Finally, an outfit post!

Hello blog world!

As I mentioned in the previous post, sorry I haven't been posting as much, life has gotten in the way, because this is only a hobby for me, it has tended to take a bit of a backseat while I'm busy.  Lectures start again tomorrow, so Lord knows how sporadic this will become once they start again!!  I will endeavor to make time though, there's no excuse!  Those of you who follow me on Twitter (@Notoshtosh) will know that I recently started my job at Monsoon, and this means discount on their clothes!  I also have to wear the clothes that are on the shop floor, so this will mean a regular rotation of clothes, because once it's off the shop floor, I can no longer wear it to work.  So, as long as I pick things that I like, then I'm set because once I can no longer wear it to work, I can still wear it normally.  Yay!!
So, here's one of the pieces of uniform.  It's soon to be removed from the shop floor, but I liked it too much to not buy it, isn't it lovely?!  The photos don't really do it justice (still figuring out the best place to put my camera at home here!), but it's lovely and warm and very flattering!

Please excuse my crazy hair and tired looking-ness. I'd just gotten back from work, and it was raining outside (as seems to be the norm at the moment). So, here we are:

Those of you who follow me on twitter (I'm not plugging, just saying!) will know that the other night I went on a pub crawl.  I know, I know.  I'm not normally one for pub crawls, but I generally make an exception for the ones organised for the music dept. at uni, because it's a great way to meet people and have a fab time with the ones you already know.  And generally speaking, musos are all lovely friendly people, so you never know who you might bump into!  Below is a picture of myself and my lovely housemate Chloe, just before we went out:

In other news, I'm absolutely adoring my tango dancing at the moment.  I'm not really sure why, I guess like many things that you do over a long period of time, you plateau, you get a little bit uninspired, you love it, whatever, it's quite cyclical.  Currently, I'm loving it!  Last night I went to a milonga (an evening dedicated to dancing tango socially) and saw all of my friends from my class at home in Portsmouth and had some fabulous dances.  I also bought some new tango shoes! Red suede and sexy as hell, just what the tango doctor ordered ;)  One day I'll post a video or pictures or something from my tango life, I haven't gotten round to 'coming out' with my blog to anyone, really, so I'll try and do it on the sly!

Currently listening to: La Yumba by Otros Aires.  If you have spotify, look it up.  Otros Aires are probably my favourite tango band.  They take traditional songs and jazz 'em up with fancy computer productions and remixes. It combines 2 of my favourite kinds of tango - brilliant!!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Friend Friday: Showcasing Negativity

So, first of all a big apology!  My life is so busy right now, uni has started again in full swing (even though it's only been Fresher's Week this week, lectures don't start until Monday!) and my days have been full of meeting new freshers, catching up with friends, getting fresher's flu and singing through my flu to promote the Gospel Choir that I'm on the committee for, among other things.  So, I really appreciate you guys sticking through this with me, I will try and find a routine for things soon!


So, this week, Katy from Modly Chic set up a google group and the topic for this week's questions came from a discussion started on there!  I love that now there's even more interaction between bloggers, and we can spark discussions which pique all of our interests!  Visit Katy's blog for more info and Friend Friday and the google group if you want to join!

1)  Do you post pictures on your blog, or would you, if the opportunity came along, of people with poor fashion/beauty sense?
Absolutely not!  For the most part for me, blogging is like a jolly little escape from day to day life, and I like to just view and talk about positive things or non-heavy things.  So, following on from that, I would never use my blog as a tool for any negativity, that's not why I blog.  Sure, on the street I might look again at someone wearing something I find particularly odd, but for the most part, I don't really mind what people look like. And I would never take a photo of them to then slate them online. It's rude.

2) Do you read any blogs that highlight the bad? Why?
I do dip into CocoPerez every so often, but celebrity culture and celebrity bashing is a completely different topic, which I could talk about at length, but it's not relevant at the moment.  So I guess that's the only 'negative' blog I read on any semi-regular basis.  I have looked at Fashion Bloggers, Why? once because it's been mentioned so many times on different blogs, I decided to have a look.  I found it, for the most part, distasteful, disrespectful, badly written, badly thought-out and immature.

3) Should these bloggers get permission to post the pictures from the subject in the same way the street-style blogs do?
I'm undecided on this one.  On one hand, I say yes, because I wouldn't want my pictures plastered all over someone's blog without my permission or at least crediting me, whether they're being negative or not.  However, if we're talking street style, then I don't think there's any point.  If you see someone in the street and decide you want to take their photo for you blog to showcase how not to dress and you go and ask that person their permission to use the photo for the above, it's obvious (to me, anyway) that they're going to be offended and say no.  So what do you do, then? Post it anyway, or not, in which case the whole thing was a waste of time.

4) As human beings we are fascinated with disasters of all sorts, why do you think that is?  How do the blogs/websites that highlight the negative thrive?
Taking the example of FBW, a lot of it seems to stem from some form of jealousy.  Some of the comments written by the author and by the readers just seem like the words of a slightly more grown up (as in older, not mature) but still petulant child.  You know, "she has so much stuff and clothes, but don't you think she looks like she has downs syndrome in that picture"? (the reference to downs syndrome was actually there when I read it.  I was shocked, first at the lack of respect towards the condition and use of the term and also how horrible a thing to say about someone!)  I think these blogs are just a hive for negative, bitter, jealous people to come together and moan about how someone else has more shoes than them.  In terms of the human fascination with disasters, I think we're just a generally nosy species. We sneak peeks at weddings when they leave the church with the confetti flying, we also rubberneck on motorways when someone gets pulled over. It's just part of the human condition I think - nosiness!

5) For many, fashion is subjective.  Do you think there can be anything that is objectively bad in the fashion world?
In a word: no.  Everyone has different tastes, and as much as many people might agree on something, just as many people will disagree. In the same way most things are down to personal opinions or beliefs, fashion is too.

Hope you enjoyed this week's Friend Friday, as always, any suggestions or comments, please leave them below, I will be back soon (I promise) with an outfit post and a general update!