That's P, as in Phoebe

Celine Resort '11

It's hard to feel inspired right now, since my life seems to be revolving around exams. Phoebe Philo's resort collection for Celine, however, remedied that. It is just about the only thing in the last couple of weeks that lit my proverbial fire. Floated my boat. Got my juices flowing. You choose your favourite metaphor. It seemed to synthesise all the thoughts that have been floating around in my head for the last few weeks - pink, white, monochrome, flatforms, sheer things, velvet, pointed shoes, shiny things. The accessories were killer - I would do unspeakable things for those gold flatforms. While it has the same polished and 'fashion-y' Celine aesthetic that has become so popular, I couldn't help but feel there was more than a little bit of English eccentricity thrown into the mix, which feels refreshing after a few seasons of things that are all very 'good taste'. After all, our girl Phoebs hails from this green and pleasant land, and you can't deny your roots. Plus, it would have to be an Englishman who pioneered going out in your pyjamas.

Grunge, isn't that some shade of greenish orange?

eBay

What I'd quite like to be wearing this summer. I'm never normally attracted to cut-off denim skirts, let alone white ones, yet I have two in my 'Watching' folder on eBay. And I want to pair them with a white t-shirt. I believe it's referred to by medical professionals as Liz Hurley Syndrome. Happens to the best of us when the sun comes out.

Is that a sparkle in your eye?

johannaochjennifer shoes and socks / Prada Menswear A/W '11 / Miu Miu A/W '11 / eBay / Prada Menswear A/W '11 / Marc Jacobs A/W '11 (all style.com)

As I have previously mentioned, my obsession du jour is glitter. Not really on anything specific, just glitter. I recently read an article in the Telegraph on Good Taste (whose poster girls were Anna Wintour, Coco Chanel) vs. Bad Taste (Anna Dello Russo, who else?), which sort of inspired my Summer of Glitter. The article was not intended to criticise the fashion choice of anyone, the Good Taste Bad Taste concept was defined by the timelessness of the clothing involved. Breton tops, I'd hedge my bets that we'll still be wearing them in 50 years, fruits of the forest headdresses, not so much... I'd been stuck in a bit of a fashion rut before reading that article. While my views on motion sickness inducing stripes or banana earrings remain unchanged, sometimes we all need a little reminder to stop overthinking things and wear the stuff we like. And, whether it is tasteful or not, right now I want to roll around in a big old paddling pool full of glitter. Or failing that, a little pair of silver sparkly sunglasses would be the cherry headdress on my cake of an outfit. I particularly liked it at the Prada Menswear show (more men should wear glitter, don't you agree?), paired with camel jackets. Sorta makes it a bit classy. The same way that a hooker is classy if you put her in a trench coat...

What's your favourite 'tacky' thing to wear?

This will be my last wordy post for a little while, exams and whatnot. My life currently revolves around studying economic theories, watching Family Guy and eating buttercream, so my posts are likely to be less of my stream of conciousness ramblings until the end of June.

Thinking little thoughts

Winona Ryder weheartit / Jil Sander a/w '06 / collective.blogg.se / Anna Molinari '94 / eBay / eBay / Miu Miu a/w '11 / Carey Mulligan weheartit / johannaochjennifer

Things on my mind:
Doc Marten shoes, leather backpacks, the end of the world, Winona Forever, bum bags, homemade peanut butter cups, ankle socks, glitter, glittery ankle socks, glittery lurex, glittery sunglasses, glittery nails, glitter, Carey Mulligan, glitter, Swedish girls, oversized jackets, mens jumpers.

Musings

Margaret Howell A/W '11 loafers / The Face December '99 / Funny Face 1957 thrills and frills / The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999 / Margaret Howell A/W '11 / Amélie 2001

Things on my mind:
High-waisted black bikinis with clompy men's shoes, red midi skirts with clompy men's shoes, being annoyed at the things you want going out of stock, great glasses, classic summer dressing, top buttons done up on cardigans, the perfect pair of brown loafers, homemade rocky road, The Face's editorials, Jean-Pierre Juenet, men's shirts.

A zebra can't change its stripes

Cindy Crawford, Vogue '87 / L'Agence jeans / A.P.C. striped t-shirt / Aubin & Wills striped t-shirt / Office sandals / Clarks sandals / Stella s/s '11 style.com / turnedout / Prada s/s '11 style.com

Okay, we all know that this spring/summer we're supposed to be ditching our Breton's and donning a migraine-inducing Fruit Pastille lolly ensemble. Muiccia and Jil told us, Vogue from every corner of the globe is telling us, and the high street is screaming it at us so hard I'm surprised it hasn't lost its voice. While I want to embrace The Stripe - I really do, my wardrobe is bursting with them - the rainbow-bumblebee-look looks as if it will be sticking with us for as long as it takes for your '99 to melt. I guess I want something with a little more longevity. Cindy's clashing-but-matching horizontal stripe get-up is just outside of the majority's comfort zone, giving it an edge, yet still manages to look classic over twenty years on.

Like I said, I'm not short of a striped piece or ten, so I'm using this season as an excuse to wear my existing classic pieces all at once. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these get restocked by the Topshop fairies so I can clash it with one of my million Breton tops, a pair of nice sensible brown sandals and my pasty English legs.

How are you wearing your stripes this year? And does anybody know if zebras can change their stripes?!

Who am I?

I have several failed attempts at starting a blog. I am the blogosphere equivalent of a commit-o-phobe. I will pretend like I am interested but when it starts to take a little effort I won't ever call again. I'd like to think that, in common my real-life commitment fearing counterparts, I leave sobbing women and broken hearts in my wake, but I'm not sure a few pixels and a couple of fashion-related posts has that extreme an effect. While it does feel a little like I am jumping onto an already full bandwagon, here goes nothing. Third time lucky, perhaps?

The pressure of The First Post. Who am I? What do I do? Do I come here often? You can make do with some pictures of my family. The people around you make you who you are. These people have dressed me since I first arrived as a little bundle of screams in 1991, and since I have been old enough to put together my own (sometimes questionable) ensembles, I always seem to subconciously channel them. While many girls and young women look to their mothers for inspiration - and don't get me wrong, mine is one stylish mama - my main style inspiration is my dad. And I'm not the only one. Instead of fighting over designer bags or silk dresses, me and my sister are currently at war over a ratty old Greenpeace t-shirt that my father wore throughout the 80s and 90s. My dad is the most featured in both this collage and in my wardrobe; as I type I am wearing an oversized St. Michael jumper previously belonging to him, rescued from the charity shop pile. This is in addition to the countless scavenged oversized jumpers and t-shirts from his side of the wardrobe. The fact that we are the same size in 501s is a bonus; a nice steady stream of hand-me-down, knee-less Levis. My heart actually sobs a little when I remind myself that neither my dad or any other members of my family, with what appears to be a hereditary compulsion to wear statement specs, have any of their glasses left for me to fit with my lenses.

While I do feel a pang of jealousy after reading 'What's In My Closet?' feautures and wonder why my Daddy wasn't a Stone or my mother wasn't a Chanel muse, I guess I only have to look in the photo drawer to realise that just because he wasn't on tour or she wasn't in Vogue, that is by no means an indicator of how cool they were. Oh, and under my bed. At the time of posting, I'm winning the t-shirt war.