Non-buyer's remorse

It's getting ridiculous how many times I've ummed and ahded over an item in the new AW/10 collections until it's sold out in my size.
There are dozens of examples on Topshop.com alone. Here's my top three...

(The latter in grey)
And these babies are currently in the 'new in' section, but sold out when you click through - what's that all about? They can't have sold out already? An online error perhaps? I need them!

So, in recent weeks, I've been proactive in my purchasing, and it's kind of paid off. You see, I was so sick of what I call non-buyers' remorse, that feeling when something you wanted sells out, I ordered two major items from ASOS on a total whim.

(the latter in black - damn my tardy picture research.)
So, I immediately started hyperventilating after dropping 200 notes on these babies in a lunch hour (so much I qualified for free NEXT DAY DELIVERY - that's when you know you've gone a click too far) and experienced how non-buyers' remorse becomes buyers' remorse.

But I was desperate to try on both. I was sure they'd transform my AW look instantly, and make me the proudest peacock in London. When they were delivered to work I immediately ripped open the bag and ran to the toilets and its full length mirror to see the new me...

But they both looked shades of shit. The beautiful cape transformed me into nothing more than an Inspector Sherlock wannabe. The butter-soft and now sold-out aviator jacked was too short for my damn long body and too slim for my gigantic boobage. I was devastated. But there was a glimmer of smugness. At least I'd tried. At least I know it wasn't to be. And when I drop by ASOS and see them, I don't wonder what could have been, but know neither item was ever destined to be worn by me.

So, what's the moral of this long-winded tale? If you really want something you probably shouldn't buy, try it anyway. If you're anything like me, the dream of that illusive item is bigger than the reality, and you'll be left with the money refunded back in the bank, knowing you didn't let that perfect item get away.

A tight fit

Friday was an important day in my fashion year - the first opaque tight of the new season.
It's time. The weather's chillier, the wind's brisker and, frankly, I wanted to give this dress its inaugural outing.
I'm very fussy about black tights. I have not, and I fear never will, jumped on the 20-denier trend that's started sweeping the legs of London's fashion forward. It's just too eighties, too sheer and far too reminiscent of my mother's legs to work for me. Even Topshops's polka dot numbers couldn't tempt me from the very dark side.
I need opaque tights to be 90 denier and higher. My 120 deniers, seen above, are my prized A/W possession, and I have about 4 pairs. So here I offer some words of opaque advice.
Oasis: Don't bother unless you like them very low slung. They fall down throughout the day, leading you to do the tight wriggle, wrestling them up to your hips. Likewise, Primark. In fact, these once got me so angry I pulled a big hole in a pair.
Topshop's are pricey but worth it - trying to find a large pair is like searching for a needle in a haystack, but they're worth the search.
As ever, Marks and Spencer is reliable, as long as you can track the 90s down... they go fast. And my personal faves are ASOS, though get 'em while you can. The 120s sell out FAST.

Dress - Primark// Tights - ASOS// Boots - ASOS// Watch - Michael Kors

Rain in the arse

Hear ye, hear ye, from now on I commit to more outfit posts. I've been slack, shy and a bit unorganised when it comes to the fashion part of this fashion blog, so starting today I'm going to try and do a couple a week... who knows, it might make me wear something other than leggings!

So here goes. I've lost my brolly, which means I had to drag this, my only coat with a hood, out of the back of the wardrobe.

Coat - Primark// Scarf - H&M//
The nippier weather also gave me the chance to wear my lovely new scarf. I'm actually pretty excited about autumn - I'm sick of having to put flesh on display!

Top - H&M// Watch - Michael Kors// Jeans - Topshop// Chelsea boots - ASOS
Necklaces - jumble and old Accessorize
The top's another new purchase - I could have done with a size smaller but they didn't have it, and it was such a bargain at £7 I had to make it mine. I look a little butch, but whatevs. I'm trying to wear things a little bit out of my comfort zone (can you believe that, for many years, I lived by the Trinny and Susannah rules for my shape. I love those women, but that's for another post.)

No detail shots I'm afraid - I got sick of my work colleagues mocking my impromptu photoshoot in smoker's alley... hence the following:


I also have a new haircut, which I'm not sure about... they thinned it. It's thin enough! Discuss.

Cole position

Ok, so she's Tweedy now, but my pun well has run a little dry today after many a headline for my proper job.Soz.

There's just something about 'are Cheryl' I find fascinating. For me she's not a style icon... I think she tends to look overdone, especially on X Factor. But sometimes I see a candid where she's put herself together, and isn't trying too hard, and I think: "well done good woman." This was one of those times.

Ok, maybe it's this outfit's similarity to a recent ensemble of my own, but I think the more casual look works well on her... hell, who am I kidding, I prefer a thrown-together look on anyone! (Posh take note)

I also happen to know this top's from Bank. High Street - wahey! If any of you are after a piece of Ms Tweedy... see HERE. The shorts look like Diesel... hmmm. Shame they're not a more distressed vintage pair, but our Chez does love a label!

Greece is the word

Ah the holiday in Samos. It seems so long ago, now I've had three days back at work. But it was, in fact, immense. Seven sun-filled days (and phew wot a scorcher - 40 degrees every day, I tell yer) of lying on the beach, eating uh-mazing food and basically living the high life.

We were staying in an apartment with friends... little did I know (until we arrived) that the apartment was owned by the family of none other than Lopi, the Fashion Architect - blogger extraordinaire!
She's a friend and colleague of our friend Vasilis, and was born and grew up in Samos, so she showed us around all week, making our trip extra special. Here she is with a particularly beautiful and friendly kitten...

So, this was the fantastic view from our terrace, where we spent much time doing the G2 crossword, drinking beer and swatting mosquitoes...

Yep - there was a little beach below where we took a morning dip to cool down after each pretty hot night's sleep. And if you aren't yet jealous enough, here's the obligatory sea through legs shot from another beach we visited:

It was so hot, I was so unprepared and did such terrible last-minute packing that my outfits were dull, functional and essentially in-what-will-I-sweat-least affairs... basically an approximation of this, every day:

Shorts// old old Topshop, Vest // River Island, Flip -flops//Havianas, Glasses, somewhere in LA, Hat// cannot for the life of me remember.

The coolest thing we did was go to a lovely little open-air cinema, complete with pizza delivered to your table, beer, free doughnuts, a barking dog and mosquitoes. Unfortunately we saw Nine, which was utter crap, but the experience was great. Definitely something you should do if you get the chance!

Now to the shopping. I actually bought very little. In fact only souvenirs. I give you, the ridiculous slipper:

and the awesome Pythagorean cups:

These babies empty all the wine out if you fill it too far, teaching moderation to the ancient Greek masses... somethig I could certainly learn when it comes to a dry white.

A great time was had by all - Jon is already planning how we can relocate to Greece some day, and I'm frantically applying tinted bodylotion to hang on to the tan. Now to plan the next jolly!

And the winner is...

Hello! I'm back from my fabulous holiday and here to announce the winner of my competition....

Indah, from Indahlovesmakeup!

I used random.org to choose, but accidentally lost the page so can't post the screen grab here... sorry peeps, you'll just have to trust me.

Indah will be pleased to hear I've also thrown in ANOTHER Barry M polish - Mint Green, which I picked up last night in Topshop, and there might be a few cheeky surprises in there too...

Well done Mrs! Thanks to everyone who eneterd, and everyone who follows me... I really do appreciate you stopping by to hear my ramblings.

Thanks also to the lovely Beth for looking after curveintemode while I was away. I'm sure you'll agree her posts were awesome, and she should ger her own blog pronto.

Things have been crazy with work since I got back from Greece so I'll update everyone on my movements, purchases and holiday fun ASAP. Stay tuned!

The art of the knock-off...

Now, here's a little lovely that has been floating around the internets for a while; Alpha 60's awesome River Phoenix t-shirt. Its a steep £55 on ASOS, and perpetually sold out. Money limitations and the elusive nature of the t-shirt have prevented me from making it mine, but I couldn't help but dip my toe in the sometimes murky waters of eBay to see if they had a similar t-shirt. They did, of course; with the same cool-as-all-hell image from Stand By Me with a young River, fag in hand.

Alpha 60's:


Most of them were going for about £11, plus postage from Japan, and I've got to say, I'm a little tempted. Not for a second do I think it would have the lovely hang and quality of its designer doppelganger, but in truth its probably not something I would wear that often anyway, and as much as I love it now I can see me being fickle and getting over it pretty quickly (unlike my stance on River himself I hasten to add!).

An eBay offering...



Anyway, what do you guys reckon? Are knock-offs ever acceptable? In this case, I'm inclined to say yes...

This is my last guest blog post - I've had a blast and I'm quite sad to hand Curve in the Mode back to its rightful owner! Thanks for having me though! If you want to keep reading my musings, in a shortened form, feel free to follow me on Twitter, I'm @bethevs.

M and Yes!

I'm sure most of you, like me, have long been on the quest for that perfect liquid eyeliner, one that will achieve a Chungian/Conradian flick with the greatest of ease and last all day and night. My personal stipulations are that it has to have a strong pigment and it HAS to be a felt tip type, I am rubbish with a brush which I find difficult to control. I think I've found the holy grail, in Nana's favourite M&S, of all places. M&S have steadily been gathering respect in the style stakes for a while, and their make-up range is no slouch either. This product is from the slightly more expensive Perfection range, but comes in at a pretty reasonable £7.50. It has all the characteristics I've been searching for, its ridiculously easy to apply, black as night and stays put for hours. Go forth and catify!

Jump to it...

I heart this jumper, I heart this a lot.



I haven't really bought much at Topshop in recent years, because I feel that its expensive for the quality and I simply haven't had the disposable income (evidenced by the fact that I mainly wear 'vintage' Primark!). However I'm sorely tempted by this caramel-coloured beaut, which would look awesome with my chunky boots from last winter and over a tea dress, or with my extremely flared Uniqlo jeans and a checkered shirt, Love Story stylee. It also slots neatly into Autumn's camel theme, and I love the sulky-teenager long sleeves. Simply put, it makes me wish crispy leaf season was here already, and that I had the dough to make it mine. Better start playing the Euro Millions, huh?!

For you lucky ladies who want to snap it up, its here. Enjoy the snuggly loveliness!

Monday Style Icon!

As well as sharing Tory's love of The Chung and all things Olsen, another huge style icon of mine is the beautiful Liv Tyler. I've been a fan of hers for a good decade and she has influenced everything from hairstyles to jeans, shoes to facewash, eyebrows to lipstick. I've lost count of the amount of times that I've attempted to ape an entire make-up look of hers. What I like most about Liv is that she really seems to glow from within - she has a real joie de vivre. A couple of people I know who have worked with her have said that she is actually the most beautiful person they have ever seen in real life, so I reckon I could do a lot worse for a style icon!

Here she is rocking the hell out of the Mulberry Raglan...



This is my favourite vintage photo of Liv - it was in the December 1999 issue of Looks magazine which was when she first came to my attention.



Anyone remember Looks by the way? It changed its name to Celebrity Looks and then promptly folded - I miss it!

A few random things I admire about Ms Tyler...
- She is 5'10" but not afraid to rock a pair of 6-inch heels and celebrate that fact.
- She actually runs errands in sweatpants and no make-up from time to time, which makes a refreshing change from the likes of Victoria Beckham who do the school run in Roland Mouret and matching YSL Trib Two's...
- She looks just as good without make-up as with it.
- She has a fantastic mane of hair!

And this is my favourite, favourite scene from 90s classic That Thing You Do!

Mavala holla...

For years now I have been scouring the shops for the perfect peach tea nail varnish. Every time I thought I'd found it it turned out to be too safe, too muted, too pearlescent or just too plain pensioner. I came across this jackpot of a colour, Mavala's 'Sweet', in London's free women's mag Stylist, and when I read about it Elle a few weeks later I took it as a sign and started to hunt it down.

Mavala isn't a brand I'm massively familiar with, its only really stocked in John Lewis over here and they didn't have the right shade. I found a great store on eBay - Revival Beauty, and it came to a pretty respectable £6 including postage (the RRP for this brand is £3.95).



To cut a long story short, its BRILLIANT. The shade is exactly what I was looking for, it goes on perfectly and last time I had it on it lasted for eight (eight!!) days without a chip. You can even get away with just the one coat. Apart from the slight hassle of getting hold of it I would heartily recommend it. The bottles are on the small side but when do you ever use a whole bottle anyway?! Its the perfect summer polish.



(Apologies for my blurry nail photography - basically its the exact shade it appears in the bottle.)

Wardrobe Hall of Fame...

Hello, Bethan here! Whilst Tor is away sunning herself in Greece she has left the good ship Curve in the Mode in my 'capable' hands. In the words of the mighty Black Eyed Peas, let's get it started...



Now, Primark has its haters, and one of the main criticisms levelled at it is that the clothes don't last. I beg to differ, at least on a couple of counts. This smock dress was, I think, £8 when I bought it about 4 years ago, and cost per wear has to now be well under a penny. That's not the only thrifty thing about it - it is literally the most versatile item I've ever owned - there is no occasion for which it isn't suitable. I've worn it to birthday parties, job interviews, dates, swanky do's and grimy clubs. In fact the only time its not ideal is in the height of summer - the black poly is not so breathable! I'm not the only one still rocking it, most weeks I see it on someone else; last week it was spotted teamed with denim cut-offs and with a chunky belt. Versatile indeed!



Do you guys have your own enduring classics?!

Adios, bitches!

 
Yo yo yo! Tonight (ok tomorrow at dick o'clock) I'm off on my holiday - wahoo!

A week in sunny Samos has been too long coming. But fear not, in my absence I've appointed good friend and all-round awesome person Bethan to look after you, and trust me, she has some fabness planned. (Seriously, they're better blog posts than mine, you won't want me back.)

Here's a picture of her looking stunning and like Liz Lemon at a recent jumble sale (they aren't her glasses - her vision game is, in fact, strong).

So, sorry my blogging skills have been a bit crappy this week - I've had so much to do at work and home that my amazing new followers have been neglected. I promise peeps, I'm usually better than this! Right - must traverse home and then start packing. My flight's in 9 hours. Crap.

Remember to enter my blog giveaway while I'm away by clicking  HERE

Sunday had his hat on

How tacktastic are these sunnies from American Retro? I'd never set foot in there until Sunday, I always thought it was full of overpriced basics I couldn't afford, then Jon introduced me to the world of pug-mania and nonsense that lies inside, and now I love it!

We swung though Soho after a trip to the Tate Modern (I have membership through work) to see the Exposed exhibition. If I'd paid £8 for it, I'd have been disappointed, but as it's free to members I enjoyed the afternoon out and the highlight was by far the Nan Goldin slideshow The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.

I watched the whole 45 minutes, which is pretty rare for me in a gallery situation - usually nothing keeps my attention for that long, but this somewhat racy series of images was totally captivating. I was already a bit of a Nan fan, but this sealed the deal. I also love the work of french artist Sophie Calle, who featured towards the end of the exhibition. Anyone wanting to learn more about Sophie should get hold of her book Exquisite Pain.

It was an unexpectedly lovely day, so I busted out the jean shorts again as part of this ensemble.

Top - Topshop// Watch - Michael Korrs// Bracelet - H&M// Necklace - A stall in New York// Belt - Bankok weekend market// Jeans - Levi's vintage// Flip-flops - Haviana

I'm never sure about the loose top tucked, as it definitely makes me look stocky (my waist is the only damn slim bit on me, and it's totally hidden) but this is the first outfit I've been really happy with for yonks. Sorry about the shit photo, Jon wouldn't play ball. Some bloggers have boyfriends who do thrice-weekly latte-sipping photoshoots across LA, mine whined at taking one quick photo - ONE! Note to self - trade him in for a tripod.

Remember to enter my blog giveaway HERE

Thank you Thank you Thank you

I promised a giveaway when I hit 30 followers and here it is!

OK, so it's not the biggest bag of swag in blog history, but it's just a small token of my huge appreciation to all the people who drop by to read my ramblings on a regular basis.

Two brand-spanking-new Barry M polishes (I couldn't not give away nail varnish, right?!) in Cyan, which I've reviewed HERE, and Coral (more of that below.)

I also spotted this beautiful flower, which can be pinned to your clothes or in your hair, in H&M the other day and had to grab it for you guys. It will all be wrapped up (with a few other surprise bits and pieces) in the scarf you can see in the background of the picture. It's from my own wardrobe, and I adore it, but never seem to wear it, so wanted to pass it on to someone who will!

So, the Coral polish - I picked one up for myself and tried it out last night, with a matte topcoat.

It's a nice, bright, coral-red, and looks really punchy either gloss or matte.

So, lovely people, all you need to do to enter is be a follower of the blog and comment below, with a way for me to contact you.

I'd love it if anyone could tweet about it (follow me at @tortlington for a retweet) or blog about it, or follow me on bloglovin', and if so I'll deffo throw extra entries your way for each - just let me know you've done it below!

Thanks everyone, and good luck. The comp will run for two weeks until I get back from my hols.

Shamity Fair

Vanity Fair has named Samantha Cameron and Nora Ephron among their best dressed for 2010. Are you freaking kidding me?

Exhibits A and B:

Neither of these women shows originality, sartorial flair or even an ounce of personality in anything they wear. If you want to see the list in full, chek it out HERE, but I think the comment about SamCam's casual accessories being 'Converse and a pram', says it all.

Funny girl

I think this Jennifer Aniston as Barbra Streisand shoot is beautiful, especially the first frighteningly accurate  image, which will feature as a subscribers' cover.

What can I say, I really like Aniston. I think she has great timing, she's beautiful, and ok, she plays it safe style-wise, but the woman always looks smart, slick and very pretty. Haters back off!

Pics courtesy of Harpers Bazaar

Not quite spot on

With a gloomy Saturday afternoon to fill, a friend and I decided to give the leopard nail trend a whirl, and I learned a few lessons along the way!

Nails Inc Satin base (two coats)// Essie Splash of Grenadine spots// Pilot fineline permanent marker highlights// Seche Vite topcoat.

• This took me an hour and a half. I'm sure the more you do it the quicker you get, but attempt number one took me forever
• Using a permanent fineliner wasn't the great idea I thought it would be. It didn't like writing on the Nails Inc polish, so I had to do a coat of Seche Vite on top of the spots, then the fineliner highlights, then another coat of Seche Vite to seal... but...
• It turns out, Seche Vite shrinks the polish slightly as it dries, so after 24 hours the polish started coming off an entire nail at a time. I have whole nail-shaped sheets of leopard polish to prove it! 

So, lessons learned - buy a black nail pen (or use the black liquid eyeliner trick) and never use two coats of Seche Vite! 

Despite the fact that two hours of painting my nails didn't even last two days, I really loved the effect and would do it again, without repeating my rookie mistakes!

In my jumble opinion

Sunday was my funday -- I rolled out of bed (clutching my sore head) and bussed it to Team Jumble at Music Hall bar on Curtain Road in Shoreditch.

My reasons were twofold - a way to while away and overcast afternooon and a chance to meet the lovley Ellie of prettymuchpenniless and Amy of wolfwhistle.

The ladies were selling their wares alongside some fab vintage clothing, trinket and bakery stalls, and I had a lovely time with my friends Bethan (who will my guest blogger when I go on holiday) and Ben.




It didn't seem particularly warm when I left the house, so I'm wearing a poly and pretty old River Island dress with my vintage Earl jeans jacket and (barely seen) new ASOS chelsea boots. It was great to meet these guys, who had been there a good few hours. I bought some bargains from Ellie:

She only wanted one round English pound for the both of them - score!

I also bagged this fabulously kitsch music box (well, it only has a single draw for stashing small jewels, but the marrionette dances - it's fabulous, and was only £3).



I also had one of those delicious savoury muffins (cheese, tomato and bacon) and a piece of chocolate fudge, which just melted in my ravenous mouth. Yum!

I've put the music box in pride of place on my mantlepiece with the rest of my nonesense.



We then trotted off for a 4pm breakfast at The Breakfast Club, where I ordered a butty then wished I'd had pancakes. Oh well, you can't win 'em all!