I saw Lady Gaga and I cried

Good evening all, I just wanted to do a quick post about artRAVE: the ARTPOP ball.
Just in case you have recently emerged from living under a rock, and don't know about this, I will explain.
artRAVE: the ARTPOP ball is the tour which the greatest pop artist of all time, Lady Gaga, is currently doing, following the release of her album ARTPOP almost a year ago in November 2013. This time last night I was at her Manchester show at the Phones4u Arena attending her concert as a proud little monster (Gaga fans are known as little monsters!).

I had purchased my early entry ticket in February, which set me back over £150. I couldn't really afford it, but I was devastated when I missed out on tickets to her previous tour, the Born This Way Ball, so this was my way of making up for it. Following the concert I'd get the same ticket again in a heartbeat. I was right in front of centre stage, third row back and had an amazing view! I was also presented with a tote bag which contained a lanyard, a hardback tour book and an artRAVE bubble gun which were included with with the price of my ticket.

The first photograph of this post is the moment she emerged on stage, she may have been half an hour late but she was undoubtedly worth the wait. First of all the arena went pitch black, and then the strobe lights were flashing and the rave had begun. Gaga's loyal, talented troop of dancers were first to the stage in their wacky costumes, some were holding flashing light sticks and others were throwing around huge inflatable balls, and then Lady Gaga herself emerges from the floor as if from a spaceship.

Lady Gaga opened with the track which her album and tour are named after; ARTPOP. She then followed this with a huge collection of her work, old and new, including; G.U.Y, Swine, Gypsy, Applause, Do What You Want, Judas, Just Dance, Poker Face, Alejandro and Bad Romance, to name a few. Throughout the show there were several outfit changes, one of them even took place on stage, and by the end I was knee-deep in various types of confetti!

During the concert, there was a very touching moment where Lady Gaga called two of her fans to the stage, to help one gentleman propose to his boyfriend, and of course he said yes. She then serenaded the couple with Born This Way on the piano whilst they sat with a Union Jack Flag wrapped around them, it was really lovely to watch.

Lady Gaga also performed Sonny Bono’s Bang Bang, which was thoroughly enjoyable. She dedicated this track to Tony Bennett, whom she recently collaborated with for their jazz album; Cheek to Cheek.

In between performing tracks, Lady Gaga also gave words of wisdom to her fans, stating "You don't need a record label to be an artist.". She also spoke about acceptance and love in a very passionate and inspirational way.

I adore Lady Gaga so much, and was emotional when I saw her on stage for the first time. I love the fact that she is so accepting of everyone, and encourages love and creativity. She is not afraid to be innovative and different, and she consistently creates brilliant music, her talents never falter. I will always look back on this concert fondly. I plan to frame the ticket and some of the photographs I took and hang them in my bedroom. I cannot wait to see where Lady Gaga's talents will lead her next, and hope to be as lucky as I was this time, and get a ticket next time she tours the UK.

This is the only photo not taken by me! Just wanted to show you the amazing stage!

Update 25/10/2014

Hope you like the post, I just wanted to do a little add-on and show you the frames I made! I wanted to preserve my ticket and wristband and frame my favourite photos, so this is what I created..

The backgrounds are holographic card I bought on ebay, and this is how I've ended up displaying my little memories, I'll have to convince my lovely father to put them on the wall in my bedroom for me.

artRAVE outFIT

As you can tell from these first 3 photos, the makings of this blog post did not begin well! I may have gotten a tad frustrated at the weather! The sun was in my eyes and the wind was blowing my hair into my mouth and my dress up, it's funny on reflection, but it really wasn't at the time. I tried going inside but I just couldn't get the light right, so I went outside again, then I finally went inside again, and the photos were ok so I decided to call it a day...

Yesterday morning I got back from London, I was staying with my friend Karine, but I also met up with everyone from uni who was visiting London. We went to see the Horst exhibition at the V&A, and visited several independent shops. I got to experience Shoreditch and Brick Lane for the first time too. It was a great trip and I ate lots of delicious food and spent too much money. Definitely need to be a bit more tight-fisted from now on though, because I still don't have a job! The clothing store Blue Inc called me on Wednesday to offer me an interview on Thursday, I explained I was in London for a few days because of my studies and they said if I could not come Thursday they would not offer me another date, which I thought was very disappointing and unfair. So I'll just have to keep applying everywhere and hope someone takes pity on me.

On a more positive note, let's talk fashion. The dress and pyramid bag pictured above are my new goodies from Oxford Circus Topshop. Living life like a true magpie, I left Topshop with the shiniest things I could find, and I'll be wearing these shiny new things when I go to see Lady Gaga in Manchester on Tuesday! I'm bursting with excitement! I'll try and get some good photos to post, but no promises, I might be so mesmerised by her presence that I forget. I've got an early entry ticket, so I need to be at the arena by 4pm to get my wristband. I'll try and post again on Wednesday or Thursday to tell you all about the concert!

Bag / Topshop

Dress / Topshop

Shoes / Miss Selfridge

Necklace / Topshop

Wonder Magazine

Wonder Magazine is something which I stumbled across on Twitter. It's a cute, online magazine run by Alice Tucker.
They have a new theme every month, and this month's theme is 'New Beginnings'. I've recently started at Plymouth College of Art, which has been a whole new beginning for me! Alice wanted some personal experience articles to post this month, so you can see my written contribution for Wonder Magazine here.

No more Summer Lovin'

October chills are upon us. Summer has been and gone, and now it's time to embrace jackets, boots and woolly scarves. However before all warmth has completely faded away, I thought I'd share a couple of outfits which I wore at the start of September when it still felt like summer.

These photos were taken before I started at Plymouth College of Art. They were for a summer project we had to complete before starting, and for me it wasn't the easiest task. It may surprise you, but I despise having my photo taken. I am partial to a selfie, but anyone else coming near me with a camera is unacceptable behaviour in my books. It might be because I'm not brimming with body confidence or that posing makes me feel sufficiently uncomfortable, but I'm trying to move past it! We were allowed to photograph our outfits however we wanted, so I could have just placed my clothes all nicely on the floor and snapped them, but I wanted to push myself. I'm in my early 20's and now is the time to push myself and try new things. So this was one of my baby steps. If I'd like my blog to be successful, snapping clothes on the floor won't cut it, so I used these images to get me started. I'm glad I did now, I can get used to it, maybe eventually it'll be the most fun thing ever, who knows! So I hope you like my end-of-summer outfits, details are below!

Outfit 1:

Sunglasses / Topshop

Scallop Frill Tee / Topshop

 Mom Jeans / Topshop  

Slip-on shoes / Topshop

Bag / River Island

Necklace / Topshop

Outfit 2:

Shirt Dress / River Island

Bag / Topshop

Sunglasses / River Island

Shoe Boots / Miss Selfridge

Monochrome Interview Chic

So this is my interview OOTD! Most of my outfit was in the sale or discounted which is great on my new student budget. My interview was for the Jack Wills pop-up shop which is due to open at Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth later this month. Unfortunately I don't think the interview went particularly well. It was a group interview and I didn't feel I got to showcase my abilities and strengths due to there being one particularly strong personality in the group. But I'll hold on to my optimism, as it's likely they would want someone less assertive and more relaxed and approachable (I hope anyway!). The dress code was smart casual, so I chose to lean more to the smart side as I'd rather be overdressed for an interview than under dressed. This outfit was very comfortable and easy to wear, I'd also wear all the garments in other outfits as they are very versatile. I stuck to a monochrome theme and took one of my favourite bags, which I purchased at TK Maxx. It's actually All Saints and was originally £195, but I got it for £60, amazing savings. I'd recommend having a look in TK Maxx if you need a decent bag, sometimes they have some great stuff, you just have to put the effort in to find it. Anyway, I'll let you know if you get the job, here's what I wore......

Dress / H&M

Duster Jacket / H&M (Similar here)

Patent Shoes / New Look

Bag / All Saints

Prescription Glasses (frames by Gok Wan) / Specsavers

Watch / Vivienne Westwood (purchased from ASOS)

Shiny Shoes

I do love a good pair of shoes, who doesn't though?! You can never have enough shoes, not ever! So today I thought I'd share with you a couple of my favourite pairs of shoes. I absolutely love both of these, they are my babies. It was AW13 when I purchased the boots, they were a whopping £92 which was a lot for me to spend, but I was drawn to them. The loafers I purchased recently from Topshop on Oxford Street, I knew they'd be a perfect addition to my shoe collection. The boots are very out there, so when I wear them I usually pair them with some jeans, a black tee and a leather jacket. The loafers, on the other hand, are so easy to wear. I like to wear them with a plain midi dress and tights, but they also look great with trousers or jeans. Hope you like them too! Links are below!

Max Loafers / Topshop

Argo Boots / Topshop

(The boots are no longer available... but here's a more affordable and similar pair on boohoo.com!)