Mooi en Lief X Tolly Dolly Posh

Last month (yup, it's been that long) I won a pair of socks from Tolly Dolly Posh, the blog of a fifteen year old who spends her time in the UK and France, with an amazing blog. She's collaborated with Dutch brand Mooi en Lief to create a chic range of socks suitable for wearing with wellies! While it'll soon be too hot to wear knee high rubber boots, I still had the immense pleasure of unboxing these bad boys which came with a hand-written note, and some other goodies!

It felt like I was receiving a package from a pen pal, not a company, which was the most endearing experience of winning. Along with bragging rights. I maintain those are still very important. The socks were inspired by roller skate rinks of the 1970s and are aptly named, 'Electric Blue'. Their namesake comes from the David Bowie song, Song and Vision. Simple in design, but a striking shade of blue I admit I'm struggling to figure out what to wear with these- but I'll think of something!

Swamp Witch

Wearing: Romance Was Born dress (worn as skirt), thrifted bloused, thrifted cardigan, Dr Martens boots and DIY fringe cape.

As I come closer towards the end of my candidature, as well as writing applications for my PhD and completing my thesis I've become more drawn towards problem solving through words as well as experimentation. I know what tasks I have to do but can easily feel overwhelmed and paralysed at the thought of not being able to write well. Dreaming of new outfits has been my escape from academia and through creating a different set of problems has allowed me to work different parts of my brain. The DIY cape was originally a decoration I used for my twenty-first birthday last year but couldn't bear the thought of throwing it away. I was also really inspired by Patience Hodgson's outfit from Splendour in the Grass this year, designed by the lovely Rachel Burke from I make it, You wear it. I wore it with a 70s aesthetic blouse I picked up from a thrift store last year, inspired by the discussions surrounding Slimane as the creative director for Saint Laurent. This outfit has undertones of a rockstar, reimagined with interesting colours and textures. 

Interstellar

Wearing: Josh Goot dress, Romance Was Born skirt and Lipstik jelly sandals.

First of all I apologise for the clutter in the background but I ran out of time this morning and decided to take these outfits photos at uni rather than at home. Also it was raining this morning and I had too much to do today to wait for the weather to cooperate! On the plus side you can see the archaic (pun intended) folders in the background jam packed with palaeontology papers! While it's not totally inspiring to see my messy office space it does remind me of when I first started reading fashion blogs, particularly The Fashion Void that is DC. This later morphed into Moohoop a Tumblr blog and in 2011 Brooke Kao stopped writing altogether. She was among the first wave of fashion bloggers who really pioneered blogging as a platform for self-expression and although her photos weren't polished, her guide of vintage and thrift stores within Washington propelled her to success. I guess today I just really wanted to be vulnerable and removed from the realm of commercial, air brushed photos and perfect hair.

Melancholy

Wearing: Maison Michel rain hat, J.W. Anderson X Topshop sweater, Target skirt, thrifted heels and Deadly Ponies bag.

It's very unusual for me to wear an all black outfit on the blog, but I've tried to make it as interesting as possible in terms of texture and shape! I'm a happy little turd now that I finally have this Maison Michel rain hat, which I have coveted and searched the Internet for, for YEARS. I also recently acquired my dream bag from new Zealand brand Deadly Ponies which features these little fox tail charms, which are in fact made from sheep wool. I'm not a huge bag lady, unlike many other fashion bloggers who have mastered utilizing their accessories in cool and interesting ways but this piece just resonates with me. Both the bag and hat were first produced years ago and remind me of when fashion blogging was touted as the thing which would topple even the most influential fashion editors. Of course that hasn't happened and some fashion bloggers have been criticized as being too heavily commercial but it's the idealistic nature and design of each piece which I really admire.

a bespectacled, studious youth

I've known I would need glasses for about a decade now- both my mother and father have two pairs of glasses each so it's always been something I've secretly looked forward to. I thought that this would happen during a later stage of life, specifically in my late thirties or early forties if I really looked after my health. The long hours I've spent scanning through specimens on a microscope is beginning to take it's toll though- and I frequently complain about sensitivity to light as well as eye strain. It's time to face facts: shopping for glasses isn't all doom and gloom although the sudden prospect of wearing glasses did slightly upset me. It seemed serendipitous that at approximately the same time, Eyeglass Discounter contacted me it seemed too good to be true! Although my eye tests came back as a negative on the glasses I did enjoy perusing their online catalog as well as finding photos of badass babes rocking their designer eyewear. For my North American and European readers it's also important to invest in a good pair of sunglasses for the upcoming Summer! They offer further discounts on their cheap range of both glasses and sunglasses, so I would highly recommend in buying a spare pair if you're thinking about traveling during the break as well. They also have some really cool hipster style glasses, along with many of the classic clubmaster and wayfarer styles to choose from.

*All glasses via Eyeglass Discounter
1- Arabelle Sicardi. 2 & 11- Tavi Gevinson. 3, 6, 9, 12- via Eyeglass Discounter. 4 & 5- How to Find the Vintage Eyeglasses of Your Dreams via Rookie Mag. 7, 8 & 10- Advanced Style.