Simple and Summery

22 July 2014

Eldwick, Bingley, West Yorkshire BD16, UK
Summer seem to be finally in full swing after the awful thunderstorm the other night and a few cloudy spells. Although I'm a winter person, one of my favourite looks for summer is simplicity. Not overloading an outfit with too many accessories or too much layering of fabrics. I also prefer to wear lighter colours if I can, and white is one of my favourite colours to wear in the sun because it doesn't absorb sunlight, but reflects the natural light making the colour appear even brighter. My dress is lace at the top, and plain white at the bottom so it's a little different to your average white dress. It's a fit and flare style, which is one of my favourites and is  also long enough to wear with high heels. Because I'm 5'11", a lot of dresses look a lot shorter on me than they should, and look even shorter with high heels so a dress to the knee like this is perfect. I went with a really simple cardigan to add a touch of colour to my outfit, along with my tiny bag and favourite heels. These platform heels are currently my favourite pair because they're simple without being boring. The straps aren't complex, and there isn't a wide range of colour used, but the shape and style is unique. They're also incredibly comfy which is ideal for a summer's day. 
Dress - made for me
Cardigan - Dorothy Perkins
Shoes - Next
Bag - Topshop

Cosy Summer

21 July 2014

Eldwick, Bingley, West Yorkshire BD16, UK
Living in the UK, especially the North, it's very hard to determine how long the summer is going to last, and we often deceive ourselves, thinking it's warm outside because it's July, but it's actually not that hot at all. A lot of the time, I have to dress for the weather, which does sometimes limit my options, but there are ways around it. Today I'm being very daring, wearing no tights which may not seem like much of a daring thing to some people, but I'm always in tights when I wear dresses or skirts, probably because my legs are always cold. My coat is one of my very favourites which was an impulse buy that has actually been successful in the long run. The one thing I absolutely adore about this coat is the faux fur-like fabric it's lined with, and that also lines the huge collar. This coat is super warm  and the fabric is so soft and comfortable to wear. I often like to wear coats that are really long or oversized because I can wrap myself up in them, but this coat is perfect for keeping me cosy. My top underneath is a short sleeved cropped top so if I do get too warm, I can always just take off my jacket. This jacket is also essential for days like today where the weather could go anyway, and I don't want to layer my outfit in case it does turn out to be really warm.
Also keeping my cosy and comfortable are my skater shoes, that I have recently grown to love over the past month. They're really well structured as they're originally made for skateboarders, but inside they are heavily cushioned which is ideal for me because my feet are always freezing cold. These shoes are great for walking in too, because I'm flat footed so they stop my feet from hurting unlike a lot of other shoes.
Top - made for me
Skirt - made for me
Jacket - Matalan
Shoes - Brantano
Bag - TK Maxx

Fashion Phases

19 July 2014

Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
One thing I have noticed with my style is that I always go through different stages of styles. Whether it's over-wearing an outfit, or one item I just can't get enough of. Most of the time, it's a case of buying an item, and then only really loving it a few months after I've bought it - bit of a strange habit. My mum is always getting frustrated because I want to throw clothes away, and then a few weeks later I'll be looking for it trying to figure out why I would ever throw it away. When I first bought my jumper, or "sweater", I used to always try to pair it will all the clothes in my wardrobe, no matter what. It's the kind of jumper that doesn't go with a lot of skirts, so I was limited in that sense, but I own too many jeans so the pairings seemed endless. I still adore this jumper because it's so cosy to wear after at least two years of owning it. I was first attracted to this jumper when I saw it was a little different to you're average woolly knit. I not only love that it has extra long sleeve, but also the knit effect just below my should which makes it a little more unique.
My jeans are also another item I went through a fashion phase with. Distressed denim was a huge spring trend so these were perfect at the beginning of the year, but I bought these jeans a while ago and still never wore them. When I did buy them, I had a little accident of accidentally setting of the alarm tag on it, which contains ink. So, as you can imagine, when I went to buy the jeans and check out the rest of my clothes, I had ink all over my hands and had to explain to the majority of the senior staff at Miss Selfridges that I stood on the tag in the changing room and I wasn't trying to steal anything. I haven't actually been back in that store since, but now I'm extra careful around those ink-filled security tags.
Because these jeans have loads of different shades of blue in them, due to the acid wash effect, they're really easy to style, especially in summer as I'm trying to brighten up my wardrobe this season. Did you go through any fashion phases? 
Jumper - Topshop
Jeans - Miss Selfridge
Shoes - Schuh
Bag - Next

Sudden Sunshine

17 July 2014

Eldwick, Bingley, West Yorkshire BD16, UK
Summer has actually started! A sudden heat wave has hit the UK and I'm absolutely loving it. I know what some people may be wondering: isn't she warm? I'm actually the type of person that is always cold, not matter what, so I'm not really overheating today. But I am wearing tights and a coat which can easily be removed to create a summery look. The temperature is slowly rising in the North, and this dress is absolutely perfect for today because it's very thin cotton so it stays cool the entire day. I love the colours of this dress, which was the only one left in the store, because it features a wide range of colours that blend into each other with a 'watercolour' effect. That mash-up of colours in this dress give it that summer feel, and it has no sleeves which makes it ideal for the warmer weather. The elasticated waist in the dress highlights a feminine silhouette and creates a skater style which is one of my favourites.
My sunglasses are my newest summer favourite because they can be paired with anything. I have quite a round face, so I usually go for the oversized black sunglasses, but I decided to make a change and wear these mirror aviators that I absolutely adore. Not only is it extremely entertaining watching people check out their reflection in my glasses or try to figure out if they can see my eyes, these glasses are also super light on the inside so they don't effect my vision in anyway. They also don't have a weird colour tint on the inside so the sky still remains blue!
Dress - TK Maxx
Coat - Dorothy Perkins
Bag - market
Boots - Dorothy Perkins
Sunglasses - Primark

Classroom Crazes

16 July 2014

Eldwick, Bingley, West Yorkshire BD16, UK
At the beginning of this year the athletic trend stole the show with old-school attitude. There were brighter colours, plimsolls and even go-faster stripes all over the catwalk. Before all this became a huge 2014, sportswear was the hit trend in 2009 at school. I would have been in year 9, and if you didn't have one item on clothing from Adidas or the latest sports label - you weren't "in the crowd" as it were. Usually, the brighter the better. I am lucky enough the have finished secondary school and escape the trauma of trying to keep up with in-school trends but I found this jacket in the back of wardrobe and had to write a post on it. Some items of clothing just hold very specific memories and this jacket happens to be one of them. Just about everyone had one of these jackets, it begin with the older kids, and then it spread to the lower school. I remember looking online and actually finding them sold out, and I'm still convinced it's due to most of the kids in Bradford buying them. This was around the time Adidas Originals was re-branded and enforced among the younger generation - every item of theirs had stripes on it, and everyone wanted something. There were a range of shoes too, but my pocket money at the time didn't stretch that far. After Adidas realised how popular these jackets became, as the trend spread rapidly, they eventually released an all new line of Adidas Originals jackets, in different colours and unique patterns. 
The trend literally took over, and it never looked that great either. This was also around the time everyone had a Gola bag and it became a competition to own the quirkiest style. Did your school every have any huge must-have trends?
Top - made for me
Jeans - Topshop
Jacket - Adidas
Shoes - Lacoste 
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