I promise I will stop quoting from Hadley Freeman's new book 'The Meaning of Sunglasses' (yes...the review IS in prgoress....) but I had to snort at this excerpt on the subject of make-up:

'With its emphasis on coloured eyelids, unnaturally lashes, pink cheeks and big red lips one cannot help but trace a very obvious lineage between a gal's night-time look and that of a clown.'

Though I can't help but sneakily agree especially when I see pictures of Kelly Osbourne after one too many, I'm afraid that the homeplace of the scary clown (who DOESN'T have a fear of clowns?!) is one of my precise sources of inspiration lately.  The circus is coming to town and it's not just the harlequin illustrations of  Liselotte Watkins for Miu Miu that have filled my head with ringmasters, tight rope walkers, freaks n' beasts and general topsy turvy-ness (I'm talking about circus of the yesteryear...not the cheapo modern day versions...).  These 'Circo' images by Alfonso Ohnur have also given me impetus to seek circus-related style paraphernalia to incorporate into my wardrobe.  A comically oversized bow tie, red ringmaster tail coats, opera length ruched satin gloves.  I'm not purposely coinciding with the Circus night at the Soho Revue Bar (said to be Boombox's successor....) but there definitely is an air of ''MAY-JAR DRA-MA' that people are feeling. 

So roll up, roll up, I fear you will have to bear with me whilst I explore this potentially-temporary (when is ever NOT temporary, I ask in a self-consciously fashion-flake way....?) fixation of mine over the coming weeks.  First up, I really had to get rid of this blue millinery material that I had bought in Paris (as a reader helpfully told me) as it had been sitting in my 'To be DIY-ed' bag for far too long and really, it was just plain pissing me off.  So I got this idea to cut up this roll of millinery mesh into around 30 cm sections.  Then I folded the sections in half and sewed it up at the top to make sort of like a curved loop.  Once I made about 15 of these 'loops', I sewed them all together, overlapping one another to make a sort of 'looped ruffle strip'.  This then was sewn onto an old American Apparel jersey racerback. With just about enough of the millinery mesh to make another 'looped ruffle strip', I added another layer to make a sort of two tiered skirt tacked onto the AA vest. 

Whilst the material borders on being slightly 'stagey/theatrical', the contrast with the vest means it's the right sort of casual-odd combo.  I only wished I looked as great as Princess Victoria, the 'famous wire dancer' in the background here....