OOTD 02.11.2012

I've been in a bit of a jeans rut for a while. I'm a jeans girl, I can't help it. But I'm trying to break this habit. I love dresses, and although it took me until I was well out of my teens to realise that I could wear dresses, that there was a dress to suit everybody, I am now a bona fide dress-wearer. Lately I'm enjoying the skater dress. There are lots of variations of this dress on the high street, and places like Boohoo at the minute, but the fitted top and floaty bottom make for a timeless dress that I'm sure I will be getting a lot of wear out of.

I found this version in Primark for just £13, I also bought a black and white stripy equivalent. I seek out this shade of navy blue and the berry red and forest/racing car green equivalent for this time of year. It beats always wearing neutrals when I feel like an injection of colour, and brights just don't do it for me in Autumn/Winter. The material is thicker than you would find on a summer dress, and I'm actually finding this quite a warm outfit when paired with thick, opaque tights and boots. I wasn't a massive fan of the belt that came with it so I whipped it off and put this leather plaited belt through the loops instead for a very simple, yet suitably autumnal ensemble.

Have you found yourself any Autumn dresses?

Happy Friday everybody.
x

OOTD 11.07

I don't do these posts as often as I would like. I enjoy seeing other people's OOTD so I'm going to try and make sure to include more of my own. This is what I wore today, a pretty simple ensemble today.Top: Primark - £8
Jeans: Kristen by Topshop - £40
Shoes: New Look - £24.99
Earrings: Autumn and May - £15
Bangle: Peacocks - £4

I love these blouses from Primark, they have a few different styles and colours in at the moment and I particularly love these brightly coloured ones with gold buttons. It's a viscose mix so the bottom part of it is kind of crinkly. It's very light weight and so perfect for summer time. I am tempted to go back and buy this in the bright blue and purple.

Shoes from New Look, these are very almost a wedge but have a small triangle cut out which makes them a high heel but with still with the support of a wedge. They are available in this taupe colour and black.

Eye makeup using Sleek Oh So Special.

Summer's Coming - New Clothes and Green Monsters!

The glorious weather we are having right now in the UK really makes it feel like Summer is well and truly on the way. It's hard to believe it's only April and we have temperatures in the mid 20s, love it! New weather usually means new clothing as my wardrobe needs a little bit of updating which includes selling some of the old on ebay. I really hate throwing clothes out, I'd rather wear something until it's falling to pieces or sell it on ebay or give to charity before it gets to that state. Top is from La Redoute, courtesy of my lovely Mum who bought one for herself and thought that I would like it too. It's available in pink, blue and grey and priced around the £10 mark.
Jeans are from Topshop and are the Kristen fit, they're highwaisted and have three buttons on the waist. I liked the black with the gold buttons best as I needed new black jeans and thought these looked a little different. They look good with tops tucked in but they are a skinny fit jean as well so you can wear them without tucking things in if you want them to look like your standard skinny black jean. They're priced at £40.Next are the top I found in New Look for (I think) the £20 mark. It's a very sheer material so you need very nude underwear, otherwise you can wear a vest top underneath. It's available in various different prints, I had a choice of three but this was my favourite. I've paired it with new jeans from Primark which I am amazed by! They are skinny fit and are soft, stretchy and very comfortable. I might say they are one of my favourite pairs of jeans as they fit so well and for £8 are an absolute bargain. I will be wearing these to death, and although I'm not expecting them to last as long as Topshop ones I've also been pleasantly surprised by how well these wash. Many things I've previously bought from Primark have fallen apart after a few washes which to me is a complete waste of money. I wear these so much though and have already washed them a number of times and they're showing no signs of wear yet so I may get more life out of them than I expected. I love the bow detail at the bottom of the New Look top, it's a pretty detail, as is the exposed zip on the top of the back of the top which is black.Another Primark find is this very loose cable knit jumper. I got this around early March time and it's great for Spring because it doesn't offer an awful lot of heat as you can imagine by the big holes in it. I haven't needed to wear a jumper at all these last few days, but no doubt the weather will turn soon and I'll dig this out for the evenings. It's nice and figure hugging, is available in stone, and navy and priced at £12.I found this blouse type top in Peacocks priced at £20 (roughy) which I hate to admit but I thought was a bit too much for Peacocks! it has quite an oriental feel to it and I like to wear it in the evenings, it goes nicely over a nice top and jeans, or a dress. I also wear it to smarten up a day time look. It is button-less but it reminds me of a blouse or makes a good substitute for a blazer. This lovely weather also inspires me to stay motivated in keeping healthy. I'm definitely a lot more active and optimistic lately, it's amazing what a positive effect the sunshine has on me. I first heard about The Green Monster Movement from Lily Loves Lola's blog so went over to Angela's site to find out how to make one. At first I was not convinced, spinach in a drink sounds really quite disgusting to me even if it is mixed with fruit and milk. I love spinach, I eat it raw in a salad, or cooked with a meal, on pizzas, you name it, it's a great food and helps that I know it's good for me, but drinking it is another thing. Anyway, I kept an open mind and made one of the most basic recipes for a Green Monster - Spinach, blueberries, soya milk and bananas. The verdict....

It tastes freakin good! The fruit completely overpowers the spinach, luckily you can't taste it too much, it doesn't overpower the other ingredients which is great because I don't think I would enjoy it if it were overly spinachy. I've since made one with oat milk aswell, just to try oatmilk really, and it tasted pretty much the same. I did feel very energised after drinking this for two days but I need to keep it up regularly to notice any difference to my skin and condition of my hair and nails. If you've not joined the Green Monster Movement yet, give it a go, it's tasty and very healthy!

Winter Warmers

I am someone who loves snow. But more when I don't need to be anywhere or do anything, i.e. over Christmas is a great time to snow for me. When everything seems to grind to a halt and I have to come home it's a little annoying. Today we were finally hit by the snow that has been threatening us, never appearing and seeming to fall everywere else, and it got us pretty good. I made the effort to get into my work only to do half a day because everything was cancelled. I would also enjoy snow a little more as someone I overheard today said "I wish snow was warm." I do too! I will just enjoy it by looking from my window in the warmth and comfort of my flat. Here's a little snippet of south east London just after sunset.My journey to work can take me anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour since I rely on public transport so when it's chilly I need to find ways to keep myself warm. At the weekend I had a little ponder around TK Maxx for a flask, I went there specifically because I wanted a proper design brand that would keep my drink hot, not just one that looks pretty. Thermos is a godsend as far as I'm concerned. I'm also loving cable knit clothing like this assymetric jumper and tri-flower headband I purchased in New Look. Thermal leggings are from Primark, I usually wear these under something when I'm not indoors. The socks are tube socks for skiing purchased from a sports shop. All in all, I'm pretty toasty. "Warm" smells are a huge hit for me this time of year too. Since around Halloween, I can't get enough of anything cinnamon or gingery smelling. I found this candle in TK Maxx by Our Own Candle Company. TK Maxx is a great place for jar candles like this. They don't sell any Yankee candles, but there's a few brands pretty similar, I particularly like this one because they're made from soya, and I love the tankard design. This one has three scents so I shouldn't get bored of it and it really fragrances my room nicely. This one is priced at £6.99 which isn't bad value for a candle of this quality, and there's lots of other lush scents to choose from.

What are your favourite winter warmers?