sankles

I'm not really that into single-layer cakes. I much prefer a big fat Victoria sponge, preferably chocolate or coffee (or a mix of both), always sandwiched and topped with thick smooth butter cream icing. If you're going to make a cake, make a cake. That doesn't really mean anything, but let's pretend it's deeply profound.

However my allegiance to the double sponge completely falls down when I think about lemon drizzle cake. The cake itself has to be light and fluffy, like a delicious pillow you wouldn't actually want to sleep on. And the drizzle has to be crunchy and tangy. Well, I think this recipe ticks those boxes, but you'll just have to make it for yourself to find out if I'm right. Poor you.

INGREDIENTS

THE CAKE
250g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar
250g self-raising flour
4 eggs
Grated zest of three lemons
Sea salt
Juice of 1 lemon
Dash of milk
1 tsp baking powder

THE DRIZZLE
150g icing sugar
50g caster sugar
75ml lemon juice

Line a tin with greaseproof paper. I always use my 20cm square tin, but you could use a loaf tin with about a 1.5 litre capacity.

Heat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade/Gas Mark 3. (This is 150 for fan ovens.)

Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 6 minutes. It's so important to take the time to do this as it's what makes the sponge light and fluffy. If you can go up to 10 minutes on a hand-whisk then you're a hero with a great cake and excellent arm muscles. (If you have a stand mixer like me then you're a cheat and a terrible, terrible person, kind of). Add the grated lemon zest and the juice of one lemon to the creamed mixture and then beat in the eggs one by one. Add a tablespoon of the self-raising flour with each egg. This stops it from curdling.

Sift the rest of the flour into the mixture with a pinch of sea salt, and the baking powder, and fold it all together gently using a metal spoon and the figure of eight technique. Add about a tablespoon of milk, this makes the cake super moist. If you don't like your cake too moist then you can omit the milk. The word "moist" is so horrible. What's a synonym for moist? Damp? "Mm what a damp cake". No. No, that's much worse.

Pour the mixture into the tin and spread it around with the back of the spoon so it's even. Put it in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. It all depends on your oven, but you'll know it's cooked when you press down on the middle of the cake and it springs back rather than leaving an indent. I also swear by the toothpick method, which is where you put a toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean it's done. I originally learnt about it in the context of brownies as it's a much more accurate way to tell if they're ready than using a knife, but now I use it for everything. Unlike with brownies you don't need to be too worried about over-cooking a sponge, as you have to really forget about them to risk burning. And it's better to have it a bit crispy on top than undercooked and sagging. Plus the inside should still be very moist which makes for a nice texture contrast.

Mix together the lemon juice, caster sugar and icing sugar (I use a mixture of both so there is a bit of crunch from the caster sugar). Using a skewer, or that trusty toothpick, make lots of holes in the surface of the cake, being careful not to go all the way down to the bottom. While the cake is still warm in the tin, drizzle the icing over the top so it goes down the holes you've just made. Do this slowly so all the icing is used, as a lot of it will just run down the sides. I usually keep tipping the tin and pouring the icing back into the bowl so I can repeat the process.

Leave it to cool completely then turn the cake out and serve in thick slices.

And that's it! Enjoy.

Last week we went to Tenerife for a few days as a kind of album three research trip/excuse to eat loads of ice cream and nap in the sunshine. It was GREAT. I loved being able to wear summery clothes in January, and took along this baby blue short suit from ASOS. I'm very much a fan of co-ordinates, and love that there's a big trend for them at the moment. Now most online shops have a dedicated co-ordinates section which is marvellous. It's like in 2010 when there was suddenly a seperate section for jeggings. Only not as confusing (I was very late to jeggings - as in understanding what the word "jeggings" meant).

We took photos on the balcony before we went out for the evening which reminded me of being a teenager on one of my first holidays without parents. Getting all dressed up, hiding your sunburn as much as possible, and wearing way too much glittery eyeshadow and sticky lipgloss. Although in those days I would never have been seen dead with a silver rucksack and silver shoes.

This week's style dissection is the hit 90's TV show 'Beverly Hills 90210', a show that I wasn't allowed to watch when it originally aired because my mum thought the content was too racy. Well nowadays I can watch whatever I want! It's pretty cool! Anyway, here are the 15 most important rules when it comes to dressing, as displayed by the Beverly Hills gang.

1. Everyone needs two hats. A light-coloured one with decorative, oversized flower, and a brown "winter" one that makes you look super mysterious.

2. Get serious about your pajamas.

3. The best way to tell if a bad boy would make a good boyfriend is by his shirts. They should be soft and loose and either pastel-hued or adorned with a crazy pattern.

Sometimes you will feel stylistically intimidated by said boyfriend's multi-colour shirts. Counterbalance his penchant for pattern by wearing the palest clothes you own. Anything in a grey or seasick green would work.

4. Also, bad boys are secretly big fans of 'Child' magazine.

5. If you're a twin you're going to need to learn to sychronise your movements.

5. Fall in love with your drama teacher. Expecially if he looks like a Ken doll from the, 'Barbie Goes To University!' range.

6. One way to get your drama teacher to notice you is to make sure you're wearing the right accesories when you perform the scene you've prepared. If it's a sad or emotional scene you must have shawls.

6. The more studious and academically gifted among us should display our intelligence using blouses with big square sailor collars. And tapestry waistcoats.

7. Pull those stone-washed jeans up as far as they can go. Now do it again. Repeat until your crotch is numb.

8. OK, so people think you're a bit of a ditz. A klutz. A kook. Wacky. Own it.

9. If you're a man, feel free to get your workout gear from Gap kids. Chafing is a good thing.

10. Normal shapes of sunglasses - round, square - are BORING. Live a little, jeez.

11. If you're a woman in your mid-twenties looking for a younger man, wear the biggest fattest headband you can find.

12. Women can definitely wear ties, as long as you wear them loose and with a very baggy shirt.

13. We've all had those, "oh crap we all came dressed as a woman from a Robert Palmer video" moments.

14. If you're a beautiful blonde rich girl with a wayward mother, one colour should dominate your wardrobe more than any other. That colour is blue.

15. And finally, the most important lesson of all that the gang taught us - Lucy Liu has always been beautiful.

We've been working on the soundtrack to the debut film by Charlie Lyne, a documentary about teen films called Beyond Clueless. Over the past few months I've had to hold my tongue from squealing as we were in discussions with Fairuza Balk over recording the narration for the film. But no more! It's all confirmed. Of course Fairuza is a brilliant actress with a varied filmography, and is outstanding in every role (American History X is a particularly WOW performance) but the role I will always associate her most strongly with is Nancy in The Craft.

I can't wait for people to see the film. It's been such a delight to watch it develop over the past year, even if Charlie's analysis has made me see some of my favourite films in a different way, and consequently in some cases lead me to do a 180 on their meaning. Sometimes heartbreakingly. He's always right though, the monster.

I guess now I definitely need to do a Style Dissection of The Craft.

"I drink of my sisters, and I take into myself... all the power of Manon."
"That's all?"

My holiday outfit number two is another co-ordinate from ASOS, this blue and white top and matching shorts. It was great to have a bit of sunshine to wear it in, and now I'm itching for summer so I can pull it out again for festivals and the like.

Can I also take this opportunity to talk about ice cream - or more correctly - gelato. We're lucky to have played in Italy more times than anywhere else (outside the UK). This is mainly because whenever we get offered a show in Italy we reply "YES DEFINITELY" regardless of dates or any other mitigating factors. We're all about food. On tour all we talk about is food. When we're going to have it next, what we're going to have. It's a blissful love affair. And, for obvious reasons, Italy is therefore a dream place for us to play. I will happily consume pretty much every type of meal Italy has to offer, but one delight I've fallen head over heels for over the years is gelato. I'm not that bothered about ice cream in the UK, but gelato in Rome or Venice "YES DEFINITELY". Especially when it's homemade. I've even started picking up on the best gelato machines and will peek behind the counter to see if they've got a good one.

Anyway, we weren't in Italy for our research trip, but that didn't stop me from finding the only homemade gelataria in a 5 mile vicinity. And it was brilliant. Just look at Jeremy's post ice cream face below. #creamdreams

Also guys, we're going to Japan in February, does anyone have any recommendations for, um, like, gelato? (Or any other food or places to go).

OK, so normally I'm a bit wary of projects that use the phrase "women in music", even when they're (mostly) championing those women. This is because ideally I don't think that separation should exist, and when we talk about men who are in music we don't feel the need to highlight their gender. I don't think I've ever read an interview with a male musician where he's asked, "What's it like to be a man in music?" yet I'm asked that in every interview these days. Obviously I know why - women are in the minority in the industry and that sucks - and of course the more women producing, engineering and making music, the better. I guess I just wish it was already an accepted fact that some people working in music are men, and some are women. Also, I'm so uncomfortable about anything that excludes men from the conversation, as they're just as important as women when it comes to things changing.

THAT SAID, I wrote a piece for 'The Girls Are' new print magazine recently because I read their online mag all the time, I like writing, and also because they said I could write about whomever I wanted. An icon from the 90's perhaps? They knew how to get me. I picked Shirley Manson, one of my teen idols.

'The Girls Are' is first and foremost a great web mag about music, and it covers musicians of both genders, but it does also stick its hand up to say "Hey - covering the women doing this is really important to us." Annette Barlow, editor of TGA puts it really well: "We're excited to offer an alternative perspective...Historically, music magazines have been skewed from and for a male perspective. But that’s not reflective of their potential audience. I'm tired of finding music magazines in the 'men's interest' section”.

The new print magazine is gorgeous and features Warpaint on its cover and Kim Gordon inside You can get it here. In the meantime, click here to read my column. (Unless you're a superhero and can read the very small version below, in which case why are you on the internet?? GO AND SAVE SOMEONE/KISS YOUR CRUSH UPSIDE DOWN IN THE RAIN.)

So, judging from the look books and previews for Spring I've been ogling, pastels are going to be big news this year. I am desperate for a baby blue patent skirt and white shoes, but since it's still raining and chilly in London I'm holding off for a bit - much to my bank account's relief. Pastels will always make me think of Edward Scissorhands, that Tim Burton classic starring Winona Ryder in a fluffy yellow wig and Johnny Depp with no eyebrows and a lot of leather. They were dating at the time...(woah sorry I just lost about 20 minutes of my life on tumblr looking at photos tagged with them. People sure are devastated they broke up TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO).

Consequently, this week's style dissection is Edward Scissorhands. It really is perfect for S/S 2014 as it features gorgeous bright colours and pastel hues, but with an added darker edge thanks to Edward's leather and black, gothic look.

First off, let's focus on Joyce. Joyce is a gorgeous older lady who takes a pretty big shine to Edward, and uses her feminine wiles (and wide array of sunglasses and earrings) to try and seduce him.

Check out the crushed velvet pants she's wearing while reclining on a crushed velvet mustard sofa.

Joyce is very keen to match her accessories, seen here with these earrings, scrunchie, and the orange on her dress. And if it's neon, then it's better.

Again, matching those nails to the lip colour. And that haircut (given to her by Edward) - POW! Asymmetric dreams!

Tim Burton and his set designers have always been very talented at creating appealing yet surreal interiors. Joyce's living room and kitchen are no exception. I want it, yet I find it slightly sinister.

This woman really digs circular earrings.

I really feel like it's time I got some huge tinted sunglasses. And those tumblers with the lemons? Cartoonishly perfect.

While Joyce is garish and bold, Kim (played by Winona) is naturally stunning. Blonde hair and brown eyes will always be great, and Winona looks fantastic in this film. She sort of reminds me of Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks. Or maybe that's just because the photo of her below is very Lynch-esque.

Kim wears a lot of yellow - pale lemon hues and white skirts. And she has this plasticky looking bright yellow bag she takes everywhere. It sort of looks like a kid's toy. (Sorry Kim).

If Kim was a real person who loved wearing yellow I bet she would have been thrilled that her school's cheerleading uniform was yellow. But she's not a real person so we'll never know. I'll just have to be thrilled for her. I'm also a fan of her friend's pale green denim jacket.

Kim often wears co-ordinating two pieces (we would have been such good friends in real life, sigh). She mostly picks crop tops with elasticated seams in a peasant style, and then skirts that match. This blue one below is my favourite.

Like Joyce, Kim picks one colour and wears a lot of it. In this case that colour is coral pink.

She's also not afraid of wearing mustard trousers. I am afraid of wearing mustard trousers. I don't think that will ever change, and I'm OK with that.

In the last part of the film Kim wears this white dress (below). It's a very strange cut. Off the shoulder with a big buckle on one side, 3/4 length sleeves, a buttoned corset, and then an A-line knee-length gauzy chiffon skirt. Obviously she looks perfect. I wonder if the costume designer had a bet with someone (the grip or the A.D. perhaps) that there was no outfit Winona could be put in where she wouldn't look gorgeous. Not even a strange prom dress reject from the mid 80's. Needless to say, the costume designer won.

Another lovely lemony top and skirt set in Kim's preferred cut. I love the red buttons too.

Kim's jerky boyfriend (played by a beefier post John Hughes Anthony Michael Hall) has great style too. This leather jacket below is highly desirable, it has "Mum" and "Dad" embroidered onto the pockets!

If I had a classy shirt collar like that I'd look pretty smug too. Great hair as well.

High waisted jeans look rad on this guy, and I love the belt and shirt. Also, Kim's bag again.

Edward's gothic look is made even more intense by the pastels that surround him in every scene. It makes me want to buy pale yellow clothes and wear them with pink lipstick and black patent leather boots.

I'm also into Edward's "my adopted suburban Avon lady mom dressed me up" look. It's actually pretty similar to how Johnny dresses in real life.

Although his hair and makeup maybe aren't top of my list of looks to try...

By the way guys, if any of you want to update your style with a sassy new haircut maybe you should go for one of these cuts below?

No, seriously. YOU LOOK GREAT.

When I was at school my mum had a much-loved tradition of making my sister and I a coffee cake on the first day back in September. It was great, not only because it gave me the Pavlovian response of: September = you need to start working hard again = "ooh coffee cake". Now whenever the leaves turn and there's that first autumnal chill in the air I start dreaming of my mum's perfect back to school treat.

But it's not autumn now, it's winter (although yesterday felt thoroughly spring-like, but let's not talk about that too much - I don't want to jinx it), so I've played around with the standard coffee cake recipe slightly. Namely introducing some chocolate sponge into the mix and adding some grated chocolate on top.

This recipe is a bit tricky. I'm going to warn you about that now. But if you think about it for approximately three minutes before you start, and work out how you're going to do it in your head - you'll be fine. The issue is that half way through the process you have to split the batter and make two different cake mixtures, but we'll do it together, it'll be easy.

INGREDIENTS
250g caster sugar
250g softened butter (I often use "spreadable butter" like lurpack to make the mixing easier)
4 eggs
2 bowls of 125g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoon of milk
25ml of fresh brewed strong coffee

For the icing
600g icing sugar
200g unsalted butter
80ml of fresh brewed strong coffee
Couple of squares of dark chocolate

You're also going to need 2 more extra bowls to divide the batter into.

Heat oven to fan 160C or your oven's equivalent. Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line with non-stick baking paper. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Do this for as long as you can stand, as this is what will make your cake light, fluffy and full of air. Beat in the eggs one at a time adding one tablespoon of flour with each egg. I took two tablespoons from one bowl of flour and two from the other so the amounts of flour left in each bowl were even. When the batter is properly mixed you need to weigh it, I gently poured it into a measuring jug and then poured half the mixture into one of the extra bowls and half into the other. I had about 700ml of mixture so put 350ml in each.

There, that's the hard part. Now pick one bowl to be your chocolate bowl and put back two tablespoons of self raising flour into the flour bag and instead add two tablespoons of cocoa powder. Sieve one bowl of flour into one bowl of batter and one into the other. Add one teaspoon of baking powder to each bowl, stir each mixture in a figure of eight using a metal spoon. Be gentle so you don't knock the air out of the batter. You should now have two bowls of cake mixture, one plain, one chocolate.

Add two tablespoons of milk to the chocolate mix, and 25ml of fresh coffee to the other mix.

Take your greased and lined sandwich tins and drop one spoonful of coffee batter into each, then take another spoon anddo the same with one spoonful of the chocolate batter. Keep doing this so you have lots of big blobs of cake mixture on the bottom of your tin like brown and cream polka dots, use up all the mixture and try to keep the amounts in each tin as even as possible.

The take a spatula or spoon and smooth the surface of the batter. The splodges of cake mix will mingle a bit with each other like below, that's a good thing!

Put them in the oven for 25 minutes, although mine always take closer to 45 minutes. I don't know why. You want to keep them in there until the sponge springs back up when you press it and a knife or toothpick down the centre of the cake comes out clean.

While they're baking, make the icing. Mix together the butter, icing sugar and coffee. I find it helps when the coffee is warm as the butter melts a bit. Keep mixing till it's all smooth and gorgeous.

When the cakes are ready take them out of the oven to cool. My sponges had a marble effect on one side and a cow print look on the other.

Then when the cakes are cool (after about an hour) you can ice those bad boys! Use half the icing on top and half for the middle. When icing the bottom sponge don't worry too much about getting it to the edges as the weight of the top sponge will spread it out for you.

Finish it with some grated dark chocolate, and then eat it ALL UP.

OK, so I have to be honest: the reason I haven't done a Nail File for about two months is because my nails were completely destroyed after wearing wraps and foils constantly on tour. I got home at Christmas and my nails were in desperate need of love and attention, and I must have not given them enough. They were very weak and just broke off. I'm sure this was largely my fault - the foils and wraps are so durable I left them on as long as possible, sometimes up to two weeks... when the labels on the packaging say "can last as long as ten days!" So, my bad. But also I think that the adhesive which sticks the foil to the nail must be pretty strong, and therefore quite damaging to the nail.

But...but...I LOVE NAIL WRAPS. Nail varnish always chips and flakes for me because I'm not particularly careful with my hands when I'm wearing it, and the patterns and colours you can get with wraps are so often really, really, really awesome. For example this sunset-esque blend from Nail Rock.

So I'm making a rule that I don't keep them on longer than a week, and hopefully that will curb my post-wrap-weak-nail issue. I'll let you know.

As for these ones, I like them a lot, although I do wish the blend was...shorter, I ended up having to pick between mainly blue nails or mainly orange/green ones. When it would have been nice to have the enitre rainbow on my fingertips. That's all I ask for in this life.

By the way if anyone knows any gentler nail foils, or some really awesome nail varnish that can withstand my carelessness, please let me know in the comments.

February seems to be the month you go to the cinema with a serious face and watch serious drama about serious, important issues. Fine by me, I can do serious.

That said, it's also the month that Lego Movie is released, and I'm pretty sure that isn't going to be presenting us with too much in the way of challenging subject matter, but maybe it's a metaphor for our society's increasing acceptance of plastic surgery...We just don't know. Yet.

HER

Every time we see the trailer for this in the cinema Jeremy whispers, "Is this the one based on that Black Mirror episode?" If you're not aware, Black Mirror is Charlie Brooker's brilliant series where he creates dystopian versions of the future where humans are dangerously reliant on technology and consumption of viral media. One episode in the most recent series featured a woman in a relationship with a computer-generated robot version of her deceased husband. From what I can tell - after a 3 minute Google - Her isn't anything to do with Brooker's story, but it does feature a man falling in love with a computer. That's not really a new thing; films have had characters falling in love with robots, or statues, or inflatable dolls for ages. There's the film Mannequin where Andrew McCarthy is enamoured of a store mannequin (played by Kim Cattrall) and somehow wills her into reality and dances around the department store with her. It's super weird. Then there's Weird Science, a John Hughes classic in which two greasy teenage boys create their perfect woman - AKA Kelly LeBrock - via a Memotech MTX computer, which I think is a bit like the one I used to play Frogger on as a kid. Of course the closer we get to actually having fantasies like this become a reality, the more sinister and less "Phwoar Kelly looks great in that cut-off T-shirt" they seem. Anyway, I'm keen to see what Her director Spike Jonze has to say on the subject.

THE MONUMENTS MEN

This is how George Clooney introduced himself on his reddit AMA"Hello reddit, George Clooney here. I'm a filmmaker who's worked on films you may know. I was also a guest star on The Golden Girls." Great. TMM is the latest film Clooney is directing, co-writing and starring in, the others being Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind, Leatherheads and The Ides Of March. Reviews for this one have not been great so far, but I'm still pretty keen to see this true story of how this Allied platoon went about recovering artworks from Nazi Germany. Bill Murray is also in it. And the always brilliant Hugh Bonneville.

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

There needs to be a new definition for actors in Hollywood, one for those - like Bradley Cooper and Michelle Williams - who start out in sclock and end up in brilliance. We could call them Schlobrills. (For the record, I love a lot of schlock, Dawson's Creek hello?!) But to be able to transcend those sickly sweet rom-coms and play troubled, complex, serious characters takes a lot of skill - And an open-minded casting director. Matthew McConaughey would be in that category. He first found fame as the tanned, Texan, blue-eyed classic American male lead when we watched him fall in love with Kate Hudson's sassy women's magazine writer in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. It was pretty funny, but also packed with cliches and stereotypes. Those two re-united for Fools Gold, which I've never seen and have heard I probably shouldn't bother. Then he was the Peter Pan ladies' man who didn't want to move out of his parents' house in Failure To Launch. Over and over again his type was rougish bachelor who really doesn't want to fall in love but then, oops, meets a woman so awesome that he can't help himself. Oh and she probably changes him in the process. But then he slunk away for a while, and now he's crafting this wonderful career for himself in beautiful, clever films like Mud and Killer Joe, and he totally stole the (strip) show in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike. Also, Wolf Of Wall Street - can we all just bang on our chests and hum for a second? I feel like he'll probably win the Oscar for his portrayal of Ron Woodruff in DBC, and I feel like he'll probably deserve it.

LEGO MOVIE

I think the success of this film is going to largely be down to thecasting, and they've done pretty well by putting Chris Pratt as the voice of the lead. I love this Pratt. He's exceptional as Andy Dwyer on Parks And Recreations (there's a great interview with Michael Schur the co-creator of the show on AV Club where he talks about how instinctive Pratt is, and how naturally funny. Also apparently he never spits out his food after takes). I want to watch the film solely for the moment in the trailer where there's a song in the car which goes, "Everything is awesome" and then Pratt's character exclaims, "I LOVE this song". That really makes me laugh. It's also getting brilliant reviews.

So now that Fairuza Balk (AKA Nancy from The Craft) is narrating the documentary we're soundtracking, I'm eager to fully assess the outfits of those teenage witches. I remember watching The Craft when it was first released. My sister had rented the VHS from Blockbuster and I pinched it out of her room and watched it secretly. I loved the film, but was also pretty scared by it. I've always been fascinated by witches and used to pretend I was one (I have home-made spell books to prove it - they're totally bonkers) but the idea that magic could corrupt and destroy was relatively new to me. It's something they didn't cover much in The Worst Witch books. Mildred Hubble had no interaction with boys, and never had to deal with racism.

The Craft was released in 1996, and it's set at a Catholic school, so there are a lot of kilts, mountains of tartan/plaid, and a great line in knee socks, which is obviously excellent.

However, often they wear their regulation skirts, blazers, shirts and ties with ankle socks and sneakers.

I had those One Star Converse (worn by Christine Taylor's character, above) when I was younger, in green suede. I wish I still had them now. For you fact fans - Taylor is married to Ben Stiller, and she's a great comedic actress. I especially love her work in The Wedding Singer.

I like how in The Craft the four friends/witches start dressing more and more similarly as their friendship progresses. I think that happens a lot with good pals. Although Nancy is the only one to play around with patent and very dark lipstick.

(I definitely feel that if I do a post with outfits inspired by this film, a nose ring will be imperative.)

As you can see from above, Nancy is the kind of girl who wears black patent/shiny leather trousers at a cosy sleepover where the agenda is: watch Wheel Of Fortune and eat ice cream while lounging on pillows. I bet those trousers creak loads when she moves. Leather is so embarrassing like that.

She also owns these AWESOME jacquard trousers and matching crop-top.

The other girls favour long skirts, layers of mesh, long-sleeved T-shirts, and dungarees. Oh, and big leather jackets.

And they all wear a LOT of necklaces. Nancy in particular. In fact, the more crazy (and powerful) she gets, the more beads and chokers she slaps on. I wonder if an excess of neck adornment is actually the real way to be magic. Hmm...*checks Harry Potter for mentions of Harry's huge gold medallion*

Nancy really goes for 'Classic Witch Look' full throttle towards the end of the film. Her hair evolves from slicked back to wild and unrestrained, she wears this long coat with huge bell sleeves (above) to school, and pairs her kilt with a big mesh petticoat. You can kind of see it in this screengrab below where she's rising off the floor. (Of course she is.)

Also I direct your attention to Bonnie's (played by Neve Campbell) lace tights.

And Nancy completes the witch look perfectly with these pointy hobnail boots. Excellent for gliding across the carpet with finesse.

While Nancy turns towards to the dark side of magic, Sarah, the newest addition to their witchy foursome (quick, call the corners!) is the only one who can stop her. Sarah has natural magical abilities which she shares with the other girls, but whilst they are consumed by their new powers, Sarah remains "good". Her journey is reflected in her outfits.

She begins the film in pale colours and headbands, and no school uniform. I call this look, "The Outsider"...

But gradually she moves more towards a more adventurous bouffant hairstyle, dark colours and even darker eyeliner...

(Check out Nancy's hair clips in the background).

Until finally, in the middle of the film, there is this awesome moment where all four girls are stylistically united.

Rosaries, T-shirts, braces/suspenders, those kilts, and a vest/waistcoat. What's not to love?!

But sadly their love for each other goes into a decline. Sarah reverts back to the straight and narrow, both in her behaviour, and her willingness to wear her school uniform correctly.

So sad.

I like Rochelle's (played by Rachel True) shirt in the pic above. It's decorated with loads of butterflies, which is a great call back to an earlier, crucial scene featuring butterflies. I love it when costume designers do things like that.

At the end of the film...Actually I don't want to spoil it, so instead here are the outfits worn by Bonnie, Rochelle and Sarah during their last conversation. Needless to say, the outfits are VERY SIGNIFICANT. Kind of.

I'm reeeeeally not sure about Bonnie/Neve's super long shiny shirt. There, I said it.

I feel like I haven't talked enough about knee socks in this dissection. So here are all the times Bonnie/Neve wears knee socks in the film. #kneesocks

Still want to be a witch FTR.

A couple of weeks ago I had the treat of visting the ASOS showroom in their expansive, gorgeous, offices. While there I sneaked a peak at the upcoming S/S collection, which will hit the site pretty soon. It's mighty fine, I have to say. Lots of pastels, a catalogue of co-ordinates, and rows and rows of beautiful dresses. Print also features heavily. I took a photo of their inspiration for the season (below) and as you can see it's heavy on purples and pinks, chevron prints, and diagonals. Oh, and swirly oil-and-water type colours.

Those ideas are realised in the dresses below - red lace! - and props to these guys for being fearless when it comes to Hawaiian prints. I love this purple, peach and baby blue dress (below right) and can't wait to get my hands on the shorts below.

So bonkers, I love it. They also had this crop top and trousers co-ordinate, which made me very happy. Geo print too!

My favourite piece, though, had to be this immaculate peachy bomber. So delicate, and decorated with roses: it's a summer dream.

Needle & Thread (AKA ex-All Saints womenswear design director Hannah Coffin) has been making hand-embellished dresses for a while and they're STUNNING. I have one of her All Saints dresses and it's a total babe, although very heavy. And no surprise - every inch of the designs are covered with beads and sequins. Below some are some of the new dresses for this year, and they don't disappoint...

This outfit is inspired by Edward Scissorhands after doing a Style Dissection of it last week. While I do really like this look, and can't wait to wear it when summer rolls in (there should be an "if" in that sentence but let's pretend that's not the case), I think it would have worked even better if I was in possession of Kim/Winona's blonde fluffy hair. (Hers is the good fluffy.)

In the film Kim is a big fan of yellow and white so I stuck to that with these Whitney Eve shorts - yes, Whitney from The Hills/The City WHAT?! - and ASOS knitted T-shirt, but then added in some black patent shoes and that Lulu Guinness black lip clutch to represent Edward's harder, darker look. The platform heels are from Topshop, and despite being higher than Kilimanjaro (almost), they're very comfortable.

I'm a little bit in love with the knit. It's way more 70's than I normally dare to go, and a bit kitsch, but then isn't kitsch what Joyce is all about?

So, what I didn't realise when I watched this film for the first time many, many years ago, was that the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was real. It was a league founded for female players during the second World War, and existed between 1943 to 1954. During which time, according to Wikipedia, 600 women played ball. Of course I know those women as Dottie, Kit, and "All the way" May, fictional characters in the 1992 film League Of Their Own. Who were played by Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Madonna respectively. Yeah, that's right, Madonna.

Here she is timing how long Tom Hanks takes to pee (you kinda had to be there).

This film is still great 22 years (gulp) after it's release. Watching it again I may have cried. Twice. But let's move on from that, because I need to draw your attention to the fact the women in this film look flawless. They're stunning. Just look at Geena. She is a classic 1940's beauty. She is the living breathing embodiment of one of those women they based all the propaganda posters on.

Perhaps one explanation for her great looks is the film's accurate portrayal of the finishing school all the ball players were made to go to (does that piece of information require a spoiler alert? Sorry if so). Yes, it wasn't enough to be a good hitter or a fast runner, you needed to attend Helena Rubenstein's charm school classes, where you would pick up your essential beauty kit. You would also learn about personal hygiene, etiquette and manners. Oh and that under no circumstances were you allowed to wear your hair short, or smoke or drink in public places. And the women had to wear lipstick AT ALL TIMES.

Woah. And they also had to wear this uniform, which was pretty short by 1940's standards.

Here are the ladies at some of their classes, which seem to have covered "how to sit in a chair" and "how to sip tea".

Of course in the film not all the women are happy to kowtow to the regulations set up by the owner of the league, and the same was probably true in real life. The character in the film who is most rebellious? Well, Madonna duh. She jive dances in her saddle shoes and print dress, she kisses soldiers, she smokes, and she seems to be wearing leather trousers.

I love me some saddle shoes and white ankle socks.

Oh and Madonna AKA May also threatens a small child with a baseball bat. While wearing a charming polka dot dress, I must add.

Apparently Madonna found the filming quite dull, she wrote this to a friend in NY:

"I cannot suffer any more than I have in the past month, learning how to play baseball with a bunch of girls (yuk) in Chicago (double yuk). I have a tan, I'm dirty all day, and I hardly ever wear make up. Penny Marshall, Lavern (sic), Geena Davis is a Barbie Doll, and when God decided where the beautiful men were going to live in the world, he did not choose Chicago. I have made a few friends but they are athletes, not actresses. They have nothing on the house of extravaganza. I wish I could come to N.Y."

Back to the clothes. Yes, print dresses are a big deal in this film, it's the outfit of choice for the off-duty ball player. And there are some beautiful patterns on display.

(Madonna/May teaching her friend to read using an erotic novel. Obviously).

I love Lori Petty's/Kit's (far right) vegetable print dress in this picture above. Incidentally Lori Petty also starred in Point Break, another film which definitely needs to be dissected.

Can we also just take a moment to appreciate this monogrammed cardigan worn by Geena Davis/Dottie. Guys, the coloured buttons, I mean...

Davis and Petty play sisters in the film and they sport some pretty sweet co-ordinating outfits. I think this one below is my favourite. The buttons on the trousers, and the high waists and tucked in tops - great.

And here are their "We're leaving home" ensembles, heavy on blue, white and stripes.

The award for the best outfit of the whole film has to go to Madonna though, for this wonderful look. I wish she dressed like this every day.

Oh and here on the right is what the casting director in 1992 thought Madonna would look like in her 60's.

I am in Tokyo for the first time this week, so I apologise in advance for all the excited Japan-based posts I will be doing in the next two weeks. Can't wait for Disney Sea!

I had so much fun putting together an outfit inspired by The Craft after doing a Style Dissection of the film a couple of weeks ago. It's not a look I would ever normally wear, but it felt pretty badass, and it was totally worth the pain to get that nose ring (it's fake). The leather jacket is from Warehouse and was warm and cosy so I hardly minded that I had bare legs above the knee (in February). I'm pretty sure any floral dress would have worked, but I think having a bit of black in the print was more "Nancy".

I'm also glad it required trying out a darker lipstick. I rarely stray from my standard letterbox red - I have a shoebox under my bed gathering dust, filled with lipsticks that are all basically the same colour. It's dumb, so it was nice to have the excuse to try something darker. This lipstick is from Lord and Berry and it's their 'Vogue' one in Black/Red. It's lovely and matte and stayed put for ages.

The cross necklace is from Religion, it really should be a rosary, but it was the closest I could get.

On the day we did the photos (by the way, massive thanks to Jeremy who takes all these) the weather was bright, but as soon as we went outside the wind started blowing. Really blowing (see photos below). Now, while I can't be certain that it was Manon, I'm 98% sure it was. I also can't promise that I won't keep dressing like this and potentially discover my dark side and the innate magical ability that doubtless dwells deep within me. So if halfway through our next gig I suddenly run my hands over my face and hair and morph into Jeremy...well...alert the authorities I guess. Who are the magical authorities? Dumbledore?

Years of blow drying and straightening (often daily – past me, you were a fool) left my hair completely fried. I wanted it long but it would always break off, so I stopped all that and started leaving it to dry naturally. Which was a bit of a nightmare at first. Now I kind of know how to deal with it, and two things which have really helped (alongside cutting out heat) are washing it with shampoos and conditioners that are sodium lauryl sulfate- and silicone-free. My favourites, after extensive testing of products on myself, are the ones pictured above.

Now of course people have been using silicones and sulfates on their hair and skin for decades, and most people have no problems, so obviously if you have stuff that works for you then great, but as someone with naturally curly hair that has a tendency to be fluffy, frizzy and frazzled (all the frickin' f's) switching to these really helped. I also have sensitive skin, so sensitive it's basically emo, and this has helped with that too.

Sodium lauryl sulfate is in loads of stuff, it's what makes the lather in shampoo but also washing powder. And some people think it's damaging to our skin. Silicone meanwhile coats the hair with a water-proof covering which can build up and cause problems. There's loads more on these theories within Googling distance.

I like this L'Oreal Eversleek shampoo above because it still lathers. When I tried Dr. Bronner's - which I use on everything from silks to face - it did give my hair an incredible clean. My hair actually squeaked, but I found it didn't lather that much so I ended up using more than I probably needed to.

And this conditioner by Tresemme is brilliant. It comes in huge bottles, which is handy because I like using a lot of conditioner, but it also makes travelling with it slightly problematic. Let's just say I'm becoming a highly skilled decanter.

Finally, my last can't-live-without hair item is my Mason Pearson brush. My mum told me about them after reading a piece by India Knight in The Times where she extolled the benefits of brushing with one of these 100 times a day. Hold my hands up, I'm now a believer.

I don't know about you, but I've always been a bit wary of the disco outfits from the 70s and early 80s. So many creations from itchy man-made fabrics, clothing you're going to be gyrating in all night – surely that's a recipe for disaster? And the their glitzy look walks the fine line between fun/chic and just, well, cheap.

However, I recently re-watched Last Days Of Disco and was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the costumes. The rules for success when it comes to classic party clothes seem to be a great cut, heavy on sequins, and keep the jewellery simple or even non-existent.

If you've not seen Last Days Of Disco, which was directed by Whit Stillman and released in 1998, it's the story of two female Hampshire graduates – Charlotte and Alice – who work at a publishing house by day, and by night attend the hottest 80's clubs in Manhattan. The club scene of the early 80's is portrayed as a wonderful time of freedom to be who you want and dress however you want. Yuppies getting down alongside two men who've dressed as a harlequin and a lion is a particularly awesome moment.

Do those own those costumes or did they just rent them for the evening? That takes a lot of planning, that's a big commitment. WOAH imagine if the yuppie suit is actually a costume?! MIND BLOWN.

I also love this extra below who pops up a few times during the film. I call him “silver dream guy”.

I like how he didn't paint his neck or hands. So it's like a weird silver jumper.

Alice, played by Chloe Sevigny is conservative and innocent, while Charlotte, played by Kate Beckinsale, is one of those girls at school who would always tell you truths about yourself you didn't really want to hear. And usually prefix those revelations with phrases such as, “No offence but...” and end them with, “I just didn't want you to hear it from someone else...” or, “I thought it better you knew”.

Their outfits reflect their personalities, which is handy. Let's look at Alice first. This lady likes dresses, she only wears trousers once in the whole film, and then it looks like she's only wearing them because Charlotte has made her.

I like this daytime outfit, you can't go wrong with a shirt dress and nude heels in summer.

Clearly a lover of the blue, this paisley shirt below reminds me of the wallpaper I'd like to have in a downstairs bathroom one day, when I live in the suburbs and teach piano and am scared of getting on the Tube.

At night her outfits have a bit more shimmer, although she still often sticks to pastels, and consequently looks quite sweet. Especially since she is a fan of ponytails, barrettes and blue eye-shadow. Her look is very much Elizabeth-Wakefield-In-The-”Clubbing”-Book-Where-She-Has-One-Drink-And-Accidentally-Starts-A-Nuclear-War. (not a real book).

But look, she can do darker colours too, and I have to give her props for wearing my favourite outfit of the entire film, the sequin boob tube and highwaisted trousers pictured below.

Yeah, she really nails it when it comes to sequins.

Can we just pause for a moment and admire this woman's outfit below? Those boots are higher than thigh, they're almost chaps. And with a leotard and huge feathery necklace? Hey, WHY NOT?

Charlotte on the other hand is much more relaxed in style. She goes to the clubs in denim jackets and trousers (always black). (I also like the sparkly one-shoulder dress Alice is wearing in the picture below. Although I'm not sure about the pale pink lipstick accompanying it. It's either really really awful, or really really brilliant...)

Charlotte imbues sexiness into everything she wears. Even just unpacking the car to move into their new apartment she looks slammin'.

And boy oh boy does this woman like a halterneck.

Alice wears this dress above later on in the film which I think is pretty sweet. When I lived with my best friends we were always wearing each other's clothes.

In that still above where Charlotte is holding candles they're getting everything ready for their pre-disco dinner party which seems to be how they did things back then. I wish people invited me to their houses for dinner parties before attending ornate discos in Manhattan.

I love this peplum dress below. I'm a bit scared of peplums, partly because I'm not sure how to spell peplum, but this could be the peplum to change all that.

GUYS QUICK, COME LOOK AT THIS NECKLINE

GUYS QUICK, COME LOOK AT THIS MAN IN THE CLUB IN REGENCY DRESS

GUYS, QUICK, IS THIS WOMAN NAKED?!

Aaaaaaand that's the issue with getting married in a strapless dress and wanting photos of just your faces.

I'm going to leave you with this picture of Cher trying to steal Alice's date. LEAVE IT CHER.

My band Summer Camp played our first show in Tokyo last week. Before we went I was so excited/worried that I'd built up the city way too much in my head and that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I was thinking about it A LOT you guys. Well it exceeded them. I fell completely in love, I don't think I've ever been so sad to leave somewhere, it was actually a bit unsettling. My first ever holiday romance was with a city, and I was completely overwhelmed by all the things to see, do and eat.

The show we played at O-Nest was really fun - thanks to everyone who came. And thank you so much to Sam and all the people at Alive who put us on. We loved the way they put the booking power into the hands of their audience -it was wonderful to have that connection with the people who came to see us in Tokyo. Oh and it also gave us the chance to buy masses and masses of matcha and creamcheese-flavoured Kit Kats.

Anyway, today's post is all about Tokyo Disney Sea. I've been to Disney in California and Florida several times (I'm kiiiiinda obsessed), so I loved going to a park that neither of us had been to before. Especially since it had brand spanking new rides they don't have in the other parks, and a concept and layout entirely its own –the Mysterious Island area was a particular favourite. And the food, oh boy, the food.

It's famously the most expensive theme park ever built, and we were awed by the design. You enter the gates and are immediately confronted by a chunk of a 1930's New York harbour on the left, and a gorgeous miniature Venice on the right. Oh and a huge volcano slap-bang in front of you. Then Mickey and Minnie arrived on a huge ice-cream-shaped boat, singing a delightful song of welcome, telling us it was the "year of happiness". And then the volcano exploded. Yep. Brilliant.

We had pretty much the perfect day. Tiramisu ice cream sandwiches at 11am, walking around with mouse ears on our heads all day, the brilliant rides, amazing Japanese food at Restaurant Sakura on the waterfront, and then when we were taking photos of my outfit two super lovely girls asked to be in the photo with me.

Speaking of the outfit, it's an ASOS leopard print skirt (which has a matching jumper!), and the top is from Lazy Oaf. I wore it loads during the week, I love pizza, and I especially love clothes that talk about pizza.

Love you forever Tokyo Disney Sea.

I've not had this book for a long time, but I've already re-read it several times. The latest graphic novel by Faith Erin Hicks (who I've written about before) is funny, sweet, and beautiful drawn and coloured. It deals with the awesome-ness of being a superhero - having special powers and being able to save lives - along with the issues of where to actually buy a cape. And what if you stumble into your nemesis at a job interview? Also did you ever think about whether or not Batman et al put on sunscreen around their masks? Superhero Girl has to deal with some pretty weird tan lines.

It's great. Five enthusiastic thumbs up.

RECIPE FOR LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

HOLIDAY OUTFIT 1: BABY BLUE SUIT

STYLE DISSECTION: BEVERLY HILLS 90210

I BIND YOU NANCY

HOLIDAY OUTFIT PART 2: STRIPES AND GELATO

'THE GIRLS ARE' MAGAZINE

STYLE DISSECTION: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

RECIPE FOR MOCHA CAKE

NAIL FILE: NAIL ROCK STARDUST NAIL WRAPS

FILMS FILMS FILMS: FEBRUARY 2014

HER

THE MONUMENTS MEN

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

LEGO MOVIE

STYLE DISSECTION: THE CRAFT

ASOS S/S 2014 SHOWROOM VISIT

INSPIRED BY: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

STYLE DISSECTION: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

HELLO TOKYO

INSPIRED BY: THE CRAFT

SILICONE AND SULFATE FREE HAIR

STYLE DISSECTION: LAST DAYS OF DISCO

TOKYO DISNEY SEA

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERHERO GIRL