omg shoes.

For some reason, I find it harder to be criticized on a design that I know was half-done than a design that I put all my effort on. I guess it's because there's more to learn from the latter... and that I should know better than to present half-arsed work. Either way, enough pointless ranting.

Pretty shoes were made for a reason. Some people may say it's to put us in debt. I say it's to cheer us up whenever we put them on. Cheaper than therapy and faster effects.


While these ones haven't had an outing yet, they have been used quite a lot whenever I feel like adding a little bit of spring to my feet. (no puns intended). Add a cup of tea, some ice-cream and I'm as good as new. On to the next step. (this time: awful pun intended).

Spring-cleaning story-telling

Back in my youthful days, I took a lot of pride in the fact that I could remember the origin of all of my toys. From which store they were bought to how I came to like them and the such. My deluded self had hopes that I would re-sell them when I was older and become a millionaire so I could buy one of those barbie cars for kids. My greedy dreams were crushed when my mother decided to give all my toys to my cousins.

I still have the same kind of obsession with attaching a story to the items I own. Today's spring cleaning was geared towards the accesories and there were a few things that even though no longer worn, have too much of a story to be thrown away.


The first necklace is made with some beads I got on a trip to Japan. The beads came in a bag along with other random ones. I always had hopes of making many things with them but never got to it since I'm a terrible procrastinator. On one of her cleaning frenzies, my mum decided to just make random necklaces with them so they wouldn't "go to waste". Out of the many she made, I brought this one for some reason I can't really remember... maybe because the others reminded me of frankenstein.
The second necklace doesn't have much sentimental value but is is special. It's made with a peruvian seed called Huayruro. There's a tradition in Peru where a bracelet made with one of these seeds and a little metal charm in the shape of a baby is put around a new-born's wrist so he won't be vulnerable to evil. Not many people do it nowadays.
The third necklace/bracelet is also traditionally peruvian. It was my favourite necklace when I was 18 and I would wear it EVERYWHERE.
The last one is from a backpacking trip to Thailand (I know, how cliche). I got many random bits of jewellery on that trip but this one I would wear all the time with a Paul Frank t-shirt, those thai fisherman trousers favoured by backpackers (again, how cliche) and a battered pair of Adidas trainers.


The first scarf was knitted by my mom before I came to uni in the "so so cold" UK, and is the true example of a family curse where us the females get too excited and add as much crap as we can to our crafts. I do wear this scarf every once in a while, mainly because my mum stopped knitting things for me when I was around 5 (I think she couldn't be bothered to knit big jumpers) and her knitting something for 19-year-old me was a. big. deal.
The second scarf was made by my perfectionist best friend. This simple-looking scarf cost her blood, sweat and tears. If a row was 0.0001mm thinner than the others, she would get pissed off and redo the whole thing. While she could have spent max 3 hours on this, she ended up spending over a week or so. In her words, she wanted me to not find a better scarf than this one in the UK. She also recognizes it was her way of dealing with her fear that I would replace her. Alas, I have not.

mister thirty-two, say bye to Cathy!

Oh wallets wallets wallets, it's a love hate relationship between me and them. Love them because the alternative is a pandemonium of receipts/pictures/coins/cards/candy in my bag. Hate them when they dissappear and leave me vulnerable to this mean mean world. Still, it's more love than hate and my love tends to be too rough on them.

Meet Cathy, she has been with me the last year and a bit... she is one special lady and even though I've made her gain some serious pounds (no puns intended) with all the crap she carries, she still holds up... but I think she's begging to retire...

Now meet her brief alternative ... she is gorgeous, soft to touch and svelte. Don't let her good looks fool you cause the lady has some serious organising techniques inside there. Unfortunately, knowing my history with wallets... she won't be able to take the abuse. She is to be returned soon, I don't deserve her.


And we arrive to the one I see some serious future with:

Image from Dollydagger

Not only is she blessed with looks but she seems to be made for people like me who feel some ridiculous need to store as much crap as they can in their wallets. She is to arrive in the next week or so...

ps: just realized I made that last wallet sound like a mail-order bride...

mister twenty-eight.

This past Wednesday, I did some day-tripping to London. Of course, the main purpose was researching at the amazing RIBA library but I couldn't stop taking a peek at Topshop on my way there.
After much wandering, I stumbled upon the VV Rouleaux stall. All those feathers, birds, flowers and colours lured me in. I hovered round and round the stall not deciding how to approach so much colour. Eventually I made my way to one of the lovely girls attending the stall and she helped me make a little headpiece. The colour scheme I meant to keep to was blue... but like a kid in a candyshop fills his bag with loads of mismatching candy, so did I fill my headpiece with as much colour as I could. The result was the following:

The best thing of this whole deal? It was free! I couldn't believe my ears since most of the headpieces on sale where above the £30 tag. I attached the comb to my hair, a big smile to my face and skipped my way to the RIBA.
Once I got there, it was fun to see the guard's shocked face to see this massive feather/flower ornament on my head.
I was quite sad that once I got back to Topshop to buy one of the headpieces for sale, my card couldn't be used and the ATM wasn't working and the VV Rouleaux girls where leaving and I had to go back home. So I had to leave the most precious bird headdress... well, the guy at the cashier disagreed since he actually stared at the headpiece I was going to buy and exclaimed "£39!!!!!!!! ... damn, I could make this myself!"

Anyway, ebay has a lot of millinery materials for me to browse and make my own headpieces. If not, Etsy has some precious ready-mae headpieces as well.
To start, this Marie Antoinette one which I would definitely wear, even if it was meant for a doll. Then, one for our inner mermaid. And even though it was not meant as a headdress; my favourite is Pinky Finch.

I definitely recommend getting down to Topshop Oxford Circus today since it's the last day the VV Rouleaux stand will be there. I would if I didn't live in the Midlands... and didn't have a project hand-in, magazine design and birthday planning to do today.

Ugh.

senhor vinte sete, tá na hora de brincar

When I was little, me and my mother would go to Brazil all the time. I loved (and still do) love that place, specially Sao Paulo. Back in those days, Xuxa was the biggest thing ever for children my age.


I remember getting my first pair of jelly shoes from her children's footwear line and never wearing anything else. They were perfect for rainy Sao Paulo but of course, by the end of the day my feet would smell really bad, which wasn't a good thing considering the hotel me and my mum stayed in had no air con!

Fastforwarding to today, a little trip to Peacocks provided me with some cheap jelly shoes!

When I put them on, I am instantly reminded of the Antarctica soft drinks, the coconuts I would drink, the endless amounts of Turma da Monica comics and the trips to their theme park. The hot dogs boiled in onion, day trips to Campos do Jordao, the Simba Safari Park and of course, the beloved Praca da Republica.

ilari lari lari e
o o o

mister three, you are very kinky

I love how some clothing makes you feel in the mood to do something. In this case its my bunny ears. Got it last year, in one of those night festivals full of greasy yummy food and games with lots of lights. I remember it was love at first sight
Now, it is not a posh accesory. I dont see myself wearing these out. But when the time comes to clean up my room, I put these on and boom! housewife extraordinaire. I am so fast and efficient, it is just amazing.
I can't imagine losing this habit in the near future, though I might change them for a nicer pair, who knows. My future husband will be happy.