Red Crop and Denim Jacket.

Denim Jacket - Flea Market

Shirt - Vintage

Crop Top - Misguided

Jeans - H&M

Converse - eBay

I don't want to start this post by saying sorry for being absent, so I'll try not to. Still, I am rather annoyed as I had so many posts planned as was really excited to really get into it. Then life just threw a pile of poo at me and told me deal with it whilst running away with a smirk on it's face. All I want to do is stick my middle finger up at life and say "Screw you life! Screw you". Thanks to life, it's been a pretty hectic and stressful time for me at the moment, which is not helped by me being abroad. I am coping as best I can, simultaneously making sure I get the most out of my Erasmus year. 

Speaking of which, I did spend a long weekend in Prague which I am planning on doing a separate post about cos it was ah-ma-zing. Totally exhausting but worth it. I also deserve a slap on the wrist because I have been buying things... again. It suddenly dawned on me today that there is no way I am going to be able to take everything back with me in two suitcases. Looks like I will be taking multiple trips to the post office to send stuff home.  

On a fashion-y note. This has been my uniform lately because I am lazy and like to be comfy. These photos are also really old. I've had my hair cut since but we'll get all into that in a later post. Right now, lets focus on this beautiful denim jacket. If you're a keen reader of mine then you will have seen this stunning bit of denim in my haul video and will know that I stole it from a man at the flea market. Well, I didn't actually steal it - that's illegal and immoral. However, at only 2 euros I really might as well have. It is the perfect dark wash and so goes great with both my black and light wash jeans making my denim on denim situations perfect. No one wants a repeat of Britney and Justin.

Let me take a moment to thank you all so much for your comments on my last post. Never did I expect to get such a response. It was comforting and inspiring to hear about your own stories regarding catcalling and to feel that sense of feminine power. I will definitely be writing more topical posts in the future as I find they're so interesting to write. Be sure to let me know if there is anything that you would like to see discussed and leave me any links to your blogs or posts that you would like me to have a read of. I always love reading blogs.

#1 Sunday Segment: Catcalling and Creepy Men.

Allow me to introduce you to a new weekly feature that I am adding to this blog entitled Sunday Segment - not the most imaginative of names, I know, but it's all I've got so far. If you have any other suggests then send them my way. This feature is going to be home to a multitude of things that I would like to share and discuss be it reviews, poetry, silly cat videos... this will be the space for it. 

Today I was inspired by recent posts written by Katie (Buddle and Squeak) and Annika (The Pineneedle Collective) on their blogs tackling the issue of cat calling and creepy men. Reading about their experiences angered me to know that such lowly derogatory behaviour is still prevalent in today's world. It also made me reflect on my personal experiences since starting my year abroad.   

When I arrived here in Montpellier at the beginning of September it was hot, like really hot. My days on English beaches paled in comparison to the intensity of the French sun. Naturally shorts and T-shirt combos were a must. I found, however, that along with baring more skin came bearing the brunt of more unwanted male attention. I brushed the ogling aside and just took it as part of living in a big city and something that I would have to learn to ignore. 

There are so many things wrong with the statement I just made, and I shall get back to that in just a moment. 

Source

One of the first instances of sexual harassment I experienced took place merely weeks after my initial arrival. It was a week-day, early evening, with the sun still shining in the busiest area of Montpellier: Place de la Comedie. Walking briskly to meet my friends I became aware of a presence to my left which, glancing at, I saw was a 30-something man smiling at me like I was his next meal. Deciding to ignore him I moved my legs as fast as they'd carry me; being 5ft 2ins it wasn't very fast at all. 

Said man continued to walk next to me and said hello to me in French to which I replied, with the worst French accent I could muster "Pardon, je ne parle pas le francais". I thought that would be it. I thought he would leave me alone. Much to my dismay he then began talking to me in English telling me how sexy my arse was and how much he wanted to fuck me (I kid you not). I still tried to brush it aside telling him I already had a boyfriend and attempted to get away from him. He still persisted however, gesturing with his hands how big his dick was and how great it was going to be to fuck me. Spotting my friends not far off I still tried to laugh it off and bid him goodbye. It wasn't until I actually greeted my very confused friends that he went away. Even then I only think he left because one of them was male. 

It absolutely sickens me when I think about it and in many ways I still cannot believe it actually happened. What's worse is a couple days later he passed me in the street, once again throwing an onslaught of cat calls and insults my way.

Perfectly sums up my feelings (source)

And yet my only reaction was to do nothing. I tried to laugh it off. Brush it aside. Not make a big deal out of it. And worst of all I accepted it. I was shocked yet it wasn't anything out of the ordinary as I had learnt to deal with it. This is where I rectify my previous statement. This behavior should not be ordinary and should not have to be learnt to deal with. This man in particular, though unfortunately among many others, felt it was his right to treat me the way he did. He saw something he desired and saw no problem with aggressively trying to obtain it. It was obvious he had no filter to determine what was inappropriate behaviour and if anything actually got a kick out of making me feel uncomfortable. 

It's creeps like this that spoil men and masculinity. They need to undergo a serious attitude change needed for the necessary leap towards equality.  To quote Crystal Eastman hailing from the 1920s "we must institute a revolution in the early training and education of both boys and girls". In other words, it is the attitudes of the younger generations that need to be fed with ideas of feminism in order to birth a world of equality. What is alarming is that Crystal knew this just under a 100 years ago and not much has really changed. Us feminists are still wading through custard on the path towards equality, and we're slowly getting there. However, it is the attitudes and mind sets of people that we really need to change. Once we do we can come off the custard path, but only then. 

White Tee and Yellow Skirt.

T-Shirt - Mango 

Skirt - Flea Market

Belt - Vintage

Converse - eBay

If you recognise these items then go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for sitting through my ridiculously long haul video. Well done, you made it. If not (why not?), let me introduce you to a couple of new items that have joined my ever expanding wardrobe. This skirt in particular is a new firm favourite that I couldn't stop smiling about after I found it at the flea market - I beg you not to take any notice of my frowning visage in these pictures. I snapped this lovely item up for a meager €2 and thought that the colour and print were fantastic, so really, it would have been rude not to take it home with me. Colour is something I am always willing to add to my outfits as I try to avoid falling into the trap of wearing black all the time. Though having said that, an all black outfit is so chic. However, as Spring is beginning to pop its sunny head round the corner I thought there couldn't be a more perfect skirt to add to my erupting grandma-skirt collection.  

Counteracting the sweet-little-old-lady-ness of this skirt is my rebellious choice of T-shirt. I say rebellious as I actually wore this on a Tuesday. Stand back people, we've got a real thug coming through. Gold teeth and knuckledusters aside, I rather enjoy this top for it's fun factor and it's simplicity. As I mentioned in my haul video, after I saw this beauty was only a tenner (can I still say a tenner with euros? Is it just a British thing??) I couldn't put it back on the rail. I've found my wardrobe lacks a white tee from time to time and thought buying one was well overdue. Also, it's not a crop top. For once I actually bought a whole top rather than just half of one. I may have to rethink my blog title. Lol jks. 

I brought the whole outfit together with my go-to vintage black belt and battered old converse. I did also throw my new denim jacket over the top but forgot to take pictures (oops). I have only had these converses for little over a year now and I'm so disappointed in how distressed they already look. Granted I did buy them second-hand off eBay but they were in such good condition they were practically new. Does anyone else find their converses get wrecked super quick? I'm thinking of buying a new pair once back in England and trying to find someway of looking after them properly. If anyone has any tips on keeping converses looking spic-and-span then do help a sista out. 

Django Django is a recent discovery that I cannot get enough of. They're also releasing a new album next month after being dormant for 3 years, so expect to see them featured on here again! 

Returning With A Haul.

Hello everyone. After being very absent from the blogging world due to life just getting in the way. I am finally hoping to get back into the swing of things starting with this little haul video here - well it's not little but you catch my drift. Hope you enjoy this and i'll see you in my next post! 

Tartan Skirt and Converse.

Denim Jacket - Charity Shop

Top - Charity Shop

Skirt - Supre (NZ)

Scarf - From a Friend

Shoes - Converse via eBay

So I know I'm wearing the same denim jacket - again. It's my fault for leaving my warmer jacket in England and thinking that it wouldn't be as cold here in Montpellier. Every time I look out my window and see the sun shining bright I always think it's going to be a mild day. One thing I have learned is that the sun lies. It is bloody freezing. Without a proper coat I am left to shiver in my denim jacket which, as lovely as it is, just doesn't quite do a great job at keeping me warm. 

I could say that I was challenging 'Clueless' by pairing this tartan skirt with some pop socks, but that would be a lie. I just happen to love pop socks and tartan skirts. I will say, however, that I do look rather nineties. If I'd thrown on a choker and swapped my shoes for some platforms then I really could look like I'd stepped off the set of 'Clueless'. Thankfully I don't live trapped an American coming of age film because when I really think about it American high schools look like a nightmare. Well, the way they're depicted in films anyway. I reckon I would surely have been one of the weird rejects that had their lunch money stolen on a regular basis. 

In other news I start university again tomorrow. Which I'm not really looking forward to but it will be nice to have a bit of structure back in my life rather than binge watching Youtube videos and Netflix. Pretty happy with my timetable, however, as I managed to get Monday mornings and every Friday off - fuck yes. Hello long ass weekends. My fabulous timetable also means that I can get to finally do some exploring around the region and see more of France. I've already booked tickets to see my friend up in Rouen in in February and I am so excited!! 

Because this is so nice to listen to when you're doing nothing. 

Floral Playsuit and Desert Boots.

Denim Jacket - Charity Shop

Playsuit - TK Maxx (Present)

 Desert Boots - ASOS

Sunglasses - Tiger Tiger

Rucksack - Converse (Present)

Oh, hello. I went missing from the internet for a while. Well, I say a while lets try a month - a whole bloody month. I wasn't completely disconnected, mind, rather I transformed myself into a shadow and lurked on the internet as opposed to being active like I normally am. My excuse is that I got swamped with revising for my exams (all of which I passed, yay!) and then Christmas crept up on me along with new year and finally flying back to Montpellier. I didn't fly alone this time as I was accompanied by my lovely boyfriend Niall. After staying with me a week he unfortunately had to make his way back to England because of something called a Masters in physics or whatever - pshh, what even is that? 

Excuses aside, I can't publish my first post of 2015 without addressing an exciting change that the new year brought me. You may have noticed that my pictures no longer look so shitty as I finally treated myself to a new camera. I'm still getting to grips with it as I've never had such a device at my disposal before. It is a Fujifilm FinePix S8200 bridge camera for those interested - not anything too fancy as I'm not made of money but it's got everything I was looking for. A common misconception is that if you want to take good pictures you need the most expensive camera there is and bridge cameras often get overlooked because of this. Bridge cameras are the perfect step up from a point and shoot and way more affordable than DLSRs. 

These photos were taken by Niall at the Parc du Peyrou and the Jardin des Plants in Montpellier which if you have to visit if you ever have the chance. The Jardin des Plants is a botanical garden that is still used by botanic students of the university nearby. Although the garden is a little run down it is still a stunning place to visit nonetheless.  If anything I think the garden's rough edges add a sense of charm that comes with abandoned places. Anyone else obsessed with derelict buildings and decaying theme parks? I'm definitely going to pop back again and take some more photos. I have no excuse really as it is literally 5 minutes from my house.

Moving onto what I am actually wearing: this gorgeous playsuit was a present from Niall for my birthday last year and I am ashamed to say this is only the 4th time I have worn it. It's one of those items that I love so much I never end up wearing as I am scared I will ruin it. Anyone else in the same boat as me? I often feel like this with clothes that were either really expensive or are sentimental. It's quite silly, however, when I think about it. Clothes aren't meant to collect dust in the wardrobe! 

I teamed my playsuit with my regular denim jacket and fave desert boots from ASOS. You'll be seeing a lot of my denim jacket as it's currently the only jacket I have with me because I made the major error of leaving my coat in England because I thought it wouldn't be cold here... In fairness it is no where near as cold as it is in England but the wind does get a bit nippy and sometimes a denim jacket just doesn't cut it. I'm keeping optimistic, however, and dreaming of summer and shorts already.

I hope all of you had a great Christmas and are having a great start to the new year. I'm wanting to take my blogging a lot more seriously, especially as I know how my new camera (woop). Last semester was just so stressful that I couldn't find the time or effort to do anything let alone blog. Having settled in a bit more now and adjusted somewhat to the French way of life I reckon I can find the perfect balance between studying, blogging and everything in between. 

Because I have been listening to The Cure none stop today.

Summery Dress and Winter Jumper.

Denim Jacket - Charity Shop

Scarf - From a Friend

Jumper - Charity Shop

Dress - H&M

Boots - ASOS

I finally did it. I pulled through and managed to sit all 10 exams in the space of one week; two of which were 3 hours long each, I might add. My brain is thoroughly frazzled and my right hand is still recovering from writing pages upon pages of essays. I've had little time to relax in all honesty as it has been a mad rush to buy Christmas presents and organise everything for flying back home. Having said that I am really getting into the Christmas spirit of things as the atmosphere here in Montpellier is just so uplifting and magical. I think that comes with living in a city with all the lights and constant smell of mulled wine and roasting chestnuts in the air. The Christmas market is also lovely and I just wish I had enough space in my suitcase to buy something from each stall. 

As well as Christmas shopping, my friend and I managed to get some tickets to see Swan Lake for just 10 Euros each. It was my first experience watching a ballet and it was phenomenal. Although I am more of a fan of contemporary dance, ballet appears so unbelievably effortless and really demonstrates the amazing capabilities of the human body that I cannot help but fall in love with it. Just imagine how much blood, sweat and tears go into rehearsing for one production which is over in 2 hours. It's incredible. 

Shall we move onto fashion? Summery dresses with jumpers chucked over the top = my favourite winter combo. It helps that this particular dress has dark tones which makes it easy to team with wintry colours such as black. I picked up this jumper in a charity shop a couple of years ago and haven't really got much wear out of it until recently. I'm so glad I have rediscovered it, however, as it has become a firm staple in my winter wardrobe. Also, it is the warmest jumper, I can even wear it without a jacket. Although, as it was a particularly cold day here in Montpellier (which is rare lemmie tell ya: currently 18 degrees, what?) I decided to throw on my denim jacket for a little extra warmth. I also think the light wash denim and cream scarf help brighten up the outfit and make it look more cozy and casual. I just had to add my lovely new desert boots and I was good to go. 

I have a tonne of preparation to do for my return to England mainly being cleaning and packing, urgh. However, on the bright side I am going out for crepes and ice-skating this evening with my friends. It will a be bitter sweet evening as one of my friends was only here for one semester and is spending the next in Madrid. Although it's really sad and I will miss her lots, it does mean I have a cool place to go and visit her. Silver lining and all that.

Because it's my new fave Christmas song.