I love... love.

I've been neglecting my "I Love..." posts lately, and thought I should remedy that with a selection of schmaltzy pictures from my collection.







I would give credit where credit's due, but all I know is that I got these from the vintagephoto community on Livejournal.

Daily Outfit: Granny Dress

The beginnings of my holidays have been lovely so far! I've been swimming twice this week - my legs ache from it but I feel wonderful. I also took an impromptu trip to Dublin to stay with a friend, and we ended up in the middle of a wide open park during a thunderstorm, and then walking back to her house in the pouring rain. How atmospheric.

Today I decided I'd pop in to the charity shops in town. I haven't had a chance to visit them on weekdays in ages, and I always pick up the best stuff when I go during the week. I ended up buying a cardigan, a top, and a dress, and resisting lots of other nice things!

Dress & belt - second-hand
Shoes - Penney's/Primark

The dress was floor-length when I found it, but I liked the print so much that I decided to make the effort and hem it to a more wearable length. I'm far from a master seamstress, so the hem is a bit off in places, but I'm pretty happy over all!

Two more examples of my continuing exasperation over clothes sizes:

• On Monday I bought a pair of skinny jeans in a UK size 14 (US 10) from Dorothy Perkins. They're pretty tight! I have two other pairs from the same shop - one pair is also a size 14, but would fit a behind twice my size into them, and the other are a UK 12 (US 8) and still a way looser fit than the most recent pair!
• The cardigan I bought today was a UK 20 (US 16), and looks absolutely perfect on. And I've just realised that it's originally from the same shop as the jeans... go figure.

Thank you all for your suggestions on the laptop - right now I'm leaning towards a MacBook, but we shall see how it all turns out.

Daily Outift: The Sailor in Love with the Sea

My sister has demanded that I make a proper post extolling the virtues of Etsy, but I'm afraid that will have to wait, because I have to go and gid out everything I've bought from the site before I can do so.

T-shirt - A-Wear
Shorts & bag - Second-hand shop
Shoes - Dunnes

Today it is dreadfully muggy outside, and not much better inside. I'm going to go find a cool corner somewhere to curl up and start reading Watership Down (my boyfriend has been waving it in my face for months going "READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS NOW YOU WILL LOVE IT!")

I went laptop window shopping earlier - I need to get one before I go away next month, but I'm awfully indecisive. I want a MacBook a lot, but don't know if I can afford one... and in all truth, it's the look of them that's so enticing, rather than all the technical benefits (though I'm well aware of those too). I'll have to go investigating internet deals before I make up my mind.
I'd also love to hear any recommendations from other bloggers, if you have them!

After my laptop ogling, I went into TK Maxx for a quick noodle around. Or so I thought.
I ended up finding this gorgeous, 1940s-esque Ralph Lauren dress, and a dark blue cardigan to go with it. Oops.

The dress says size 8 on the label, but I presume that's US sizing because it fits me perfectly. (A US 8 would be a 12 here in Ireland, while an 8 here would be a 4 in the US.). Because of this, it was stuck on a rack with all the tiny UK sizes where it got completely ignored, and reduced by more than 50%!
Moral of the story: Label sizes are nonsense. Ignore them.

I need some ice-cream before I melt into a puddle on the keyboard.

Absence and New Etsy Jewellery

My apologies for my recent absence! I have been doing all sort of things that are not in the slightest bit exciting, but that have kept me very content.

I'm finishing up at work soon, so you can expect lots of posts from me as I try to keep myself entertained for the next few weeks. I have to go Sweden-shopping for leggings (for an extra layer under tights), jeans (gasp!), vests, and tights, but I don't think that'll be enough to take up all my time.

In the meantime, look at the beautiful necklace my sister got me for my birthday:

It's from Timeless Trinkets's Etsy shop, and I absolutely love it! I have yet to be disappointed by anything I've bought from that site.

Daily Outfit: Party Time! Or Maybe Not...

I got all dressed up this morning for a party that never happened. Oh well.

Dress - Saint Tropez

Cardigan - TK Maxx
Tights - New Look
Shoes - I've had them forever...
Necklace - a birthday present

Another outfit in which nothing is second-hand... how odd. I got the dress on sale for €10 last week, what a find! It had an ugly, Barbie-pink bow around the waist, but I switched it for this much nicer cream one from an old dress that doesn't fit me anymore.

I've been trying to eat well the last few days. I've shown the culinary sophistication of a four-year old lately, having sweets and cake and hot chocolate for lunch instead of real food, and my poor insides are letting their displeasure be known. I think too many people link eating well with losing weight, and forget what a pleasure it is to think about food in terms of nourishment and eat what feels good and right. And right now there are potato cakes calling my name downstairs, and they sound (and smell) pretty good to me!

Daily Oufit: Emily Explains It All

A friend of mine left me a comment last week to let me know that she'd been reading this blog, along with her sister. It said:

"First time my sister read it she was like..."wow!" and then spent the next hour rooting through her wardrobe and then came spinning around into the kitchen wearing a knee length skirt, a frilly victorian shirt thing, tights and little shoes. And said "I kind of look like emily now, right?""

I felt like sharing it because it made me grin. Hi, Marianne (if you're still reading this)!

I feel like Clarissa Explains It All today, only a little less hopelessly nineties. This was made more prominent by the ponytail that I donned earlier, and for that reason I decided to forego my giant, plastic, lip-shaped earrings. Maybe another day.

Skirt & belt - second-hand shops
Jumper & shoes - Dunnes
Tights - Topshop
All the jewellery - presents

I love the pleats on this skirt, and how strangely low down they're placed. And I really wish my hair would hurry up and grow a bit more.

Daily Outfit: The Birthday Girl is Demure & Navy

Photos from a wander around the woods with an old friend. That's Aubrey de Vere's meditating seat that I'm sitting in.

I'm now officially no longer a teenager. It's a strange idea, but one I will hopefully come to terms with soon. I always have trouble with the idea of getting older. Two years I've had to get used to being an adult, but I'm still stuck at seventeen in my head. Certainly not the seventeen I experienced when I was actually that age, as that was not a pleasant year, but an idealised seventeen where I was still oblivious of looming responsibilities and maturity. I'll try not to get too wrapped up in nostalgia, though, I know that nineteen was a better age than anything else I've been so far, and hopefully twenty will be as kind.

I'm not so fond of birthday celebrations. I may be narcissistic in a lot of ways, but it just feels too much like attention-seeking to me sometimes. I won't pass up an offer of dinner if it comes my way, though. We went to the Holywell restaurant in Ennis after work yesterday, and I was impressed - it's a vegetarian restaurant, so I had my pick of the menu for once!

Dress - Whistles
Tights - New Look
Shoes - Penney's/Primark
Bag - second-hand shop
Pearls - antique shop

This dress was completely inapproprate for yesterday's weather. It was clammy and sticky and oppressive outside, and the cozy fabric of the dress only made it feel worse. I love it, though. It was reduced to €34 when I bought it and, while that's actually lot for me to spend on a dress (I'm very reluctant to pay more than about €15 for any one item), I think it was worth it. It's very flattering, shows off my small waist and big hips, and will be so easy to layer over and under other things in the winter. The fact that it was €130 before the sale also helped make the decision easier.

Looking Glass Boutique Sale

In lieu of a post with any proper insight, can I direct you all to the sale going on in Looking Glass Boutique's online shop. Their designs are buttony and ribbony and perfectly girly and all those kind of things that make my voice go terribly high-pitched and squealy. I bought a dress (which is just slightly different from the picture above) and a top (the one in this daily outfit post) from their Spring/Summer collection this year, and I love them both an incredible amount.

I'm lusting after a couple of things in the sale, but I absolutely cannot justify buying anything. I picked up a dress by Saint Tropez in my favourite boutique in Ennis yesterday for just €10, though, which reminded me of the dress on the right below, only much simpler (and lilac):

Oh, to be revoltingly rich... or even just a little bit richer than I am.

Daily Outfit: Ghost World and Doc Martens

I got a pair of Doc Martens for half-nothing yesterday - I know I said I wouldn't buy any new clothes for a while, but I do need a pair of boots to bring with me for the cold Swedish winter, and I might as well get them while they're cheap. Plus, I finished one of my books yesterday morning, and read a good chunk of another one, so... no, that's not really much of an excuse, I know.

Shirt & skirt - second-hand shops
Jumper - Dunnes Stores
Cardigan & tights - Penneys/Primark
Boots - Doc Martens

I have several pairs of Doc Martens - two of which are Mary Janes, and two of which are boots - and, really, no other shoe brand gives me half as much aesthetic pleasure as they do. They're perfectly chunky and cartoonish without being ridiculous, not too serious and not too silly, and they're also as comfy as can be.

Buying them also made me want to pull out my copy of Ghost World and dress up like Enid. Expect a Ghost World appreciation post soon, because it's been a long time since I raved about it to anyone!

Daily Outfit: The Kids TV Show I Hope You Don't Let Your Children Watch!

Oh my, I am tired! I left the house at ten to eight this morning, and arrived back at nine o'clock at night, having driven about four hundred kilometres in the meantime. Dublin didn't even have any exciting delights to make it worth my while. (Well, aside from some fantastic Turkish Delight, but that joy is all in my belly at this stage.)

Want to know the worst part? I'm going again on Tuesday! Though I can't really call it "the worst part", as I'm going to see my beloved Magnetic Fields play in Vicar Street. And I won't be coming back until Wednesday, at least. Still, I'm going to complain, because... I don't know, I'm sleepy and cranky and four-year-old-ish.

Anyway, on to the clothes!

Pinafore & cardigan - second-hand shop
T-shirt - Dunnes
Shoes - Doc Martens
Owl necklace - Topshop (I think)

My boyfriend tells me I should be on children's television in this dress, which is what I'm demonstrating oh-so-fabulously in the first photo. I wore this to see the new Narnia film yesterday - yes, the same outfit two days in a row, how shocking - and felt appropriately-dressed. (Can I take this opportunity to mention that Disney's shameless promotion of Prince Caspian as the Hot Prince Film was pretty justified! I should probably be ashamed, as the guy's no doubt going to be signed up for High School Musical 1355463758, but... eh.) The last photo is what I feel like after six hours in the car. That cardigan is a lifesaver. A comfy, cozy, woolen lifesaver.

I Love... Long Hair

So I'm trying to be very good and grow out my hair. I rather miss having it really long - it used to come down past my waist, now I'm like WOW LOOK IT'S TOUCHING MY SHOULDERS OMG EVERYONE LOOK.

Back in ye olde, long-haired days of secondary school. I must have been sixteen or seventeen here.

Short hair looks edgy and amazing, believe me, I know, I've lusted after really hip hair for a long time. Mine, however, is much to curly to ever do anything impressive and graphic-looking with it, so I'll just have to capitalise on its flowy romantic nature instead. I need some inspiration, though:








I'm afraid I saved all these pictures without noting where they came from, so forgive my not linking to the sources... Long hair, here I come! (Very, very slowly indeed.)

Further Reading:

• How to Grow Your Hair Out by Miss Cedar
• 20 Steps to Growing Out Your Hair from longlocks.com