Archive for the ‘Stuff’ Category
May 18, 2009
I have bought these
and these
and these
As astute eyes like yours will have noticed, they are all the same. I bought the black ones first, and they were SO comfortable and SO pretty that I found myself thinking about the other colours and wondering whether they’d be a good investment. And after a couple of days I remembered something that an ex-boss at the Guardian once told me when I couldn’t decide whether to buy a lambswool Elvis Presley scarf for £45, which was that the amount of emotional energy I was expending worrying about whether to buy it would soon outweigh the financial cost of just doing it. So I did.
Tags:shoes
Posted in Purchases, Stuff | Leave a Comment »
March 18, 2009
I bought my first sunglasses of the spring earlier, at the end of a lunch hour spent scrunching my face up against the brightness of the day. I was looking for a geekish pair to go with the actual anorak I am wearing (not this instant, as I sit in my office typing, but as part of today’s outfit), but I work in a district with a limited supply of shops selling anything anyone would actually want to buy, and the only sunglasses on offer were the enormous kind preferred by Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole and other people I don’t want to look like. (Well, OK, I would be happy to look like Cheryl Cole, I’m not crazy. But I don’t want to dress like her.)
My eventual compromise solution was some fairly enormous sunglasses, but with thick white plastic rims which stop them from looking like something impossibly glamorous that should be teamed with skinny jeans and an enormous bag, since given the choice I would always go for flared jeans and a tiny bag.
These are they:
When I came back into the office I stuck them on my head, and had an immediate rush of summery feeling. It was brilliant.
Tags:sunglasses
Posted in Small pleasures, Stuff | Leave a Comment »
December 1, 2008
This is the cleverest thing I’ve seen since the toilet you wash your hands in. I never know what to do with my used teabag in cafés. Designed by Jonas Trampedach, who wins a gladallover hall of fame entry.
(There isn’t a gladallover hall of fame, but there might be one day, and he’ll be in it.)
Tags:design, Jonas Trampedach, teabags
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November 25, 2008
I bought a winter coat from Zara today. It’s very pretty, but Zara’s website is just about the worst I’ve ever seen and in any case the coat isn’t on it and I can’t find a picture anywhere else, although googling “Zara coat” I did come across this picture of Zara Phillips, coincidentally wearing a coat which is quite similar, though also quite different.
So instead here are the boots I also bought, which are just as useful but less pretty:
Technically, I suppose, it’s only one boot. But you can infer the other.
Tags:boots, clothes, coat, Zara
Posted in Reasons to be cheerful, Stuff | Leave a Comment »
November 12, 2008
Well, it was a good thing really, because it saved me spending £75. After deciding I definitely couldn’t justify the expense, I went and had another look at the dress I fell a little bit in love with yesterday. I tried on the size 12 and it looked like a muu-muu. So I tried on the size 10, and that looked like a slightly less baggy muu-muu. I think it is designed for someone taller, leggier and skinnier than me. Either that, or it is actually a muu-muu. If it’s still available when I’m eighty and living in Florida I’ll be first in the queue.
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November 11, 2008
I have discovered a problem with Muji, which is that their designs are so utilitarian that it’s madly easy to convince yourself that you really need whatever it is you’re tempted by. Although I think I might find it hard to make a case for the utility Christmas stocking, which is what I came away with today.
On a less utilitarian note, I fell a tiny bit in love with this dress, but at £75 I need a better excuse even than Christmas to justify it:
I would not wear it with those horrible unflattering beads. Nor would I allow my face to be chopped off halfway down when being photographed wearing it.
Tags:Christmas, dress, muji, untold
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October 17, 2008
Why has nobody told me about Muji? I went into House of Fraser at lunchtime looking for a tiny mirror to affix to my monitor at work so I can tell when somebody’s sneaking up behind me, and was directed to the Muji concession on the second floor. I’d never been into a Muji before so was unprepared for finding myself coveting every single item in there. It’s not that the things they sell are particularly remarkable (apart from one, which I can’t mention because I bought it for my sister and she might read this), but that all of them – cotton buds, bottle openers, oven gloves – are designed with a stunning eye for style and simplicity. I wanted one of everything, but I restricted myself to the mirror, the present and a glass which looked nearly the same as the one I broke washing up last week. But when I win the lottery I am going straight back to Muji and furnishing my house from it. Or even before I win the lottery, since it’s not very expensive at all. The mirror was £1.75. But I am taking account of the current financial situation and forcing myself not to make unnecessary purchases. Although I might have to go back there the next time I need a toothbrush: their toothbrushes are so beautiful they make me want to cry:
Tags:design, muji, shopping, toothbrush
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September 18, 2008
Look at this!
Furniture covered in genuine London transport moquette fabrics! There is literally nothing I want more. I wonder whether I have the space for a designer cube?
Tags:furniture, London, transport
Posted in London, Public transport, Stuff | Leave a Comment »
July 14, 2008
Look at this!
(Image via apartmenttherapy)
It’s a lampshade made out of old audio cassettes. I want one. At first I thought perhaps I could make my own, but to get one that looked this good you’d need to:
- Find lots of cassettes the same colour
- Soak all the labels, and any accumulated grime, off them
- Rewind each one to exactly the same spot
Which is probably more effort than I’m willing to make. More here.
Tags:cassette lamp, design, recycling
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May 29, 2008
I’m not a t-shirt person, really – not a besloganned t-shirt person, anyway – but some of these are great. I think I like “I’m in the mood for yogurt” the best.
Tags:clothes, t-shirts
Posted in Stuff | Leave a Comment »
