A FRINGE AFFAIR

A short and sweet post today (you can always tell I'm busy when a post only has one lonely photograph) because I've hit the ground running at Uni. Going into fourth year has been a similar experience to that Ice Bucket Challenge doing the rounds on the internet - I've been hit with a rush of readings and assignments and major projects all at once and have been left reeling, a little giddily, with shock. Now I'm into week two I can hopefully start to sort through the chaotic tangle of due dates and exams and settle in.

The Saturday before I went back to campus I booked myself a very impulsive hair appointment and, an hour later, exited the salon with a fringe. I'd been feeling very apathetic towards my limp, straggly locks and was inspired by the likes of French beauties Marion Cotillard and Louise Bourgoin to go for a more gamine look. I now look a bit like me circa 2007 - surely after seven years I'd look older?! I've been desperate to attempt an Audrey-style 60's beehive this past week, and have been looking at Carrie's tutorial for tips. I even watched Breakfast at Tiffany's last night - I don't think I'll be able to resist the hive for much longer!

Oh, and cue the cheering: yesterday I passed my driving test! Driving has always been a real fear of mine and I've put off learning for years. I'd always believed I'd fail the test several times before passing and yet yesterday I somehow passed on my first try. The test itself was horrific: the examiner was awful and kept clapping her hands and snapping at me to pick up my speed, and so by about five minutes in I was absolutely convinced I'd failed. When, therefore, she turned to me at the end of the test and told me I'd passed, I literally could not believe it. I went on not believing it for at least two hours until about mid-afternoon when I hopped into the car for a little solo drive and it hit me - I passed! So that's a MAJOR life achievement for me - it still feels quite surreal.

Short post at an end, I'll banish myself back to my mountain of Uni work. *silently sobs*

Kitty xx

HAVING A MARILYN MOMENT

Last night I watched My Week With Marilyn. Yesterday afternoon I browsed the new Mad Men Collection at Banana Republic. Last week I looked through Vintage Vogue dress patterns. Last week I borrowed my friend's book on 20th Century style. Last month I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

The Vintage Vibes have been bubbling away inside of me, and today they came to the surface with two dashes of Va and an awful lot of VOOM. Today I gave myself the Marilyn touch, and I'm telling you, it felt GOOD. 

This past week I bought myself a navy boat neck jumper on sale for $7 at Gap. I also noticed my bright green A&F trousers (also a bargain - reduced from $78 down to $12) in my chest of drawers. A navy and green dress in Banana Republic caught my eye and got me thinking... and voila, my outfit was born. Watching Michelle Williams shimmy across the screen in My Week With Marilyn certainly got me in the mood to do some shimmying of my own, and to shimmy like Marilyn, I needed flicks of cat-eye liner, lashings of red lipstick and a back-combed, hairspray-ed do. So I got to work, only to find out that before there could be any photographic evidence of my Marilyn Moment, I had to go out with the family. Reader, I am proud to say I did it. Minus the lipstick, I went out all retro-ed up and it felt pretty darn good. May have looked like I walked off a Mad Men set but hey, as my Dad told me: I'm young and I'm an art student and I can get away with being a little eccentric. 

When I finally got behind that camera, posing has never come so naturally. I thought of Michelle William's Marilyn cheekily asking, "Shall I be her?", and then, with a pout, I decided I would. 

Verdict? This may not be the end of red lipstick and big hair...

Kitty x

{Jumper: Gap; Trousers: A&F; Black Sunglasses: Forever 21; Red Sunglasses: New Look; Purple Scarf c/o of my Grandma; Red Scarf and Leather Jacket c/o my sister; Navy Coat: Miss Selfridge; Pearl Necklace and Black Ballet Flats: Joe Fresh; Leopard Print Heels: ASOS; Purse: Chapters.}

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

 Yesterday I had a complete hair change and I froze to death in the park wearing my Dad's old jumper. Oh, and I remembered (too late) that hair does a really good job of keeping the neck warm. No matter, though - I love my new hair. In these pics, I've yet to make it 'me' though - ever notice that the hairdresser always blow dries and combs and fixes things in ways you never ever do yourself? Some people love having their hair styled by the folks at the salon, but I always prefer my own, ritualised little ways of getting my hair how I want it. In my experience, I never fully get the feel of a new haircut until I have to wash and style it myself. Today was my own little adventure of wash, blow and style.

On very cold, overcast days, the first thing I want to grab is an over-sized and over-aged thick jumper. The second thing I want to pull on is a pair of pj's, but I could never let myself leave the house in those, so a jumper will have to do. This old-school beauty was made by my Auntie for my Dad way back in the Eighties. Somehow, my Auntie managed to knit my Dad's signature into the pattern, which is the red scrawly writing smack bang in the middle of the jumper. It takes the idea of having a 'signature' item of clothing to a whole new level! I'm no knitter, but even I can see that the result is pretty pro. I discovered this vintage find (can something my Dad wore in the Eighties be considered vintage yet?) only recently, and I am rather attached to it already. With the winter landscape, the new short hair, and a baggy homemade jumper, I felt a little like one of the siblings in the Home Alone series.

Old wool, new 'do' - good combination, I think.

Kitty x

Before the chop - farewell for now, bun!

YOUR ROYAL HAIRNESS

Hair.

You know, that stuff that sits on the top of your head.

We all know it's a bit of a love/hate relationship.

There's no denying it. Your hair can be the difference between feeling like a Disney princess, and feeling like you must have done some nighttime break-dancing on your pillow.

I'm rather emotionally attached to my hair. I'll confess, there have been more than a few times I've cried after a haircut, not because it was a bad cut per se, but because of the shock of it all. I always have a very specific idea of what I want my 'do to look like, and then time again I am faced by the brutal reality that my hair is not the lusciously full and flowing stuff of my favourite childhood princess - no, my hair is thin and fine and altogether rather un-luscious. On the verge of my 20th birthday, I'm proud to say that I think I've finally acknowledged this sad truth.

So, what on earth can I do?!

No, I don't think the answer lies inside the billowy mass of this c-r-a-z-y hair dryer. But I thought I'd include a picture of this awesomeness just because.

Anyway, I have decided that I need to find my optimum style. Not Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swan look from the Pirate films, because that is just not realistic. Neither is Anne Hathaway's Princess Diaries hair (sigh... I spent so many years hoping my hair would just magically look like that if I only grew it that long...). Nope, I need to find what's right for ME.

And - looking back on this picture of me from Summer 2010 - what's right for me is, I believe, less hair! Tomorrow I'm off the salon to get a thoroughly good chop and hopefully re-emerge with thicker-feeling locks and a style that's more appropriate to my hair type.

I've been frantically pinterest-ing all of my favourite short styles in the past couple of weeks, and compiled a collection of 'do's that have won me over.

The lovely Keira Knightley

Emma Watson looking FAB, but what can you expect?

Lady Mary took the plunge and got the chop too - what would Carson say?

Keira again, from the 2008 Chanel Coco Mademoiselle advert

Gorgeous Gigi Darcy (Allison Paige) from the Lizzie Bennet Diaries YouTube series - check it out here!

It's happening! I'm joining the "short-hair, don't care!" club.

Making the most of my last day with long(ish) hair,

Kitty x