An obsession or two!

Yes, I like shopping. In fact, I like shopping quite a lot (!) but the three things, I like indulging in the most are pretty tops, perfumes and books.

Pretty tops!

Good old H&M can always be relied on to deliver a pretty top!

This gold vest is gorgeous and could be worn in a number of ways and all year round.Yay, gold will always catch the eye and probably makes me look slightly classier then I am. Oh and er, this one was just £7.99.

I already have a couple of sequined vests in different colours from last year and I always believe if you like something, buy it in every colour you can, so ta dah! I picked a couple up in black and white too.

Black Orchid

I've always had a bit of a love-hate thing going on with Tom Fords legendary scent. I have said before that when I first sprayed, it was all a bit too deep and woody. I felt the perfume sat on my skin and was somewhat artificial before finally sinking in and enveloping me a couple of hours later in the most beautiful scent. Yes, this was the perfume that I said suddenly exploded and  blossomed in the most beautiful way but then I also used to find a few hours later, that it started to smell greasy and off. I've always thought that this scent could be diffcult and temperamental to wear so it has spent a lot of time banished to my dark perfume pot. You can read my earlier thoughts here in my perfume post.

Well, I'm doing a bit of a 360 (again!). I dug this perfume out again about a month ago and it has been in my handbag (hence the missing lid) ever since. I bloody adore it and have worn it every day for weeks. The scent is so, soo pretty in fact, beautiful is a much more appropriate adjective and indeed, Black Orchid gleams many a compliment. It is definitely a floral with just enough spice to take the edge off and make the perfume that much more contemporary and in the words of Sephora, show-stopping! I really can't think of any scent similar.

I don't really notice any artificial starts or the ylang notes when I first spray now and I certainly don't smell the going off factor. It may be that I'm more used to the perfume now or maybe it is because I'm spraying little and often rather then constantly dowsing myself in the stuff. Whatever the case, I absolutely love this perfume (the one that has been described as Sex In A Bottle!) and can't believe that I left it sitting unloved in my collection for so long! I'm pretty sure I will be trying the new Tom Ford perfume, Violet Blonde very soon.

Me Before You

I've seen this book in stores for ages but have always overlooked it. You see, the cover is so simplistic and hides all the things that this book is about. I thought it was just another comedy romance and as much as I love them. I already have so many and never considered adding this one to my already extensive collection. However, then I started to hear rumblings that there was just this little bit more to 'Me Before You' by Jojo Moyes and well, in short I got it, read it in days and yep, there is a whole lot more to this book.
It is one of the best books I've ever read  and was a bit of a page turner. Lou's family are hilarious but when you strip the book back to its core issue, it is absolutely heartbreaking and like everybody else, a few tears were shedded while indulging in this one. It really got me thinking about life and the duty we have to make the most of ours while we can etc etc! Anyways before I go and get all deep . . .

Since pretty tops, scents and books are my true obsessions then I can never resist a good conversation about any of them. So what tops, scents and books rock your world right now?

X

Ahoy there!

A little note from me to you:
 Hey, this is a post I drafted over a week ago but never got around to posting. What can I say?! There was just too much birthday cake to be eaten and a few too many presents to "play" with. I hope you can understand why I was a little distracted from photo editing and spell-checking but a week later and I realise, I need to get a post up ! ASAP!!! I've gotten so behind with blogging this year. So here is last week's feeble effort . . . Happy Friday, hope you are all well x

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I don't know about you but I find, birthdays always fall together. I recently had mine. Then Monday was my sister's and Tuesday was my Mum's. I'm also on annual leave. So over the last week or so, I have had the perfect excuse to try and mix up my look a little.

Monday night, I chose to debut my new white dress. I wore it with the Topshop collarless cropped jacket, jeans (typical!) and my New Look boots.

I think, by the end I looked like a little bit of a pirate especially as I chose to leave the one dress sleeve hanging under the cropped jacket just to add a little more interest to the outfit.

Of course, every pirate has a little bling and mine was in the form of an old favourite, my massive twinkling ring from Tanya Burr's, Talullah Tu jewellery line (I brought this about eighteen months ago. Read that post here).

As I said before, white is very classic and clean so I tried to keep the colours of my look equally bold. I used, 'Tweet Me' from MAC on my eyes and then lined them heavily with a kohl pencil from Body Shop and Carbon. Then for the lips, I went red! Yay, red always puts me in party mode but there is really only one red that I'll leave the house in and that is the gorgeous Viva Cyndi.

Meanwhile on Tuesday night, again I invited the Top Shop jacket out to play and paired it with a H&M sequined vest which I tucked in (I was lacking a belt and I felt quite daring, 'tucking a vest in' as my casual look normally features a vest top of some kind hanging over jeans etc.) to my black midi (maxi on me!) skirt from Next.

Then, just because I seemed a little obsessed, I added a little more sparkle in the form of my twinkly ballet flats from New Look.

Make-up wise, I wore a look more familiar to my face. All That Glitters on the eye and Snob (my old love!) on the lips. I carefully applied and blended Snob with a little Creme Cup to try and avoid a patchy finish.

Now, I've got to decide what to wear for my little niece's birthday tomorrow . . !

In other news, I finished Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson last week. It was a fantastic book with a lot of twists and turns which I didn't see coming (and my goodness, was I looking out for them!?!). I'm not sure if this just means I'm a bit slow on the uptake or that this, is genuinely a very clever book. Whatever the case may be, it sure was entertaining and I'm glad that I read it.

I'm now moving on to something a little lighter. I Heart Vegas by Lindsey Kelks. I read the Single Girls To Do List last year and found it so so (mind you, if I remember correctly I was in a bit of a strange mood at the time) but I've read all of the 'I Heart . . .' series so far and have always found them a great laugh so fingers crossed for this one! I'm also planning to dip in to a couple of photography books that I was given recently.

These books by Michael Freeman are more about the composition of photography rather then the technicalities. I'm definitely more a 'place the pretty flower here next to the vase so that it can show it's natural colour off' type of person rather then 'press this button and this button to make the flower appear beautiful but artificial and completely foreign to it's reality' so hopefully, I will pick some tips up with these.

Do you mix up your style or make up very often? What are you reading right now?

X

To the sea. . !

For me, it isn't Christmas without a little visit to the sea!

Especially when I have a new Canon 550 DSLR (yes, I believe, I may have already mentioned this . . !) to play with.

This is West Bay, folks, one of my favourite places ever. To be honest, the Canon seems to have romanticised and flattered this little piece of coastline a little. West Bay is amazing but for me, its strength lies not in its beauty but in it's character.

The wind and the waves are, more often then not, fierce. Whenever I'm at West Bay, I seem to find some perspective. Those waves have been rolling for thousands of years and probably will continue for thousands more. It reminds me how small we all are, in the 'big picture'. And before I get any deeper . . , it is also the perfect place to awaken my senses. Everything from the waves and wind to the surfers (So obviously crazy! It is late December and they are in that cold, cold water!!  *shakes head*) in the water is so alive! You almost catch energy as you stroll along the beach and stumble up the cliffs. Just what I needed to give me a great big kick out of that slovenly Post-Christmas slumber.

The important bit. . , the outfit!

 I played it quite casual with my outfit of the day. Maybe I was trying to channel a beachy feel.

I wore my new beaded vest from New Look layered over a generic black vest. I love this top, I only got it a couple of weeks ago after seeing it on Laura's blog (here!) but it is beautiful and perfect for layering (in fact, it is sheer so layering is a must). I think, it is actually my first Yellow top ever. Officially. At the time of buying, my size wasn't available online so I decided to go a size or so up and I think, it works really well baggy. I wore this vest over faded dark denim jeans.

Again, going for that effortless feel (or maybe, I really did just make little effort. Again . . , Christmas, exhaustion, excuses . . !), I then threw on my H&M Bow trench without the bow belt (I posted about this versatile coat here!) over the top with sketchers to combat the coastal path.
Sidenote: There seems to be good reason why H&M give you so many spare buttons with this little number!

Nothing in the outfit really matched or were made to compliment each other. Yet, I think it all came together quite well and I'm tempted in 2012 to be oh so daring and throw on more items without overthinking it. Who knows what the result will be and what style (or lack of) will emerge?!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and have an amazing New Year. Let me know what you've been up to in the comments!

X

LBD's and High Street Versace!

It's one of those things drummed in to us girls from a very young age and Victoria Beckham sums it up very well in her style book (That Extra Half An Inch: Hair, heels and Everything in Between. By the way, this is the best modern STYLE book, I have ever read. I have read it many times over. Often with a highlighter),

 'A little black dress is an essential every woman should have in her wardrobe.'

Well to be honest, as of late, my wardrobe has being slightly slack in the classic black dress department. It is all down to a little wardrobe meltdown I had, a couple of years ago, when Trinny and Susannah berated the females of the UK for having no colour in their wardrobes (remember?!). Of course, since my wardrobe was nearly all black, I felt a tad guilty and responsible for the great UK fashion crisis. So to make amends, I gave away about a third of my clothing collection (to be replaced with hideuous brights of all hues, which are now hidden in a dark corner somewhere, tags still intact) including a little black dress that I had from Topshop and absolutely adored.

Nostalgia alert!
With shoulder straps, it was classic and tight fitting. It showed not too much but just enough. It was the typical little black dress, fuss free. The only detail of significance was the low cut square neck line which puffed out just a little in a very flattering, slightly teasing (but decent!) manner.
I wish I had a picture to show you because in my mind, that dress was not only the definition of the classic little black dress - and maybe the first dress to make me feel like a lady- but also to be honest, just the perfect dress for somebody of my build and colouring.
Why, did I throw it out?!
Argh, I'm still not sure. Yeah, it was black but Trinny and Susannah, where are you now? To be honest, so many women of the UK wore and still do wear black for a simple reason or two ie. Black pieces are often flattering and look good. They also mask your insecurities and make you feel better maybe even good in your own skin. Looking good and feeling better, a winning combination in my opinion!

Argh, I have struggled to find a classic little black dress ever since the regretful meltdown. I guess at the moment, there are three contenders in my wardrobe.

Firstly, we have the lace dress which I'm not going to talk about much (after all, it has its own little post here) but suffice to say, as far as I'm concerned, this piece does not fall within the definition of the classic black dress. For me, the first thing you have to notice about a little black dress is that it is black. For me, the first thing that comes to mind when I see this dress is that it is firstly and foremost, a lace dress.

Secondly, we have a little number that I brought from TopShop (again!) last Christmas. This dress is certainly black and the body certainly looks more or less exactly like my idea of a little black dress.

However, the long cape attached to it really takes away anything classic about this dress.

Instead it makes it a very unique number which gleams a lot of attention when worn. I feel very powerful strutting around with my cape swishing around me.

However, this number is also a little bit impratical and almost a little bit too showy for a typical Saturday night at the local bar. A classic little black dress never really comes across quite as stage school-like.

Thirdly, we have the H&M dress, the one that I have earmarked for the upcoming festive season (just need some invites now, hint hint). I brought this dress recently (along with the lace one) and have held off from posting, hoping that H&M will put it online but as of yet, I still can't find it. : (

However, I'm still going to post it now because I feel that this is the closest thing I have in my wardrobe at the moment to the little black dress. It ticks most of the boxes.

- Falling above the knee, it is short but not provactively so.

-It has (classic) thin, black shoulder straps.

- It shows some flesh but not too much. It also has a little lacing detail around the decolletage which can be tightened or loosened depending on the look you want to achieve. I'm not sure if you're meant to let the lacing show but I hide it down said decolletage in an attempt to maintain some of the nochalence required by a little black dress.

- It seems to pull in at the waist slightly meaning you can radiate that tight black dress flattering silhouette vibe but at the same time, the skirt part is loser and swishes beautifully as you strut balancing it all out. The ovarall effect highlights everything good about the feminine vibe.

Now, I know that I said that the classic little black dress should be fuss free so a question mark has to lie over the ruffles but for me, the little black dress status is still a given here. The ruffles do make this dress quite distinctive and it may well fail the Victoria Beckham, 'Nobody will know you are wearing the same thing' test to a degree but you could wear this dress in different ways with a bit of denim, leather or what about tanned legs, tights or leggings (Amelia has almost converted me!). The dress would be identifiable but the look would be different.

Importantly, although distinct in thier own right, the ruffles do not completely define the dress. If anything, again, they just make the piece a little more feminine and could potentially balance out any cleavage or lace tie (if you did want to show much of either).

I am adamanent that this dress is a classic little black dress. After all, the top half of this dress is beautiful and you could sit at dinner and look equally as alluring in it as you would, swishing the skirt, as you shake your thang in the latest hotspot in town. Surely, nothing more can be asked of a classic LBD!

Talking of H&M . . .

I see the promo is online of the Versace collabaration. Please can anybody tell me why, the lover of black I am, am I now lusting, as we venture in to the depths of a deep dark winter, for this?!

Typical! Although, even in this collection, there are some black pieces pulling me in.

In particular, this dress, which looks a little long for me but maybe not, if I paired it with these boots!

What do you think of the H&M collaboration with Versace? Will you be buying anything? Do you have a little black dress? What will you be wearing this Christmas?
Oh and can I just say, thank you for the comments lately. Some of you know I've being blogging for almost a couple of years now and your comments (+follows) really do make me smile and make it all so worthwhile. Thank you and happy weekend! :))

X

Lace!

I've always thought that lace is a hard look to pull off. White lace can look great on a bride but on anybody else, lace can be easy to get wrong.
Still, occasionally, I have had a fling with lace.
Take this Top Shop lace dress in cream (Petite collection Christmas 2010).

I took this to the changing room last year for a bit of fun. I had no intention of buying it but was just trying on as many different items as I could in a desperate attempt to find some style.

To my surprise, I fell for this lace dress in cream as soon I tried it on.

It made me feel like somebody else. I normally live in black and neighbouring hues so I found that the cream colour and the delicate look of this number made me feel light and free. It was just after Christmas and all that snow, this dress reminded me that spring was coming and made me crave daisy chains (sad but true). This dress just seemed fun and what is more it seemed to bring life to my face. It felt very right. Although the dress looks lacy and light, it is not flimsy or delicate on any account. The thick lining gives enough structure leaving any 'net curtain' comments unjustified and of course, the cream (a colour so far from white! not, but just far enough!) takes away the whole bridal connotation.

Going on up the lace ladder, the stores are full of lace garments of other colours. Now if there is one thing scarier for me then bridal white lace, it is red; blue; black . . . In fact, coloured lace, in general. I just feel that on me, such items would be unflattering, too edgy and maybe even tarty.

However, recently there has being a lot of coloured lace out there and nobody else seems to be shying away from the look.

Just me.

Really I should man up but lace is so dangerous . . !

Or so I thought until I noticed a couple of Kate Middleton's recent looks.

Image from Google search

Image from Google search

Coloured lace looks!

If it is safe enough for the future Queen then goodness knows, why I'm so worried about the danger of lace?!

Enter one of my new H&M dresses.

I put it on and I liked what I saw. The lace is great and yes, lets face it, it is a lot more interesting to look at then block black.

This particular lace number is not as heavy as my Top Shop one but the fit is structured by the way that the front of the dress is vertically divided in to three. The dress is lined but the sleeves are not. This gives just enough of a lace tease without revealing too much.

The lining is flesh toned and actually quite pale. I fake tanned my top half a couple of days ago (expect a tan review very soon!) and even on me, the difference in lining and face (and arms) can be seen in real life. I actually prefer this dress on me before I fake tanned (typical, until now I have always preferred how my flesh looks when I've bothered to tan!). Pre-tan, the lining was not so obvious and the dress seemed more organic (if a dress can be such a thing!). Pale girls, this could be the one black dress out there for you!

I've paired the dress here with black skinny jeans here and a pair of heels because even if I did like my legs, I'm not sure I'd bare them out for this dress, just in case that swung the pendulum from pretty to tarty, Doreen (Birds of Feather) style.

In my head, I'm actually contemplating knee high boots and volumised (possibly with a slight quiff) hair to style this look. This number has a modern 60's feel about it.

Jewellery-wise?! Hmmm, maybe one large bracelet. What do you think?

I often braid the sides of my hair when I go out but I just think plaits are too girly for this number and that the lace needs to be balanced out a little. I think with lace, it talks for it's self and it shouldn't be played up too much. Who wants to be guilty of overkill?

So what do you think of lace? Do you like dresses with some kind of twist like this one or do you prefer a more conventional 'black dress' type number? I'm normally the conventional little black dress girl but I've got to say I am glad I have added something a little bit different to my wardrobe. Besides I also picked up a more classic black party dress in this H&M haul (more about that soon) so I can't really lose.

Talking of Kate Middleton, did you see the beautiful dress she was photographed in this week?



Image from Google search


A bit more of a 70's vibe and again very colourful but oh so glam. A dress to dream about this weekend, me thinks. I've got to admit lately, I've being style stalking Kate a bit. The 'What Kate Wore' blog is a good read!

Right, I'm off to have a Green Monster (click here to see earlier post about these gems). Over the last couple of months, I've really got back on that bandwagon and it makes such a difference to how I feel. Now if I could just bring myself to start drinking green tea again . . !

You can view the H&M dress here. Have a fabulous start to the weekend!

X

The H&M bow trench!

So you may have read about my new love, the H&M trench. Here it is  . . .

Yep, it is love! I told you a few days ago about how I wanted to give it a bit of a road run before posting. Well, the trench and I have shared a few dates together now and it passed with flying colours. I love this coat and I certainly don't mind, the compliments it has gleaned.
I don't think, I have ever owned a proper trench like this one before. Trenches have always scared me. I thought, at not even 5ft2, they would swamp me and in general, they just seem so masculine, heavy, straight, functional and not really, very me.

Well, I was wrong. This one is light, pretty and has movement.

This trench does not swamp or look too much on me even in flats. It has some beautiful details which adds femininity. I love the sleeve design. The shoulders are bulky but with a soft puff and lovely seaming.

Again, seaming has being used to form a beautiful, flattering, pulled in cuff with a single button detail.

Then, there is the bow belt.

Now this is very girly and a bit plastic like. It was the only part of the coat that I was a little unsure about. I wondered if it could be a bit 'Disney' and cheapen the coat but actually when you put the coat on and do the belt up. The belt becomes a nice touch rather then some big garish feature. I'm not sure if I will be adorning the belt everyday but I certainly won't be throwing it away. If you do like this coat but are a little unsure about the belt then maybe consider this coat in black. I'm sure the black on black will downplay the belt detail even further.

This coat, with or without the belt, also gives a lovely silhouette very unlike the bulky one I feared. The popper buttons pull the coat right in to really flatter the figure and no, it doesn't seem to pull too tightly around the bottom. Again, something I'd feared.
However, what I like most about this coat is its versatility. It can be worn with or without the belt, buttoned up or undone (which both give the coat a very different feel) and then finally, there is my absolutely favourite feature on this coat and that is the collar.

I have recently concluded that when it comes to collars, size really is everything. I love big collars!
The collars above are avaitor-like but do a button or two up and it becomes reminiscent of glamorous cold climes. I can't decide if this cowl collar look looks more Parisian or Russian but certainly somewhere classically chic! I just know I like the look and it certainly defines the time of the year we have moved in to.

Obviously, I give this coat a massive thumbs up (especially since it costs only £34.99) and really am considering adding the black version to my already extensive black outerwear wardrobe. This is such a beautiful coat for this time of year.

You can view the coat here.

What do you think? Like perfumes and tops, coats are certainly one element of style that I really think about and love to hear about. Have you brought a new coat recently? What coat will you be wrapping up in this year? Let me know in the comments. If you've done a post, put a link in the comments and I will have a read.

X