FASHION // #7days#7ootd update

Dress - Clothes Swap, Jacket - H&M, Shoes - Adidas LTD Edition Fafi colour

Top - River Island, Jogging Bottoms - Adidas/SportsDirect, Trainers - Nike/JJBs, Sports Bra - SportsDirect

Top - Dorothy Perkins, Shorts - Miss Selfridge

Still going with the 7 outfits for 7 days, though I've excluded Sunday as I spend all day in my work uniform and not sure I should be posting photos of me in it online. 

These are all instagram photos as you can tell from the dodgy quality. It feels really nice just thinking a bit more carefully about how I decide to wear things and putting bits together that I hadn't thought of. My favourite so far is the Terracotta high waisted silk shorts with the baggy cat shirt, both I haven't worn since last Summer so I feel my closet is being fully used now. Enjoying my old clothes makes me less needy for buying new ones! Hoping this will help with my budgeting. 

Blossom in Sprint // OOTD

OOTD 

Jacket TKMaxx 

Dress Shirt Zara 

Leggings TU 

Shoes Peacocks

.  .  .  .

Today is a day of doing Uni work at home so I thought I'd throw something comfortable on. I added the shoes as it looks awkward in my slippers. I love this floral dress shirt, I am definitely not a floral person usually but the colours in this are vibrant and the shapes very tropical. The jacket I've had for around 10 years now it has skulls embroidered into it at the colour for a rock but girly look. 

I have been faffing with my camera so they are a little out of focus I'm afraid. It is difficult to get the focus when using timer.

What do you think of today's outfit? Do you love or hate the floral trends?

Lady Luck Cream

As usual I have a whole load of work to do for Uni but needing a little break so thought I'd come do some blogging. 

Looking around the shops recently I have noticed an influx of cable knit and soft spring colours; cream, pastel pink, muted teals and cool beige. I rarely buy knits as they make me look chunky/like a Michelin man as I'm short and quite curvy but I found some lovely little sweaters in H&M with cable knit fronts but plain backs and was so chuffed! They're clearly popular as every size but S & XS were sold out. I snatched up two slightly different ones in cream with a Chapelfield (our regions big clothes shopping mall) voucher I had. 

I love the detail of these, it has a lovely nostalgic feeling, after years of wearing knitted sweaters in my childhood. I've collected some images for inspiration from Tumblr (all sources linked). A few of these look like the sweaters I have actually hehe!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

What are your favourite knit garments?

Wishlist Autumn 2012

Romwe.com

Ohhdear.com

Annarack Etsy

Winter Is Coming...

Had a little discussion with a few of my friends on Twitter about dressing for Winter. I think many people dread the change over of wardrobes as Summer you can throw on a pair of shorts and T-shirt then you're set to go. With Winter you can either look at it as an exciting season full of accessorizing heavily and layering to the nines or you can dread the thought of looking frumpy or large in big jumpers and shapeless coats.

So I figure it's time to post my thoughts on what works for me: 

1. Pick a length that suits you.

Many people make the mistake of getting something just because it is on trend and end up looking either drowned or like they borrowed it off their younger siblings. 

If you're short like me look for the petite ranges; Topshop, Dorothy Perkins & ASOS all have Petite ranges. With a coat the right length you'll find it will be a better fit on the arms, it will go in at the right areas if it is fitted and it won't drown you in fabric (unless that's the design intention). 

Petite outfit idea, slightly pricey but items that will get good wear.

2. Wear what fits, not the size label you usually are.

It is very important in all aspects of fashion to realise, what is on the label doesn't matter, it is how the garment fits that does matter. Remember with Winter coats you need extra room for layers underneath. No one cares if your jacket says size 8 or size 38, the only person it will bother is you. If you buy too small you'll be uncomfortable and look bigger than you are.

3. Layers, layers & more layers.

You can go crazy with layering your clothes, mix up colours, natural earthy tones or just black and white. 

Wearing a dress? Add a snazzy decorative scarf, some bright tights and even some over the knee socks over those. 

T-shirt and jeans your usual thing? Try adding a baggy jumper with skinny jeans or a tight sweater over a tank top with a blazer if you're wearing boot cut or baggy. Try not to wear baggy clothes on both the top half and bottom half of your body or you could feel very frumpy or bulky.

4. Accessorize. 

Buy a few waist belts to go over your coat to accentuate your waist, match it with a similar coloured scarf and gloves. Invest in lots of different length socks to go over your tights/leggings. Don't be afraid to add a vibrant colour scarf or hat to a neutral outfit.

5. Mix styles. 

Wear a feminine frilly dress with a camou-coat. Put on your favourite band t-shirt with a smart blazer, leggings, shorts and boots. Don't be frightened to break the rules.

A simple outfit idea from High Street shops at low prices.

I do not assume I know everything on this topic, this is merely my own experience. Hope this helps a few folk. 

Do you have any clothing you love & you can't do with out in winter?

Last Summer Greys

It is the end of the Summer and it hasn't been a very good one. Very up and down weather, looking forward to more consistent weather, that way I can at least know how to dress for it. Bring on the scarfs, coats and hats! Here is my OOTD, starring the lovely jacket Jason bought me for our anniversary.

Signature Monotone Black & White

I think every woman/girl or even fashionable guy out there has their go-to items in their wardrobe. Those statement items that are the foundation for many outfits. I love embracing the basic wardrobe, creating a variety of different ensembles with just my favourite clothes and then jazzing them up with jewellery, bags and other accessories. 

Here I wanted to show you guys the items that I couldn't manage without, the pieces that I can just throw on if I'm in a hurry or that I can glam up for a night out or to wear to an event. I've included some drawings to spice things up and so I can practice as I'm not good at it.

6 Statement Items

1. The Plain White T-Shirt 

Who doesn't have a plain white t-shirt? It really is the easiest of garments to match with almost anything. It can be worn with sweat pants to lounge around the house or with a pencil skirt to meetings. Personally I love teaming this with a pair of dark jeans or denim shorts, some killer heels and a fitted jacket. The versatile white t-shirt requires no colour co-ordinating and comes in plenty of fabric types and necklines for all shapes and sizes. My favourite has to be the soft cotton v-neck from MANGO, I also love Zara's t-shirts. 

2. Skinny Jeans

Now I used to detest skinny jeans, I saw too many people wearing the wrong size for them and in ghastly cheap fabrics (almost see through argh!). After a dramatic weight loss I caved in and bought some in grey and a pair of dark blue denim. I was converted! They are great with heels or flats, trainers or platforms. They come in so many different colours now too. My own preference is dark denim though, my black pair and dark blue are something I wear almost every day. Again these can worn with just about anything from my basics. 

3. Black Blazer Jacket

For years I have been wearing black blazer jackets, from when I was a wee goth teen to my current casual smart style. I've experimented with adding fur collars, having sleeves rolled up or down, cinching the waist with a belt, adding broaches and even changing the buttons to something glamorous and shiny. The best thing is this is an all year round garment. For those Summer evenings when it gets cooler over a Summer dress or in the winter under your wooly coat. 

4. Textured Belt

With all these simple pieces it is nice to have something that isn't black/white or plain. The textured belt can jazz up all those simple outfits and if you have something that lacks shape it can accentuate your waist or draw attention to your hips.

5. Leather Jacket

In the high-street fashion blogosphere I'd need to search hard to find some one that doesn't have one of these. Partly this is because they are just such a stylish and easy to wear piece of clothing. I love that it adds a rock flare to cute girly dresses and it is great for a night out when you don't want a big coat weighing you down. I actually own about 4 leather/pleather jackets but my favourite has to be my Romwe.com one. It was very good value for money and is so durable, I've worn it so much and it is still like new!

6. Plain Vest Top 

Pretty simple, it can be worn alone to keep cool in the Summer or layered up as much as you like for cooler times. Being a British lass I know only too well the value of layering clothes with our cold and dreary weather. 

What are your go-to items? What couldn't you do with out in your wardrobe?

Curls & Heels

New look over on Lookbook. I paired some classic dark navy skinny jeans with some leopard heels, some gold jewellery, black blazer & white tank top. I'm working on a post about statement items/clothing I can't live with out and this features a few of those. 

Hope you like it!

Fashion is Passion Red

One of my favourite things to see on blogs is the inspirations of others, the people that make them wish they were richer so they could buy all the clothes or just some one that offers make-up/fashion inspiration. 

So this post is dedicated to the people that have inspired and influenced me in the past few years. 

1. Kristiina @ HauteKeikk.com

This lass is intelligent, stylish and savvy with fashion. Her posts consist of outfit photos, lifestyle posts and wishlists of items she loves. I think I learnt from her blog that simple can be stylish and that even a hat can make an outfit stand out and look awesome. 

Source

2. Emma @ Bloomzy.co.uk

I have known Emma for several years on a personal level, she's a lovely and sweet lass. I have always appreciated her natural flair for style and throughout all her different style choices she has remained a huge inspiration to me. I think her knowledge of beauty products mixed with her sweet personality are very enviable. 

3. Kerti @ Kertiii.blogspot.co.uk

Kerti is passionate about photography and fashion, she has the most awesome style. I particularly love how feminine she always dresses and her super cute hair style. I found Romwe.com through her website and I haven't been the same since hehe. I think a big part of my interest in taking photographs has come from Kerti, as well as my drive to dress up daily even when all I'm doing is going to Uni. 

Source

I hope you find these blogs as wonderful as I did. I know that they are all popular blogs so they don't need the publicity but I felt that I would love to share the places I look for inspiration. 

To the bloggers I mentioned I hope you don't mind me using your headers if you see this, you guys are awesome. 

I've been busy

I've been busy working out and doing some reading for my Summer project so I haven't really spent much time thinking about my poor wee blog. I want to be more proactive here but with a full plate it is a little hard. Not like I'm doing anything exciting to report about either. However I did start using some new Liz Earle products I'll likely post about and I'm working on my confidence to do more outfit of the day style posts. For now here are a few I've been posting on Look Book.

Just a sneak peek

Sneak Peek of my METRO centre buys!
1. T-shirt with diamante & print detail.
2. Mango black quilted bag.
3. Kitty scarf & sheer top with cat print (Dorothy Perkins).
4. Turquoise sheer shirt.

1. Nike Sports Bra & Reebok sports dress.
2. Two loose knit hats (I wanted a cream one and a black one) & All Saints leather jacket.

Clear house = a clear mind?

Source

I am not ashamed to say that I am a fan of minimalism. I love a clean and simple look, I'm not afraid of having a lot of white or cream in my room. Alas I am not bestowed with a lot of space and since moving back to my parents house a few years back I have been slowly whittling down my flat worth of stuff. My problem is I am an art student, I study graphic design luckily so most of my work can be done on my laptop but I also accumulate many portfolio cases of work and art supplies.

Source

I want this post to be an inspiration to myself and maybe even to others. After watching a few programmes recently on hoarding I have established I am not one, I am ruthless and will throw almost anything out (by which I mean it tends to be given to charity stores or in the shed to be car booted at some point during the fair weather). I've not always been this way, I've had many collections in the past but I've come to realise if I spend so much time worrying about possessions I won't be living life to it's fullest.

Source

I'd like to transform my room into a study space rather than a glorified apartment. I'm going to utilise vacuum clothes cases to keep my jackets and coats as small to store as possible, cut down on the books I keep that I'll never read and use as many storage utilities as possible.

Source

So there are some images to help direct me a little, the last is a kids room, it doesn't look very kid like. I love the block colour with all the white.

I love MNG

So as the title says I do love MANGO, (the clothing retailer, not the food, but that's fine too!). I discovered the store when it opened in Chapelfield shopping mall in my home town. The store itself is so chic and London boutique style with simplistic shelving and tall mirrors & changing rooms. Despite the beautiful interior the garments are very affordable, with high street pricing.

This weekend I popped in, in desperate need of a sweater as the weather turned far too cool yesterday. Picked out this super cute polda-dot sweater with cute ribbon design on the back.

This is the sweater, the polkadots and ribbon give it such a feminine air and the fabric is so soft and cosy. It is fairly thin and the sleeves are 3 quarter length but it still kept me so warm and looked great with a black mini skirt and opaque tights. 

Ribbon detail (I tied it a bit hap-hazardly argh!) 

I must admit I did get a little side tracked and ended up buying a navy t-shirt, only to find it was half price. I was so pleased as Mango really does make lovely t-shirts in cute colours. These were all under £5 each which is really the best of bargains for the best quality. They're quite thin so they'll get plenty of wear through the Summer and these colours will be perfect. The navy or white are perfect for the nautical look and the coral will brighten up my dark jeans, shorts or skirts.

If you don't already shop there go check out their website, Mango.com. They sell some chic work wear and some feminine and sweet casual wear. If you love the sexy look they also have some classy night out outfits.

Which is your favourite clothes store?