A Day at Longleat

One of the families that I am focusing on for my dissertation, the Thynnes (one of whom, incidentally, illicitly married a woman named Maria Audley (the Thynne and Audley families were engaged in a long term feud) and this event and subsequent fall out may have been one of the inspirations for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet) have a lovely estate called Longleat and I went out for the day to visit it. The weather was a bit rainy but it was an amazing day (the house also had a rather surprisingly large collection of Nazi memorabilia which was a bit odd) – here are a few photos. The trip also gave me a chance to show off my cozy new scarf from H&M; I’ve decided I’m all about scarves this fall – scarves and animal prints and bows and sheer fabrics. Oh, and I got myself a ridiculous piggy bank. I'm a Save-a-saurus!

Bows On My Wrist and a Stroll in Hyde Park

While I was at the V&A I picked up this sweet little bow wrist cuff (which is perfect because I’m obsessed with bows right now) and then took it out for a little stroll in Hyde Park.

More of the History of Costume

Here’s part two of my V&A fashion photographs. I’m now in New Haven and recovering from jet lag but I will post more original content soon!

The History of Costume

In my last post I mentioned visiting the V&A in London and seeing the fabulous costume section and the special exhibit on Grace Kelly. I’m hopping on a plane for New Haven in like an hour (well Hartford actually and then an hour commute – aren’t friends who are willing to pick you up at the airport awesome?) and so I needed an “easy” post and I snapped so many gorgeous fashion shots at the V&A that I wanted to share. I’m going to do this post in two parts (I really have that many photos) so watch for the second installment tomorrow and enjoy!

Victoria and Albert Museum

Here are a few photos I got while touring the Victoria and Albert Museum (I really hate to do this to the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum but the V&A is my new favorite museum). This museum was magical and once I was in I din not want to leave. I knew that I was going to be there wandering around for hours and I wanted to be comfy so I wore a loose fitting shirt dress from Anthropologie and a scarf. Then I felt horribly unfashionable when I toured the costume wing (which featured a Grace Kelly exhibition) – I’ve got a ton more pics of that to share later.











I also came across this interesting article about Shopbop – has anyone ever shopped online with them? I was intrigued by the amount of business they are doing, sort of a younger version of Net-A-Porter.

Harrods

Recently I had a fun filled afternoon of browsing around Harrod’s and wandering the streets of London. Harrod’s is such a mind blowing experience and I loved being in the store and taking it all in. Really breathtaking!







I leave for New Haven soon but I’ll probably be doing England related posts for a while – I’ve had a fantastic trip but now it’s time to start the writing process and get this dissertation done (she boldly says with a foolishly elevated confidence level). I was also recently included in a roundup of back to school looks on the fantastic blog Fashionable Academics – so check out all the looks featured there for fall teaching and studying inspiration.

London Randoms and Movie Night

Here are a few of my London randoms taken recently. I’ve been putting off getting my hair colored because it’s pricey here and I am home in a few days so I’m working on a great little skunk stripe of dirty blond roots.




















I went to see Piranha 3D (I know, I know, but trust me, I have God awful taste in movies and enjoyed this little gem)! I actually went out for drinks in the Leicester Square area after the film and I wanted to dress up a little but I was really just too bagged from a day of sightseeing to muster up anything great. But then I saw a girl (more than one actually) wearing dresses that were actually tops and this occasioned much eye-rolling on my part and exclamations of “oh honey, that’s not a dress” and so I felt a bit better about my own lack of initiative.

All Business

Stepping out to the British Museum in my waistcoat from H&M.








On a side note, Diane Von Furstenberg has turned interior designer and decorated a selection of rooms at London’s Claridge’s – the rooms (from £680 a night) feature her bold prints and look amazing.