Antique shopping

My boyfriend Jay, his Mum and I went shopping on Saturday round a few of the antique and shabby chic furniture shops in Stockport for new bits and pieces for the flat.

Originally we were looking for a light for the bedroom and I had seen one which was like a white lantern that hung from the celling which I really loved. It turned out that it was very big and hung down from a chain so I think me and jay would have ended up getting injured if we jumped up in bed a bit too quick.

There is this one shop that sells loads of antique bric-a-brac and everything is unbelievably cheap. My Mum drove past it once and mentioned it to me and I've been popping in ever since. It's only a small shop and is crammed front to back with furniture so you need to shuffle round everything to even get through the shop. There's everything from vintage suitcases and antique tea sets to sets of drawers and side cabinets. Everything is really reasonable and they are happy to barter. 

We ended up getting a chair for my dressing table for £25 and an antique lamp which just needs re-wiring for £10. All in all it was a lovely trip and a very enjoyable afternoon.

Dressing table stool which just needs re-painting to match

Antique 1930's lamp

Now that I've got all the furniture for the bedroom I've just been thinking about how we can decorate the walls. I saw this photograph on blood milk and I love the idea of loads of little picture frames, mini shelves and objects hanging on the wall. I'd love to collect some of my favourite pictures from tumblr and create a wall collage similar to this.

I've taken lots of pictures of the flat with my film camera to post on my blog, I'm just waiting to get the film developed so that I can share them.

I once again had an ace weekend, it's a shame weekends aren't just back to back and then we could go out and have fun days all the time! I really enjoyed catching up with friends old and new. Dark lipstick  and emerald green nails are my new thing <3.

Dark Lipstick

Emerald green nails (yup these are real)

Instagram Diary

I finally gave in and got an Iphone, It's something I've wanted for ages but always thought I couldn't really justify it for the money. It's left me pretty broke for the rest of the month but I'm really enjoying using it. My friend even donated me a cute Cath Kidston case for it. 

My favourite app by far is instragram. I just love the idea of documenting what your doing through pictures instead of words. I've not got too many followers so far but I've been taking loads of pictures.

I decided to put together a little diary of what I've been up to through instagram. If you would like to follow me my username is @feelingvague. I also post a few of the pictures to Tumblr and Twitter. If you look really carefully the second picture on the top row is some of the print designs I've been doing.

What I wore #9

I had another really lovely weekend lots of parties and socialising. I love just spending time in the flat too. We are getting the internet next month which will mean that what we watch won't be dictated by the TV which is the only thing driving me crazy.

This is what I wore to wok on Friday but I've only just got around to posting in. As I've just started a new job I've been trying to make an effort with what I where everyday and it's making me realize that I haven't bought clothes that I really l love for quite a long time. I think it's time to sell some more things so I can raise some cash for nice new things.

Pinstriped Top- Retrospective clothing, Underbust waistcoat- Made by me, Grey wrap cardigan- Republic, Crushed velvet skirt- Republic,Spiked Bracelets- Topshop, Necklace- All Saints

outfit with out the cardigan

Vau vau in Rebelicious

My backstage write up was featured in this months Rebelicious Magazine you can grab your copy here. Or read it online for free here.

Smile

I have been incredibly grumpy the past couple of days probably something to do with lack of sleep, being ill and having a run of bad luck concluding with my washing machine breaking, which is my absolute nightmare. However when I really think about it I don't really have all that much to grumble about so I thought I would make a cheerful post of all the things that make me happy. I've probably missed a few off but all the big ones are here. I strongly suggest making one of these boards using magazines, photoshop, or whatever. It's a good way to realise what you have already and to get excited about things in the future. Or maybe if your really poor like me you could make one of all the thing that make you happy that are free, I know a large about of my things are. It certainly cheered me up. 

1. My boyfriend Jay

2. Picking new things for my flat

3. Snow

4. Watching black and white films

5. City sunsets

6. Hair extensions

7. My mac

8. Listening to girl music

9. Being with my family

10. Hanging out with friends

11. A cup of tea and a biscuit

12. New shoes

13. Going to festivals

14. Laatex ;)

15. Duvet days

16. Beach holidays

17. Creamy cocktails

18. Walks in the forest

19. Clubbing

20. Being in my flat

21. Travelling to new places

22. Eating out at Zizzi

23. Seeing my designs in the shops

24. Swimming

25. White chocolate

26. Shopping 

27. Watching my favourite programs

Aesthetic Contradiction Blog Giveaway

My friend is doing a give-away over on her blog Aesthetic Contradiction. I know a lot of followers of my blog love Eustratia so here's your chance to win some gorgeous goodies worth over £100!

There's a few necklaces, pussy bow, cuffs and more included so it's really worth checking it out and entering!

Also my blog hit 200 followers today which I'm incredibly proud of. At some point I may even do my own giveaway to celebrate.

Style- Bralets

Spring is coming (or at least the shops are telling us it is) and once again the high street is awash with bold colour blocking and loud garish prints. I think it is their way of introducing the new season after all the subtle shades of winter have passed. It always seems to remind me why I enjoy winter shopping so much. However, one thing that did catch my eye was the amount of different takes on last seasons bralet. I really hope the festival season this year is blessed with a little more hot weather than we got last year as that would be a great opportunity to wear something like this. My favourite one is the checked bralet from Topshop's grunge collection, although I'm always a bit nervous about buying something like that as I'm not sure it would fit with much in the rest of my wardrobe. I think these would be great to wear over a plain dress, or with a pair of high waisted shorts or skirt.

From left to right, Soft Check Bralet- Topshop (£24), Daisy soft button front bralet- Topshop (£24), Denim soft bralet- Topshop (£24)

Oxblood satin bralet- Topshop (£22), Blonde & blonde bralet- Bank (£20), 

Swan cut out bralet- Topshop (£26), Underwire vintage style bralet- Urban Outfitters (£18), Fringe cropped bralet- Urban Outfitters (£20)

Vau Vau

Vau Vau looked set to be a blast and it did not disappoint. It was a loving celebration of all things fashion.

Photo by Danielle Jaques

My boyfriend, Jay (Waste of Ink) had a stall showcasing his graffiti artwork, Stacey (Eustratia) had a stall also featuring Richard Aryes chain mail jewellery and loads of my model friends were featured in the show as well as walking myself.

We started the day in our usual whirl wind of chaos arriving late to the hair dressers. This some how ended up with me getting pushed to the back of the que and I ended up having to wait a few hours in a nearby cafe. As a solid believer of DIY and avoiding the hair dressers wherever possible I was suitably impressed with the line of catwalk quality hair emerging from Rebel Pin Up. Perhaps it was the tattooed clad stylists or the gigantic gold mirrors but I was quite excited but the time my turn came. I could even be persuaded to visit there in future if I ever felt a trip to the hair salon was absolutely necessary. Check out their website for more info http://www.rebelpinup.co.uk/.

Rebel Pin Up

The event was held in the beautiful leftbank church in Leeds which we spent the majority of the day shivering in. By the time I eventually arrived back from the hairdressers most of Stacey's and Jay's stalls were set up so I spent a large amount of the afternoon socialising with the other models and feeling smug that I brought a wealth of cardigans, jumpers and coats to combat the chilly temperature.

The church just after we arrived

Jay and his stall

Rik and Charlotte

The Eustratia stall 

In the show there would be a mix of vintage attire and boutique designers along with the extravagant finale from Eustratia. 

The rehearsals for the show were fun. For the first few shows it was a simple walk down and straight back. However for the Eustratia show the choreography was a little more complicated. We went through it all quite a few times just before the doors opened, till everyone was satisfied we knew what to do. The music for the show (writting by Dave Abbot) had separate parts for each set of characters and even I was impressed that the walk timed perfectly with each section. The music fitted really well with the show and it must have been catchy because it was in my head for the rest of the week. My character was a queen and along with Stacey we were the last pair down, this involved wielding an oversized paper fan which was the only thing I ended up being nervous about. 

Toria going through the walk

Charlotte and Stacey 

 Sophie Adamson Art & Accessories had a beautiful stall

Toria in her custom Eustratia pink antlers

 My Rebel Pin Up hair

Laura was a deer in the show

Jay painting a spray can

(my pictures are half black from this point on as I accidentally opened the case before winding the film back)

I never actually ended up having chance to look through all the stalls, as I was caught up with helping with the show. I even somehow managed to be the last model in line for the start as I disappeared to the toilet while unbeknownst to me Toria ran around looking for me. I must have not been paying attention to the start time while I was casually queuing to use the loo, as Charlotte bust in and insisted I jump to the front, followed by Toria whom informed me everyone was ready but me.

I love the pre-show mix of adrenaline, nerves and excitement. It isn't like a lot of other things I've experienced, probably because I'm far to terrified to go on roller coasts and avoid as many painful pursuits as possible. If there was a reason to walk in a show again it would definitely be this along with sharing the experience with so many lovely, down to earth girls. It is something special sharing the wait with singing, dancing, excited, giggling girls.

My vintage outfit by Wildchild Media

Charlotte did my favourite pose! By Arlen Specter

Verity & Beth by Arlen Specter

Ezra by Arlen Specter

Helen Peta Storey by Arlen Specter

Me by Arlen Specter

Beth (not sure who took this ?)

Stacey by Arlen Specter

I can't say what the show looked like from the outside but I can say from the inside that everybody who took part did an amazing job in the show, it was so much fun and I'm sure each and every girl pulled off there looks flawlessly.

There was a few mis-haps along the way, my car got reversed into and one of my tops was temporarily misplaced (apologies to Beth for freaking out). However all in all I had a lovely day and I hope the people watching enjoyed it as much as everybody who took part.

By the end of the night our group of stragglers packing up final bits and pieces from the stalls were huddled round the one industrial heater trying to get warm, before packing stuff into the cars and heading back to Toria's to spend the rest of the evening chilling out and eating take-a-way pizza.

Well done to Toria Brightside and Emma Parry for organising the event, Fashion Pony for sponsoring,  all the stalls who took part, all the models and designers, make up artists and to Rebel Pin Up for awesome hair. Once again I was so pleased to be apart of it and hope to be involved in the next one. All in all over £2000 was raised for the charities Guide Dogs for the Blind and Cancer Research.

Febuary Wish List

Here's a few things on my current wish list I'm going to be completely broke till the end of the month so here's me wishing other wise!

I've been after a leather jacket to customise for so long now and still not come across the perfect one. I really like the shape of the denim jacket below so maybe it would be a good substitute for now. Although I'm not sure how warm it would really be.

From the left hand upper corner- 

• Night daisy mini dress- Asos (£110)
• Grey denim Biker Jacket- Ebay (£70)
• Triangle pendant neck lace- Urban Outfitters (£14)
• 'Dark' ring- Topshop (£12.50)
• Black crushed velvet Leggings- Ebay (£12)
• Black victorian floral Doc Martens- Amazon (£75)

Photo Diary #2

I'm settling into my new job and really enjoying being supper busy. My desk is by the window which looks out onto a power station, which when the sun sets at night looks so beautiful. I've already learnt lots of new things and I'm very happy to be using photoshop more again. Hopefully when some of my prints hit the shops I can share a few on here. I'm going to try and keep on top of my blog a little bit more this month, as I feel it's been neglected by the pace of the new year.

Here's some photos from my travels the past month <3

My face

Me and Charlie in the Lakes

My Birthday meal

Me and him

They're all quite dark but I think I like them this way.