Borders girl living life in the capital

My Oscar Outfit Opinions

I absolutely love looking at red carpet fashion and so I thought I would blog about my favourites (and a few not so favourites) from the Oscars red carpet. I started to watch a live stream of the red carpet in my bed on Sunday night but my phone battery died, probably just as well or I would have been up all night. Me and my flatmates did have a session of looking at all the dresses yesterday which sort of turned into an episode of Fashion Police! We all had quite differing opinions but here's a few of mine.

I wasn't too sure what to expect from Anne Hathaway but I'm sure I'm not the only one who wasn't expecting a dress like this Prada one at all. Now I know it was a last minute decision but in my opinion it was a good decision. There was so much controversy all over the Internet about Anne's nipples, a bit of an over reaction I think. Okay, so you can maybe see her nipples a bit, or maybe it's just the end of the darts on the dress but I actually read a headline that said  'Les Nippleables' and articles saying 'I'm sure Anne Hathaway didn't intend to be stood up on the red carpet by her own nipples'. Ignoring all that, I think she looked amazing. Great choice of dress; simple, feminine and elegant with striking back details, accessorised with glitzy jewellery making it an Oscar worthy choice.

I think no matter what Anne Hathaway wore I would have loved it. I've been a big fan of hers since her early film roles and her Oscar win for her part in Les Mis was extremely well deserved. However, Anne could be in Oscar nominated films for the rest of her acting career but I will always just think of her as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada (one of my all time favourite films!) or even Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries, a childhood teenage favourite of mine!


And as for the other girls from Les Mis, I think they both looked stunning! Such a great choice of dress for both these girls, I especially love Samantha Barks black Valentino number.

In my opinion Sally Field was one of the best dressed on the red carpet. I think this Valentino dress looks so great on her, both bold and elegant, with the long sleeves and frills working wonderfully on her. Like I have already spoken about with Anne Hathaway, no matter how many films I watch with Sally Field in them, she will always just be Nora Walker from Brothers and Sisters to me. I am currently addicted to that TV show hence my love for her!


Both Jessica Chastain and Amy Adams looked amazing. I'm not often sure about pale coloured dresses with pale skin but these looks work really well; 50's glamour and Disney princess.

I wasn't too sure about Jennifer Lawrence's dress until I saw the details a bit clearer when she went up for her award, but I really like it. Charlize Theron looked great, I think in my eyes it's mostly to do with the haircut teamed with a simple, sexy dress.

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston were among the few who showed us that there's still a place for bold colours on the red carpet amongst all the pale sparkles and monochrome. In my opinion neither of these dresses are anything special but I think both these ladies look great.

I've always got time for a bit of sparkle and both these dresses are winners in my opinion, I especially love Sandra Bullock's.

Navy is one of my favourite colours and always a good option for the red carpet. There was lots of press around Helen Hunt's dress which was from none other than H&M! I do like the style but I'm not a huge fan of that crease-y looking prom dress fabric. I love the dress on the right (not massively sure who that is though!?).

Now...these two are in my 'worst dressed' category even though I will defend Helena to a certain extent however I have no excuses for Kristen Stewart. My opinions here might sound pretty harsh but I am not a fan of Kristen at all. That might actually have something to do with having never seen any of the Twilight films but I just don't get any good vibes from her. I really don't like her look here. I don't understand why she opted for such a feminine dress (which I'm not overly fussy about in itself) and yet still stuck with her signature dark eyes and plain hair! Now, with Helena, I completely understand her signature wacky style and I do admire her for it, and this dress isn't actually too bad. However I really don't understand why she always looks like she just got out of bed...it's the Oscars for goodness sake!


Who were your favourites on the red carpet? Do you agree with my best and worst dressed?

Eley Kishimoto & Clarks

"Husband and wife Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto are the creative force behind the label, a union which brings together the traditional craftsmanship of Eley's native Britain and Kishimoto's Japanese design heritage. This classic-meets-contemporary aesthetic is the secret of the label's success - their collaboration with British footwear institution Clarks this season is the perfect example - think classic with a quirky twist."



I never used to be a shoe person at all...until I started working at Clarks. Now I spend most days surrounded by them and I am slowly, but very surely, becoming obsessed with shoes, especially Clarks ones! Clarks have just launched their collaboration range with designer brand Eley Kishimoto and I love the designs! The collection which debuted at London Fashion Week features Clarks designs, including their classic Desert Boot, with the gorgeous prints of Eley Kishimoto. Mark Eley of Eley Kishimoto has a good connection with Heriot-Watt uni and so I had the chance to attend a few talks by him in the years I spent there. Eley Kishimoto's signature style is very much bold and colourful prints...and I am all for bold and colourful prints!!  

These beauties are tugging at my purse strings!!

Scent Eley £79.99


A few of Eley Kishimoto's looks from Fashion Week, all styled with the Clarks collaboration shoes!
All images were found on google and the YouTube video was featured on the Clarks Twitter profile.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Working in retail I don't get weekends off too often so I'd said to myself that when I next had a Sunday off I was going to do typical Sunday things! So yesterday I did just that, I'd even bought bacon specifically for the occasion. I knew that my Sunday plan involved going for a walk and I decided on Saturday night that I would venture to Portobello beach. The weather yesterday was absolutely amazing, making my day the perfect stress-less Sunday.

So, as I mentioned, I started my day with a cuppa and a bacon sandwich, accompanied by Friends on the telly. A nice relaxing morning.


Then I got myself ready; leather jacket on (only the second time this year I've been able to wear it and not had to wear my huge winter coat), my comfy boots for the few mile walk to the beach and my sunglasses even made their first appearance in a pretty long time! Ben Howard's album on my iPod and I was all set.

I love the seaside and living in the centre of town it's almost like I forget that the sea is so close. Portobello is a very nostalgic place for me and it was partly this that made me want to go and explore it again. My Grandma and Grandpa lived in Portobello, just a 2 minute walk from the promenade, when I was younger and so I spent a lot of time here if I was spending the day or staying with them. It was a nostalgic and quite a satisfying feeling to see the little play park that I used to enjoy being enjoyed by children now. There's a big concrete circle (I guess it once upon a time had something on top of it!?) that I used to get up and dance on when I was a child, and yesterday it made me smile to see some little children running about on it exactly like I would have done one day. There are lots of memories for me there. I'll never forget about the time that I was walking along the wall on the prom when I was about 5 and I spotted a boat in the distance, pointed and shouted 'Look Grandpa there's a boat' just as I fell off the wall onto the sand! Apparently my Grandpa had never moved so fast as he jumped over the wall to get me!! Ahh the memories! So walking along the prom today was a trip down memory lane for me and stirred a very nostalgic feeling in my tummy! My Grandpa and Grandpa moved from here closer to us which was lovely but I'll always miss when they lived here!


After walking along the length of the prom and then back again along the sand, I headed to The Beach House for a coffee. It was my dad and my sister that introduced me to this little gem on the prom after they'd stumbled across it one day a few years ago. I have been there before yesterday for lunch once and from what I can recall their food menu was really nice (I think I had falafels!) but yesterday was just a coffee and cake affair! As I expected on such a gorgeous day the place was very busy but I managed to grab a seat to enjoy my cappuccino and banana loaf! As reviews go, this place is amazing! A lovely food menu, perfect setting with the view of the sea, beautiful beach hut style interiors, gorgeous cakes, great coffee and friendly staff! What more could you want? I recommend that if you are going to Portobello beach then this is the best destination for a coffee break, and even if you weren't planning on going to Portobello, The Beach House is well worth a visit.


I really NEVER ever take self shots but I think the sunny skies yesterday put me a such a good mood that I just thought what the hell!! So here's the Instagram photo of me just before I left for my walk to Portobello!

My favourite room in the house

I'll admit it, I love seeing other peoples room/house posts, it's the nosey side of me! This post came from  Alex giving me a blog award that involved me answering questions, one of which was; 'Which room in your house is your favourite?' She stated that there was bonus points for photos and I straight away thought that was the perfect opportunity to do what I've been meaning to do for a while and show you all a few photos of my favourite room! I haven't had the time to answer the rest of Alex's questions yet and so now the photos of my favourite room have come before any of the rest of the blog award questions. 

My bedroom is most definitely my favourite room in the house. Being in a shared flat means that my bedroom is the room that harbours all my......stuff! And the place that I feel most at home. I am verging on OCD when it comes to the neatness of my bedroom and absolutely everything has it's place (it can't be any other way)!

So if you're secretly quite nosey like me then you'll love to get a wee glimpse into my world!

Illustration of me!

Lana's blog - Elephant Paws.

I have a new addition to my sidebar. See...over there! >>>>>

My wonderfully talented friend and flatmate Lana drew me! I gave her an idea of what I would like for the sidebar of my blog and this is the amazing illustration that she created! I mentioned that I liked the idea of it being black and white with a splash of colour so there's me with my beloved red brogues and satchel! I particularly love the hair!!
Do you think it looks like me? 
© Country Girl - City Life

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