Hand in Glove

I'd do all kinds of evil deeds for a pair of gloves like these.

WLTM

Bit morbid, I know.

Peaks Chic

I had a bit of Twin Peaks marathon last night and felt inspired to post some pictures of the coolest girl in town, Audrey Horne.

with the sexy (well I think so) Agent Cooper

cute shoes!

I love the print on this shirt..

"preppy-noir"

And why not have some completely gratuitous shots of the actress who plays Audrey, Sherilyn Fenn...

In other news, my attempts at going blonde failed. While the top of my hair went the colour I wanted it, the ends stayed brassy and kept splitting when I bleached it. I had to decide whether to give up and dye it all back dark or cut several inches off the length and keep going with the blonde. I eventually decided I'd rather keep the length and stop torturing my hair. So, it's back to black with some white-blonde streaks near the front... I don't think being a blonde would have suited my personality anyway. Brunettes like Audrey have way more fun - and we get away with it.

Nails

I've always had long, polished nails since I was little (I realise this might be a slightly disturbing image) and EVERYONE asks me if they're fake. I don't have any magic recipe for growing long strong nails, my diet is terrible and I can never remember to take vitamins or whatever. I think it might just be luck. But what always happens is that they grow to 3/4 of a centimetre over the edge of the finger, then one of them splits and I have to cut them all because there's NOTHING I hate more than uneven fingernails. Take note, people. It looks sick. Maybe this is just my OCD tendencies talking, but I firmly believe that if you're gonna cut one nail, cut them all. Would you have all short nails then just one or two long ones? No, because that's creepy. Vice versa.
ANYWAY, I felt gutted that my months of nail pride had come to an end, so to cheer myself up I did a bit of nail art on my newly tiny tips.

I don't really know what the inspiration was, I was just testing out colours that look nice together.

Plus, vertical lines make nails look longer.

I was using: Claire's Accessories Black and Greige (41 & 24), Boots No. 7 in Foxglove, Barry M Gold, and Seche Vite for quick drying and glossy finish.

Put on your high-heel sneakers...

I found these amazing shoes on Evening Lady.co.uk

They are part of the Bordello range by Pleaser, and these particular shoes are from the Teeze collection.

I also love their Cabaret vintage-inspired dancing shoes:

And I've got a bit of a soft spot for these Siren peep-toes with the burlesque tasseling on the heels.

Most of the shoes in the Bordello range are priced between £35 and £50, so they are completely affordable. They come in half sizes too, unlike most shoes on the high street. Although I'm rarely lucky enough to be taken anywhere befitting of such footwear, I'm sorely tempted to splash out on a few pairs. I'm known for always wearing high heels, but the truth is I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to stilettos. I hate thin heels because they kill me, so it's nice to see shoes that look glamourous yet with heels chunky enough to withstand hours of jitterbug and jive.

Nearly there...

So close to achieving my dream hair:

Mine is a few inches longer than Debbie's in this photo. I need to bleach some more of the underneath layer and stick some silvery toner in it to take out the remaining red tones. It's quite a strange golden blonde colour right now, which is nice in its own way, but I want it white. I'm pleasantly surprised that my hair still feels in good condition when by rights it should be breaking off all over the place.

If anybody knows any cheap, quick and safe ways of getting dark brown hair to go white blonde, feel free to share your tips. I tend to use Smart Colour Platinum Blonde because it has no Ammonia, is fairly cheap and easy to use. After that, I stick on loads of Directions White Toner and leave it for about half an hour to sink in before washing out. If you leave it too long, your hair might absorb a slight lilac hue. I don't mind this, but if you'd rather not have it then just leave it for the prescribed 15 mins and wash out thoroughly.

Here's another gratuitous pic of Debs and her lovely two-toned hairdo.

This is more like my length.

Emma Bell

From her SS10 collection.

Visit her site to browse through past collections. I really like her AW09 stuff, especially the yellow trousers with the dog on the crotch and the carnival masks over the boobs in a sort of coconut bra. Her designs remind me of 1980s Bodymap:

...a label whose influence can be seen EVERYWHERE today. The pattern on the long socks in the picture above is not too dissimilar to the pattern used on American Apparel leggings and skirts, for example. 

For me, Emma Bell's creations also pay homage to work by artists such as Claes Oldenburg:

And Sarah Lucas:

As well as one of my favourite designers, Pam Hogg:

 

(vintage Hogg - Flowers of Scotland collection, 1987)

I could go on and on about Pam Hogg because I think she's brilliant, but I'd better not lose my thread.

Emma Bell.

Yep. Visit her blog and follow her adventures!