Topshop have got me working all day, every day until christmas now so every spare moment will be spent buying presents and organising mine, Alex & Roxy's christmas feast! (I wonder if cats like Turkey... I'll let you know!)

Will do my best to keep blogging through the stress! It can be my outlet! :)

Hope you guys are coping better with Christmas prep than I am?

I always think, 'Next year, I'll be the perfectly organised Christmas goddess'. And true to form, this year is the exact opposite!

And just so its not a pictureless post, I present you with one of the finest images my bored Google Image searches at uni have ever yielded:



Yes, I searched 'fat cat'.

Peace. x

If I was a rich girl...

Firstly, in reference to my last post, my 'santa, please turn me into one of these girls' comment was meant in jest and in reference to the overall cool aura the ladies posess and was not weight-related. I am very comfortable with my 'curves' and would never aspire to be stick-thin. I have a bit of a weird sense of humour, which I suppose can sometimes get a bit lost in translation on the blog and come across as intense self-loathing! So thanks for your sweet comments and sorry if I came across like a depressed dweeb! I just do it for the lolz. Carbs are my religion, and that will never change!

So anyways, I procrastinated my evening away on Polyvore compiling this little visual wishlist. The task was made a lot harder by the fact Roxy was asleep on my lap and across my arm like so:

I love the Opening Ceremony leopard cardi with a passion. Motel do a similar one but it's just not the same.

What's top of your Christmas list this year?

Despite my wishlist, my ACTUAL list is tiny, I feel like I have everything I need, really. I'm looking forward to some new perfume and a nice cosy dressing gown. Money's a bonus, obviously. I'm not that selfless!

xo

PS - the work party was great, in all its awkward glory!

J'aime Jalouse quite a lot

The only thing preventing me from granting the french mag with 'J'adore' status is the fact I can only understand 20% of the thing, with the aid of my dusty old C grade in GCSE French.

So, part of our new uni project is to conduct a still life shoot, and I remember from the few issues I own that Jalouse do some amazing still life shoots. So whilst doing a bit of research on their website, I made a great discovery! This is probably, like, totally the oldest news everrr to some of you guys but it was definitely news to me that you can view (and read, in some lucky people's cases!) the entire archive online!

The site has sucked up a lot of my free time in the few days I've known about it! I thought I'd share some of the pictures I love from their recent issues. (Sorry for some of the little boxes to the side of the pics, they were the previews of the next pages.)

Behold...

Alexa being amazing (enlarge to feel the full effect of pure envy):





Alice Dellal's pal Laura Fraser (I am totes digging out my old Geri Halliwell dress from the loft when I go home at Christmas!)



Some other stunning little creatures:




Dear Santa. This year, can you turn me into any one of these girls? I'm not picky. Thxbi ♥

Hope you guys have a lovely weekend. It's my work Christmas do tomorrow, which should provide me with enough socially awkward situations to last a lifetime. Eg. Disco. Eg. Buffet. Hopefully my Christopher Kane for TS dress will help me get through it! I'll probably take my camera and get some pics of my stylish Topshop colleagues which might make for some easy Sunday morning blogging!

Love,

xo

Shoot!

Sorry for the absence! I've been a little busy with uni and the general stresses of planning christmas when your bank balance is -3 quid! Me and Alex are having our first christmas day together this year, without family (partly due to work/public transport constraints), so I'm really hoping I find some money somewhere (Hi mum, if you're reading this, love ya!!!!) so christmas is all lovely and not half-assed. Looking forward to decorating our flat soon, so will post pics once that's done! Am thinking of DIY-ing some decorations. Umm, this was supposed to be a picture-post not a yawnsville life post, I apologise!!

SOOO, 'When the sun goes down, play dress up!' was the title of the editorial I devised/organised/styled/edited as part of my 2nd year Fashion Promo degree. The concept I came up with was a 'fashionable night in' with lots of fun styling, playing dress up (and maybe a not so subtle nod to fashion blog inspiration somewhere in there!) It was intended for Nylon magazine (theoretically, obvz), and I shot in my lounge, creating a bedroom set which was hard work but fun!!

Look out for Roxy's appearances!

Before:


After:


And here are the final pics!







The leopard fur hat look was my favourite outfit. It hurt to take all these clothes back!

Off for a long day at Topshop now. Hope you have a nice Wednesday xoxox

Fail Friday.

I just spent about 45 minutes tinkering about on Polyvore and accidentally closed the window somehow. VERY annoying.

I always have bad Polyvore luck. I usually hit the backspace key to delete something and it goes back a page, and i lose everything.

So, I DID intend to post my christmas wishlist, but am now in a slight rage which can only be quelled by Tesco 25p Tortillas and television, so I will have to get off this machine.

This has been the latest in a serious of fails today, mostly money related. Little tip for you students, make sure you pay money into your Natwest student overdraft every month otherwise they will ask you to pay £600 upfront right before christmas! Luckily, through my powers of persuasion and sparkling wit, I charmed them into making it 'only' £300. Go me..!

On a happier note, Dorothy Perkins contacted me a while back to contribute to their new Style Society blog, and the post I wrote went live today, so please check it out if you wanna hear about my not so rock 'n' roll nightlife antics!

Hope y'all are having a fail-free Friday ♥

Carpé DM's

I want to seize almost the entire 'new arrivals' section of the Dr Martens website. I must've done something pretty bad in a past life to come back as poverty-stricken AND a shopping addict. That's a cruel and constantly frustrating combination!

Suede & furry:





The perfect brogues?

And these wingtip wonders:

Drool!! Which are your favourite? I love the black furry ones.

xoxo

Cities 'n' Kane!

Excuse the ridiculous title pun there. I do these things to amuse myself!

Today, I left my native Canterbury for a 'field trip' with uni to London. I decided to wear my new Christopher Kane dress, which I bought on Saturday at work with my uniform discount (60% - so it only cost £20!)

These outfit pics aren't all that clear so here's a pic of the dress on the site in all its lacey meshy glory! All the Chizzle Kizzle stuff seems to have been drastically reduced so if I were you I'd snap some of it up!


It's very see-through down one side, so I wore my mesh body... Nobody needs to see my hoiked-up-to-the-pits tights. That pleasure is reserved for my special guy! I'm sure he would debate whether 'pleasure' is the right word for it..!




It's bias-cut with no hems and the fabric falls so wonderfully. It was a pleasure to wear! Mind you, at the time, I was effing and blinding about how cold I was traipsing across London bridge in the arctic gales with only tights and mesh to keep me warm... But, I suppose every great relationship has its ups and downs!

We went to the Showstudio.com Fashion Revolution exhibition at Somerset House, which I thoroughly recommend. It's only £4 entry with a student card. There was loads of nifty exhibits like telephones playing actual voicemails from Lily Cole, Irena Lazareanu and others with goss from Fashion Week... 3 gigantic sculptures of Naomi Campbell (created by Nick Knight) which had a little screen projected onto it for decorational purposes. Here's a before and after shot of my defacing...




I don't usually partake in blog-whoring activities but I just thought it would make a jolly good photo.

There were also fashion films playing, a live photoshoot taking place and a selection of Erin O' Connor's mobile footage of backstage at Paris Couture Week. Lots to sink your fashion fangs into! I definitely suggest going to see it if you haven't already!

xo

Fleggings!

Is what I've dubbed my latest retail therapy item. (EDIT 30/11/09: I decided to google my new term and unfortunately found this!!!!) I got them in Urban Outfitters' sale today for 15 quid.

I was thinking 'Do I really need these in my life?' when I remembered how jealous I always am of Isabel (Hipster Musings)'s fleggings and it was pretty much a no-brainer.

Voila:



Here's my little homage to Isabel with the cutest sweater I could find in my wardrobe and some fake specs!



On another note, my pal's at Fitness Footwear sent me the latest Fitflops ('Gogh') to try out. They're a more wintery, less flip floppy version of the regular fit flops. Umm, is it obvious that I'm mega tired right now? Anyhow, the story behind these guys is that they have 'wobbleboard' technology' in the sole which claims to make you burn more calories per step and turn your gluteus maximus into a gluteus minimus! I was pretty excited to test them out because I am a snacking fanatic and any excuse to justify snacking is welcome in my life. ('Should I be eating half a pack of cookies with X factor? Well... I did burn a gazillion calories walking to work today so I've earned it!')
I did actually wear them out quite a lot, despite my friend Hannah telling me she'd never speak to me again if I wore them to uni. And it's true, they aren't exactly an oil painting but I think they're cute in an ironic way. Sadly I found them pretty uncomfortable. I'm not used to wearing shoes that are backless so the only muscle getting a work out was my poor ankles trying to keep the damn thing on. As for results... Well, that's interesting, It's probably mostly down to uni stress but I have lost 4 lbs lately and an inch off my butt and thighs, so who knows! I'll probably continue using them, I'm planning a bit of a health kick so it'd be nice to get a work out just from walking... Plus I find it rebelliously empowering to wear shoes that make absolutely no fashion statement at all. It confuses people, and I kinda love it.



They don't look that bad, right?!

Hope you guys have a lovely weekend. I'm going out with my work friends tomorrow night and it's going to get pretty messy so this is potentially the last blog I'll post with fully functioning kidneys!

xo

Retail therapy

So my uni work I mentioned in my last post was all handed in yesterday. I almost had an all-nighter (got 2 hours sleep) and still didn't get all the work on my styling project finished, so god knows what grade I'll get. I have definitely learnt to NOT procrastinate. It's not worth the hassle. The stress and pressure of having so much work to do in so little time seriously took its toll on me. I'm talking stress-induced pregnancy scares, sleepless nights and spots! On the bright side, I lost 4lbs, but I don't recommend the blind-panic diet to anybody!

But today is a new day. I literally feel like I've been reborn after such a crazy few weeks! I've had a great day. I slept in til midday, had a lovely long bath, got my hair did (shaved sides!) and went shopping. I didn't get anything particularly exciting as my budget is miniscule!

I had a little dress up sesh to parade my new items. My boyfriend was glued to the xbox so its a self timed affair.

H&M baggy batwing top (it's that really distressed jersey so it's kinda see through)


H&M striped grey jersey top. I bought it with this skirt from Topshop in mind. Its covered in black matte sequins, so I was thinking of teaming it with this baggy top & hi-top converse or my DM's.




I bought this dress from h&m for £9.99!!! They had all different colours so definitely a good choice if you're shopping for xmas party outfits on a budget! I'm thinking of wearing it on saturday night, but after noticing its belly-accentuating properties in these pics, I might take it back...



Obviously because its 9.99, everyone will have one, so I'll need to put my own stamp on it. Here's an outfit idea:



I just had to have a pic with this hat before I take it back. Bought it for the shoot but can't justify keeping it because its £25 and it makes me look like I have fur for hair. But I love it, despite its flaws.



In other news, I probably put my 4lbs back on with my little snack feast me and my beau had tonight. I am a snack addict. Tesco is on my way home from work so I am always coming home with calorific bargains! If you haven't tried these Tortillas, they're 25p, go and buy them tomorrow. They'll change your life. And possibly your dress size if you eat them as frequently as I do.



Thanks for reading! Its fun to finally have the time to do a picture post!

xoxoxo

Petit plaisirs

Sorry for the slight absence, I've been falling victim to my own procrastination and suffocating under my workload. I handed an essay in today and have a 10 week project to hand in tomorrow, so I have a long night on my hands, potentially an all-nighter!

The silver lining of my uni work was getting to write my postmodernism essay about the film Amelie. It was actually quite a pleasure to write, as I could waffle on about that film 'til kingdom come. I did kind of feel like I was cheating the system somehow, sitting in my Pyjamas watching the film and all of the extras on the DVD in the name of 'research'! I could never get bored of watching it. Without this film, I probably wouldn't have my permanent Parisian homage...

Researching the shit out of it did slightly spoil the illusion of the film though, for example learning that all of the scenes in Amelie's apartment block were filmed in Germany! And that she couldn't actually skim stones, they did it all digitally! And they had to digitally remove all of the dog crap off the streets! I'll just try and sweep these matters under the rug.

It's time for me to get back to this project but thought I'd leave you with a lovely clip from the film. The quality's not all that, but it's still lovely. It's about Amelie's 'petit plaisirs', the little pleasures she enjoys in life.

Do any of you have any Amelie-style quirks?

I have many, but they're not nearly as charming as Amelie's. For example I have to sniff crockery before I eat/drink out of it, to make sure it's clean! Now THAT would have been a good scene in the film. I think the writers missed a trick there. Forget skimming stones, it's all about sniffing stones! Haha, I've clearly been driven mad by exhaustion so I'll shut up now.




xo

Cooking up a storm!

I only just clocked the Emma Cook SS10 collection. Much like her AW09 Topshop collection there's an Animals of Farthing Wood vibe, and that basically = iloveit. Well, I may be over-reacting a little... A number of pieces did have a bit of a mumsy, prairie feel. But the cute pieces definitely make up for that. And I suppose she can't stick animals on everything or she'd just be a one trick pony (!) But if I ruled the world...




Behold the owl dress!! It is beyond amazing!





For her new Topshop line, she has ditched pets in favour of people!





Oh, and another thing! Emma is having a sample sale in December, so join me for a rummage! Please god let there be boots.



Hope y'alls are having a lovely day. I have a 3000 word essay to research and produce before Tuesday. Lame. I don't even think I know that many words!

xo