SUPER KAWAII GROUPIE STYLE!

GOD how I wish Almost Famous had been directed by Meadham Kirchhoff. If it had, Kate Hudson and Anna Paquin and the rest would have been swanning about in this SUPERCUTE getup from the designer duo's fourth collection for Topshop, on sale NOW. And how awesome would THAT have been?!

Inspired by The Cherrys - a fictional girl band slash gang from the 70s - the collection is classic Meadham Kirchhoff. Loads of PVC, fur, angora, frills, pattern and embellishment. It's everything I love about these guys, and I can AFFORD IT which is nice! Well, some of it...

 Need. This. Dress.

  

I love that Meadham Kirchhoff don't tend to water down their aesthetic too much for Topshop. Typically, other designers (JW Anderson?) do dilute their style to suit the retail market, with the exception of MAYBE Maison Martin Margiela for H&M which kept quite true to catwalk, and of course these dudes.

It's refreshing. Topshop's market is PERFECT for the Meadham Kirchhoff vision and I'm glad they consistently recognise this and give us all what we want...Mentalness for the masses, please, and lots of it!

For example, some favourites:

I desperately wanted the pentagram dress but I couldn't see it online so settled for this cute angora jumper instead. I have also just seen the lunchbox and am 1000% going back for that. You know it.

Best!

LIFE LATELY: AUTUMN

Remember a few years ago when I had this blog and totally loved it and updated all the time? Me too. Sadface. Where did that go? I don't know how it happened, it feels like it was one of those things that come about of their own accord I guess, like outgrowing shoes or losing touch with old school friends. I still follow all my old blogging buddies and read about what they're all up to and fawn over awesome OOTDs and make lists of new beauty products to try on the back of rave reviews...but I don't often feel inspired to write blogs about that stuff any more.

There was a time over the summer that I really panicked about letting myself and my blogging pals down by hardly posting, but I'm cool with it now. I never started FFS for anyone but myself, and throughout the three years I've been doing this I always posted whatever the hell I liked, regardless of convention or external pressures to always be talking about the NEXT BIG AWESOME THING or WHAT I'M WEARING THIS WEEK, or LATEST AMAZING GLASGOW DESIGNER or FABULOUS BLOGGER EVENT or whatever. These posts have their place, and I read them, and sometimes I DO write them, but it's not always the content I want to create. And that's OK. It's not a competition, or at least it shouldn't be.

I've been a scatty, rambley navel-gazer from the start. If you go back to the beginning, which I sometimes do because I'm SAD, after you've finished cringing you'll see that FFS has never been particularly COOL or Zeitgeistey, and I'm glad I can remind myself of this and that it's OK to be a bit weird, and stop giving myself a hard time for forgetting to post about relevant fashiony things... and basically quit feeling BAD.

So what have I been doing when I've not been blogging? Well, living my life. Obvz.

Did I mention I bought a flat? Oh, ONLY ABOUT 10,000 TIMES. Well, I did, and over the last few weeks I finally got the keys and started the long process of doing it up.

Paint was NUMBER ONE priority. The bay-windowed living room was originally a gross brown biscuity-beige which, with the dark floors, made it look dindgy. I covered it with two coats of a lighter, yellow-cream called Soft Linen from Crown and it's much fresher. Once I have all my crap moved in I might want to go for a bolder colour, but for the moment the brighter tone is working out fine. In the bedroom I went for a nice pale icy blue. My pal kindly pointed out it's "a bit NEW BABY BOY" but whatever! I've bought up practically all of Ikea's Hemnes bedroom furniture and assembled it all, so that room's almost done. I'll tell you what though, I'm a bit lazy and would have probably got painters and decorators in to paint both rooms in the past, but my Dad egged me on to do it myself (two coats each!) and I'm pure proud of myself that I did - up a wobbly ladder, rollers, dust-sheets and all. You can do it guys! Just wear boggin old stuff and a hat if you can - paint in your hair is no fun.

Next up I bought a turquoise sofa. Sorry, TWO turquoise sofas, from Made.com. I figured WHY NOT man, and I was scared the room would look too wishy-washy without a bit of colour. The sofas are from Made's Orson range and one is arriving at the weekend, so I'll be able to tell if it's comfy or not come Sunday. I'm in love with how they look online though! Gorgeous.

Thanks to a headsup from the lovely Ruth I got this adorbs cat coffee table, customised by Treemendous, from The Magpie's Eye in Govan. LOOK AT IT! So cute! There seems to be a bit of an animal/cat theme happening so far with the accessories I've bought, but I'm more than OK with that. (See rabbit night light!)

Added to my awesome bit of ATTITUDE ART from Etsy and my wee cat cushion from a few months ago, I'm pleased with how it's shaping up. Still LOADS to do, but I'm getting there.

Next up, I went blonde. SHUT UP. No, really. I just took a mad idea one day and booked myself in to my hairdressers, and BOOM. That was that. I'd had it pre-lightened with lots of foils in the weeks before, but I wanted more of an all-over bleached look. Which is what I got! It's so blonde now that I'm heading back in tomorrow to sort my roots out - my hair grows SCARY quick.

I also experimented with Bleach London's new range of wash-out pastel dyes. I got the Awkward Peach shade and was a bit MEH about it if I'm honest. The colour wasn't all that striking, and I KNOW it's pastel, but I expected to be able to notice it! Instead I found that all it really did was change the tone of the blonde a bit to a warmer, more yellowy hue. Which was OK but not really what I was after. I tried the L'Oreal Feria pastel tonight conditioner in Peach Punch and I definitely preferred the colour. Again, the payoff wasn't great (hint in the word PASTEL), but the actual tone of the colour was a nice corally peachy-pink, and if I had to decide between the two this is the one I'd go for.

And what else? Oh, yi know, just living life. Work has been mental busy with presentations, conferences and travel galore, but in a really good way. I mean, the soggy Midlands might not be the most glam of places to be constantly jetting to, but I can't complain really. Things are going well, my wee team is great and I'm working really hard. I enjoy what I do and I wake up motivated to start the day and tick things off my massive Monday Morning To-Do List. It could be worse.

I also recently spent some time in my beloved Edinburgh where I totally GORGED myself at the Hard Rock Cafe (did you hear about the one in Buchanan St? I believe it's open now - yuss!) and the Chocolate Lounge at Harvey Nicks, dahling! Both places to tick off if you find yourself in Edinburgh. OK, so Hard Rock isn't exactly fine dining, but their Twisted Mac and Cheese is positively ORGASMIC and it's good for a LOL. Also, quaffed myself some cocktails in Le Monde on George St which I do love when I'm pretending to be a little more glam than I am.

What else? Um, I tried to eat healthy but it only lasted about three days. One thing that stuck though was yummy Overnight Oats which I now take to work most days for breakfast. My fave is with chocolate almond milk, mashed banana and flaked almonds on top. SCRUM. More deetz here...

ALSO, can I just take a minute to talk about how awesome the Itison Drive-In for Halloween was?! A massive screen in Victoria Park, 300 cars, street food, guys dressed up as Michael from my FAVE scary movie (maybe) ever - the classic John Carpenter's Halloween. Pure hilarious spooky awesomeness! The best bit were all the Michael's cutting about scaring everyone silly - totally, totally loved it. Itison is running their massively successful Drive In series again over Christmas, this time at Loch Lomond Shores, WITH SANTA and Christmas Carol Car-eoke etc. so have a look. I've booked up for It's a Wonderful Life on the 23rd of December. Heart-warming festive perfection!

Anyway, that's what I've been doing with my life. I'm going to make a concerted effort to blog more regularly, and not box myself into a certain style. I'll just talk rubbish about whatever I want, whenever I want, and that's that. Thanks for sticking with me, those that have.

(By the by, these pics are from my Instagram, and if you find yourself desperately intrigued as to my comings and goings you can follow me on Twitter anaw. @kirsty44sunsets everywhere. ROFFLE.)



MAC X RICK BAKER - HALLOWEEN 2013

Who? Oh, only award-winning special effects wizard Rick Baker of American Werewolf in London fame...

I do enjoy a MAC limited edition seasonal collection, and this one is particularly amaze. Check out the awesome face charts and final looks...

I can't decide which one I love best...

Bride is pretty cool, love that vampy lippy shade and yellow n black eyeshadow. But I think my favourite is this Day of the Dead look:

I see a LOT of rubbish attempts at Day of the Dead every year - please all take note of the above. Beaut.

Oh, the actual collection...

A couple of limited editions there but thankfully not too many. I will HAVE to pick up that first eyeshadow palatte and the lippy too though, obviously.

Are any of you guys actually dressing up for Halloween this year? I feel WAY past it now, which is so rubbish as I used to love it, but genuinely think it would just be tragic. I do fancy having a go at that Day of the dead or Bride look though, so we'll see...



SCOTTISH BALLET: THE RITE OF SPRING AND ELITE SYNCOPATIONS

“An evening of tremendous contrast” is how it was billed, and BOY, they weren’t freaking kidding. From the choice of a shot of black Sambucca or a flute of pink Champagne when we arrived, the scene was set for a game of two very different halves.

First up Christopher Hampson’s brutal Rite of Spring. I was not prepared.

I should have been though, because I was chatting with Ann from Scottish Ballet before curtain up (while shamelessly gorging on giant pretzels) and she warned me that Rite would most likely make me feel “sick, but in a good way.” I don’t know about the good way bit, but I definitely felt a bit queasy by the end.

I don’t mind admitting that the story was, at first, confusing. Two brothers awaken and seem to frolic around, spending a lot of time chasing each other and stopping to pray or perform rituals or “rites.” From the outset it’s clear that one brother is obviously more in control than the other, but then all of a sudden something changes, and some serious shit goes down.

 Hampson’s set is like a concave padded cell, cut off disturbingly half way up the wall creating an uncomfortably low ceiling so as to heighten the claustrophobia. The lack of scenery and context makes the brutal shift in atmosphere all the more disturbing. Things between the brothers get violent. Terrifying. Tragic. And Stravinsky’s relentless score only adds to the tension.

It’s a beautiful but painful assault on the senses. There are some horrible scenes that make it hard to watch – at times it felt to me like the younger brother was less a human and more a tortured animal in a cage – but it’s lifted into enjoyment by incredible choreography. If ever you forget the huge physical and emotional toll ballet takes, Rite will remind you.

After all that, with the audience still reeling, it was time for Elite Syncopations – something just about as far away from the previous billing as I think it’s possible to get.

In Kenneth MacMillan’s romp, the whole company appear on stage in a kind of 1900s music hall, decked out in psychedelic body-skimming costumes by designer Ian Spurling, each one hand-painted and patterned with arrows, or stars and stripes, buttons or bows. The effect is clown like, but just on this side of ridiculous.

A real 12-piece band also appears on stage in the background, similarly outfitted, playing ragtime classics by Scott Joplin and his contemporaries, and it’s a welcome change which really brings the music hall atmosphere to life. There’s a party happening on stage and I want to go.

There was no “story” as such this time, but plenty of LOL moments as the colourful characters flirted with each other and competed for the limelight, with the breathtaking skill of making it all look so bloomin easy.

We took along with us a ballet virgin last night, and I can’t think of a more perfect double bill than this by way of an introduction. Both sides of the ballet coin are expertly and beautifully represented here – one piece haunting, brutal and affecting, the other funny, engaging and uplifting.

The Rite of Spring and Elite Syncopations is on at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow for tonight and tomorrow night only and tickets are still available here: http://www.scottishballet.co.uk/autumn-2013/the-rite-of-spring-and-elite-syncopations.html

I can’t urge you strongly enough to go. GO!

OUT THERE

Just what you want after a cryptic extended leave of absence... A post that fires y'all straight back into the thick of it that makes no reference to or offers no explanation for the aforementioned absence, RIIIIIGHT???!!

So, I'd originally put this post on ice as, when I was very kindly sent THIS beautiful faux fur throw from UBER COOL interiors website Out There Interiors (http://www.outthereinteriors.com/bedroom-furniture/mirrored-bedroom-furniture), I was in the middle of buying my new flat and had hoped to be in much sooner than this, and I figured, no one wants to see this pure cool, cosy wee throw on my jakey single bed in my kids bedroom...Not when they could wait and see it on my not-yet-purchased-but-no-doubt pure cool new bed!

HOWEVER, given that I've now finally been handed an entry date after what feels like YEARS of farting around, turns out it's going to be another six full weeks and that's just too blooming long to wait.

So without further ado, here's the awesome, snuggly, fabulous throw:

 

Not the best image from the site, so I DID attempt to take my own... At night. With my phone.

Yeah. A photographer, I am not.

Wow, is all I have to say about the quality of those.

Once I DO have a bed and a flat to put it in, I promise I'll drape this aesthetically over my bedspread and update these photos. In the meantime though, just believe me when I say this throw is awesome. Who knew I'd be into this stuff.

But it turns out I AM. Like in a big way. Mainly because soft furnishings seem easy at this stage. Sure, I like this fabric, I like those curtains, that throw is pretty, that duvet cover is cute, this rug is cool... You get the gist. Making virtual wishlists of fabrics and soft furnishings is as far as I've got with this whole interior design planning thing.

I mean, for example, I bought a cushion last week:

No, your eyes do not deceive you. This IS the best cushion in the universe!

But this is as far as I've managed to get. Everything else SOLID freaks me out! I feel as though people expect me to already know exactly how I want my flat to look, what kind of STYLE or VIBE I want to go with, when actually I have no idea. Like NONE. One minute I imagine trawling vintage warehouses and auctioneers for one of a kind one-off wardrobes n stuff, the next I'm turning down the pages in the Ikea catalogue, hooked on all things minimal and modern.

Help!

I had a look through that Out There Interiors website for inspiration but it proved useless as I liked EVERYTHING I saw, which is no help at all! Some of my favourites were this fretworked range of drawers and dressing table:

Pure pretty, right? But then I also liked the slightly more ornate, French bedside tables that have a lovely vintage feel:

And then there were the mad wardrobes!!

Because who doesn't love a mad wardrobe?! Sorry, armoire! Tell me these don't look like the hilarious wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast and I'd call you a LIAR!

Roffle!

But yeah, no help at all as I just want one of everything, and it's a WEE flat. So soft furnishings is as far as I'm able to plan for at the moment.

With the exception of this guy:

I DIE.

Hope that wasn't too painful for y'all. Normal service slowly but surely returning!



SO, I'M STILL ALIVE...

...just taking a few months off from blogging.

It wasn't intended and I've been feeling SUPER guilty and all panicky about it, but the truth is I've just not been as interested in blogging recently.

Partly due to a mix of a particularly hectic period at work, trying to find a flat, some stupid boy drama and AMAZING sunny weather, the last thing I've felt like doing recently is sitting down to write about clothes and makeup... Which is WEIRD cos I freaking LOVE clothes and makeup!

So, yeah, without getting all One Tree Hill up in here, things have been up and down and sideways and I've just been feeling a little STRETCHED, and FFS accidentally took a bit of a backseat while I got on with my actual real life.

But I DO feel bad and that's because I genuinely enjoyed posting content I was happy with and INTO and getting involved in the wee blogging community I built up, and I'm sick of HARPING ON AND ON about how I never have time for blogging and starting every post with an apology for my absence... Something has to change!

SO, I'm going to approach this like I would a project at work and concentrate my efforts into an SHINY NEW RELAUNCH IN SEPTEMBER!

Give me another month or so to get my head back in the game, redesign the layout and fall back in love with it again and I'll be back, I promise.

In the meantime I'm still Tweeting away at @kirsty44SUNSETS and Gramming obsessively under that name too so you can hit me up there.

Catch ye in the Autumn :)

Dugs, pals, booze, birthdays, sunbathing, shopping, more booze, more shopping, boys, more sunbathing, more pals... You get the idea...

:)

ETSY SPOTLIGHT

I can't even remember the last time I logged into Etsy before today - isn't that ridiculous?! There was a time a while ago when I was utterly obsessed with it, and then real life muscled in and spoiled all my online vintage-shopping fun. Sadface.

Anyway, I took the notion to get stuck back in and today I stumbled upon adorbs Australian shop Red Leather Yellow Leather and what a find! Supercute 90s goodies galore...

Have a gander at my faves:

 

Check out the shop for more of the same - perf for summer, no?

Wish I'd spotted some this goodness earlier as I'm off to Rockness next weekend and there's apparently a THRIFT SHOP fancy dress theme on the Saturday... I'd LOVE me that kimono jacket! BOOOOOO.