Friday 30 March 2012

I Never Have That Friday Feeling

Good Morning!
Boring outfit today: Riding Pants - American Apparel; Lace t-shirt - Topshop via charity shop; Cut-off denim jacket - self made
Today I was up at 8.30am because the doctors expect you to know that you're ill at that time and won't accept appointment bookings later in the day. So to make the most of my morning I'm going charity shopping before I get on with my work for the day.

I'm in the process of writing a piece for @ACIDmagazine about the 90's comeback that seems to have taken over not just fashion, but all aspects of popular culture; yeah Buffalos and acid brights are back, but so are The Cranberries, S Club 7 and Titanic. What's that about?! I'd love to hear your opinions - is anyone outside of East London really buying this?

So as an homage to my childhood years, here's a dedication to all things 90's.


Thursday 29 March 2012

This Week's Top Buys #2

They've arrived! And I've gone unintentionally (kind of) baroque/leopard print mad this week! These leggings don't quite come up high enough to be able to match them with a crop top but at £4 I do not care. This American Apparel gauze t-shirt will do for a summery feel.

How pretty are the sunbeams through my window?
On Tuesday I was dying of a hangover after a spontaneous night out, but my boyfriend convinced me to go to Richmond with him where I got these cute t-shirts. The black one's nothing special but was £7 and this amazing blue baroque one was only £12!

The animal print top on the left is a tie up shirt with 3/4 length sleeves which I found at the same time as the pink shirt/blazer in my last post.
It was only £3.30 and will look fab with shorts, jeans, leggings... It will go with anything!

But my favourite buy of the week was on Monday we went to Westfield. It was such a lovely day and the boy and I just popped in before heading East to meet friends, and I came away with a beautiful pair of American Apparel Easy Jeans in Light Wash Indigo, which are essentially denim disco pants, and this black jersey crop top.


American Apparel is one of my favourite high street stores because, despite being insanely over priced, I've never been able to find another shop with such perfectly form fitting high waisted trousers. I basically refuse to wear anything that isn't high waisted so, whilst their extortionate rates for average quality t-shirts is something to avoid, American Apparel is the one for stylish bottoms, and well worth the price tag.

I've blogged before about American Apparel budget issues, and, if like me you're a sucker for crop tops the second the sun comes out, Topshop have the perfect solution. Again not known for being overly affordable, Topshop have caught on to the crop top love that is spreading it's way into every summer wardrobe and, rather than forking out £21 on the American Apparel version, this baby rib crop top is just £8 and though I was boring and chose white, it is available in a range of different colours.

Fluoro Love

I always have and always will have a mostly-black wardrobe. But when the weather gets like this, I need a way to jazz it up. But rather than veering away from the goth look altogether, I found the answer in a charity shop.

One thing I didn't put in yesterday's Wednesday Wish List was a bright blazer, but I've been going on about how I want one for ages. In love with the shades in Zara and The Kooples at the moment, I've been holding out for a cool but cheap version which I knew would inevitably turn up in a charity shop. And I was right!

Yesterday, as I wandered Putney on my own in an attempt to put off travelling on a sweltering train, I found this bright pink shirt. It has cute gold buttons and done up it looks awful, but as I undid it to take it off and return it to it's rail I had a revelation. And here we have it! The perfect light, bright blazer!

                                   
Shirt - eBay; Leggings - eBay; Shirt/Blazer - British Heart Foundation

Pretty thrifty outfit all in all. I'm such a sucker for charity shopping and eBay! Had a work night out with my Slug mateys last night and had to take that mirror shot!

But now I'm off to sun myself by the river with a vino. 
Happy Thursday! 

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Foundations

I've been having such a nightmare with my skin lately. It seems like two nights forgetting to take my makeup off has caused loads of little blemishes all over my cheeks and they're so hard to hide. Not at all worth my makeup removal laziness!


These are the three I've been using recently:
               
Mac Studio Fix Fluid is always going to be my number one. It keeps my face looking fresh, clear and unshiney for a whole day, and night if I need it, but at £20 I can't always afford to invest, and have needed to seek out back up for those poor times when my Mac runs dry. Right now is one of those times.

So during a trip to Superdrug I found a huge box of discounted Gosh make up. I'd never really used Gosh other than a few nail varnishes and lipsticks, but thought that a £10 foundation reduced to £4 was a pretty good bargain and snapped it up.

Do NOT make the same mistake as me! This Lift Me Up foundation, which supposedly has some face-lifting chemical in it, isn't even worth £4 so I pity anyone who has paid the full £10! Obviously this kind of a review is totally subjective so perhaps there are girls out there who swear by this, but for me it just smudged away from itself as I blended it in, went patchy under my powder and clung to dry bits of skin despite excessive moisturising, and only lasted a few hours before I needed to reapply it.

I couldn't live with this until it ran out! So I invested in Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation, having read some pretty good reviews, and finally! My perfect Mac substitute. At £8.99 it is around half the price but worth much more!

Wake Me Up keeps my face looking fresh all day with hardly any wear and just one pump is enough to cover my whole face with the perfect amount of foundation. This is definitely what I'm going to be sticking with for the forseeable future as my Mac replacement.

Wednesday Wish List

I'm rapidly losing money on alcohol thanks to the lovely London weather this week, which naturally means that my wish list is piling up in time for summer. The transition from winter/spring into summer leaves me hating my wardrobe every year, and suffering from a massive case of 'over overflowing shelves but nothing to wear' syndrome.

Top of my list is a Carnovsky iPhone skin. I love the colours and the prints and everything about them, and at $15/£9.50(ish) they're not too pricey.

This cute hat from H&M is only £7.99 but causes two dilemmas for me: first is that it's not yet available in stores and I resent paying postage, and second is that I don't know whether to get it in blue or black!
All things baroque! Having just invested in a beautiful baroque print t shirt from River Island and a funky pair of leggings which are yet to arrive, I've gained myself one more style addiction which I can't afford to keep up with!

I feel like I've not bought a new pair of shoes in forever, but these have been sat on my bookmark bar as I wait for them to eventually go into the ASOS sale! £60 isn't even too bad but I'm just so broke, so until I finally come into some money, on my wish list they'll remain!


Saturday 24 March 2012

New Endeavours

So it's only about a month until I finish uni for good, which is terrifying, but whilst I wait I've been all over it trying to gain experience. As I've mentioned before I work as News Editor for BBM Live Magazine as well as being Entertainments Editor for the final two editions of this years university paper, Kingston River.

And now I'm helping out on a new publication called ACID Magazine. It launches in May and I'm getting involved as a fashion blogger/writer for a shopping feature in ACID.I'm starting my project tomorrow so will be sure to post about my progress but it's literally the perfect job. I get to shops, take photos of cool clothes, and create outfits. Wow!

So go and follow ACID @ACIDmagazine on Twitter and Tumblr @ http://thisisacidmagazine.tumblr.com/

Thursday 22 March 2012

Antique Infatuation

Not much charity shopping went down today. More gin in beer gardens discussing the pros and cons of starting a Gossip Girl/Mean Girls Burn Book style blog... But we did go and browse the local antique shops in search of some vintage bargains.

It's been a while since I've been to the antique shop. I used to walk past it every day and now whenever I go back I'm always so amazed by the strange old stuff in it. These were some of my favourites today.

I need a pretty, free standing mirror





How cute is this shell encrusted jewellery box? I don't know who has £45 to spend on things like that, or a box containing taxidermic wildlife, or a £345 skull, but I could waste hours wandering around and looking at it, imagining who used to use it or where it was placed in their house.

Happy Thursday

Hi!
It's my first day off in so long and although I do have a massive backlog of coursework to be getting on with, that can do itself today.

I woke up early despite really wanting a lie-in, but that meant I could get all my editing work out of the way and now I'm off out to enjoy the sun!

First stop is Nero for a coffee and a catchup with Max, and then I want to browse some charity shops, preferably outside of Kingston, but probably not.

Hopefully it will be a success and later tonight I can post about all my beautiful new bargains!

What I'm wearing:

Cropped vest top - ASOS; Waist belt - Primark; Watch - Casio

Asymmetric chiffon skirt - Asda; Spike bangle - Forever 21





Wednesday 21 March 2012

Things To Do On a Wednesday

Cardigan - vintage market; Lace top - charity shop; Necklace - H&M

Not sure why I look so timid today, but it's my last busy day in 9 weeks! A 3 week break is exactly what I need right now. In all likelihood I will only do 3 or 4 of these things today, but it's good to aim high, right?
  • Get entertainments pages laid out for paper
  • Get paper sent to print
  • Finish book review
  • Select newsletter stories
  • Chose Ethics essay title
  • Catch up on poetry assignments
  • Apply for jobs


Sunday 18 March 2012

Getting Creepy

So for the past 5 or 6 years I've been convincing my parents to buy me Easter presents instead of Easter eggs seeing as I don't really like chocolate but I do like shoes... Not sure they love the idea but it's far more useful and long lasting that some empty calories so they go with it.

And this year, I've bagged these beauties. I've been lusting after them for so long, but now my striped leggings have arrived I just can't see in the summer without them!


Saturday 17 March 2012

Happy Mother's Day!

This year I did mother's day early as I have to work at the bar tomorrow night. On Thursday I got the train to my Aunties before driving back to Bristol on Friday morning. Whilst waiting for my train I had a wander round the charity shops, purchasing two cardigans and a cream lace t-shirt (under the red cardi).

By the time I got on the train I had already overfilled my holdall... But when I arrived in Basingstoke Liz was running late and I ended up having to wait half an hour... In Primark... Where I bought some glitter brogues for £3.


So Friday morning we drove home, picked up my Grandma and went for lunch. She needed to do some shopping to I begrudgingly trudged around Asda. Never have I even bothered to look in Asda for clothes before but I was bored and Oh. My. God.

Green quilted riding jacket - £10
Black and white chain printed chiffon shirt - £5
Pink and mint pastel block chiffon shirt - £6
Black chiffon midi/maxi - £5

Granted there was a sale on which was why it was all so cheap but you'd never know any of this stuff hadn't been bought on the high street! 

And THEN, after spending the evening with the fam and friends at the pub, this morning I went to Thornbury with my mum and auntie. I always have pretty good luck at the charity shops there and never fail to visit even if I'm only back for one night.

So to complete my trip I found a white lace button up top, a black rose pattered chiffon and velvet shirt and a black and gold cardigan. I returned home with a suitcase. And my striped leggings had arrived when I got home. Oops!

Thursday 15 March 2012

Inspiration, Finally

I honestly think my life would be complete if I saw the Northern lights. It has to be the most incredible and beautiful piece of nature to exist. This has nothing to do with anything that I do, but somehow it's made me feel inspired, at last!

Coming from the country, which I was bored of by the age of 5, nature has never really moved anything in me, but this is unreal. 

Someone take me to Iceland!



AWOL

I know I've been pretty lax with this the past few weeks, but I've had so much on juggling two jobs, five university modules and a social life. Plus it's been super sunny in Kingston and I'm sure you'll understand that I much prefer beer gardens to bedroom blogging.

Tonight I'm at my Auntie's house near Tadley. We're driving home tomorrow for mother's day weekend and my mama doesn't know I'm coming so that will be cute. I'm considering the next three days as a bit of time off!


This is how I've mostly spent my spare minutes. In the past week or so I've had 5 - yes, five - celebratory Wagamama's to mark the end of an assignment. And then it's been straight back to the press room to start some more!

So from today onwards I will be doing my best to keep on top of this! But before I go, take a minute to check out Charlotte King's blog: Charlotte's Web - a fabulous photographer from my hometown.

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