How to Wear Khaki Trousers

I really, truly ummed and aahed about my sudden wish for khaki trousers. This is the problem with working for a fashion retailer; I end up in meetings about trends and it ends up with me putting together a mental shopping list and convincing myself that my wardrobe is bereft without a particular item. On a recent trip back to Milton Keynes I asked my mum if we could go to Matalan as I never manage to get to one in London (although they're opening one on Oxford Street soon so that's exciting!), and lo and behold, the mighty khaki trousers appeared.

[Lifestyle] Christmas Homewares Wish List

Christmas is a big deal in my family. My mum has boxes upon boxes in the loft full of Christmas paraphenalia ranging from bottle openers, napkins and the same bizarre glittery decoration that she always hangs from the downstairs toilet ceiling (not the prettiest thing in the world, but it wouldn't be Christmas without it!). I love that the whole house is Chrismas-fied; you want a satsuma? It's in the Christmas bowl. You want to crack a nut? Use the Christmas nutcracker? You need the toilet? Make sure you use the Christmas loo roll! I've compiled my favourite items for you to make every inch of your home as Christmassy as possible. After all, it's only 31 days to go!

Christmas tree chopping board
£4 George at Asda

Cocktail napkin
£6 Anthropologie

Christmas dessert plate
£14 Anthropologie

Christmas pudding serving platter
£14 Matalan

Christmas tea towel
£11.99 Mollie and Fred

Fairy light teapot
£30 Hunky Dory

Emma Bridgewater Mince Pie Plate
£19.95 Exclusively for Fortnum & Mason

 And finally, the favourite piece in my family that will come out again this year...

Merry Christmas Bitches pint glass
£8 Urban Outfitters

How do you decorate your house for Christmas?

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Life: Turning 24

Bird print dress from Matalan

Another year, another 20th September. The day is very special to me not just because it's my birthday, but it's also my mum's, and we always spend it celebrating together. In fact last year my niece was also born on the 20th, so now it's even more important!

We had a very leisurely day with a trip to the cinema to see The Sweeney, (which was full of swearing, sex and violence - a recommended Brit flick if you want something you don't really have to concentrate on!) and followed by my favourite curry, which I'm going to post the recipe to soon as I eat it at least once a fortnight.

At the weekend we had loads of family and friends round for a celebration which involved a LOT of food, and a cake for both me and my mum made by my aunt:

The cakes even came with impressive sparkler candles, which I got rather excited about as you can see! 

Both birthday girls blowing out candles!

The weather was freezing, but we BBQ'd until late, and nursed Sangria hangovers with bacon sandwiches in the morning. A pretty great birthday all in all!

Purse Palpitations: Week 3

Verging on sheer obsession with all of these things this week.

The colour, the pleats, the buttons. Oh god! And only £16 from Matalan!

I am mega stud, hear me roar! £15 from ASOS.

I need this for Bestival with some denim cut offs. Need. £24 from Olive.

I think I can finally embrace the floral trousers trend with these. It's taken a while. £48 from Motel.

Fashion: DIY Spike Collar

Embellished collars are everywhere at the moment, from lace to beads, updating plain shirts and blouses across the country.


If you're the financially challenged sort like myself then you may have noticed that the price of having some bling on your collar is somewhat more than the less shiny variety. And I just can't bring myself to pay for something that, quite frankly, may a) fall off in the wash and b) I could make myself. So I decided to make some subtle but effective changes to my new Matalan top, seen here before I took my scissors to it.

eBay is a wonder for buying small craft things if you can't get to a haberdashery, and is sometimes cheaper than a bricks-and-mortar shops. I got 20 of these spikes for £3.09, and also in the pic are my dressmaking scissors which don't completely ruin the material when it's cut into.

The spikes are like mini screws with a flat back, so it was as simple as marking on the collar where I wanted to put the spikes and snipping a tiny hole to push it through.

As the top is very busy, I didn't want to put too many spikes on the collar, so two on each side did it.

What do you think?


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