TARDIS Tuesday- Kate Stewart- The Brigadier's Daughter Closet Cosplay

Hi there,

I'm back for another TARDIS Tuesday entirely drawn from items I already own, i.e. nothing bought especially for a Cosplay outfit. I like doing these as it challenges me to look creatively in my wardrobe to see what can be used in a creative way!

Today, I thought I'd make a visit to Kate (Lethbridge) Stewart, who is the famous Classic Who Brigadier's Daughter who was in charge of UNIT in the eras of the 11th, 12th and 13th Doctors.

I attempted another closet cosplay on her 'Power of the Doctor' look last Autumn.

This outfit features in the Zygon Inversion.

Image borrowed from 
https://www.planocritico.com/critica-doctor-who-9x07-e-8-the-zygon-invasion-the-zygon-inversion/

Image borrowed from:
https://jemma-redgrave.net/2016/02/21/jemma-redgrave-as-kate-stewart-doctor-who-hd-captures-stills/

She wears a sand-coloured trench coat with black buttons.  Underneath she wears a pale blue shirt and navy blue trousers and boots.

She wears a blue and gold pashmina scarf tied around her neck.

Here's my version:

I started with the trench coat. Mine was charity-shopped at least 6 years ago and has been worn for cosplays for the 13th and 7th Doctors.

Next, I added a blue charity-shopped blouse I've had for about 8 years. It's really boring but quite a useful staple I have kept as it works very well with different pin badges or brooches pinned to the lapels.

My navy blue trousers are from Just Female and were bought 2nd hand but new.  My boots are from Clarks men's section.

The scarf was from one of those cheapy shops that you get all over East London

It was fun putting this together but the day I wore it for school, L, the lovely TA who helps me with choir said, "That's a very conservative outfit for you, K. Not what I'd usually expect from you."

I said, "HA, I am secretly cosplaying Kate Stewart from UNIT" to which L repleued- "YES, I can see it!! I might have known".  In case you hadn't guessed, L is a Who fan!

I think if my hair were a leeeetle shorter, this might have been even better.  But never mind, this is good enough for me!

What do you think of this look. Be honest!

xx

Bookish rainbow

Thank you for your comments yesterday. What you said is very kind but remember I can choose what to post here. You haven't seen me in Post-year 2 lesson moan session in a staffroom! But anyway, I choose to try and be happy and encouraging so thank you!

Onto this!

Bright is good!  Bright is happy. Bright makes the sunshine appear on even the most lugubrious of days, even if that sunshine is in my imagination only!

My favourite Christmas-present this year was this Cath Kidston bookprint dress. I tried it on in Dublin at Cath Kidston but didn't buy it but mentioned it to my Dad at the earliest opportunity. He is a good one for a hint so this was my Christmas present!

I rarely wear pink. I am definitely more of a blues girl but this was the first cashmere jumper I ever owned- thank you Tescos cashmere a good few years ago!

The bunting necklace has been broken for about 3 years and I finally found IT and the gold coloured jump rings plus the jewellery pliers at one time so it was finally fixed. I can't tell you the number of necklaces I have broken getting caught on doorhandles when leaning over to pick something up!!!!

Today's school wasn't too bad.  My year 1's were working on pitch recognition and relating this to symbols and they very much enjoyed looking at symbols and making their voices swoop up and down whilst moving their bodies.  Then playing glockenspiel patterns. The year 6's, whilst irritating, did get on fairly well with creating their own binary structure rhythm pieces with a contrast between long and short rhythms!  After school, I met up with my friend M for dinner which was lovely. 

I find, in recent times, I rarely meet up with friends so any opportunity when I do is rather precious!

Plus, I managed to remove the splinter from down the side of my little finger which has been stuck in for over a day!!

I hope your day was enjoyable and equally bright!

xx

5 brooches #43

Hello there!

I hope you had a lovely day! I had a nice swim after school which always makes me feel better! Definitely a water baby!

The day was, on the whole, a successful one. Just finished eating a delicious ratatouille with Bulgar wheat and Quinoa!

But enough of that- onto the brooches!

 You actually should have seen these in last week's post- don't know how I didn't notice there were only 4 brooches, not 5! Hence this week, you get 6!  The Collar clips come from Kate Gabrielle and they rank amongst my favourite brooches! Worn with a Poppy England (now Bryony and Co) blouse!

Up next is another vintage scarf clip (charity-shopped a few years ago).  It is perfect for this silk daisy scarf as it is really too short to tie!

And here's a flatlay I did with it, my Punkypins daisy collection and my Matalan daisy dress (which incidentally, was the reason I first discovered Laura at A Daisychain dream as I was searching on the internet for this dress!

 This next one, the biscuit, is actually a me-made one. Well me-made in the sense that I found an object, got some glue and brooch back and married the three together! The rubber came from Mr Wolf and is far pretty to be used for its original purpose!

 I don't know how I failed to photograph this glittery Trophy brooch up close! but at least you can see it! You can also see the amazing Present bow earrings that Hazel sent me for Christmas!!

 Here's my Topshop glitter bear brooch.  This, surprisingly, causes consternation amongst the kids at school!

Lastly, here's my Deer Arrow Caravan and Car making their debut.  And I had to share the print of the skirt I was wearing with it!!!

Have you been wearing any brooches recently or spied any corkers?

Brooches elsewhere:

http://polyester-princess.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/tuesday-i-got-friday-on-my-mind.html#comment-form Polyester princess wore a cute elephant brooch. She also bought 3 gorgeous ones at the Fleamarket in her current post!

http://www.annasislandstyle.com/2016/05/a-tale-of-two-jackets.html  Anna's got a denim jacket filled with cute pins and brooches!

http://www.polkadot-pink.com/2016/05/neighbourhood-watch_8.html Not a brooch but Donna has the sweetest Fox necklace!

http://vintagevixon.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/finnished-my-marimekko-mini.html Vix has MADE the most cool Steampunk brooches out of old watches and their parts!!! So creative. She is a vintage, recycling marvel!!

The paradoxical blogpost of pom poms

This is one of those paradoxical posts where I saw an idea, that someone saw, that someone saw- follow the chain to find out whose idea it was first, but I saw it on Char's blog! I had intended to make a necklace with 3 pom poms but then decided to go the full hog with this when I saw the idea! If you follow the links, you can see a great tutorial here at Bluebird vintage!

It is ridiculously warm and much of it was made on a car journey! CBC and his Mum both contributed a pom pom each!

Yes, I don't wear make up- not bothered frankly!

And since I had a few spare pompoms, I decided that my Clarks elasticated shoes needed some pompoms to perk them up (CHECK out the awful tights- Nora Batty wrinkles, bits of boot fluff from sheepskinboots stuck to them! Yes,it's glamorous over here!

I picked up some cute mustard wool in the charity shop, so I think some mustard pom poms are needed and I might put three pompoms (in differing colours) on each shoe for novelty factor! I love dressing eccentrically!

By the way, I am appalling at making pompoms the traditional way, so I invested in a pompom maker to support a local shop in Petworth when I was there!! It's great!!!

Pom poms, yay or nay?

Linking to Claire Justine with my crafty scarf and shoes!

Foxed!

 Hello there!

CBC and I are pretty hopeless when it comes to planning our weekends. We survive the week at school and get to the weekend and start to wonder what we could do.

Luckily, this weekend, CBC had been looking at the Ballet Rambert performance at Sadler's Wells theatre in Angel, London and I came home on Friday to discover he'd booked a pair of tickets for us to go and see it.
If you've not heard of them, they are a contemporary dance company.  I studied contemporary dance as part of my A'level performing arts so I do enjoy seeing contemporary dance.  The last contemporary dance we saw was Akram Khan also at the Sadler's well which I was enamoured by.

Here's the Sadler's Wells summary of what we saw which was a triple bill of three pieces:

Rambert, Britain’s national dance company brings dances about love, art and rock ’n’ roll to Sadler’s Wells.
In Transfigured Night two lovers meet by moonlight, and a dark secret threatens to tear them apart. Created by two-time Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup, it is a dramatic love story, with intimate duets and spectacular ensemble dancing amplifying the beauty and romance of itsSchoenberg score.
The 3 Dancers is based on one of Picasso’s greatest paintings, and the tragic love triangle that inspired it. Choreographer Didy Veldman and composerElena Kats-Chernin bring to life Picasso’s vivid Cubist imagery and the themes of love, desire and betrayal which fill his work.

Topping the bill is a final chance to see Rooster, Christopher Bruce’s funny, thrilling smash hit celebrating the swinging sixties. Sharp-dressed, snake-hipped men dance to impress strong, sassy women, to the pulsating rock ’n’ roll of the Rolling Stones’ most famous tunes, including Not Fade Away, Paint It Black, Sympathy for the Devil and Little Red Rooster.

The 3 dancers was first and was very beautiful. At the start, there was a great interplay between the dancers in black and the dancers in white and use was made of the shadows and lighting wonderfully. Some minimal 'scenery' was three mirrored shards of glass which struck the stage at various times.  The interplay between the sets of dancers in their opposed monochrome shades changed dramatically as different relationships developed between the dancers. The music was an intriguing subdued tango mood and was very suitable as it had a beautiful suppressed passion.

Transfigured night was based on a gorgeous piece by Arnold Schoenberg which I have played called Verklarte (umlaut needed on the a) Nacht.  The music is wonderful and was lusciously played.  The dancing was really beautiful and very emotional.  The female lead was tortured by her secret (which is actually that she is pregnant with another man's child, who she met before her current lover) and the feelings of despair as she tried to explain to her lover was well expressed through her dance.  A wonderful sequence of remembrance on her part of young innocence was enacted through a younger couple who danced with effervescent fluidity and joy.   Thankfully at the end, her lover returned.  I loved this.

The final piece was Rooser which was hysterical! It was based on a Rolling Stones score and was so witty and so completely other to the previous two dances. I've never seen funny contemporary dance before and I am glad I did.  One of the best moves was this pedestrian rooster strut (a bit like a chicken walk, but a very upright one! You can see it brieefly in the clip here) that the men in the dance did at times which had all the audience giggling.  Ruby Tuesday, a flowing dance performed by a danger in long red billowing robes was preceeded by a Rooster who just couldn't cope with all the beauty of her.  I've not really listened to the Rolling Stones before and I was impressed with their music- such intelligence in the music and lyrics and really wonderful instrumentation- there was even a recorder in there! I'd definitely like to hear more.

I thought I'd share a very simple outfit that I wore.Nothing too fancy but I quite liked the combination of items. The whole outfit stemmed from that blue fox scarf (from Haltwhistle) which had to be paired with the fox brooch.  I felt more orange was needed to added this River Island skirt which is one of my few orange items.

 And a sparkly beret for the journey!
I was very comfy as I'd wear this top for hanging around at home.I'd love to get really dressed up for the theatre but I think I'd prefer to be comfy in my seat so this was just the trick.

I put the brooch on accidentally at a jaunty angle so I was amused to see this picture in which Foxy and I had our heads on one side! What a childish sense of humour I do have!


Have you seen any contemporary dance at all?

How would you dress for the theatre?

And what is 528474 x 76?

xxx

The tale of the friendly Moor hen babies

Sorry about the mix-up with the brooch post- that's what happens when you mess up your html- you end up with JUST a link up! If you missed the next Brooch instalment, hit the last post!

Moor hens, I find, are rather timid.Unlike they goosey and ducky counterparts, they will scurry away from you regardless of your intentions etc.

Yet, there are two unusually audacious moorhens who were oblivious to me and just pootled around as I took these photos in the park!  My park is VERY well used. I had to perch my camera on a bench and take it nonchalantly in about 10 seconds between pedestrians and dog-walkers.

This outfit was one of berry shades I thought appropriate for the weather.  I don't think I've shared this dress on the blog before but it's charity-shopped from Jack Wills with tiny black spots on it and it's a great jersey t-shirt dress!
I teamed it with this country casuals belt (also charity-shopped) and worked from there- the navy rosette brooch matched the belt, the cardie, given by a friend moving back to Canada and the navy blue F21 tights. Deichmann boots and then I felt I needed a scarf.  This one is silk and I bought it in Bali from a Javanese stall at the International Arts festival a decade ago.  I'm very fond of it and I always feel like an art teacher when I wear it tied artistically around my neck!

The usual Autumnal/Winterish malaise has hit me and I cannot be bothered to photograph any outfits- this was from a sunny day 2 weeks ago! Pity as everyone loved what I wore to orchestra yesterday!

I hope that all is well with you.
xx

BEDM 26: National TARDIS day!

Yesterday, I alluded to trying something also  new and outside my comfort zone today.

Well today,I am delighted to say I am going to be co-hosting TARDIS Tuesday with Maricel over at My closet catalogue. Apparently, my constant pedantry about managing to find Doctor Who links in every outfit through subtle references made her think this would be a good idea!  I am honoured, really honoured but got a little scared about trying something new like that- What if I put people off, or posted the link wrong or ....???

Anyway, I told myself yesterday to stop being silly and worried about messing up and just embrace the opportunity!

Today, there is no subtle character Cosplay, today my outfit is full brazen TARDIS or British blue!

The outfit comes from last week, Wednesday I think and contains obviously TARDIS blue rather than any particular Cosplay. The colour requirement is met in the form of this trusty F&F blue skirt, charity-shopped blue scarf and Irregular choice floral shoes, all of which have featured on TT before, except for the scarf which said Hi for Style Imitating art.


The newest item on here is the black and white gingham top which is from Sainsbury's which I bought last year- not sure it's been seen here before or worn with these garments.

So today, I choose, TARDIS blue!

xxx

So, please, if you are wearing anything blue, remotely quirkily rainbowy, galaxy skirt, fez, cricket jumper or you feel like dressing up as an alien, come and link up for the first time!!! Please don't make me feel sad on my first day co-hosting!  Borrow the logo below and join in the whimsical fun. You don't even have to like Doctor Who, play along for the sheer joie de vivre!


Linking to TARDIS Tuesday with Maricel at My Closet Catalogue,my illustrious leader!

An InLinkz Link-up

Charity shop finds, voucher spends and the odd late birthday present

I didn't allow myself to buy anything that wasn't food or every day supplies during Lent as a fast of sorts.  E.g. No clothes or books.  I just felt it was something I needed to do and perhaps need to continue to do as I have far too much stuff (and I know I have tried to do this before and not managed to keep it up but doing it for Lent IS something I would keep up).  It is something I still need to change my mindset about. I KNOW I don't need more and I feel it so many times but I find myself drawn to buy things.  When I am feeling miserable about school or just excited to look round a charity shop are usually the times when I am more tempted.  

I ended up buying a few items after Easter Sunday although haven't spent a lot of money though still more than I should have done. I commend Char for her Year long shopping ban.

I received an ASOS voucher for my birthday from WOMOTM and ended buying two items which I had logged in Saved items. I had considered whether to buy them or not for a while and in the end, decided that I had liked them long enough and they weren't duplicates of items I had in my wardrobe

The first is this Emily and Fin Abigail mustard patterned cotton dress. I didn't have a mustard coloured dress, it's cotton and I liked the pattern. It is demure enough for school with a cardie but can be worn out.  It fits perfectly and just needs an iron (fat chance!)

The second item was these  Sugarhill Boutique denim linen polka dot shorts. Of course I love polka dots and the scalloped hem was cute. PLUS, they were actually made of cotton and linen which makes a change for this brand (Viscose- grr!) I like shorts for cycling (over the top of the embarrassing padded shorts) and for general holidays. Plus they are denim- something that doesn't come into my wardrobe that often!



Onto the books and the chazzers.  I borrowed the Hunger Games Book 1 from the school library and became utterly addicted, devouring it over 2 days. As we reached our last day in Northumberland, I couldn't bear the idea of not knowing what happened next. so I hit the jackpot in Oxfam Hexham with 'Catching Fire' Book 2 (not pictured- can't find it!). The very nice assistant asked me if I wanted anything else and I asked if there were any Railway Detective books and he pointed in front of me to 'Inspector Colbeck's case book'!   I should mention that before I tried Oxfam,I tried the Hospice charity book shop and instead came out with 3 Frances Doughty mysteries- I'd not read any but felt they'd have the ilk of my favourite reads (couldn't find the 3rd one for pictures- I think it's run off with HG2!)
As mentioned in Monday's post, I picked up the Hunger Games book 3 when meeting Melanie as I was going slowly insane not being able to get it in my local library or find it in a charity shop!

Finally, on Thursday, I picked up Diary of a Provincial Lady which I have long wanted to read but not bought in a Waterloo charity shop AND a copy of the Kafka which I have wanted to read the whole of since my A 'Level performing arts exam on Metamorphisis (which I got 97% for, dontcha know!)

This is the other Vintage Dress I picked up from Debbie Does Vintage. It probably looks too similar to any dresses I own,but since she'd only been open 3 weeks, I did want to buy something and this fitted me really well. It's C&A but I'm not sure of date. Is it vintage or just 90's? It's tiny for a 10 if so!

I've been admiring Char's sequin berets for ages and wanting to find a cheap one in a charity shop so I was glad to pick up this gold one for £1 in the Hexham Hospice charity shop.



My final (pictured) charity shop find was this gorgeous Orla Keilly red dress.  I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It has a darling tea-cup design on it and a sweet tiered hem (hard to see).  I can't wait to wear this when the weather goes back to what it was last week!

Penultimately, this was a gift but I saw my Dad for the first time since my birthday and he and my Step-Mum had chosen this gorgeous Cath Kidston Ric-rac dress for me which was perfect since I had dropped absolutely NO hints and they just thought I'd like it! You thought right!


Lastly, my Mum crocheted me this wonderful turquoise and aqua snood/infinity scarf.  I'd asked her if she'd make me one as I'd quite like a turquoise snood and so she made this beautiful coloured one. I love the two shades and when I saw her on Friday,it was fortunate as I was FREEZING and also wearing the right colours!


So, I've been really lucky with items found and items given. Have you bought or been bought anything recently or are you doing what I should be and NOT!!!!!  Do share, I love a nosy!

xxx

Who will buy my sweet red roses?

Pink actually, but never mind!



I wore this outfit in a bid to wear a light dress in a wintery way!

Do you know, these tights are ancient- I've honestly had them at least a decade. I always end up as Nora Batty but they are so soft and cosy and not too tight (if that makes sense with tights- knitted ones usually feel tight! and I shall be sad if they come to their end. I own probably another 30 pairs of tights (as in ones that are long term rather than evil flimsies that die after a few turns).  They're totally frumpy but I don't care- they do what they say on the tin- keep my legs warm!

Do you have a favourite pair of tights at all or am I the only one

AND, because I am nosy, what is your FAVOURITE tights colour/pattern?

xx

Buy 1 Doctor Who character, get another one free (with added lions.)

I haven't joined in with the Twobirds Inspiration Monday for ages and I felt really sad about that- I like to support my friends' link-ups (especially the Birds, who have been loyal friends for several years now) as well as being a great place to meet other bloggers!  The last couple of looks have not being always doable for me, or I've forgotten to save the image and then I've forgotten, but I made a point of saving this photo last week, knowing I could definitely do this look in my own way.




 I also thought how I could tie it in with TARDIS Tuesday with Maricel at My Closet Catalogue as the dress is definitely very Clara-ish, I'd been planning a Cosplay involving my Tartan dress

Image borrowed from the Fashion of Doctor Who

Obviously, I don't have the right colours- I WAS planning to wear my black short-sleeved shirt underneath it but it was SO cold on Sunday that I didn't dare do bare sleeves so substituted a polo-neck top (in navy though, so the colours are right...)


Need to get the Clara-esque pose right- she stands with her legs awfully far apart,don't you think? I think I'd feel a bit silly doing that!

FYI, none of the items I'm wearing are current (all at least 3-6 years old) but I'll share anyway, the coat is Debenhams petite, the top and boots- M&S, leggings Primark and the dress- thrifted/charity-shopped.





Well, anyway, I thought I was all set for TARDIS Tuesday but by the time I'd taken the photos, gone into the shed to find craft-supplies, made a cymbal resonate for 10 seconds by screaming at finding a LARGE spider in a box and done a few other things, the weather had totally changed from the delightfully sunny impression above to DOOM, GLOOM and rain, clouds and wind! Therefore, I deemed it prudent to bundle up all nice and warm for heading off to our town's Christmas fair-the whole high street is closed off to traffic and it turns into a street market- the Rotary club organise it and I think they do a brilliant job!  Then I wandered along in the fake snow flying around, looking all Tom Baker-esque!  I've posted the coat and scarf together before when I dressed up as Tom Baker for Melanie Follybird's Doctor Who Style inspiration aaaaages ago


The town fair was great!  We had a good wander around and looked at lots of stalls.  We bought a few things (I bought CBC a Christmas present- he ALMOST bought me one but I was indecisive over it!), We ate a fair few thingsI ate a foot long Bratwurst (sadly no photos!), we listened to some rock n roll Christmas music and debated whether to impromptually lindy-hop (we didn't) and we went and sang some carols in the church on the High Street, though I'd missed my church's slot to lead.  I do love that church! It's right at the centre of the High Street, where it should be and it is the Hub for Street pastors in the evenings!

I thought I'd share a flavour of the fair by posting a few photos here- enjoy!


Everyone in the community is there.

Lots of things to eat.

Carols in the church all day- mince pies and tea too!

Ducks a plenty! We bought my Mum a wooden one last year.

Delicious leather books!

He's making a list and checking it twice.

Duck!

Pie!

Dislike the spelling (CHRISTmas) but the craftsman ship is good!

Ahh, reminds us of our trip on Beauty!

Tinsel backdrop to Rock 'n' roll!

SUCH a treat to see a beautiful sky!

3 lions on the roof

Loving some of the Street Pastors dressed up!


xxx

Have you visited any Christmas markets or fairs? Does your community put on an event?

Thank you for your nice comments recently.

Lizzie, thank you SO much for all your comments- I really wish I could reply but please be assured I read all your posts and wish I could respond to them! Oh and Alexander McCall Smith is splendid!

Linking up with
Inspiration Monday Two birds boutique


Creative Mondays with Claire Justine

TARDIS Tuesday with Maricel