Join us in the Wendy House where we're playing at being adults and sharing the things we're really interested in - young lifestyle without Debrett's or Cosmo
Halloween is a lot of fun and only sad losers say they are too old to dress up but, going crazy on Halloween can get rather costly so I’m here to provide you with some tips to have the most amount of fun without bankrupting yourself.
Picture Credit goes to Lydia Davies (currently posted without her permission because she’s in work)
Costume Tips:
Remember there are some shops that will be invaluable to you; The Works, Primark, Tesco and any discount craft of clothes shops. Also Poundland never forget this wonderful place.
If your costume involves something which is currently in fashion that will save you a load of money, you’ll be able to get cheap versions from tons of cheap clothes shops, as it’s only a costume it won’t matter about price and no worries for customisation. Continue reading →
Before I begin, I both apologise and acknowledge that to most readers this will be rather dry and dull but I’m childishly excited to write it.
I love old crockery, cups, mugs, kitchenware. All of it, the older the better. Alongside this I also love anything that’s rather bright because for me, cooking was never a particularly enjoyable experience but when I moved to university I was left with no choice but to cook for myself and so headed off, over three years ago, with a friend, to trawl the charity shops of Swansea and begin my collection of kitchenware. This is point where most people will go ‘I’m so not interested’. That’s fine, I get it. I’ll never read about your collection of old belts and watch straps and so life goes on happily. Continue reading →
Normally I’m not a girl who will go for a season-dictated style but this year I’m finding myself utterly desperate for all things wine & berry coloured so I’m going to share the few little bits I’ve picked up. Not much but it’s enough to satisfy me that I’m doing my part for consumerism and the lovely autumn aesthetic.
It’s a delicious, deep, dark reddy/purple/wine colour which doesn’t cross the narrow border into a-bit-too-Goth. Continue reading →
Everyone in the world now uses facebook, but if by some miracle you are not one of them then here are some rules to help you join the facebook world and not instantly alienate everyone you know. Just some simple things to remember to keep everyone happy, in no particular order:
Facebook is a great way to get in touch with old friends but it is only acceptable to ‘Like’ really old photos of these friends immediately after befriending them, then you’re just seeing what they’ve been up to. Do this after being friends for a few months and it gets creepy. They will assume you don’t only like the photo but in fact them. Continue reading →
Here is Allen’s return to films based in the USA after a stint of European films, with Vicky Christina Barcelona in the Spanish City and Midnight in Paris set in the French Capital. As soon as the film begins, the iconic Allen font and titles appear and I immediately felt comforted. I adore his films and find his characters utterly intriguing and Blue Jasmine in absolutely no exception. The story tells us of a formerly extremely wealthy socialite, Jasmine, from New York City, who is in decline after the unfortunate happenings of her late husband. She moves to San Fransisco to be with her estranged sister and restart her life. This is a struggle for Jasmine and we see her drinking heavily and becoming even more erratic. Her story is one that happens far more than any of us care to imagine and from the start you can gauge a sense of foreboding and near fatal collapse.
Allen perfectly captures complex characters in his films. He arranges them so utterly perfectly in a way which lets the audience their story. He makes you think about your relationships and makes commentary on modern life. As per his other films, this is a beautifully shot & fabulously set movie with glorious languishing shots of San Fransisco and New York. Beautiful people in beautiful clothes and apartments are sprinkled throughout the film. The cast of familiar and non familiar actors makes for fantastic viewing and Cate Blanchette who plays the lead character Jasmine is utterly divine. She is a perfectly crafted character and she makes you fall for her and feel sorry for her all at once. She is accompanied by Alec Baldwin and Pete Sarsgaard as the two handsome men to her elegant femininity.
I throughly enjoyed the 98 mins of Blue Jasmine and it’s shot to the top of my Top Woody Allen Films List (next being Annie Hall, Midnight In Paris and finally Vicky Christina Barcelona.) I would highly recommend it for its humour and it’s quite social commentary on the way we live our lives today.
Must see for: beautiful clothes, fabulous scenery and challenging story.
Not so good for: star-studded cast (however I find this delightful. It means I don’t spend the whole film trying to work out what I’d seen him/her in before!)
Also it is only on at selected cinemas so double-check before you book!
It’s happened, I’ve come to a point where the dam against my obsessive feminist passions has burst and now it must all spill forth onto this page. I’m sure upon seeing the title ‘Second-Wave Feminist Fiction’ most people will go ‘uuh..no thanks,’ as would I have, but these books aren’t rants against men or manifestos on the benefits of living bra-free. These are fantastic works of fiction which came from authors who spoke about and wrote on women’s issues and feminism in the mid-to-late 20th Century and onwards.
The three I have chosen here all follow a broad theme of sexuality, with Nin’s text being the most explicit by far. I think the ways in which female sexuality is explored and described in these texts is incredibly interesting – simply acknowledging its existence is a step forward from where we tend to still get stuck, culturally. Each of these is based in a reality somewhat shifted from our own (from Atwood’s horrifying, dystopian future to Carter’s world of fantasy and magic) which I think is rather telling in that these texts require a certain distance from the reader in order to gain their power and brilliant – is it possible the extreme distance of environment was necessary for readers to draw similarities to their own lives? Even if feminism isn’t quite your thing, each of these is still really quite a brilliant read. Continue reading →
Wendy House 