Playing it cool on the set of Harry Potter.

Zara coat. & Other Stories top. Oasis jeans. Topshop hat. Tatty Devine speech bubble necklace. Adidas Superstar trainers.

Visiting Durham

Do you ever get it in your head that you're going to love a place, despite never having visited? Well, I did. I've been internally bigging up Durham for a long ol' time, and when I got wind of my pal Clarity moving there, it was only a matter of time before I'd booked myself some train tickets and was on my way up. I'm not even sure why I'd wanted to go for so long, as it's not like it's been repeatedly talked about online (yeah, you guys have massively killed any want to head to Brighton again, can you stop now?), and barely gets any mentions by my friends. I'm just going to assume that it's down to how much I like York, and just thinking it's an even further North version of that.

Thankfully, Durham lived up to my expectations, and then some.

Okay, okay, the weather's just as bad as it is in Manchester, but as my hair is now in a permanent state of frizzy, I was more than happy to wander from the train station down into town and head straight out for lunch. Clarity recommended a place called Leonard's Coffee House, and boy do they do a decent toasted sandwich. I mean, nothing will come between me and my love for Northern Soul's grilled cheese sandwiches (nothing, I swear), but this sarnie is moving its way up on my List of Sandwiches I Need to Master.

We then headed onwards and upwards to the Cathedral. Even if half of it is currently covered in scaffolding - damn you unphotogenic renovations - it's still pretty impressive, dominating the Durham skyline. Of course, I lost my shit when I recognised bits from the Harry Potter films, so got myself a cheesy lil snap "on set". Don't even try to pretend you wouldn't too.

I've got another post coming up on my second day of visiting Durham too (been storing these up for a while), so keep an eye out if you're a fan of cream teas and peonies like every single blogger out there. Hardly surprising I've been a bit absent from the internet when I've had to deal with such cliché delights, is it?

Where we went

What's on Insta

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You could wait for a lifetime to spend your days in the sunshine.

Catarzi fedora hat: £25 (jeeze, they've really increased the price of these). Warehouse bardot dress: £24.  Oasis loafers: £4. Warehouse belt (I think, found it in my room one day). Marks and Spencer bag: £43. Scarf c/o Style by Portobello. 

Weekend museuming and sunshine.

As I sit here, having just uploaded the best. boomerang. ever. (if I do say so myself) looking at some very grey skies, it's making me chuckle to look at the above photos: what a difference a week makes! It wouldn't be a patriotic Great British Summer without discussing the clouds every two minutes, so I'm glad to see we can continue this tradition. Less chat about the Euros the better, however. 

Making the most of last week's sunshine, I headed along to meet Clare and Joe at the Imperial War Museum North to check out their newest exhibition: Fashion on the Ration. I hadn't been to IWM since 2003, so was well overdue a visit to the funny looking building on the other side of the river to the Lowry. It's a beautiful museum as it is (despite its subject matter), so would recommend a look round. But, if you're nearby, the Fashion on the Ration exhib is worth a look-in too, as it'll definitely make you feel #blessed after last night's asos splurge. Anyone else kinda want those undies made from a silk ex-army map? 

As I'd bought a weekend tram ticket, I asked on Twitter if anyone had any sunny Sunday recommendations for me, and Emma recommend heading to Sale before walking on to Didsbury. The one thing I've found since moving to Manchester and living a stone's throw from the city centre is that I'm constantly in the urban jungle, with little to no green space available. So, without much hesitation, I took up this suggestion, and got my weekly dose of the green stuff. Now, this comes with a warning: take suncream. Idiotic me prioritised ice cream (not really that sorry), and I'm still applying cocoa butter every day to make up for it. The walk along the Mersey to Didsbury was the perfect antidote to a long ol' week, and I think I've fallen a little in love with that part of Manchester. It's got a very village-y feel (think Wimbledon village, if you're trying to work out its vibe), and it sells parma ham paninis for £6.50.

If that's not got you sold, I made a mini-vlog of my Sunday here. Let me know if you liked it, cos I might start making these a weekly thing (when it's not raining).

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Eyelet details and espadrilles.

H+M tee: £6.99. M&S skirt: £17.50. Hobbs espadrilles: £1. Urban Outfitters bag: £15. Warehouse sunglasses: £god knows, fill a bag for a fiver find.

Updating my wardrobe essentials game.

You can read this post in many ways:

1. I'm refining my wardrobe, and sticking to the pieces I know I'll wear forever/until they've been washed see-through.

2. I'm skint after deciding to seriously up the amount I'm saving per month, so basic's about as good as it's going to get. Tara embellishment, you were good while the student loan lasted.

3. I'm completely disillusioned with all trends right now, so just giving up on it all and going for the things I really like and/or suit me. Not necessarily at the same time.

4. I bought this top when H+M had an offer on and now I'm trying to justify spending my money somewhere other than Morrsion's.

Whichever number you pick, you're a good portion of the way to the truth.

Without trying to rehash old ground, we all know that as a general rule a certain type of bodyshape is portrayed again and again in the media. Yes, it's getting better. No, I don't think retail stores are to blame. But when it comes to trend pieces, those rip-offs from the catwalk in some capital city miles away were made to fit a certain frame, and most of the time the high street-filtered version is a pretty damn good copy (did someone say six weeks lead time?), so why should it suit me? I'm not sad about it at all (apart from shift dresses, cos I really, really want to dress like Twiggy on the daily). I accept that there's no point trying to give my own take on a trend, which is basically just a carbon copy of everyone else's, and thus *unpopular opinion klaxon* it's boring. There's a reason I follow the women's blogs I do: I like to see original, well thought out content that tells a story, because if I want to see trends I'll toddle off to Vogue, who do it very, very well.

I'm not a stylist who knows how to put perfect outfits together; I still bleary eyed chuck things on in the morning, only to re-assess in the toilet at work thinking "nah, definite miss". But I do like to document what I've jumbled together here, and hope you don't mind that it's a little more "wardrobe essentials" than "fresh off the catwalk".

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