Create - Photo - Film - Write - Edit
I'm Laura; a photographer, artist, writer, videographer and all round creative living in Manchester. I work in fashion, so most days you'll find me chatting up models whilst wielding a steamer. I like to dabble in mixology and DIY. Check out a selection of my work.
Lifestyle - J.L.Berlue
Product - J.L.Berlue
Central Park - Personal Project
Headshots - Jessi Taylor Productions
Lifestyle - Bewley and Ritch
Product - Bewley and Ritch
Short Sleeved Shirts – Practical Summer Work Wear or Just Not Acceptable?
We've all been there. It's summer. It's hot. You've undone your top button and you're fighting the urge to undo more. You’re googling maximum legal working temperatures and considering going on strike unless you’re allowed to work in bermuda shorts with a G&T by the phone.
Just as the UK grinds to a halt for the first icing sugar snowfall of winter, so office working men hit a wall every hot summer. “I can’t work under these conditions!” we cry, and professionals the world over mock our inability to stay suited when the mercury creeps above “mild”. Of course it’s not our fault – we’re not used to it and many offices don’t have air conditioning to ease the transition. The best many of us can hope for is a bit of dress code flexibility and mercy from management when everyone’s wilting over their keyboards. Even if you’re not required to wear a full suit and tie, shirts are universal work wear for men; but here’s the rub – “shirt” is usually synonymous with “long sleeved shirt” – and whilst short sleeved shirts have been around for decades, attitudes to them still range from not very stylish to outright bans on them in the workplace. There’s been something of a revival recently, but it’s still a complex Venn diagram that maps the relationship between short sleeved shirts and office dress codes. Whether you can get away with them at work ultimately comes down to how enlightened your boss is and unfortunately we can’t change that, but if you want the best chance at acceptance, follow these simple rules: 1. Back to basics – fit is everything First things first – if it doesn’t fit right, forget about it. You’re already battling the notion that your outfit is automatically too casual, so get the basics right and make sure it’s a good fit on you. The size of the sleeves will be very visible and it’s almost certainly not the time or place for bulging biceps, so make sure the sleeves aren’t too small (or too large). 2. Pick a nice one It goes without saying, but if you’re going out on a fashion limb, make sure you’re doing it in the right garment. Our short sleeved shirts all feature contrasting turn ups which keep the garment neat and defined in lieu of cuffs. 3. Consider the tie carefully Short sleeves may be inching closer to acceptance, but adding a tie is probably a step too far. It’s still perceived as geeky and that’s not set to change in time for the summer. Really the only safe way to pull off this combination is to wear a jacket, which somewhat defeats the object of the exercise (though if you work in a super strict environment that doesn’t even allow jacket removal you will save yourself one layer). If you must wear a tie to work, even in summer, short sleeved shirts might not be viable for you just yet. Can’t I just roll up my sleeves? Of course you can. Rolling up sleeves is pretty much universally acceptable, and may even imply that you’re working harder. But when the weather is actually hot, all that extra fabric and restriction on your upper arms isn’t going to keep you cool, although it does look good. However it’s a safe bet if short sleeved shirts have been officially banned. The final caveat You know your work dress code best (hopefully), so you’re best placed to judge whether you can wear a short sleeved shirt, but following these rules should give you a fighting chance to win over the non-believers. Over to you – do you wear short sleeved shirts to work, will you be trying for the first time this summer, or is a complete no go? Check out our full range of short sleeved shirts here. If you're employer is extremely conservative, shop our long sleeved shirts here. ---10 Inventions That Are 10 Years Old This Year
1. The Original iPhone
It’s crazy to think that the iPhone is just 10 years old. To call it a game changer would be a massive understatement, and with the new iPhone X announced recently, it’s fair to say that Apple haven’t sat on their success, but have continued to move the technology on at lightening speed. Does anyone even remember the iPhone 2?*
2. Android
Google weren’t far behind Apple, although it took them another NINE YEARS to launch their own smartphone, the Pixel. Although the first Android phone (the HTC Dream) wasn’t released until 2008, the operating system was initially unveiled in 2007. Mad eh?
3. Kindle
Who would have thought that the Kindle has actually been around 10 years? It seems like a natural evolution from the smart phone, but actually it’s been around just as long.
4. WildCharger Charging Pad
Unbelievably, the first wireless charging pad was launched in 2007. Well before we really had that many things to charge. It’s a great theory, but in practice, do you actually know anyone who owns one? They may be the future, but the future still hasn’t quite arrived yet.
5. Tumblr
If you’ve ever watched a gif, chances are it started life on Tumblr. A blog platform that isn’t overly “bloggy”, Tumblr became a sort of cross between a proper blogging platform and Myspace for angsty teens. But many a great blog is still hosted there – have you seen terrible real estate photographs? You’ll lose hours of your life (but it's worth it).
6. Netflix
Unbelievably, Netflix actually launched in 1998, but only as a DVD rental service. Business declined due to stiff competition (remember LoveFilm??) and they launched the first archaic dinosaur predecessor to a modern streaming service in 2007. The deal? The standard $5.99 disc plan offered the extra perk of six hours low quality streaming per month, with a choice of around 1,000 titles. Let's just say we're glad it's not 2007 anymore!
7. Soundcloud
Before YouTube (read: pre-2005), the easiest way to check out new music was to head to Myspace. Myspace is still going (who knew?), but Soundcloud is now the place to hear the latest up and coming artists.
8. Wii fit
Ah the wii fit board. Only a very particular type of video game geek could think that exercising via a video game is better than, you know, just exercising. But it provided some good family fun on a rainy winter’s day.
9. Windows Vista
Probably the less said about this the better, but it did launch in 2007.
10. Spotify
This is a bit of a stretch because Spotify wasn’t actually released to the public until 2008, but a beta invite-only version launched in 2007, so it just makes our list. Spotify was in many ways a dream come true – a free (or almost free) way to listen to unlimited music totally legally (if a little morally dubiously). As soon as smart phones took off, Spotify became the default way to listen to music on the go. Take that, iPod nano.
*There was no iPhone 2! We went straight from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3G. That’s right – the original iPhone was wifi only.
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Finding a Home: The All Important Viewings
So you’ve found a great house. It checks out on paper. You’ve successfully handled the estate agent and got a viewing. So what now? Well don’t rest of your laurels – you’ll get much more out of the viewing if you spend a bit of time preparing.
Firstly make sure you know where the house is and how to get there, but don’t worry about being early – estate agents are very rarely on time. I daresay they have to cram in the maximum number of appointments per day so it’s not their fault – but as a punctual person it always starts me off on the wrong foot if they’re late. Nevertheless I think it’s worth putting a bit of effort into first impressions to make yourself a more attractive buyer – no need to go OTT but if you’re on time and dressed in something that makes you look vaguely respectable then that’s a good start.
Make a list of any questions that arose from the listing, but you should also have a list of questions you should ask at every viewing e.g.
- What council tax band is the property?
- What are the seller’s circumstances – are they in a chain, do they want to move quickly etc?
- How long has it been on the market? Has there been a lot of interest / offers?
Always ask to see the boiler and if possible find out how old it is – boilers are expensive to replace. Try and see if the house has been damp proofed – modern houses should be as standard but older houses may have had a damp proof course injected – you can tell by holes drilled into the brickwork just above the ground.
Property websites will tell you how long a property’s been on the market but I always like to ask anyway just to see what the agent says – they almost always lie about this. Bear in mind though that a property that’s only been on for a week might be the result of a previous sale having fallen through, so you can’t necessarily trust it.
Some agents (and homeowners) will literally tell you nothing unless you ask. These viewings are painful. Of course you’re looking at the house but I always found it a lot easier and more comfortable if the estate agent is telling you something rather than just standing there watching you. It’s even worse if the owner’s doing their own viewings – you might have the whole family watching you. We also had a couple of viewings where the owner asked us to take our shoes off – cue even more awkwardness as we struggled with laces both trying to balance on the tiny doormat.
At the other end of the scale some agents will just talk absolute crap – give them their head and they will happily wax lyrical for hours about the great flow and cosy vibes on the ground floor. It’s marginally preferable to stilted silence; just try not to laugh out loud. It can be tempting to rush if you feel awkward – but assuming you haven’t seen anything major that puts you off, try and take your time and assess the whole house as best you can. I personally found it much easier to really think about whether I could see myself living there after I’d left - so don’t worry if you don’t think “this is the one” the minute you step through the door – it doesn’t always happen like that.
Finally, the estate agent will almost always call you after the viewing to get feedback. If you liked the property you will probably have more questions, so this would be a good time to ask them. If the property wasn’t for you then just tell them straight, but if you liked it or you aren’t too sure, just tell them that you need to think about it / have more viewings booked etc and get their contact details for later.
Give yourself some time after a good viewing to calm down, get over the excitement of having potentially seen your future house and get some perspective. Never has the phrase “think with your head, not your heart” been more appropriate.
Still in love the next day? It’s time to move onto making an offer…
26 Million Ladies - Teaser
26 Million Menswear - Introduction
Sustainable Housing Manchester - Introduction
Web Banners - Bewley and Ritch
Web Banner - J.L.Berlue
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print 'It took ' + i + ' iterations to sort the deck.';| Name | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Item One | Ante turpis integer aliquet porttitor. | 29.99 |
| Item Two | Vis ac commodo adipiscing arcu aliquet. | 19.99 |
| Item Three | Morbi faucibus arcu accumsan lorem. | 29.99 |
| Item Four | Vitae integer tempus condimentum. | 19.99 |
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| 100.00 | ||
| Name | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Item One | Ante turpis integer aliquet porttitor. | 29.99 |
| Item Two | Vis ac commodo adipiscing arcu aliquet. | 19.99 |
| Item Three | Morbi faucibus arcu accumsan lorem. | 29.99 |
| Item Four | Vitae integer tempus condimentum. | 19.99 |
| Item Five | Ante turpis integer aliquet porttitor. | 29.99 |
| 100.00 | ||