I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR

I literally say this everyday, i have nothing. However, recently due to lack of money and a slight concern for sustainability (mostly aided through my love for Westwood), i've started to take on a sort of buy less, choose well mantra, a la Vivienne. 

I recently forked out £40 on a new jumper and my justification for it was that i'd just been paid and it would last me. Plus it was a sale item, i wouldn't have paid £50. Also it was an impulse buy, i was on ASOS looking for xmas list ideas. I didn't put this on my list as i didn't want to wait for it, i had to have it. I literally was on and off the website in 10 mins and bought something, i saw SALE and was immedietly hooked

The immodesty theory suggests in simple terms, that clothes are a way of drawing attention to certain parts of the body. As i intend on only wearing my studded cross bra under this see-through jumper, i guess in some respects i'm drawing attention to myself and am certainly not purchasing modestly and practically.

I also have never heard of this brand before, but as the products were among brand i love such as Westwood and Cheap Monday and presumed it was a similar sort of brand.

In the spirit of buying less, i recently customised one of my old jackets by cutting off the sleeves and using it as a gilet over the top of a contrast shiny american apparel varsity jacket. I've had loads of compliments which is funny seeing as it took me all of 2 mins to change. I've also started wearing my shirts as skirt things over skinny jeans. The whole sustainable concept also taps onto the real vs ideal self. Ideally i would like to be a sustainable and ethically conscious person. I'm definelty starting to tap into my greener side even though i want every peice of clothing under the sun.

Westwood x Customised jacket.

My girlfriend got a £500 coat and all i got were these lousy socks...

On sunday i went to Liberty's and Vivienne Westwood with my gf as she wanted to get a winter coat. Long story short we ended up on Conduit St in Vivienne Westwood looking at coats. Whilst she was doing her thing i wondered round and found some really nice Westwood socks, i didn't even think twice about the price, i saw £20 and was happy paying that for the Westwood orb on my socks. If they weren't branded there is no way i would have got them, of course subconsciously/consciously i chose the ones with the most obvious branding. To put it bluntly, wearing Vivienne Westwood makes me feel better and i feel higher up in societal terms. If people asked me for my fav brands, i would say Westwood even though i own little of it. I would prefer to say Westwood even though i mostly shop vintage. It makes me seem more fashion conscious.

After i left it actually hit me that i paid £20 for socks, uhhh. I literally do not have that money to spare on a pair of socks. What was i thinking. They will look cute with my creepers though. slaassssh now i'm very poor and stressing about money. Do Westwood do returns? ha

This purchase has a lot to do with the theory of self and more specifically my public self and how others perceive me/how i would like them to perceive me. I definitely got them to flash the orb around. 

When i grow up, i want to be a power dyke...

This evening i'm going to the Soho House christmas party, hosted by Girl Action and MINT. If Girl Action didn't give it away, tonight lesbians are taking over! Women invited tend to be 'professionals' insinuating there will be a load of power dykes and women 30+

I normally hate paying entry into places but i paid £10 for my ticket, very unlike me. I did feel a little guilty but i was determined to go. Why you might ask? Yeh i find it weird that i'll be hanging with a bunch of women twice my age at a members only club.

This obviously has a lot to do with acceptance in a certain group of people and illustrating my self-concept. The fact it's Soho House gives me a glimpse into a sort of life i want. I always say that when i get my Shoreditch House membership i know i will have made it...

Equally the women here are openly gay, professional, successful, beautiful, everything i hope to be and so it's very aspirational in essence. In accordance with expectancy theory i'm choosing this night over others in anticipation of acceptance into this particular group (self-esteem). I feel like i may need to alter how i normally act when i go out as i'm surrounded my a new group of people and am unsure abou how they might percieve me. To put it simply, i'm used to getting wasted in east london, not drinking civilly at Soho House.

**Update** - So after last night, i was definetly right about toning my behaviour down and even spend £10 on a glass of wine to fit in. It was very tempting to not go across the road for £1.70 drinks at G-A-Y

IDEAL SELF - Power lesbians...

Freja Beha Erichsen

Ellen Degeneres & Portia De Rossi

Mary Portas & Melanie Rickey

Leisha Hailey, The L Word.


I once wrote a massive paper on sexuality and the consumption of media focusing on the escapism behind choice of music and tv. As with my decision to pay £10 to associate myself with a certain group, i'm choosing to escape from heteronormative ideals.
Likewise, watching The L Word also says something about me and who i am/wish to be. In essence, i've determined what i do and don't like in terms of my sexuality in order to represent who i am, i guess as a sort of self affirmation (self theory and validation).

CAN'T DECIDE

Today i realised that the H&M Versace collection goes on sale at 9am tomorrow. I want the mens varsity style jacket so bad. But not bad enough that i'm willing to fork out £79.99. I'm in two minds whether to buy it or not, the rational side of me sees that i'm buying into the whole concept, the cheaper brand extension. If i saw this jacket in a vintage shop, yes i would probably buy it but for £30 max. The emotional side of me sees VERSACE, JACKET, NICE COMBO, i need it to look cool. With the success of the Lanvin collaboration (i think it sold out pretty fast) i feel like there's a massive rush to get in on this Versace x H&M endeavour. I'll probably just settle for the tacky gold chain for £14.99, which i do love but if it wasn't Versace i wouldn't go near it...

Simone Rocha x Topshop

So i went to Topshop really excited about Simone Rocha's collaboration. I tried on an oversized white shirt with neon mesh arms, very 'me' but it actually looked horrendous. It was a really structured shirt and did not fall well. It was £90 and i was considering buying it? why? £90 when i literally have no money, just for the name and her association. Firstly the price suggested it was of better quality to Topshop own.

Also, I think what's nice about the Topshop collection is that it really is quite similar to her collection which in essence gives us   a way of buying into her brand, just at a cheaper price. In this instance, my consuming was based on how i would 'feel' wearing this shirt knowing it was Rocha not that it looked £90 good. In addition i was also persuaded by gaga's love for Rocha so in fact i was acting through two aspirational mindsets - 1) i wanna be gaga, 2) i want to wear Rocha to 'feel' the brand, an emotional tool if you will. 

The shirt i tried on:

Lady Gaga in Simone Rocha, love her green hair. Anyone see Charlie Le Mindu's blog on getting this look? 

Love these looks from her collection, you can see the resemblance in the Topshop collaboration. I'm a big fan of black, mesh, androgyny and i guess i'm attracted to this brand as my personality is reflected in the brand's own image? That middle shirt 'IS SOOOO ME'. From reading quite a bit on consumer behaviour, it's funny how we feel protective over certain brands and feel a sense of ownership over them. I've always thought of fashion as being a free for all but it's actually a very segmented, hierarchal, value system it completely and utterly relates to your personal situation, culture, surroundings, there's little intrinsic about it.


My philosophy of fashion: literally from just talking about this one shirt i'm thinking that fashion and how we consume is very deterministic, we like to think we have style, choice when in fact we are so influenced by external factors whether it be friends, weather, style blogs etc. that we don't have the time to truly process what's intrinsic to us. 

 

aspirational non-purchasing

So my pair of creepers are beyond repair and after a good year's worth of wear it's time  i brought a new pair. I've been on the internet searching around and have found countless possibilities for the 'right' pair. Evidently whilst at the pre-purchase stage, price is having a huge influence on narrowing down my choices. I do have the dream shoe, the Balenciaga SS 2011 biker boots for instance, they would be the perfect shoe and replacement. If only things were that simple...

Likewise the Prada creepers would be nice...

Whilst $1, 275 for the Balenciaga shoes is way out of my price range, the Prada shoes coming in at £510 soften the blow a little bit. The only thing standing in-between me and these shoes simply is price and as a result i am forced to substitute my purchase for a cheaper but fashion-foward alternative: £80 suede Underground creepers

Although i like these shoes a lot and they are still quite a substantial purchase for me (i'll probably add them to my xmas list) i think the sense of satisfaction and 'feelings' about my choice of shoe are weakened due to my aspirational hopes for a pair of $1000 ones. Although they completely satisfy my utilitarian needs, they don't meet the emotional. 

Drew Barrymore in Poison Ivy, style ICON!

The oversized bike jacket, crop top, scantily clad and loving it. 

Rose Boy Part 2

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/rule-britannia/rule-britannia-roseboy-part-2

So interesting to see how obsessed people are with celebrities and being friends with them. It's quite upsetting in a way but we all aspire to be something more, they just take it to the CRAZY level.

Terry kissing Terry

I love Chloe Sevigny and i think this shoot with Terry Richardson is so funny. Chloe Sevigny goes all out to appear as Terry Richardson, with his signature flannel shirt and glasses are just the start of it as she adorns a wig and facial hair to complete the look.

ignacio torres

Ignacio's series of animated photographs called Stellar are inspired by the relationship between humans and cosmic matter. Each photograph shows a subject in a moment of movement surrounded by a cloud of cosmic dust. I'm a big fan of this creative medium

Lady Gaga x Supreme by Terry Richardson