The last few weeks...

Have been hectic! What with the end of school, things like prom and having to run events like facepainting for school-ending celebrations, plus lots of build up to choosing universities etc. And I've been completely redecorating my room, which is taking forever seeing as my walls are basically massive collages. So blogging has been slow. Another reason for this is that I've been wanting to do a post looking at the Autumn/Winter collections that have been shown recently, but my scanner's not working right now so that post will hopefully happen in the future.

Just a few things from the past few weeks....



This was taken by Old Street station. They say that East London is the main reason London even has a reputation for art and this is definitely true, particularly for more obscure or street artists. Recently I've been visiting loads of really amazing tiny galleries and in general the area has a really good creative vibe.



PROM! Though not typical American-style long-dresses-and-corsages prom. We had ours on a boat this year and as this is only celebrating the end of year 12 and we still have another year left, the dresses weren't overly formal. The biggest 'trends' were bodycon/black dresses but I think this photo sums up the variety pretty accurately. Special mention to my friend's dress on the far right, which really stood out because of the detail on the top half and the unusual colour, and also to my necklace, which I'm STILL freaking out about owning. It belonged to my Trinidadian family and although it's only costume, it looks incredible - plus it's just my sort of thing, as I much prefer chunky jewellery.



Is Clueless the best film ever? YES. I saw it about two weeks ago and in that time I've watched it about 5 times. The outfits, the dialogue, the story...perfection.

Also, the brilliant Flow Disruption tagged me for a Lovely Blog Award, for which I am eternally grateful!!! However, being a pretty new blogger, I might not have 15 people to tag.... *hides face in embarrassment* still I'll do what I can!

1. Bonjour Girl
2. Coffee Stains
3. Fashion Pirate
4. Flow Disruption
5. Girl & Bird
6. One Girl And Her IPod
7. Quirky Explosion
8. White Lightening
9. Zebra And Meerkat

And as I could only do 9 tags, I'll only do 5 little facts about me...

1. I can't really do 'glamourous' or 'elegant' looks, somehow I manage to break or damage pretty much all my clothes and jewellery. My shoes are a disaster zone. I prefer clothes that can handle a bit of wear and tear :)
2. I want a pet rabbit more than anything else in the world. A mini lop, or a holland lop. And I'm gonna call it Hero.
3. I'm terrible at getting rid of things. I give the most stupid things sentimental value.
4. I have a collection of vinyl toys. And cute vinyl toy key rings.
5. Chips are my favourite food ever. It's terrible.

Because I love Beyoncé!

So obviously I was extra keen to buy the July issue of Dazed & Confused, featuring Queen B promoting her new album 4. As usual, Beyonce did not disappoint. It's quite late here at the moment, and I'm super-tired, but I wanted to get a post out before the week ends.

So here are a few of the reasons why Beyoncé should be one of everyone's style icons....






The custom-made clothes in this shoot had my mouth watering. To pick just a few, I would go mad for the Givenchy jumper (cover image), the Gareth Pugh snood, and the amazing Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton jacket in the final photo. She pulls off just the right balance of pretty and fierce. The concept of the shoot was supposedly 'trailer trash fantasy' - difficult to achieve, given that it's almost impossible to actually visualise Beyoncé walking around in a trailer park in reality. Still, the clothes were amazing and the photos are some of my favourite of Beyoncé; in my opinion her new bolder, more out-there style of dressing suits her career and personality far more than the traditional R&B look of 'Deja Vu' and 'Crazy in Love' (though I did love the all-diamond top on the 'Crazy in Love' album cover).

And if you're looking for reasons to respect her as a career woman, not just as an artist...

"I have high expectations of myself and expect the exact same thing of everyone around me. I've always been that way. I'm all or nothing."

"I've been signed to the same label since I was 12 years old and never had more than a month and a half off since I was 13."

"I remember being in Japan after I wrote 'Independent Woman' and these young teenage girls were telling me that the song, to them, made it uncool to not have your own job, your own career, and your own mind."

There's always been disagreement about whether Beyoncé can truly be considered a feminist icon, especially by people who consider her 'sexy' image and lyrics that have been called dependent, and contradicting her main message. However, for me, Beyoncé has always stood as a symbol of a powerful woman who has withstood the changing music scene for years now to build a veritable empire. She's not even 30 yet, but she's conquered the music world so many times already - and this was all before the new 'empowered' female artists like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga. (I'm beginning to sound a bit soppy, and being as tired as I am, I'm not sure if much of this actually makes sense).

Anyway, to wrap things up, Beyoncé's super. You should all love her. Lots.