THE WEEK #1 | THE BOTTLEMEN, THE BANDS & THE OBNOXIOUS SUNNIES

2015 is all about the evolution of TheLenihanLook and as part of that, I want to make more lifestyle type posts. Yanno the ones where I give you a peak into what I get up to, rather than the odd outfit post here and there. I'm going to try to post a weekly round up every Sunday, with some snaps and chit-chat about what the week involved. I can't promise it'll always be that exciting, but that's life right?

1] On Friday evening, I saw one of my good pals James Burrage and his band, as well as four other acts preform in Essex. The venue was the coolest darn bar I've ever been in, going down into the basement with all exposed brickwork and mismatched chairs we saw the boys preform and hung out with them afterwards seeing the other acts. I also [partially] fell in love with the guitarist in E-Mute and his insane man bun. They're also the nicest guys, [we made friends] and I can't wait to see them play Camden next Friday. 

2] The obnoxious shades. Taking a little trip into town, I stumbled across these ace mirrored tinted sunglasses from New-Look and although one of my friends Kirsty refused to walk beside me, I'm in love with them. We also may have made a little pit-stop to Maccas in which we drunk milkshakes and I created a band name/logo on a napkin, yanno as you do. 

3] Hanging out of windows in Shoreditch to take snaps of sunsets. 

4] On Monday, I went back to Sixth Form which was very strange. Something big is happening in my life at the moment [all to be revealed soon] and I needed to tie up a couple of things. Pretty tragic that I had to wear a visitors badge at all times.

5] Tan. Guys, if you haven't seen Tanya London's artwork, what the heck are you playing at. I was blown away when she surprised me with this illustration of me. [The crazy ass hair is pretty accurate.] You can view her stuff on her Insta|HERE or her new Blog|HERE, please go give it a look she's so damn talented. 

6] Probably THE most exciting half hour of the week, getting tickets to see Catfish and The Bottlemen for their gig at O2 Brixton Academy in November. I am so obsessed with this band, The Balcony has surpassed many an album and made in into my top 3 of all time. The boys are so darn cool and I cannot wait to see them live. In scarier news, by the time I see them, I'll be 20. 

7] This week I've rekindled my love for charity-shop and vintage shopping. Luckily there's never a shortage of ace places to go and have a snoop. Sometimes I really do wonder why I pay ridiculous ££ when I can pick up a mens sherling jacket for £15. I'm planning on writing a post all about charity shop bargains very soon, so keep your eyes pealed. 

Some very exciting things were thrown into the mix this week and I can't quite talk about them yet, but when I can you guys will be first to know. 

Happy Sunday everyone, what did you get up to this week? 

STYLE INSPO // OBSCURE COUTURE

Nowadays, it's rare you come across a brand that's unique, with a bold idea and the confidence to see it through. Enter: Obscure Couture.

I stumbled across the brand on ASOS:Marketplace in the search of a kick-ass dress. Long story short, O/C came to my rescue and ever since I've been drooling over their collections.

There's something so obnoxious about Obscure Couture but in the best damn way. Their pieces make the extrovert within me want to leap out.

Launcing in 2010, Obscure Couture are Glasgow based and pride themselves on being "anti-fast-fashion and anti-trends", as a brand... "we want you to be able to keep your Obscure for years and be able to pull it out time and time again." I love that the brand is all about self-expression and confidence, vocalising individuality and being ballsy when it comes to style.

I pledged at the end of 2014 I'd be braver and more experimental with my style in 2015 and I think Obscure Couture are the perfect place to get inspired. So, in my eyes here's some stand out pieces that inspire me to be a little wilder...

You guys know I am obsessed with neon/lime green and O/C fuel that addiction. I mean look at this god-damn dress, don't tell me you're not drooling...well I certainly am. [Please bury me in this little number.] I can't put into words how "me" this dress is, you guys know I love to experiment with style on night outs and stick to my tee's and jeans during the day, but com'on, I'd wear this to Sainsbury's if I could. 

PREACHER SEQUIN MINI DRESS - £150.00 [HERE]

DAHLIA SNOWJET JACKET - £95.00 [HERE]
ZIRCON JET JUMPER DRESS - £80.00 [HERE]

 As well as being totally bonkers, Obscure Couture also have pieces that you could actually wear to Sainsburys [not sure why Sainburys keeps popping up]. I'm a sucker for monochrome and the big fluffy coat in the 1st picture is the kind of rowdy 70s rockstar coat I think we all need. 

Then we have the classic long-length jumper dress with a little cut-out twist. It'd look great either dressed up or as styled above with chunky heeled boots, which lets face it will always be my go-to option.

The more vampy pieces are definitely right up my street, especially their AW13 collection "A Weekend in Hell". A million and one different looks spring into my mind when looking at the wide leg trousers bellow, I'm thinking a neon pop on top or going all out tailored and whacking a blazer and some chunky heels? Oh and the BEAST jumper, I love the off-the-shoulder vibe and the subtle texture contrast with the printed text. [I'm also having major hair-envy]

"A WEEKEND IN HELL" VEX WIDE LEG TROUSERS - £70.00 [HERE]
BEAST JUMPER - £90.00 [HERE]

WANTED RACER BACK MAXI - £55.00 [HERE]
FOLSOM GREEN LEATHER MINI SKIRT - £150.00 [HERE]

It's safe to say the two pieces above are enough to send me over the edge. I mean, the maxi dress is so delicate and gorgeous - although Obscure Couture are an in-your-face-in-the-best-possible-way brand, they also nail really simple pieces. Oh and you've most definitely seem me gushing over Twitter about it but LOOK AT THE LIME GREEN SKIRT, JUST LOOK.

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There's a handful of reasons I'm kind of in love with Obscure Couture but their overall idea really resonates with me. As soon as I found personal confidence, style seemed so much easier and in these pieces you can't help but want to take the world by storm. It's important to remember that trends aren't everything, it's about dressing for you and behind all the whacky colours and eccentric pieces, I think that's what O/C are trying to say...fuck it, be 100% you.  

Obscure Couture aren't about manufactured rubbish, it's about quality and a real love for fashion, which goes a heck of a long way in my books. Creativity and boldness are things you rarely see nowadays, you can tell Obscure Couture love what they make and do and that's exactly how it should be. 

LEATHER ME WITH YOUR LIPS

In a wild attempt to fool Van McCann into falling in love with me, I stole his style [inspo here]. That's how you get a guys attention...right? If you don't have a clue who Van McCann is and you've never heard of Catfish and The Bottleman, you're seriously missing out. 

Today's look is something that's pretty darn simple but never crossed my mind. Lately I've had a serious case of the January blues and that meant I've refused to take off the slouchy black jumper and VANS. This particular look is an attempt to refresh my style, strip it down and go for something a little less complex and a lot more classic. I mean, you can't go wrong with stripes, hints of red and a leather jacket can you?

THE LOOK

tartan scarf - DOROTHY PERKINS | leather jacket - H&M | striped long sleeved tee - ZARA | Bailey high waisted jeans - DOROTHY PERKINS | boots - DOROTHY PERKINS

STYLE INSPO | BELLA HADID

The STYLE INSPO series is back! 

I'm so pumped to make this a more prominent feature on my blog, I feel that this year I know exactly what my style is and who inspires it. 

So, without further or do, the first STYLE INSPO of 2015 is all about Bella Hadid. 

I am obsessed with the Hadid's. Gigi [19] and Bella [18] just nail that effortlessly cool vibe. Both girls have crazy busy modelling careers but juggle that with education and I think that's ace. I love their natural approach to both make-up and style, they don't ever look as if they're trying hard to be something they're not. Naturally, I definitely gravitate more towards Bella's style. Annoyingly, there aren't many pictures of her so I had to rely on what Tumblr and Instagram had to offer, but you'll get the idea. 

Bella has a tomboyish vibe to her style and I love it. There's a definite 90s influence, a real throw on and go - scruffy jeans, Converse and a baggy tee. It's so simplistic that I guess in a way, when it comes to style people often look for something more complex and expensive, but I love the cool laid back approach instead. However, Bella has the ability to go from 90s babe to high fashion gal real quick. I've discussed it before over here on T-L-L but I absolutely love that contrast when it comes to style.. I absolutely love that by day, Bella is the girl next door but can nail something a lot more structured and sharper at events and night time.

I'm not a make-up person in the slightest but I think the Hadid's fresh-faced nature just adds to the style. Their confidence shines through, they don't need a tonne of make-up or to be strutting about in heels while hanging out with friends, [besides being uber rich and models] they're normal gals and I think that's another reason I am so attracted to their sense of style. It's them and you can tell it came from them, not a stylist, which I appreciate in people. I mean obviously, I might be wrong and I know that for photo shoots there is obviously a stylist present but day to day, it seems to be a really unique to both Bella and GiGi, their personality shines through.

One of the reasons I take inspiration from Bella's style is that it's consistently evolving. 

You can tell there are staples in her wardrobe that she relies on but at the same time, especially at events, she'll take a risk and wear something a little bolder. I've also noticed that there are subtle changes in Bella's night style, she tends to lean towards a bolder lip and slicked back hair, emphasising her cheekbones a little more so than during the day. I absolutely love the jumpsuit she's wearing alongside Gigi in the picture above, I think that looks so classic and sophisticated, the girls just come across really classy. 

For a born and bred American, there's something about Bella's style that's typically British to me and maybe that's why I am so drawn to it. Whereas Gigi is more of a Californian beach babe, Bella would fit straight into London life. 

I forecast my style to be pretty similar to Bella's this spring/summer and I think she's a great person to take style inspo from, even if she is a tad bit younger than me! 

If you're looking to get Bella's daytime look, here's some essentials bellow. 

BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE'S YOU

It was bright blue skies and reasonably mild today, so maybe I'm getting a little carried away for mid-January but isn't anyone else dreaming of spring/summer?

Realistically, you'll need a big winter coat and tights with this look, but let's just pretend is June for one minute shall we? For some reason lately I am obsessed with contrasting bright blue and black at the moment. I nabbed this blue denim dress last autumn and I cannot wait to wear it all summer long, it's got that perfect tomboyish, 90s vibe that we all know I love. Roll necks are an essential this time of year and let's be real, they're perfect to wear with anything. I was super pumped to finally get a pair of Doc Marten's for crimbo, matte black of course, they're just the ultimate cool shoe right?

T H E    L O O K

roll neck - DOROTHY PERKINS | denim dress - TOPSHOP | boots - DOC MARTEN's | fedora - PRIMARK | rucksack - PRIMARK

2015 // STYLE INSPO // MOOD BOARD

2014 aka the year of experimenting. Now it's 2015 I am feeling crazy inspired style-wise. I want to strip it back to basics, keeping that tomboyish vibe but look at structure. Contrasting more laid back pieces with sharper elements. Layering jewellery, implementing colour and mixing textures.

 Here's a little taster of some pictures I found on Tumblr that are goals for my style in 2015. 

I'm going to be writing plenty more "STYLE INSPO" posts this year, I did a handful last year but I feel like I have more of a definite idea as to who inspires me these days. I hope these snaps give ya a clue as to what I'm currently loving, I'll go into more detail soon!

2014

I've tried writing this post a million times, I thought I'd it nailed but everytime I came back to it, it's just not been right.

I initially wanted to do a huge post full of photos you guys hadn't seen right from the start of 2014 all the way up till NYE but it just didn't feel personal enough. I remember back in the day, I used my old blog pretty much as a diary and I think it was the best therapy I could've asked for. I want TheLenihanLook to go places in 2015 but at the same time I want it to be a really personal venture. So...here's a stream of conciousness [I haven't spell/grammar checked, so don't bitch if I mess up] of my 2014, the year that started off a complete disaster but turned into something very special. [A lot of this I'm actually talking about publicly for the first time, so this was super hard to write.]

There aren't words to explain how badly 2014 started. I remember mid-February, lying on my bathroom floor hysterical because I just couldn't get myself together no matter how hard I tried. I just felt weak mentally and physically, I was just so damn miserable. It'd been this way for a while, I'd been taking weeks on end off of Sixth Form and just having little-no motivation for everything. I've learned that's one of the worst things about me - when things get bad, I know exactly what's bothering me but I just have no idea where to start picking up the pieces.

Some of you may know, some of you might not, that when I was 13 I suffered from an eating disorder and ever since I've had a form of depression. Firstly, I want to say it's in no way as serious as some people and I am not looking for sympathy. I don't like to talk about it because I know that we all have our individual demons and problems and I am in no way about to shove it down anyone's throat. As well as that I don't want it to define me, I've come a really long way but something like that always haunts you.

There were loads of reasons 2014 got off to such a bad start.
I've never felt so lost in my entire life. I think as a teenager you're always going to feel like that but it'd gotten to a place where I just lost control of who I was. As fucked up as it sounds, I was just lying to myself about everything.
At the end of 2013 I'd applied to go to University to do clinical psychology and deep down I knew from the start it wasn't what I wanted but I lied to myself and everyone else and forced the idea down my own throat. So while the Uni drama was happening, I was letting a relationship with a guy really mess me up, it'd gotten to a point where it was so complicated the more we tried the worse it got. I think the worst part of it was that he'd been my best friend for years and we'd stupidly let it become more than that and I ended up not only loosing someone I'd really fallen in love with but my best friend as well. The entire fiasco had definitely tainted my outlook on love. To add to all of that, demons from the past were catching up with me and the whole non-existent-mother-mother-figure thing reached a whole new level, but I'm not going to go into that. I just lost it. There'd be nights where I'd just cry hysterically and I'd physically throw up at the thought of leaving my bedroom. I really can't thank my friends enough, you know who you are, for sticking by me and not letting me push you away forever during that time because I lost a lot of important people all thanks to my fucking mental state.

I don't really remember when, how or why but one morning I woke up and it was as if I'd got as low as I possibly could. I remember just thinking "fuck it, it can't get any worse". I cancelled my UCAS application, said a massive "fuck you" to University and I told myself to just do the best I could in exams. I've always been an over thinker and I was just sick to death of letting the most stupid thoughts control me. Don't get me wrong, my mind didn't sort itself out over night - there are still days where I get a bit lost again, but if you met me at the start of this year, you wouldn't recognise me.

There are a handful of people that I can't put into words how much they mean to me and you know who you are, but I think one person I really want to mention in this post is Paige. We only became really good friends at the start of Sixth Form but I feel as if we've been friends for our entire lives, she's the best gal I could ask for. We've sat up so many nights having the weirdest conversations and laughing about the most fucked up things - but there's no one in the world that I'd rather call my best friend. Paige was there for me whenever I needed her and I think it got to a point where what I told her was a little too TMI but we just get each other. Most of the funniest/happiest memories I have are with P and I honestly don't think I could've got through some patches without her. So P if you are reading this/ever read this, don't ever forget how much you mean to me.

I spent the entire summer really trying to sort everything out. I got into fitness big time. I started working out and toning up, which gave me so much more confidence and contributed massively to my mind state. I am insanely insecure about my figure which leads back to 13 year old me, but as soon as I started to not only tone up but most importantly feel healthier in myself I just felt so much more confident in my own skin. Confidence lead to be finding my own style, which again contributed to that "I'm me, take me as I am or fuck off". I've gotten to a place where I don't care if someone doesn't like what I'm wearing, the music I listen to etc and I'm the happiest I've ever been. I think when you reach that point of doing what you want, you attract people that are similar and accept you for you.

I am so damn lucky that the place I worked as a Saturday girl offered me a full-time placement and I think that was one of the reasons I started to get back on track. I walked out of my last exam and in four days time started work full-time. Although I'm kinda gutted I didn't have a wilder summer, in the last few months of 2014 I've made up for it. There's no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision to not go to University, I love the independence and life experience it's given me. Throughout the dark days, my job was one of the things that kept me going. I never gave a fuck about education and I'd use any excuse to not turn up, but when it comes to work I'll be there. I am so damn lucky to work with the girls I do, Tan if you're reading this, you've been my saviour this year. Sitting in the staff room, eating cookies and ranting about the world; you're so ridiculously ace and I'm so lucky you're in my life.

I can't explain how incredible the last few months of 2014 were.

I ended summer with a trip to Kew Gardens with one of my best pals Jack. It was the sunniest most amazing day, I absolutely love plants and I got to geek out over cacti, which lets face it, is a great way to spend a day. Being back in Richmond made me feel super nostalgic as I spent a lot of my childhood there and have so many fond memories, watching the rugby with Dad and hanging out in the parks. Bamz and I have got up to a million and one things, last minute plans seem to be the norm for us. I got to see Kids in Glass Houses, a band that mean a whole lot to me on their farewell tour in Reading [where I was born], which is going to go down as probably the most special night in my entire life. I had the most incredible last night of 18 with my friends, then woke up in the last year of my teenage years in Camden. I've practically moved in with my cousin, Oli who lives in Shoreditch with his friend, which is ace because it saves me the twenty minute commute into the central from where I live on the outskirts. It wasn't full of massive, life changing experiences but I learnt that the nights running through Shepherd's Bush interpretive dancing are going to go down as some of the best memories you'll ever have. I've reconnected with people I never thought I'd spend time with again and some of them have become people I'm incredibly close to. It's just the freedom, that I've had. I've literally been living out of a bag, between Shoreditch, my families home and my Uncle's town house, I've been here there and everywhere, hanging out with all different people and just enjoying every second. That's what it's really all about.

I think what I'm trying to say in this post is giving things time, whether it's an hour or six months in my case, is really fucking important because everything you dreamed of could be at the end of it. Sometimes you need to go to the darkest, shittest places to come back out the other side.

I am so damn excited for 2015 because I finally feel strong enough to take life on. I'm so damn ready.
If you ever want to talk to me, an email, or tweet; whatever - they're all linked in my blog, I'd love to talk. I think that's something I never realised, talking really does help. Just to bleugh at someone, it kinda helps.

Thank-you for all your support, whether you clicked on my blog by accident or followed me and read every post I uploaded, it means more to me than I can put into words. Thank-you to any of my friends or that are reading this post, because without you I'm not sure where I'd be. And thank-you to my Dad, who is the strongest, most important human to me on the entire planet. I don't know what I'd do without you and I'll never be able to repay you for the things you've done for me. There's no one I'd rather share a cigarette with at 3am, ranting about how fucking awful life can be.

Here's a little look into my soul.
G x