OOTD; A Day In London

This Saturday, me and my boyfriend headed to London for a belated birthday trip for him, we went not to long ago (the beginning of the year) so decided we would have a more kind of tourist day out and do a few different things, these including the London Eye and a trip to Shoreditch and Brick Lane, before a spot of shopping in Oxford Circus too.

It was such a lovely day, one of those ones that you never want to end, plus we were very lucky with the weather too as it was lovely sunshine most of the day, with the odd patch of rain showers too (it is England after all). Although we didn't take any full blog style outfit images, we did take quite a few photo's which I thought I would share.. 

Sunglasses | Miu Miu

Pink Blouse | Archive by Alexa | £35.00

Flare Jeans | H&M | £20.00

Silver Boots | Daisy Street | £30.00 

Hello there famous pelican of Brick Lane (we walked quite abit to get a glimpse of this one). 

As well as the amazing graffiti down near Brick Lane, it's also know for it's bagel shops, markets and of course all things vintage. We headed in to a small indoor market and found these amazing pineapple flowers.. Of course I had to buy them but they did get a little squashed after being carried around London for almost ten hours haha. They are still going strong though and are currently placed in my rose gold vase near the window! 

I'm heading off to New York bright & early in the morning and I'm so excited although slightly terrified of having jet-lag haha.. anybody else have that as a fear or just me? 

What did you get up to this weekend? Be sure to let me know! 

Hope you're all well! 

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OOTD; The Eliza Dress

On Sunday I wore my Alexa for M&S Eliza dress for the very first time, it was super sunny & warm weather-wise meaning no tights and instead just a simple pair of patent black boots! 

I actually really like the look of ankle boots & dress with no tights, just bare legs now. I used to find the combination would make me look really strange height/body proportion wise, I'm not sure if it was because of where my boots stopped etc. but I'm very much a fan of the look now! 

Sunglasses | Miu Miu

Dress | Alexa Chung for Marks and Spencer | £45.00

Backpack | Topshop | £80.00

Ankle Boots | Topshop | £35.00

I also popped on my fluffy Topshop backpack and Miu Miu sunglasses to keep from taking squinted eyes blog photographs..

 
I hope you're all well and having a great week so far, happy hump day too!
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Archive by Alexa Chung

Of course we all seen this blog post coming.. Archive by Alexa! 

In Wednesday's post I briefly wrote about ordering the Eliza Dress from the Alexa archive collection for Marks and Spencer & so thought it could be nice to piece together a little post fully devoted to this. Although I did only order the one dress online, I may of made a trip to the closest Marks & Spencer store near by and bought the Harry Blouse yesterday.. 

 

Eliza Dress | £45.00

Harry Blouse | £35.00 

As the Marks & Spencer's closest to me is pretty big I did initially think they may have a few of the Alexa pieces in stock however when I got there they actually had the whole collection with so so many sizes left. When I was paying at the till the lady said that they had received double stock of the Alexa pieces and had placed all the remaining stock out that afternoon so once it was gone, it was 100% gone.. 

In terms of what I think of the collection as a whole, I actually think it's really great quality & fits really lovely although I have seen a few posts on social media of people not agreeing with this. 

The prices I also think worked out really well as they were pretty much just normal M&S prices.

I've also spotted some of the items listed on eBay already for literally double their original prices, 

it's crazy what a limited edition item can do haha!

(pink or white was the question.. pink of course!)

I'm not completely sure if any of the items will still be available online at the M&S website as you're reading this, but right this second whilst I'm writing, they currently have a lot left and a whole range of sizes. To click through to have a little look the link is here.

I hope you're all having a great weekend so far! 

Also, be sure to let me know what pieces you picked up from the collection if any, or even just your faves from seeing them online etc. 

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Wednesday Wishlist: Hello Spring!

Spring is in the air & that makes me one very happy girl! 

There is literally nothing nicer than waking up to the sun shining through the window and of course a new season means..new clothes!

I thought I would pick out some of my very fave pieces on Polyvore at the moment & I can't even lie, I am 1000% in love with every single item above! 

I'm thinking embroidered floral's, frills, lace, pastels and of course heels and sunglasses for this wonderful sunny season.. 

Today also marks the day Alexa Chung's Archive for Marks & Spencer's went live.. 

I was obviously super excited to get shopping & was logged into the website bright and early this morning. 

Although I was pretty close to buying the dreamy pastel pink Harry shirt which Alexa is wearing in the image above, I decided to just stick with the one item I'd been swooning over since first spotting it.. 

Hello Eliza dress! 

It's safe to say, I will be eagerly awaiting by my post box for it to arrive. 

Did you get your hands on any of the Alexa collection? If so let me know what you picked out! 

I have a very exciting few weeks coming up in terms of trips (which of course means outfit photos), next weekend I am heading to London and then the following week I'm jetting off to New York City.. 

So as you can imagine I'm so so excited and already pretty much planned every single one of my outfits! 

I can't wait to post all about them once I'm back! 

I hope you're all well & getting to enjoy some of this lovely weather too.

Have a great day everybody!

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Meeting Alexa Chung!

Okay so, this is a post I can safely say I never thought I'd be writing, I mean ALEXA CHUNG!

Tuesday just gone, Alexa was in Liverpool (&Manchester the following day) promoting her brand new Snowglobe nail varnish. To be honest I didn't have the slightest idea about her visiting until one of my friends tagged me in a photograph of Alexa last week. I couldn't actually believe she was visiting Liverpool so of course I headed along, with my friend too! 

On the night Alexa was to be signing the brand new nail varnishes boxes however being the fan girl I am, I took my pretty little pink IT book along just on the off chance that she would sign that instead.. Ta DAAA, she did! She was honestly one of the nicest most genuine people & just as stunning in person. 

She even commented saying I looked lovely which was quite the compliment coming from her! 

I always remember being about 12/14 (the days of Myspace) and coming across the image of her in the cotton blue&white top&geeky glasses on, I had no idea who Alexa was from that image but it didn't take me long to become obsessed! I think she stands for a lot of positivity within the fashion world proving that it's not all about how much flesh you show but more about how you dress& what people will think of you for it. 

One of my most favourite quotes by her is this one.. 

My gripe is that a lot of young girls aspire to be super sexy and I don’t see why. What is attractive or alluring is not necessarily how much flesh you bare, but how good your brain is, or how much charm you have. Fake tan, fake tits - this porn thing has become embedded in our culture. It’s a shame. Maybe it’s because I’m a country girl, but I hate it when women only dress for men. I think it’s more exciting to reveal less. Maybe wear layers of smocks and then have super-sexy underwear on. Dress like a pilgrim on the outside and a whore underneath.

— Alexa Chung

&something I most definitely live by! 

Whilst at the Harvey Nichols, I picked up this BLUE, yes blue MAC lipstick (named Matte Royal) that I have had my eye on for a while. I've only tried it out once so far but I actually really like it. 

I think because it has hints of purple within the blue colour it's a little more Autumn/Winter and less Joey from friends! (thanks Soph haha). I'm sure I'll post an instagram image of this quirky blue addition soon enough.

Hope you're all well!

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These are a few of my favourite things - October Favourites

I actually can not believe we are so close to the end of the year already, it's literally flew by! 

Halloween is this weekend, then Christmas! ahh! 

Anyway, I thought I would post about a few things I have been loving this month.

First up, THESE Topshop bargains!

Last week I went out for a little afternoon shop, not for anything in particular (you know those day's that turn into you seeing all sorts you don't need& before you know if your hands are full&bank balance ran dry..) but Topshop was having a huge mid-season sale so I thought why not take a peek. 

I spotted these pink beauties and felt like it was shoe fate when they were actually my size! 

Wait for the best bit.. These only cost me £10!! Such a great bargain.

Next, Alexa Chung app - Villoid! 

Now of course anything Alexa does is pretty much perfect but her app, I honestly can't explain my love for it. 

Super simple to use & gives me so much inspiration for outfits in no time at all. 

If you don't know what Villoid is yet, imagine Pinterest and Polyvore tied together/ if those two websites had a child.. 

Basically you create boards with images, clothing items, accessories etc. and then save them to your personal profile which other users can see& you can also share them via. twitter, instagram etc. 

Here's a couple of style boards I have created so far.. 

You can also buy the exact items directly through the app, so if you're anything like me be sure to keep your bank card out of reach.. 

 

...There's only so many times I can swoon over Shrimps fur before I crumble!

Also I tweeted about putting together this post& Alexa favourited it, how amazing!? 

I feel like my 14 year old self would be dying over it nevermind me right now at 22!

Moving on, a shop I have been loving this month is Paperchase, seriously from their Christmas decorations to cute funny postcards, Paperchase is like heaven at the minute! I picked up these three decorations last week.. a pineapple, a Christmas ostrich and angel sausage dog, halo included of course! All their Christmas decorations are on 3 for 2 also which basically means you get a free one so why not buy more.. 

(that's a question I'm asking myself at the moment, as I'm sure I'll be heading back soon). 

I also have a photo wall in my bedroom which has lots of mix matched frames filled with photo's, quotes etc. so I wanted to find some quirky little postcards that I could pop into a few empty frames I had.. Ta Daa! 

Literally the coolest postcards ever, &they are super cheap too!

"you looked taller on tinder"

&&

"real unicorns have curves"

My very last favourite for this month is my Alex Monroe Bumble Bee Necklace, this is very much a favourite for me every single day not just this month. I bought it at the very beginning of the year using money I got as Christmas gifts from family. I went for the rose gold version just so it could suit my everyday jewellery a bit more, so far the chain has started to go a bit dis-coloured, but after almost a year of wearing it every single day I can't really complain. 

I love how the little bee adds just enough dainty detail to any outfit! 

Have you found something new that you're particularly loving this month? Or even an old fave? 

Let me know, I hope you're all well. 

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April Monthly Favourites

LUSH Golden Egg Bath Melt

Whenever its any kind of festive event / holiday, I instantly think of the limited edition things from LUSH, sad I know but that's how my twenty one year old mind now seems to work.. 

Anyway at the beginning of the month I headed into the shop and picked up a few special Easter products including this golden egg as well as a few rabbit shaped bath bombs. 

I seriously loved this bath melt (even if it did leave gold glitter ALL over the bath) .. it leaves a really nice kind of silky feeling to your skin and smelt very calming too.

Mug Cake // Dodo Mug (ASDA/ £3)

Cakes are one of my many downfalls in life.. 

This been said I had been looking at mug cakes for quite some time now & fancied having a go of my own.

If you don't know what a mug cake is.. its cake making without all the fuss of messy bowls, mixers, heating the oven etc. 

You basically put all your ingredients into a large mug.. give it all a good mix with a spoon and pop it in the microwave for a few minutes.. so easy & so so good! 

The recipe I used was one from TESCO's website and was chocolate&raspberry..

I'll list all the ingredients below in case you fancy trying one for yourself. 

4 tbsp self - raising flour

4 tsp golden caster sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp malted milk powder (Horlicks)

1 large egg

2 tbsp milk

3 tbsp sunflower oil

6-8 raspberries

10-12 chocolate chips or chocolate buttons

mix together and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes

ELLE Magazine 

Ah the ELLE mag stickers get me everytime, last time the latest fashion designers were made into fruit and veg that suited their names & this times animals .. Amazing.

A few of my favourites have to be Anna as a lizard & Chinchilla Versace!

Alexa Chung / IT

I don't think I will ever fall out of love with Alexa's book, its possibly the most 'Instagram-able' book ever created & its been on my instagram feed probably a few too many times.

I love some of the advice in the book and how its so easy to relate to.. if you're having a bit of a rough time, have a little read through & it will soon make you realise that the problems you have seem to be happening to every girl / woman and that its completely normally.. from heartbreak haircuts& what to wear to a festival.. we all need a bit of Alexa advice. 

Snapple Kiwi & Strawberry

Something else that is very suited for instagram, this perfect pale pink drink from snapple.. I admit I bought it for how pretty it looked but it actually tasted amazing, &something I would happily drink for the rest of my life (daily if I could).

Last but not least, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS .. for a good few months, two of my friends were speaking about Pretty Little Liars & how I should start watching it. After a few train journeys of not understanding the conversation (who the hell is A?) 

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and have a little watch to see what they were talking about. 

Now I'm not usually one of these people who gets hooked on shows but I swear my netflix app hasn't been closed for longer than an hour for the past month. I seriously got the Pretty Little Liars bug & have already finished all five seasons in just over a month and a half.. I already can't wait for the new episodes to come out. 

I hope you're all well, &would love to know if anyone try's the mug cake too. 

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A more likely icon; Back To Alexa

Recently I've been looking at myself & most days thinking "what the hell are you wearing Hollie?" .. 

(that as well as my boyfriend thinking one of my pvc skirt's was actually a carrier bag when I took it out my suitcase last weekend)... which isn't really the best. 

This got me thinking about how I used to dress& how much its changed.

Alexa Chung was the first person I ever looked up to as an idol, so to say. I always remember seeing a photograph of her in a embroidered white top& geek chic glasses& tumblr and instantly loving her from that day. Although I would never copy a look, I do want to start dressing a bit less 'walking rainbow like' & more sophisticated again. Therefore whilst most twenty one years old are out getting drunk on a Saturday night, I'm sat in, browsing through the many pages of Polyvore creating looks based on Alexa's style that could inspire me, as well as ordering a mass of breton striped tops at the same time, obviously.

bag  | here

striped top | here

quilted bag | here

book | Alexa Chung IT

loafers | here
What I love about Alexa is how effortless she looks yet know it probably isn't just any old dress she's threw on that morning.. Stripes and denim could never be done wrong.
I love these furry loafers, so much I think I'm going to try to create / post a DIY post based on them soon, so keep an eye out for that.

patent boots | here

ruffle top | here

skirt | here

metallic bag | here

fedora hat | here

Classy crop tops; I think crops can be hard to wear without showing a tad to much skin, I recently seen a photograph of Alexa wearing a ruffle crop similar to the one above with a midi skirt too, shoulders or knees but never both could be a new rule, like boobs or legs yet a bit different.

oversized camel coat | here

dress | here

leopard clutch | here

grey socks | here

chunky loafers | here

Camel coats, clutches and chunky shoes.. What more can I say.

Dress like a pilgrim on the outside and a whore underneath. — Alexa Chung.

Hope you're all well& enjoying the end of summer.

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