Today's Soundtrack: Refused – New Noise

Today's soundtrack is New Noise by Refused because there are days when only Refused will do. If you need a little mid-week pick-me-up then turn this up loud and remind yourself that not only are we more than halfway through the week, but we are heading towards another bank holiday weekend!

For anyone who isn't familiar with Refused, they are a Swedish hard-core punk band from the 90s who reformed and blew my mind at several gigs in 2012 (you can read more about that here). Although they initially broke up a matter of months after their 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come, it is frequently listed on 'most influential albums' lists and for very good reason – it has definitely stood the test of time.

Glow in the dark jelly shoes by Vivienne Westwood+Melissa

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a fan of jelly shoes, thanks to my beautiful sister who bought me my first pair of Holster sandals a few years ago – they aren't your traditional jelly shoes and have become a total summer staple. (Seriously, this woman should be paid commission by Holster for the amount of sales she has encouraged amongst friends...) And yesterday she pointed me in the direction of these babies by Vivienne Westwood + Melissa. Yep, that's right.... they glow in the dark!

There's no denying that after a few drinks on a summer evening this would entertain me hugely. I can't be the only adult who is still fascinated by the way G&Ts glow under UV light right?! If white isn't your thing, they are also available in a whole bunch of other colours including my personal favourite, the black glitter. This pair might not glow in the dark but, like my beloved Holsters, I think they might just become a holiday staple.

£85 from www.nonnon.co.uk/vivienne-westwood

Rock & Runway: dinosaur edition

If there’s one thing I love almost as much as music and fashion it’s dinosaurs. I bloody love dinosaurs. In fact it’s quite surprising that it’s taken this long for them to infiltrate my blog! But in light of the discovery of Qianzhousauras sinensis – or Pinocchio Rex as he has been nicknamed – I decided to let dinosaurs have a moment.

The skeleton of this 66-million-year-old tyrannosaur has been dug up in China and identified by scientists at Edinburgh University. It is smaller and more muscular than its better known big brother but has a much longer snout, hence the nickname. Two long-nosed juveniles have previously been found but it was unclear whether the long snout was a transient feature that grew out as the species matured, so the discovery of the adult Pinocchio is a pretty big deal.

Dinosaurs have infiltrated just about every aspect of popular culture, and why wouldn't they? Dinosaurs, in my professional opinion, are awesome. My childhood was filled with them – dinosaur toys, dinosaur films, trips to the natural history museum – and it is my suspicion that just about any child who saw Jurassic Park in the cinema is equally as smitten.

So how, you may wonder, am I going to make my love of dinosaurs relevant to Rock & Runway? Well first up is a little dino-inspired fashion. All too often it is the children that get the best of the dino fashion but occasionally they make an appearance on the runway. My favourite such moment was Giles spring/summer 2010 collection. Remember this bag? Oh how I wanted one of those bad boys.

Dinosaur t-shirts are never too hard to find. My beloved Jurassic Park one (see above) came from Universal Studios in Florida – Jurassic Park ride anyone?! – but I also have my eye on this one from the Natural History museum.

On the music front I have two options. First up is Dinosaur Pile-Up with Peninsula, from their second album Nature Nurture. If you don't remember me mentioning them before you can read my reviews here. Second is the incredible Jurassic Park theme by John Williams. I defy any child of the 80s/90s to listen to this and not get a little bit emotional…. It might seem a bit unorthodox featuring classical music on a blog dedicated to rock music but dinosaurs are bad-ass and, frankly, classical music doesn’t get much more rock 'n' roll than this.




Read more about the discovery of Pinocchio Rex here.