Nomday! about your kitchenalia: Circa Ceramics on Etsy

I've probably mentioned before something about my love for old school cameras. There is something utterly reassuring about using a proper film camera, a piece of kit that is older than me and doesn't require batteries to make it work. The pictures can be so satisfying, the anticipation of waiting to finish and the develop the film intense and most of all, there's that delicious clunk when you take the shot.  They also look seriously cool, all lined up in a little collection. It's amazing how inventive camera designers have been in the past, creating bodies that look completely different from each other.

I love finding objects created by people who seem to share my delight in camera memorabilia as much as I do. Nancy and Andy of Circa Ceramics on Etsy seems to be just such a duo! This little Lomo Lubitel plate, for example, is completely awesome - you choose the colour, they make the plate, print the design, fire and ship it to you! All handmade and costing just under £20 at the current exchange rate, plus £13 shipping (£7 if you're buying more than one) it's a perfect addition to any camera lover's kitchen!

Not a fan of the Lubitel and more of a Leica fan? What about the little Leica plate in berry red? Or my personal favourite, the Starmite, seen below in dodger blue!

If you're less of a camera fan and more of an audiophile, you might appreciate the little mix tape plate in avocado, or any other colour you might care to choose.

If you're looking for a just a little present for someone, Circa have a sweet range of magnets which cost just over a fiver. Designs include a Hasselblad, a Spartus and a Kiev - no I'm not talking about a chicken kiev, obviously, that would be absurd. 

about your jewellery - On Cloud 9 necklace by Little Moxie at From The Wilde

Just a quick one today because I'm currently under an avalanche of work at my new job, but LOOK AT THIS NECKLACE HOW CUTE IS IT PLEASE SOMEONE BUY IT FOR ME I'LL GIVE YOU ONE OF MY KIDNEYS:

It's by Little Moxie and you can buy it [for me] for just £29 from the ever-fabulous From The Wilde.

about your dress: stunningly beautiful dress with no name at H&M

Whilst perusing one of the H&Ms on Oxford Street the other week, I fell in love (with an item of clothing, obviously), and I've been waiting impatiently for it to appear online so I could share it with you all.  And today I can!  Here is the latest object of my affection:

It also comes in black, which might be a safer option:

At £19.99, its price is almost as beautiful as the dress itself.  But a word to the wise if you plan on investing in this saucy little thing: unless you fancy waiting so long for your order that you're collecting your pension before it arrives, don't buy online.

about your beauty: Nail Tattoos at Topshop

What's cooler than cool?  That's right, 'ice cold'.  But what's cooler than ice cold?  NAIL TATTOOS.  Topshop have excelled themselves in the quirky stakes once again with three sets of teeny tiny tats for your fingers.  You can choose from three designs: Sea...

...Cosmic...

...or Star:

Ideal for naughty little scamps like me whose stubby, chewed excuses for nails are too short for polish.  And as they're by a brand called Big Ruby, all of the packs come with tattoos of their bulldog mascot.  I'll be shelling out the princely sum of £7 for the Sea designs faster than you can say "What the flip is that on your nail?  Is that- is that an OCTOPUS?!  Why would anyone put an octopus on their NAIL?!  Are you on crack?  I'm going to walk away now."

about your sale: Closet at A|Wear

Back in the mists of time, in the September before I went off to university, I had a little mini holiday in Dublin with my then-boyfriend. I bought myself the most beautiful scarf in A|Wear on Grafton Street. It was ribbed, with horizontal stripes of purple and lilac. I loved that scarf, and I was heartbroken when I stupidly left it hanging on a chair in Menary's and never got it back. Sigh. I've always had a soft spot for A|Wear, ever since that, and so I've enjoyed their fairly recent expansion. They stock the increasingly popular boutique brand Closet, and they have a cracking sale on at the moment.

I won't show you every single 50's inspired dress they have, but there are a fair few in the sale so if that's your thing you should go and have a look.

Predictably enough, I like this red polka dot v-backed dress:

It ticks all the Roisin boxes - polka dots, swishy skirt, wholly impractical. I like the high neck and I appreciate that it comes with a belt, although it's difficult to tell the quality of the belt from the photo alone. It looks good from the back as well:

I think the polka dot dress could work well if we have an Indian summer, and it'll also look good with tights and a cardigan when the weather gets colder. It's £15 and it's also available in blue and black.

This geometric curve shift dress is spot on.

It works well with the 60s trend that seems to be everywhere and the curved underbust seam means that it has a bit of shape to it. I think it's got a bit of a mod feel to it, and I can imagine myself wearing this with purple tights and knee-boots. This is also £15 and I think it would work well into the autumn – you could layer it up with a long-sleeved top underneath it.

Of course, I didn't leave the sale totally empty handed. True to form, I went for one of Closet's adorable 50's inspired dresses. In my case the printed floral flare dress. I know. I am SUCH A CLICHÉ.

You know what, though? Whatever. This dress was £20 and although the print is decidedly summery I can see myself wearing this into the late autumn. It has all the things I love about this style of dress, and some nice little design features like a pleated neckline and a visible zip. I like the visible zip – it isn't a great big exposed zip, but it subtly shows. For £20 I think this is an absolute steal and I'm looking forward to wearing it.

At the moment A|Wear are offering a further 10% off all the Closet sale items – put the code CLOSETSALEOFFER in at the checkout and you're golden. Happy shopping!

about your shoes: Linley D lace ups at Dune

I was walking past Dune in Covent Garden the other day when something caught my eye and I had to literally double back. That something was these shoes:

A little bit of sleuthing on the Dune website revealed them to be the Linley D lace ups, and they're available at the slightly-less-extortionate-than-I-thought price of £65. Whilst the only two colours in the window were the black and nude above, it turns out they're also available in sparkly champagne and jazzy leopard print:

I'm in the market for some plain black shoes (donations welcome), but the cream and silver keep calling to me! As for the leopard print, I think I'll leave those to Nom :)

Nomday! about your fascinators: Janinebasil fascinators at Folksy

We've talked before about my occasional need for accessories which do a small amount of communication, warding off potentially boring conversations and alerting people to my general mood. So I'm delighted to tell you I've found another Folksy Friend* in the form of Janine Basil, who's bringing comically verbose headgear to the aid of millions of speechless women throughout the MARVEL UNIVERSE. And potentially, this one too.

Check out this beautifully twinkly and ever-so-slightly aggressive BAM! fascinator, which costs £85. This is literally amazing. I would wear this A. to a comic book themed party where I could controversially go as The Text and mumble something that sounds vaguely intelligent about Roland Barthes and the death of the author, or in this case, illustrator, or A. wear this all the time. In my house. Outside the house. And whenever I catch my reflection in a in the mirror or window, just shout BAM! at myself. In the house this would be acceptable, my housemates find my mild insanity endearing. Outside the house, this might not fly, so perhaps I'd just shout BAM! in my head.

My other personal fave, because as you may have gathered from previous posts I'm a girl-geek-who-loves-the-chic (er, whatever, I'm speed typing on loads of coffee this morning) is the comic book inspired POW! rhinestone fascinator, which also costs £85. Man I so want one of these. I could pretend to be a superhero all the day long. And who wouldn't want that opportunity in life?

Moving away from the comic book theme, is the delightful Oh La Lah! rhinestone comic inspired fascinator, which again costs £85. I feel I could easily wear this with a nice pair of tailored black capris, one of my beloved stripey tops and black ballet pumps and you know, just have a totally French themed day. I'd eat tarte-au-citron and think about the Eiffel Tower and ride a bicycle and sigh wistfully and say 'oui' a fair bit, which sounds silly but really it's not.

The fascinators come as standard attached to headbands, but you can put in a special little request to have a comb or elasticated headband. Good old Janine's nice and obliging like that. Each rhinestone is carefully glued on by hand, so you know that she must be really quite skilled, a dab hand with the old glue-gun and totally deserving of our patronage.

If you're not into the rhinestones, or you're happy to speak for yourself she also as a lovely collection of crowns, bows and some hilarious zombie-themed 'oopsie-daisy-my-brain-is-peeking-through' headbands too!


* Well, strictly speaking, we're not actually friends, but I have emailed her to ask her permission to feature her work, so maybe, she'll potentially errr, like me for that? Maybe an internet friendship will bloom. Or maybe not. Who cares? This is getting awkward. I'm going now. Buhbye.

about your bags: high street bagstravagana!

It's looking like a good season on the high street for the humble everyday bag, and I've seen so many beautiful ones recently that it's easier to squeeze them all into one epic BAG POST.  Hold onto your hats, because this is going to be heavy on the pictures and light on the text.  These babies speak for themselves.

Ready?  GO!

Topshop:

Red colour block lady bag, £35

Dark red two colour holdall, £36

H&M:

Shoulder strap bag, £14.99

Accessorize:

Canvas insert doctors bag, £35

Vintage Margot frame X body bag, £32

Oasis:

Colour block Thatcher top handle bag, £30

ASOS:

ASOS leather clean lock across body bag, £35

ASOS leather vintage style satchel, £27 (was £46)

Dorothy Perkins:

Fiorelli black/nude cross body bag, £69

AND BREATHE.  What do you think?  Will any of these be gracing your arm in the coming months?  Let us know in the comments!

about your knitwear: Vila Cherie cardigan at Leila

It's time to face facts.  Today it's September, which means it's officially Autumn, which means that YET AGAIN we haven't had a proper summer.  "Boo, hiss!" you cry!  And quite rightly too, because it sucks buns.  Fortunately, I like Autumn/Winter because I can wear lots of cosy clothes and hats and gloves and people don't look at me weirdly for wearing black tights like they have been doing in recent months.  However, my ultimate favourite thing about the cooler seasons is KNITWEAR.  Especially lovely colourful knitwear which looks like it's been hand crafted by little old ladies as they sit gossiping over massive vats of tea.

This Cherie cardigan by Vila may well be my first knitwear purchase of the season:

Also available in orange, it's £44.99 and you can get it at Leila.

It's time to get SNUG.