A Royal Hair Day

Hi all,

Getting my hair cut was maybe on my to do list for about 2 months.I don’t really have a before shot per se, but this is the best I could find:

Excuse the no makeup, funny face and the unstyled-ness of it all. This was the middle of exam season and I had lost the plot a wee bit!

It had grown even longer since these were taken. I was beginning to have more hair than I did anything else. My last haircut was a shameful 6 months ago, and with deadlines and exams (and lack of money) going to the salon was just not a priority.

But the other day I finally bit the bullet, went to Windsor and got it done. And speaking of Windsor, unless you have all lived under a rock the past few months you will know that the country has put on their patriotic caps and gone Diamond Jubilee crazy - and I love it!

More bunting that you could shake a stick at!

 So on a relatively normal trip to town I was met with crowds of people waving Union Jacks with visible excitement. Clambering onto my my Chap's shoulders it turns out we had arrived just in time to see this lovely lady: 

Sorry for the poor video quality, I was quite unprepared and took it on my iPhone. However, yes that was the Queen. Now, I am no royalist, but that was friggin exciting! hence the ""ahhh! its totally the queen, its totally the queen". 

back onto the hair -  This is the end result:

I have a fringe! I haven’t had one of these since I was maybe 10 years old? And I am still trying to get used to it. I had a good few inches snipped off, layers cut in around the back. I did go to a relatively modern chain salon with a very young girl and they didn’t exactly do what I had asked. I wanted more of a Bettie Page fringe but ‘shorter at the sides and longer in the middle’ is just not something I think she could get her head around. But I guess the longer fringe length will help me get used to having it first and committing to styling it before getting a more extreme version.

We’ll see how we go!

I'm wearing my Grey Freddies Dungarees over the top of a vintage style blouse as a hammy down from my mum, originally from Warehouse. 

Steffie x

End of an era!

Bit of a dramatic title there, but for me it really is.

So I have finished the exams and the presentations, my last term has ended and now all I have left of my educational journey is my results and graduation day.

I am getting ready to say goodbye to 18 years of formal education and Although I am seriously looking forward to it, I would be telling one big porky pie if I said that it didn’t scare the pants off me.

I mean when I graduate I leave behind that cushty safety net that is “I’m a student”. The amount you can get away with when you state the is unreal.

 Example:

“you haven’t done laundry in three weeks?!”………..”I’m a student”.

“you ate pizza for breakfast?”……………….”I’m a student”.

“you went into lab wearing your pyjamas?” …………….”I’m a student”.

I mean where on this earth am I supposed to find a lab that will employ me and allow me to wear my pyjamas to work?

But in all seriousness, it did get me thinking. now obviously I cannot speak for every student but The security of being attached to a university as I entered full blown adulthood was invaluable and it did provide that help which I don’t think I would have got if I had moved out of my mum’s house and gone it alone. It was 80% independence and 20% we’ll hold your hand and we’re here if things go wrong.

So much has happened over the last three years here that I could fill a whole blog with stories (don’t worry I won’t) that I would have never fathomed when I was that 18 year old pulling up with my dad on my very first day with a boot full of stuff that would be the start of my world for the next 3 years.

I have made friends and lost friends. I’ve Found the people that will be there forever and those that impacted a small part of it. i’ve been heartbroken and found love. I ‘ve cried desperate sobs and laughed till nearly peeing myself. I’ve got very drunk, and danced until my feet bled. i’ve joined sports clubs and societies.  I’ve done countless library all-nighters, acquired a pretty impressive set of text books and done more lab hours than I dread to think.

I have grown up, and although I enter that scary and cut throat world of “career” I feel more ready for it than I did at 18.

So as my friends and I run around campus taking those “last day” shots, I’ll leave you with some photos that encapsulate my last three years:

Note: these are mostly pictures of myself, and obviously I did make friends, but firstly i'm not sure how they would feel about having their photos paraded over the internet. ;) and secondly, it documents well the change in myself and my my choice in clothes. 

Be warned, this is heavily pictorial and will go in some form of chronological order. 

My first day - Rabbit. Headlights. Velvet. spring to mind.

The view from my bedroom window in my first year. Pretty decent eh?

Fresher's ball 2009

The buggers that stole our food where we were out!

First year Summer Ball 2010

Our first student house! (it was a disgrace)

Upsettingly one of my only lab photos. But you get an insight into my mature sense of humour.

Trying to be Pin-up in my rowing lycra. I still think it can work. 

Second year Summer Ball 2011

Sports Ball 2012 

And then we reach here. 

I hope you stuck through all of that.Congrats if you did! 

These photos show nicely the times when I was dolled up and smiling, which deceivingly hides the stress. Most days were actually spent walking like a zombie in trackies and a lab coat ;) but of course there is no photographic evidence of these :)

More to come soon!

Steffie x

Sleep and Cycling

Ehy y’all

The exms are finished! Done, finite, over. I am so happy that I can finally start relaxing and having a life outside of my uni bubble. Granted I do still have one more deadline remaining, but the main long hard slog is over. I did plan a whole host of celebratory activities, but to be honest for the last week I’ve just wanted to sleep, and chill and do absolutely NOTHING to allow the cortisol and adrenaline to slowly decrease in their levels, plus as soon as this happened my immune system gave in and I became poorly.

This is me post exams

 I do however I live a stones throw away from Windsor great park so I went on a long bike ride led by my cycling enthusiastic boyfriend. It was lengthy and my legs felt beaten after two months of sitting and reading, but I felt really great for doing it.

We caught a glimpse of some beautiful horse and carriage trial of sorts set in the backdrop of Windsor Castle.

 We sat on the lush grass by the lake and ate ice cream in the sun, wandered through the rose garden and watched the horses at Guards. 

 My bike is a Dawes Duchess 2011 version I received for Christmas from my Chap

Skirt is actually a dress from Dorothy Perkins

Cardigan received from my mum as a hammy down. 

Shoes are Primark a couple of years ago. 

Sorry about the poor quality of the photos, all taken on my iPhone.

Until next time! 

Steffie x

It all started with a bang

Hi everyone.
My very first post. Starting a blog is something I have been debating doing for some time. Quite literally maybe two years. And now push has come to shove I am struggling with what to say.
Therefore I think we should start with some sort of introduction:
Hello, My name is Steffie. I am an undergraduate student of The Royal Holloway University of London (in Surrey actually) and I am in my final stages of my BSc in Biomedical Science.
I am in love with vintage fashion and the general nice things of the mid-century era and try my hardest to encapsulate that in my everyday life.
This blog will primarily be about my fashion, my loves, my interests and general musings that swim around my head. With possibly the odd scientific post thrown in there, but rest assured these will not be lengthy and indepth, as if they were I would send them to New Sicentist, not post them here. Plus, Despite being a soon to be graduate of the School of Biological Science, I neither have the knowledge nor experience to write the lengthy articles like the ones I have to study. But as the name of the blog suggests - it is just a small nod to my scientific background.
I am in no way a vintage 'purist' and doubt I ever will be, but I let it influence my style, as I have done since I was about 17.

So like my profile says:
I love Sience. I love high heels. I do science wearing high heels.

this is me:

And yes, I am sitting in a lecture.

Talk to you soon!
Steffie