OOTD | TOPSHOP CROP TOP & RIVER ISLAND SUNGLASSES

top:Topshop, jeans: Next, sunglasses: River Island, trainers: Dunlop

I now realise the struggle of taking outfit photos outdoors.  I thought that our day off would be the perfect time to go out in the neighbourhood and get the boyfriend to take a few photos for me: while everyone was at work so I didn't need to worry about people wondering what on earth I was doing.  But no.  Apparently everyone in the village decided to have a day off today, and they all decided to come out into the street and generally be everywhere that I wanted to be!  So after a bit of huffing and wandering around trying to look casual but probably looking pretty suspicious, we finally got a couple of photos that are hopefully just about blog worthy.  I've no idea how fashion bloggers do the whole photos in the street thing, I found it far more stressful than I should have done! 

Anyway, the outfit is one of my new favourites, I especially love the Topshop crop top, which has a higher neck and some classic stripes.  Paired with some jeans from Next, which I love because their petite range is the best fit that I have found, if you're vertically challenged like I am then definitely check them out.  My new sunglasses from River Island are my new favourite thing ever,  they were only £10 and in my opinion look a lot more expensive that they were.  I love the cat eye shape and the gold detailing on the corners, and they're perfect with red lips.  The trainers are just some bargain Dunlops I picked up for £12 online, they are super comfy and the bright turquoise colour is summery and goes with all kinds of outfits.

What have you been wearing lately?  Have you found any bargains? xx

A/W Wishlist #1

Image Sources: Zara Coat, Topshop Playsuit, River Island Necklace, Miss Selfridge Crop Top, Topshop Jumper, Office Shoes, Urban Outfitters Skirt

Hey!  Here is another wishlist, this time it’s some clothes I’m lusting after rather than make up.  I have to say that recently a lot more of my money has been spent on make up, probably because I just don’t usually feel that inspired by spring/summer collections.  Florals?  Sports Luxe?  Yawn, seen it all before!  Autumn/Winter however is much more me, I love layering up and going back to my favourite jumpers and dark clothes, not to mention coat shopping! 

I love the look of this playsuit from Topshop, I love playsuits and always try to ignore the fact that they make going to the bathroom a mission.  This Zara coat, well…it’s just beautiful!  As soon as you go for a look at their winter coats you just know they will have some gems!  They are a bit out of my price range in general, but I am going to keep this coat in mind just in case I happen to not see another that is equally as lovely.  I loooooove statement necklaces, especially cross ones, and this is right up my street!  The different coloured stones in it are gorgeous, and you could wear it with any top/dress and instantly it will complete it.  The Topshop jumper I have included looks really snug and warm, textured clothes like this get a big big thumbs up from me.  The crop top is from Miss Selfridge and I absolutely love it!  It is just so pretty and I can imagine it going nicely with my disco pants, so this may end up in my possession before long.  The Office shoes are really cute I think, I love bows and straps like that, they look so feminine.  The wedge is a bit high for me, I would just fall straight over in them!  So sadly these will probably remain as a wish list item!  How cute is the tartan  skirt?! It’s a bodycon style one, so it would look great worn dressed up or down, tucked into a t shirt or with a crop top for a night out.  I haven’t worn a skit in ages, so I am very tempted by this right now! 

 

What clothes are you loving right now?  Is there anything on this wish list that you like? xx

What I Bought This Week #6

 

Hey!  My blogging has been really lame lately, with just the odd post here and there.  My latest excuse is that I had a week off work with my boyfriend (we work at the same place, which wasn’t weird when we met but became a bit of a challenge when he became my boss, but he isn’t now so it’s fine)and it was his birthday so we have been out and about.  The highlight of the week was venturing up north to Alton Towers, which is a big deal for me because I very rarely step north of Watford as the saying goes. We got to stay at the hotel which was lovely, and by the time we were heading home, I had begun to perfect my Staffordshire accent nicely. 

 

Anyway, on to what I have actually bought recently.  The bag is a bit of a lie because I bought it a couple of weeks ago during a trip to Oxford Street with my bezza Faye.  It was £28 from Topshop. I have had my beady eye on this for weeks, and am actually still quite surprised that I got it, because neon really isn’t me..usually.  Something seems to be occurring in my head lately, what with the purchase of a mint green casual dress and now this…I’m a little scared but I shall embrace it anyway.  I love the neat satchel style of this bag, and the fact that the long strap can be tucked away so it can be held by the small handle as well. It’s the perfect sixe to fit in my purse and a couple of other bits and bobs, and the colour will most certainly brighten up all of the outfits will I wear it with! 

 

Bracelet, £3 River Island

This is just a little cutie that is lovely and delicate, it indulges my love of religious iconography and is subtle enough to leave on and wear with absolutely everything.

 

Dress, £28 Dorothy Perkins

I am pretty sure I have got the original price of this dress wrong, because I bought it during one of Dorothy Perkins’ many ‘30% Spectaculars’.  Anyhow, I really really love this dress, I have already worn it to a fancy meal out with my boyfriend’s family and worn with red lips, it oozes the 1950s! 

 

What have you been buying this week?  I am currently catching up with all my favourite blogs, I actually love reading a lot of posts in one go because I end up feeling mega inspired and ready to spend all my money! xx

What I Bought This Week #5

 

 

Hey!  I am back after having a bit of a break from blogging, I suddenly got really busy at work and out of work too so my little spare time was spent on The Sims, with my boyfriend and even a cheeky little trip to London.  However in my time away from the blogging world I bought another notepad (I collect them.  Don’t ask) and used it to write down some ideas for new posts etc, so I’m really excited to start writing them all up! 

 

Anyway, these are not strictly my latest purchases since the post has now been sitting in my ‘drafts’ folder for a little while because I forgot about it, but it is only a week old so it won’t take too long for me to catch up with.  I have been really uninspired clothes wise lately, spring/summer collections just don’t seem to be anything special or different to previous years – there’s the floral trend of course which is a fail safe one for pretty much every shop, there’s a few various other prints doing the rounds again like paisley and geometric, and of course there is my personal most hated:  sports luxe.  That has been a ‘trend’ for a fair few spring/summers now, and I really really cannot stand it.  What is it all about?!?!  The clothes that fall under this description don’t seem to me to be anything special at all and always make me think that it’s just putting a name to simple things that most of us will want to pick up at some point, like crop tops and shorts.  If I see a high street store with a look book with this name it immediately puts me off and I go look elsewhere! 

 

Rant over, sorry about that (: now back to my purchases:

 

River Island Pinafore Dress: £22

This is one of the only things in River Island that caught my eye.  I am loving orange at the moment so I picked this up and plan to wear it with a white crop top or something similar.  It’s a little different to a regular summer dress so it will be a welcome change for my summer wardrobe, I just hope the weather is nice enough to wear it..!

 

H&M Skull Crop Top: £5

This was a bargain!  I always find something nice in H&M that is surprisingly cheap, and this is already becoming a firm favourite of mine!  It is quite sheer and light but it seems to be of good quality so I’m sure it will remain in my wardrobe for a long time.

 

Various Make Up:

I picked up a few cheap bits of make up that I had run out of, but I bought budget versions because well, I haven’t been paid yet!  I needed something for my eyebrows so I picked up a brow pencil and also a pen, both from MUA.  Since I have already been using them for a week I will be posting reviews on them pretty soon.  I also bought a new mascara to keep me going, which was Lash millionaire by Miss Sporty. Again, I have been using this for a little while aready so review to come!  

 

New Look Hair Clip: £2.99

I haven’t owned one of these hair grip things in ages!  I saw some really pretty ones in New Look so I picked this one and have been wearing it at work as a change from my standared high ponytail. 

 

What have you been buying recently?  Link me up to any haul type posts I love reading them!  xx

 

 

OOTD | Just like Witches at Black Masses

Just like Witches at Black Masses

Tie Up Blouse: River Island via charity shop

Jacket: Topshop

Trousers: George @ Asda

Bag: Linear @ House of Fraser

 

Hey!  I hope all you all enjoyed the weekend, especially the bank holiday if you are in Britain!  Just a lone photo today, and there is a rather woeful reason why:  I have had an allergic reaction to something..dun dun DUNNNN.  My face has come up in these horrible little bumps under the skin, they aren’t particularly red or anything, it’s just like the entire surface of my skin is bumpy as if there’s lots of tiny little spots waiting to pop up..I can’t think what has caused it really so if anyone reading this has had a similar problem before then please let me know!  The only thing that I can think off right now is a Lush face mask (Love Lettuce to be precise) that I used on Sunday which was half used and had been laying low in my fridge for……..quite a while.  But anyway, there aren’t more photos because the others showed up the mess that is my skin right now and I just could not bear to look at them, nor put you through the horror of having to see them! 

 

Moving swiftly on to the outfit….none of it is anything that I haven’t worn on here before I don’t think, just not this combination.  The trousers are my favourites right now, the photo doesn’t do them justice but the damask style pattern on them makes them look a lot more high end than they are! 

 

This is also the first photo of me since I have started using Moroccan Oil.  To me, there seems to be a lot less flyaways and my hair generally looks healthier, but I cannot be sure just yet if that is real or I’m just desperate to justify spending a lot of money on a hair product! 

 

What are your thoughts on Moroccan Oil?  Have you had a similar allergic reaction type thing to me?! xx

OOTD | I Like it, I’m not gonna Crack

Coat:Topshop

T Shirt:River Island

Leggings:Topshop

 

Hey :).  I’ve had a go again at making my outfit photos into a collage to see if they load up any quicker… It’s so frustrating because I can edit and print photos to do with my photography jobs fine, but when it comes to blog photos and the size limits of Blogger I’m hopeless!  So disappointing because I use my ‘proper’ camera and the photos look fine at first but they’re compressed so much when they get to my blog that they look crap! 

 

I’m looking at this outfit now and I actually feel a bit sad that it is May and I still need to be wearing my parka!  This is the sort of thing I wear just for day to day stuff like walking the dog, but I do think that I need to sort myself out for summer and get some brighter colours in my wardrobe, however hard that may be for me to do! 

 

If anyone can give me some tips on the photo issue then I would be sooooo grateful!  I also feel a little stoooopid but it’s my own fault for never really looking into it properly! xx

OOTD | You Made My Eyes Burn

You made my eyes burn-Blue Jeans, Lana Del Rey

Playsuit:River Island (old)

 

Hey :)  Sorry about the bitchface in these photos, it’s a problem that goes away sometimes but then comes right back again!  These photos are from a couple of days ago when the weather was nicer, I wouldn’t be able to go out in this playsuit now sadly as the temperature has dramatically dropped again :(! 

 

I bought this playsuit last year, when I was completely in love with everything that River Island stocked!  They had plenty of scarf print which I loved, and they had masses of cute playsuits too.  So far this year nothing in there has won me over, which is sad because I am such a big fan, they have really stepped up their game in the last couple of years! 

 

This playsuit is one of the few things I own that has a collar that I like.  I didn’t really get into the whole peter pan collar thing, but this is one of few exceptions!

 

Looking at these photos has made me realise that my side fringe type thing really needs cutting, I hate that annoying stage in between haircuts where my hair is growing out of the style and just looks a right state!

 

OOTD | Like a moth to a flame

Like a moth to a flame-The Funeral of Hearts, HIM

  

Dress:River Island (old)

Jacket:Topshop

Bag:Linea @ House of Fraser

 

Hey :), these photos were done in a bit of a hurry because I just wanted to showcase my beloved new bag!  I didn’t hang around long enough to check my camera was properly in focus so the photos aren’t that great, plus I never get them how I want when I’m doing outfit photos because I don’t have a remote because usually I’m behind the camera myself and adjusting it myself.  This is why I much prefer taking photos of make up products for my blog, because I can take as long as I want focusing them and getting the depth of field just right, but for photos like these it’s on with the timer and running round into position and hoping for the best (sooo professional).  I guess I will have to invest in a remote at some point if I’m to continue with outfit posts!    

 

A small confession now: I changed out of this dress as soon as I saw the photos.  I didn’t realise how short it was, so I quickly went and opted for something more boring and decided to leave this for a night out..maybe!  I bought it last year for a date night with my boyfriend and I definitely do not remember it being that short then!  Growth spurt perhaps?  Or not.. 

 

That’s it from me really, I shall let my bag do the talking :)! 

 

Do you have the same problem as me when doing outfit posts? xx

OOTD | At night, the Wishful Goddess

At Night, the Wishful Goddess –‘Hairspray Queen’, Nirvana

Top:River Island

Cardi:Topshop

Leggings:River Island

 

 

Hey everyone :)  An outfit post to showcase my new favourite thing today, my chunky knit cardigan from Topshop!  I went shopping yesterday with one last solitary gift voucher left from Christmas, and I didn’t really see much that I liked because I always find that January/February is filled with ‘transitional’ type of pieces that are not really spring or winter.  There’s no way I’m buying anything spring related yet, because it’s just too damn cold and as it’s England you just KNOW that this freezing weather is going nowhere for quite some time yet!  (I don’t really mind, I love having to layer up for winter – the thought of starting up the long hard process of self tanning my legs again for the entire summer season breaks me out into a cold sweat). 

 

This cardigan caught my eye straight away, and reminded me of one of my long time favourites, Kurt Cobain.  There’s always been something very grunge about over sized knits, and especially in this khaki colour.  This is the only shade of green I will wear, not that there’s a particular abundance of green clothes on the high street right now…!  It’s so warm and snug, I will be wearing this a LOT. 

 

Today is a good day as I finally stopped procrastinating and finished my photography website and ordered some business cards!  I’ve also written up a few blog posts ready for the next few days, and all with a couple of hours to spare before I go to work!  This never ever happens, I’m so disorganised in general that I’m wondering what’s wrong with me today!

 

Sarah x

OOTD | Bad Medicine is What I Need

Top: Primark

Trousers: River Island

 

Hey everyone :).  Thought I would liven up my usually plain background that I used for photos by relocating to in front of the Christmas tree!  May I add that the tree was decorated by moi, I take great pride in carefully placing every bauble and ribbon..!  

I wore this simple outfit to go Christmas shopping today on my day off.  Some may say that most Christmas shopping should be done by now, which is probably true, but I seem to work best under pressure generally.  HOWEVER, today I came back with only wrapping paper and some sweets from Poundland, when I had gone there intending to buy 3 different people’s presents.  This = panic mode and fury at self.  The only positive is that I’m furious with myself whilst eating Cadbury’s Animal Biscuits. 

Moving on, the top is quite old but is an old favourite because the little velvety collar instantly makes a casual outfit a bit nicer.  The trousers are River Island’s answer to disco pants, and even though they are a little long on me, I love them and they are really comfy and flattering.  xx

OOTD: All Along the Watchtower

Blouse:Charity shop (label-River Island)

Shorts:River Island (Old)

Nails: Max Factor Max Effect in Red Carpet Glam and Models Own Nail Art Pen in White

Heyyyy!  Sooo happy that it's hot and sunny and I can finally start wearing some summery clothes!  As you can see from the photos my fake tan has worked really well (not) and I'm still as pale as ever!  I was doing some shopping yesterday for a dress (which I found and will show in the next outfit post) and found this blouse in a charity shop for £3.50!  It has a dalmation print on it which isn't usually the kind of thing I would go for, but for that price I thought I would try it and it's growing on me quite a lot.  The shorts are olllllld but they were the ones that seemed to match the top the best so I chose them for today. The nails that are in the photos were my third attempt, after smudging the dots repeatedly!  The whole healthy eating/diet thing has so far failed by the way...as I knew it would!  I'll try again on Monday, the idea of starting at the weekend is just laughable! Have a great day xx

Dosed by You: Valentine's post

Happy Valentine's everyone!  I hope you are all having a great day no matter what you are doing.  The boyf & I will be celebrating a late valentine's at the weekend.  This is my first collage type of post so it's not the best or anything, I just thought I would try it out!  The first thing on there are the cute little bath mushrooms from Lush.  I have been using them for a while now, they smell gorgeous, they turn your bath pink and you can use them more than once!  The little candles are from Paperchase, and they are just there because they look adorable and they're sparkly!  All of other things are on my wishlist of things I wan't but can't buy because payday isn't here yet!  The skirt is from Topshop and is a fishtail style that I keep seeing a lot of lately.  I really lover the colour and style, but not sure if it would suit me because I'm 5ft and longer skirts generally swamp me :(.  The tights are from Forever21, and are a great colour for spring when you want to look more summery but it's too cold to go bare-legged!  The lipstick is from MAC, I rarely buy their make up because it's pretty expensive, but this colour is lovely and vibrant and definitely something I am likely to buy sooner or later knowing how easily I give in.  The necklace is from River Island and stood out because it reminded me of the blue one that is in Titanic ( I feel emotional just thinking of that film, sob......but cannot wait for it to be re-released in 3D soon). The top is also River Island, the horse print looks cute and girly, not something I would normally go for but as it's Valentine's day and everything is 100x more adorable to me today, I thought I would add it in to the collage.  The heart-shaped glasses are from gogglesandglasses.com and they reminded me of the Marilyn Manson song of the same name that I love, and they kinda tie in well with the candy trends and the romantic theme!  The shoes are from New Look and are uh-mazing.  I doubt I would be able to walk more than a few steps in them but when they look this good I don't care!  The belt is from ASOS and being super skinny and bright pink it would be wearable with a lot of different outfits and would add some colour.  So now I've kinda gone into pink overkill I shall go, but it's only for one day of the year! xx

OOTD, new things and shiny rings

Shirt:Gift, River Island

Skirt:H&M

Headband:River Island

(excuse me while I experiment with a different font :) ).  The shirt I'm wearing was a birthday present from my boyfriend a while back, luckily the time he spent working in Topman before uni done him good as he always gets me really nice clothes, apart from when he got me a cardi that was 4 sizes too big and he only realised when I tried it on (it was fine though, I told him over-sized cardis were very on trend and he was then pleased with himself).  The skirt was something like £3.99 from H&M and I wear it usually over black leggings as I don't really like wearing leggings on their own unless they're patterned or something.  The headband has automatically become a favourite of mine because of my love for leopard print, and it has some bendy wire inside it so it's easy to tie and keep in place.  Also today two new rings came in the post which I'd ordered from Jimmy and his Girl @ ASOS:

The first is this cute mouse ring, as soon as I saw it I thought it was adorable and also very me, considering I have three baby girl ratties :) (awww not ewww!).  It's adjustable too which is good because hardly any rings fit me.  

This is the other ring, it's adjustable like the other too.  I like this one because of the celtic-ish style and it reminded me of the rings I used to wear when I was younger and leaned towards the gothicky end of style!  


I also ordered some Maxfactor mascaras from boots.com, because I found out from here that they were on a 3 for 2 offer, and also you get 500 advantage card points with each one!  I chose three of the False Lash Effect mascaras, one will be given to my mum who I have converted to it!  I have been using Masterpiece Max, but it just doesn't quite live up to False Lash Effect.  I ordered at the weekend so not sure how long the offer lasts, but with 1500 points in total it = £15.00, so I'm already thinking of what to buy with that!  I'm considering the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, because I've seen a lot of great reviews of it but it is pretty expensive, so £15 off would be good.  I'm also wondering about a new foundation, I've been using Estee Lauder and although I love it's full coverage, I've noticed that I need to keep re-doing it throughout the day around my t-zone, which in the past I've not had to do with other full coverage foundations.  SO if anyone can recommend another full coverage foundation that would be great!  If not, then I reckon I will be going back to what I used before - Mabelline Dream Satin Liquid.  Hope everyone is having a good Monday! (If that's possible :\ ) xx

OOTD: Silver Machine

Coat:Topshop sale
Earrings:River Island
Headband:Primark

The freezing cold weather has only one plus side in my opinion, and that is it's the perfect time for (faux) fur coats!  This one is my new favourite, I got it in the Topshop sale just before Christmas, after resisting it for ages when it was full price!  It is one size too big for me because my size was sold out, but I don't think it is that noticeably big.  The headband is from Primark and was something like £2, and as it is not an actual hat, you can wear it without getting total hat-hair!  I've been looking at scarf print jeans today, I love them but not sure I would wear them...but being so weak I'm pretty sure I will cave in and get some sooner or later!  xx