ASOS Marketplace - Annie and the Mannequins

Recently I've taken a little break from ASOS Marketplace. 

Oh no, sorry, recently I've taken a little break from MOST THINGS due to a long term relationship with my dissertation. 

However, scrolling through endless favourite boutiques is a hobby which I can now confirm, has returned! In celebration, I HAD TO dedicate a blog post to my long standing favourite boutique - Annie and the Mannequins. 

The Annie's focus is "cute wearable vintage" clothes and accessories. Their range is anything from tops and shirts to cutesy 80s style summer dresses and bags. On top of all this, they are genuinely lovely people who are happy to help and answer any questions. AND if you like them on Facebook and give them a little message, they will send you a 10% off code...what more could you want?!

I'm in love with their new pieces and attempts to pick just a few favourites for this post was unsuccessful! Here are my top choices! 

As you can maybe see, I have listed approximately half of their collection! The last item is here just to get a sense of the Annie's style, but this piece is now unavailable - sorry ladies, I've just purchased it!

80's Navy Floral & Lace Slip Dress Size 10 £34

90's Checked Kimono Blouse size 8 £30

80's Turquoise & White Floral Mini Dress Size 8 £36

90's White & Black Polka Dot Blouse Size 12 £30

80's Navy Cap Sleeve Blouse Size 10-12 £28

90's Oversized Abstract Pattern Blouse Dress Size 12 £30

80's Cream Lace Peak Collar Blouse Size 12 £32

80's Light Camel Button Up Mini Dress Size 8 £36

80's Pastel Mint Pinafore Dress Size 6 £34

80's Red & Cream Stripe Mini Dress Size 10 £36

80's Black & Beige Horse Pattern Mini Dress Size 10 £36

80's White Knitted Crop Jumper size 8 £26

80's Vibrant Yellow Short Sleeve Blazer size 10-12 £36

I adore this boutique - looking through their collection, it is clear that each item is carefully handpicked, based on style and quality. I love Marketplace, but it is rare to find a boutique with such a beautiful collection of vintage clothes! 

Check out Annie and the Mannequins here xoxo 

A Fake Tan Towel

Fake tan has been a pale girl's saviour for decades now. We've had spray tans, lotions, mousses, gels, creams, tinted, non-tinted, sun-kissed, healthy glow, intensely dark. Applied usually with some sort of spray or a tanning mitt.

Fake tanning is hard work, there's a lot to think about; the perfect level of moisturising, extra moisturising on dry areas, weather (if it's gonna rain - don't even bother), face fake tan that doesn't give you severe acne, and then there's making sure it looks at least moderately passible on your hands and feet. Wow. 

Pale and interesting anyone?

Now there's a new invention on the market, the fake tan towel, £11.99, soaked with 2oz of fake tan solution. I'm not sure just how much fake tan that is, but it sounds impressive. The pros: it allows you to get to those hard to reach places, like the back area, for example. No more mitt-on-a-stick trick.

If I'm being honest I can't really see the difference between this and a mitt? Sounds slightly more difficult if anything and you can only use it for up to 10 days (as long as you keep it in a sealed container...) Sounds a bit pricey for 10 days of tan.

99% of the time - you have to just say, "I have a boyfriend"

So in the last couple of days I have read a few articles about men and women in nightclubs/bars and their behaviour/chat up lines. One thing that persistently cropped up was the criticism of women for telling a man, "I have a boyfriend" before the poor lad has even rested his drink on the bar.

They just wanted a conversation. Why do we assume they're trying to chat us up? Can a man not approach a woman at a bar/in a nightclub without the immediate assumption he's after more than a leisurely chit chat?

Erm I'm sorry, but no. We are right to assume.

I'm sorry to say it, and I'm sorry to any man who has been thrown this statement prematurely, to any man who did want a leisurely chit chat, but 99% of the time, "I have a boyfriend" is a sooner-the-better piece of information. For two reasons.

Lets be honest, for the majority of men, approaching a woman in a bar means one thing. He likes the look of her and he's moving in. Nothing wrong with that, but if she's got a boyfriend and she's a decent kind of girl, firstly, she doesn't want to be having a long conversation with a random fella, she probably just wants a night with the girls and secondly, she doesn't want to waste his time, for him to realise three vodka doubles later (for her and all her mates) that er actually she's with someone and he's been well and truly rinsed. So if she tells you she has a boyfriend, she's not being rude, she's just being straight up, trying not to waste your time...and hers.

Secondly, put yourself in her shoes. Say you do want to make a move on this girl, you're gonna be pissed off if she fails to mention she's already loved up. I've been in both situations before: the first time, I was approached and the guy asked me if I wanted a drink, to which I replied, "I'm okay, thank you though, I have a boyfriend..." I thought I was doing him a favour but he got pretty shirty with me and said "woah I was just asking if you wanted a drink" and slouched off. I actually felt quite embarrassed, as if I'd wrongly assumed he was trying to chat me up. The next time there was a big group of us, mutual friends etc, and one of the lads who was a friend of a friend started talking to me, just normal conversation-y things. I obviously thought it was platonic because everyone in the group was chatting, but after half an hour, my boyfriend came up in conversation and he was absolutely outraged. "Oh. You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO?!

I'd imagine most guys would rather know sooner rather than later whether the girl was single or not, so why complain when we tell you straight away?! I feel like the best option is to be straight up, even if he does storm off. After all, who cares, you're probably never gonna see him again and it's him who looks like the idiot, not you. As a second option, I'd say dropping your boyfriend into conversation early on works too; you're not being too blunt and direct, but you are making sure he knows you're not interested.

Shirley and Moe

Today I watched a video about an old lady from New York called Shirley, and her late husband, Moe. Shirley and Moe were separated from each other after three years of marriage when Moe was requested by the President, to be a doctor in the Second World War. Shirley tells director, Brandon Stanton, founder of the blog, ‘Humans of New York’, about her overseas relationship with her husband whilst he was away. The words in their letters were overwhelming and beautiful. Before the video was even half way I felt sad and moved by their story and the genuine unconditional love they seemed to have for each other, no matter what distance there was between them.

In the final minute of the video, Shirley tells us that Moe got sick, he deteriorated quickly and in an overwhelming moment of fear before he died, she asked him,

”Moe, what will I do without you?”  

Shirley tells Stanton that Moe told her to “take the love you have for me, and spread it around. A love, spread around. There, beauty is found.”

It is said that that after the First World War, every family on every street in every town or village, were grieving the loss of a son, brother, husband or father. It’s a concept unimaginable to us girls now, that one day, a war is announced, and with that our brothers, fathers, boyfriends and husbands are legally obliged to take part in a fight for their country. Whilst this was not quite the case with Moe, it is similarly heart wrenching. I watched the video and thought of my boyfriend and my older brother, who at their age would have been prime targets for conscripted soldiers in the First World War. It’s surreal, to even imagine that they could be taken away from me and from our families, in many cases never seen again. The only trace, a telegram; ‘Missing in action’, ‘Killed in active service’.

Today I procrastinated by reading articles such as, ’20 cakes that should be illegal’ and ’50 of the cutest baby animals’. I worried about my hair, drank too much coffee, wondered if it was okay to nap in the library and stressed about whether I will finish my dissertation, even though I know, I will. I would be heartbroken, completely lost, if my brother, boyfriend, friends or cousins were sent to war and lost their lives and I feel guilty about all the mother’s who watched their sons leave, the babies who grew up without their dad’s and the women, who like Shirley, were stripped of their soul mate after just three short years of marriage. I feel like we have to remember this when we have silly arguments, or take life and the people who make our lives what they are, for granted. 

xox