ceriselle.org

The personal blog of a thirty something British expat in Bellevue near Seattle, WA, focusing on fashion and lifestyle

Archives for February 2012

7 Things You Never Needed To Know

I keep getting tagged in this meme, meaning to do it and then forgetting all about it. So I’m sorry Aimee Marie, Dani Johanna and Ephemeral Baby, but have lumped you all together as one because, honestly, I don’t think theres 3 interesting things about me that you lot don’t already know, never mind 7 or 11!

So, to mush up everything, here are the rules of this meme:
* Thank and link back to the people who awarded you and then apologise for being so rubbish (soz)
* Write seven random things about yourself
* Award this to amazing bloggers: Well, can I cop out here and just say YOU. Yeah, you.
* Answer the questions given to you by the sender
* Create new questions for the next people to answer

So! Random facts that you probably already know:

  1. My birthmark is hideous. No, really. Its about the size of a 50p (or maybe a tub of Carmex), its at the top of my left leg and its (ugh) furry like a mole.
  2. I couldn’t swim until I was 15, when I was forced to do remedial swimming. (Did you know there was such a thing? Nor me) I’m still not that great, but I can do a bit of backstroke.
  3. I got an A at GCSE French, despite an argument with the teacher who wanted to put me into the foundation group. I told her it was because I knew I could get the grade. Truth: the boys in my class were cute.
  4. My choice of university was influenced by a boy too – but they didn’t do the course I wanted. I visited the city anyway after my first year, fell in love with the actual place…and moved there 6 years later.
  5. When I was 10, I fell and smashed my front tooth. The dentist removed the root with not enough anaesthetic and after a few (a LOT) of bodged repairs, I have a full set of teeth, but that’s why I don’t like smiling in photos. (And also why I haven’t been to a dentist in 10 years. I know.)
  6. I can’t actually touch type. (edit:I type fast, I don’t type “properly”)
  7. I’m still a little sad that I can’t buy my favourite bread in Bristol (without going to Costco) and that my favourite spread is no longer made. Might sound odd, but one of my fondest memories of Mum is that when we’d been to Sainos for a loaf, we’d come home and have the first fresh slices with a bit of margarine on.

And so to Jo’s questions…

If you could change anything in your past, would you?
Besides the obvious? If I had the benefit of hindsight, I’d probably be better with money, and be more brave.
What is one of your standard meals at home during the week?
Sausage and mash. Actually, I think we’re having it tonight!
What was your favourite childhood cartoon?
Jem. We had one VHS of two episodes, I’m surprised the tape didn’t wear out, we watched it so much!
What song reminds you of a happy time?
Summertime by Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff. My memory seems to put me on Barmouth beach listening to that.
What is your favourite comfort food?
Chilli. Ooh, or mashed potato, but the instant stuff from Lidl with the onions and croutons. Don’t judge me.
What is the nicest smell you can think of?
Parma violets!
What is your favourite joke?
Anything cheese pun related.
(eg) What cheese do you hide a horse in? Mascarpone!
What was the last gig you attended where you sang along with the band?
…I can’t even remember the last gig I went to!
What was the last film that made you laugh a lot?
Last film I watched, Despicable Me. Impossible not to laugh! Bapple.
If you had a weekly column in a newspaper, in what newspaper would it be and what would you write about?
Hahahahahahahah. Oh Jo. Y’know, I think I’ve answered this recently.
If you could hypnotise people, what would you help them do?
Not smoke? Be more awesome?

(edit Oops. I forgot the questions that you lot are supposed to answer. Pretend that this isn’t here and these questions were here the WHOLE time)

  • What’s your go-to outfit for any occation?
  • What’s the first thing you install on any new phone/computer/something electrical?
  • If you could be eating any meal in the world right now, what would it be?
  • Whats your favourite comic (web or print)
  • Whats the first thing you do when you wake up?
  • What made you start blogging?
  • Whats the recipe that you know you can always knock together quickly when you need to bake? (Sweet and savoury!)

When Copying Is Acceptable

The big story in fashion this week has been about Clare’s Accessories’ blatant copies of some well loved Tatty Devine pieces. Tatty Devine posted a blog post where it invited the reader to spot the difference between their originals and the copies costing a tenth of the price.

Twitter (of course) was outraged and made sure everyone knew about it. Clare’s Accessories trended for a while when your timeline was probably filled with “Shame on you Clare’s!” Claire’s have handled this blow up in a spectacularly bad way, deleting and blocking comments on their Facebook page, and ignoring Twitter completely.

At the same time, I was going through my neglected Google Reader and saw the latest in VIPXO‘s eBay posts. (I think its a great series, and Victoria does amazingly well to find some of those items). It made me wonder though – what makes the Clare’s Accessories thing bad but eBay fakes ok?

In both situations, a designer who sells an original for a high amount is being copied by someone else happy to sell at a lower cost (and lower quality). The difference (as far as I see) is that with Claires, its a large corporation ripping off an independent designer. With eBay, you don’t know who is behind the fake, and there’s always a possibility that its made in exactly the same factory as the original but without the label.

But why does that make it OK to buy the fakes? Where is the line drawn?

Bag Lady

If you made me choose any type of accessory to live with forever, giving up the rest, I’d probably say bags.

I know, what happened to my shoe obsession? I love shoes, but a bag will never cause you pain, or make you trip and look stupid, or make you look like you need the toilet. A bag will hold everything you need and will always have just what you’re looking for…well, as long as you packed it.

There were so many beautiful bags on arms at LFW this year, but I’ll limit myself to just two. One, I love the brand, and the other, I love the idea (and the design).

It would be remiss of me to talk about bags this week without mentioning Mulberrys most talked about design. The Del Rey was designed for Lana Del Rey, a singer who seems to polarise a lot of opinions. I didn’t actually realise who she was until a few weeks ago when I heard “Video Games” on Radio 1

I don’t hate the bag like some people do. I don’t really see the connection between the singer and this bag (but then I didn’t really see the connection between Alexa Chung and the Alexa until you saw her eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeverywhere with one. Does she still carry one?) and don’t really understand why Mulberry are attaching her name to the bag when all other bags are just random girls names (still waiting for a Hayley or even a Gina bag…) but its a reasonable shape, and I love the petrol blue in the top left (that one definitely would have been my mums choice just for the colour)

I’ll probably be having a look (and a stroke…wait…no, that sounds fine) at the bag when it appears in the outlet store or at my local concessions, but if I were to choose a Mulberry bag in this style, I’d rather go for the Neely or the Harriet.

From a well known brand to a designer who isn’t so high on the publics radar, I think I’ve fallen in love with this bag by Richard Nicoll. It was announced last year that he would be partnering with Vodafone for his 2012 collections, and this was part of the AW12 set.

From the outside, its a pretty but simple looking bag, but open up and inside you’ll find chargers for your phone – the bag itself can hold a charge to replenish your phone (or iPad I guess!). This is the sort of thing I love – and what I think should be included in a technology column written by a female: its technology being used in a non standard way but in a way that could really help so many people – perhaps its just for phones at the moment, but having a portable battery pack like this could be useful in many situations.

(Hey Vodafone, I’m a loyal customer coming up for renewal…if you can hook me up with the above bag, perhaps in silver or purple, then I’ll stay with you a bit longer ;))

Latest from Instagram

       

Copyright © 2007 - 2019  ceriselle.org and Hayley Constantine Howells · Theme by 17th Avenue