London week part 1

As always I promised something and then didn't deliver, I'm sorry! I said I would live blog from London but actually I was too busy or too hungover or had lost my camera for the entire holiday. Jami flew in on the monday afternoon and Emilia joined us later on Wednesday.

I've been looking back at some of my older sources of inspiration and trying to think of new, better ways of working them into my looks. We have had terrible weather in England recently and it has been getting very cold so I took my Alba Rosa coat out of retirement for the winter. 

(Also I apologise for our drunk Robo.to gif update on the left, I can't change it until I do something with my face) 

My look for travelling down to London on Monday was "Nu Goth Manba" something warm and comfy but still easy to travel in. By the time I arrived at Kings Cross it was dark already.

On the Tuesday Jami and I decided to do a bit of sight seeing in Westminster and Trafalgar.

We were both incredibly hung over so didn't take as many pics as we should have but I did manage to get my outfit pics outside Buckingham Palace. I was wearing Jeremy Scott and Jeffrey Campbell with a vintage Longchamp bag.

I will blog about the second part of our trip when I get more photos from Emilia. The bits from our holiday that we can remember were mostly amazing! despite having two very bad hotels on the outskirts of London and Emilia and I emptying our bank accounts after a few too many drinks in Ku Bar (which led to some horrendous events that even I am too embarrassed to share.) I will tell you some of our terrible stories in the next post.

I'm in London again this weekend seeing War Horse and visiting my fabulous friend Sam, we also might be going to the Burberry menswear store opening in Knightsbridge next week. I hope everyone is looking forward to Christmas! I know I am. Tobi x

I've been getting a lot of inspiration from Daphne Guinness and Gareth Pugh recently and I have a few interesting ideas I am working on, In the meantime enjoy this Fashion Video by Gareth Pugh and Ruth Hogben.

New hair!

Hello my lovelies, a few days ago I had my hair cut. I've been psyching myself up for it for a while now. I normally have a big hair change every couple of months and this cut was a little overdue. As always, I spent a couple of weeks collecting inspiration pictures. I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do with my hair but I was excited about exploring shorter hair styles now as I haven't really had "short" hair since I was about 14. Here is my mood board that I presented to my hair dresser.

The two images we decided on in the end were...

So here we go!

Tah dah!

After having my hair cut I met with my lovely friend Charly for a Coffee and a chat, hopefully next week when I am in London we are going to go see The Lion King together.

I had a Praline Mocha from Starbucks ... it was disgusting!

Iphone <3 Vintage Longchamp bag and my coat

Please excuse this derpy picture of me. It was the only non blurry outfit pic we took. On Monday I go back to London for the week to party with Jami and Emilia so expect lots of fun fabulous, party, fashion and touristy posts. Tobi x

Hanging Out at an Art Gallery

Hola! Last weekend I met up with my friend Fitzroy from my old school. We were in the same insufferable art class together. Unfortunately for him he is in the year bellow so has to continue with the torture of having our evil teacher. As part of the course he had to go check out an exhibition of local artists work and we hadn't seen each other since I left school so we decided to meet up and go together.  

I wanted to try a more "urban" manly street look, inspired by kpop acts like EXO. I felt very out of my comfort zone (I can put on a pair of 7 inch Jeffrey Campbell's and a cape and walk down a street in London with confidence but flat shoes and tracksuit bottoms makes me feel awkward.) I tried to create a textured look with my hair, I didn't want it curly but I wanted some shape to it. It didn't look too bad on the day but I think it is definitely time to dye my hair and change it's style. You can see in the top picture that my Jacket ripped right under the sleeve, it was super embarrassing! I was walking around Peterborough city centre holding my sleeve on.

The art was surprisingly good! My A Level art experience was so bad that I haven't touched a paint brush since I quit school and I haven't painted for pleasure in almost 3 years but recently I have started to feel my inspiration and creativity stir again. I can feel something arty coming soon and seeing the exhibition gave me a little bit more faith in myself and my ability and also gave me some much needed inspiration.

I loved this, I think it's a photo? Of a boy under water. I love the distortion and the contrast in the image, I found it very emotive even though I have no idea why (probably some deep exploration of mental instability or something equally artistically generic). Another piece I loved was these pretty little birds hanging from a branch in a doorway. They were crude yet beautiful and delicate at the same time.

Blurry Iphone photo from Fitzroy

Peterborough Cathedral

Next week I am in London partying hard and being fabulous with Jami and Emilia but I will take my laptop and camera with me and blog from our hotel. I feel like I have neglected this blog a little recently and that the posts are becoming quite similar and boring. I will try and mix things up a little and make my posts as exciting as I can. I am having my hair cut some time this week and I feel a change of style coming up in the next few months so expect a lot of inspiration posts and style soul searching. 

Just out of interest is there anyone that reads my blog from Barcelona? I want to know some interesting places to go and visit over Christmas and New Year. Also is there anyone that might want to meet up when I am in Spain? please let me know if you do! I love meeting new people and would love to see the city from a locals perspective. 

Tobi x 

My current music obsession, Bjork remixes, Enjoy x

Day Drinking is Fabulous

Hello everyone! Yesterday my darling friend Lucinda came up to Peterborough for some day drinking and a catch up as we haven't seen each other since Marina. Our photo shoot for her new range is still going ahead but our photographer is currently in hospital so it has been postponed, however I am assisting her on another shoot next weekend in London so don't worry there will be some fashion stuff coming up! The day started with a little trip to Patisserie Valerie's with my mum. We shared an enormous Mille Feuille and had Ear Grey tea. 

Being the fabulous people that we are, here are our obligatory outfit shots.

Lucinda looked fabulous in a floor length faux fur coat and her new harness and I wore my scarf I bought in Brick Lane and my Shadow Studs. I am wearing way too much black at the moment but black just looks so good!

Then we started the day drinking!

We started with two buckets of cocktails.

Then went for tipsy McDonalds and to the toilet, by the time we got back it was drunk o clock and we got the pitchers out!

We have now arrived at our final destination, Drunksville. This is the only non blurry photo that was actually took of us and not just the wall or the corner of the mirror. Bathroom mirror photo's get quite difficult when you can't stand up in your heels to take a photo due to alcohol consumption.

I also saw this fabulous sign the other day and felt obliged to make this.

I hope you are all looking forward to Christmas! I know I am. Almost time to start Christmas shopping. Tobi x

Hello everyone! A few days ago I was tagged by the beautiful Ninni, who I happen to stalk on tumblr to do this post.

Here are the rule:

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves. 
2. They must also answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.
3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.
4. They must then choose 11 bloggers to tag.
5. These lucky bloggers must be told.
6. There are no tag backs.

Facts time:

1) Before I became vegetarian I never ate fried chicken so I don't understand why everyone likes it so much.

2) I have a rather massive Loreen obsession. (I am even listening to her entire album from beginning on repeat right now)

3) I am insanely good at ultimate frisbee.

4) My friend Emilia is the best kiss I have ever had.

5) I love listening to rain because it reminds me of long night time journeys down to my Grandma's house in France during the summers when I was little. It was the most exciting thing in the whole entire world! I loved it more than my Birthday.

6) I once ran naked around an entire nature reserve at midnight. 

7) One of my favourite memories from Finland was walking with Oona to her parents house through the woods. The woods in Finland are just BEAUTIFUL unlike anything we have in England. We used to talk about our friends and Finnish history and Oona would teach me about Finnish culture and when we got to her parents there would always be dogs to play with and yummy food of some kind waiting.

8) I can't listen to the song Strong Enough by Cher all the way through without crying because it reminds me too much of Sini and Oona and the fun drunk sing a longs we used to have. 

9) Unlike Strong Enough every time I listen to Euphoria I can't stop smiling because the song represents everything that was amazing about this year. 

10) I really, really hate sweetcorn.

11) When I am ill, I only want to drink Lemonade. 

Tagged Questions!

1) Why did you start your blog? 

Well I first started a blog when I got into Gyaruo but I guess I kept blogging and started this blog because I really enjoyed it. It helps me channel some of my creative and emotional energy into something productive. I don't think my blog is particularly good but I feel that it has improved a lot and I hope it will continue to do so.

2) If the world ends next month what would you do before it happens? 

This one is tough, there are a lot of things I want to do and see and a lot of people too. I guess I would just like to walk down Aleksanterinkatu in very inappropriate shoes with some friends just laughing and hanging out and feeling relaxed. It's the little moments that make life special not the grand gestures. 

3) Do you like any DIY things? 

I actually don't do any DIY stuff, not since I was little. I have bought some studs but still have no idea what to do with them.

4) Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood? 

This one is so tough! I respect both. I would say McQueen's gothic and fantasy elements appeal to me more but Westwood's involvement in the punk era, her reinvention and her use of tailoring is phenomenal so I guess I just can't choose! Both are Fashion Icons in the true sense of the word.

6) Favourite childhood memory? 

Seeing The Fellowship Of The Ring.

7) What are your passions?

I don't want to say "fashion" because I would not consider myself a "fashionable" person because that would imply that I follow trends and am always watching for the latest thing but I do like clothes. So I am going to say Clothes and shoes are my passion but I also LOVE travelling, I would give up my wardrobe if I could just keep travelling forever. 

8) A cup of tea and a scone or a cup of coffee and a biscuit? 

Shit! being English my loyalties should lie with the tea BUT I was born in France so I am going to say a milky Coffee with two sugars and the scone (because I am English after all)

9) When you were seven what was your favourite song/artist and why?

S CLUB 7! and because they were probably the only group I had ever heard and they were poppy and I loved jumping on the "reach" bit.

10) Are you against fur farming?

Fur is a personal issue for me. In England even the scummiest battery farm eating idiot will physically attack you for wearing Fur but I just want to point out that you might consume the flesh of maybe 2/3 animals every single day? Ham in your sandwiches, chicken for dinner maybe bacon for breakfast ... well one single animal died for my leather shoes. More animals die for your meals in one day than died for my shoes that will last YEARS. Yes I am a vegetarian, yes I wear leather and fur. Leather is a BI PRODUCT of the meat industry. However I do think that Fur farms commit disgusting acts of animal cruelty and the EU should place restrictions upon I will continue to wear fur and leather.

11) How would you describe yourself as a person?

I don't really know how to answer this question. I just asked Oona and her reply was "short, brown and twerks a lot" Not very helpful. I guess I am quite an overly emotional person, I am also very very self conscious and very prone to down moments. I also like to consider myself quite compassionate (except when Alex is involved ;) I have a lot of fun teasing him) Oona just added "Fun, Impulsive, a brat, kissy, sweet,  all over the place and loud" So I guess that sums be up quite nicely! Haha.

Okay now my turn to make up some Questions! 

1) What is your favourite holiday destination?

2) What is your favourite Jeffrey Campbell design?

3) What is your biggest insecurity?

4) Who inspired you most as a child?

5) Name one person that influences your style most.

6) What song can't you stop playing right now?

7) Name a small thing that makes you happy.

8) Post a picture of your favourite accessory.

9) List three of your favourite blogs.

10) If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would you choose?

11) What do you like most about your body?

And I am going to tag:

Ninoshka 

Alex 

Lizzie

Xiaoting Lu

Marinka

I know I don't normally do this kind of post but I hope it has been a bit interesting. Tobi x