Boys Wardrobe

Poor James always gets roped into taking my pictures. As much as he protests, he won't be losing his job anytime soon. At least not until I learn how to pick up a camera with the power of my mind.

He's a good little dresser and puts in quite a lot of thought to what he wears, so I figure it makes sense  to feature them here, even if it does make him go all shuffly and awkward.

I swear James hits up H&M more than me nowadays. This is what he wore for some Saturday afternoon shopping. Pretty casual.

Purple Hoody - Primark

Striped Polo Shirt - Next

Grey Chinos - H&M

Superman Converse

Wesc Headphones

Stripes & Denim

Is anyone else dreaming of summer? It's so bladdy cold at the moment it literally takes me around 14 minutes just to get out of the house. Ironically I really enjoy winter clothes. Layering up and adding in lots of textures in hats, scarves etc while trying to work in my summer clothes to get the most out of my wardrobe. I do really enjoy winter clothes, I just hate being cold. Meh.

I talked about layering in my last post and it seems I was at it again here. Layering a blue chambray dress with a striped jumper feels quite classic, especially with brown accessories. The rest is all a matter of need, snug beanie, faux fur collar and my I-cannot-leave-alone oversized boyfriend jacket.

How are you combating the cold weather?

Burgundy Beanie - New Look

Striped Jumper - Forever 21

Chambray Denim Dress - Primark

Tan Chelsea Boots - Peacocks

Brown Belt (came with dress) - Primark

Oversized Boyfriend Jacket with Fur Collar - Oh My Love

Leather Satchel - Glastonbury Festival

Rose Gold Chain Necklace - eBay

Watch - Sekonda at ASOS

Lipstick - Peace by 17

Layering

Hurrah! So I finally figured out how to get my images to be full size and all nicely lined up. The layout had been irritating me for a while, so I think I'm pleased now.

It's been so cold lately layering has been a huge must, especially as the minute you get inside you're boiling hot, so removable layers is always a priority. I don't have a lot of skirts so it's nice to get a little extra something out of dresses worn as skirts. Clever, I know. I also can't get enough of jumpers so I'm making the most of the cold weather now, layering up with my favourite knits.

Bottle Green Jumper - New Look

Grey Skater Dress - Primark

Studded Slippers - Missguided

Spiked Silver Necklace - H&M

Classic Sekonda Watch - ASOS

Lipstick - Inhibition by Topshop

Neon & Monochrome

Monochrome is absolutely everywhere this season. I was aware that is was set to be big but the high street shops have been all over it like a rash. I do enjoy the simplicity and statement of just black and white but so far haven't quite gone all out for it. Instead I've injected some of my much needed colour in the form of a neon orange top and (not neon) green Cambridge Satchel looklike.

Coats are still very much in need at the moment too and I went with grey because I didn't think there was any need for more clashing, after all, with the Aztec cardigan and studded boots, there was quite a lot going on.

Grey Coat - H&M

Aztec Cardigan - Primark

Neon Orange Top - H&M

Black Jeans - Primark

Green Cambridge Satchel Lookalike - Primark

Studded Biker Boots - Matalan

Silver Geometric Necklace - H&M

Sunglasses - C&A

Beanie - H&M

How to Build a Blanket Fort

This Valentine's Day I was fresh out of ideas but knew that, as standard, I didn't want to be one of those couples in some cringey restaurant surrounded by other couples. Luckily, Rosie from The Londoner lent me an excellent idea in the shape of a blanket fort and thus the seed was planted.

I took to Pinterest to gather some ideas and had a vague plan in place but when it came to the actual construction I found myself having to draw heavily from my childhood brain, you know, when fort building was a legitimate past time.

Fortunately the fort room of choice is under the roof and therefore has skylight windows with bars to attach ropes/awnings etc I'm not sure how easy it would be to construct without these. Like I said, when building a blanket fort, you need to get creative.

Remember to stock up on snacks for the fort, along with DVDs (build around your TV - very important).

Start with the structure i.e. ropes/awnings. If you have some time, perhaps learn a few sailors knots so you don't end up cursing at a heap of knots upon deconstruction. Tie your awnings in a cross for your basic tent shape. Then get draping with your sheets and duvet covers. To stop gaps I found hair grips and clips held sheets together well. Once your happy with the tents shape, decorate with cushions and fairy lights. Construction took me about one and a half hours - no, I'm not joking and yes it was worth it.

James in the fort.

Pleased with myself.

Preferably choose a room that you don't need to use on a generally day to day basis, unless you enjoy crawling that is. Either that or build on a weekend so if (when) you fall asleep in the fort you don't wake up at 7am needing your work clothes and realise that they are all housed in an integral part of the forts architecture (wardrobe).

What I used:

• Lots of sheets/duvet covers
• Blankets and cushions
• Random rope type things for the main structure (I used dressing gown cords and fabric waist ties from dresses)
• Lots of clippy coat hangers
• Miscellaneous hair clips and hair grips
• A shoe lace
• Fairy lights

In the slightly more normal Valentines spirit James cooked steak and bought me flowers, then we set up camp with Crazy Stupid Love and ate ourselves to death. It was good.

Dinner Dance

Last weekend James' work held their annual dinner dance. With some last minute outfit buying under our (James') belt we trundled off down the M5 until we reached the Imperial Hotel in Torquay. After arriving and assessing what freebies could be nabbed we headed to the bar to watch the six nations.

The view from the hotel's lounge was quite something to behold. Imagine more of a 180 view like this, all you could see was sea.

We spruced ourselves up and headed downstairs with eager tummies. A well stocked table spelt our downfall for the next morning but our winning moves on the dancefloor.

The food was nothing really to write home about unfortunately but by profiteroles o'clock all I could taste was Zinfandel anyway.

Definitely not sneaking off with the complimentary wine... It would go to waste otherwise!

I wore this LBD I found on sale at ASOS last summer. I should have got a picture from the back because it has really nice back detail. The gold metal belt is also ASOS, bag is from Accessorize and the heels are Primark. A triumph of an outfit as far as bargains are concerned, I don't think it adds up to any more than £80.

Necklace - Primark

 After falling in love with Emma Stone in Gangster Squad, I went with vintage hair and make up. Lipstick is Stiletto by Sleek which I'm nearly out of, couldn't recommend it enough.