Putting the "Postcolonial" into "Postcolonial Rabbit"

When I first started this blog (almost a year ago now) I intended it to be a space in which I could muse as much about my frivolous interests as my serious ones. But of late the book  and exhibition reviews have been neglected in favour of a lot of makeup and nail polish posts. Not a bad thing in its self, but I haven't been deserving on my "postcolonial rabbit" moniker, just the "rabbit" bit.

So I thought I'd write today about the postcolonial side of things and start to redress the imbalance. To introduce the term, and to explain why I decided to pursue postcolonial studies as my area of PhD research and as my career, I thought I'd write a bit about my first experiences of it.

I grew up in a diverse area of North London (Wood Green) but moved to a very white area of Surrey when I was eight. I ended up going to a private secondary school, and the environment was sterile, conservative and very old-fashioned. As was the syllabus. I excelled in terms of results but as I chafed at the unbelievable narrow-mindedness of the school and the dullness of the subjects I studied.

Until my English teacher (an incredible, terrifying, awe-inspiring woman, and the finest teacher I've ever come across) set me To Kill A Mockingbird for my coursework during my GCSES. I'd been a voracious reader all my life, but it was the first time that I saw the political potential of literary writing, that it could talk about race, community, division, and exclusion, things I'd experienced in the move but that I'd never really read about in books. (I note that To Kill A Mockingbird has become a bit of a cliche: the novel celebrities tend to cite as their desert island book, because it makes them look intelligent and "deep." I wish I could say it was Midnight's Children that I was first introduced to, and that I stumbled upon them in the library aged 12, but that was a later literary milestone for me, during my A-Levels).

To Kill A Mockingbird was followed swiftly by my English teacher with A Heart of Darkness accompanied by Chinua Achebe's essay on the novel, during my A-Level English course. These two texts started a passion that have got me here: a PhD in postcolonial literature and a job working on a postcolonial research project.

Achebe's essay, which angrily reacts to the dehumanised representation of Africans in Conrad's classic novel, struck a very deep chord in me. I loved its passion and fire and the fact that it dismantled a literary text that everyone had held to be great for so many years, but which had never been addressed in terms of its racial politics. It showed me what criticism could do, to completely transform the way a text is seen and read, and then via that re-written text, transform the way we look at the world. It's why I opted for English and American Literature over art at university. The rest is a lot of book-reading and letters after my name.

Writing thing post has made me realise that this blog isn't quite the space for me to talk at length on postcolonial issues. I like the frivolity of this space, and I want to keep it light and mostly about pretty things. So, as if I'm not busy enough, I've started another blog, called Postcolonial Adda (a Bengali word for a special kind of "idle chatter"). If you like this post, please follow the Rabbit's little sister!

www.postcolonialadda.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!

FOTD: Golden Greens and Pink

I wore this look when I went to visit my best friend and her boyfriend for lunch at Sofra Covent Garden. This Turkish restaurant has been a favourite of my friends and I for years (the original location for an series of Ladies Wot Lunch events I organised in which my female friends and I had elaborate lunches, copious amounts of wine and nattered endlessly. Very fond memories, and requires resurrecting I think!) Anyway, this time Sofra was a little "off," not quite as good as either of us have experienced previously. In particular our favourite milk pudding with berries dessert "su muhallebisi" just didn't taste as delicious as usual. It's such a shame when that happens, because you're left wondering if it's an off-day or a new chef, and you don't usually want to chance it again just in case it's the latter, so it often means the loss of a regular haunt.

Anyway I wore the green earrings my best friend bought me for my birthday and did my makeup to match (I always match makeup to outfits, however dull and predictable that might seem!) I used my beloved Shu Uemura shadow which is the most exquisitely textured shadow I own, velvety smooth and so righly pigmented, like MAC's Veluxe Pearl finish but x10.

I also wore my Chanel Glossimer in 84, Imaginaire which isn't around anymore (I hate that Chanel discontinue so many shades!) It's a lovely sparkly sheer plummy pink, and I forgot how they err on just the right side of sticky for me, longlasting but not uncomfortable. I've been swatching and passing them up of late for their sticky factor!

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Shu Uemura Pressed Eyeshadow in P Green 450 on lid and lower lashline
Bourjois Ombres a Paupieres shadow in Noir Emeraude in crease
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Ivy Shimmer
YSL Faux Cils Noir Radical mascara

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
MAC Breezy blush
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips: 
Chanel Glossimer 84 (Imaginaire)

Closeup:

Sleek Makeup Foundation Matching Day

The day before yesterday, I had a meeting at the British Library. Most serendipitously, Sleek Makeup were holding a foundation matching challenge just over the road. So after my meeting I popped in, but not before sceptically tweeting that "even Mac have had problems matching me, so I'll post a right challenge!"

I was greeted by the lovely glam Sleek Ladies, and asked to fill in a questionaire (my mind went TOTALLY blank on favourite British musical artist and I still don't know who it is!) I was plied with gorgeous cupcakes and delicious fizz and asked to take my time picking out a shade I thought was right for me out of a wide range of pans.

I was interested to note that the Sleek Ladies observed me picking and wrote notes. I guess they were investigating how women test foundations and how long they take. And, of course, how accurately women select shades for themselves.

Because after I picked a shade (quite impulsively, and without, as I usually do, checking in outside natural light - think it was the feeling of being watched) one lovely Sleek Lady came to see how I did and to help me pick the right one. Unlike a lot of Asian girls I actually picked out a shade that was wayyy too dark for me! (I'm so used to Bengali brides looking like geishas because the foundation that's been used on them is so pale. It looks so terrible!) But it took the Sleek Lady (whose name I asked but have forgotten - I think Sasha?) picked out a shade for me in seconds - Mocha. It blended in completely and I was really impressed with the colour match - usually shades are always a tiny bit yellow or orange, never quite right. But this was invisible, totally.

And it wasn't because they hadn't applied much. The cream-to-powder texture was a bit heavy in fact - I could feel it on my skin but I never wear foundation so that might just be me. Anyhow, I was heartened to find out that all the colours would be available in two finishes, the cream to powder compact, and a liquid in a pump bottle, which I guess will be lighter (I hope so!) Both will retail at the completely bargainous £6.99 but won't be out until the end of the year. I'll definitely be getting my bunny paws on the liquid version!

We were treated to goodie bags for taking part - I'm chuffed to add the Curious and Acid palettes and 2 eye dusts to my growing Sleek collection (next on list - the berry toned Pout Polish, I adore my pink one!)

Thank you Sleek for a fun event, lovely goodies, and making products us darker skinned girls have been crying out for on the high street!

Putting the "Rabbit" into "Postcolonial Rabbit"

My affinity with rabbits is difficult to explain. As pets, I prefer cats. When I did the "what's your daemon quiz" when The Golden Compass film came out (sadly no longer working) I was informed it is in fact a very cool ocelot.

But my best friend and I have a theory that predates His Dark Materials (but not, erm, The Power Rangers) that everyone has a power animal, one that they embody in a combination of physical attributes and behaviour. According to my nearest and dearest, there is something quite rabbit-y about me. I have lines on my nose because I tend to scrunch it a lot and my front teeth are quite pronounced. I guess my approach to life is to "hop" through it: taking each obstacle at a time, always with an eye (ear?) to the whimsical and the silly. And I do like to talk, a lot, about everything and anything.

As a result, I am (rather narcissistically) attracted to anything that bears a rabbit print, particularly if it's a little whimsical in nature. I have one rabbit printed dress in my possession, which is really the most "me" dress I own, given it is empire-line, purple and teal, and a bit quirky, courtesy of Orion (oh how I wish I'd bought the black/cream/burgundy version now). Here is an old picture of me in it (it only gets an airing once in a while as it is so loved):

Anyway, the influence of Miu Miu's wonderful wonderful SS10 collection has meant a whole bunch of cute quirky prints have been appearing on the high street. Some of which feature rabbits! Hooray! So I did a Polyvore montage featuring some of them. I would dearly love to own the KG heels, but alas, the price plus general impracticality of them mean that it will remain an unrequited passion. Not as sure that will be the case with the black dress and the scarf though...

Rabbit Prints by nazneen372 featuring Yumi dresses

Lake District Dress, $118
boohoo.com | Womens Fashion Clothes | Womens Clothing, 20 GBP
INDIE, 130 GBP
Alice in Wonderland Charm Necklace, 28 GBP
Buy Oasis Rabbit Print Scarf, Pink online at JohnLewis.com - John..., 8 GBP
V&A Victoria Albert Museum > Main Section > Shop by theme > Summer..., 9 GBP
Heal's | Anorak Kissing Rabbits Scatter Cushion > Cushions > Soft..., 35 GBP
Ryanlerch Alice In Wonderland The White Rabbit - royalty free online...

Apologies

I have been a very bad blogger of late. Life, and work in particular, have taken over, and have left me too tired to think of new posts to write. Added to that, I've been on a nail polish ban to fix my horribly peeling, flaking nails so haven't even had the chance to try out my new OPI Jade is the New Black! She pouts.


But though I can't promise a massive upsurge of posts (still busy on the work front) I'm definitely feeling a bit more inspired.

So, to make me stick to my word, here's a few posts I'm planning:

Prints Charming (snapshots of my favourite quirky prints in my wardrobe)
All things Rabbit (inspired by The Doll on Fashion's post on flamingo prints, a rabbit version)
Quick Product Reviews
Musings on A Suitable Boy
Hair Routine
FoTDs
30 Days - 30 of my favourite things in 30 days (inspired by Laura)

and a brilliant new feature Bartimaeus thought up called "Match of the Day" about accessorising!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Birthday celebrations in photos

Birthday Outfit, Nails and FOTD

This is what I wore for my party with my friends on Friday. You'll have to do some imagining to put it all together because typically I do not have a full-length picture of me in the dress, shoes AND makeup! I went for a 50's "jungle-tropical"ish theme.

Shrug (Ebay), print of dress (Ebay), and necklace (H&M):

Outfit and and my beloved glitter Dorothy shoes (Office) (there's a net petticoat under my dress which makes it poof out fabulously!):

Toes (Models Own Emerald City on top of Models Own Slate Green):

Fingers (Models Own Purple Poppy):

Makeup: