Dungarees

ebay

I am so very, very tempted...

Saturday Playlist

As promised, I'm going to try and stay up to date with this Saturday playlist lark. So here's today's eclectic selection...

"Georgia on My Mind"- Ray Charles

"Albion" (Acoustic version)- Pete Doherty

"A Girl A Boy and A Graveyard"- Jeremey Messersmith

"Yeah, Oh Yeah"- The Magnetic Fields

"Fade Into You"- Mazzy Star

That does it for today! I've decided to restrict my Saturday Playlist to 5 songs. They are in no way connected to eachother but I feel as stand alone tracks they all have their own merit in different ways. I've also decided not to write a big rant about each of them cos no one reads it anyway so here you are, the meat without the trimmings!

Happy Saturday!

Topshop Christmas Picks

PETITE TWEEDY CABLE JUMPER

PETITE CABLE CROP JUMPER

ANKLE SOCKS

ANIMAL PRINT BODYCON

LONG FAUX FUR TEXTURED COAT

VOW VELVET SNAFFLE TRIM LOAFERS

AMA LEOPARD PRINT HEELED CHELSEA BOOTS

LONG CURVED TUNNEL EARRING

CROSS DROP EARRINGS

SPIKE AND LEATHER BODY CHAIN

MESH BIB COLLAR NECKLACE

AZTEC ENGRAVED OVAL RING

POLAR BEAR RING

Topshop is far too tempting at the moment!

A Very She & Him Christmas

http://www.sheandhim.com/#/splash

The ultimate hipster Christmas album. I've had it on repeat all day! I think I might marry Zoeey Deschanel too; just look at that jacket.

Also, you can order this album on red vinyl for extra hipster points.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvX_Bu8axuCvyH0JWtLsnxiGGISFUdmkOi4fX-3OTDV2N1xnPipxatcZt980jUTXAnCGFZ37mBhAOEWG2wcQ06OIuuMerhaOrzNMdmz7xQXkvx1JaPxWWnr2ytRZ4N5Z4GQraIRe8nfXk/s320/santa.gif

Merry Hipster Christmas Everybody!

"Ferris, please. You've gone to far. We're going to get busted."

This is possible one of my most favourite items of clothing I own. I posted about it before on my old blog Cooltured and I also posted about it on my tumblr account, that's where the first photo is from. The second photo was taken for a project that my housemates and boyfriend had to do for college but I thought the coat looked kinda slick in it so I put it in. As you can see I'm wearing pretty much the same outfit, though considering there's about five months between each of these photos being taken I reckon I get away with it!

I first wanted a jacket like this after seeing Sloane, Ferris's girlfriend, wearing one in Ferris Buelller's day off and couldn't believe it when the boyfriend bought it for me out of the blue. It's just so wonderfully 80s is it not? I sorta wish I was young back then, the style was so horrendously epic; just look at the shoulder pads on this thing. The 80s and 90s really were great years for fashion; just think of Saved by the Bell or Freaks and Geeks

Anyways, as an ode to 80s/90s high school movie fashion I've decided to give you a low down on some of my favourite looks from this genre...

"Naw, man. That's what I like about these high school girls; I get older, they stay the same age."

Wooderson from "Dazed and Confused"'s epic tight white tshirt and dusty pink pants combo, and let's not forget the epic early 90s 'tash to set off the whole look; it is movember afterall!

"The one in the green is Courtney. She was like Satan in heels. "

Ah "Jawbreaker", the easy-to-watch late 90s American High School flick; popular girls kill their best friend by accident and befriend the loser girl cos she saw the whole thing; the usual. This film is rife with tight sweates, neck scarves, tacky heels and rose tinted sunglasses; perfect 90s "glamour"!

"I woke up in a great mood; I don't know what the hell happened. "

image via http://images.art.com/images/products/large/10103000/10103145.jpg

I have to admit that I've never actually seen "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" but I tried to watch it the other day and the internet was being bold so apologies, I hear it's got a great pool scene in it mind you. Even though I haven't seen it myself, it is a cult classic so I know a bit about it. I wish they had diners in Ireland these days; mainly so I could work there and wear a uniform like this. I think I might just buy a striped red and white shirt and red bow tie mind you and just try and pull off some kind of "look".

"He does dress better than I do, what would I bring to the relationship? "

What list would be complete without the 1995 classic that is "Clueless"? Gossip girl eat your heart out, Cher and Dionne were the true queens of "preppy chic".

What's your favourite 80s/90s high school movie fashion?

all images via google images

A rant about Twilight...

image via google images

I do not like Twilight, let's get that clear right from the get go, so if you're a Twilight fan you should probably stop reading now and instead go buy some posters of Edward Cullen.

I've never read any of the Twilight books nor have I seen any of the films. This is mainly to be able to say that I've never read any of the Twilight books or seen any of the films. This said, I somehow manage to know the whole bloody (pun-intended) story-line from the sheer amount of hype about the whole thing.

For starters, vampires are not cool, nor are they sexy. They bite you, suck your blood and it would seem leave you pregnant with a half monster baby; real sound vampires, real sound. Not only that, but the vampires in twilight don't even seem to wear capes, the most kickass thing about vampires, and they sparkle like little fancy boys! Let's be honest, if you were Kirsten Stewart, who would you go for; the sparkly, grey pallor-ed, cape-less vampire boy or the awesome werwolf that she also seems to be mates with. 

DISCLAIMER: DUE TO THE FACT I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY READ THE BOOKS OR SEEN THE FILMS I AM GOING BY WHAT I SEE IN THE ADDS AND WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM FRIEND'S DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE TOPIC.

Anyways, yeah so you might argue that Twilight and Harry Potter are the same type of thing, WRONGO! Harry Potter is about wizards that are awesome who clearly have a one up on the vampires anyways cos they've got capes. Plus Harry Potter's got dragons in it.

In short, I will not be going to see the new Twilight this weekend, mainly because I'm scared I'll actually enjoy it and not be able to rant anymore, but don't tell anyone.

Saturday Playlist

I've mentioned before that I'm no music buff, however I like music and to broaden my musical horizons as they say I've decided to undertake a weekly "playlist". I'll try to keep this a Saturday thing but knowing me it could be often late, but I'll do my best. These playlist will consist of songs both old and new that just happen to take my fancy that day/time or whatever. They'll mainly be songs recommended to me by others and where I can I'll try to credit people for their recommendations but sometimes I won't remember who told me about songs so apologies in advance if I don't acknowledge you for something.

Anyways, here goes, my first "Saturday Playlist".

"Putting the Dog to Sleep"- The Antlers

"Bear"- The Antlers

Dan and I went to see The Antlers in Chicago for his birthday during the summer and I can honestly say they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen. After being dubious of them at first I soon became mesmerized by Peter Silberman's soaring lead vocals and the strong dreamy synth. At the Chicago gig Silberman's voice was flawless and seemed to reach unreachable notes effortlessly. I was well and truly blown away.

On Thursday, The Antler's played The Academy in Dublin and Dan had sourced us free tickets through connections, cos he's real cool like that. I'd been looking forward to them all week but when they came on stage they were barely recognisable as the same band we'd seen a mere five months previously. Silberman's vocals were drowned by out of place and overused synth from Darby Cicci. Cicci was surrounded by a set up of at least three keyboards, footpedals, computer screens and a heap of wires coming from all directions. From behind this hi-tech barricade he attempted to dance as though synth was a guitar while making odd bird noises into the microphone.

All fond memories we had of them as a band were being well and truly ruined and we left after about five songs.

Although their Dublin gig was extremely disappointing, their two albums, Hospice and Burst Apart are still extremely enjoyable and I have taken a song from each to add to my playlist today.

The first is "Putting the Dog to Sleep". Even though the topic of the title is something that would usually make me cry, I fell in love with this song in Chicago and often find myself singing it to myself in my head as I walk along on my own. (that's keep shit). 

The second son I chose is "Bear". Pretty self explanatory really; I just like bears.

"My Love Took Me Down to The River (to silence me)"- Little Green Cars

Little Green Cars are the next big thing around Dublin these days. Once again Dan has a connection to them so I've seen them live twice now and each time I find it hard to believe how good they are at such a young age. If you haven't heard of them yet I'm sure you will soon but don't take my word for it, give them a listen and you'll soon be hooked.

"Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid"- Fats Waller

Breaking away from the recent for this next choice. This is a song I've had on my iPod for years and was reminded of it the other day when someone mentioned porters. I love the music of the 20s; dingy little underground jazz bars, all flapper dresser and feather boas, wouldn't it just be swell to go back to those times? Smoking cigarettes from long holders and being able to pull off evening gloves without it having to be a themed night out or the like. People knew how to dress back then. Anyways, this is a music post and not a fashion post so I'll steer clear of getting side-tracked. This song is just a great ode to this era, as well as all of Waller's work really and if you're in the mood for something light and jazzy then you can't really go wrong.

"Superfast Jellyfish"- Gorrilaz

Another change of genre here with a song from the Gorillaz album "Plastic Beach", another album introduced to me by Dan (told you I was really crap at music). This whole album is great but I especially like this song, not sure why, I just do.

"Two Weeks"- Grizzly Bear

I think it was my brother who first told me about Grizzly Bear, but I can't really remember. I love this song though and I don't care if it's become a bit mainstream or overplayed.

"The Shining"- Badly Drawn Boy

This one is one of my own this time. Damon Gough (The Badly Drawn Boy) hails from Manchester and has a wonderful dreamlike quality to his music. This song I first heard in some film that I cannot for the life of me remember but when searching for it on the internet discovered that he also did the soundtrack to "About A Boy". Well worth a listen.


That's it for my Saturday playlist, I hope you enjoy and as I've said, most of my musical tastes are stolen from others, mainly Dan really, and I am in no way a music guru! I just sort liked the idea of a weekly playlist.

The Little Blonde Bear

Cricket Jumpers and Christmas Cakes

I know I said I didn't want this blog to become merely a fashion blog and I'm sticking to this. However, I do miss outfit posts so I've decided that it's okay to throw one in every now and again as long as they don't take over every post.

So this weekend I've been at home. I rarely come home to the West of Ireland since I moved to Dublin for college over two years ago. As much as I love Dublin though, you cannot beat going home around Christmas time. I've just finished making the Christmas cake with my parents and I can just about get the first wafts of it coming from the oven. I'm not allowed to look in though cos apparently that ruins the cake. I'm not the most savvy chef so this was news to me. I suppose I'll resist.

I also found this cricket jumper in my brother's wardrobe today. It's men's size large but tucked into a skirt I think it's almost pull-off-able. I don't know if my brothers read this thing, or even know I have a blog but if they are reading this I'm sorry for stealing your jumper and don't worry I'm not bringing it back up to Dublin with me. That's mainly because mum spilled coffee on it though. Anyways, I reckon I'm safe cos if my brothers did read this they would have definitely been on to me already to call me a tool or something to that effect.

If anyone wants to buy me my own cricket jumper however, feel free, I'd love one that actually fits. Or even a nice fitting cream Aran sweater. I've been on the lookout for one of them so if anyone has seen any good ones let me know.

Okay, I'm rambling so I'm going to stop now. I hope you aren't too offended by my shamefully egotistic outfit post but I just sort of like the outfit and wanted to share it and heck why not I guess!

Keep on growlin',

The Little Blonde Bear

(this sign off is really embarrassing I know but I like it)

John Lewis Christmas Advert 2011

Every year the John Lewis Christmas ad manages to make me cry.

This year is no exception.

Things that I have recently acquired...

A Faux Fox Scarf

Clearly an essential piece to everyone's wardrobe, I picked up this beauty on a recent trip to Toulouse to visit a friend of mine on erasmus there. Not only is is faux fur, but a faux fox. Where did I find this treasure you may ask? Why the trusty old H&M of course, and before you ask, yes I did seem to be the only one who'd bought one.

Polar Bear Fleece Pajamas

Every year I get a new pair of Christmas pajamas. This year they have polar bears on them.

 Nativity Christmas Jumper

 No description needed really. Probably the best thing I've ever owned, ever.

 Penguin Suitcase and Matching Backpack

Mum and I went to TKMaxx yesterday and when we stumbled across these we couldn't but buy them! I'm planning on using the backback when I go skiing after Christmas.

Keep on growlin',

The Little Blonde Bear

To cut or not to cut...

All images via Google Images

It's gotten to that time again, that time when I get fed up with my hair and I want to get it cut. I used to get this urge to change my hair about every 3 months or so but for the past three years I've been growing my hair and the only thing I've changed about it is going from Platinum blonde to dark red and back to normal blonde, with two weeks of pink ends thrown in for good measure.

Now I want to cut it though. This is a whole other kettle of fish when it comes to hair. Dye you can dye over or wait for it to fade out; once you've cut it off there's nothing you can do but wait for it to grow back. I'm seriously in limbo here. As it is, my hair is horribly boring at the moment in this inbetweeny-just-past-shoulder-length-but-not-quite-long stage. There is no shape to it and most days I end up tying it in a bun atop my head anyways. 

As it stands I have two options, I can wait this out until it grows back to this kind of length;

or I can bite the bullet and cut it short(ish) again;

I really am so betwixed and between. I've been growing it out for so long now that it would seem a shame to cut it but then again does long hair really suit me? 

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated...

P.S. Yeah, that's my natural hair colour in that first photo there. I'm naturally kinda ginger.

A post about music...

A common question people ask when they're getting to know you is what kind of music you're into. What do you answer to this question? You want to seem cool but you also don't want to list off so many underground punk bands from the 80s as to render any further conversation with the person null and void. YOu want to be relatable but cool and so say something unoffensive like "Modest Mouse", having only ever heard "Float On."
When I was small I used to just listen to what my brothers told me to and now that I'm slightly less small I tend to listen to what my boyfriend tells me to. Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not just some mindless goon who listens to whatever she's told to and doesn't have any of her own opinions. I've just always found that I liked the music my brothers used to play for me and now I like the music my boyfriend plays for me. Not all of it of course, but it provides me with a base upon which to build my own musical interests.
I never liked Britney Spears or Christina Aguilara as a kid. This was mainly because I wanted to be different even then and so decided that they were too mainstream and girlie and because I was expected to like them I wasn't going to. That said, I went to their concerts, after-all I was still a pre-teen girl. These were performers though, not musicians and soon throughout my early to mid-teens I learned about rock and indie and underground music- the stuff that it was okay to like. There was Oasis and Pulp and The Libertines and The Frames, Nirvana, No Doubt, The Doors and all sorts of others in this eclectic mix of musicians gone-by mixed with up-and-coming artists that I had begun to newly appreciate. Influences came flooding through my ears with indie music quizes in my brother's old red Fiat Punto clashed with my father's ecclesiastical choir music, my mother's love of Bob Dylan and my other brother's sojourn with the dreaded dance music and "Euphoria" albums that went with it.
I've always loved all forms of music (except for most R'n'B and hip-hop- y stuff mind) but for some reason when I'm feeling down there's always a genre of music that can pick me right back up.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods.(source wikipedia)
I first heard any kind of ska in my brothers' Tony Hawk Skate playstation game. I was never allowed to play myself and so would spend hours watching them play and the soundtrack to the game was soon embedded in my mind. It was a Less Than Jake song if I remember correctly; All my Best Friends Are Metalheads

I just love that upbeat kind of happy sax line in their music, it makes me want to get up and dance about stomping my feel and flailing my arms and not caring a toss. Although I was never really into ska as they say, I still love bopping along to a good sum41 or Reel Big Fish song. 

People too often assume great music to have to be heart-wrenching and for it to connect with our innermost sadness, worries and despairs but why can't good music be something that gives us joy and makes us happy and want to bounce around and jump in front of our mirrors, even for a short while. Yeah, you can keep your Hallelujahs, your Everybody Hurts and your Bridges Over Troubled water; I choose happiness...... 

.....then again, have you heard of Modest Mouse ever? Yeah they're pretty cool alright... yeah "Float On"! great song isn't it.




Keep on growlin'!
The Little Blonde Bear

I was born this way...

Now, I'm not usually a big Gaga fan to be honest (I was never into chart music much) but when it comes to style and fashion and clothes, you gotta hand it to the lady(gaga)! I wish I could dress like her every day to be honest but I think I might get a few weird looks around the mech engineering building. 

Alas, I'll keep it to dressing like her for halloween for now but who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to get away with it..... maybe one day.

Keep on growling,

The Little Blonde Bear