Balenciaga Ceinture Boots

When your favourite perfume* matches your favourite new boots, you know that you're onto a winner.

I did it. I finally bought these Balenciaga Ceinture cut out boots. I'd saved for a few months for some other stuff but when I saw these were in stock on the Balenciaga website, they were added to my basket in a few short clicks. One thing I don't scrimp on is shoes. I've always preferred to buy quality shoes over some that will wear out within a few short months, or worse, fall apart. I figured these would be a huge investment piece, in my increasingly grown up wardrobe, that I'll most likely wear over and over, season upon season.

I've longed to have these boots upon my feet since seeing them all over some fashion blogs I read. I guess you could call me a sheep, but I like these boots so why not. At least they aren't those red Valentino Rockstud sandals or a Triangl bikini that everyone blogger and their granny seem to have...

These days my wardrobe has become much more refined. Refined in such a way that I'm buying pieces that aren't fast fashion (and jeezo, I'm calling them pieces!). I'm buying much less but what I am buying are items that I think are timeless therefore can be worn over and over. Gone are the days of the same Topshop chino trouser in an array of colours. Nowadays it's the Topshop black cigarette pant that can be worn with my Adidas shell toes or a pair of neon yellow Saint Laurent pumps (I blame Harvey Nichols summer sale for that cheeky purchase).

Back to the boots. These gorgeous heavy black cut out boots. I love them. From the shiny black leather and study soles to the heavy gold buckles and hardware. What I don't love is that my heels/ankles were full of Compeed and plasters because when I wore them for the first time a few weekends ago, I ended up with lots of blisters. I knew there would be a breaking in period though so once that's past I can't way to clip clop my way down the street again in my new black boots.

*that's Balenciaga Rosabotanica perfume, in case you're wondering.

Angela x

The Good Stuff of... July

Backstory.

I read a lot of blogs, a fair few of them are fashion or beauty blogs, and each month some of them post their monthly beauty favourites. I tried that a few times. I sucked at it. Well I didn't but I found that some of those products that came with good recommendations just didn't do anything for me. Maybe because I actually paid for those products and I expected more. So I haven't really done much more monthly favourites that i use in my beauty routine. Rest assured, If I find a product that I love you will hear about it.

Then I did a few Friday Favourite posts. Posts that were made up of good things I found, used, watched or read during a week. Phew, that was a lot of pressure to come up with five things regularly. So I stopped that too. But now I feel like I want to share good stuff I find, use, watch, listen to, read, see. And so here is the first The Good Stuff post. Most likely a monthly event, on the last day of the month, or the first few days of the next month depending upon my posting schedule. Okay, okay, I realise we're over a week into the new month!

Let's kick it off.

The Good Stuff of July.

The Balenciaga AW14 campaign 

Yes, that campaign with a short haired Gisele. The first since one of my favourite designers, Alexander Wang, took over the reigns.

Images from Balenciaga.com

As soon as I saw these adverts I thought WOW, Gisele has cut her famous locks. But on further reading I realised this was some sort of computer and photographic wizardry. Now, I'm not a fan of photo shopping and the like but let's face it, her body is probably just as amazing in real life and seeing her with short hair is something else. I once had short hair. However, I don't have her bone structure! Good photos in a great campaign.


Jim Lambie Exhibition at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh

Oh my god, I love colourful things. I especially love when those colourful things are multi-coloured so when I saw photos of this exhibition popping up all over the place I knew I had to go. I did just that last week and it was just brilliant. On the ground floor of the gallery are those colourful and mirrored ladders. The hang from the ceiling at all angles and sometimes you catch yourself, at other times you can't see your reflection. Great. Next you walk upstairs to the main space. Although small it has lots packed into it. The amazing colourful taped stairs lead to an area totally covered in the same coloured tape. On the walls and floors you have various art hanging, dripping or nailed to the wall. You must go see it. It runs until some time in October.


#GIRLBOSS

Yes, I caved in and bought the book #Girlboss by Sofia Amoruso. I didn't really know what to expect from it but wow, it's truly motivating. In a week I've read almost 82% of the book (according to my Kindle app!). I've been reading it mostly on the train whilst travelling to Glasgow and Edinburgh for various outings over my holidays. It's the story of how Sofia started her multi-million pound business, Nasty Gal, and gives handy hints and tips as well as a bucket load of motivation and kick-ass advice for every potential #girlboss out there. She literally went from not a lot to this fabulous business in a just a few short years with a lot of hard work and determination and a knack for harnessing the power of social media to help her business grow, and grow, and grow...

I'm not a huge book worm but that one is a must read for anyone who wants a little bit of motivation. In fact, I might buy the paper version of the book, just so I can highlight and bookmark all of those little nuggets of wonder.

And remember "..before you start to think you just got lucky, remember it's magic, and you made it yourself."


The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games

Of course I couldn't let July go by without mentioning the commonwealth games. I absolutely loved it. I loved that it was in Scotland. I loved watching the sport and the spectacle of the opening/closing ceremonies. I even loved standing in the soaking wet downpours on Sunday afternoon as those cyclists rode by. I'm glad I got to experience this in my lifetime. I probably wouldn't go to another one. Most of all I loved the way our country (mostly) got behind these games and showed the world what we can do.


And that dear readers was my Good Stuff of July. Sure there was more, but these are the stand-outs.

Angela x