Two outfits, one dress and musings on blogging

Happy Monday lovelies!

This morning I've been playing around with a dress I bought at the beginning of this year in my favourite cut - the smock. I love smock dresses, especially on days I'm feeling less body confident as they're cut in a way that doesn't cling to any problem areas at all. The one I've worn today is originally from Topshop but I bought it around February time so I doubt it's still in stock, they do some fab summery smock dresses though, they're perfect to throw on if you want to look stylish but don't have time to plan a more put together outfit. I love them for throwing on over a bikini on holiday for nipping to the shop too!

I was sitting this morning thinking about how I wished I had a tartan skirt to wear with my lacy crop top and my eyes fixed on the smock dress - impossible, I thought. Apparently not. By getting a little bit creative with a belt and some folding I managed to turn the dress into a skirt, albeit one with a bit of a paperbag waist! I quite liked the look, but I'm not sure it would be completely practical for running around as there is a lot of material spare.

Top, Dress (worn as skirt) and shoes: all Topshop, Hat: Urban Outfitters, Stretch Bangles: Local Market, Feather Earrings: Dorothy Perkins, Watch and silver bangles: DKNY

What do you think? It's definitely made me want to invest in a high waisted tartan skirt, but I'm not sure about the shorter length of the skirt, I think I'd go with a midi skirt as I'm currently having a bit of a love affair with them.

Whilst taking these pictures it occurred to me that I should show the dress as it is without being tucked and pinned, and to be honest I think I prefer it that way. I'm still not totally confident with the whole midriff on show look. 

What do you beauties think? Like I say, I think I prefer the second look, however I feel like I have much more confidence since starting this blog to play around with my style and my clothes to create different takes on things I might have seen. 

Blogging for me might still be a relatively new thing, but I really am loving it. I'm finding myself much more aware of my identity and I think much more about what works together rather than just throwing on whatever I can collect from my floordrobe! I'm sure it takes time to build an audience, but I'm really pleased with how much interaction I've been having with you all, and I love that the comments are mainly positive and that you enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoy writing it! 

Em x

I'd rather be...

at Glastonbury. That's pretty much all I've said all weekend. When in actual fact I've spent the majority of my weekend at work and in my work uniform, hence the lack of posts. However this morning I had a few bits to do before work so I used my longing to be at a festival as the inspiration for today's outfit.

Headscarf: River Island, Tee: New Look, Shorts: Levi's, Belt: River Island, Kimono: Topshop, Boots: Ravel

I decided to throw on my Levi's - which are actually upcycled jeans that used to belong to my brother and are actually a bit too big! - with a simple white fringed tee and my kimono. Simple festival style. I don't own any wellies and I wouldn't really have fancied wandering around the supermarket in them anyway but I decided that my old, slightly battered Ravel boots worked just as well!

I've yet to find anything that Levi's dont pair with. They're perfect for understated style and can be dressed up or down depending on what you're doing.

My life motto on a belt buckle.

Like I said, my Ravel boots are slightly battered because I wear them so much. In the winter I hardly ever have them off, but they scream festival to me, I really like boots. Especially with shorts, don't ask me why!

These have definitely seen better days!

I've seen a lot of Glastonbury outfits on Instagram, and to be fair, we've listened to a lot of it on the radio at work but it doesn't come close to being there I imagine. Have any of you lovelies been there this weekend? What would you wear for that festival look?

I hope you've all had fab weekend's whatever you've been doing, normal service will be resumed this week, my shifts aren't quite as crazy and I'm expecting some deliveries of fab new stuff that I can't wait to share with you all!

Em x

Tartan and Teddy Bears.

How awful is the weather today? It feels like it could be mid-April rather than late June. I got up really early to get some errands done before work and was not impressed by the drizzle at all. I had planned a really cutesy summery outfit for today, but that had to be rethought because I can't bring myself to go back to black tights.

So instead I went for a really dressed down, casual look that I still feel has a little bit of quirk about it. I'm a huge fan of tartan, always have been (I think it's my familial Scottish roots creeping in) and so when I saw these trousers on eBay I had to have them. I saw a girl at work wearing a very similar outfit to this and that gave me the idea of wearing my Air Force 1's with these for a really casual look. And I read an article the other day - possibly on Company mag's website - that trainers are the new cool, which is an added bonus because I was going more for comfort.

Top: American Apparel, Trousers: Topshop, Trainers: Nike Air Force 1

The lighting was also terrible, I think because it's so overcast outside, so I took a couple of pictures inside before deciding it wasn't going to work and braving the rain!

As you can see the picture quality is less than desirable! So I donned my beautiful Teddy Topshop coat and went outside to try and get some better snaps of today's look...

Granted this isn't particularly a 'special' look, it is very casual, but it works for me today. And to me that's the point of fashion and personal style, wear what works for you. Nobody likes to see someone trying to wade through mud in stilettos, or doing the grocery shop in a party dress - well, we might find it amusing but practicality is important too, at least for me.

I hope you lovelies all have brilliant weekends, I'm very jealous of any of you that are off to Glastonbury... I'll mainly be watching it on the TV wishing I was there. I'm working strange shifts this weekend so may not get to post as much as I'd like but normal service will be resumed ASAP. Let me know what you think to this outfit and what you have planned for your weekend. I love reading all of your comments.

Em xox

A nod to the 1960's

Last night I watched the new Dawn O'Porter series 'This Old Thing: The Vintage Clothes show' on channel 4. It's not very often that I watch TV anymore but once I'd read the write up I had to give it a view as I love vintage and thrifting. Half of my wardrobe came from eBay, and I'm not ashamed of that. It means I can play around with my style on a budget. Any of you vintage lovers who didn't catch the show last night, I'd strongly advise catching up online, the upcycling ideas were fabulous.

Today's post was partly inspired by the 1960's vibe given off by many of the vintage trends, and was also influenced by a new musician I've discovered whilst doing some research on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Adam Holmes. I've been listening to his 'Heirs and Graces' album non stop since last night, it sounds like the kind of music you'd hear in a cool coffee shop or a late-night bar. It's not often I plug music, but if you're into folk at all I would strongly recommend giving him a listen!

So today I built my outfit around my new-to-me top I received in the post yesterday from my recent eBay spree. It was originally from Boohoo, but I'm not sure when, but it has a real 60's feel to it. The pleather peter pan style collar and the A-Line shape are all reminiscent of what was arguably one of the most influential decades in fashion, so I decided to go with it.

Top: eBay (originally Boohoo), Trousers: Next, Boots: Topshop Premium

I had a lot of fun trying to persuade my hair to style this way, it was definitely not easy, I miss having longer hair a lot. But I wanted to try and make it as beehived as possible to compliment the overall look of the day. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I chose my Zara city bag for today's outfit because the simple, yet chic style really does work with everything, I'm a firm believer in carrying all of my belongings around with me all of the time(!) and this bag definitely lends itself to that. The only problem I have is finding anything in the bag when I need it! And of course I've gone with the freebie Cosmo sunglasses. I've seen so many lovely pairs on other style blogs recently, but I'm a massive fan of these.

The trousers were a purchase last summer and I only wore them once as they are very, very bright. Originally I was worried they looked a little like wallpaper because they are patterned but I've grown to love them. They're a real statement piece, and I think they work well with the monochrome details of the rest of the outfit.

So that's me for today. I'm considering doing a payday wishlist post in the next few days, what do you lovelies think? Hope you all have a good afternoon/evening. I'll be kept entertained by very unexciting housework jobs for the rest of the afternoon, feel free to leave me some comments to break up the fun!

Em x

Whimsical

Today I have bitten the proverbial style bullet and decided that my beautiful Zara dress featured last week is far too pretty to sit in the wardrobe unworn.

I've come to the conclusion over the last few days that this blog is more about my personal style than it is about following the trend. To me fashion isn't about being a sheep, it's about being expressive and so today that's exactly what I decided to do.

Dress: Zara, Leggings: Urban Outfitters, Sliders: Next

So I've paired this beautiful dress with my purple disco leggings and my faithful zebra sliders for a rather whimsical look. I know it's not going to be to everybody's taste but it is most definitely a look I'm in love with. This weather is too good to wear black all of time, no matter how tempted I always am to do that.

The back of this dress is so beautiful, it's a bit of a practicality issue as it's impossible to wear a bra without showing the straps, but it really does feel almost bridal. To say this was under £35 I think it really was a bargain.

The detailing on the bodice is literally beautiful as well, it hardly even needs accessorising. 

This is a fairly dressed down look despite the dress itself being so evening ready. The only thing I would change is how opaque the fabric is as I would love to wear this on it's own however the fabric doesn't lend well to that idea. It really is ultra transparent. 

However, I'm comfortable and I feel confident today, I always find my confidence levels are higher when I'm happy with my appearance - or as happy as a girl ever is! It's made even better by the fact I'm sitting out in the sunshine in a beautiful park typing this post. Now who could complain about that?!

What do you lovelies think of this outfit? Would you have worn it in another way? 

I hope you're all having a lovely day and are enjoying the sunshine!

Em x

Artsy

Happy Monday lovelies! Okay, so I doubt many of us are actually thrilled that it's Monday, but at least the sun has decided to make an appearance here for once.

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed this morning and I came across a quote which in part inspired today's look. I think it's very true, and whilst I'm not usually one for stereotypes I do feel it's much easier for women to dress expressively than it is for men. That's not to say I don't believe in men's fashion, as there are some very stylish guys about, just that I think there's much more of a societal acceptance of women playing around with their image than for a man.

Whilst I don't agree that clothing is a woman's only form of art, there are some phenomenal female artists, musicians etc, I think this summarises my view of fashion. It shouldn't be limited to high end, your ability to express yourself via your attire and project a different image of yourself onto the world shouldn't be defined by your budget. I'm the first one to say I would love to spend much, much more than I do on clothing, shoes, bags.... (I could go on!) there are unfortunately other things which demand financial attention that are paramount to twenty-first century living.

Anyway, I'm rambling, the quote got me thinking about art and so I decided to try out a combination I've been thinking about for a few days. Print clash. I'm usually quite scared of mixing prints as I'm never sure if the look is too garish or if my creative vision is actually flawed - I expect it is in part! But I decided to pair my Topshop maxi dress with a crop top I thrifted recently for 99p which is originally from Boohoo.

Hat, Dress and Boots: Topshop, Crop Top (worn under dress): Thrifted, originally Boohoo, Bag: Vintage

I quite like this clash of patterns, it feel's quite arty. The tie-dye print and the black patterned effect of the dress really felt like it both clashed and blended quite well.

I'm having a bit of a love affair with summer hats at the moment, I think the fact that I'm currently trying to grow out my pixie cut has a bit of an influence on this. My hair does not want to grow and no amount of willing it to do so seems to be doing the trick.

I've definitely perfected the moody look now, it's the only face I have. 

Hope you've enjoyed this post, what do you all think about mixing up prints? Have you ever had a print clash disaster?

Em x

Peplums and pony skin.

Sundays. I always find my self at a bit of a loss for things to do on a Sunday, as mentally I feel like I should be relaxing, but it often seems to be the day where I finish off all of the odd jobs around the house from around the week. Today I had plans to go and visit one of my lovely friends and then had a few other errands to run so I wanted something comfortable and relaxed to wear.

Top: Zara, Jeans: Topshop, Bag: Zara, Sliders: Next

I decided to wear this peplum knit because I find the fit quite flattering and it's warm enough for days when the weather doesn't seem to able to make up it's mind. These jeans are my current favourite (as you can tell by the destroyed knee rips!) because I love the fact they're pale and patterned. I know I've voiced my reservations around this style in a previous post but I've decided that even though I practically live in them, these are perfect Sunday jeans. They're flattering, comfortable and durable enough that they don't snag or catch when moving around.

I decided to wear my sliders again because I have fallen in love with them. They may not be the most attractive sandals in the land, but that's the point. They're ugly cool. Or quirky, if you will. And I like quirky, a lot. The fact that they're faux pony skin adds a totally different dimension too them, and despite the zebra print I don't feel like they clash with too many outfits. In fact I think they compliment this one.

Sandals: Next, £22 available here

Jewellery wise I decided to stick to the usual. I'm loving the fact that wearing an array of necklaces is now acceptable. I've done it for a while now but I read an article in Company mag talking about layering of pendants etc this season so I'm secretly quite pleased that it's already a look I go for. I just can't wait to get my hands on my BlackTied beauties in the next few weeks because, like I keep saying, my jewellery box is in need of an overhaul!

So, that's all for this week lovelies. Feel free to leave me any comments about any of my outfit choices. I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Em x

P.S I promise my hair won't look as disastrous tomorrow!