Christmas at Somerset House is absolutely beautiful! Fortnum and Mason sponsors a huge ice skating rink and puts up a huge tree complete with F&M baskets. The sign up says “SKATE” and that is exactly what we did, but not without some trouble. The rink is packed to capacity- so for those of us trying our ice legs after a few stagnant winters, this isn’t the place to learn (though they do keep a little training area off to the side if you are desperate). You are often tripped or tussled by other uncertain skaters or self-proclaimed experts (you can imagine me wagging my fist at the show-offs). But even if you can’t skate, it’s worth stopping by to see the spectacle. With the giant tree and the rink there, it’s the perfect catalyst for Christmas cheer.
Outfit Details: Hat: Joy (in stores now) | Sweater: Helmut Lang | Jacket: Barbour Wax | Jeans: Acne | Socks & Gloves: Primark | Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger | Necklace: old | Bag: Kate Spade
helmut lang
Welsh Weekend
Greetings from Cardiff! I can now happily say that I have been to all the countries in the United Kingdom. Although from all the English people I’ve talked to who haven’t been to Wales, sometimes it doesn’t seem the most united a front. Still, regardless of all the cautionary messages I heard about Wales, I had a wonderful day in Cardiff, tromping around the castle, the old shipping coast (bay), and the market.
The ceiling of the “Arab” room.
This building, on the side of the grounds, was added much later to the castle, and was not completed until 1881.
Downtown
The symbol of Wales is the dragon. Besides residing in the middle of the Welsh flag, you can spot them at random all around town.
Parliament and Cardiff Bay
Half Welsh, Half English: In These Stones Horizons Sing
This red building, known as the Pierhead Building, used to be the home of the administerial efforts of the Welsh coal shipping industry. Until the end of World War II, Wales was one of the most predominant coal shippers in the world (where they mined it in North Wales, and then exported it from Cardiff). However, the 1950s brought with it the decline of coal, and with it, the decline of the backbone of Cardiff’s economy. Thus, the city had to re-invent itself. Today this building features a museum on the Welsh coal industry(especially in regards to Cardiff’s role in it), and Cardiff has worked to become a wider convention and tourist destination. 
Park
What I wore:
Hat: H&M
Glasses: Primark (1 pound!)
Tambourine Necklace: gift
Shirt: Helmut Lang
Gloves: Vintage find
Jacket: H&M
Leggings: H&M
Boots: Kors Michael Kors
Poshmark: An Introduction, A Celebration.
Today signals a most momentous occasion for me. To be precise, my 1,000th follower on my FAVORITE clothes selling app. It’s called Poshmark.
It’s a totally free app that allows you to list the outliers of your closet to a larger audience. It’s like a huge antique mall, only with lots of designer clothes, or ebay but with the option to bargain with all the venders. There is tons of stuff on here, and great clothes at affordable prices. For Christmas, I treated myself to a Burberry London dress for $65, including shipping! Though this was a great deal, PM still allows you to sometimes make a little more from your clothes than you could from other vendors, since you have so much control over your costs and the only price of listing is your time. Poshmark gets 20% of any sell and keeps the shipping costs ($7 for under $25 purchase and $5 for 25+), but sends you a priority mail label for a 2 lb. parcel.
Closets
This is my closet! You can see where the name of this blog originated…. You can sign in through facebook or on your own. At the top you can see some basic information. Lots of sellers put their closet rules (no trades, no paypal, prices negotiable, etc).
Additionally your followers/ those you are following are displayed. This is pretty self explanatory followers show up in your feed. follow closets you like by pressing the follow button.
Bottom toolbar: The five icons on the bottom toolbar are essentially map around Posh. They include:
- your feed (anything your followers/ you share)
- parties (information and access for future and previous parties)
- SELL (my fave! the hookup to building your closet- just take a few pictures write a brief description and go!)
- News (anytime someone shares, likes, or comments on your items it shows up here with a number to tell you how many new notifications you have)
- Account information (this links you to your closet, orders, account, balance, etc.)
A Quick Guide:
Parties- happen 3x a day (12am (brand names), 3pm (specific type of clothing), 10pm (themed chaos) eastern time) This is a great way to get your clothes out, but **tip** wait until the last three minutes (or specifically last seconds) to list so that when people view the party later, they will scroll through seeing the things added latest
Likes- so cool in this app! When you like something in this app, it is collected in one central location so you can scroll through later at your convenience (when the budget is more amenable). When people like your stuff its super exciting, though it is acceptable to thank people for their likes and/ or ask if they are interested, etc, it is also SUPER ANNOYING to receive the message.
Shares- sharing people’s stuff is a great way to kill time, explore new closets and gain followers. It is polite to return a share. **Tip** find people who like articles that are similar to the ones in your closet, share their stuff and then hopefully they will come to your closet and see something they like. Sharing is one of the quickest ways to gain exposure, and ergo followers.
Online v. mobile- Searching Poshmark online is. not. fun. The mobile app has wayyyy better filtering options that aren’t accessible online. However, online is good when you want to see on a bigger screen and share things more quickly. I haven’t experienced PM on an ipad yet…
Lingo:
- PM- Poshmark!!
- HP- host pick- this means that the host of a party picked an item to be in their top picks, it’s kind of a PM honor.
- PP- paypal. not allowed given poshmark rules, but some people still try since it gets rid of the 20% costs and shipping fees. When people ask for email addresses, this is a kind of code for these transactions.
- Trade- again, not supported by Poshmark, but both parties can agree to pay shipping, and as they say: on man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
- Bundle- if you like more than one thing from a person, you may ask them to bundle your items so that you only have to pay one shipping cost. People will often bundle at a discount so this is a good way to get more for less.
- Reserving/ holding- you can’t do this officially through PM, but you can work out a deal with a seller to “hold” or reserve something for you until you get that next paycheck. They will generally just move the price up to make it inaccesable to other purchasers.
Signing Up!
If you are interested in signing up and have any questions be sure to comment. This app isn’t for everyone, but I find it to be a very good way to showcase the stuff I don’t want and sell it at a more marketable price. If you are interested in signing up, when you get to the opening page it will ask you if you were refered by anyone. If you put in a referal code, you and the referer both get a 5 dollar balance. It’s good for paying shipping on an item. My referral code is HWVMY – but if you have a friend on PM, it may be more to your social benefit to ask them theres.
If you do end up signing up, as we say on the app, Happy Poshing!
The Clothesline 