Spring & Summer Inspiration

A little bit of fashion inspiration to get you through the dark winter months!

faye xoxo

What I Bought Today

Again, this whatiboughttoday post is late. Vez and I went to Westfields last Thursday evening. I didn't expect to buy anything because I didn't really want to. But, I saw this black dress in the sale at H&M and thought, 'I'll just try it on'. Needless to say, I ended up buying it. With the little aqua top from Republic, I fell in love immediately and bought! It is the perfect summer holiday top which I have been thinking a lot about lately: SUMMER! I cannot wait for the sun to rise earlier and set later! It is my favourite time of year. I'm going to Portugal with family in July, and I'm planning a girls holiday to Tenerife with my cousin! Hopefully many more holiday plans will come alight so I can have the best summer before heading off to Spain for my third year of uni. That sounds weird! Third year?

faye xoxo

Hair Inspiration

I love having long hair. In fact, I want it longer, and thicker than it already is. Plus, I want the hairstyles to go with the long beautiful hair. So, here are a few that I've found, mainly from a hair inspiration tumblr which you can find here.

What's your personal hair inspiration?

faye xoxo



Dark Angel

When I typed 'Dark Angel' into google, a load of vampy, dark, wing spread angel illustrations came up. This was one of my favourites. In actual fact, I was looking for images to portray the television series starring Jessica Alba.

Lately, I have been watching the show online. When I was younger, I used to lie down on the floor in my back room and turn on channel 5 every Saturday evening. I didn't have a clue what was going on because I came across it randomly one night, but I enjoyed watching it. A few years later, it was on E4 on a Saturday and Sunday. I continued to watch the series then; but I never really watched the entire thing, up until now.

Set in the future, Dark Angel is about genetics and building the 'perfect soldier'. Our protagonist is one of those soldiers who escaped the project 'Manticore'. Max (Jessica Alba) is one of the twelve X5 who - when they were nine - escaped into the real world, hoping to find freedom, perhaps love, and a life that they could call their own. We follow Max, one of the best female warriors, also living in Seattle, Washington trying to live the most normal life she can whilst hiding from Lydecker and his men of Manticore.

She meets Logan aka 'Eyes Only' who is 'the one free voice left in this city' meaning Seattle. They embark on a professional relationship whereby he finds information about her free brothers and sisters, and she is his personal cat burglar who steals things from the government in order to right the city. Of course, this relationship is set on the trail of disaster as it is obvious that they fall in love with each other which leads to destruction at the beginning of the second season.

The fight scenes are a little lousy (you can tell that they don't make contact and the 'punch sound' is really fake), but the effects are good for the technology they had in the late 90s, early millennium. The relationships between the escaped brothers and sisters of X5 are extremely real and heartwarming which is ironic considering they are supposed to be soldiers with no feelings or emotions at all. It is sad in one episode when Max has to kill one of her brothers, Ben, so that he does not have to go back to Manticore. You can really connect to Max's character when she breaks his neck and slumps back in tears. The relationship between Max and Logan brings a comical aspect to the futuristic drama. They know their feelings for one another, yet keep it strictly professional with short anecdotes and one-liners. Lastly, the relationships between Max and her co-workers at a messenger service are funny and charming. There are connections between all of them, not including their boss Normal who Max and her friends help from time to time even though they dislike him.

'She is the shape of things to come'

A truly great watch if you want something a little bit older which is post-apocalyptic at the same time with genetic soldiers who are hard to be killed. Throw in some fight scenes, friendships, love, and saving the world from the government, and there you have Dark Angel in a nutshell.

faye xoxo



What I Bought Today

This post is a tad late. I went to Kingston yesterday with Verity. It was the usual 'trotters & oinkers' day out: macdonalds followed by lots of shopping! These are my buys: top and dress from h&m, skirt from River Island in the sale, headband, clips and bracelet from Primark. I think I did pretty well for myself considering I told myself that I wouldn't buy that much.

This playsuit was given to me by Jess. I'm in love! It's from Primark and is really comfy.

Tonight I'm off out with the girls. That green skirt might be coming with me!

faye xoxo

This Week I've...

1. Went to La Tasca with my friends on Wednesday night. It was a lovely evening even though the train was delayed for some unbeknown reason so we were late for our table which was given away because the restaurant was so busy!

2. It was one of my best friends birthday yesterday. We went to town on Friday night which was great fun! Had such a laugh. She loved her presents too.

3. Saturday consisted of me having a hangover and eating four packets of quavers in the morning, then going and having lunch with my cousins, then making cakes with my five year old cousin. It was great fun and I'm going to miss my little cousin/sister/niece a LOT!

4. Today, I went to Spoons for lunch with two of my closest friends, then to La Tasca (again!) for tea with my parents.

Tomorrow I go back to London and back to reality. I have an essay due on Tuesday that I haven't even started yet! I'll be planning and writing that on the train. I have to get up early tomorrow to pack and get myself ready for the trip back. I'm going to miss everyone at home huge amounts! But, I'll be back here in 5/6 weeks so it's not too long; just like a school summer holiday!

faye xoxo

HerUni: Mila Kunis is the New Face of Dior

After a jaw dropping performance in Black Swan and the hilarious role she played in Friends With Benefits, Mila Kunis has landed herself in the middle of stardom. She has been on the covers of many glossy magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan. The female fans of the 28 year old want to be like her whilst the boys want to be her ‘friend with benefits’. With such a large fan base, and plenty of acting roles coming up, such as Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), it is no wonder that Christian Dior wanted her as the face of their Spring/Summer 2012 campaign. She is set to promote the Miss Dior handbag collection and is “absolutely thrilled” to be the new face of the huge fashion establishment.

Below are some images of the campaign.

I can't wait to see more images later on in the year!

faye xoxo

Drink Me

Just a quick post about this lovely christmas present given to me by my best friend. It is a necklace (obviously) that has the words Drink Me on it. This has a little back story to it which is what makes the present so special: last November, my friend and I went to an exhibition in the Liverpool Tate. It was all about the origins of Alice in Wonderland, a book I was reading for my Children's Lit module (very good timing!). We had a great day together after not seeing each other for about six weeks (sob!) which including a fab pub lunch after the exhibition. This is from Camden Market off a stall I'll apparently love, so I am definitely visiting when I get back to London!

faye xoxo

HerUni: Ballet Flats & Nike Shoes

These shoes are the kind that are found on every dance film which I have lately been filling my spare ‘me time’ with. I decided one night last week to watch Step Up and the craze went on from there. Dance films are great if you love dancing (for the obvious reasons), want to watch a simple – and sometimes cheesy – storyline, and sometimes they make me really want to take up dancing (which I always got bored of as a kid after a few classes). Now, I tend to watch films about dance and see the same storyline emerge through the screen again and again: dancer with no official training wants to get into dance school, combines hip hop and ballet to do so. Below are a few which I have either watched in the past week, or plan on doing so very soon.

Flashdance 1983

Flashdance was one of the first, or the first, major dance storylines in motion picture. It follows the story of a young woman, Alex (Jennifer Beals), who dreams of going to dance school. She has two jobs: by day, she is a mechanic, by night, she is a dancer. It is the typical dance story, but this was the first time it was done. Alex trains herself in her living room to popular 80s music; Maniac comes to mind. She also finds love on her journey to the audition, and she smashes the audition with an amazing dance routine that has been copied again and again in music videos by singers such as Jennifer Lopez and Geri Halliwell. All in all, a great film with a protagonist that is not the typical prima ballerina; something which has been copied through the years.

Save The Last Dance 2001

Julia Stiles plays the lead of a dancer who loses her mother on the day of her audition for Julliard. After that, she moves in with her father and to a new school whose white population is next to none. Sara (Stiles) tries to forget her passion for dance and wants to live her life as normal as possible, until she meets Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas) who ignites her passion for dance again, and persuades her to audition for Julliard for the second time. Ballet is then combined with hiphop again for the audition. A good film that tackles the issues of mixed race relationships as well as telling the story of dance.

Honey 2003

Honey is not the typical dance movie where the protagonist has a goal of successfully getting into a dance school. Honey (Jessica Alba) wants to become a professional dancer for singers. She does this and realises that it is something that she does not want anymore. Instead, she wants to build a dance school for kids who have been brought up in the bad side of New York, a place where they can feel safe and dance whenever they want. A charity show is created. She gets the money and becomes a famous choreographer. This story has heart and a love of dance provided by young people which is something that an audience could admire. Warning: Do not watch every single night for about two weeks; you will end up hating the film for a few years.

Step Up 2006

The first Step Up was a fantastic movie with a spin on the typical dance storyline. Yes, the female protagonist Nora (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) has to get into a dance company via an audition which is her final piece of dance from school, but then you throw Tyler Gage into the mix. Tyler (Channing Tatum) has to do community service in the school due to him and his friends breaking and entering into the Maryland School of Arts. He helps Nora after her partner breaks his leg. The protagonists live happily ever after at the end: Nora gets into the dance company, and Tyler gets a scholarship and transfers to the performing arts school. Nevertheless, the combination of the hip hop world and ballet world illustrates gang life and how ruthless some people can be through the murder of a young friend. As a result, this film shows both sides of the popular dances and the trials and tribulations that tag along with it. The following films of Step Up show basically the same storyline. There has now been three, and there is another one lined up for 2012. Sometimes when films are good, they become overrated, and more and more of the same thing comes out. The producers need to think of some originality.

Take the Lead 2006

Another dance film of 2006 which Jenna Dewan-Tatum stars alongside many other young actors and Antonio Banderas. Based on the true story, Pierre Dulaine (Banderas) is a ballroom dance teacher who has a very high standard dance school for the upper middle class. He also goes into a high school for the not so rich in order to help students from detention seek a better life through dance. These students know how to dance, but not ballroom which is something that we haven’t seen much in dance cinema: the art of ballroom. The relationship between the students and Antonio Banderas is fantastic, and they truly learn a lot from each other. They learn to respect one another also. This film shows the greatness of equality between young people, especially those who have had to overcome some kind of trauma in their lives, such as the death of a young one.

Black Swan 2010

Natalie Portman is an amazing actress, and proves this in Black Swan. This has got to be one of her most strenuous roles in terms of the physicality of the role as well as the mentality. Nina (Portman) is the perfect prima ballerina who wants to land the role of the swan in The Swan Lake. But, to do this, Nina must lose some of her ‘goody-two-shoes’ act and become a little rebellious in her actions. She starts to do this, but also loses her mind and becomes obsessed with the role of the swan. The ending of this film is phenomenal, and the acting is spectacular. This is definitely not the typical dance film, which is a breath of fresh air needed in the world of dance in film.

Images: fhm.com; wikepedia.co.uk; midorilei.com; fanpop.com; filmcritic1963.typepad.com; teaser-trailer.com