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BEYOND CLUELESS PREMIERE AND LIVE SCORE

April 17, 2014, 6:41 am
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Very happy to announce that we will be doing our live score for 'Beyond Clueless' in Sheffield on the 10th of June at 6pm in the Crucible Theatre.  It will be part of Doc/Fest, which is Britain's biggest documentary festival, and we're all extremely excited.

If you want to come and watch there are tickets for sale on the film's website.  Charlie, the film's director, did a great interview with The Cut, which also happens to be one of my favourite magazines.

And finally here is a picture of the film's narrator, Fairuza Balk, posing with a poster from the film designed by the dreamy Hattie Stewart.  I made the image as big as possible as you can never get enough Nancy.


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WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT STYLE FROM TLC'S "CREEP"

June 19, 2014, 5:12 am
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TLC absolutely 100% changed my life. In addition to being gorgeous, incredible break dancers and unbelievably competent songwriters, they taught me the importance of not chasing waterfalls. They also kept me away from "scrubs," which was the pre-Y2K term we used for creepsters, d-bags, and skeezes.
I thought I had a pretty comprehensive view of their whole project back then, but hindsight is 20/20, and looking back now I see the most important thing T-Boz, Left Eye, and Chilli taught us all was how to dress. Here are five examples to illustrate what I'm talking about: 
1. If you're having a bad hair day, put a tea cozy on your head.  
2. Recognize the importance of showing your stomach as much as possible. You've worked hard to get those abs—own it!
3. When it comes to hair accessories, always co-ordinate with your eye shadow.
4. Wear your Sony Walkman everywhere. Your life is awesome and it deserves a constant soundtrack, even if you're risking death while blasting Shai on your bike. 
5. If TLC had just one takeaway, it would be this: spray paint isn't just for walls, friend. 
To uncover more fashion and life lessons from this terrific trio, I've put together a handy guide to style, as sourced from the video to TLC's "Creep."

Match the shade of your lipstick to the color of your gigantic silk shirt.
Don't just wear tangerine, make it a lifestyle.
It’s not enough to have silk pajamas. You need silk pajamas and a matching silk overcoat. If you're lucky enough to find this combo, wear it everyday.
When teaching your friend who didn't make the band how to dance, always do it in black and white. This will add to the emotional depth of the moment.
I know you think you can't have a haircut that's crazy short at the back, blonde on top, and black underneath with seriously short bangs and two longer sections of hair hanging down around the side of your face like dog ears, but you can. And it will look good. So good that trumpet players everywhere will peer down your off-the-shoulder top as you sing.
This video also features rotating blue metal tubes, therefore they are every woman’s must-have fashion accessory. Although like most fashion accessories, these appear to have no practical use.
If you're a dude, get a corduroy jacket so large the sleeves hang down around your knuckles making you look like a 13-year-old boy growing into his Bar Mitzvah suit. This should be worn over a bare, oiled chest, and light blue jeans. Jean size? Colossal.
Ladies. We already know we should be wearing men's boxers under our jeans. Just remember to pull up your underwear so you get a near-atomic wedgie. This gives the desired ruched effect that will bunch over the top of your waistband and make you look amazing. Discomfort goes hand-in-hand with looking fly. Deal with it.
This goes without saying: use scrunchies for your pigtails, yeah?
Love you forever, TLC. 

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOISEY
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THE NEW ARCHIE BOOKS ARE REALLY, REALLY GREAT

June 21, 2014, 5:05 am
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It has been a week of comics.  On Wednesday we went to the launch of The Wicked + The Divine, the new outstanding series by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.  It's packed full of their usual wit, insane creativity and gorgeous art.  And it's such a good concept for a comic, I don't want to spoil it, but it's big fat juicy burger good.

Then on Thursday we checked out the Comics Unmasked exhibition at the British Library, which is well worth a visit.  It's incredible to see a copy of The Illustrated Police News from 1888 depicting the horrors of Jack The Ripper sat in the same room as a strip of Beryl The Peril.  There are some truly awe-inspiring pieces of art on display, and some chilling artifacts such as Bulldog, the National Front's illustrated magazine for young people (I just tried to Google the date that it stopped being published, and instead spent a lovely ten minutes reading about bulldogs on the website for Modern Dog magazine).

All this made me want to go home and read my new Archie books,  I'm a huge Archie fan and I love what they've done with the new additions to the iconic series.  I don't think it's too much of a spoiler, considering the cover images, to mention that the books feature gay marriage, alternate universes, and Archie yet again trying to be a musician.  Although his experiences in this storyline seem far more realistic than the dreamlike surreal adventures of 'The Archies'.  Betty and Veronica forever <3
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PLACES I WISH I'D GROWN UP

June 23, 2014, 4:00 pm
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We don’t have much choice as to where we're born.  Some people live out their teenage days beneath sunshine and blue skies, while others bide their time between holidays, surrounded by grey clouds and tube strikes. For the latter escapism becomes an attractive prospective and we often choose to live vicariously through the lives of the characters in our favourite films, placing ourselves in their geographical locations and imagining a better life for ourselves. 
I grew up adoring the America I saw in films and TV shows.  Not really "real" America, as I've never actually lived there so I don't know what it would be like, but on the whole fictional America seemed like a pretty awesome place to be.  Here is my pick of the best neighbourhoods.

Wilmington, North Carolina
I don’t know much about Wilmington North Carolina – it always makes me think of that song ‘Oh Carolina’ by Shaggy. Then I get sidetracked and start wondering about how he makes his voice go so low, and whether it’s like that in real life, etc etc etc. Yeah, so that pretty much concludes my knowledge of Carolina. However for this piece I obviously had to do ‘research’ so it ‘made sense’ and wasn’t all about Shaggy, so I can tell you now that North Carolina is situated, ironically, in the south of the USA.
Wilmington is a pretty big city which sits on the Cape Fear River, which has to be one of the best rivers in the world, even though its name reminds me of those lame No Fear T-shirts people used to wear in the 90’s. The ones with slogans like ‘If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space’. 
The most important fact about Wilmington is that it’s where numerous incredible films were produced. So if I’d grown up here I probably would have disappeared into the sewers to find some mutant turtles and returned some weird rat/human hybrid, worked at a record store with Renee Zellweger and shaved my head, seen Brandon Lee get shot dead by accident and made friends with Bruce Lee at the funeral, found a human ear on my way home and dated Isabella Rosselini, and totally become best friends with a melodramatic Joshua Jackson and Katy Holmes only to realise James VanDerBeek was pretty cool too.
Now that would have been a childhood.
Shermer, Illinois
It doesn’t matter that this place is fictional, because if we’ve learnt anything from A-Ha videos, it’s that it is possible to be dragged into the TV and live your life in a story. So that’s fine. I can live in Shermer if I want. I can have red hair and still pull off wearing pink, I can have a best friend called Ducky with a huge quiff, tube socks and penchant for lip-synching to Otis Redding, I can create a dream woman using an Amstrad, I can stick it to the man even while confined in detention, I can even put a brick on the accelerator of my father’s Porsche and watch it crash through his floor to ceiling glass window. Or I could just be that girl on the bus with the neck brace and wild hair. Yeah, I’d probably be her.
The only probably with living somewhere fictional is that you’d be stuck having to relive different scenes over and over again, with no ability to change anything or make the story progress, and no chance to say anything other than what’s in the script. But I guess in many ways life is completely out of our control and we ARE nothing more than actors in our own films. So at least this way you’d know there was going to be a happy ending.

Sherman Oaks, California
Sherman Oaks is also home to Van Nuys High School. Kids who attend Van Nuys High are pretty amazing themselves – its real life alumni include Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford and that woman who fell in love with a cartoon cat, Paula Abdul.
However, it’s also the type of high school where students have evil cars that can completely alter the way their driver behaves, crushing multiple students to death, running down some bully called Buddy, and ultimately *SPOILER ALERT* fatally impaling its owner on a shard of glass (the film Christine. It’s amazing. You have to see it. It totally puts Herbie to shame).
You may also find yourself fighting vampires, since your school just happens to be located above the Hellmouth, or hanging out with Kid ‘n Play as they desperately try to teach each other how to impersonate a hip-hop mogul and a posh boy respectively. Or you might find yourself side by side with The Ramones as they’re made honorary students for no logical reason whatsoever. More importantly though, you'd get to make friends with Sean Penn's teenage pizza-obsessed surfing burnout self.
‘Grease’ was also filmed here. You remember ‘Grease’ right? Cool.
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Living in Grosse Pointe in the 1980’s you would have spent most days listening to the Clash in your quiet suburban house, taking your girlfriend (in the shape of Minnie Driver) to the diner, then disappearing mysteriously on the night of Senior prom never to be seen again for ten years. I mean, that’s pretty exciting in itself. So if you returned home ten years later, a moody and mysterious trained killer with a quick wit and long black trenchcoat, you’d probably have a pretty exciting life already.  But then imagine going back, you'd be the coolest graduate (and have the most emotional problems) that place had ever seen!
Or maybe I would have been a blonde like my other four sisters, trapped in our house by our controlling mother (Kathleen Turner) who never let us go to prom, and always dressed us in her version of the Von Trapp ‘I make clothes for my children from floral curtains’ look.  And sadly we all know what happened to those sisters.  
FACT: It’s not easy to grow up in Grosse Pointe. 
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INSPIRED BY: ROMEO + JULIET

June 24, 2014, 4:00 pm
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MONTAGUES IN THE HOUSE!  

Sorry, this outfit really got under my skin.  I tried to channel some male-teenage-angst for the photos, I wanted my face to clearly portray thoughts like, "Oh man I love a girl but she's from my enemy's family and now I have to die", but actually I just realised that it's really fun to dress like a boy.  At first I was going to try and recreate some of Juliet's outfits from Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film - navy dress, knee socks, gloves and beret, but then I saw this hawaiian shirt hanging up in Jeremy's side of the wardrobe and got really excited about being a Montague.  Especially when all it takes to be one is said shirt, a white vest, these Mango trousers, white socks, dog tags, and my new Dr Martens originals.  I love these shoes.  So much.  They're so comfortable and BIG.  They are a SIZEABLE shoe, they also come with yellow laces to swap in, I will definitely be doing that at some point.  They're just perfect to wear when you're being torn apart by hatred for some other family in the neighbourhood.  

I've mixed in some photos that I took on our trip to Venice Beach earlier this year, as there are no palm trees in London - weird, right?  Although most of Romeo + Juliet was shot in Mexico City and Veracruz I feel like Venice could be it's spiritual home...maybe...whatever, I wanted some blue sky.  YOU CAN AT LEAST GIVE THIS POOR TORTURED TEEN THAT. 
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WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT STYLE FROM WHITNEY HOUSTON'S "I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY (WHO LOVES ME)"

June 27, 2014, 4:00 pm
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A lot of us still miss Whitney. I know I do. She had arguably the most beautiful voice of her generation, she had no problems churning out hit records, and she was a strong, smart, sassy babe—what a dream. There are so many videos of hers I could watch on an endless loop, but today we're going to look at early Whitney, those halcyon days in the 80s. She was a bona fide pop princess: flawless and peppy, just wanting to get down with someone who cared about her.


This video is for the first single from Whitney's second album, Whitney. The track title has the most significant use of parentheses I've ever seen: “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).” I always hear that title in my head as a (possibly drunk) girl in a club exclaiming playfully, “Ahh man I just want to dance with somebody! That's all I want! I'm so low maintenance!” But then she looks to the camera (I'm seeing this on film FYI, one in which the characters talk to camera) with a really serious face and whispers menacingly “But only if they love me.” It's classic Kelly Kapoor.
Another Kelly this video reminds me of is the iconic Kapowski. There's a lot in the way of colored backgrounds, big hair, and embellished denim. Also those weird background things they used to use on shoots a lot in the 80s, the big rectangular fence stands that are completely pointless yet popular for photographing women in front of. Normally there's some sort of geometric neon sign, like this:
Seriously, what is that shit?
Close-up of Whitney's awesome, aforementioned denim embellishment below:
This video tells us a lot about what it was like to be a pop star in the 80s. It's actually a pretty important historical document. Touring back then was bread and butter (oh, err, as it is now). It was hard gig and a lonely life, even when you were facing the kind of elated crowds Whitney attracted:
The use of black and white is so important here: It emphasizes that even though Whitney was in front of her adoring public night after night, it was still just her alone onstage, performing solo beneath the bright lights.
And after the show it was her on her own backstage, leaning against a wall all Jordan Catalano-like, wishing she could dance (with somebody who loved her).
BUT WAIT! She can! Because being a pop star isn't only about touring—it's also about making music videos, which is the most fun thing in the entire WORLD. Here's why:
YOU GET TO HAVE DIFFERENT HAIR
Have fun, go wild, tease that shit! You don't need to worry about how it's going to look the next day or if it's going to get rained on when you're loading out your gear into the tour bus. You can do whatever you want. And in Whitney's case that means super tight curls and big fat bangs.
YOU CAN NEVER WEAR TOO MUCH EYE SHADOW
Eyelids live for color. They crave it. They're desperate for it, and when you don't give it to them they get really sad. Nowadays we're scared of eye shadow. We live in an era of repressed eye shadow use, and it's awful. Soon an underground movement will begin, with more and more people applying copious amounts of glittery powder in the privacy of their own home. There will be secret eye shadow parties were we swap purple for orange with our friends, and smooth on the color way up to our eyebrows, then layer with blues and yellows. It will be a glorious expression of ourselves, and then we will take to the streets in our gorgeous, garish makeup and show everyone what's what. When the revolution knocks at your door, will you answer?
USE THE RAINBOW
Huge door knocker earrings cannot be worn on stage. They might get tangled up in your microphone cable or ripped out accidentally as you play a gnarly riff on your guitar. And while some venues are beautiful and feature brightly colored stage backdrops, most are black. They're definitely not bright blue. Once again: Live Music 0, Music Videos 1. Also, I love that matte lip color.
Plus, you definitely can't have a stage that changes color in a matter of seconds while you perform. Unless you're a really super-duper-famous-sugary-sweet pop star like Bono or something.
Oh hello weird stand thing pretending to be a window! Also: coat racks—vestige of interior decorators past, or still awesome and useful? The debate reigns.


VIDEOS HAVE DANCERS
Yep, they sure do. I think my favorite dancer in this video is either this guy above, who reminds me of Gob Bluth having a sweet-ass time in the only club in the small French town where he's gone skiing, or this one below, who I'm pretty sure is Nick Cave. What a renaissance man.
I love Whitney's stripy nautical co-ord look here:
Seriously, look, it's Nick Cave!
We're all, “Nick Cave why are you in this music video for an 80s pop star?” and he's all, “Hey, whatever!”
I like this dance move below the most. You can only do it if you're wearing a suit that's three times too big for you.


YOU CAN DO THE CLASSIC 80S CHANGING ROOM SHOT
All they need to do is emerge from their respective chambers wearing something they're not 100 percent sure about, and it'll be like we've invented a time machine and have gone back to1987.
JOB DONE. Also I like that Nick Cave is doing his, “Grrr ROCK” face.
YOU CAN DO GRAFFITI
If you did graffiti on the back wall of a stage you were going to play you'd have several issues. First off the venue probably wouldn't let you do it, secondly you'd have the smell of paint fumes while you played, which would cause a really bad headache, and, finally, when you were rocking out you might accidentally rub up against the not-quite-dry-yet paint and ruin your best leather jacket and stonewashed mom jeans. But in a video you can do whatever you want! So go right ahead and spraypaint “Get Down” onto a fake fence. Worried it's dumb? That your fans won't like it? What are they going to do? Heckle? OH NO THEY CAN'T BECAUSE THIS IS A VIDEO.
WEAR A BRIGHT ORANGE DRESS AND MAKE IT RAIN (CONFETTI)
Nowadays it's pretty rare to be allowed to have confetti—even at a wedding. It's a nightmare to clean up, and pigeons eat it and die or something, so it's basically extinct. But videos are all about being controversial and pushing boundaries, so of course you can have confetti flutter down on you if that's what you want!
Oh, and this is the orange dress in full. I love it.
HAVE HAIR AND COSTUME CHANGES IN A MATTER OF SECONDS
You can have costume changes during a live show, but you either have to leave the stage or opt for onstage distraction tactics while you shimmy into something else. And you definitely can't have hair changes—unless it's pulling off your wig. No option is really as good as being able to have a completely different look from one second to the next. I'm a big fan of Whitney's floppy leopard print hair scarf and short curls. She doesn't give a rat's ass about what rider she's got backstage or if that writer from hip 80s music magazine Poptastic Fantastic Neon Geometric Shape Useless Stand Thing has turned up to review the show.
YOU CAN DANCE ON YOUR OWN FACE
Whitney does it in a green body con dress. How do you do it?

SPEAKING OF BODY CON DRESSES…
As an 80s child, I had a swimsuit made out of this material. It was that stuff that stretched more than Stretch Armstrong, so your clothes looked tiny on the hanger but fit when you put them on. I was still wearing that swimsuit when I was 16 and went on my first beach trip with my friends. They told me it was gross.
And, yes, before you ask, those are dancing ghost feet prancing next to Whitney's gorgeous paint-splashed shoes. Close-up of those babies below:
YOU CAN USE THE HEIGHT OF FILM EDITING TECHNOLOGY
In 1987 it didn't get any more exciting than being able to dance in a roll of film, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a LOSER.
YOU GET A HAPPY ENDING
The video ends with the blissful scene of Whitney driving up to her glamorous hotel, getting out of her sleek black car, and noticing some very cool men dancing into a nearby club. She smiles, shrugs, drops her bag and bounds over to them, full of joy. It's a perfect moment and one that never ever happens when you're touring in real life. You're more likely to be in the tour van nurturing your tinnitus, eating stale chips, and watching a Louis CK stand up DVD for the 18th time.
But in the right world, the perfect world, we dance with somebody forever. Somebody who loves us. I love you, Whitney.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOISEY
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LAZY OAF + GARFIELD

April 27, 2014, 4:00 pm
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Last week we went to Lazy Oaf's event in London to celebrate their new range featuring possibly the most famous cartoon cat in the world, Garfield.  We've been big fans of the work of Gemma Shiel (the mastermind behind Lazy Oaf) for a while, and this new collection is more of her genius splashed onto cropped jumpers, shirts and shorts, with full approval from Jim Davis himself, of course.  In fact Davis personally signed little notes that were slipped into our Garfield tote bags - I'll be framing mine later.

Also, guys, they had miniature lasgnes on offer.  I can't even.  There were models draped elegantly over the amazing installations by Rosy Nicholas, whose collection with Fred Butler I regularly Google and lust over.  Two words: KNITTED SHOES.

You can now buy all the pieces from them online, or from their snazzy new shop in Ganton Street in London. I've already put several items on my wish list (oversized pink shirt and jeans, Garfield socks with little ears and rucksack - you will be mine) but in general I just want to dress Jeremy up in every piece and make him wear it constantly and also buy a big fat ginger cat and make it live on pastel pink carpet amongst silver ribbon.
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STYLE DISSECTION: CAN'T BUY ME LOVE

June 30, 2014, 2:14 am
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Can't Buy Me Love is a teen film from 1987, starring the McDreamy Patrick Dempsey and Amanda Peterson, an actress who disappeared off the Hollywood radar in 1995 (but if you want see what she looks like now here she is posing with a snake and riding a motorcycle).  This is classic 80's angst - it features a "nerdy" boy - nerdy the way Rachel Leigh Cook is nerdy in She's All That - who loves a popular cheerleader from afar.  There is also a top-class makeover, and characters ultimately realising there is more to life than high school cliques.  And of course it's packed with eye-popping outfits of awesomeness.  The film is set in Tucson, Arizona (there are a lot of cactus establishing shots) and the wardrobe designer obviously wanted to capitalise on that, so get ready for oodles of cowboy hats, aztec prints, bolo ties and pointy boots.  Oh and suede frill.  

As with a lot of teen films the storyline is entertaining but also makes you do the, "Err really?!" head tilt on occasion.  But today we're mainly here to look at them clothes.  I was prompted to dissect this film by the lovely Treasure Burrell who wisely noted that there were some threads in this movie that needed to be discussed.

So without further ado...(warning, this post contains a lot of spoilers).

This is Cindi Mancini.  She's got it all, at least in American high school terms.  She's beautiful, smart, a cheerleader, and just happens to be dating a college football player.  Here she is practising for the big game.  Please note the red and white, red is very much Cindi's colour, and as we know, red is the colour of the popular girl.


Cindi loves her boyfriend so much she has a cardboard cut out of him in her bedroom.


And yes, her bedroom is amazing.  I want a huge 'Outrageous' sign on my wall!


This fella below is Ronald Miller, he's completely obsessed with Cindi, in the Rom/Com way i.e. it makes him really appealing and we fall for him a bit, as opposed to the IRL way where it would just be weird and creepy. 

Here he is watching Cindi at cheerleading practise.  Ronald's style is very simple: T-shirts and open-necked shirts always tucked in to his jeans or slacks, light coloured sneakers, wild hair or a beret/cowboy hat, and those glasses. 






Cindi meanwhile likes to steal her mom's clothes, which is what she has done on this fateful night pictured below.  Her mother told her categorically that she was not allowed to wear her white suede three-piece fringed suit, BUT CINDI WORE IT ANYWAY.  In her defence the reason she disobeyed her mom is because her boyfriend - who is away at college - appeared on TV and didn't mention that he missed her.  So her life is basically over.  Right?


Um, the suit is amazing.  But unfortunately this happens:



Pretty significant that it is RED wine, no?  Also look at that amazing crop top, thick waistband and boxy jacket.  I'm in love.  

Cindi is devastated, she goes to the bathroom and attempts to wash the wine off.  Which is great as we get a close-up of her furry earrings. 


Most kids would probably own up to their parents and suffer the consequences, but instead Cindi makes a deal with Ronald.  In exchange for the money to buy a replacement suit, she will date him and make him the one thing he desires most in the world - popular.  

Has this ever happened to anyone, ever?  Because it's a common teen film trope and I don't know anyone who has done it.  Or maybe they have and I just don't know?!

Of course no one would believe a perfect angel like Cindi was dating someone as MONSTROUS and deeply uncool as Ronald, so she has to quickly get him ready for their dating debut.  I may be biased here as Patrick Dempsey reminds me a lot of Jeremy (my husband) in this movie, but I think Ronald looks pretty great already.  Anyway, this is a lot like the speedy makeover Cher and Dionne perform on Ms. Geist in Clueless. Pay close attention, it may well come in handy for you and the person who has bought your friendship one day. 


1. Asses the situation.  The beret has to go.  Also this screengrab gives us a nice view of Cindi's crimped hair and aztec print bag. 


2.  The glasses also have to go.  I guess. 


3.  As do the sleeves, everyone knows cool people are only cool because their arms are cold. 


OK, now you're ready Jeremy!  I mean, Ronald!



The new couple walk the halls together for the first time.  Ronald has mousse in his hair, Cindi is dressed like someone 10 years older.  It's a match made in heaven. 

Obviously the football players Cindi associates with immediately notice something is up. 


That guy on the right must be the coolest guy in school!  He's literally wearing a 12 year old girls top!  He must be positively freezing!  I also like how the jocks are hanging out in front of the trophy case, it must be a great conversation ice breaker, "Oh, this award?  Yeah that's mine, I got it for wearing nothing but an apron in Home Ec" (see below). 


Ronald's old friends, his life long chums, quiz him about Cindi and his new look.  I imagine they also probably asked for tickets to his GUN SHOW.  


That Friday Cindi and Ronald attend a party together.  Ronald wears his best beige suit and slicks down his wayward (beautiful) curls.


I think maybe this time he styled Cindi as she appears to be wearing some of his other beige items and also his beret.  They laugh about it together over a beer.  


I love her brown lipstick and big earrings. 


Cindi and Ronald really start to get to know each other.  This is them hanging out while Ronald cleans his dad's car and Cindi reveals to him that she writes poetry.  I like her relaxed matching crop top, shorts and slouch socks. 



I also love this outfit she wears for hers and Ronald's staged break up outside school.  Oversized blazer, yellow jumper dress, 15 denier tights and black leather gloves.  She dresses like an 80's magazine art director who lives in New York and only eats dim sum. 






However, my absolute favourite of Cindi's looks has to be this one.  Head to toe in pale pink, with a fluffy blow dry, pale glossy lips, lacy footless tights, and an ice cream. 





But then on Monday at school it's back to red, red, red (mixed with black) and a great eye roll. 



Also look at these amazing pink ankle boots.  Andie Walsh would have KILLED for these.


As he gets more popular Ronnie's style (he switches to this much cooler nickname) takes on a life of it's own.  He really embraces the cowboy look, with waistcoats, checked shirts, western belts and boots. 



Oh and of course Amanda and her credit cards help him along the way in a wonderful shopping montage that precedes Pretty Woman. 




These mirrored sunglasses are everything, Ronnie starts wearing them all the time, often with a chain and a lot of sass. 




Eventually his sleazy cowboy style reaches its zenith in this incredible outfit. It's spectacular, it's bold, it's slick, it's cooooooool.




And at night he mixes it up with a leather jacket, darker shirts, and a new girl on his arm. 



His prom look is rad.  Oh and it's another girl. 



He's still pretty adorable, even if his new found popularity is going to his head. This screengrab above is him practising dance moves in the men's bathroom. 

Um, can we just take a moment to look at the band playing the prom?  Thanks. 



What's with the big ship in the background??

Ronnie also finds a new way to wear his sunglasses which no doubt is copied by other people at his school who want to be as awesome as he is. 



Sadly Ronnie's fast ride to the top of the high school heap comes to an abrupt stop when he throws a party at his house and Cindi's ex-boyfriend shows up.  But before that happens we have to check out Cindi's amazing "I'm drunk and totally over all you superficial d-bags but don't I look fabulous?" outfit. 




I mean she does dress a lot older than her years, but it looks goooooood.  Uh oh here comes the ex with the hair. 



This guy immediately recognises Ronnie for the LOSER he really is, and is stunned to find out Cindi dated him.  He calls them both out on it, and Cindi drunkenly rants that all her friends are so dumb for believing this guy was awesome simply because of the clothes he wore and who he was snogging. 



Ronnie is completely ostracised at his own party, and has to watch from outside like a hungry victorian child.  Then he sleeps in the garage and cries all night long. 



The next day at school he tries to pretend everything is OK and back to normal, "I'm wearing my cowboy-inspired dream togs guys!" but to no avail. 



Cindi sees this happen, looking down on him from above, the red queen of popularity. 


At lunch Ronnie, or should I say, Ronald, has to sit on his own and isn't even allowed to be seen drinking coca cola.  He has to revert back to supping the inferior Shasta cola. 



He reverts back to his pre-popular style, but keeps some elements of his old new look.  Here he is trying to make it up to his ex best friend, but the boy with the beautiful red hair wants nothing to do with him.


Likewise Cindi won't talk to him, even when he sneaks into the girls bathroom and runs his fingers over the smooth metal door of her cubicle.  I love his outfit here.  The perfect marriage of Ronnie and Ronald. 



And his look here is just perfect.  All boys should wear black high tops, black jeans and patterned shirts with the cuffs rolled up.  It's so loose and gorgeous.  



Eventually it's Ronald's brother who saves his social standing, accosting Cindi at the mall and telling her how upset his big bro is.  Also Ronald's brother is played by Seth Green. 


Yes, SETH GREEN.  WITH DYED BLACK HAIR. 


I really like how Ronald has decorated his bedroom.  Neon cactus, creepy pencil drawing of Cindi...it's so great.


The next day (maybe, the timeline is unclear) Ronald gets Cindi's attention by riding his dad's lawnmower outside her house at six in the morning.


I LOVE THIS JUMPER HE IS WEARING HERE IT LOOKS SO SOFT AND COSY. 


Cindi doesn't forgive him...yet.  She makes him wait a bit, until the next time he's on his dad's lawnmower.  I like how "lawnmower" in this film is the same as "horse", hence the cowboy hat and boots. 



Check out Cindi's serious outfit for a serious discussion of their serious relationship.  I particularly like the matching earrings and bracelet. 


Aw, they work it out and ride off into the sunset, with her swiping his hat for the perfect end to a perfect outfit. 


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INSPIRED BY: CARRIE BRADSHAW

July 2, 2014, 12:52 am
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OK.  I tried to dress like Ms. Bradshaw.  I'm not completely convinced by this outfit, I have to be honest.  Although maybe that's because I was wearing it on the first day of July, and that faux fur can get kind of toasty.  I was trying to emulate Carrie's first-date-with-Big-look, the famous "naked dress", which she of course wore with her fur coat.  I also added some aviators, it's summer!  The coat is second hand and I've had it for ages, same goes with the shoes.  They're very comfortable but I'm not very capable at walking in heels at the best of times, let alone when I've got sweat trickling down my back and am feeling flustered.  The dress is from Oh My Love a London label based that started out in market stores and now sell worldwide from their headquarters in Hackney.

Anyway, I at least know this outfit isn't as bad as my attempt to dress like Clarissa Darling, Melissa Joan Hart's character from the 90s TV show, the photos of which WILL NEVER BE SEEN BY ANYONE. EVER.
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RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE SANDWICH COOKIES

July 6, 2014, 4:00 pm
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When Jeremy and I first started writing songs together back in September of good old 2009, we didn't really know what we were doing, or why, it was just fun.  We'd just been on holiday, he was really ill, and it was something to occupy his brain so he didn't think about the pain.  I was still doing a 9-5 writing job, but on the weekends we'd write together and gradually I started working from home more and more.  I remember that period of time very clearly: it was a bright, beautiful autumn, I remember a new pair of shoes I was wearing, and I remember baking.  Mainly cookies, including these ones.  This recipe is actually from my Food Technology classes at school (Miss Travers REPRESENT).  They're a re-working of the classic Viennese biscuit recipe, but sandwiched together with buttercream icing, and added cocoa powder to make them rich and chocolatey.  They're a lot like bourbons.  I'm not great at American style cookies, they always end up merging into one huge, flat, crispy mess, but these work every time.  

INGREDIENTS
For the biscuits:
110g butter
50g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
25g cocoa powder
110g plain flour
25g cornflour


For the buttercream:
50g butter
120g icing sugar
25g milk chocolate

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°c, gas mark 4.  Cream the butter and the icing sugar together until it's all, well, creamy.  Add the egg yolk and beat for another five minutes. Mix the cocoa, plain flour and the cornflour together in a bowl and sift it into the creamed butter and sugar, then stir it all together till it forms a dough.  Divide the dough into ten or twelve balls (depending on how big you want your biscuits), then cut each ball in half, roll each half into ANOTHER ball then press it with a fork so it flattens.  Or you can get bored like I did and start using shape cutters. Put the cookies onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and cook for about 15 minutes.  

Let the cookies cool for about ten minutes, then transfer them onto a wire tray or plate to do the rest of their cooling.  You want them to be the coolest cookies in town so they don't fall apart when you're plying them with buttercream.  Speaking of which...

Melt the butter and chocolate together, then add the icing sugar, mix it all together until it's a smooth pale brown cream.  Use this to sandwich the cookies together, I paired them all up before I started icing so I didn't end up with one huge heart cookie and one tiny butterfly cookie at the end which would have been a DISASTER.  Eat while trying to write songs about Jake Ryan. 
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INSPIRED BY: 'CAN'T BUY ME LOVE'

July 8, 2014, 1:00 am
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I don't feel like I can make bold claims such as, "Jeremy looks like Patrick Dempsey's character, Ronald in Can't Buy Me Love", without taking it further (too far?) and dressing him like said character in said film.  So that's what I've done.  Personally, I think he looks pretty great, and I finally got to put "product" in his hair.  Not that he needs it, of course, but I've always wondered...

It's a testament to Jeremy's kindness that he allowed me to dress him up and make him stand in front of a brick wall so I could take photos, and you can see that towards the end of the very short shoot he got a bit bored/sleepy/creative with his poses.  But all in all, I think it was a great success.  Maybe he'll let me do it again.

He already had the vintage Wrangler shirt, the jeans and the desert boots, but the belt, jacket and sunglasses are from ASOS.  And the idea to recreate Ronald's unusal way of wearing his sunglasses on his neck was all Jeremy.  Although he claims Daniel Craig's character in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo wears his in the same way.  And he's right.
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BAD MACHINERY 'THE CASE OF THE TEAM SPIRIT'

July 11, 2014, 2:51 am
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John Allison, award winner and hilarious person, writer of the much-lauded online comic Bad Machinery, and well-known London Underground speech giver, wrote this book.  It was actually released in spring 2013 (there is now even a Volume 2!), so god knows why it's taken me till now to write about it, but after finding it in the new super-modern Foyles last week I re-read our copy and fell in love all over again.  I can't recommend Bad Machinery enough, John regularly makes me laugh out loud - he's so quippy! - while the narrative is mysterious and compelling.  And the amazing thing is that it's all online, you can start from the beginning and have years of story to go through, ugh I'm so jealous.  But who doesn't love a book?  I do, because it's hard to read webcomics in the bath.  And this, my friends, is prime bath-time literature.

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EMBROIDED DENIM AND WHITE CROCHET

July 14, 2014, 1:24 pm
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When we played Glastonbury a couple of weekends ago I spied this Mr and Mrs Fox embroidered denim jacket by Hannah Beth Fincham in the flesh on Fearne Cotton.  (I don't know her or anything, she was just standing around). It's beautiful.  I definitely can't afford to buy one myself, since they retail for about £430 (gulp), but I did find this pretty lovely embroidered denim jacket on Missguided's site.  I really like the roses, and it kind of makes me want to investigate iron-on appliqués, and look into sewing on a corduroy collar myself.  Can you say "crafty"?  Anyway, watch this space.  I also like that it's a bit oversized, as I'm watching Seinfeld at the moment and Elaine is always in a big denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up.  Elaine is the best.

I'm wearing it with my crocheted dress from ASOS which is covered in moons and stars, I love crochet at the moment and I LOVE this dress.  It's kind of what I imagine a modern good witch would wear e.g. Sarah in The Craft, although she would never, ever, wear white.  It comes with a white slip to wear under the crotchet, but you could also put it over other coloured slips, or even tie dye, or just your swimsuit on the beach.  What I'm trying to say is that this baby is versatile.  The sandals are also from ASOS and they're comfy as hell.

Oh and I started messing around with nail appliques.  I don't think I've quite mastered the skill yet. 
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JENNY LEWIS - JUST ONE OF THE GUYS

July 16, 2014, 1:55 am
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I'm a massive Jenny Lewis fan and there is so much to love about her new song - the lyrics for example - and even more to love about its video.

1.  Jenny's amazing pastel-hued stars and clouds suit and matching acoustic.
2.  Anne Hathaway's rat tail and breakdancing.
3.  Kristen Stewart's moustache.
4.  Tennessee Thomas' drumming.
5.  The Adidas tracksuits, in particular Brie Larson's red one, very Royal Tenenbaums.


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SCRATCH AND SNIFF STRAWBERRY NAILS

July 19, 2014, 2:30 am
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I really liked the idea of these, nails that smell like strawberries? What's not to like?  They do smell great, and they looked great...for about 5 hours.  Then they started chipping.  And that was after I'd covered them with clear varnish because they looked a bit chip-prone when I was applying them.  Obviously the varnish cancelled out their awesome sweet scent, and by two days they were pretty messy.  So in conclusion, such a good idea, but they haven't NAILED it yet.  Sorry.   
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DEANDRI YELLOW TARTAN

July 23, 2014, 12:53 am
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Yellow.  Tartan.  I am wearing yellow. Tartan.

Deandri are a great label based in LA, they're very small - I had to use all my US postal knowledge skills to get this delivered to me in the UK - and they specialise in tartan, mesh and dresses and co-ords with wide collars.  They also make pretty amazing shoes, seriously, their website has all the good stuff.

I was split between Cher Horowitz's yellow and Dionne's red tartan, but in the end I decided this colour was the most classic.  Deandri are pretty open about being inspired by Clueless but they like to put their own twist on things, and they are more than just bright-hued tartan.  Oh, and of course I'm also wearing this in honour of Iggy Azalea who I bloody love and a while ago made the best music video film homage ever.

Also special mention to my Vagabond boots, which I wear all the time and have for over a year now.  They're so comfortable and when my old ones cracked prematurely they sent me a new pair as replacement, which is amazing customer service.  Solid footwear.
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RECIPE: SPINACH AND RICOTTA MALFATTI WITH ROSEMARY BUTTER

July 24, 2014, 4:00 pm
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I first had malfatti (which roughly translates as "badly made" from the Italian) at one of my favourite restaurants in London, Bocca Di Lupo, where these little cheesy dumplings are served with brown sage butter.  Since they're seasonal at Bocca, I've had to start making them myself at home to get my creamy gnocchi-esque fix all year round, but while I also use spinach I replace the sage with rosemary for the butter.  As I love rosemary and it's easier to come by at my local shops.

These are pretty easy to make, the most time consuming element is squeezing the water from the spinach, and forming the mixture into small balls.  But it's totally worth it when they all bubble up to the top of the water, then you pour butter over them, grate some parmesan on top and cut into their melty yumminess.

Is "yumminess" a word?

INGREDIENTS
250g spinach
250g ricotta
50g grated parmesan, plus extra for serving
40g plain flour (I have also made them using gluten free flour and they work just as well)
salt and pepper
75g of butter (I used buffalo milk butter as we had some in the fridge, but any butter is fine)
A couple of stems of fresh rosemary, well, as much as you like really

Steam the spinach until it's completely wilted.  If you don't have a steamer you can also boil it in salted water although this means it takes longer to squeeze the water from it.  Once it has wilted keep the water you've been using for either method, it should look like green pond water - you can cook the malfatti in it later for extra flavour.  Squeeze the water out of the spinach.  I normally put it in a sieve and press down on it with spoons and dab it with paper towels for as long as I can stand.  Once you've had enough, or you think you've got it as dry as possible, roughly chop up the spinach.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta, grated parmesan and salt and pepper.  Add the spinach and sift in the flour then mix it until it forms a dough.  You might need to use extra flour as you form the malfatti as the dough is quite wet.  I tend to do a test dumpling - I make one and then drop it in boiling water.  If it stays together and rises to to the top of the pan after a couple of minutes then I know I've got my quantities right.  I usually make my malfatti so they're about the size of a walnut, so you feel like you're getting more of them!  But you could also make them larger.  Place them on a floured plate so they don't stick.

Heat up the butter in the pan over a low heat until it has melted, then add the rosemary and let it all heat up together.  It's ok if the butter bubbles a bit or even browns.  While that's cooking get the green pond water from earlier and boil it up, you might need to add extra water so there is lots of room for the malfatti to bounce around it.  When the water is boiling gently add the malfatti, you'll be tempted to stir them but don't, they're quite fragile until they're cooked, which they will be after about four minutes when they rise to the top of the pan.  Drain them and pour over the hot rosemary butter, spooning it over each dumpling as you go so they all get covered.  Grate parmesan cheese over the top and then eat them as fast as you can.

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GUEST POST: JEREMY ON CARROT AND PEANUT'S WONDERWEAR

July 25, 2014, 4:00 pm
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Hi! It's Jeremy here with a SURPRISE GUEST BLOG ABOUT PANTS. There's a new purveyor of men's underwear called Carrot & Peanut's Wonderwear (you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get the joke in the name) and they very kindly sent me a few pairs of boxer shorts to review for Elizabeth's blog. Well, colour me chuffed: they're tremendously stylish and very funny - and comfortable to boot. Check out the attention to detail - each pair comes in its own bag, colour-coded to the pattern on the shorts, and I love the little coat of arms.

Best of all, C & P products are eco-friendly and are made by adult tailors under amenable working conditions. They also donate one Euro per sale to Nitya Seva , a charity that runs two children's homes in Bhopal. In these days of confusion it's nice to be able to choose a product that is ethically made.
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INSPIRED BY: 'A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN'

July 28, 2014, 1:25 am
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It's been so many years since I first watched A League Of Their Own, but even now whenever it pops up on my Netflix suggestions I get goosebumps.  Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell playing best friends!  Geena Davis catching that baseball with jaw-dropping quick wrists!  All the slides into the bases which caused the actresses seriously bad grazes and cuts!  And the longest pee in film history (probably) by Tom Hanks!  Here, read 25 fun facts about the film!

I did a dissection of the style of the film last month and was itching to try putting together a similar outfit to their '40s wartime looks.  The dress is from New Look (can you say "bargain"?), the shoes are from ASOS and are the closest thing to Madonna's saddle shoes I could get without spending loads on postage costs from America, and the cardigan is an old vintage one I got from Beyond Retro years ago.  You need a chunky knit for those late night bus rides when you're going from state to state to plaaaay-ha-hay-baaaaall.

THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND.  Not really, it's just a nice garden area near my house.
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THE PARLOUR AT FORTNUM AND MASON

July 29, 2014, 4:00 pm
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This week Jeremy and I finally tried out The Parlour, Fortnum and Mason's ice cream cafe.  It's a pastel haven of flavoured frozen cream, the trademark Fortnum pale green shade splashed over the decor.  And the sundaes are insane.  We both had the Dusty Road, which is served in a huge rose-pink glass bowl, filled with two scoops of chocolate ice cream and two scoops of coffee ice cream, the latter of which was so intensely flavoured I couldn't sleep for two nights.  That's all covered with chocolate chunks, butterscotch sauce, a mountain of whipped cream, oh and a bloody macaron.  Needless to say we were on a sugar high for the rest of the day WEEK (hence our slightly crazed post-ice cream faces, above).  

I'm a big fan of that classic British tradition, Afternoon Tea, although I've never done it at Fortnum and Masons (Claridges is the best place to go in London for that FYI, well, unless you can get into The Savoy, darling).  Meanwhile Jeremy is cultivating a passion for trying as many different ice creams as possible, he's so dedicated to his mission that it almost borders on obsession, "I can quit at any time!" In fact the night before our Parlour outing he ate three scoops at Gelupo.  Hey, no judgement, I'm just stating the facts.  For the record he thinks the gelato is better at the Bocca Di Lupo off-shoot, but he appreciated the spectacle of the F&M sundae, and the experience of eating a very American-inspired dessert in such a classically British institution.  Can a shop be a British institution?  If it can, then Fortnums definitely qualifies.  

Afterwards we went to the Dennis Hopper exhibition at the Royal Academy, (amazing, particularly the photos of Montgomery and the Civil Rights marches), sat on the floor in Foyles reading books, and then watched Purple Rose Of Cairo at Prince Charles Cinema.  It's amazing how much you can pack in 
to one day when your veins are throbbing with that much sugar.  Yep, those sweet, sweet dairy dreams really can come true. 
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