Thursday 12 September 2013

Doin' it Librarian Style!


Well, folks, this is my first outfit post for a very long time! I have been woefully slack for which I apologise, I haven't even shared (until now) the exciting acquisition which is... my new glasses! The Boy says they make me look like a librarian, which is apt since I work in a library... To play up the librarian angle I am posing in my Gramps' study, which is filled with... wait for it... books! See what I did there...?
I have been supposed to wear glasses since childhood. They were the bane of my life from my very first pink Minnie Mouse frames until university when I found liberation as I ventured into the world of contact lenses. I gave up on those after a relatively short time, however. Apparently my eyes don't respond well to foreign objects. Quelle surprise. So I just... stopped wearing anything. I know, I know, but it was not 100% vanity that caused years of sub-par sight; it was at least 32% clumsiness after I trod on my glasses and broke them, then 23% laziness as I never bothered to get a new pair! We could even attribute a good 7.5% to stinginess- glasses ain't cheap, you know! BUT, now I have these beauties! Which, as previously mentioned, make me look like a librarian- and a pretty freakin' fashion-forward librarian, I'd say; thankyou, Tommy Hilfiger at Specsavers! Love a bit of preppy...


 My check-tastic outfit (check is big for AW13/14 in case you've been living in a cave since before fashion week) comprises a Next-via-ebay midi skirt, which is good and full, great for twirling. I've teamed it with some black crocodile loafers bought last year for £4.50 from Cancer Research on London Street, along with black tights (usually good ol' M&S) and a pink cashmere jumper which I bought as a cream-coloured jumper from a market stall in Sheffield for £4 and recently hand-dyed with a dylon sachet in 'Flamingo Pink'. I have layered two necklaces, one (the sparkly one) in a recent New Look sale for a couple of pounds, and one in a mega Topshop jewelery sale at Outfit, Riverside, about two years ago where they were selling millions of items for £1 each! I wear it loads- it's really good for layering under a shirt collar.
The piece de resistance is my tweedy blazer, bought for about £2.50 in a sheffield charity shop. It has a gorgeous red lining which you can't see very well but means it looks good with the cuffs turned up.


And here I was, ready for my close-up... I took longer than five minutes to do my make-up, an occasion which I thought should not go unmarked! I tend to just use a BB cream on my skin, with a touch of powder on my (distressingly shiny) T-zone (still, oily skin gets fewer wrinkles, right?) which is what I have done here. I've been using a maybelline BB cream over most of the summer which contains salicylic acid, which my skin responds really well to. I have groomed and drawn in my brows with a Rimmel pencil in brown/black. I could probably go slightly lighter, but I've used the side of the pencil with a light touch and haven't strayed much from the natural shape of my brows; I'm intending to dye my hair darker for winter so this will be a good colour for then, and I can experiment with groucho-marx-esque brows! I have left my eyes very neutral- just a sweep of nude shadow and a coat of maxfactor exaggerate mascara on the top and bottom lashes (I always do my bottom lashes, I feel like it opens up my eyes more) and a touch of maybelline cream blush on the apples of my cheeks, leaving the drama to my lips. I have mixed two lipstick shades to try and match to the pink of my jumper but I still don't think I've quite got there... Can anyone recommend a good, statement pink lipstick?

It's good to be back! Hope you enjoy!
Much love, Kate Xx