To bang or not to bang.

Yeah that caught your attention didn't it.

Sadly we're not here to talk about sex, baby (or talk about you and me?), it's more along the lines of my hair. Humble apologies.

Side note: It struck me the other day how difficult it is to explain the concept of a 'fringe' to Americans, who (as seen in title) call it (them) bangs.

English: fringe, (n), singular. American: bangs, (n), plural.

"You know, like the hair in front of your face when you cut it real short, so it like sits above your eyes and covers your forehead. No no not like how guys hair is, like you can have it with long hair. . blah blah blah." Tough stuff.

Recently several of my friends have jumped on the bangs bandwagon, and they look mighty pretty. (like the windy city). (Reference to Angus & Julia, SS, and recent trip to Wellington).

But with my hair finally recovered from the trauma of taking 11 inches off in the beginning of seventh form (I donated it to Pantene Great Lengths to make a wig for cancer patients), I am so proud of my efforts to NOT cut, that to hack into the front section seems slightly criminal.

And I really want to. Two of my best friends just took the chop, and they both look fantastical.
But I can't part with my painstakingly grown inches. So bangs seem like a compromise. A better compromise than a fake fringe I came across the other day. . . while it's a really good idea I don't think I could get over the fear of it coming out of place or falling off my face.

(From top to bottom, Emma Stone, Kate Moss, Taylor Swift, Zooey Deschanel, Leighton Meester, Alexa Chung and Rumi Neely.)

Amy xx

Lizzie in May

Wanting: I've been drooling over white leather vests recently like this one. Currently saving up!

Wearing: I just bought one of the Glassons loop jumpers in black and it's amazing, I love it! It's acrylic so it might not be the warmest but it's done a good job for me so far! I also got a sheer cream peter pan blouse which is quite beautiful and easy to slip a merino under, perfect!

Listening to: Digable Planets, AlunaGeorge, Nas, Buzzcocks, Teen Daze, Sonic Youth and Eliza Doolittle! I've also been getting back into my Shaggy and Peter Andre, they're classics haha.

Eating: I've been making a lot of green curries - if you read our blog a lot or have ever tried to have dinner with me you'll probably know green curry is my favourite food on this earth!



I also went to Kiwiyo on Tamaki Drive for the first time with Amy on Friday. Honestly I expected it to be crap for some reason but that place is AMAZING. So many toppings and so delicious. And you can justify it because froyo is not even that bad for you.. Kind of. You must go try!

Drinking: I asked my flight attendant friend Christie to bring me back some tea from T2 in Sydney and I literally I can't describe, it's so amazing. Plus the stores look beautiful! They have emporiums and tea houses all over Australia, I imagine it's definitely worth a visit!

Going: to the Matakana Village Farmer's Market. I went quite a few times over summer but hadn't been recently. I drove up early on Saturday morning and managed to come home with pilsner, buffalo haloumi, fresh juice, passionfruit, tamarillos (not for me, I haaate them!), watercress, beets, baby passionfruit/lemon meringue/berry chocolate tartlets and smoked onions in hand. Good haul!




Watching: Amy and I went to see Salmon Fishing in the Yemen a couple of weeks ago and I adored it, I really did. Plus Emily Blunt is brilliant! Also 21 Jump Street was absolutely hilarious. And Dave Franco + Channing Tatum make it good to look at.

Making: Dance costumes for small children. The last one I did was a neon green two piece. So chic. I'm also working on a ball dress for my friend Ashleigh. I'll post this one when it's done, I'm pretty excited!



Quote of the Month:
Will Smith on letting his daughter Willow get a drastic haircut:
“We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it’s like how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? If I teach her that I’m in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she’s going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world. She can’t cut my hair but that’s her hair. She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she’s going out with a command that it is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives.”
- Will Smith

Studying.

I know. You're all sick and tired of hearing me rant on about studying, when clearly I am blogging. Not the point. The point is that I have a romanticized idea of studying.

Hear me out.

Studying should be all about writing beautiful notes about interesting things, so you don't get bored. You are supposed to drink lots of tea (mild healtheries obsession), take lots of breaks where you go for invigorating runs, and wear comfortable clothes and headbands. You will end up with stunningly clear (colour-coordinated) diagrams and a head full of relevant, applicable, A-grade knowledge.

Clearly I've been living in some sort of dreamworld, because I can safely say that my study experiences have NEVER resembled anything like this. My study habits involve a stressed-out, chipped-nailed, junk-food-fuelled, CRAZY-handwriting dining room rave. I say this because I tend to take over the dining room (least used room in the house) with diagrams and papers and textbooks etc.

So I have no idea where this idea has come from (actually tumblr and pinterest could have something to do with it), and now I'm disappointed that my romantic, pleasant study experiences are not manifesting themselves. First world problems, huh?

Real life doesn't have exams, but it does have hard work. It's good preparation for sucking it up and getting on with the job.

And with that, I will take my bitter and twisted views somewhere else (like to my desk) and leave you with Lizzie, who should be bright and shiny due to her lack of exams. Also we should probably return to something resembling fashion, given that this is a fashion blog and not a place for me to have a cry to you all. Apologies. Again.

Love love love and have a good week. xx

Tous les choses français.

My love of all things french appears to be multiplied at the moment. Several reasons why.


1. Upcoming trip to Tahiti (here I take a moment to jump up and down and squeal like a sugar-hyped child), where I have just realized I am one of the only people on the trip who speaks a word of French. Oh dear, let's crack out the revision notes? Oui monsieur, en fait, je vais prendre un autre cocktail. Merci.

(yes, this is actually the place I'm staying!!!)

2. The gorgeous cafe Les Pyrenees up the road, where the charming french baristas gave me free coffee and attempted to converse in French. I was suitably embarrassed (and probably didn't deserve the coffee).

3. Today (according to ZM) is National Macaron Day, and even though I can find no supportive evidence on the internet, I am not one to pass up an opportunity to celebrate. Tragically, macarons did not make it into my busy schedule, but fear not, I am simply postponing celebrations.

4. I picked up two copies of French Vogue discounted the other day, and proceeded to remind myself how much French I have FORGOTTEN. Oh dear. What will happen when one day, I run into Emmanuelle or Carine on the street and I have nada to say? I suppose they speak English and will understand when I start babbling about how much I love them, but I digress.

Also, Natalia and Kate were on the covers. How was I supposed to pass that up??

5. I also picked up (book nerd) a copy of Le Petit Prince, in English. We studied it in French in 7th form, and I didn't understand it completely. Hopefully round two, when I'm not trying to translate every word and write essays dissecting it, it will be more enjoyable.

 A bientôt mes chéries, j'espère que vous avez un bon weekend. 

Si vous aves des examens, travaillez dur!

Amy xx

P.S. Forgot to mention - Lizzie's french baristas one-upped mine - hers bring her coffee to work! Got to get me some of those. . ..

CK.

Calvin Klein always have fantastic ad campaigns, but this one has all my trademark loves - saturated color, bronzed skin and sex appeal. Reminds me of the Gucci SS 11 campaign crossed with the Ksubi video I posted awhile back. Has me dreaming of summer, as I wrap my alaskan One Teaspoon scarf tightly round my neck, and brave what feels like the icy Auckland wind. Oh how I don't envy the girls in Dunedin and Christchurch.

Amy xx

PS. Apologies for awful lack of posting - have actually been doing uni work. Exams next week, good luck to everyone studying hard!! x

Awesome people hanging out together 2.0

While not as awesome as part one, and really more seen together than hanging out (or filmed together, I don't discriminate), I thought these deserved some blog inches.

Vera in her appearance on Gossip Girl.

Two of my favorite fashion people. Marc and Carine.

L: Emma and Christopher Bailey (who designed that fantastic dress)

R: Dianna Agron and Michael Kors (who designed her dress)

The fantastic Willa Holland on Gossip Girl with Taylor Momsen (what is that girl up to these days?)

Hailee Steinfeld, Elle Fanning, Chloe Moretz and Natalia Vodianova. I still maintain this would be the best slumber party of all time.

Karl and Blake Lively, the latest Chanel darling.

Teen Queens - Miley, Taylor, Selena and Demi.

Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell in their heydey.

Diane Kruger and Poppy Delevigne.

Katy Perry and Hayden Panettiere.

Leighton Meester and Lucy Hale.

Lady Gaga and Lana Del Ray.

Amy xx

Paris.NewYork

The coolest graphics ever from parisvnyc.blogspot.com, by Vahram Muratyan. Really neat idea, maybe file that one away for design inspiration later on. . . . would make an interesting base for an ad campaign? Hmmmmm.

Enjoy, dream of travels!

Amy xx