TEN THINGS I'VE LEARNT ABOUT NIGHT CLUBS

Over the past 7 months I've been welcomed into the world of night clubs. Not every night club is the same and they vary from place-to-place. The ways that I've acted and the things I have worn in a night club in Portugal have been totally inappropriate to what is acceptable to a night club in my town or within a British city environment.

In portugal it was acceptable to wear flip-flops and beach wear to a night club and it was easy to sneak your own alcohol into clubs and take a glass from one club to another.  Here in my home town that would have been totally unacceptable, not only are you not allowed to wear flip-flops but you're also not allowed to sneak your own alcohol in or leave a club clutching a glass.

But what I have learnt over the past 7 months is that there are certain etiquettes that are acceptable no matter where you are.

Here is a list of 10 things I've learnt over the past 7 months:

1. Go with a suitably sized group of friends
I've found that when people are drinking alcohol it's pretty hard to control what everyone else around you in doing if you're slightly more sober than everyone else. On holiday recently there were ten of us and to be fair, it was pretty darn hard to keep everyone together in a night club without people wandering off. So my advice for you would be that although it's insanely fun to be in a large group of friends, sometimes the night can be easier and more fun in a smaller group of 5 or 6 people.

2. Check out whether there's any offers on in any of the bars that you're planning on going to
Going on a night out can be fairly expensive of a weekend.  I've found that as a student there are many student themed nights that offer cheaper drinks during the week.  For me I've found that my town offers a cheap 'student night' on a Thursday, as well as the nearest city offering a student night on a Thursday. Similarly the nearest town also offers a cheap student night on a Tuesday. I've found that by going these cheaper nights I've managed to save a small fortune and I've managed to meet friends who are of a similar age to me, compared to a weekend when many clubs have pervy men in their 40s.

2. Discuss with your friends before you go whether it's a casual night out or a glam night out
I think this is a reasonably good piece of advice to all girls out there.  There's nothing worse than being over dressed or under dressed on a night out, it can leave you feeling uncomfortable and wanting to go home. For me and my friends we usually find it important that we discuss what kind of outfit we're planning on wearing before a night out.  Usually a student night means casual flats, while a weekend night out means towering wedges or flat forms.  For me I like to be tall, so usually I'll wear flat forms for a casual night out and on a weekend night out.  This is because I'm comfortable and the hight gives me confidence.

3. Don't dress inappropriately- slaggy
This is another top tip of mine. Do not, I repeat do not, wear anything that is totally inappropriate.  When a parents passes comment about how you're not going out dressed like that, listen to them; because if your bum is showing and my boobs are on show you're going to attract the wrong kind of attention.  Not only will you attract the attention of sleezy men, but you'll also get stares off girls who find what you're wearing to be in bad taste.

4. Pre-drinks are sometimes a great idea
They are a good idea in the sense that they can help you save money on a night out which could be expensive, but they're not a good idea if you're not going to be able to get through the door to your night out.  I think there is nothing wrong with drinking 2 or 3 Bacardi and cokes before leaving the house or possibly sharing a bottle of wine with a friend whilst getting ready.  But I think there is something majorly wrong if you're doing several shots and drinking a bottle of wine before leaving the house and ending up in such a state that the bouncer is not going to let you in.

5. Make sure you don't get too drunk, know your limit; you'll have more fun when you're simply 'tipsy'
Don't get too drunk people, it's not a good look. Although it's fun to drink a alcohol and have a laugh with you're friends; it's not fun to stumble out a night club and expose yourself.  It's socially acceptable to drink alcohol to point where you're feeling confident enough to be able to dance without worrying that you look stupid.  Plus if you're not ridiculously drunk you won't have to worry about doing anything stupid and if you're friends aren't ridiculous drunk you won't have to spend your night worrying that they're going to end up doing something stupid.  All in all you'll have a great night.

6. Have as much fun possible- dance and laugh
I've found that if you're dancing and laughing you look super confident and fun.  Not only will you have a great time, but I've found that by acting in this manner people are more likely to approach you. Thus through this I've made friends who make my nights out hilarious.

7. Don't go out to simply attract lads
Don't be so boring. Night clubs are not just for males and female to attach to each other. Night clubs are there for you to have a great night with friends and let your hair down.  There's nothing wrong with flirting with guys every now and again, but to do it constantly is just wrong.  Not only does it create awkwardness and bordom for your friends it also creates an image for yourself as the-girl-who-any-guy-can-get-because-she's-so-desperate-to-pull.

8. Don't kiss strangers or leave with them
Just don't.

9. Don't stare people out or give out 'snotty' looks it can cause too much drama
Drunken people are rather sensitive people, just look at one wrong and it could cause World War Three.  My advice would be to avoid dramatic looking people and if you're going to look at people, smile.

10. Make sure you have a friend to accompany you home on a night out. Be safe.
After a brilliant night out, make sure you've got a friend with you on the journey home.  Whether it's a taxi or the first train home, make sure you're not alone.  I know society isn't full of completly weird people, but make sure you're safe.  Usually I will get a taxi home from a night out and if I'm the first out I'll say to my friend loudly, "Call me when you're in," that way I'll know she's in safely.

So, there you go, my top ten tips for a brilliant night out.  You might not agree with them personally, but from my experience I think they're accurate from what I've witnessed and experienced.

I hope you enjoy this post, there will be more like this to come.

HELLO

Sorry I have been M.I.A this past week.  I've been rather busy revising for my upcoming A-level exams.  My first exam was on Monday (German History) and I think it went fairly well.  My heart literally stopped as I turned over the page to see the exam questions, but luckily it returned to normal beating order when I saw that they actually weren't too bad.  The only question that stumped me a litttle was a question which was only supposed to have a 15 year time period, but it weirdly had a 30 year time period.  Hopefully I dealt with okay though.

On Tuesday I had a haircut, *sighs*.  I regretting it now.  My hair which was down to my waist is now about 4 inches below my shoulder.  Which to me is beyond short!  My usual hairdresser is on maternity leave so I had to have another hairdresser cut it for me.  I literally told the hairdresser that I only wanted the 'dead ends' cutting off, meaning about 3 inches. But he got too scissor happy and chopped away.  Which annoyed me primarily because I know for certain I didn't really have many dead ends in the first place as I get a regular trim every other month.  Suprisingly I haven't cried, I'm just annoyed.  Hopefully it'll be the length I wanted it to be by March.  And in conlusion I won't be going to that hairdresser again. 

Tomorrow I've got one of my friends 18th Birthday, so I've highly excited for that.  My entire year is going, so it should be a laugh.  I'll be seeing people I haven't seen since my Year 11 Prom back in 2010.  This is because many of them didn't stay at the Sixth Form located at my High School.  As a result of this, we've made new friends and clearly grown apart.  But there's nothing like a long time friend bring together old friends.  To get into the party spirit I've spent the last couple of hours searching Topshop for the perfect dress and I discovered this beauty:

The dress cost me a whopping £46 which was justified by Mum saying that I can wear it on several occassions and the summer.  What I love about this dress is that it has a really flattering shape and it's very simple.  The material is really thick and it feels like amazing quality.  But for now that is all I can say until I've officially worn it out.

Also this week I bought two uh-may-zing Jack Wills 'boyfit' shirts.  I've just had a quick Google of these shirts and I cannot find them online.  So I'll post a picture of them in a couple of days.  Jack Wills is honestly the most amazing quality clothing you could find on the High Street.  I honestly wouldn't even call it High Street, it's certainly a 'designer' brand in my opinion.

But anyway, I need to get back to my History homework and my revision.  Roll on tomorrow and certainly next week!

BIRTHDAY EVE

Today is the eve of my 18th Birthday.  As lame as it may be, I believe that you should drag out the celebrations for as long as you possibly can.  Today was the last day of the week in which my bestfriend, Katy, is in.  Tomorrow she starts her new placement at a Primary School in the local town.  That means that she won't be in College tomorrow to help me celebrate my Birthday (sobs!).  During one of our free lessons she gave me a present from herself and a card from her whole family.  It makes you feel so loved when a friends family write you a Birthday card, it's a sign that they kind of accept you into their family.  She informed me that my Birthday card from her will be arriving in the post tomorrow! Woop!

After College I went shopping and found two dresses for the next couple of days.  One was in the sale at River Island for £15 and the other is shown below:

The dress above was a little discovery of mine in Miss Selfridge.  The dress is leopard print, something that I don't usually ever go for.  I've always thought it was a bit Bet Lynch for my liking.  The picture above doesn't do the dress justice and the picture seems to make the dress look a lot more darker than it really is.  However after trying on nearly every dress in Outfit, River Island and New Look I decided it was my best option.  The dress is so flattering that it's unreal, my waist appears to look extremely slender, as do my arms. I have found that 'skater dresses' are really comfortable and girly. Also think that they're really easy to dress-up or dress-down. I bought a red one around 4 months ago now and I loved it so much that I decided it was for the best if I put it towards the back of my wardrobe for a while. The Miss Selfridge dress was £24, making it £2 cheaper than a dress I bought from Topshop a couple of weeks ago, but returned.  The Topshop one is shown below:

I wasn't a big fan of this dress as I didn't feel it would go particularly well with anything else I have in my wardrobe.  I suppose it could've been paired with a chunky knitted cardigan or a jacket, but I decided against it.  Also having debated about it for about 3 days, I concluded that it wasn't worth the £26 I had paid for it.  The dress literally looked like it could have been half the price and from somewhere like Primark.  Which isn't good for somewhere like Topshop,  I found that to be very disappointing

Today's continued to be one of those horridly, stressy days.  I had to go on a search to find my History teacher and I located her in the least expected place.  When I asked her what the homework essays plans were she had forgotten.  So much for her being organised, huh?  So I spent an hour or so catching up with missed homework.  And I'm pleased to announce that I'm now homework free. But now is the tricky part, I have to actually start revising.

One of my close friends had a near accident in College today.  He was nearly kicked-out of the College altogether, due to the fact that he skipped the last couple of days of term to go Berlin. And he hadn't finished his ICT coursework.  Luckily the Head of Sixthform didn't chuck him out and he's lived to tell the tale.  College wouldn't be the same if he was gone; there would be no more banter between him and a mutual friend.

It's safe to say that I'm extremly excited for tomorrow and Friday... ROLL ON MY 18TH!