hallo berlin!

photoautomat pictures; east side gallery; warsteiner-drinking; gendarmenmarkt; santa maria; reichstag dome.

I finally went to Berlin for the first time! It had been a long time coming - ALMOST as long as this blog post! Ba boom tshhh. A shoddy instagram rehash post probably isn't worth bringing the poor thing out of retirement, alas. I mean, the sidebar still thinks I'm 23 ffs (lol if only).

It was awesome though, so I'm doing it anyway. World's best burgers courtesy of The Bird, drinking beer in the street (Toto, I don't think we're in Glasgow any more), shopping in Mitte... Mmmm. Is it time to go back yet? :(

whistles lust list

So I just ambled on over to the Whistles website, because 25% off with Grazia is far too tempting, basically. I was thinking I might consider treating myself to a blouse or something, seeing as y'know, it's payday and all. But then as usual I spotted something ridiculous and now I've descended into hopeless 'omggg'-ing with WANT. I definitely need floral-printed silk pyjama pants with matching blazer and shell top, right?!

Honestly, I blame the fact that I'm starting to branch into looking at (shudder) workwear - suddenly the idea of a printed suit is super exciting to me. I mean, even though the reality of my future workplace is obviously much more "grey pinstripe from Next". A full on, matching trousers 'n top combo is something I've been lusting after for a while, ever since I spotted this ASOS White look...

I'm currently wrestling with an internal debate over which one of these looks is actually more OTT... I mean one's FLORAL PRINT. But then the other's ORANGE, c'mon now. I'm thinking floral just about wins in terms of wearability, but I've got to be honest and say I'm not sure I'd ever work up the courage to wear the top-to-toe look out of the house. I could have sworn I used to be a lot more adventurous. Does this mean I'm getting old?

P.S. Here's the sensible option that I had been considering before getting sucked into this dilemma. Sigh, looks so boring in comparison now...

more tales of wanton consumerism

hat, h&m men's; coat, boots & 7/8ths jeans, topshop; sweater, zara; snood, yokoo; leather mittens, h&m.

So after feeling really uninspired for a while, I feel like I'm tentatively starting to get my fashion groove back. Or something along those lines but less cringey. The coat and jeans are recent additions to my wardrobe courtesy of the Topshop sale, so that's probably helping. As is the fact I splashed out a wee bit on ASOS the other day. Buying shit, the answer to all my problems.

michelle williams for boy by band of outsiders

So Boy by Band of Outsiders really know how to appeal to girls from the internet, eh? First Kirsten Dunst, and now Michelle Williams looking adorable in Polaroid format. I, like the big internet cliché that I am, approve. I'd been intending for a while to make a post about some rather attractive short-haired ladies and my massive hair-jealousy but this makes the point equally well, I feel. Look at that pixie cut! For me, this is the epitome of #icanteven. You can see loads more at boy.bandofoutsiders.com, I know you're dying to.

apc spring/summer 2012

OMG, how friggin' cute is APC's Spring/Summer 2012 animated lookbook? I spent quite a long time considering ways to post the moving version on here, involving multiple print-screens and .gifs, and then decided I'm definitely not tech savvy enough for that shit. So just click on the link to see the model coyly twirling and posing for you - very Harry Potter. Oh yeah, clothes are pretty nice too. My APC love has swelled recently because I've booked a trip to Paris for April and I'm envisaging loads of old season 50% off bargains at the 'Surplus' store. The problem with new season lookbooks is that in my head it's DEFINITELY spring/summer already, but BBC Weather appears to disagree with me.

Unfortunately, my spring/summer delusions, combined with the fact I'm still totally h8in' on everything in my wardrobe, mean I'm really struggling at the moment not to buy ALL THE THINGS. Thankfully I'm infinitely more mature than I used to be though, and I'm resisting. That kind of tendency is the very reason I end up with so much unwanted crap in my wardrobe, so until I've worked out a more cohesive and measured approach to this coming season I'm going to try and hold back. Wish me luck?*

*Can't wait for next week's 'omgzzz look what I bought in Primark!!' post.

a very belated merry christmas and happy new year

this year's tree // selection of christmas books // apc x anthropologie quilt, my boyfriend's present to us // the results of my new babyliss big hair styler // reiss bag, gift from my mother // russell & bromley loafers courtesy of my boyfriend <3

Much like the rest of the internet, I've been a wee bit obsessed with Instagram of late. Sorry to any of you guys who follow me on there (I'm pullupyoursocksgirl for those of you who don't yet!) or Twitter (and maistagueule over there...) as these will be looking a bit familiar. Unfortunately they're pretty much the only pictures I've taken this festive period... I had a pretty quiet Christmas and New Year and am now settling down into typical January ennui. Most of my time's been spent at work over the last few weeks, and relying on throwing on one of my two 'uniform' outfits has had the unwelcome side effect that I've entirely forgotten how to dress myself. Don't you just hate those phases where every single thing in your wardobe seems so dreadfully boring? Inspiration, please be striking sometime soon.

iris apfel for mac

Woah, now you guys, this blog pretty much couldn't be further from a beauty blog (although I did once get a PR email with the subject "Suggestion for your beauty blog". I suggest you actually read my blog). Don't get me wrong, I wear make up, I like make up. But it doesn't go much further than that; I don't claim to know much about it and I generally have the make up skills of a particularly clumsy four-year-old.

But Iris Apfel for MAC is definitely something I can get on board with! There aren't THAT many collaborations I get truly excited about (H&M x Marni is another one at the moment, and fingers crossed, a severely reduced APC for Anthropologie quilt should be winging its way to me at the moment) but this one is pretty darn cool. At 90 years old, Iris Apfel is as much of a style icon as ever and her rare bird-inspired collection (following in the footsteps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition of her style entitled Rara Avis) is just as outlandish as you'd expect. And if there's one beauty product I love in life, it's a brightly coloured MAC lipstick.

My personal faves from the collection, which is released on 5th January 2012, are the Flamingo lipstick which looks like a perfect pale coral pink and the Sandpiper nail lacquer. Which seems a bit silly, as these are two of the more.. understated products, but I just can't pull off eccentricity like the lady herself. I did put a pair of round sunnies on my Christmas list though, so I'll be doing my best to ~channel her look~ come January!

currently loving

1. Instagram, obviously! And my most recent work uniform purchases, the Hailey shirt dress and Weller skinny snaffle belt. I've been wearing black trousers and an increasingly scruffy-looking jumper to work until recently and I'm now very much enjoying looking slightly better groomed and less sloppy. I had thought about shamelessly ripping off Charlotte of I Ate Olivia Palermo by doing Instagram #todayimwearing photos (as my camera is currently out of action, hence no proper outfit posts for the next wee while). But then I realised that I work most days and alternate between my two work outfits, which wasn't going to make for particularly varied or interesting updates. So don't worry guys, I decided not to subject you to that.

2. Badlands by Dirty Beaches. Every review I read of this seems to love mentioning how it sounds like it could be a David Lynch movie soundtrack. It seems a pretty apt comparison, and it goes a long way to explaining how great (and dark) this album is. But I think my favourite parts might be the slowed-down shoegaze of True Blue, and Lord Knows Best with its hypnotic looping of Françoise Hardy's Voilà. If you like it, you can buy it here.

3. Jak & Jil. Amazing photo after amazing photo seems to have been popping up in my Google Reader lately, all courtesy of jakandjil.com. The kind of attention to detail in these outfits is mind-blowing to me, seeing as my shoes are always scuffed, my nails are always bitten and accessories are an afterthought. P.S. I checked, and my boyfriend says I'm definitely not allowed to wear three watches or he won't go out in public with me. ALWAYS SPOILING MY FUN.

4. Finally, I bought a domain name and I'm a little over-excited about it! So you can now find this blog at pullupyoursocksgirl.com and I'd love it if any of you who link me could update your links. For the moment, everything's still hosted on Blogger but I'm really hoping to change that and give it a bit of a makeover over the next few months. So, y'know, if any of you happen to be reasonably priced web designers or anything...? This is all a little frivolous seeing as this blog is just a hobby, but oh well. I'm sure you've all already noticed that I love spending money on things I don't need!

tri&gull

Another day, another post on independent jewellery designers. I don't know what it is you guys, but I seem to be all over this stuff at the moment. Tri&Gull is an Etsy store based in London, selling super-cute jewellery designs in geometric shapes. As the name might suggest, trianges feature heavily... Always good news for me. My favourite thing, though, is their interesting mix of materials like perspex, reclaimed plywood, brass and quartz. My Christmas list is sadly pretty much closed for business already (I provided a plethora of options, I am an excellent receiver of gifts)... So no room for any of these in my stocking, but they're pretty affordable so I might even be able to treat myself.

triple triangle necklace

long triangle necklace

hexagon and triangle earrings

peach brass & wood triangle necklace

mirror chevron necklace

Also, in a possibly ill-advised move, I got myself a Formspring, so if there's anything you've been just dying to ask me... No..?

Final "also": an Internet pal of mine somehow talked me into being part of a Daily Record fashion feature which you can read here if you're interested! The premise was that I was someone with ~my own sense of style~ having outfits chosen by my boyfriend, best friend and a fashion adviser. Let's just say that my conclusion from the whole experience was an overwhelming feeling that I definitely do have my own sense of style and I feel infinitely uncomfortable in clothes chosen by other people. Somehow I doubt that was the outcome the journalist was after, but as you'll see my answers were a veritable exercise in diplomacy!

the graduate

Hey guys, so I finally got a degree the other day. It'd been a long time coming (my history as a university dropout, ill-advised impromptu 'gap year', summer in Africa, etc) but I got there in the end!

Oh and then I fell over. Some things never change!