A Touch of Toga

I turned 18 on the 7th of July and, following in the footsteps of my brother, held a toga party in my garden.
A few weeks in advance I got stupidly excited one day and made my toga (even though you can easily make one on the day).
So I sat down in my sister's room, which I was sharing due to mine being surrendered to visitors, and I took 3 half sheets left over from my brother's toga party two years ago and fashioned a toga out of them using a Primark t-shirt as the base.
Yesterday, with the aid of my family and friends, I put up a marquee, blew up bunch-of-grapes-balloons, ate chili con carne, and generally got ready.
I seemed to be cheif toga-maker and made/fixed at least 7 people's togas, so it was really lucky that I made mine early in a weird fit of excitement.
The party was really nice, quite mellow compared to the usual parties I hold, but in a nice way.
I went for a full length toga (despite my lovely tanned legs from Tenerife) and wore the gorgeous shoes that my sister bought for my birthday. You can't see much of the toga but it has a pleated neckline and shoulder, a horizontally ruched bodice, overlapping panels on the skirt, and a diagonal hanging drape along the back falling into the skirt.

Toga II was definitely a success.

The waiting commences

I hate waiting, especially when I don't know how much longer I will have to wait. It's been so long already, in reality I suppose its only been a short while, but time slows down for those who wait.

To the ball!

On Friday I went to my last ever Fullbrook party... the Leavers' Ball.

About 2 months ago I went to Bicester Village with my family and I came across the most gorgeous Amanda Wakeley dress. It was only £125 but I studied how it was made and decided I could totally make my own.
So with my brand new mannequin (now named Claudia), I began to fantasise about the dress I was about to make, I decided red silk opposed to the purple that the other dress had used.
In Tatters I found the perfect deep red satin (which luckily some scary-looking teens had decided was definitely the wrong colour for their superhero costume), some boning (Amanda Wakeley's dresses have built-in corsets for support), and some ribbon, costing me £20 altogether!
Once I had made the corset I decided that I liked it too much to hide it inside the dress and so I completely changed my design idea.
It didn't take me long to make it, afterall, it was the perfect way to avoid revising.

I used purple stitching to accent some seams... I love it, it fitted like a glove and I could actually breath in it.

I even made Chris a tie out of the same fabric!I had such an awesome night from champagne, to chicken, and clubbing, to yearbook signing.

Nailpolish

Getting ready very early for Leavers' Ball, which is tomorrow evening, mainly due to the fact that I have no purpose in life since exams finished.

So i sat upon my sofa, watching Gilmore Girls and painted my nails the exact same red of the dress I made for my final Fullbrook event (ok apart from results day and that certificate evening).

I really hate nailvarnish. Don't get me wrong I love how perfectly manicured you look. But. It makes my nails feel dirty from the moment I put it on, and I feel like i can't touch things properly for days. And it still seems vulnerable to smudging four hours if not days - how?

Anyway. That is all.