Friday 31 August 2012

OUTFIT | #75


blouse: Urban Outfitters; skirt: H&M; flats: Primark; watch: Swatch; bracelet: ? Who knows

Excuse the wrinkly shirt. I'm still settling into my new place so a lot of my clothes are still scrunched up in piles. It's an ongoing process. I figured this was black though so who cares? You can barely tell. And all those other lies you tell yourself when you're still bleary eyed in the morning and thinking about climbing back into bed. I wasn't sure if this was a tad funereal for mid-August but I've already noticed the nights drawing in so why not embrace the impending autumn? I keep romanticising about wearing layers again and snuggling up under blankets, while conveniently forgetting how much I hate when it gets dark by 5 o'clock in the evening.

The shoes are a new addition to my wardrobe/stash/whatever. After my birthday night out, I stayed at a hotel with friends and realised I'd only brought my going out heels. My confidence is improving but daytime heels are still miles out of my comfort zone so I had to borrow a pair of flats from a friend, with much smaller feet, and dash over to Primark for emergency shoes. These were a total bargain at £6 and had a cute grandfatherly look I couldn't resist. Plus they're some kind of faux velvet stuff and I'm a sucker for velvet. It just feels so nice.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

WISHLIST | #3

Out of Print Clothing t-shirt; Smashbox Softbox palette; Warehouse belt; Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling; L.L. Bean Adirondack coat; Topshop Alexy boots

I am so ready for it to be autumn. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm working through the last month of my summer, so the sun is wasted on me, or just that I find summer clothes a bit dull at times, but I miss layers. I want to wear boots and jumpers and curl up in bed under a million blankets again. Take the sun away, I'm done with it until next year. Thanks kindly. I've vowed to myself that I will get a pair of Topshop Alexy boots before the year is out. I missed out on the infamous Allegras last year and have been left with a platform chelsea boot sized hole in my life (Oh hey, blogger hypberbole! but you catch my drift... I want 'em). 

It's also less than a month 'til I'm back at university so, like a good Lit student, I'm thinking about books. I'd be happy with any t-shirt from Out of Print clothing, to be honest, but the Gatsby one has always caught my eye. As for my autumnal reading list (like I need any more books), I've heard so many good things about Mindy Kaling's book and I'm itching to get my hands on it. 

Monday 27 August 2012

OUTFIT | #74

dress: Motel; watch: ASOS; heels: New Look

No, it's not my birthday yet. I'm turning 20 (goodbye teens, hello being in my twenties...) on September 1st but I'll be away with family then. So I decided to celebrate with some friends the weekend prior instead. There was much mexican food, drinking, and dancing involved. It was a good time. Somewhere between cocktails and painting the town red, I convinced a friend to take a picture of what I wore out in the evening. Bad lighting, it seems, is a recurrent theme in my posts of late, so this is the best I got. 

The dress is from Motel, I forget what it was called. I got it in the sale ages ago and had forgotten about it. I'd wanted to buy a brand new dress, preferably something that resembled a glittery disco ball, for my birthday celebrations but lack of funds had me quickly abandoning that idea. Then I remembered I hadn't worn this dress yet anyway so it all turned out rather well in the end. 

Saturday 25 August 2012

OUTFIT | #73

blouse: Forever 21; skirt: H&M; loafers: Urban Outfitters; watch: Swatch

This was my favourite outfit I wore all week. Mostly because of the loafers. Yes, they still hurt my feet. I brought spare shoes and changed halfway into the day. I refuse to be beaten. One day I will make these shoes comfortable, or get a lot of blisters trying. Working in an office means I walk very little throughout the day so it seems like the perfect environment to achieve this task slowly, but surely, over the next month or so.

I spent all night after work making cakes for Cake Friday at work with a friend (don't you wish you had co-workers like us) and missed all the natural light. Excuse the odd orange glow in these pictures. I'm working with what I've got (What I've got being cheap lamps and Photoshop to tweak the brightness)

Wednesday 22 August 2012

OUTFIT | #72

cardigan, top, skirt: H&M; flats: Topshop; lips: Revlon Matte 'Pink About It' (discontinued)

Well, this is exciting. The first blog post from my new room. I'm all moved into my new student house for the coming year, give or take a few broken items of furniture. Par for the course with these kind of digs though, really. I'm actually quite lucky; my house even has double-glazing. What luxury. I'm back here for the rest of the summer because I finally got a job. I'm doing that weird grown-up thing where I work 9-5 Monday through Friday now. It's been an adjustment.

Dressing myself has also proved a challenge. The first few days at my new job were ridiculously hot and the office was vaguely reminiscent of a sauna. I tend to favour shorter skirts and shorts than office attire calls for though, so finding something to wear that I won't swelter in but is still 'professional' (whatever that means) was an adventure of sorts. Join me, will you, over the next few weeks in my foray into ' ' 'smart-casual office wear'.

Sunday 19 August 2012

OUTFIT | #71

top: Forever 21; necklace, shorts: Topshop; watch: Swatch; loafers: Urban Outfitters

I know some people make a big deal out of wearing multiple patterns (Is it a trend? Can you tell I don't follow these things?) but so much of what I own is patterned anyway that it's unavoidable for me. These are what I like to refer to as my John Hughes shorts because they're that high-waisted, slightly 'unflattering' (Which doesn't bother me. Sometimes I just want to wear what I want to wear and not worry about 'dressing for my shape' or any of that business) style that you'll find every female actress wearing in Brat Pack films. The pattern tends to photograph as an odd blur of white and black but trust me, they're covered in tiny polka dots. 

I'm moving into my new student digs this weekend and also starting a new job. I've never done the whole 9-5 thing before so it could prove interesting. I will also be without internet for the foreseeable future, as I'm still working that through with my new housemates. I'm trying not to think about what I'm going to do while I'm waiting for it to be installed. Read a lot, I guess?

Friday 17 August 2012

RECENT PURCHASE | New (Old) Watch


I wear a watch every day. Yes, I still check the time on my phone more often than not but I feel weird and naked without a watch. This Swatch used to be one of my favourites. I got it while on holiday in Rome a few years ago. Back then, it was all grey and I wore it everywhere. Cut to a year later and I'm on holiday (again) in the south of France and somewhere in between the many hours I spent in the water in Nice's pebbled beaches and various train journeys to swanky Cote D'Azur cities, I broke the damn strap. 

The watch went into a drawer that I'd open occasionally and think 'Crap, I should really get that fixed' and then I'd forget about it again. I finally remembered to go to a Swatch store and see about fixing it while I was in the US. There I was informed that Swatch don't make replacement straps in all the colours they offer their watches in (Who knew?). So my watch was reincarnated into what my sister refers to as a 'hospital wrist-tag'. Personally, I like the grey and transparent look. Mostly I'm just glad to have my watch finally fixed. Expect to see it in basically every outfit I wear from now on.

Thursday 9 August 2012

OUTFIT | #70

top: American Apparel; shorts: H&M; watch: Swatch; shoes: Office

I have three words for you: American Apparel outlet. Sadly I discovered this gem at the end of my trip when I was down to my last few dollars. I did manage to pick up this shirt for $10 though (Who can say they bought a shirt from AA for less than twenty bucks? Seriously?) It's kind of perfect. Super comfortable, striped and slightly cropped. This was the summer I finally braved the crop top in public. Several times, in fact. I'm pretty proud of myself. 

And yes, I'm wearing the yellow shorts again. I've worn them at least 4x a week for the past month. They're basically my favourite clothing item ever. I'm dreading the impending the arrival of autumn when I have to give them up until next summer. 

Saturday 4 August 2012

OUTFIT | #69

jacket, shorts: H&M; blouse: Urban Outfitters; sandals: Topshop; watch: Sekonda; nails: Essie 'Clambake'

I like pastels. They're cute and inoffensive. Sometimes the summer can leave me out of my element; no black, barely any navy? My staple colours are off limits for a few months of the year and it can be a struggle. I have the majority of my 'oh god, I have nothing to wear, I'm staying in my pajamas all day' strops during the summer. I am warming to pastels though. They're a far cry from monochrome and everything I'm comfortable with but I try.

I hadn't worn this blouse in ages because in my head it was always associated with a really crappy day I once had when I wore it. It's a shame because it was one of my favourites when I first bought it. Recently I've been culling a lot of old unworn clothes and decided it was time to start wearing it again. This was its first outing in a while and, poor neglected thing, the ruffles wouldn't sit right. I think it was punishing me for leaving it unworn for so long or something. Clearly this shirt and I have a way to go before we make amends.

Thursday 2 August 2012

RECENT PURCHASES | August 2012

Bath & Body Works Secret Wonderland body spray; Real Techniques Core Collection brushes; Zoya Maisie nail polish; Urban Decay Naked palette

I'm visiting family in New Jersey currently and, other than diners, something NJ has plenty of is malls. So I've been shopping. Naturally. Not aimlessly, mind. I had a list and a budget and I've stuck to it. Mostly. The Zoya nail polish was an impulsive sale purchase. I need another nail polish like a hole in the head, but it was cheap and sparkly. How could I resist?

The Naked palette and Real Techniques brushes were top of my list, while the body spray was a replacement bottle; mine at home is nearly completely gone. Secret Wonderland is one of my favourite Bath & Body Works scents. I'd deliberated between the Naked or Naked 2 palette for a while. They look pretty similar to me in all the swatch pictures I've seen and I don't like the weird tin packaging of the Naked 2. Plus I heard a few sneaking rumours that the eyeshadows were more pigmented in the original so I figured it was a safer bet. It did sting to drop $50 on one make up item but I just kept reminding myself that it worked out to less than $5 an eyeshadow so it didn't seem quite so bad.