Macintosh

I'm sure you are all well aware of the passing of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, and i was sad to hear of such a great, great man dying to such a cruel disease. Not only did he change the way we speak, listen, play, communicate and view the world, he was an inspiration - of whom was completely selfless. I had always admired his work, which you may find rather odd, but i'm a self-confessed Apple nerd. I can remember my dad bringing home an Apple laptop when i was eight years old, it was of course completely bulky as hell and the screen looked rather something like this, but it was utterly amazing. I've been fortunate, through my dad being a graphic designer (and a complete utter nerd too), i have always had access to the world of Apple. Eagerly anticipating the next launch or system update, my dad even bribed his friend to fly to NY and bring back an iPad that hadn't even been launched in the UK.. i told you we were hard-core nerds. A few years on, with many updates, sleek designers, and faster running power, my nearly twenty-two year old self is tapping away on my slightly battered but beautiful Mac book writing to you. Here's to the next era of Apple. RIP Steve. 

photo snapped on my iPhone of my iPad shared on my Mac.

CUBA!

Looking back over these photos nearly kills me, serious holiday blues right here. I had an absoluty incrediable time in Cuba and am very thankful to my parents who took me! I'll let the photos speak for themselves - utter paradise i think you'll agree! - but past the sunny beaches i learnt in-depth about the Cuban culture and took in the history of the country, if i had it my way, i would have bought a one way ticket! 

 

I could live on this beach!

 

 Cuban Mojitos & Cuban Coffees

 Impressive yet bloody scary Lobster.

Mango hedgehog for breakfast each day.

 Little jetplane to Havana

 Ernest Hemmingway's bar for more Mojitos.

Lemon and Strawberry Daiquiris!

 

 

 

 

 

 Rum Bacardi headquarters. 

Thanks Dad.

I would definitely recommend a trip to Cuba to anyone, we stayed at the Melia Las Dunas based on a tourist only island called Santa Clara. It was beautiful but being only a tourist only island slightly limits you from seeing the real Cuba, beyond the all inclusive rum and pool hotel. Although, my dad, brother and i had am amazing trip to the capital Havana which was one big history lesson in itself. 

There are always dramas that follow the Sandiford family on holiday, my mother got bitten 46 time by pesky mosquitos meaning a round trip to hospital for a nasty jab, i shared my hotel room with a lovely fellow otherwise known as a lizard, i drank more rum in that two weeks than hot dinners, i know the entire (cuban-born) Pitbull album off by heart and i made enemies with a rather large crab that tried to break down my balcony glass door at 2am every morning, oh and to top it off i lost weight (picky eater) only to be piled on the returning flight (its the pringles!). Oh and how could i forget! I saw the worlds longest man-made cigar and befriended a Cuban granny who took a shining to me. Impressive.

Of course i couldn't resist duty-free, both Cuban and Gatwick wise, so look out for those posts. If you fancy seeing more, yes more! photos, have a nose on my facebook albums one & two.

Now who wants to jet off back to Cuba with me?

Sweet dreams or a beautiful nightmare.

After three hard years of university work, not to mention the last few gruelling months, i finally received my final, final results and grading. Various date push-backs and complete miscommunication meant i was even more nervous and crazy than ever. However, to my utter most delight and complete excitement on Tuesday last week i logged on to find out that i, yours truly, will be graduating with a First Class BA Honours in Magazine Publishing.

(Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

I am SO pleased, even more so to see that i received 90% for my dissertation! LCC are pretty harsh when it comes to grade barriers, needing 85% alone to hit a First. But honestly i really couldn't be any happier. After many thousand family and friend phone calls, i had an enormous celebratory dinner at my Grandparents house to celebrate! Much to the delight of my Grandmother who probably cried happy tears throughout the entire evening, and whom decided to tell the entire WI. I can confirm that i spoke to majority of the Over 60's group on speaker phone and the lady in our nearest Chinease take-out thinks i'm expecting my first child, rather than a First degree. Family, you've got to love them.

With the happiness of receiving the highest grade for all my work comes the sad realisation of not being a student any more. Time to hand back the student discount (sob!) and actually go out the real world and show em what i'm made of. But in the mean time, lets panic about the GRADUATION OUTFIT!

Cream Tired Dress - French Connection (£110.00)

Peach Blazer - Miss Selfridge (£48.00)

Lace Pumps - ASOS (£25.00)

Whilst my parents are suited and booted, my mother in a godawful dress she let my dad pick out (yes i'm still confused too!) They kindly agreed to go halves on the cream French Connection dress i tried on previously. It may seem pretty classic and simple, but i like it that way. I honestly don't want to show my grand children photos of me turning up in god forbid some block-colour maxi dress with ombred hair (i kid.) The French Connection dress fits perfectly and accentuates all the right areas, that is if i remember not to bend over. I plan to hunt down a pale dusty pink blazer, to add some colour and some sharp tailoring. I love a good blazer, it brings out my inner Balmain runway model. Forget the heels, flats are my fail safe option, i don't intend to make it any way possible to trip and land on an audience member whilst receiving my certificate in front of a full auditorium of people. No sir-ree. Pretty, delicate, embellished flats are the way forward. Then i may toughen it up with my black Alexa, which will hopefully look contrasting in a good way.

Then roll on my holiday a week later, then it really is time to knuckle down and start the career ladder - gulp. Thoughts on the outfit? And most importantly, do i really have to wear that ugly hat? I had in mind for a sweeping updo, and i don't want the horror of hat hair. What would the grandkids say?

More money, more problems.

This is my face, clearly. You've seen my mug quite a fair few times, though mostly minus my specs - of which have made an appearance on only three posts out of the four hundred and eighteen i have published to date; despite the fact that i actually wear my glasses every single day. 

I've been wearing glasses since school when all the girls in my tutor were going through a phase. I went along with my best friend, who was dying to be part of the crowd, and sadly for her it was i that was branded short-sighted. I started wearing them in class mainly to see the board, but in recent years it has become worse, and more recently i've been wearing them every day. Which i think is rather upsetting to think that your eye sight is continuously going downhill as sad as it sounds. To say wearing my glasses doesn't bother me would be a lie, i continuously take them off if theres a camera near by and only till the woman in Boots last year scoffed at me and asked how on earth did i live my day to day life not wearing them and not hurt myself? Because to tell you the truth, i'm blind as a bat. 

Over the last five years my short-distance eye sight has worsened, not wearing my glasses was somewhat silly, if not a little comical when i completely ignored passers by, literally due to not seeing them. But as mentioned over the last few months i have been wearing them solidly, finally i can actually see the world in all its full glory! Honestly though, i'm not that keen. Its not that i dislike my glasses (they were bloody expensive to say the least), i just hate hiding behind them. As materialistic as it sounds, i spend a small fortune on mascara alone, adoring long lashes as i do i find that they well simply just hide behind my specs, in-fact the glasses gobbles my entire face up with it. It saddens me to think this as i know so many others that look fantastic with glasses and it adds to their 'look' - i just don't see it on myself. They also happen to be a complete nuisance - forget four eyes, when wearing 3D glasses in the cinema i turn into six-eyed nutter, when i sneeze they catapult off my nose into the distance and i also had to wave a sad goodbye to my retro Marc Jacobs sunnies.

In reflection i've grown to love them in a weird and wonderful way, and most of my friends and family are used to seeing me avec glasses. Cue the boy even saying i look 'all squinty' when i take them off, thanks for that - death stare. Despite the fact that yes they do make me look instantly more intelligent and how i can instantly transform into vamped up sexy secretary in less then thirty seconds, i'm starting to feel they are 'me', just an added extension if you please.

  This past couple of weeks i've been looking towards the world of contact lenses. The option of having the best of both worlds, whether i want to bat my eyelashes to the world or create that instant intelligent allure. I'm rather scared, scrap that, petrified of the thought of wearing a lense, but the thought of being glasses free for my holiday and graduation are just far too temping, plus i daresay i do have my eye on a fabulous pair of Ray Bans..

Do you wear glasses or contact lenses? What are your feelings? My mother had laser eye surgery and it changed her life, something i would do in a heart beat, but until the pennies start rolling in i'll stick to my specs.

Ninety nine problems.

I adore magazines, heck i studied them for my degree! But really, a magazine can be classed as a style guide, an information source, a form of art or even just a quick read for a train ride. Since starting my degree i've my self collecting all types of different magazines, general issues or special editions, overall building a mass collection. What an odd thing to collect you may think, but really an issue of one magazine can tell you entirely what exactly was happening that month of that year. I could pick up a copy of Elle in ten years time and tell you that Rosie Huntington Whitely was one of the major models of that moment and women were going crazy over the iconic Mulberry brand. Its a pinpointed timeframe of culture, fashion, beauty, trends all tidily illustrated in print glossy format. What's not to love? 

I have rather an extensive collection already, but my all time two favourite magazines i picked out and photographed below..

French Vogue - October 2010 

When i went to Paris for my 21st birthday i couldn't resist buying a copy of French Vogue of which was celebrating it's 90th birthday. This special edition issue is bloomin' big, it features hand-picked favourite articles from when it was first published as well as many specially designed birthday congratulations from different fashion designers and beauty houses. It's simply a piece of art, even despite the fact i cannot read a word! It also came with a special pull out oversized magazine that features all the best shots from various photoshoots from different decades, with a variety of supermodels and legendary photographers such as Mario Testino and Terry Richardson. I cannot wait to frame these large prints and hang them when i move out into my own home, they are too precious. This magazine will forever remind me of the fabulous time i had in Paris and reading it in the sunshine with my boy in the heart of Paris.

A Chanel Bon Anniversare! 

Famous photoshoots in collectors issues.

Vogue December 2009

This issue is very special to me, if your a long time reader of my blog you'll know why exactly. When i attended Vogue's Fashion Night Out in September 2009, i met many wonderful people in the fashion industry, one of them being Mario Testino, the most amazing fashion photographer in my eyes. He has snapped everyone and anyone of importance, and it was he who shot William and Kate's engagement photos. Mario was such a lovely man and spent a while talking about our career aspirations, making us promise 'when you become editors, you must book me!'

I was even more so delighted when our conversation ended up in print, in Vogue!

one word: crazy!

I spend an unforgivable amount of money on magazines each month, even hunting down the international editions in Selfridges. Now forget the walk in wardrobe, where is are my magazine bookshelves?

Just a quick note to say that Groupon are doing a fabulous offer in conjunction with Conde Nast, where by you can purchase a years subscription from the likes of Glamour, Vogue, Wired, GQ and Vanity Fair for £19.99 - bargain! 

You can snap up the offer on the Groupon website. I will most probably purchase a Vogue subscription as mine has finished, and i'm rather tempted by GQ too - i'm obsessed! Oh and i might purchase Wired for my dad's birthday...

Some body to love.

Tomorrow my beloved blog turns two years of age, it's been quite a journey to say the least, a very enjoyable one at that. I have documented all my ramblings, be that about my life in general, my favourite fashion must-haves, and of course not forgetting about my slightly crazy obsessions, Topshop and disgustingly expensive mascara. Along the way i have interned at many different magazines, my eye-brows have finally grown (yay*) and i seem to even stretched out to wearing a pair of trousers, god forbid. 

And to my delight, i have gathered quite a few readers and made many, many (internet) friends, much to the horror of my real friends, and my nan. Although, it makes me feel truly wonderful to know that other like-minded lovely ladies want to read my rambles, i write this blog for no one but myself. I don't set out to impress, it's just me. I write because i enjoy it and to be honest, there's nothing i love more than writing endlessly about the 'it' hand-bag i so desperately need in my life. 

I'm sorry to say that you won't find the latest churned out press releases here or crazy giveaways, because that really isn't my style. I really hope you understand. And that you stay a little longer to enjoy the ride, and please continue to excuse the god awful photo booth pictures of my mug and messy bed room. :) For i am sure there are many, many rambles of the future waiting to be written.

much love x

* ignore this picture, bastard photobooth!

If hiphop should die before i wake.

How would you describe your style?

Classic with a touch of romance, and not forgetting a dash of nautical.

What is there too much of in your wardrobe? 

Stripes, i'm drawn to any kind of stripe. Dresses, easy to wear and instantly looks perfectly assembled.

What is the last label you discovered? 

Jason Wu, his dresses were made for my style!

Which are your favourite London stores? 

Selfridges, they sell everything I could need, every magazine, every lipstick, every designer i wish i could wear, and more importantly the designers i can afford..

Tell us a secret - where do you shop that no-one else knows about? 

Marc by Marc on Mount St - a treasure trove.

What are your go-to labels? 

Mui Mui, Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, Burberry.


Whats the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

My Luella bag, MJ watch, Mulberry Bayswater and the ring my parents bought me.

Do you plan your outfits or throw on whatever's to hand? 

I throw it on, depending on my mood that day.

What are you happiest wearing? 

A shift dress, embellished pumps and my favourite perfume.

Whose wardrobe would you love to steal? 

Firstly Diane Kruger, shortly followed by Olivia Palmero. 

How do you organize your wardrobe? 

I don't, i prefer a jumbled mess. Although, i hang my skirts so i don't forget which ones i own..

Where do you look for inspiration if you don't know what to wear? 

My two best friends, style icons and of course, fashion literature (magazines).

Have you ever had a stylist and, if so, what are the best tips they've ever given you?

The only stylists i've ever had are my best friends, and their tips are only buy it if you love it and ironically, buy it buy it buy it.

I originally spotted this idea from Becky's blog and thought it was a fabulous idea, politely stolen from Elle's style pages.

I like my money where I can see it, hanging in my closet.

On Saturday afternoon i had a rather lovely conversation with a little old lady whilst i was at work. I found her perusing over the many coats we have on display, watching her umming and arring, i promptly went over to see if she needed any assistance. This tiny little woman explained to me that she was unsure whether she should purchase the coat, of course i enquired as to why, and she in turn replied  'Well you see, i can't remember if i own it already.' Typical little old dear.. 'I have six double wardrobes, and thirty nine coats, so i'm not really sure if i already own this teal shade?' Six double wardrobes, thirty nine coats little lady? Oh yes, one for each outfit, and you know she's eighty four - they always have a habit of telling me their age - so she will sodding well buy it if she wants to.

Now i may not own six double wardrobes, but it really got me thinking. Is enough ever enough? There's no doubt that i buy a new item of clothing every other week (roughly), is that bad? Over the last year, i have strictly only bought items that i love and will wear time after time, not just buying into the latest trend for the sake of it. But that really doesn't stop me cruising Topshop on my lunch break. Should we go all 'Gok' and stick to a staple set of outfits? No because that is beyond boring, have your staple items such as that cream trench or fail safe little black dress, but buy those killer heels. 

Looking at my wardrobe now, i dread to think how much it's all worth. For the record i have one wardrobe, and one very tightly stuffed chest of drawers. But honestly, six wardrobes or not, i would buy every single item all over again - i love wearing clothes, does it really matter if i choose to spend my wages on beautiful items of clothing? No.
Will i be eighty four and own thirty nine coats? Probably. 

Do you worry about spending too much? Sometimes i buy things on impulse, but they mostly get returned. The items i do buy are loved and worn over and over. What is too much?

photo credit: 1, 2

VISAGE

One my third year projects was to create a sample spread for brand, including a written feature.

I chose Topshop (how predictable) but as Topshop already have a seasonal style customer magazine called 214, i decided to create a magazine that focused solely on their cosmetic line, Visage.

Visage would be a seasonal magazine and tie-in with the new latest collection, it would be given away with online orders and available to pick up in selected stores. This issue of Visage focuses on Topshop's latest A/W collection Heavy Duty.

Hopefully, the pages will enlarge so you can read the copy!

After spending eight hours on InDesign,i can finally say i finished. Only copious cups of tea got me through screen capping all those film caps and transferring them on to a vintage film strip - all worth it i hope! 

Would you read Visage if it was available in-store? ;)

baby give, baby give it up!

Oh my, how freeking boring is it being snowed in?

Yet there's nothing like wearing hot pink lipstick and listened to 80's music, whilst printing off the longest ever marketing report.

Enjoy.

Don't blame me when your singing this for the next week ;)

nananana!

This post is dedicated to Sarah, as you only turn 21 once, Emma, for just being so damn lovely!