Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! At Somerset House

I was in London recently and decided to go over to Somerset House and have a look at the fashion exhibition celebrating the life of Isabella Blow, a magazine editor and patron of fashion. We weren't allowed to take photos of the exhibition so I will have to Google some pictures to show you all but it really was amazing. Blow's 30 year long career began when she worked as an assistant to Anna Wintour at US Vogue, when she returned to London she than worked at Tatler and then British Vogue before becoming the Fashion Director for Sunday Times Style then going back to Tatler as Fashion Director. 

The exhibition was absolutely full of extravagant clothes and hats, many made by Alexander McQueen who's talent was discovered by Blow and hat designer Philip Treacy. Blow is also known for discovering models such as Sophie Dahl and Stella Tennant. Blow's story actually has a very sad ending as she took her own life in 2007, it is so devastating that someone so passionate for creativity and who had so much influence over the fashion industry could be so depressed and unhappy. Isabella Blow will be remembered as someone who pushed the boundaries of convention and will be a key figure in the world of both international fashion and contemporary arts.

Lily x

BRIGHTON ROCKS

 Cheeky wrap faces x

Ella: 

Top - H&M, Skirt - Urban Outfitters, Tights - H&M, Boots - Clarks, Bag - Warehouse

Lily: 

Top - Urban outfitters, Dress - H&M, Boots - Dirty Harry Bag - ASOS but originally Oasis

xoxo

Impressing Boys: What Not to do

Did anyone else think Valentines day was on a saturday? No? Ok. So I realise now that this post is two days late but hey nothing like some early training for next year. I have sorted through all my embarrassing boy incidents to date down to three occasions, all during secondary school (I don't know what school that is in America). I'm pretty sure if you avoid these situations you will have multiple boyfriends by the end of the day.

Embarrassing situation No.1:

I was just casually walking to art, feeling the wind in my hair and all that jazz, when I spotted my crush walking a few meters behind with his friends. I think I momentarily became possessed because I had a little voice in my head shouting "do something! Go on impress him!". Uh oh. What the little voice didn't realise is that I am not the height of cool when it comes to impressing people. At my school there is a large rectangular square called the "quad" with all the buildings around it. There also happens to be a low brick wall running through the middle of it. Thinking of James Bond, I took a run up, planted a hand on the wall and attempted to do an impressive vault over the wall. I didn't quite work as I ended up putting my hand in bird poo, giving my crush a nice flash and landed on an unexpected bench. Red faced I then had to do the walk of shame all the way to art with him and his friends behind me. I'm still kicking myself to this day.

I just realised all these stories involve skirts.

Embarrassing situation No.2:

It was a beautiful summers day, me and some friends had decided to go down to one of the parks in town. There was loads of other people there including lots of older groups from our school. It was all going well until my friend started a grass fight with me (It happens) and ran away. No way was I going to let her win so off I sprinted. I was just catching up with her when I promptly put my foot in hole and landed in THE LAP of a fit boy with my skirt over my head. Ooch. I was in shock so it took me awhile to assemble myself before politely saying bye and legging it.

Embarrassing situation No.3:

Now this is a big'un.

So my school was designed with too narrow corridors, resulting in what we call 'crushes' which basically means loads of people crammed in a space trying to go in a different direction. It can be quite scary sometimes and people do get hurt, so you do not want to get in a situation during one. Ha.

So I had found myself in the middle of a crush and was painfully pushing my way through the crowds when I started getting dragged the other way. I immediately turned around shouting "HEY" but to my horror saw that my skirt had become attached to the zip on this boys bag. I desperately tried to free myself but my skirt just got more stuck and there was no room to sort it out. It was too loud to get the boys attention and his bag had started to pull my skirt down, I was majorly panicking when he suddenly dived through the crowd causing my skirt to fall down to just above my knees. I clawed at his arm and shouted "I'M ATTACHED TO YOU" as loudly as I could before realising his movement had got us safely outside and I was standing in the middle of the quad with my skirt around my knees clutching and shouting at this poor boy. There was lots of giggling as other students stared at me trying to unhook my skirt and I have never looked the boy in the eyes since.

So there you are, feel privileged that I have shared my most embarrassing moments with you. Smaller incidents include unexpected violence and frog impressions but that's for another day.

I would also like to give a mention to Kathryne from confessionsofanessexgirl who we did a valentines box swap with and she gave us some lovely things! 

Ella x

Button Bracelets

 Well lordy lord would you look at that, its been like three weeks since we last blogged....it feels like years, I've been cooped up at home going mad with revision and a strictly no-blogging-until-finished rule. Ew. Well amigos since half term is well on its way I can assure you we will be back to business.

So today is literally the easiest, cutest, cheapest little DIY accessory in the world, it's brill to add as a little extra to birthday presents and retro outfits (I recently made one up of little vintage buttons of varying neutral colours to slip into a friends birthday card). 

All you will need is some thin elastic and some buttons. Elastic is around 50p a meter and buttons are like 10p each so you could easily make this for £2 or less! I know in the picture mine is threaded with a ribbon but I used a big ass needle to do it so if you don't own any sewing equipment stick to elastic. I think it's pretty self-explanatory where I threaded the ribbon ...but for the unobservant out there, put the ribbon through the holes.

And there you go, tie it off and your on your way!

Hope this just gives a little inspiration for any future gifts and since we've just hit 300 followers I will do a special Ella edition of "Impressing boys: what not to do" for valentines day.

Ella x

Never Underestimate a Charity Shop

 Hey guys! So the other day I was wandering through town and spotted this little gem of a coat in a local charity shop. Just in case you didn't know a charity shop is the English version of a thrift shop. I think? (Please don't eat me if I'm wrong). ANYWAY so I got the 'I must have it' vibes and charged into the shop, came out all happy and warm inside because I had just bought a proper coat for £3.99. Brill.

Now I don't know about you guys but I love it. I personally think it is a similar cut to some of the Topshop coats this year? Though the material isn't as good quality I think the colour pretty spot on for the current pale coat trend. It could equally be perceived as blue or grey, but today I decided to go for blue so paired a dark grey jumper underneath to bring out the colour. Seriously people, never underestimate a charity shop.

 I would also just like to mention that me and lils are going to be making more of an effort with our photography from now on, we both have the equipment to produce some nice photos and I think it really adds to a blog. What with work and exams (intelligent time to start a blog) we just haven't really thought about it.

Don't forget to check out my 'Ellas Gallery' page! 

Ella x

Umbrella Problems 

REVISING

Exams can be a pain, and it can be so stressful to prepare for them if you aren't sure how. I have some exams coming up soon that I need to revise for, really I should be doing that right now but instead I'm writing a post about how to revise.. there's procrastination for you I guess, this is a case of do as I say not as I do. I've googled around a bit and used some of my own advise to come up with some top tips on how to revise:

1) Make Notes

Hopefully you will have notes from class, but if not make sure you go to someone in your class or look up the subject online so you can take notes and get an understanding of what you have to learn. It's really helpful to have these notes in your own words as this can be so much easier to remember.

2) Timetable

A great idea is to set aside certain hours of the day for your revision, this will make sure that you will have as much time as you need and will keep you organised. Remember to stick to it though, otherwise there would be no point. Also, people can generally only concentrate for about 40 minutes at a time so give yourself breaks every so often so your brain can rest.

3) Start Early

There is nothing worse than sitting down the night before a big exam and trying to cram all the information you need in a few hours, this just won't work. Start to revise at least a couple of weeks before the exam so that you don't get that horrible last minute panic. Going in to an exam feeling prepared and calm is ideal.

4) Find Somewhere Quiet

This one really is self explanatory, but make sure your workspace is clear from distractions, this could be loud noises or clutter. Also turn your phone off because if it goes off every 5 minutes you'll never get anything done!

5) Videos

Sometimes if you don't quite understand a topic it can be useful to find videos online explaining all you need to know, I am revising for GCSE science at the moment and if any others are I would highly recommend checking out My GCSE Science on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/user/myGCSEscience ) I find this so useful for watching and taking notes down at the same time it really helps me revise.

I hope this has been helpful and if anyone has any ways of revising that work great for them I'd love to know! Good luck!

Lily x

Oh Leo

 I've just spent a whole afternoon in a sad little mood and it's all Leo's fault. I found myself scrolling through young photos of him (don't get me wrong he's still very good looking for his age) and just thinking how unfair it is that I will probably never get to meet someone so lush. Young Leo is gone and though age difference in relationships doesn't really bother me, 24 years may be a stretch....

I just comfort myself by watching his films (I highly recommend Shutter Island) and eating various biscuit and cake combos.

Oh Leo 

P.S I have created an 'Ellas Gallery' page full of my latest art + textiles work, I'd be so grateful if you checked it out!

Ella x