Saturday 28 June 2014

How To Successfully Wear Black In The Summer

    I've got to a point in my teenage years, where I've essentially stopped wearing all forms of colour. Staring at my clothes rail it currently has only five items which contain some colour; a red air hostess fancy dress costume, faded red and blue shirt, lilac adidas trainers, a grey skirt with pink roses and a dark navy dress. Everything else, is either black, white or grey which has its ups and downs. With summer approaching and considering I don't have the money to splash out, (neither do I wish to buy a brighter summer wardrobe) I thought I'd give some tips on what to wear in summer without fainting from the extra absorbed heat. 


©Asos Photography - Leather Look Shorts
SHORTS:
    Obviously with summer and the heat comes shorts. I thought I'd use the most difficult pair of black shorts and its the 'leather look' shorts. Not only have these types of shorts been very popular over the past couple of years, but they're also a key/ staple piece for the summer in anybody wardrobe (particularly those of a black only wardrobe enthusiast). As you can see from the photo you can pair these up with absolutely anything and thats the beauty of having black items to work with. As the UK isn't sweltering hot throughout the duration of summer, you could pair these with a white shirt (shown above), or pair with a lightweight crop top to counteract the heat. 



©Asos Photography - Tshirt Dress
DRESSES:
    My ultimate black items in my wardrobe are dresses, every time. You can wear them in all weather climates because all you have to do is add a pair of tights in the winter and cardigan and you're sorted, or take them off in the summer. This dress strikes me as a perfect transitional piece, as the sheer material along the shoulders and chest/back create an edgy look. The sheer material at the top and bottom, give the dress some breathing space from the solid black piece in the middle, while keeping in with the whole black trend.



©Asos Photography - Cage Back Playsuit
PLAYSUITS:
    This is by far my favourite piece in the post, this playsuit is perfect for the summer time because it can be worn casual or dressed up for a night out. The exposed cage back gives the playsuit an elegant look , while keeping you cool when the sun gets too much. The material is also a sheer, delicate chiffon which makes it a very light piece of clothing that can be layered nicely for all weather temperatures. I think this would be a nice piece to take away to any upcoming festivals this summer as well, as you don't have to worry about your dress blowing up and I feel playsuits can be moved about in easily.


© Asos Photography - Cold Shoulder Cami
T-SHIRTS:
    Lastly, a more common wardrobe piece is the common t-shirt. I originally was just going to get a plain black v-neck for this part of the post until I come across this beauty. Following the 'cold shoulder' effect that was deemed very popular last year, this piece goes across that line to make something really beautiful. Like some of the previously pieces, this t-shirt is made up of sheer material for the same reasons mentioned before. I think this is just a very simple piece that you can pair up with something fitted, that's heavily patterned to avoid looking too oversized.



Monday 23 June 2014

REVIEWED || The Fault In Our Stars Movie

 ©strawburry17.com
   
    Firstly I'd like to say that yes I have read John Green's 'The Fault In Our Stars' and the film performed so well and closely to the novel, that I've had to give myself a few days from watching it in order to write about it correctly. If you've not read the book or heard about the film, where have you been the last couple of months! TFIOS follows two teenagers, Hazel Grace who is suffering from stage 4 thyroid cancer with metastasis and Augustus Waters who's currently in remission for osteosarcoma. The two meet in a support group, which is literally the heart of Jesus (nice reference for any fans) and Hazel also meets Augustus's best friend Isaac who suffers from eye cancer.

    I went into the cinema viewing of this with a handful of tissue, ready for the expectant tears as I cried in moments of the book but I did not expect to cry as much as I did. For myself and thousands of others, this book really struck a cord and even though I've personally never dealt with cancer or known anybody with it, my emotional investment in these characters was off the charts. The acting was absolutely outstanding, Shailene Woodley embodied Hazel Grace so well and Ansel Elgot blew me away as Augustus. Like most people who're fans of a book before it turned into a film, I was really sceptical how it was going to turn out, but the key moments were played out with every detail intended and nothing major was left out. 

    One scene that stuck out to me the most, was towards the end (spoiler alert!) when Augustus attempts to buy himself some cigarettes in the middle of the night but ends up vomiting over himself, and has to call Hazel. That scene has always stayed with me after reading, and Ansel covered the realness of what was happening extremely well, perfect infact. It was raw and gritty and a little bit gross because of the amount of snot and vomit, but that's what made it feel so real and gave that brilliant connection to the audience. If you go watching this film I will warn you, there will be many tears! I went watching this with two girls who were fans of the book, and one other girl who didn't have a clue what was going to happen, and they all cried just as much. From the Amsterdam scene onwards I practically didn't stop crying till the very end, in fact once the film ended nobody in the cinema left for a good 5 minutes because everybody was so emotionally exhausted.

    Without a doubt, I recommend everybody to go watch this film. It's not all soppy romance, there are some scenes that're funny and lighten the mood, which for a film surrounded by cancer is a pretty hard thing to achieve. And some of the scenes presented are beautiful and really helps take you along on Hazel and Augustus' journey.

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Update || College, University, Leaving Home, Blogging etc

    For those of you who follow me on Instagram and Twitter or watch my Youtube videos (click the words for direct links) then you'll know in the past month and a half I've been worked off my feet revising for my A-Level exams. And I'm glad to say that I sat my final exam on June 16th, therefore I'm now a free agent for three and a half months! I'm possibly going to be going down London for two weeks of work experience but it's still in the consideration process, but besides that I have a completely free summer which I'm hoping to dedicate to blogging more regularly. I'm really happy about this, and to show my excitement here's a picture of me with loads of pigeons in Manchester hah!



    So like I said before, I've completed my two years at college studying English Language, Sociology and English Literature (if you was interested) and now the next step for me in getting into University. Results day in the UK is around mid-end of August, which is something silly like 180 days away so until then I won't know whether or not I've got into my firm and insurance University (fingers crossed!). But until then I'd like to make a conscious effort of blogging more regularly because I really take pride in my writing, and it'll just get me into the swing of things again in time for University considering I'm studying Journalism.

    Even though it's a couple of months away, I'm considering doing either a mini Youtube series or just blogging about it (or maybe even both if you're lucky) regarding leaving home and going to University, because for everybody it's a new experience and I think it'd be quite interesting to watch. If you're interested in something similar like that in the future, then just let me know in the comment section, or just tweet me! But yeah, I hope that little update has covered all the bases for you all, I'm going watching The Fault In Our Stars tomorrow (Thursday) so I'll have a little review up of that on Friday.