We've been Goked!

Hey readers,

I love Gok Wan (like the majority of the TV watching female public) But it seems that lately, where ever you go, a picture of Gok Wan is never more than a heartbeat away! The presenter of 'How to look good naked' has been popular with the ladies since the very first series of the show. But now he's everywhere! He's totally saturated the fashion market!

How to look good naked (A show I really loved 90% of the time) has been replaced with Gok's fashion fix: A show I enjoy in spite of myself and its inaccurate mission statement. I even went to New Look on Friday to look for a dress i'd seen on the show on Thursday night (sadly, I couldn't find it). What I love about Gok is that unlike Trinny and Susannah and NHJ (God I hate her, and who thought it was a good idea to contract her name?) he actually seems to like women: he makes them look good by building their confidence, not humiliating them.

But i'm beginning to wonder if Gok has gone too far. Gok has been on every single chat show, he even had the honour of presenting the Friday Night Project. You can buy underwear endorsed by Gok on simplyyours.co.uk, he has his own fashion tip section and endorses certain products for Dorothy Perkins, and I just heard on the olde telebox that this week he has been given his own column in Look magazine. All good for Goks bank balance. But is it good for us? How many of his endorsements are genuine? And how much Gok is too much Gok?

Call me cynical, but my love (and it is a genuine love) of the Gokster declined dramatically when I saw the tripe they were putting his name on in the Norwich branch of Dorothy Perkins. He let them do that! Gok is a super stylist: he knows that polyester doesn't look good on anyone. So why is his grinning face hanging to the hangers of this stuff? Dear God why?!

I'm heading out to buy my weekly Look fix this afternoon. I just hope this column avoids the "if your boyish wear this, if your curvey wear this" cliches and brings something new to the table.

Or my remaining strands of respect for the man who "brought fashion to British women" will be gone. All gone.

Love

Tor xx

Scraping up the pennies in Zara!

Hey folks,

It's that time of the year again: the summer sales! And although i'm flat broke, i'm never one to turn down a bargain. So I hit the shops determined only to spend the money I had in my purse: a twenty pound note, one pound thirty six in change and, for some reason, an american dollar. With this princely sum I wanted a dress that I could wear again and again. When the sales start i usually go crazy buying "on trend" stuff that looks great for all of a month then dissapears into my wardrobe never to be seen again. Not this year: once, just once I will listen to the advice of my mother (who I hate to admit is never wrong) and buy something durable and versitile.

For no other reason than that it's the first shop you come to when you enter the mall, I started in Zara. Here are my favourite four dresses in the zara sale, each in store for less than £20:

Apologies for the white dress/green bra combo: I really should think things through! I liked this simple linen dress on the hanger but not really on me: I had to size up so it would fit around the bust but that left it loose everywhere else: particularly note the gaping under the arms: not a good look! But I think on someone less curvy this would make a really versitile practical summertime dress you could do so much with and wear again and again.

I loved this dress!! Love love love! The fit was fantastic, the tulip cut especially flattering, I even liked the little belt they cinched the waist in with (I never normally like the belts that come with dresses) The pattern isn't what my mum would call classic but i think it is subtle enough that you could accessorise it into next year. However if I bring home another strapless tulip cut dress that I rarely wear then I think my boyfriend would hurt me (or at least tut and shake his head in disapointment) And I did buy a less superior but nontheless similar checked strapless dress less than a month ago. This one goes back to the shelf for someone else to enjoy. Sigh!

Sorry to ruin the suprise/not build up the suspense, but this is the dress I bought. I was going to look round all the shops before I decided but it fit so well and it was the only one left in my size so I had it: black is always classic, the cut fit really nicely and the cut outs and embroidered oversized flowers around the necline stopped it from looking boring. hurray!!

What would my mum say?! Ok so its not simple or classic, but I loved the pattern and the casual oversized button up thing: kind of like I borrowed a beach cover up from my nan! It looked great but the cotton was too flimsy for me: I like to feel supported by some sturdy fabric: oh dear, maybe i am my nan!

Happy shopping,

Tor x

R is for Roasting...

....As in hot hot hot!!!

According to those reliable folks at the BBC weather centre, today has been the hottest day of the year so far. And once i'd finally escaped the office that meant hours of wandering around the city centre in the sun sucking on a mint magnum and hunting for the perfect red bikini top. It seemed like the perfect way to spend a sunny afternoon. However that red top was not to be found!

A fortnight ago I went to visit my sister in southampton with my parents, and we decided to do a spot of discount outlet shopping while we were there (and why not!) Pickings were slim apart from a lovely mustard shift dress from next of all places (!?) until we went into oasis and I found these:

Because what everyone wants to see right now is grainy shots of my lumpy bum and my appalingly untidy room.....

These Odille bikini bottoms were reduced from £26 each to just £1 a pair! A bargainalicious bargain I thought to myself as I snapped them up. The tops didn't come in cupped sizes and as I can't wear a standard sized top I decided to leave them on the shelf. However with the red polka dots and the red ditsy flowers I figured a plain red top would be perfect for both bottoms and be mix and match-able for my summer holiday. But now the last laugh is on me: I can't find a "fuller bust" (I hate that phrase!) red bikini top anywhere- even my old swimwear faithful Marks and Spencers has let me down! (Although I do almost quite like this design from their new DD+ collection, which consists of only 4 designs in my size. Sigh!):

As Roy Walker would say to Mr Chips, its good but its not the one. If anyone has any ideas on where i'll find the top I crave they are gratefully recieved. Otherwise i'm throwing caution to the wind and my £2 investment down the drain and splurging on this bad boy from bravissimo that comes in at just over £50 instead:

This seasons swimwear trends of bright colours, cut outs and one pieces are not for me (too eye catching, too figure revealing, and really unflattering, in that order) but looking like a 1950s bathing beauty/potential beach goddess? That I think i'm prepared to have a go at!

Lots of love,

Tor x

Art School Fun

Hey All,

Sorry for the long post-gap: I know I whinge about it near-constantly, but i do have a job and a 20,000 word dissertation to write you know!! (In fact, I'm scribbling this down in the office as we speak!)

Anyways, as you all know I go to UEA to do an MA in reading and Becky goes to Norwich Art School to do an MA in art/writing stories and stuff. And as the Norwich Art School had there end of year degree shows this week, and Becky's interested in that kind of stuff, she and I trotted off to take a look. Here are my 3 favourite things from the students finishing their BA (Hons) Contemporary Textile Practices:

Anna Watson 'Untitled'

Jennifer Ball "Re-Made"

Carly Elia "Untitled"

And now that my boss is scowling at me, I have to go back to work!

Love, Tor x