Everyone can now ‘Give it up for Blake’…thanks to Hetty and Dave

 

“Give up for my Blake”, “I just wanna be with my Blake”, “Please don’t divorce me Blake”….etc etc

Everyone seems to know a lot about Amy Winehouse’s imprisoned husband Blake Fielder-Civil….particuarly as Amy seems to be hell-bent on not letting us forget that he’s ‘innocent and going to be coming home in two weeks’. She already has a tattoo above her left breast of a little pocket which says ‘Blake’s’ above it….she is one dedicated wife!…(What if he really divorces you Amzzzz…..!?)

Many of you will not have failed to recognise Amy’s heart-shaped hair piece splashed all over the press in the last few months. It looks good in her hive and is yet another dedication to ‘her Blake incarcerated’…the funny thing is I think the hair clip looks almost as big as her tiny face!

Anyway…I had the opportunity to see the Blake clip in all it’s glory when my friend ordered one the other day. (She has a boyfriend with the surname Blake and is an obsessed Amy fan….so this accessory was probably made for her…although to people who don’t know her she probably looks dangerously close to an Amy Winehouse groupie) These little hairpins and broches are created courtsey of Hetty and Dave, a website set up and run by Zo Zo Gabor. Every item is hand stiched and emblazed with whatever your heart desires. Other items include ‘Gaborgs’ which, aside from looking a bit mental, are cute!

(Notice the Amy doll on the far right!)

Heat magazine are obsessed with Hetty and Dave……

 - Clear evidence that, between them, a small family could easily get lost in a combination of Russell and Amy’s do’s……

If you’re not a fan of Wino (and there are probably are a lot of Amz-haters out there, especially the fan she clobbered on Saturday at Glastonbury…too right as well….no one should mess with a hive!) there is still something for you at Hetty and Dave. They are fans of the nautical theme and have many cute anchor broaches for sale, as well as hangbags, necklaces and purses. GO AND LOOK NOW!

I just like to try before I buy….

Without sounding like I’m a zillion, in this day and age internet shopping is becoming far too popular for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology (except when it doesn’t work, then I whip out my “For GOD’S SAKE, why do I have to ring India to get this fixed!!!!!?” speech) and sometimes I am slightly amazed at what can be done with a click of a mouse. But I strongly believe shopping should be done, as it suggests, IN THE SHOPS!

A lot of people I know shop for clothes on the internet. One of my friends (I’m still deciding whether she is tight or a money-saving genuis) goes shopping, has a gander, finds things she likes….then looks them up on ebay when she gets home, buying them for a cut of the price!

I’m a bit mumsy and practical and worry that the items won’t be as good as they looked on the screen or that they will be the wrong size. And I’m the world’s most impatient person…”What do you mean there’s a 10 day wait for delivery!?” There again, my housemate Gemma has astounded me with some of her www purchases….and let’s face it we all love post!

Anyway, I stumbled upon this post from Alexandra & Alexandra on Fashion Sphere, recommending shopping vintage online at The Urban Collection . They seem very excited at the prospect of being able to shop vintage from their beds….but it just doesn’t float my boat. I like to touch what I’m going to buy and know that it’s not made from razor blades or itchy material (don’t get me started on itchy clothes….NIGHTMARE!) And also, the items on this website are individual, and I want to make sure there are no holes/tea stains/snags in what I buy.

Actually, on looking at some of the stuff on this site, I would probably be interested in buying some of their clobber, especially this dazzler below- but only if they had a shop. I just can’t be bothered with all the faff in returning it when it makes my bum look big/clashes with my eyes/makes me look like a farmer/is plucked.

Imagine if we all started buying ALL clothes online. It would be ridiculous! 99% of females would be crossing “Shopping” off their ‘interests’ for sure. And what would happen when women get stressed?! “Yeah I cheered myself up with some online purchases” No no no no, this isn’t going to happen.

Even my mum has joined the lazy internet phase of doing everything online. She hates computers and a couple of years ago would have struggled to turn one on…but now I come home to find her doing the food shop online (and this is a woman who usually likes to feel her fruit and veg before she buys).

Yikes, I’m dangerously turning into an old woman stamping her feet….next I’ll be complaining about ‘The youth of today!’

If I was a rich girl……….I’d buy ALL of Topshop!!

Being a poor student, I don’t get to spend much money on clothes. (Rent or clothes? I know which I’d prefer to be spending on!) So when I came into a bit of money this week, I didn’t think ‘Right, let’s save this for food/rent/washing up liquid’ No no.

The first thing I do is head down to Topshop in my hometown of Norwich (it’s enormous, the one in Lincoln is tiny so when I go home I go a bit mental in there) and buy everything I see. There was loads to choose from this time around, especially as Kate Moss has just launched her new range for summer. Lots of lovely potential buys in there, but I don’t think Kate quite considers the limitations of the student pocket when it comes to pricing up her frocks.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have to take half of the stuff back. But I can’t decide between these two shirts. It’s either the table cloth look, or the farmer look…..one has to go back!

 

HELP ME! Or alternatively just send me some money

Oh, Kate! You’ve dressed so much bettarrrrrrrr

A few weeks ago, Kate Nash played at my University. As  huge fans of her, me and my friends booked our tickets the very second they came on sale…..then I annoyed everyone for weeks on end by constantly saying ‘Have I told you I’m going to see Kate Nash??!’

Anyway, she was amazing live…and she really seemed like a pretty normal gal (yes, she had been to Toys ‘r Us that day)….but I only realised how ‘I fucking hate men ‘cos they’re shit’ she is when she performed a new song (which, I hope to God doesn’t get released because it’s A) Shit and B) Her mother will never look at her the same way again) called ‘You don’t have to suck dick to succeed’. I’ve included a little clip below…..it’s not very good quality…but believe me, the live version wasn’t much better.

Oh Kate, you used to be such a sweet girl!

Being a huge Kate fan, I usually love all the clobber she wears (I actually have a cardigan which has cute heart buttons on which I call my Kate Nash cardigan, absolutely ridiculous)

As you can see, she doesn’t usually scrub up too badly:

Fit hair: Check

Beauuuutiful clothes: Check

But at this concert she looked like she’d been dragged through a bush for about six miles, then came back to Lincoln and back combed it a bit more! And don’t get me started on the tribal make-up…

I don’t want to criticise Kate anymore because I love her, but she really let go that night in terms of the old outfit…..a bogey coloured floral dress and dirty leggings…it’s a gig, dress up woman!

But what she lacked in outfit and hair, she made up with visual props. Her set was stunning! It looked a bit like a living room, I felt like I wanted to pop my slippers on a get comfy. Given the ‘personal nature’ of her songs (as seen above!) the set suited her well. Lots of cosy lighting and the band stayed quite close together rather than spreading out on the stage.

And she also had a fantastic support band (which I wished I’d paid more attention to now instead of rearing my head above the crowds going ‘Can anyone see Kate?’, ‘Where is she!? What could she possibly be doing!?’ ) called The Black Kids.
Having downloaded them after the concert I can’t get enough of them. Jonathan Ross played their new single ‘I’m not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you’ on his show on Saturday and when you’re played by JRoss, you’ve obviously hit the bigtime haha!

T-shirt making – easy as pie (cake)

If you were to mention t-shirt making websites to me, usually the word ‘crap’ and the phrase ‘I bet they look shit’ would immediately come to mind.

However, this would have been before I discovered T-Shirt Patisserie.com, the website which allows you to ‘bake’ your own t-shirt! It’s actually amazing. I’m not really a ‘create your own clothes’ kind of gal, and admittedly this site is best suited to the male species, but the creators have done a fantastic job of packaging an idea, which if not handled correctly, could have turned into a marketing disaster.

Using a simple three-step process (and providing you know what you want on your tee) you can, not only customize your own t-shirt, but choose the packaging (which, by the way is a beauuuutiful) and, just when you think it couldn’t get any better, you get your own personalised cake upon delivery. Yum yum.

You start off by choosing which ‘base’ you want. (”But I just want a simple t-shirt!” – but do you? How about your design on a dress?! or a baby grow!) Then it’s onto the ‘topping’ which is where the fun begins. Choose from different writing fonts, colours and images to create your own unique tee/dress/babygrow….then, probably my favourite part….the package choosing!

So to sum up Base+Topping+Box=T-shirt and cake!

All a massive gimmick of course, and it doesn’t come cheap….but nevertheless, I still want to ‘bake’ my own t-shirt and eat cake!!

And dailycandy.com love it too!

“Top of the mornin’ to ya!”

Why is St Patrick’s day so popular in England? I’m sure the Irish (or even the English?! I don’t remember anyone declaring that we MUST go out because it’s St George’s day) don’t go wild for St George’s day….but never the less, a great excuse to go and have a drink or 6. And I’m sure this popularity for it in England has only occurred in the past few years! In my first year of university I’m sure the day completely bypassed me (or I was already drunk)

Throughout the night you’ll hear, “Well I’m 1/54th Irish” and “My dad’s grandma’s second cousin is a quarter irish”…..and so on. I wish I hadn’t been chained to my desk wrestling with a 10,000 word essay last night or I’d have been out too! I’d love to spend it in Ireland (not drinking Guiness because it just reminds me of iron)….I have this image of irish people (which is probably completly inaccurate and purely stereotype) that they are all jolly 24/7 and wear shamrock on a daily basis and are just generally more happy than us grumpy english bastards.

Anyway, amid all this irish-praising, I’ve realised that I am in love with green….I’m telling you, dark green, it’s making a comeback..

The future of fashion? Let’s hope not….

I may not be completely open minded when it comes to fashion, but I do understand that not everybody’s tastes may be the same. But I could not believe my eyes when I saw the latest catwalk offerings from Tokyo in the Guardian this week!

I would definitely be all for this if it wasn’t completely hideous/impractical/just plain wrong. Surely designers create their clothes with an aim to inspire or at least with the hope that someone will wear their items….somehow I don’t see this idea taking off….it’s a bit…..dare I say it…..Klu Klux Klan??