I had the answers but now they mean nothing

Happy Sunday! It feels like I've been off school forever, so the thought of going back tomorrow is painfully daunting, especially as on Friday I have my second university interview. I'm excited to just see what happens now, though - I loved the last one I visited, and already love the one I'm going to on Friday, so I hope at least one likes my work and is willing to take me on for a foundation course. It'll be so nice to get to focus just on art/fashion for an entire year, and work out what my style and preferred techniques are. Anyway, after my ridiculously busy week I spent two days working and recovering from home, celebrated my friend's birthday, and then took the morning off today to visit a nearby vintage fair (I haven't been to one in ages and couldn't resist a browse). I wore a slight variation of an outfit I wore on Friday to go out...I am deeply sorry to my friends who had their pretty image slightly disrupted by the presence of a small ginger, wearing self-ripped jeans under a kilt. There's so much fun in wearing odd combinations.

I wore a vintage sparkley shirt under a silver vest (I cut it down to make it into a tie-front crop top - I get so much more wear out of it now I don't have loads of spare fabric to tuck in) with a huge crescent moon brooch to keep it in place as the shirt has no top buttons. The leopard jacket is also vintage, the jeans demolished at 3am a few weeks ago by yours truly; the skirt from Beyond Retro, shoes from Monki, and bag by The Whitepepper. I adore their cute accessories and felt this little pal was perfect vintage fair attire.

 I'm not 100% sure what inspired me to cut my jeans so much - I know it was at least partially (ok almost fully) down to Shinee's Key and Red Velvet...I cut the knees out before getting my ear pierced in september, as I needed some kind of new look to give me enough of a boost to get myself to the shop without chickening out...then before fashion week cut the whole thighs out and added some odd little squares at the ankles for no apparent reason. I just liked the thought of deconstructing something so common, and reducing it down to simply shreds of fabric that start to raise the question of whether they still count as jeans or not.

The fair itself was really good - a huge selection of amazing vintage jewellery and clothes, all displayed in a beautiful church in Hampstead. I hadn't been to a fair for ages and had forgotten just how much I love rummaging through and finding pieces, meeting interesting stall owners and getting distracted by everything shiny (I am a huge magpie when it comes to vintage jewellery, especially since I've been working at Hirst for over a year now). It wasn't the cheapest I've been to but that is also just because I am exceptionally tight with my money at the moment and refuse to buy anything that isn't a good deal...helpful, as I'm trying to save money for a summer holiday, but painful when you can't bring yourself to fork out for amazing items. I did buy a few really nice things though as I found a really well-priced stall or two. I'm sure you could have bartered the others down but I rarely do that...I feel like "I'm a student," isn't really a good enough excuse to ask for a discount at a fair unless in exceptional cases.

Yes that is a long red leather jacket...possibly the best purchase of my entire life. I couldn't resist the glittery resin earrings and the ring matched the coat...if you've been reading my blog for a while you probably already know just how much I ADORE matching.
Anyway, on a little side note, and a flashback to fashion week...I work at a vintage jewellery shop, and one of my bosses, Shirley Hirst, designs and makes jewellery by hand, including this pair that I wore to LFW back in 2014. They are absolutely fascinating and unique, and Joseph bought some, along with a selection of our vintage Lea Stein brooches, for their London Fashion Week A/W16 show! I'm really excited about it just as their are so many amazing pieces in our shop and Shirley's designs deserve so much recognition as they are so intricate and fascinating...here are a few photos from the Joseph show, with our jewellery being used!

It was such a shock of a collection - I always have associated Joseph with a sleek, stylish look, often monochromatic, with a play on silhouette as it's main feature (see: A/W14-15) however this season saw a collection of asymmetrically buttoned jackets, vibrant colours, stripes, checks, patterns, huge knits and loose threads, all bundled onto the models but somehow in a very interesting and well-composed way. The collection was centred around the theme of celebrating individuality, and not only was this evident, but also a real compliment to Shirley as I felt her pieces suited the concept so well, as they are such unique pieces created by a fascinating individual. I hope to see more of her work getting the recognition they deserve!  (show photos from Vogue.com)
I hope you all have a lovely week!