Happy Halloween!

Halloween, eh! It kinda snuck up on me this year. Did you dress up or opt for pj's and scary movies instead? Us South Africans don't really celebrate Halloween with the same gusto as the Brits and Americans do but I'm personally in favour of more commerical madness. On Friday, we partied at Unit 11 or 'The Unit' as I've taken to calling it. It's pretty much the only club in Durbs where you can have an indie razzle these days. Plus there's free popcorn - bonus! My first outfit idea was to chuck some red food colouring down a chiffon dress I'd accidentally singed with the iron but the result was far too disturbing for my (and I'm sure anyone else's) liking! In the end, I erm, dribbled some colouring down a polka dot top (told you I would bust out spots over stripes) for a bit of a zombie doll look. What did you guys do? Score any epic treats? Is the whole thing a bit freaky for your liking or do you go full tilt? I'm not so into the devilish looks myself but I'll take any chance to dress up!

You can find Fire Through The Window (pictured above) here and Unit 11 here. Fun party gang!

Q&A with Sydney of The Daybook

Guys, I have become obsessed with Sydney! Ok, that sounds creepy. Put it this way, I check her blog every five minutes, daily. She is just so adorable, you can't help but love her. I always think that she must look at her blog stats and see these billions of hits from the same South African IP address and wander who the stalker is! That would be me Syd. I like to call her Syd, as if we're best friends. (We are, right, Syd?) Anyway, Syd kindly took the time to chat to me all the way from the US.




Hello Sydney/Syd! How are you today?
I am in my P.J.'s right now. So obviously, I'm fabulous.

Obvz! Your blog has exploded recently - in the very best way possible! You must be so chuffed with the response?
Indeed, I am chuffed. I also just had to look up that word in my dictionary. And will now be using it regularly ... because it is very British and because it is awesome. I'm sure husband will be stopping by later to thank you for that one. To answer your question, I have been surprised but thrilled with the response! And I have a few, very kind bloggers who have spotlighted me to thank for the recent influx.



Lols re 'chuffed!' Can you tell us how your blog has evolved since you began in October last year?
I started our blog as a little journal for my husband and I. But then one day, after being inspired by several other style bloggers, I decided that I wanted to post my daily outfits too. So I did. And that's when the blog started to grow. I still feel like I'm being true to the original endeavor of the blog though, as I hardly ever post about the clothes themselves, just mostly the hub's and I's life together.




What is your favourite thing about blogging?
Absolutely, my favorite part is the connections I get to make with other readers and bloggers. There are some seriously awesome peeps out there.

There are indeed. Your photography is amazing. Can you please share some tips with us?
Oh goodness! Well thank you. I will indeed. Here's 3 quick tips that will make your pictures look amazing no matter what kind of camera you use:
- Use great lighting! We usually take my outfit pics around 5:00 or 6:00pm when the sun is lower in the sky. That gives you softer, golden lighting and will showcase your clothing significantly better than the harsher lighting the comes around the middle of the day.
- Do not take a picture with your subject in the direct center of the frame. For example, try shooting a close-up of someone's face, cropped off to the right of their cheekbone and placed in the right side of the frame. This type of cropping make the picture more visually interesting and appealing.
- Use the rule of thirds. Always try to compose your shots with this in mind. By using {roughly} a small, medium and large object/negative space in your composition, the viewer's eye will always have somewhere to look and travel to throughout the picture.

Excellent tips, thanks girl. You also have such a sharp eye for style. What are the ten items you reckon every girl should own?
Ten items huh? A Fitted Blazer, Statement Scarves, A leather {or faux leather} jacket, A waist cinching belt, a chunky necklace {or lots of necklaces you can chunk together}, the LBD {of course}, a nautical striped top, knee high boots, a great pair of skinny jeans, a floral or interestingly patterned dress.



What is your personal, go-to outfit?
Knee High Boots, Skinny Jeans, A patterned button up, chunky boyfriend sweater and boyfriend watch. I am so in my element with this fall weather right now.

If you were to visit us in South Africa, what would you pack?
Well, since you guys are entering Summer right now I would be packing my straw fedora, plenty of maxi dresses, my boyfriend roll-up shorts, some white cotton boat shoes and absolutely everything in my closet with stripes.



Do you have any exciting news or plans you'd like to share with us?
I don't know how exciting this is for everyone, but my husband just received a job offer from a company in Washington D.C. ... of which he accepted. We will be moving there shortly after graduation in this coming year!

Oooh, that is exciting. Lastly, please can you post a photography and photoshop tutorial if that's not too cheeky to ask!
I will indeed! In fact, that's the next tutorial I plan on posting on the blog, so stay tuned! Should be up sometime this week. :)

Thanks Sydney, you're such an inspiration to me and I'm sure, many more!
You are too sweet. THANKS so much! 



Ah, isn't she just the cutest? You can check out Sydney's blog here and of course pop her a comment below. On the topic of interviews, sweet Rachel had a natter with me the other day. You can check it out here if you fancy. Have a great weekend guys!

It's a stripe thing

Inside my birthday card this year, my mom had stuck a pic of me wearing a pink stripey tee when I was three. It seems I'm still milking this look for all it's worth! One day, I'm gonna pull out the wild card on this blog and wear polka dots. I know,  I'm crazy like that! I've hardly taken off this denim skirt since I bought it a few weeks ago. I can't tell you how many people have said to me 'I also have that skirt, it's sooooo comfy!' It totally is. Elasticated waist bands - the pasta lover's best friend!



Please excuse the hot mess that is my hair colour right now! I haven't dyed it in months as it needs a serious breather from the wrath of chemicals. It's a bit like ombre in reverse! In completely non-related news, my friend Cath and I are going to attain a life dream on Thursday night by watching Crowded House at the ICC!! Are any of you Durbanites going? It's going to be epic!
PS: I do iron my clothes. Sorry that skirt looks so crinkled. It's probably because it was. Sorry mom.

Top: Jay Jays. Skirt: Woolworths: Shoes: Aldo Bag: Charity Shop Necklace & Sunnies: Mr Price

The Playful Promises lingerie winner is...

Lize Kay! Congratultations sweet pea. You have won this gorgeous Victoria set. Please pop me an email and I'll pop you one back. Thanks to all of you who took the time to enter the Gloss giveaways over the past few weeks. I wish I could give you all prizes, seriously. If you do fancy treating yourself to some new knickers and bras, you can still use the code Glossary123 to scoop a 20% discount on the Playful Promises website. I also recently realised that I hadn't linked the giveaway category on the side of the blog - idiot! You guys must have been like, 'uh, what the heck?' Lols. Sorry about that. It's linked up now. (I hope!) And, I also wanted to say a very big thanks to those of you who clicked on over to my guest post on the Kiwi Blog. Your perusals are very much appreciated! x

Rule Britannia (and a small favour to ask!)

Hi gang! As some of you may know, I love England. Even though I've only spent a year and three months there, I like to think of London as my second home. There are days when I long to be on a train into the city with music in my ears and a coffee between my hands. This month, a bunch of us bloggers are submitting guest posts to the Kiwi Collection blog and the blogger whose post gets the most views wins a trip to one of the chain's hotels. I would LOVE to win this! I wrote about the moment I fell in love with England. If you'd like to read it and help me along, please click here. Thanks in advance if you do have a squizz! PS: 3rd pic down is Craig and I in Greenwich. P.P.S: There may or may not be a picture of me wearing a ridiculous pink ensemble on the Kiwi Blog!

Awesome Alert! In Good Company

Guys, you know those stripey straws from the post before? Well, I have been looking for some for an age and when I saw them at Casey's, I went bananas! Nadia and Casey told me that you can buy them from an online South African store called In Good Company. I'm sure many of you already know about this shop. When I went on the site, my heart literally started pounding! It's very hard to find retro party things in SA (or at least in Durban) so I was mega chuffed to learn about this shop. Not to knock SA but we don't have a Paperchase or some similar stationer on every street corner. Hence, I raced through In Good Company's website and picked a bunch of things to add to my ever-expanding wishlist (which part delights and depresses me!) Here's a collage of my faves. If you also like goodies like these, you will love this site too! Click here to have a look around. Enjoy!

Burger Night at Casey's

Last night, a bunch of us girls gathered in Casey's lounge for burgers and pink drinks. I almost didn't go because I was super tired but I'm glad I did 'cuz we had such a lovely time. Here's a peek.

Stripey straws and strawberries. Casey is like a retro Nigella!

Nadia was there in a fine floral top as Sandra would say!

Casey opening Nadia's beautiful wedding invitation.

Danke had the cutest little bow.

Checking the date of the Mooi Press Party - Sat 30th October Durban bloggers!

I had minty nails (and a ghostly complexion!)

South African band posters in Casey's lounge.

Summer.

'This is how I roll, biatch!' Haha, Jenna is awesome.
(She wasn't really saying that. At least, I don't think so...)

The rest of the pics came out blurry but thanks for having a squizz gang. x

Win Playful Promises lingerie + Discounts for all!

Oooerr, check out this weeks giveaway gals (and guys?!) One of you is going to win this seriously seductive push-up bra and knicker set from Playful Promises in the UK.  Don't you just love the oversized bows and ruffles?  Gorgeous!

To enter, simply post a comment on Glossary, telling me your favourite piece of lingerie on the Playful Promises site. For an extra entry, tweet this "@Glossary_Girl is giving away Playful Promises lingerie on her blog! Check it out here http://bit.ly/accxDo" This giveaway is open to everyone, anywhere and the winner will be drawn at random a week from now.

There's more! You all get 20% OFF discount codes to use on the Playful Promises website. These are valid from today. At checkout, simply enter the code Glossary123. Happy knicker and bra shopping!

The winner of the ghd hamper is...

Roxanne of Lucy Can't Dance! Congrats hun. Please email me your postal addy so that we can send you these lush ghd products. To all of you who entered this giveaway and suggested songs to me - thanks a mill! I am now much more in the musical loop! (Was I ever in it at all?) Alot of Temper Trap and Kings of Leon fans among ya. Even some Miley Cyrus loving going on! Onto knickers now - that's right. Coming up is a lingerie giveaway and discounts for all - heck to the yes.

I ♥ Feminine Magazine Covers

Hiya guys. Did you have a nice weekend? Craig and I chilled the heck out and it was awesome. I caught up on emails, updated my flickr (sorry for the spam flickr buds!) skyped my school buds and generally pottered around in my bear suit aka wooly jimjams! Today, I fancied blogging a current love of mine - feminine magazine covers. I wanted to say girly magazine covers but that sounded a bit dodge. Isn't this new wave of erm, ladylike glossies such a refreshing change from the overtly sexy, mini-dress malarkey that usually abounds? I feel these softer covers are a sign of the modern female mindset of 'we can rock all sorts of things while wearing cute clothes without having to worry about being perceived as weak.' Deep! Have you seen any of the South African editions adopt this flirty, floral look? I can't say I have but perhaps I've missed some? I'm still a fan of edgy, avant-garde covers but I can honestly say, I'm so over the whole T&A look! What about you? Sweet, sexy or both?

Beach and blogs

Bridget, one of my dearest besties, has flown back to the BVI's. You will be missed Beavis. I mean Bridget. When she returns, we'll be stepping into dresses for her wedding in the African bush! Hopefully, I'll be 10 kilos lighter (God willing I can kick my cheese addiction) and have hair long enough to fit into the 'side-pony that's messy-yet-stylish upstyle' that Bridget has planned for us bridesmaids. Notice my not-so-subtle bingo arm hiding going on in that pic! Can't believe I'm blogging about bingo arms - moving on swiftly! So this is us at the beach the other day. It looks like there wasn't a soul in sight but it was actually packed to the max. We're not in the habit of wandering down desolate windy piers. From the beach to blogging now. Ridiculous linkage! There's a blog, well actually, two blogs I wanted to tell you about. Yesteryday, I discovered The Day Book via What Would A Nerd Wear. Both blogs are flipping awesome and I'm sure you'll enjoy swinging by them. And in other bloggy news, I've added a category for giveaways on the side so you never have to miss a chance to win on old Gloss. Happy blog reading all!

Mooi (and the demise of "Lunch with Lauren")

What's up gang!? Hope you're all a having a good week so far. Thanks for your super song suggestions in this week's giveaway. My personal fave so far has been Candice's - "Brandon Flowers (from the Killers, gone solo and rocking it, thank goodness thought my perving days were over when i heard they had split up)" Lols! Yes, it's quite a relief that Flowers hasn't given up the singing lark. While we're swopping songs, may I recommend a band called The Kills? They're my current fave but I'm sure many of you already know 'em. Back to this blog post. After our nomtastic brunch on Saturday, Nadia and I popped into Mooi which is looking darn delightful. How awesome is that Fisher Price cassette player? It totally plays Disney's Dumbo and records! Who remembers making cheesy "radio" recordings as a kid? I even went as far as to major in radio but decided to go in another direction when I realised I still sounded five years old behind the mic. Wasn't quite ready to crank my life's cringe factor up to epic proportions! "Lunch with Lauren" will never see the erm, light of the airwaves. So this casette player. If someone hadn't already bought it, Nadia and I would have had to scrap it out, resulting in a rapid and tragic end to our friendship. Also, Nadia would like you to know that she was not demanding I take pictures of her. On the contrary, I was the demanding one! My poor friends. And to those of you that haven't been and would like to visit, Mooi lives on the corner of Clarke & Bulwer Roads in Durban. Tell them the bird from Glossary sent you!



By the way and before I forget again, thanks so much for all the 'hair' compliments. Some of you were subjected to my meltdown on Twitter post-snip and I thank you for your moral support!