Salon selective

 

I'm slightly obsessed with the ASOS Salon collection, especially since a few of these babies were restocked in my size. With the aforementioned up-coming wedding, I'm hunting early for something pretty and affordable. Any of these would work for such an occasion (although option one might be a little brave!)
In other news, I recently bagged the beauty below for a friend's birthday at the excellent Proud Cabaret. We had a groupon voucher, which made the three-course dinner, entry and entertainment a snip at £20 each.

All I'll say is, I ended the evening like this...

Skirting the issue

I'm back! And now I have a teeny tiny tripod (seriously, it's the size of my thumb) I can commit to more outfit posts. I love this new Topshop skirt. This is perhaps the most adventurous I've been, sartorially, for some time, but I was really comfortable.
Top - H&M// Skirt - Topshop// Boots - ASOS

All that jazz

Last night the ladies hit the town in the torrential rain. I wore the outfit I'm probably the most happy with out of everything I've worn in years! Unfortunately my five-day-old iPhone was stolen, which kind of spoiled an ace night - thank god I took outfit pics on my mate's camera before I went out!

Necklace - Primark// Shirt - Topshop// shorts - Topshop//  Boots - ASOS

Tory the tiger

It's official, autumn is here. To celebrate I went for a sweater, boots and jeans combo in an effort to be warm, comfy and work-appropriate.

Jumper - Topshop// Jeans - Topshop// Boots - Steve Madden
You will probably be seeing a lot of these boots. They cost me quite a pretty penny last Autumn and therefore must last at least two winters. I still love them though - it took me a long time to find my perfect pair of slouchy biker boots; they're comfy, they go with everything and they're therefore here to stay.

Apologies for the crappy photos - with no non-busy work colleagues I had to go DIY in the ladies loos.

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.

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?!

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.

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My favourite Kings

I love nothing better than an outdoor gig, and circumstances will have it I'll have been to three in eight days by Sunday - Pearl Jam last Friday, Kings of Leon last night and Jay-Z on Sunday.
So yesterday at KOL in Hyde Park I was faced with the ever-difficult task of dressing for a 2-11pm Summer event, in cloud cover that threatened intense sun... easy it was not!
I plumped for this pretty functional ensemble...

Shades - Accessorize// Shorts - vintage Levi's cut-offs// T shirt - Primark// Necklace - a market in Williamsburg NY (how hip am I?!!)// Lippy - Rimmell Moisture Renew Lipstick in Lily Extase (more on this later)
Here's a better pic of the Lush Motorcycle bag I blogged about before - you can see it's pretty worn in nowadays!

So it was nice and breezy in the sun, which is good. Got filthy feet wearing my Havianas, but that goes with the territory, and the evening was slightly marred by Lovely Beth getting knocked out by a bottle (who are these drink-wielding morons? Throw it down your neck not in the air!) But all in all a great time was had by all!
Oh, and here are our happy hands!

Britain's Next Top Morons

Shame about the footie hey? Watched the game with my matey Bethan, fuelled by much Pimms (minus the strawberries and cucumber - sometimes it's just too hot to chop).

Popped out in half time for some humid air and outfit pics... think I'll be sticking to sober photoshoots in the future - looked either manic or surly in all of them. Oh well, Beth looks cute!


Me: Sunglasses - Topshop// Playsuit - Kimchi & Blue at Urban Outfitters last year// Necklace - vintage// Belt - boyfriend's// Cuff - Primark// Watch - Michael Korrs// Sandals - Topshop// Lippy - Marks and Spencer Geranium//


Beth: Sunglasses - Primark// Dress - Primark// Bracelet - Cambodian market// Satchel - Topshop// Sandals - Office (I think).


Extras: Jug - Laura Ashley// Tumbler - Morrisons// Studded bag - ASOS// My nails - Barry M Neon Pink with Barry M glitter on top.

So there you have it. This is my favourite playsuit ever and if it had come in more colours I'd have snapped them all up.

Cringe

Agh... here goes, my first outfit post. It's scary putting yourself out there on the internets, especially after roping in my poor mate to take a million pics before I realised I wasn't going to like any of them, whatever she did.

So, the run down, top to bottom: Necklace - old ASOS; dress - River Island (It's not actually as wide as it -- or I -- look in th picture, the 'Tyra booty tooch' I was attempting distorted the whole darn thang!); jacket - vintage Earl jeans; cuff - h and m; bracelet - gift; ring - random jewellry shop in Greece; sandals - Topshop.

Phew, I will now crawl into a cave and be embarrassed about uploading pictures of myself onto the internet... oh, and apologies for the return of the shiny head and general dog's dinnerness of this whole thing... I'd just got back from Oxford Street, and it was 10pm.