OOTD: Love Layering

I've decided not to do a 'my week in pictures' post this week, mainly as I haven't done anything worth photographing, well that's a lie actually, I've done lots of interesting things I just didn't photograph any of them, but I did finally get round to doing some outfit shots (Yay!).

I wore this outfit to a nearby village to check out their famous (among my friends) array of charity shops and I certainly wasn't disappointed. I picked up lots of vintage treasures including a tweed suitcase and a gorgeous camel coloured wool trench coat that I'm just in the process of changing the buttons to some dark brown leather look ones I've been waiting to use for a while.

I've taken lots of pictures of my purchases that I'll be sure to post later this week.

I really love this outfit, even if I do say so myself, not that it's particularly inspiring, but it's so cosy and comfortable, which is exactly what you need for a day shopping in this freezing cold weather.

I wanted to take pictures of this outfit from the starting point of the dress and show how I'd layered it, rather than just giving you a glimpse of what the dress looks like through the multiple layers. I have a real addiction to floral dresses at the moment and love wearing them under chunky jumpers and cardigans, something I also purchased a few of this weekend.

I basically live in these brogues at the moment, well these and my tan chelsea boots. I honestly have no idea how I used to walk in 6 inch heels just a couple of years ago.

~ Outfit details ~

Floral skater dress - Matalan - £7 (Sale)

Cardigan - Primark - £11

Tan Belt - Primark - £1

Teapot necklace - Miss Selfridge - £6

Navy Trench Coat - Primark - £19

Brogues - New Look - £16

Navy Satchel - Vintage Thrifted - £5

Total Outfit Cost - £65

I hope you're all having a great start to the week.

xxx

p.s I'd really love it, if you get chance to check out Define Elephants Jewellery on Folksy. My dear mother has opened an online handmade jewellery shop, and it would mean the world to her if you were able to drop by and have a look.

I've also created an advert link in my sidebar (I'm a good little daughter).

p.p.s You may also notice that I've also updated my blog layout and page links. What do you think?

 x

Blog of the Month: Louder Than Silence

My inspiration for this weeks post comes in the form of another blog, and a very lovely blog it is indeed. 

Sally and Ross are a couple living in London and are the face's behind Louder than Silence.

Sally is a vintage lover who works in Fashion PR while Ross works in design and is a massive typography geek (in his own words). Both of their passions clearly shine through in this brilliant blog.  To me, they have the perfect life; a gorgeous couple with amazing style, living the dream in the Big City. I can't say I'm not envious.

Louder than Silence documents the day to day life of Sally and Ross, featuring beautiful outfit posts taken during regular jaunts across the Big City and whimsical pictures of their adventures as a couple.

If you haven't already, make sure you check out Louder than Silence.

xxx

My Week in Pictures...#3

Black lace blouse - eBay -£2.99 , White lace blouse - eBay - 99p, Navy Leather handbag - Vintage - £4.99

Happy Monday Everyone!

I thought I would start this weeks picture post with a sneak peak at some of my recent thrifty finds, both the black and white lace blouses are from eBay, and the navy leather handbag is from a local charity shop. I plan to wear the lace blouses with high waisted skirts, buttoned up to the collar with a little broach a'la Nicola Roberts in my previous post (bottom left).

Nom Nom Nom!

I have been incredibly busy this past week, with not one but two lovely meals at various friends houses, the second of which is the story behind these pictures. We feasted on this a-m-a-z-i-n-g Lasagne, garlic bread and copious amounts of red wine, and finished the night with the 'post-it on your forehead game' (even having googled it, that was the best name it came up with).

For those of you who don't know how to play the 'post-it on your forehead' game; basically you get some post-its or masking tape and write the name of a famous person or character on it, you then stick it to a persons head. Do this for everyone in the group (thinking of a different character for each). Once you have finished laughing at the names on your friends heads, each person should ask three yes/no questions in order to figure out who they are. This is repeated around the circle until everyone guesses who they are.

Nick; The loser in both games.

I won the first game and came third in the second game (for those of you who are interested I was Justin Bieber and Stella McCartney). It was an absolutely hilarious night, there really is nothing quite like great old-fashioned silly games.

(Outfit details: Fur Coat - Vintage - Gift, Polka dot blouse - Thrifted - £3.50, Faux Leather Skirt - H&M - £14.99)

I had my usual Friday night out with the girls, and this is what I wore. I really wasn't feeling great though so didn't stay out too long, but it at least I got to wear my new leather skirt from H&M

Yesterday I decided to finally tidy my room and hang-up all the clothes that are randomly hanging on my cross trainer, strewn across the floor, piled on various chairs or thrown in the washing basket. The above picture is one of my two wardrobes that are now completely full and I still have a lot more to fit in them (eek!) I have no room for another wardrobe, so I need to decide what I should put in my drawers and what should stay in my wardrobe (I tend to forget things in my drawers). Any suggestions?

I think I have rambled on quite enough now, but I'll be back later this week with an outfit post, an eBay shop update and more details on these amazing patent tasselled loafers, that were a steal at only £17.

I hope you've all had a great week.

xxx

Inspired By: Shenae Grimes

Shenae Grimes is my latest style crush, for those of you who don't know her, Shenae is an actress who plays Annie Wilson in the US Series 90210. As much as I'd like to deny it I do watch the show (it's one of my guilty pleasures). After some research I realised that both Shenae and her character seem to share the same style.

Shenae is another 'style icon' that has risen from obscurity over the past year. Looking back at season 1 of 90210 her outfits left little to be desired, but towards the end of season 2 I began to notice her new found sense of style.

I think the thing I love most about her however, is her gorgeous hair, I even purchased a highlighting kit this weekend in the hopes of achieving something similar, I haven't been brave enough to try it yet though.

(Pictures taken from bigblackbootslongbrownhair.blogspot.com, celebrityfashiononsugar.com, chesterkeegankyle.blogspot.com, styebyjasmine.blogspot.com, topnews.im, e4.com)

Do you watch 90210? What do you think of Shenae's style?

xxx

My Week in Pictures...#2

This week hasn't been quite as eventful as last week, work has been pretty dull lately, so I decided to use some 'down-time' to decorate (I'm not sure that's the best word) my desk. I transferred all my pens and pencils into pretty little tins, and paper clips and staples into vintage saucers, I pinned up some nice pictures and took in my vintage china tea cup and saucer, they don't match, but I think that makes me like them even more, and there's nothing like a cup of tea in a real tea cup.

I decided to colour my hair this week, nothing exciting, just a root touch-up really, but I accidentally dyed three of my fingers brown, so for the first time in ages I decided to paint my nails. I very rarely paint my nails as I don't have the patience or very steady hands, and to be honest I usually end up chipping them before the day is out so I don't see the point. I do love this colour though and have resolved to paint my nails more.

 I also picked up my new glasses this week.They are supposed to be tortoiseshell, but they look more black in reality which I was a little bit disappointed with, but overall I'm pretty happy with the style.

(Frames from Specsavers 'Toby' - £69)

What did you guys get up to this week?

xxx

Inspired By: Nicola Roberts

The second of my new features is 'Weekly Inspiration'. I will aim to post pictures of someone, or something that inspires me and will hopefully inspire you too, this week it's the beautiful and talented Nicola Roberts.

I'd really like to try and avoid the usual Alexa, Zoe, Olivia inspiration posts and although I don't think Nicola Roberts' rise to fame in the style stakes has gone un-noticed, she's not quite as constantly in your face as Alexa Chung. Don't get me wrong I love Alexa, but I'd just like to see something a little different.

I have to admit I have a real style crush on red heads with paler than pale skin in striking red lipstick at the moment, especially this season with all the gorgeous Autumn colours to compliment the complexion.

It's funny to think that just a couple of years ago Nicola Roberts was the 'ugly duckling' of girls aloud, constantly trying to compete with the other girls, and to her detriment I think. Now she's in her element and I'd much rather have her wardrobe than any of the other members of Girls Aloud (don't even get me started on Cheryl Cole being top of the best dressed list in the majority of so called 'style' magazines).

What are your thoughts on Nicola's style?

Last but not least, here are some other lovely flame haired beauties to feast your eyes upon.

The Red Rosette

Yours Truly

Heart City Vintage

xxx

My Week in Pictures...#1

So this is the first of my new regular features, it's sort of a diary of my week in pictures, mostly to show you my outfits without having to do so many formal outfit posts, I hope you like it.

Starting with last Sunday...it was my friend Nick's Birthday so a few of us celebrated at the local curry house. The food was a-m-a-z-i-n-g and as you can see there was plenty of it. Just looking at this picture is making me hungry again.

As a bonus you can take your own drinks, so it was a pretty inexpensive night too, which is certainly no bad thing in January.

(Outfit Details: Sheer Floral Blouse - Matalan - £8 *Sale, Indigo Skinny Jeans - Matalan - £7 *Sale, Tan Chelsea Boots - H&M - £12 *Sale, Various jewellery (that you can't really see) - Miss Selfridge *Sale)

On Friday night I went out with my Sister and met up with a few friends in town, it was a pretty great night as so many of my friends were out in different little groups, so it was great to catch up with everyone and I even braved a red lipstick, certainly not something I could do if I was out with the boy.

(Outfit Details: Purple Silk Vest - Thrifted - £1.50, Sequin Skirt - Matalan - £7 *Sale,  Black Lace up boots - H&M - £15 *Sale, Various Jewellery - Miss Selfridge & Primark)

As you can see I've been pretty busy in the sales, and this is just the half of it.

I hope you've all had a great week?

xxx

p.s I've listed lots of lovely things on ebay, don't forget to take a look.

New Years Resolutions

I've thought a lot about my new years resolutions this year and although I don't normally make them, nevermind stick to them I'm determined that this year is going to be a good one.

1. Loose Weight / Get Healthy.

I'm sure this is number one on many a list across the globe, so I won't bore you with the details, but I've had a cross trainer gathering dust in my bedroom for 6 months and an addiction to carbs for as long as I can remember so it's about time I did something about it. I'd ideally like to loose about a stone.

2. Concentrate on my eBay shop.

I have a huge pile of clothes and shoes ready to sell on eBay, but finding the time and the patience to do it sometimes seems impossible, so I would like to dedicate at least one weekend a month to take pictures and list as much as I can, as well as customising and purchasing vintage pieces to sell.

As a by-resolution, I would like to make enough money to a) move house b) buy a digital SLR and c) get a puppy.

3. Read More.

I currently have at least 10 books that I've yet to even start reading piled up on my already full bookcase. I absolutely love reading but always tend to get in from work and slob out in front of the TV and watch repeats instead, but I pledge to make a change.

4. Blog more consistantly.

Last but definitely not least is my blog, I've struggled over the past few months to find the time to keep up with this site, but I think I've found a solution. I have come up with some new blog features, to make my posting more consistant and to save me time.

So far the majority of my posts have been outfit pictures, and each of these posts take a long time to complile as I have to take the photos, edit them, and then figure out what to write, my new features will focus on inspiration for my outfits, wishlists and aspects of my general life as well as the usual outfit posts on a less frequent basis.

I will endeavour to post the same sort of feature on the same day each week, so keep your eyes peeled.

So, what are your New Years Resolutions?

xxx

My Christmas and New Year in Pictures

Belated Season's Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone!

I know it's a bit late, I feel like I'm always a bit behind at the moment, I don't know how all you dedicated bloggers find the time to post over Christmas.

Anyway I thought I'd share with you a few pictures of my 'adventures' over the Holiday season...

A couple of pictures from Christmas Eve in the local with friends.

Christmas morning, my new Christmas Jumper and my Mum's perfectly decorated tree.

Christmas Dinner, my Mum always makes these cute little goody bags with chocolates, party poppers, bubbles and little sparkles in them.

To be honest I've never really understood the fasination with Pandora, or more precisely, why anyone would spend such ridiculous amounts of money on it/them, however upon opening this pretty little bag on Christmas morning I changed my mind.

Although none of the charms I have on my bracelet are Pandora (most donated by my Mum) I do intend to buy some to reflect my personality and have already spent hours trawling eBay.

I've wanted a French memo board for years and have even contemplated making my own (which I think I still will one day), so when I saw this is The Book Cafe I asked my mum to buy it for me for Christmas. I never had any intention of using it for notes/reminders but just to hang my jewellery from.

I've always been jealous of those of you with relatives that pass down vintage treasures from their wardrobes, that is until my Mum gave me this beautiful vintage faux fur coat. It's rarely been off my back since.

Probably the best 'present' this year was getting back together with my boyfriend, doesn't he look cute? He also bought me this adorable little Paddington Bear.

I celebrated New Year at a house party with friends, which was lovely, no queing up outside your favourite bar just to have to pay a ridiculous amount to stand in a crowded room surrounded by drunken idiots.

I'll be back soon with my New Years Resolutions and plans for some new features for the blog.

xxx