Let's take a little look around.. Home Comforts

I was having a think all about my blog the other day & thought although I post mainly about what I'm wearing it could be pretty nice to share a little look into my 'personal space' ..

I'm pretty obsessed when it comes to buying homeware & will pick up things from anywhere and everywhere when I have the chance. I also have a lot to thank my friends for when it comes to cute/quirky pieces for my bedroom from previous Birthday & Christmas presents, quick hint - they know I love anything pineapple themed haha!

First off.. Pretty peonies, pugs & of course pineapples! 

This little section is located on my work desk in the room, quite a lot of the little pieces have been gifts including the green Sunnydip Pineapple candle (that smells of the most delicious pineapple sweets) as well as the gold pineapple pot too! 

My boyfriend got me the two little pugs (which are actually salt & pepper pots) & I picked up the NYC card whilst there last month.. Of course I had to display a photobooth pictures & my Miu Miu sunglasses as well. 

Moving on to my make up / getting ready area.. I keep quite a bit of my make up on this vintage silver cake stand as well as a few retro looking pots which have my brushed/lip liners etc. in! 

I also have the amazing pink pineapple pot which was another present which I keep all my eyeliners, mascara's & eyebrow tools in.I then have another vintage cake stand, this time glass with some jewellery pieces laid out on. 

From the images you can see the rest of my bits & pieces such as perfumes, my polaroid camera and my other pair of Miu Miu sunglasses, once again that stunning pink velvet case of dreams has to be on show for sure!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes! 

I keep all of my clothing items on each of the two rails, although they may need a little dust from time to time.. I really love having all of my clothe visible & almost on display so I can see and choose what to wear each day. I also have recently started sticking each of my polaroid images onto my plain white door, I had a whole heap of photos with nothing to do with them so I thought why not pop them up and see them daily. As well as the photos of course I have a little bit of fluff including my two Charlotte Simone scarfs, my pink mongolian fur collar from Topshop & my new super cute fluffy cap which I bought from dreamy fashion blogger Pie & Fash!

The last little section I'm going to share is.. Books & Bunnies.

I always love know what books people keep near their bedside whether its for ascetic reasons or actually just their fave books. One of mine is most definitely Alexa Chung's IT, even after a few years of it been out now. I also love mine so much as it's actually signed after meeting her last year, making it super special to me. I also have a few fashion books too as well as a Jo Malone candle which was a Valentines present from my boyfriend! 

The rabbit lamp is 100% my favourite thing in my entire bedroom, I've had it for almost two years now after spotting it in Debenhams the first ever time I met up with my boyfriend after we met on holiday. I never bought it at the time but two weeks later I just had to go back as I couldn't stop thinking about it! I knew it would be a piece I would treasure and know I will keep it no matter where I live!

Do you have a particular way you like to lay out your personal space or happy to have things any old way as long as they are there? Also, let me know what your most treasured item is as I love knowing all about peoples favourite pieces, especially if they have stories behind them!

I hope you're all well! 

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NYC - What I got up too..

In my last post I was a few days away from jetting off to the big apple for a city break... 

New York was everything I thought it would be & more, so amazing! 

To be honest I was a little nervous about going mainly because of how people say you can't stop for a second without getting trampled on haha, but luckily enough I never came face to face with a situation like that (maybe Times Square actually, but other than that, all safe & sound!).

As a city I actually found New York to feel one of the safest & most friendly places I had ever visited!

So what did I get up to? 

Of course the obvious super tourist trips had to happen.. Statue of Liberty was top of the list for me as I had seen so many amazing photographs & just could not wait to get snapping some of my own!

We had around five days to explore the city & made plenty of stop offs in the following places -

Central Park

Rockerfeller

5th Avenue (luckily our hotel was just off of here which meant lots of shopping!)

The Guggenheim Art Gallery

The Natural History Museum

Chelsea Market

The High Line Park

Times Square

Upper East Village (Sex and the City fans know the score)

Grand Central Terminal

& the Empire State Building

We were super lucky with the weather for most of the days which made me one very happy tourist! 

One of my favourite, not so typical tourist hot spots was the CUPCAKE ATM machine at Sprinkles Bakery just opposite Bloomingdales.. 

After spotting this gem on Instagram & my friend telling me all about it, I just knew I had to go & let me tell you the red velvet cupcake did not disappoint, so delicious! 

For other not so typical hot spots I made a Pinterest board before I left which you can find .. here!

As I also mentioned, the hotel I stayed in was just off of 5th Avenue which was perfect for me just not so much for my bank balance / holiday budget. On the very last day I caved and treated myself to a new pair of Miu Miu sunglasses, as I already have the green glitter ones I thought I would keep it classy and go for all black with simple gold details. I love them so very much & see them as I kind of reminder of how much of a great time I had in NYC too! 

Have you been anywhere exciting recently or jetting off sometime soon? 

Let me know! 

I hope you're all well. 

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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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OOTD; Charlotte Simone Popsicle

Charlotte Simone.. 

The most dreamy & amazing faux fur accessories around in my opinion. So if your boyfriend not only knows about the brand to begin with but actually manages to find the one you've had your eye on for months and buy you it, he's a good egg right? 

I've loved the Charlotte Simone popsicles for I'd say at least a year and a few months now but after spotting one in Liberty for almost half price I did the whole "oh I don't need it" and as soon as I got home had the instant 'I NEED it, WHY did I not buy it' regret. With Valentines day coming up my boyfriend was so so thoughtful and after a lot of favours and phone calls to Liberty somehow managed to get me the pink popsicle!! As well as a black cuff too! 

Two Charlotte Simone's and I get to have them early too which is kind of like a present in itself. 

I think it means such a lot when somebody goes out of their way to get you something really special, even something not expensive (unlike this little faux fur piece) but knowing somebody has gone out of their way for you is one of the nicest feelings in the whole world. I did almost cry when I found out how he had got me them but held back so he didn't think I was completely weird crying over a little bit of fluff ha ha! 

I'm probably never going to take my Charlotte Simone scarves off until at least summer so lets see just how many outfit posts they appear in..

On Sunday we headed to a little place that was full of tea rooms and pastel painted buildings, we were only there for an hour or so, but after bacon & maple syrup pancakes and the BEST black forest hot chocolate I've ever had, we were more than ready to come home. That was of course after a few outfit photographs and me look extremely awkward as people walked past me taking them (naturally)..

black polo neck jumper | primark | £5.00

faux leather dungarees | topshop sale | £35.00

bag | zara | £30.00

lace up shoes | river island | £30.00

If you have somebody willing to go out of their way for you be sure to hold on to them, even if it's just them picking up your favourite sweets after you having a bad day, people like that are hard to come buy whether it's a friend, a family member, a boyfriend etc. Make sure they know you're grateful & appreciate it. 

I'm pretty sure my boyfriend is fed up of me saying thank you already and it's only been a week or so ha ha!

Is there anything pretty expensive you have on your wishlist and are saving up for at the moment?

I hope you're all well and have a great weekend! 

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What I bought; For just under £15

pastel pink coat | £4.00

detailed jacket | £3.00

long kimono | £5.00

polka dot two piece | £2.25

I haven't done a what I bought post in such a long time, mainly because the money I had went into the holiday savings jar, but I can always a few pennies left over for charity shops of course! 

The first coat is something I've been looking for, I really like the idea of pastels in the winter months so I now own this pastel pink and also a pastel blue coat (seen in my last post), I hate to say it but I can't wait to wear them on the cold train journeys to uni. The gold style jacket was really cheap to considering how much work is in, its really heavy, I've worn it already with a snakeskin blouse and felt asif I should be in some kind of animal print tribe. Also, I've been wanting a floor length kimono/jacket for a while now and I think this one will be really good for layering. Last but not least, the polka dot two piece was a absolute steal at pretty much £2, everything in the charity shop was half price, but even at £4.50 for both is cheap, I've hemmed the top into a crop but really like how the midi skirt looks with it. 

So for the best part of £15.00 I really can't complain.

Hope you're all well!

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Only spend what you can afford.

blazer | asos sale | £39.00

paloma tee | concert | £20

books | amazon | £10 - £15 each 

dvd | amazon | £4.00

tangle teezer | boots | £11.00

Lately I've being trying to budget my money abit more and not spend (waste) it on clothes, I used to buy whatever clothes I liked but just end up sending most of them to the charity shop, therefore I am only buying things I really really want. 

I saw the floral blazer on ASOS reduced from £90 which I thought was pretty good, It had a lovely matching pants but I just don't think I'd get much wear out of them, therefore it was just the blazer in my basket this time. I've wanted one like this for quite a while, I have a bright coloured similar one which is really only good for the summer so now I have one for each six months of the year (maybe?)

Last night I went to see Paloma Faith live in Manchester, she was truly amazing (even better live than on her album), I spotted the rabbit tee on her website a while ago but thought "oh I don't need it" .. obviously I did need it because ta daa, its hanging in my wardrobe now. 

The two books I've been wanting for a while now, I think they will be good to read as I'm not quite sure what I want to do with my life, not for a second am I saying a book is going to change my life but I just need to know what's out there. I've wanted to be involved in fashion/clothes/creative kind of jobs since I was about 15, its just finding the right thing for me. A lot of websites recommended the Visual Merch book, I think I want to head down that end of fashion, so that was a essential on my 'book list' (one of my new year goals is to read more, so far I'm doing pretty well).

Tangle teezer I'm going to review when I've had it for a while.

I hope you are all well.

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instagram : holliedingsdale

Christmas Crazy

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, I've kind of reached the age when Christmas isn't as exciting anymore (I was actually more excited at the thought of the food more than anything else). I didn't want to do a post about all the presents I received (mainly as a lot of people don't like that and instantly think your 'bragging or spoilt') however I got mostly money as presents since I'm going to Disneyland with five of my friends in Jan. I did get a lot of little bits and bobs along with a Kindle, I'm starting to think how did I ever read without one (lying down reading without the arm ache is amazing!).

Needle point Dr Marten Brogues; (present); £75 (here they have gone to £55 in the sale)

Velvet lace dress; Topshop Sale; £15

Pattern Dress; River Island Sale; £12 

(I love this dress more than anything, the print if perfect! I think I'm going to wear it for New Year, I think it could be the best £12 I've ever spent).

Leather/ Suede bag; (present) Zara; £60 (I think it has gone down in the sale to, how annoying)

Snakeskin Kimono; H&M sale; £10

I've never really been one for fighting threw the sales for a cheap price but I haven't bought myself clothes for a long time so thought I'd give the sales a go.. I'm so glad I did, two dresses and a kimono for around £40 is cheap as chips. 

Hope you are all well.

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Old houses&Polaroids.

 

So, I finally got my new camera and it was truly well worth the wait. I was going to buy a old polaroid but spotted these new fujifilm instax, the images come out at the size of a credit card, but they are so cute. Where I live the is this old empty building which I'd never thought to go to before, but when we went to look I couldn't believe how pretty it was, threw all the windows you can see the vintage wallpaper and ruined curtains, Its such a lovely place but is probably going to get knocked down. I also got lots of cute little badges from a charity shop, so I popped two on the jacket, the eyes open and shut.. I love it.

I think I've shown all these clothes before;

Dress; AA

Jacket; Vintage Fair; £22

Bag; ASOS; £37.50

Shoes; Topshop; £32.00

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