little black book

André Lorenz Stock is an 18 year old Swedish tee-shirt designer who founded the label Black Book. His designs are quirky and unusual, using a combination of photographs and a few humourous words, which he prints as transfers and then assembles, collage-style onto cotton tee shirts. On their website, it says that the Black Book philosophy is summed up by their logo (pictured above);

"A subtle word with a mysterious meaning that makes you wonder what's written in the black book while the leopardpig screams out for attention"

You gotta love that leopardpig.

Anyway, the label has been so popular that recently, H&M collaborated with André, giving customers from all around the world the chance to submit their designs with the best fifteen being selected by the designer to be made into tee-shirts and sold in H&M stores worldwide.

The final fifteen tees are a varied selection of witty, silly, random and downright weird designs and are available to buy instore right now (some are in the men's section and some in the women's but to be honest, I'd say they're all unisex really). Here are my favourites;

MALE COUTURE, £7.99

BILO THE MONKEY SO WRONG YET SO RIGHT, £9.99

ONE EYED REDHEAD, £12.99

LEOPARD BEARD IT'S REALLY TRENDY, £9.99

You can see all the designs on the H&M website - which is your favourite?

[image source]

Things

Something wonderful happened yesterday. I went into town looking to get a few bits and bobs from Boots (because I pretty much always need something from Boots) and to go into New Look because this month's Cosmo had a 20% off voucher in it and I'm a sucker for a bargain. Now I wasn't expecting anything great to happen; it was just another ordinary Saturday in Liverpool - girls were out and about with their heads full of velcro rollers (seriously, they do that here), scallies were lurking outside McDonalds and blinged up babies reclined in their pushchairs (I actually saw a pushchair lined with fake fur yesterday, no lie) but this day was to become a day of glory...

Aaaanyway, I went to Boots and New Look, bought some eyeshadows and conditioner and a long tee-shirt and a bunch of necklaces and then decided, because apparently I hadn't spent enough money already and because the window display was enticing me, to go to H&M. Now I've come to realise that I am basically a walking advert for H&M, it's very rare that I'll go in there and not buy anything, but yesterday nothing really called out to me. I picked up a pair of very blue jeans but then put them back again because I realised I'd look like a twat in them. Then, suddenly, from above, it appeared, like a beautiful leather bird of paradise; magical and overwhelming, the JACKET.

Oh it's just... there aren't enough words. Let's take a minute to compose ourselves shall we?

Thirty five of your English pounds and worth every single one of them, thank you very much.

Now I know what some people (ie the stupid ones) might be thinking - "a leather jacket? Really? It's Spring - it'll be Summer soon - will you wear it?"

Well I have two things to say to you, firstly, it's cropped, so it's perfect for Spring/Summer. And secondly, I live in England. Even when it's hot, it's still cold. Judging by last Summer, I'll probably need a bloody cagoule, never mind a leather jacket.

So I was the happiest of all the people in town yesterday, I guarantee it. So happy in fact, that I was momentarily blinded by sheer joy and literally went mental in HMV because there was a sale on and whenever there's a sale on I panic and think "Oh my God 4 DVDs for £20 - I should buy all the DVDs, ALL THE DVDs!!!"

You see, I've got this image of me in the future, where I'm rich and have a big house, and in the big house there is (as well as a pool boy with an ass that won't quit) a massive DVD library, which I've built up over the years and has every single film and tv series imaginable. Of course what I always fail to think of is that, by the time I'm a proper grown up with a big house, DVDs will probably have become obsolete and we'll all be watching films by having some kind of chip implanted into our brains that allows us to watch whatever film we want when we close our eyes... anyway, I digress. So I bought Madagascar, Fight Club, the 28 Days/Weeks Later boxset and Atonement, which I've not seen before and watched last night. Bloody hell it was depressing, but their silly posh accents made me chuckle and James McAvoy is beautiful in a "is he beautiful? No, not really...and yet he is..." kind of way, so I still liked it.

But back to the jacket. I had a conversation with my friend fairly recently about how I feel that I'm just not very fabulous anymore. Now please don't read this as me being a big vain loser, because, while I may be those things, I don't mean it like that. It's just that I used to take risks with fashion and wear whatever I wanted and not care; my first year at uni I wore the most ridiculous ensembles, but they were eye-catching and interesting and people said things like "I love that whole Africana vibe you've got going there" and "wow, you look like a model"...I'm coming off as vain again aren't I? Well I don't mean to, honestly, I'm just trying to make a point. You see the thing is, I got lazy, and I spent a lot of time being skint and I just kind of forgot how to shop for fun things. Whenever I had money for shopping, I'd buy the things I could afford rather than the things I loved, and while those things were still cool and pretty and fashionable, they were very rarely *FABULOUS* and I found myself falling into a bit of a style rut. Cue the violins... oh dear...

Well, anyway, the point I'm making is that this style rut is officially over! I can't blame it on not having money anymore because I'm now in a better money situation, which means I'm allowed to shop and buy fabulous things, such as the JACKET! So I'm making a vow to make more of an effort with my outfits and take risks again! RISKS! Starting right now with ensembles such as these... (when I say 'right now' I don't really mean that because it's night time and I'm in my pyjamas, but, you know, the next time I go out)

Jacket - H&M, Skirt - H&M (see? I should have shares in the place!)

I know, blurry, and you can't see my shoes, but my bedroom is incredibly small and it's very difficult to get a full length photo of yourself...

Shirt - H&M (seriously), Skirt - as before (so H&M then?), Shoes - Topshop

I'm actually really liking this whole "let's bare our midriffs like it's 1996" thing, but only with something high-waisted, obvs.

Having a non-curly day... Necklaces, worn as headband - New Look

Can I get away with this? Who cares!? RISKS!!!

And finally, remember the sunglasses I bought from (where else?) H&M last week? I didn't realise it at first, but look! They're two-toned! Which means they are awesome :)

Happy days.

The Prints and the Pauper.

It's Saturday night and I'm at home listening to my parents and their friends getting drunk downstairs. I know, I know - what kind of lame-ass 21 year old am I?! This is the first Saturday night I've had in ages where I've not been in work so really, I should be dancing like a lunatic somewhere to make up for all the nights out I've missed of late. But you know what? I'm tired ok? I've been busy doing all kinds of crazy things this week so just give it a rest and let me boring, yeah?

Anyway, one of my favourite people in the world came to visit me yesterday and apart from a minor mishap involving an exploding bottle of chilli sauce and my H&M oversized shirt/dress thing (which was washed to within an inch of its life when I got home), it was a lovely day. Being the good friend that I am, I showed her the joys of Liverpool shopping. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) both of us were feeling thrifty so we didn't spend a great deal, but I did still manage to snap up some nifty little bits and pieces.

Owl brooch - £4.50 from an amazing vintage jewellery shop in Grand Central, Collection 2000 Glam Crystals eyeliner - £2.70 from Boots, dress - £14.99 from H&M and sunglasses £4.99 also H&M

The dress was really just something I was trying on, I'd actually intended to buy a different dress but it's such a lovely, "flippy" (as my mum called it) shape that I changed my mind. My sister (very sensibly) pointed out that it'd go well with a leather jacket so now I feel like I need a shrunken leather jacket, I think it's important for my personal well-being that I get one soon. The sunglasses were too good a bargain not to buy; I only ever wear bug-eye sunglasses coz I've got a massive head and other sunnies don't look right on me (aviators make me look like John Lennon for some reason).

Can anyone explain why, when I turn the flash off on my camera, the photos go really blurry? Why is that? Why? I was trying to take a photo without the flash so that the brooch and the eyeliner didn't go all reflecty but it just didn't happen. Harrumph. I am in love with the little owl though. The price label called it a "Tweet-twoo brooch" - how ca-yoot is that?!

If you were to take a little look-see into my wardrobe, the first thing you'd notice, as well as the disturbingly massive collection of knitwear I own, would probably be just how many of my clothes are covered in prints and patterns, obviously my new dress is a good example of this. My other most recent purchase, another dress, this time from French Connection via ASOS is also all about the pattern;

Dress - £24, French Connection (ASOS Sale)

Ignore my hair in the photo as best you can, I was between styles (not quite curly because I hadn't scrunched it after washing but not smooth enough to be straight - the Little Curly Girl's eternal dilemma...). Anyway, the dress was a kind of random impulse buy; I generally don't buy online because I'm never sure what size I am and can't be bothered with all the faff of returning things if they don't fit, but I figured since French Connection sizes are pretty consistent and a smock dress is basically a sack with sleeves, (a very nice sack, but a sack nonetheless) I'd take a risk. I bloody love it so it was a risk well-taken. It's very flouncy, and flounciness is pretty much something I always want in a dress, plus I don't usually wear long sleeves so it makes a good change. The drop-waisted shape and the dense black and white print really remind me of these two pieces from the Anna Sui Fall RTW show;

( photos from style.com)

So now I'm thinking I need a cameo brooch (back to the amazing vintage jewellery shop go I), a pair of fringed boots, some lacy tights and, of course, a crazy feathered hat. But then, don't we all need a crazy feathered hat?