What I Wore to London Fashion Week

There's something about Fashion Week that is utterly fascinating. Seeing the street style, the trends on the catwalks and the glamorous front row occupants, I'm hooked on reading the round-ups and  pinning my favourite looks to get inspiration for the months to come. I've attended a Fashion Scout show and London Fashion Weekend before, but this season is the first time I've attended full-blown designer shows, and I was SO excited. But oh! What to wear!

Androgyny with Boobs

I'm wearing:
White shirt - Urban Outfitters
Silver necklace - Urban Outfitters
Jeans - J Brand
Silver brogues - Topshop (available in black here)

I love seeing a woman in beautiful tailoring. It can look just as elegant as a red carpet gown but has the low-key element I feel more comfortable with. From a Delevingne style plunging blazer to Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, I find it a really fascinating way of dressing, but it's just not made for women with boobs.

[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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Another Blog Post on Tropical Prints

I'm wearing:
T-Shirt - Primark
Shorts - ASOS £30
Plimsolls - Urban Outfitters

I've read a million blog posts on this trend, but I can't resist joining in. These shorts are too epic to pass up writing about and I'm completely head over heels obsessed with them. I am well known for being extremely grumpy when it comes to summer dressing. I get too hot too quickly, and being tall I really struggle to find a skirt, dress or shorts that aren't far too revealing. However, recently I have managed to nab a few high waisted shorts that aren't super skimpy and suit my shape and age (I'm 25, I'm not wearing hot pants, thanks). These tropical print shorts aren't the average green palm tree that dominates most items ; I love how they are relatively neutral while still showcasing a pattern. They were lingering in my ASOS wish list for about a month, and on a payday fuelled whim, I added them to my basket. They are wide in shape which makes them extremely comfortable, and hides the cleverly concealed pockets (often a bug bear of summer clothing for me). I can be wary of things this shape (hello most midi skirts) because I'm rather blessed in the hip department, but I don't think these accentuate any unflattering bits at all, in fact, rather the opposite due to where they sit on my waist. I've got a pair of sports style shorts with fluroescent palm trees on that I bought for my holiday last year (they sound horrid but I promise they're not!) so I'll be digging those out if the good weather hangs around too!

Embracing Double Denim

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Tatty Devine

Jeans: Topshop (similar here)

Shoes: Some random shop on Melbourne's Flinders Lane

Did you know that double denim is also known as 'the Canadian tuxedo'? Or so a friend from that part of the world told me anyway. It's lacking a bow tie, but aside from that it's still pretty special. I've always thought it takes a certain amount of lady balls to pull off such a matching combo, and especially if you manage not to look like you're going to a hoedown. I'm not sure quite what came over me when I put this outfit on but as my day consisted of a blissful amount of alone time at the hairdressers and the Tatty Devine sample sale (where my sunglasses came from!), I figured that at least if I looked stupid, no one I knew would see me. 

But actually I don't think I looked all that stupid. Obviously polka dots helped the matter too. I don't tend to wear shirts that often because I have just a little too much boob to pass of the androgynous look with style, but with jeans it's less about undisclosed gender styling and more about the fact you're wearing a lot of the same material. It's pretty much colour blocking really, isn't it?

And yes, I've fallen prey to the clumpy sandal trend, although in my defence, I did buy these in February in Melbourne just because I thought they were pretty. Let me tell you that trying to squeeze a huge pair of shoes into a tiny hand luggage bag back to Sydney is not an easy feat, but was of course completely worth it. This was the first time I'd worn them and they are so unbelievably comfortable that even three hours in the Tatty Devine queue wasn't a strain. Plus they look awesome.

What do you think of double denim?

Camo Jacket, Swedish Hasbeens Boots

Brrrrr! It's bloody freezing outside. I have the perfect wardrobe for Spring and Autumn, but I really struggle with the extremes of Summer and Winter. I basically live in jeans, black boots and my favourite thick coat, so I made the conscious decision to change a few of these cold weather staples when I headed out at the weekend.

I've been living in my Warehouse thick tweed coat, but I just wanted to wear something else to keep me warm, so I layered up and brought out my Autumn favourite: my camouflage jacket from Urban Outfitters. It is one of the best bargains I've ever got from eBay, a snip at 99p! Denim and camo always go great together (although I love leather and camo even more), and this shirt is one of my favourites. It's from ASOS quite a few years ago and it doesn't fit as well as it used to as I've *ahem* grown, so I always have to wear a vest top underneath just in case a button decides to pop open! As for the earrings, they were happily permanently borrowed from my Mum's 'I will never wear them but I love them' pile of jewellery. They get a lot more facetime now they're in my collection!

Swedish Hasbeens are well known for their summer footwear, lusted after by anyone with a fashion conscious pulse. I had no idea until I saw these bad boys in a sample sale last year, that they even did boots. The iconic clog style heel is still there, but instead of sandals we have beautiful cream leather with red laces. Just about calf height (when not tucked under jeans), they are firm, warm and so so pretty. I've hardly worn them since owning them and I genuinely have no idea why, especially as I look at them everyday and think about how much I love them!

How are you wearing camo?
What are your favourite vintage jewellery finds?
Did you know Swedish Hasbeens do boots?!
I'd love to read your comments.

Cx

Wearing Patterns

Sunglasses: Miu Miu
Jacket: Zara
Dress: Urban Outfitters
Boots: Miu Miu (sample sale)

I love black. It goes with everything and hides a multitude of sins, but it's coming up to Spring and I'm trying to embrace patterns to make things less, well, dark.

When I tried this dress on in Urban Outfitters I fell head over heels in fashion lust. The pattern isn't too garish, so it's perfect for me to gently break in to more adventurous Spring/Summer wear (while wearing it with black, obviously). 

Most importantly, it's a dress that actually covers my bum! Being 5ft 10, it's near on impossible to find a dress that isn't a maxi which will actually reach far enough down my body to retain my modesty, but this one does. It's definitely a keeper.

Since buying this dress I've given in and got some amazing patterned trousers and a skirt, so it looks like I may have broken the seal! I just hope I don't wimp out of wearing them. Watch this space!

Comic Book Fashion

Fashion seems to be embracing the culture of 'geek' recently. People went crazy for those Topshop Geek tees that have since been ripped off by every high street store known to man, and now it's the turn of the comic book to influence patterns on every clothing item going. I don't think these are being jumped upon so fervently as their predecessors as they hint that the wearer might in fact quite like perusing the shelves of Forbidden Planet or know the words to every Batman film ever released (guilty!).

Coat: Warehouse
Crop top: Primark £4
Necklace: Primark £4
Skirt: Urban Outfitters £35 
Trainers: Converse
Scarf: Topshop

I wore this outfit on a day trip to Edinburgh during my recent Bank Holiday break in Scotland, and as much as I wanted to wear my vintage heeled boots, I knew a day of trekking around on cobbles would not a happy pair of feet make. So I went for opaque tights and my ever faithful and extremely battered Converse. It dressed down what I could potentially wear to a cocktail bar on a casual night out. I do love a multi-tasking outfit!

I found this crop top in Primark a few weeks ago, and although I do NOT have the washboard stomach required for this tiny piece of clothing I went and bought it. "I'm a slave to takeaway fashion!" I thought, as let's be honest, would I have bought it if it wasn't £4?

But you know what goes great with crop tops? High waisted stuff. I practically live in my high waisted jeans, and this pencil skirt from Urban Outfitters has quickly become my go-to piece to wear when I'm bored of jeans (which is becoming more frequent as Spring attempts to come through). Lo and behold, an outfit was born!

Hey There Fancy Legs!

In case you haven't noticed, it's a bit cold outside these days. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how impossible I find it to dress nicely in this weather - I tend to just stick to a big coat, boots and jeans. But I can't do that if I'm going out out.

My friend celebrated her birthday last week at All Star Lanes, a retro bowling lane with a suitably Americana style diner in which I stuffed my face with things like this banana split!

T-Shirt: JW Anderson for Matches

I didn't want to wear jeans, but I couldn't face going bare-legged with a skirt, so I braved patterned tights instead. They're something I've owned for a while but I've kind of felt stupid wearing them.

I got these Bora Aksu tights at Clothes Show Live, 3 mix-and-match pairs for £15. As you can see they're part fishnet and I've never worn them before because I thought they might look a bit slutty. But with a pencil skirt they gave more of a rock type feel than, well, the other option. And is it wrong that I secretly love these bowling shoes?!

Skirt: Urban Outfitters £35
Belt: Dug up from my teenage years!

I think this is how I feel most comfortable with patterned tights - just having them peek out the bottom of a skirt or dress. I also really like that these are black with a pattern rather than coloured, as that's when I feel a bit silly.

How do you wear patterned tights?

Music: Amanda Palmer at Koko

Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking. Do I ever go and see any other musician EXCEPT Amanda Palmer? The answer is probably, 'No'. This is the 3rd glitter fuelled, hilariously ridiculous outing to see Ms Palmer and her Grand Theft Orchestra and every time I'm floored by her vision, her passion, and how somehow she can always move me to tears.

Also, everyone who goes always looks amazing. There's everything from steam punk fetishists to drag queens, so I brought out my favourite metallic skirt to keep up with the shimmyness!

Top: Missguided
Skirt: Vintage

Satchel: Urban Outfitters

Ring: Topshop
Nail varnish: Hayley's Comet by Models Own

As ever, AFP was amazing. Her guests included her husband, author Neil Gaiman, with a cabaret 'sawchestra', the incredible Scroobius Pip, and the ever fabulous Richard O'Brien - dressed as a woman and sang the Time Warp!

Yep, that's Amanda Palmer's skirt trailing over the audience. Beautiful.

Purse Palpitations Week #6

This is ten times more amazing when you realise it's called 'I'll Have A Bee Please, Bob!'
£16.50 Eclectic Eccentricity

My favourite print on an amazing full skirt
£35 ASOS

I love these earrings. I don't really like dangly earrings but these are big and won't move!
£8 Dolly Bow Bow

Still on the search for the perfect black handbag after my Topshop one broke and I still can't afford my dream Mulberry
£48 Urban Outfitters

What's tempting you in the shops this week?

What I Wore to... SW4

Dress - H&M
Necklace - Urban Outfitters
Leather jacket - Zara
Hoodie - H&M
Wellies - Roxy
Ring - Vintage

I went to the Saturday of SW4 Festival in Clapham at the weekend. What this outfit doesn't show is the sensible inclusion of a mac-in-a-bag that I clipped to my handbag, which was a stroke of genius as it completely tipped it down while we were there. In the end I resigned myself to being wet as the hood of my mac didn't seem to do much, but at least I wasn't wearing jeans which would've just stuck to me!

Shopping: Urban Outfitters Jewellery (again!)

Why is it that I never seem to have a well balanced ratio of gold and silver jewellery? It always seems to be masses of one or the other. At the moment it's pretty much all gold, but I just find it so much easier to find decent gold jewellery than silver, I think silver can sometimes end up looking tacky if it's costume (which is mostly what I wear).


Good old Urban Outfitters came to the rescue once again on a lunchtime ramble last week. This one was only £8 in the sale and looks simple because of its length but is busy without being fussy further down.

And this second one I've seen a few times on various blogs but wasn't sure where it was from so when I saw it I actually got quite excited and couldn't resist passing it up. 

I love the trend at the moment of having shirts done up right up with a necklace round the collar, and I'm going to do exactly that with this and a denim shirt. Cowboy geek chic for £14 - woo!

Shopping: Urban Outfitters Wedges

Oh look, another new and exciting weekly installment! Every Thursday I'll be posting up my latest bargain, whether it's an item of clothing, something on my food list for the week, or an event I've been to. Let's get back to the root of this blog and remember it's all about me being poor, and bargains are what I live for!


This week's bargain are these Kimchi & Blue burgundy wedges from Urban Outfitters:

I've been wanting to bridge the big gap in my shoe collection between massive stilettos and pumps/boots. I love seeing girls wearing heels in the daytime, just with jeans or something casual, but I can never find a pair that I don't feel overly dressed up in.


Enter these beauties! Reduced from £48 to £30, they're also available in brown and black, but I adore this berry colour for this season - it's everywhere and I can't get enough of it! Hopefully these will be my easy transition from daywear to nightwear, from work to a restaurant, and they look pretty comfortable to shop in too. Definitely check out the Urban Outfitters January sale, in store and online riiiiiiiiiight..........NOW!

Shopping: Buying an Outfit for Christmas Day

I now work perilously close to some very good shops. In my opinion, East London has the best shopping in the city with a mixture of markets, vintage stores, boutiques and high street in a pretty close knit area. There's the legendary Spitalfields and Petticoat Lane markets and Brick Lane all within 3 minutes of my office, so it take a lot of strength to hold back from innocently wandering around at lunch time.


A perfect example is Tuesday, when I went out to stock up on Christmas cards. Needless to say I didn't buy any as I was lured into Urban Outfitters - my favourite of favourite high street stores. I bought a couple of things under the premise of wearing them for Christmas day so TECHNICALLY it was OK! I always find picking an outfit for the big day a bit stressful as ultimately I won't be leaving the house, however I will probably be photographed throughout the day, so I need something that is:


1) Easy to sit down in. This rules out skinny jeans as the blood flow cuts off my legs after 30 seconds of sitting on the floor.
2) Elasticated or easily adjusted. For when I stuff my face with turkey and Twiglets (not necessarily at the same time).
3) Not over the top. Because it's not a wedding, I'll be with my family who have seen me at my worst, but it is after all a special day.


So behold! My Christmas outfit purchases!

£20 in the sale

It's red therefore it's festive. I'm going to pair it with high denier black tights too. Not even thinking about shoes as I intend to wear Christmas socks or slippers to keep my tootsies toasty.

Silver collar necklace £18

I think I'll probably wear a plain black top, or a vintage jumper with silver threading when it gets colder. Either way this collar necklace gives it a bit of oomph.

WIP nail polish £6

And finally I got lured into buying this at the till point. I don't own many statement silver rings so instead I'm bringing the bling to my nails and decking them out in this glittery beast. Perfick!


(All photos from the Urban Outfitters website)