And we wish that we could live that way

Despite the fact that she can't speak French (she did Spanish) and we've never been to Paris (just Boulougne), Lol is head over heels in crazy jealous stuffy British love with the effortless style of the Parisian femme. They've got the coiffes, the collarbones, the clothes, and on top of that they get to sip coffee in elegant cafés whilst gazing at the Eiffel Tower- whilst we're stuck in greasy cafes overlooking Sydenham High Street. There is definitely an unfair distribution of beauty and panache in Europe.

And how do stripes work in Sydenham?

Lol wears:

Striped top, stolen from Mother Scott

High waisted jeans, Topshop

There's something missing here, not the least of which are two plane tickets to Paris (we'll even take easyjet!)

We hope you've enjoyed the new kind of post that we're trying out, expect another virtual cornucopia of sublime pictures and a smattering of our own poor quality photos soon.

Love JimandLol xxx

From Sydenham with love

So we lied again- we're sorry that we said we were going to post pictures of us in our christmas present clothes and we haven't- there is a perfectly good explanation for this. Firstly, we actually did take pictures, but half of them the camera seems to have taken a disliking to and misplaced. Secondly, the lighting was strange in the restaurant, so they were a bit dodgy anyway. And thirdly, we don't like to think about christmas too much because we miss it! Having said that, we do have two salvaged pictures. We can't vouch for their quality, but they were taken with love, and isn't that what counts?



We were so happy to reach ten followers last week, so thank you to those lovely ten, and to anyone else reading this. We're working on some ways to improve the blog, (a new camera would be nice!), so you should see some new features very soon. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

JimandLol xxx

THE Coat

Apologies for the absolutely awful photo, it had to be taken quickly before Lol decided she never wanted to wear anything inside the house but the coat and it fused with her skin. This was one of Lol's christmas presents from Mother Scott, and it was a complete lovely surprise, because Lol had seen it weeks before and it had taken its place in her heart straight away but she never thought she would het it! For weeks it was the flock of birds coat this, and the flock of birds coat that, and now that she has it, well, it's been pretty much the same!

Lol wears:

COAT, Principles

black dress, charity shop

red ribbed tights, stolen from the mother

Jim went to the Flower Ssnake ceremony at Tate Britain yesterday, and got to watch a lady whip the christmas spirit out of the massive Norwegian spruce they have up as you come in. Meanwhile, Lol was answering Latin questions (boo) and reading one of Keats' letters to Fanny Brawne about every five minutes- they are beautiful, almost like sonnets. The everyday becomes magical in Keats' hands. Someday Lol would like her own Keats to write letters to her, Keats sans TB and another women but most definitely avec at least ten more inches to his 5 feet. Somehow Facebook just doesn't capture the sublime and beautiful quite as well.

PLUS: We're going out for pizza tonight, and we've both agreed to wear the clothes we bought each other for christmas, so we'll post up some pictures later on.

A girl can dream

'I've learned all the course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?'

We're not going to try and hide the fact that this is inspired (read, copied) from Hermione's forest look in the latest Harry Potter film, because quite frankly we don't think there is anything to be ashamed of. Who wouldn't want to be Hermione and look like Emma Watson does? We've been thinking of this outfit ever since we saw the Deathly Hallows, and we couldn't not do it today (it's freeeeeezing), on Lol's first day back at school. Coincidentally while Lol was learning about purges and purges and yet more purges in Stalin's Russia, Jim has been lounging around all day because he doesn't go back to school until Thursday! Lol hasn't seen him today yet (because he's off at the cinema right now, the dirty stopout), but she wouldn't mind betting that he didn't read any of his books, but has progressed pretty far with Fifa 11... Mind you, Lol's just started Tess of the d'Urbyvilles, but has ordered two more books from amazon right now, so neither of us is really sticking to our literary resolutions.

Lol wears:

shirt, Republic

purple undershirt, H&M

black jeans, Topshop

clover necklace, birthday present

Take Centre Stage

Or don't, if, like Lol, you can't dance- just dress like a ballerina instead! Lol has always loved the faded jumpers and off the shoulder tops that go along with ballet in the movies, the pastel pinks and blues and lilacs, but the closest she's ever come to it is lessons when she was six and anyway, she wouldn't wear the lovely tights because she hated seams. But now, you can just buy such things and pretend that you have coordination! We've had these outfits in mind since we watched Centre Stage before the holidays (everyone should watch it, because it's one of those films that makes you want to be in the world it represents), and so we were really pleased when we opened the guardian magazine on saturday and foudd a double page on the ballet trend in the style section, and then envious, and then sad because we can't afford any of it.



Ok, you caught us, the second outfit is from a couple of days ago, but this is the last time we'll travel back in time to bulk out a post, we promise!

Lol Wears:

(first outfit)

faded jumper, H&M

pastel green calf length skirt, charity shopped

clock necklace, Accessorize

(second outfit)

faded jumper, H&M

lace shirt, Republic

lilac skirt, Uniqlo

ribbed black tights, M&S

We are going back to school tomorrow, and Lol has done all her work, which means that it is going to be a day of relative lounging (there's always something to write for something). She has just finished One Day, by David Nicholls, and has only this to say: Read it. Read it now. And quick, because she's reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles next, and will probably tell you to read that too. Jim meanwhile is doing... something- playing the DS? or Fifa 11? or watching anime? Just generally not reading any of the amazing books Lol is loading his desk with.

Have a nice Sunday everyone

JimandLol xxx

And everything is all right again

This is the last time that we're going to manipulate the space/time continuum because we were lazylazylazy in the holidays, we promise! This is Lol's party dress, last seen at our Dad's school's christmas disco. We really like it's vintage feel, and the fact that it is specially labelled 'Tall' by Topshop. It's like someone has realised that all those lovely skirts are way too short for the vertically blessed, at least for anyone who wants to maintain any dignity, and that those maxi dresses can only be worn by those with some pretty hefty panache along with the extra height, and don't worry about suitability for school. This dress is the ultimate dress, because it can be dressed up/down- the mark of a good dress for Lol is if she can wear it to sixth form. Plus, it makes her feel like a character from a book, she's not quite sure which one, there's just that general aura. So, now that we're all caught up we're off- Jim's going to see Gauguin at the Tate and Lol's going to read her book. It's One Day, by David Nicholls, which she got for her birthday and (sacrilegiously, we might add) interfered with the pile (the 50 or so books teetering beside her bed that she wants to read all at once) to read. It was a bit of a let down at first, especially because the idea seemed so brilliant- where will two people be on the same day every year?- but the prose is a bit clunky and so many bands and books are mentioned that it feels overdressed. This is starting to settle down now though as the characters do (we wonder if we have missed the point there!), and it must be pretty good, because Lol now feels like she knows all about what it's like to grow up and have to work in a Mexican restaurant and write endless opening chapters for books and put up with a failing comedian for a boyfriend in your tiny flat. Whilst we weren't quite sure why there's such a big buzz around it at the moment initially, we can now understand why so many people are reading it on the train- it's car crash reading, but its captivating car crash reading, you feel embarassed for them, but you can't stop reading, particularly if you can identify on some level with the characters. That's Nicholls' genius here, we think, creating these two main characters, Emma and Dexter, who can embody all the flaws any reader wishes to see reflected in them- they basically represent at least one generation, warts and all.

Meanwhile, Jim is belatedly reading the final Harry Potter, and would like to wish all you muggles out there a happy new-the-deathly-hallows-part-two-is-being-released year!

Yappy Christmas

We haven't seen you guys since last year! We just thought we'd start off with some Stanley lovin'- you can't see it here, but this is his yappy christmas collar. We kid you not.

It was a good haul this year at the House of Girton, and you'll be seeing the clothes that Lol got in posts soon. Jim received this jacket from Lol and reciprocated with a rather swish item that you'll be seeing any day now.

We've had a very fishy christmas this year, with crossed wires meaning we got to dine on salmon on the 25th and cod on the 26th, but Lol was just happy there were still roast potatoes! Don't worry though, we had a proper turkey dinner on the 29th and pretended that all the fish never happened.

Sorry for the sartorially scanty post, but we'll be up and running again just as soon as we've caught up on all those christmas specials on BBC Iplayer and read at least one of the books we foolishly asked for for christmas when we already have a teetering bedside pile.

We only had proper christmas a few days ago, so for now we're going to ignore the new year and wish every last lovely one of you the yappiest christmas around (Stanley-approved).

To bulge or not to bulge?

Lol's not sure about this one. The jumper is good, and so is the skirt, but the combination? She can't help but look at the waistline and feel bulgy, and bulgy is never what you want to hear. There is a certain statuesque quality, but could that be kept without the jumper? Is it ruined by that bulge? Due to snowy conditions, we won't even be contemplating leaving the house today, rendering this argument practically irrelevant but sartorially not so.

Lol wears:

Jumper, Zara

Maxi Skirt, Topshop