Magician Costume
I love to dress up, so naturally Halloween is one of my favourite days of the year. This year it looked set to be even more fun, with two opportunities to don a costume. As well as Halloween night, DCU’s Harry Potter hosted a ‘Halloween Feast’, but more on that in another post.
Usually I do a character cosplay for Halloween (previously I have been Misty from Pokemon, Daphne from Scooby Doo and Wilma from The Flintsons) but this year I decided to be… A magician! One thing that I do without fail every year is create my own outfit from scratch, instead of relying on the ready made costumes. Making my costume is all part of the fun of the season. I say season because, let’s face it, Halloween should be weeks rather than kept as a one night only event!
Top hat and wand: Lucy’s Lounge (Temple Bar)
Collar stockings, heels and blazer: Pennys
Dress: New Look
My favourite aspect of the outfit for me was the blazer with cards. I attached the cards to my blazer with a combination of hand stitching it with black thread and double sided tape. Also, I wore suspenders and stockings to add a touch of va-va-voom to the whole affair.
A group of us headed to the Halloween Ball hosted by DCU’s SU on campus. As soon as I entered the venue I wandered over to an area where filming was taking place… Always a dodgy thing to do when one is intoxicated, but irresistible to the drunken mind at the same time. So I showed off my newly acquired magical skills (thanks to Alan and Hannah for teaching me some tricks earlier in the day) in front of the camera. If you’d like to do me a giant favour you could head over to the Comfort Movement’s Facebook page, click on the Comrades app, watch my video ‘The one where i’m a magician’ and vote for me! The winner gets free Irish Rail travel and an iPad. Amazing!
Anyway, apart from the videoing, it was a pretty uneventful night. I enjoyed having a peek at all the costumes! The picture below shows the outfits of some of my close friends:
From left to right: Me (Magician), Sarah (Christine for Phantom of the Opera), Eileen (Internet Surfer), Sarah (Hippie), Alan (Steampunk)
I mastered the Patronus spell today! Heehee! More info on the image here.
My 4 Simple Goals to do before 2013. Inspired by this blog post by A Beautiful Mess.
Me at Florence and the machine with one of my good friends (Ginger girl) during the summer. I love this picture so much
Tommy & I! We’ll be seeing Florence again at the O2 in December. :D
Belfast Banter (We Were In The 212)
So I landed back on Tumblr after a trip to Belfast with friends to find this ‘unsaved post’ on my dashboard:
“Hi, my name is Tommy.
Claire remembered to sign out of Facebook AND twitter but not this. I mean. Calm down. xoxo
I h8 u.*~*~*~”
And I was quite surprised that he hadn’t posted something utterly embarrassing here. I consider this a warning, next time I leave my Tumblr open for all, I’d say the consequences will be much worse! Lesson learnt.
Anyway, last week I went on a day trip to Belfast with my friends Fiona, Alan, Tommy and Andy. The bus that we got was the 212 from Derry to Belfast, so we can safely say that we were indeed, in the 212.
The first place we explored was a little vintage store that we met on our way to the Ulster Museum. We played dress up and Fiona found a lovely jacket that suited her perfectly.
Sorry for the overly-edited photos, it is the first time I’ve used Photoshop in a while so I felt the need to go overboard on the effects.
Next was the Da Vinci exhibition at the Ulster Museum. As well as seeing a few drawings by Da Vinci, we also had a wander around the other parts of the museum. While I have never had a particular interest in history, I did enjoy at looking at the pretty displays, like this tea table set up underneath our feet! I have zero idea of what the cultural/historical significance of it is but… It’s cute, so I appreciate it!
An example of the obligatory group photo of feet (or sometimes, hands) that must be taken on a group tour.
After our culture injection at the museum it was time to hit the shops. But not before a pit stop at a pub.
At the shopping centre we split up and enjoyed rummaging through the clothes shops that we don’t have in our area. Fiona made some surprisingly sensible purchases (clothes for college); Alan bought an undeniably hipster, but still very cool, bow-tie; and as for me, I purchased a dress on sale in Topshop, that all my friends say is exactly the same as a dress I already own. Oh well, at least it’s not royal blue.
We finished off the day with Mean Girls. Partly watching, partly reciting.
Disappointment of the trip: The only part of the trip that didn’t meet our expectations was our peek into ‘Bookkeepers’. We expected to happily browse hundreds of books, and perhaps when we were finished we could get a hot drink from the adjoining cafe and discuss our purchases. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out this way, as the shop smelt (searching my mind for a delicate way to put this) funny. We couldn’t relax and chat because the place was so tiny it felt like the worker there was constantly listening in on our conversations.
Favourite part of the trip: Having one of those bus conversations. You know the ones. Where you’re heading back from a fun day out, and you can’t help up speak louder than is necessary about frowned upon topics. They start innocently enough, ‘how many guys have you shifted?’, but before you know it you’re exchanging sex stories and old women are giving disapproving looks and kids’ ears are covered. Oh, and Andy is saying, ‘they need to hear about it some time!’. And apparently, that time was 9pm on the 212 bus back to Derry.
More on the image here.
A poster I made to advertise an event at the LOFT. For more information and links to the original photos used click here.
An image I took on a sunny day in my garden. More here.
Today I attempted to draw myself as a Disney princess. It didn’t turn out right, but I’m definitely going to have another go at it in the future.
A drawing I completed today. I tried to merge the lense with an eye, as everything I see these days is a potential photograph! Although I have never used a Lomography camera, it is on my wishlist.
I went for a bike ride today, and captured some images along the way. More here.
Journaling is Blogging Without the Audience
I love to document my life. I enjoy reflecting on my successes and disasters, which is why I have kept diaries and journals since I was a preteen. Recently I have been tempted by the potential audience that a blogging platform allows for, and now I post my thoughts online. But, I have not forgotten my much loved notebooks, filled up with ramblings and doodles.
The first journal (not diary) that I completed when I was 16-17 years old.
I still keep a journal. No matter how fun blogging is, it lacks the freedom of writing/drawing/scribbling in a journal with the safe knowledge that its contents are especially for the beholder, and only shared on an exclusive basis.
My second journal that I completed when I was 17-18 years old.
It is probably important to point out what I consider a journal to be. The difference between the diaries I used to keep and the journals I keep now is that the latter is far more relaxed. When I wrote a diary I tried to write about each and everyday, which can get annoying when you are ‘hungover’ from the late-night Red Bull hyperactivity from the previous night (when I wrote in a diary I was much younger!). Instead, with a journal, you may dip into it whenever you please. The downside to this is, of course, that it can be easily ignored for long periods of time. However, it sits patiently, in a drawer or beside my bed, waiting for when inspiration compels me to pick up a pen.
Another difference is that my journal is much more visual than the old diaries I used to write. When an entry calls for colour and decoration I have no fear in fulfilling its wishes.
The pictures included with this post are from my journals. I have not yet found the guts to share any pages of my old diaries, as they are excruciatingly embarrassing.
feistyvisions asked: Hi there I just felt the need to say that you looked fucking awesome as Claire! Oh my Goodness your outfit was PERFECT! and your hair is super cute! Breakfast Club FTW! :]
Aw, thanks! =D I think I have my Halloween costume sorted already because of this outfit!
80s Cocktail Party
In true high school film fashion, when parents leave a free house, it is time for a rager. My friend has a whole two weeks home alone, and is making the most of it by hosting predrinks and parties. The 80s cocktail party was another excuse to dress-up and have a piss-up. And thus, a challenge was born: To get my hands on the perfect 80s outfit.
I had the notion that I should be Claire from The Breakfast Club. While I don’t possess a Princess personality, we do share the same name, hair colour, and have a bit of a thing for bad boy Bender.
So I rummaged through various charity shops and eventually my outfit came together. All the clothes are thrifted bar the shoes which are from Pennys.
I got my hair cut too! It completed the outfit and I liked the style fresh out of the hairdressers (see image above), but now the pressure is on me to fix my bob everyday. I’ll give it a go, I am officially over my long hair anyway.
The night was a lot of fun, with 80s music (I reckon I perfected Claire’s dance) and chat about films from the era. There was a notable absence of actual cocktails though, we opted instead for the usual vodka and splash, or if you’re Alan, gin and a smidgeon.
Alan’s ensemble was spot-on. He wore a coat that is almost EXACTLY like Bender’s (swoon) and that shirt… It is actually unreal. I have no doubt that he could be transported to the 80s and fit right in, if it were not for the fact that he would use out-of-place phrases like ‘haters gonna hate’ or ‘I’m over it’, every five seconds.
Altogether it was a brilliant night. Bring on the next themed event, not only will I take any excuse for a party I will also grab any chance to dress up!
