Heartbreak Hotel

It's been a phenomenally long time since I wrote here last. Life has been busy. Also I can't lie the current political climate has put me in a bit of a flump, and left me feeling less inclined to blog. It seems strange writing posts about clothes when everything is in turmoil. However, I feel very strongly that everyone could probably use some good vibes right now and blogs can be a great way to skip reality for a few moments of the day! So I guess what I'm saying is I'm still here, trying to make you smile/think!

Last weekend, having felt very flumpish over Christmas, my ma and I held a giant January jumble sale to raise money for the Penryn and Falmouth Foodbank. Now more than ever it feels really really necessary to DO stuff, be it big or small, to help others. A proper old fashioned jumble sale is a dying breed so it felt good revive something and make some cash for a good cause too (we raised £344 in total - yahoo). Food banks do amazing work, and they get NO government funding (mainly because the Tory's will not accept that over half the population have or will use one in their lifetime) so they are entirely reliant on fundraising and donations. 

Our friends and family were incredibly generous with donations of clothes, money and food! I picked up a few great things including these leather biker trousers that my friend Holly donated. They are actual motorbike trousers but a size 10 so they fit like a dream. I feel like a second generation Elvis in them. I'm yet to find the right occasion to wear them at so for now dancing around my living room to Heartbreak Hotel is their destiny. 

Trying to capture Elvis' insipid expressions is pretty tricky but luckily my brother and I spent a lot of our youth prancing about to Mr Presley so I've got in a lot of practice in down the years.

Source: 1

Source: 2

It feel strange dressing as an All-American hero after the last two weeks. I don't really want to give the orange being any time on here but suffice to say what he is doing is terrible and I'm fighting as best I can here in England. I've only visited the States once but it was my favourite of anywhere I ever been. Inspiring on a level I can't even put into words. There is so much good in America, and it makes my heart break to see it being destroyed. I will keep protesting, and writing (WRITE to your MP and ask them to stop the state visit)!

 I recently joined a group called 'Let's Get Busy' which is aiming to give the left a new space to speak and act. So far I've been to one meeting, and it felt SO great to be amongst other like-minded bodies and talk how we might pro-actively start fighting back! Everyone needs to get out there and get busy, get helpful, get empowered! We've entered a new era now, it's no longer optional to speak up, you've got to get shouting before it's too late!

Outfit Details

Leather trousers - jumble sale

Denim jacket - nicked from my brother

T-shirt - painted by me (others can be found HERE)

Postcards from Europe: Germany

I haven't felt much like blogging in the last week. My last post (pre-birthday and brexit) seems a lifetime ago, an awful lot has happened since then. I was starting to feel rather hopeless and helpless about everything (as I'm sure many others were and still are). A change came along when I saw a beautiful project started by my friends over at The Glorious Art House, they always have a way of bringing cheer to a sad situation. A few days after that fateful day they began Make it Write, a project that encourages people to have a positive voice during these tough times by sending a postcard to an office, cafe or home in Europe. The postcard can include a friendly message of solidarity or hope, a picture or just a happy memory. I felt so inspired reading about it; it gave me a little solace to know that I know so many wonderful people and LOOK they aren't giving up, and I shouldn't either! I am still European, I love Europe. I was born there, without the EU, I would not be here. SO to cut a long story short my mum and I put every country in the EU into a hat and picked 14 each. We are now going to each make 14 postcards celebrating each state, and at some point in the nearish future they will travel to The Glorious for a small exhibition.

Here is the first country of my 14: Germany. I had to start with Germany. I love it; the Bavarian mountains, the golden trees in Autumn, the delicious Lebkuchen, dirndls, castles.... We also said goodbye to our German friend and housemate last week so it seemed fitting to begin with it. 

The hat was customised by my mum for my party last week (she came as the EU flag), strangely I realised when I was editing these that they look very 4th of July with the red, blue, white and stars -completely unintentional!  

Aside from Brexit I had a very odd week. Firstly because I somehow I ended up in a press frenzy re the dress in my last post and ended up appearing in the local newspaper and then also the Daily Mail (pls pity me). Anyway in a bizarre set of circumstances I am being paid, so I'm putting the money to good use and have joined the labour party. I like to think there is some karma in the world, haha.

The other odd, but very nice, occurrence is that a man contacted my brothers and I to say he wanted to donate some our fathers books to us that had recently come into his possession. He wants nothing for them, and I cannot tell you what a delight it is to have such a kind act of generosity after such a dismal week! 

I feel that I am coming up for air, and lots of good things are happening. Holding onto the good stuff is very important for us all right now. I hope you are all well, there will obviously be more to come from this series so keep your eyes peeled...

Linking with Visible Monday and Judith's Hat Attack 

Outfit Details

Dirndl - Vintage shop in Berlin

White cotton smocked top - Car boot 

Crochet choker - Made by my mum

X

Adventuring in France: Part 2

I'm back with the second installment. I've actually skipped a day in favour of posting these pictures from our third day instead. It was the first day of truly glorious weather and we spent the day train hopping across the coast, we began at Cagnes sur Mer then stopped off at Villefranche sur Mer and then finally Monte Carlo in Monaco. 

Villefranche was one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I've ever visited, endlessly photogenic, every possible angle looked wonderful. As you can imagine I took quite a few snaps so I've drastically narrowed these down to my favourites. I was very happy with my outfit choice this day, I was going for French Riviera chic - the headscarf was also partially out of necessity as my hair went a bit fluffy and wild with the humidity.

The hotel above is one of the very fanciest in the town, right on the sea front with a view across the bay. I loved the sign, it looks like something straight out of a 1960s film. Hopefully when I win the lotto I can stay in one of those rooms up top! 

Chappelle St Pierre (below) was another favourite, utterly magnificent.

Monte Carlo was a little stranger in atmosphere, the Grand Prix was being packed away. All the stainless steel structures did rather dampen the vibe (and view) it was also dreadfully hot by the time we arrived so we all felt a bit bothered. Having climbed to the top to visit the Palais it cooled down a little and we were able to enjoy ourselves a little more. However for me it lacked the character that the crumbly medieval towns retain (despite being overrun with tourists). It was incredibly clean and everything was very pretty but I'm not sure I'd return in rush. I much much prefered Villefranche.

I still seem to have rather a lot of photos left to share so there'll be another post tomorrow (and maybe one the day after too!) X

Outfit Details

1950s cotton dress - car boot sale

Beaded choker necklace - car boot sale

Headscarf - nicked from my mum

Sunglasses - flea market stall on Brick Lane 

Adventuring in France: Part 1

Bonjour! I am fresh off the plane and home in sunny//rainy//sunny England (the weather is bonkers here in London). France was an utter delight. I spent an entire week dining on cheese, drinking rose, wandering around medieval towns and sunning myself, it was sheer bliss, I feel so sad to be home! I took hundreds of photographs so I'm chopping them up into bitesize chunks so as not to overwhelm you all! 

Today is my selection from our first day in France. We spent the morning exploring Saint Paul de Vence, the village nearest our villa. It's a wonderful medieval town with beautiful cobbled streets and views to die for. The weather was a little so so, very muggy and a little drizzly (but it brightened up the next day phewwww!)

 Having sampled the gelato, and checked out the numerous tiny chapels, we headed to the Foundation Maeght, an amazing sculpture gallery and garden, just around the corner from the village. They have all my favourites: Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, Barbara Hepworth, so I was in absolute heaven wandering about. To top it off they had a temporary exhibition by Christo & Jeanne-Claude, including the amazing tower of barrels that I am standing by in the pictures below. The setting of the gallery is absolutely wonderful, with views right across the valley, and the sculptures are so thoughtfully integrated into the space. 

I'm so sleepy from all my travels that I'm going to bid you adieu now but I'll be back tomorrow with another post and more pictures and probably more writing (I'm feeling a little blah right now, my brain is mush from the muggy heat and lack of sleep!)

Hope you are all well and safe 

XX

Outfit Details

Striped cotton 1950s sundress - car boot sale

Jelly shoes - JuJu Footwear

Striped cotton neckerchief - Tiger

Wicker bag - early birthday gift from my mumma