School Uniform

To be honest, I wish my school uniform had been like this. Vintage pinafores are still loving life in fashion land. I'm still debating getting a denim one, I like how they look but I guess I just haven't found "the one".

Back to my 'school uniform', this actually was the colour of my primary school uniform. Light blue shirt and dark navy jumper. Ah those were the days, playing hopscotch and sword fighting with maths equipment on 'wet lunchtimes'. How did they get away with a phrase like that?!

I absolutely LOVE this shirt. Back in April when I was in Spain we took a day trip to Marbella. The only preconceptions I had of Marbella is that the TOWIE lot love it and therefore it must be pretty chav-tastic but it was actually a lovely little town. Going in April meant that it was pretty quiet so it may well be a different story in the summer but we liked it. Anyhow, while there I spotted a vintage and secondhand shop called Utopia run by an English girl called Katie. The shirt jumped out at me straight away but I wasn't supposed to be shopping so I left. I then realised what a terrible mistake I had made and came back to find it closed for siesta! I wasn't going to be beaten by a Spanish nap so I waited around and finally, it was mine.

That story is all yours for free.

Pinafore - New Look

Pussybow Blouse - Utopia

Studded Bag - Moroccan Market

Oxfords - Office

Lipstick - Stiletto by Sleek

Casual Cover Up

There's something I love about clashing casual with something a little, um, less casual. The camo jacket was so big last year and while it was probably one of those one hit wonder fashion items, I still love mine. I'll put it over pretty much anything, ill-advised or not.

Braving this awful weather with bare legs is starting to get a bit old now. Please happen, summer. I can't cope with another monsoon season. There's only so much rain a girl can take.

I'd like to point out that I had no idea my hair would blend seamlessly into the brickwork behind me. Quite the party trick.

Camo Jacket - Pull & Bear

Turquoise Midi Dress - In Love With Fashion

Studded Boots - New Look

Bonjour Belt - ASOS

Art Deco Bag - Accessorize

Necklace - H&M

Lipstick - Touch of Magic by Barry M

Work Wear for Boys

The nature detectives among you may notice that these pictures were taken some time ago, which explains the lack of tree foliage but seeing as the weather hasn't really gotten much better, this outfit is still pretty fitting  for our wonderful UK climate.

Not that I've done a lot of Googling on the subject but I think there is a lack of men's fashion blogs out there. While James is not a fan of being snapped, I love his style and I think there probably are a lot of closet male fashion fans out there, so why not get it out there?

This look is pretty typical of something James would wear to work on a daily basis. He works in I.T. and needs to look averagely smart, so this covers the smart casual pretty well. I very much like the mustard jumper with the chambray shirt contrast.

Jacket - H&M

Jumper - H&M

Chambray Shirt - H&M

Jeans - H&M

Boots - Matalan

Neon & Acid Wash Denim

I just happened to be strolling along under the trees, in the sunlight. You know how it is. Does anybody else feel like a damn fool posing for blog photos? Especially when the dog walkers are doing the rounds and their very fluffy dog stops to have a butchers.

This is my second foray into the neon trend. I spotted this skater skirt in H&M while I was shopping this weekend and it was one of those 'don't have time to try it on, I'm gonna make a leap of faith' and you know what? I'm glad I leaped. I've got nothing else like it and I'm looking forward to seeing what else I can clash it with.

The acid wash denim shirt and silky bomber jacket are both weekend buys too. I loved the tone of the shirt and it's interesting because it has a sheer panel at the back. The bomber jacket was my bargain buy reduced to £7! I bought it many sizes too big in order for it to be slouchy, although I think I could probably have scaled it down a bit from a size 20. I was just too excited and picked up the first one I found.

Bomber Jacket - Primark

Acid Wash Denim Shirt - Primark

Neon Skater Skirt - H&M

Chelsea Boots - Peacocks

Necklace - Primark

Nails - Satsuma Gelly Nails by Barry M

Cat Tee

Some days you just want to wear a cat t-shirt and be done with it. To make it a little bit more styled with very little effort, I added a blazer and my 'Home Alone' hat.

To take it out of super casual territory, my Mulberry Alexa and studded boots polish it up a bit.

Blazer - Primark

Cat Tee - Thai Market

Skinny Jeans - H&M

Studded Boots - New Look

Home Alone Hat - Primark

Lipstick - Infrared by Topshop

How To Style Monochrome

Monochrome is a trend that has really taken me by surprise.

I never choose such plain colours, it goes against my colourful nature. Heh.

But really, I find it a bit of a challenge, so I set myself a bit of a task 'How to style monochrome' and based all the looks around my new statement trousers from H&M.

Black and White

Keeping to just black and white was definitely the easiest way to style a monochrome look and I think one of the most striking. I did discoverer that matching whites is harder than you might think and it looks really wrong if it's an off white against the pure white of my trousers.

Jumper - New Look

Monochrome Trousers - H&M

Brogues - Office

Necklace - Moroccan Market

Studded Bag - Moroccan Market

Lipstick - Heartbreaker by Sleek

Monochrome and Neon

I've found neon quite difficult to style and then monochrome came along, like a knight in shining black and white armour.

Neon Top - H&M

Studded Slippers - Missguided

Necklace - Primark

Block Colour and Sports Luxe

Block colour works well with monochrome, particularly a bold, primary colour. These trousers are pretty smart usually, so to mix it up a bit I wore Converse for a take on 'sports luxe'. Yah.

Royal Blue Top - New Look

Boyfriend Jacket - Oh My Love

Converse

Geometric Necklace - H&M

Lipstick - Stiletto by Sleek

Classic

Keeping it classic with polished heels, a white shirt and red lips works like a monochrome dream. While this is hardly an everyday look for me, it's nice to whack out the killer heels once in a while.

White Shirt - New Look

Heels - Primark

Gold Watch - ASOS

Lipstick - Stiletto by Sleek

How do you style monochrome?

The Simple Sundress

 

I spotted this sundress in the H&M magazine a while back and like a lot of the things I spot in magazines decided I should snap it up and then promptly forgot about it.

Then I discovered it in store and remembered the love. Ahh fickle fashion.

I wasn't expecting to be able to wear it so soon, then this bank holiday arrived and the sun with its hat firmly on. When it's as hot as it has been for the past few days, I can only think about summer dresses and sandals. My summer fashion is pretty old school but I made this look a little more modern with the neon accent sandals.

Denim Sun Dress - H&M

Neon Sandals - H&M

Studded Bag - Moroccan Market

Sunglasses - Primark

Watch - Sekonda at ASOS

'Hannah' Necklace - Majorca Market circa 1994

Stripes

A statement shirt can be a real godsend on lazy days and luckily stripes are all 'big' for SS13. 

I spied an incredible striped shirt in Zara but at £40 ish the bargain hunter in me just wouldn't let it happen. Fortunately about a week later I spotted this navy version in the sale in New Look for £7!

Bargain hunter win.

I've also been wearing these Office shoes to death because they are the best things in life ever. I LOVE an androgynous shoe and these are just that bit better than your standard brogue.

Let's have another look at them...

Stripe Shirt - New Look

American Apparel Disco Pants

Black Buckle Brogues - Office

Wayfarer Sunglasses - Primark

Necklace - H&M

Ring - River Island

Lipstick - Bourjois Juicy Tangerine