Fish out of Water

If you think about it, its funny that you rarely see Bloggers posting pictures of them sitting on their beds or at their desk, their main accessories not an Alexander Wang-a-like bag or a pair of Jimmy Choo stilhettos – but a laptop. You wouldn’t see a penguin catching some rays in the desert, an octopus hanging out of a tree in the rain forest, or a camel marching down Oxford Street in a pair of patent loafers… (or so I’d hope anyway!) so its only fair that every once in a while you get to see a blogger in their natural habitat, too!

This is my new bedroom at Uni, which I actually really love; its spacious, airy and light! I’m having internal battles at the moment as to whether or not to decorate it up a bit or not… obviously, since I’m only renting, I can’t paint the walls or anything; but I want to pretty it up in a way which won’t leave it feeling too ‘busy’ – any kind of clutter makes my head spin! So for now I’m going to leave it, until I have a brainwave… so if anyone has any ideas for some crafty DIY decorations I could make cheaply, please let me know! Perhaps some bunting would look nice? What do you think?

I’ve noticed that my posts are getting longer and longer, and whilst I enjoy writing endless ramblings I don’t know what the rest of you think, haha. So I’m going to leave it here and just show you a few pictures from the Miu Miu 2008 RTW collection, which is the collection I believe my highstreet dress was inspired by, and a collection I very much love 2 years on! I also noticed, when looking back at the pictures for this post, how matchy-matchy this outfit is… unintentionally I might add. Soo much navy blue, and my handbag and I seem to be wearing matching scarves… hmmm. I find this quite ironic since I wouldn’t wear my brown brogues yesterday incase they matched too much with my brown shirt! Ohh I despair, haha : )

I would love the first dress here, the skirt is perfectly ruffly, and kind of reminiscent again of clowns with the white, red and navy blue colour palette! Some good ‘clown colours’ there… haha. Pretty sure I’m just making things up now, but hey! Also, there’s nothing wrong, in my opinion, with being inspired by past collections – If you’d like to check this one out in full, you can see it here!

Clowning Around

Note: there are no scary clown pictures in this post, for any clown-phobics who may be reading this!

If you are a regular reader of Cherry Humbug you’ll already have spotted that I really like neck details – which is what drew me to this top! I got this in the sale at Topshop – which is the only time I ever really buy anything from there! Cheapskate, I know… haha. If memory serves me correctly (I’ve had it a couple of years now) this is from their ‘Petite’ range, which is quite funny really because at 5″7/8 I can’t exactly call myself petite! But nonetheless, it kind of goes to show that despite what sizes a shop might tell you you are, they can quite often be wrong!

So put behind you the days when you’ve refused to buy something based on the fact that its a good 2/3 sizes bigger than you usually buy; the nature of mass production means that a lot of garments are cut through some sort of template all in one go, which means there are plenty of mid-sizes out there, so if your size 12 jeans are a little on the tight side, worry not! You haven’t gained weight, you probably have just ended up with a pair an inch or 2 smaller than they should be : )

Although my ‘homage’ to clown dress isn’t exactly avant-garde/out there/very interesting, its a style I very much love looking at, so here are a few shots from a favourite editorial of mine: Numero magazine featuring Coco Rocha, who is absolutely the most gorgeous clown-lady I have ever seen!

Pure magic! If you, too, are a fan of the vivacious and beautiful Miss Coco, you can check out her very own blog right here : )

P.S Don’t forget to check out my LFW Streetstyle post over at British Style Bloggers if you haven’t already!

P.P.S Without wanting to ruin anything for other Gossip Girl fans out there, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Clemence Poesy fan who was excited to see her in the first episode of the new season, eee! My fashion-senses tell me she’s going to be one to watch this season!

Where time goes, I’ll never know… xoxo

I’ve been trying to do this post for days now, but my first week back at uni has been rather time consuming! Between losing my phone (and getting it back again, phew!), catching up with everyone in London and Rochester, bonding with my new housemates and nearly freezing on my way home from uni on Friday, I am very glad the weekend has come around again so I can get some nice R+R and have some spare time to finally blog… and also, catch up on the new season of Gossip Girl! Who else is excited about this?!

As you may be able to tell by now, stylistically speaking I’m really inspired by the costumes worn by the gorgeous ladies of the Upper East Side. Whilst I know I’m most definitely not the only one to pull inspiration from the show, I really do have a lot of fun accessorizing outfits with bows, splashes of primary colours and whatever else I find along the way! I’ve always been kind of envious of people who manage to pull of the ‘laid back’ look, and have experimented with it myself in the past… but unfortunately, as me and Carrie were discussing the other day on our visit to Nandos (that place definitely brings out deep coversations, haha); not everyone can throw on a pair of jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt and manage to look ultra-glam!

So as for those girls who can pull it off, I’ll leave them to it and admire them from a distance, but for me, I really do enjoy dressing this way so I won’t be trying to change any time soon : )

Remember a couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was going to be helping out over at British Style Bloggers? My London Fashion Week street style piece is now up, yay! So if you’d like to check it out, please do… I hope you’ll enjoy it, you may even spot some familiar faces in there, too!

I really hope you’ve all had a good week, I certainly have, despite the madness and whatnot : ) I would just like to say a continuing big huuuuge fluffy sparkly thank you to those of you who continue to read Cherry Humbug and leave me lovely comments – I appreciate it very much! Love xox

Hy-de-Hyde Park

A big hello to you all! I’m pleased to inform you that we finally have internet installed in my new house – yay! So, from now on, blogging will be a lot easier, phewee. I finally got some new shoes… from Primark, even after I swore not to buy cheap again. Ok, so I got two pairs, and a hand bag too… what is wrong with me? The brogues feel much more sturdy than any other shoes I’ve ever seen in Primark, so I was sold, and got them in two colours, for around £30 for the two – not bad eh? The problem with Primark clothes is that you see them on everyone, which is why I decided to accessorize the bag with a vintage scarf. Simple, but effective! Although brogues are everywhere right now, and not in the slightest bit ‘original’ anymore, I kind of like them because they remind me of Mr Men shoes! Ahhhh nostalgia, how I love you.

I had a couple of things to do in London today, so whilst I was there I caught up with Carrie. We fine dined in Nando’s, which is now officially my new favourite restaurant simply because the menu doesn’t cause my blood pressure to rise the second I open the menu. Being a vegetarian, I often find restaurants have limited choices available, which can sometimes be quite stressful, so it’s nice for once to have an option which isn’t vegetable lasagne or pizza! I think some of you non-veggies should give a veggie burger a go sometime – take it from me there are some really good ones out there!

We also headed to Hyde Park, which was my first official visit. I felt quite at home lounging on the grass for a while. Having been amongst the hustle and bustle of the city, its the best feeling ever to be able to sit down in a huge wide open space, with lots of grass, especially for someone like me who grew up in the countryside; the ultimate refreshment! We even saw some people exercising (suit-clad doing pushups…) in work clothes, which we found to be a bit strange, but hey, each to their own! Haha. I’ve noticed lately that whenever there are ducks, swans or geese around, I get a little bit obsessed with taking pictures of them… so much so that Carrie had to shimmy me along from the lake so we could go and meet up with our friends, oops! Haha. What can I say?

Hopefully my posts will become a little more regular from now on! Its been a shame to lose the internet at a time when I’ve really been enjoying blogging. Whilst I’m on that note, if there’s anything you’d like to see on the blog – please feel free to comment with suggestions, any and all ideas are welcome : )

As for me, all that tube-ing and the millions of flights of stairs I’ve clambered up today have just about finished me off. Nighty night! x

P.S I got to meet and hang out with some wonderful bloggers at London Fashion Week, one of which was Kirsty – you can check out her pictures over at Fashion Champage!

Tickled Pink

Hello everyone! I apologize that I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front these past few days – I have moved into my new house for the oncoming university year back in Kent, and unfortunately, we have no internet at the moment! But alas, all is not lost, I’ve sorted something out so I can catch up with all of your wonderful blogs and such for today : ) I did think I was going to have to pop into the little coffee shop along the road, which would’ve been very Perez-Hilton-&-Coffee-Bean of me, but now I’m back full swing into the student life, that just seemed like a lot of effort! Shocking, I know.

I’m so glad to be reunited with my full wardrobe, and it actually feels like I’ve opened up a whole cupboard full of new clothes – which is always a good thing when it hasn’t cost you a penny! : ) I’m not so happy to be reunited with the endless amounts of junk/paper/general randomness I accumulated during my first year of uni, but hey, gotta take the good with the bad, right?

I wasn’t really sure where to use as my new ‘photo spot’, because my room here is a bit ‘busy’ (but amazing, might I add… I have my own mantelpiece, how cool is that?!) but I figured the garden, which is about as ‘unbusy’ as a place could be, would work nicely! The dodgy looking chair I’m poised on looks just about ready to break at any time, so unfortunately I doubt I’ll be doing any proper ‘sitting’ out on it; despite the fact it would make a nice little reading spot, haha.

I’ve just started a fun little internship over at British Style Bloggers, so check them out, and keep your eyes peeled for my first post which I’ll be doing early next week : )

P.S Sorry if I’m looking a bit grumpy in the photos! I was fretting about the light and the possibility that the chair might collapse mid-shot – now that would’ve made a good photo wouldn’t it?

P.P.S Remember, you can follow me on Twitter, Bloglovin’ and the one I always forget to mention, Formspring!

Stripe Tease

The main problem I’ve had this summer, when it comes to dressing, is that half of my belongings are in storage back at my old university halls. Or, I should say, the main problem is that I just can’t remember what I have and haven’t got! This can be a bit of a nuisance when it comes to deciding what to wear, especially when you discover that one, two or all of the pieces you’re looking for are actually cooped up 100 miles away in a box… not cool, and not useful at all. My brain has well and truly turned to mush this summer, what can I say!

However, it has meant that I’ve been forced to utilize the clothes I do have, like this stripy top which incidentally, is almost identical to another one hanging in my wardrobe… meh, guess I didn’t really think it through very well when it came to picking things to bring home, well done me! I also found an old dressing gown, which is pink, with swirls and purple monkeys on – something tells me I won’t be wearing this out any time soon, haha. Its a shame we didn’t do the whole ‘debutant’ thing here, because that would’ve been perfect… Monkeygowncouture = fabulous, and so this season!

On a random note (does it get more random than a pink monkey dressing gown?!) I’ve just got back from watching ‘Tamara Drewe’, or ‘Nancy Drew’ as I kept accidentally calling, oops! I must say, although I didn’t enjoy the film as much as I thought I would, Gemma Arterton = my new girl crush, she has such a perfect face. Wit woo, she makes me proud to be a Brit! I can honestly say though, having lived in the countryside all of my life, that most people where I’m from, out in the middle of nowhere, don’t dress half as glamorous as this! But hey… who wants to see a film where the leading lady has hay coming out of her hair and cow food down her clothes in every scene, eh? Haha.

I’m off to catch up on NY Fashion Week collections now – so many pieces to add to my fantasy wardrobe! What are your favourites so far?!

Oh Deer!

“Wow, what an ugly jumper!” was pretty much what came into my head when I stumbled upon this, uh, beauty(?)… on a charity shop rummaging session. I’m pretty sure there’s not much ‘beautiful’ about this big chunky cable knit jumper in the typical sense of the word (its not very dainty or delicate, floaty or floral, nor does it do much for a person’s silhouette) but oddly enough in all of what I thought to be ‘hideousness’ I actually kind of (against my will) fell in love with it, and so now, it hangs proudly in my wardrobe! Well, chucked in the top of it if we’re going to be technical… I haven’t got enough room for jumpers at the moment; I’m currently hovering in that awkward between-season time period, where I’m not really sure whether I should be keeping such jumpers or summer dresses on standby!

Since I was really little, I have always seemingly attached myself to one jumper and worn it to death – one particular fleece I had in the good old days, lasted me from four sleeve turn-ups, right up until it was four inches up past my wrists, so even from the age of 6 I have been a bit of a jumper-hobo. Perhaps this year it’s Bambi’s turn! [Quick look down just to check that they are actually deer, before I commit to the reference] Regardless of beauty, or lack thereof, I’d challenge anyone to find such a heavyweight cable knit woolen jumper anywhere else for £3.99 – I’m sold! I think we’re going to be great friends : )

All this speak of deers and Bambi reminds me of this stag necklace, which in my eyes is actual jewellery perfection! I think perhaps I’m the same with necklaces – find one I like, and wear it all the time… not stuck in my ways at all, am I? Another thing to add to, what is now becoming a list, of new year’s resolutions – mix things up more! I saw this particular one in a magazine probably about a month ago, and will be keeping my eyes peeled so I can check it out properly in Topshop when I hit Oxford Street in a week or so.

I’m also really looking forward to seeing how the high street is going to take on the ski-knit trend, as perfectly demonstrated by D&G, one of my favourite A/W 2010 collections; it’ll be interesting to see how daring the high street will be – I’ll be hoping they can bring something fresh to a trend which no doubt springs up every year, without going OTT and bringing out neon variations and whatnot, hmmmm. So the question is, which will be brave enough to bring out their own ski-knit onesie? This could get interesting… watch this space people!

A New Old Look

I had my first quality lie in for a while today, which has put me in a good mood and may explain why I felt the need to twirl around in this skirt! It was quite fun actually, I recommend you try it… There’s nothing I like more than a skirt that really fans out when you spin, because 1. it makes me feel like I’m in a cheesy old musical or something, and 2. it means you’re usually getting a decent amount of material for your money : ) and 3. I guess I’m just easily amused like that…

Famously, when Dior created the ‘New Look’, he used 20 yards of fabric per skirt – that’s alot of skirt, woah! It was also assumed that the more swing you had in your skirt, the more money you had in the bank! As for me, I bought this particular skirt in the Topshop sale for around £15 at the beginning of the summer, so I guess that idea doesn’t exactly ring true anymore, haha. (Hardly sets me up to look like an aristocrat anyway!) I’m also guessing that in those days, they didn’t have the option to bargain hunt online (or blog about it afterwards either, for that matter!)… lucky us, eh? Truthfully, I never really buy anything full price from Topshop, because I think often you can find similar pieces in other shops for less, so I use it more for inspiration than anything.

Dior’s ‘new look’ first made fashion history in 1947.

What drew me to this skirt in the first place it that I feel it has a certain Parisian charm about it, particularly because of the cream and black palette and clean lines (a la Chanel) and its also really comfortable to wear. Also, anything with a little bow detail somewhere is a winner in my book! I’ve kind of concluded that this kind of A-line skirt is well suited to my body shape, because I have quite muscular legs and a small waist – so this is perfect for balancing me out, and actually, if you look at the New Look pictures (above) its a similar silhouette – very feminine and flattering! I don’t really ever wear trousers either, so I’m always on the lookout for variations of this classic cut to add to my wardrobe.

As you can see, I’ve swapped in my Barry M Berry Ice Cream for Mint Green on my nails – its a tough choice choosing which to wear when you buy more than one shade of nail varnish in one go! This shade isn’t quite as pastel ‘mint ice creamy’ as I’d have liked, but I think the darker shade suits my olive skin tone more.

Thanks again for all of your comments – I really do appreciate them! I’ve also really enjoyed taking some time to visit some of your blogs too, I visit every one attached with your comments, there are some very lovely and interesting reads out there. You may have noticed, too, that I’ve been having a little fiddle around with the ‘look’ of the blog too, I hope you like it!

P.S I keep forgetting that I joined Formspring! So if you have anything at all you’d like to ask me, just click here : )

Down with the Ducks

Having spent a day visiting monkeys earlier on in the week, and an afternoon in the park watching ducks (and puzzling over ducky-related facts) I must say I am feeling rather nature-tastic right now! Haha. When I was a little girl, I had a big obsession with ducks. I had the toys, the ornaments, and maybe the t-shirt too but in my old age I’ve lost track… and so my love was reignited today when Carrie and I stopped off by the pond for a leisurely chat to discuss our Mulberry must haves and whatnot. We also ‘befriended’ (if you can call it that…) one little lady duck who had a withered leg, poor little thing – we’re going back to feed her tomorrow, because all of the other ducks were being crazy when bread was getting thrown in, and her little bad leg stopped her getting any treats whatsoever, how unfair!

Back onto the subject of Mulberry… The one redeeming feature my town possesses, on the fashion front, is its Mulberry factory shop; which has become our little ‘default’ spot to visit on any occasion when we need a little fashion fix! That’s not to say we run on up (we drive, actually… there are far too many hills in Shepton Mallet!!) and burn out our cards on whatever we can get our hands on – we are students after all… but it makes a change from sitting around the house, and also how could we resist, having such a place on our doorstop?! It’s nice to dream, too, that one day, we might have enough money to go on a bit of a spree in there – but for now, we enjoy a little fantasy every now and then!

I found it particularly hard to leave this time since one bag had really caught my eye, aaah! I’ve checked and can’t spot it on the website, which isn’t surprising because the majority of pieces in the store are from previous seasons – but take it from me, its yummyyummy, and in my favourite colour (jade/emerald green) which gives it automatic bonus love points, it’s very ‘me’!

Also, I’m wearing one of my new Barry M nail varnishes today, Berry Ice Cream! What do you think? I love it, it reminds me of Parma Violets… which coincidentally, I don’t love all that much at all, but hey! And the blazer I’m wearing is my mum’s from the 90’s – what a delightful era, with delightfully huge shoulder pads to offer, so it seems… rugby player sized shoulders = tres chic!

I’m finally going charity shopping tomorrow for my party costume, lets hope I’ll find something good! I’m hoping to embrace the 90’s some more and do a bit of a Courtney Love slipdress and ripped tights look – we’ll see how that one pans out, hmmmmmm : )

Walking With Ghosts

Models: Alex and myself
Photographer: Carrie Harwood
Make up: Emily Dodge

Photographs edited by myself.

Its not every day that you get to dress up in a vintage Edwardian wedding dress and prance around a really beautiful old farm yard with some friends, taking photographs, but that’s what I did today!

I’ve wanted to do a ‘ghostly’ photoshoot for a while, so today we grabbed the opportunity before the four of us split off and go back to our respective universities, sob sob. The little back story we thought up was that there was a young, troubled married couple who lived in the Victorian times, who came to a nasty end one night when the poor, tormented husband lost his temper, and shot his wife before turning the gun himself… really lovely stuff, I know! Haha. We’re a charming bunch really, I promise! Since then, ‘our’ spirits wander the cobblestone yards day after day, confused about who we are, what we’re meant to be doing, and also most likely, why on earth some random family is living in and enjoying our house? Haha.

I can hardly call myself a photographer (I cheat most of the time I’m taking photos and use the auto settings, shhhh!) but I do love dressing people and/or myself up, taking some pictures, then taking to my office (well, bed…) with a nice cup of tea, ready for my favourite part – Photoshopping! I remember once in a media lesson, my tutor told us that film editors are generally VERY boring people, does the same go for people who find joy in editing images? Do I even need to ask? Haha, oh dear.

Which is exactly what I’m about to get back to now – and is how I’ve spent my Saturday night, tutor’s point proven, right? Oooops. Thank you to all of you have been visiting by the way, I’m really appreciative of everyone who takes time out to read my blog, and also to those of you kind enough to leave little comments for me : ) you’re all wonderful!

I hope you’ll all enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Love from Katie xoxo

P.S If you’re unfamiliar with Photoshop, and would like to know how to add a vignette (dark frame) to the photograph, like I did in the above images, its very easy! Just go to Filter > Distort > Lens Correction then play with the ‘Vignette’ toggles until you get the desired effect – simple! : ) Happy editing!