I grew up in the 80s and, looking back, it's really easy to see how I fell for glamour. After all, it was everywhere. Was there such a thing as a low key dressed down 80s look? If there was, I paid it no attention to it whatsoever because what I wanted was to be... Continue Reading →
Today is my one year anniversary of working from home, which has started me thinking about the last 12 months. For all its faults and annoyances, I've always loved working in an office. I enjoy spending time around people, the planned and unplanned interactions that litter our days, and the ability to communicate on many... Continue Reading →
As the end of the year approaches, and I get myself ready to meet my friends on Zoom and fill out the Year Compass, I thought I'd also take a little bit of time to write a blog post reflecting on what I'll be taking away from the last twelve months. A global pandemic was... Continue Reading →
Rarely Wears Lipstick is looking a little different at the moment. As my self-hosted WordPress was becoming difficult to maintain with my extremely limited technical knowledge, Topper very kindly sorted out my messy database of a decade's worth of writing and migrated it to wordpress.com. The plan was to, at some point, revamp the look... Continue Reading →
It was tricky to choose a second garment for my Wardrobe Stories series, but I figured it had to be something pre-loved. Something I'd fallen in love with on first sight but that had a previous owner. All of my clothing has stories attached to it, but I started this series as a way to... Continue Reading →
I found her in Beyond Retro on Great Marlborough Street, when I was looking for something to give me a 90s look for an event that I have long since forgotten the details of. I went into the shop thinking I could perhaps find a vintage slip and style it appropriately, but I quickly found... Continue Reading →
When I was young the scent of certain beauty products clearly made an impression on me, as even just looking at a photograph of some of these products in Sali Hughes' book Pretty Iconic brought back the memory of the smell. Strangely, it was often the scent of products my grandparents used that would stick... Continue Reading →
Back in 2003, when my blog looked very different to how it does today, I posted some very short musings pondering the joys of meeting people you don't know off of the internet. The comments thread then played host to the beginnings of a small Manchester blogmeet. That was when I first met Lyle and... Continue Reading →
This weekend just gone should have been the annual Pride in London and UK Black Pride events, but the current situation means that things have taken a different shape this year with Pride returning to its protest roots. Online events have sprung up too; last weekend I attended Bi Pride UK's excellent online Bi-Fi Festival... Continue Reading →
I've been at home since Friday 13th March, and the UK went into lockdown the week afterwards. Now that we're in week 14, markers of time are more important than ever. Without the weekends away, theatre trips, weddings, short courses, exhibition visits and nights out with friends that had filled my diary and have now... Continue Reading →