OOTD; Sunglasses, Ice Cream.. and a coat!

Oh hello typical British summer.. warm and sunny enough for sunglasses and ice cream yet chilly enough for a coat.

sunglasses | miu miu

coat | topshop | oldish 

jeans | marks and spencers | £25.00

pointed shoes | tesco | £6.00 (a bargain in the sale)

patent bag | vintage

On Saturday night me, my mum and my dad headed for a evening near the seaside to eat fish and chips, ice cream as well as a few games in the arcade near the sea.. 

It's actually really hot here in the UK today however Saturday night near the windy pier called for a coat and jeans whilst still wearing a huge pair of glittery sunglasses.. of course. 

I wanted to spend the evening with my mum and dad as I am heading up to stay with my boyfriend and his friend for a couple of weeks tonight this is due to me starting a three month internship bright and early tomorrow morning! I'm really looking forward to this as it will be a new experience and I believe I will learn quite a lot on the job to. This been said, I'll obviously miss my parents whilst I'm busy two hours away at my internship, hence the family trip out. 

I thought I'd mention in this post about my new camera too. I have been looking at the Olympus Pen for quite a while now, (mainly after seeing it on a lot of peoples instagram selfies) &decided to finally take the plunge into buying it on Sunday morning, ready for click and collect yesterday. So far I'm extremely pleased with the camera and the images are so crisp it puts my old camera to shame. Its the first time I'm using a removable lens on a camera to so I think that may make all the difference. I'm not going to pretend that the trendy white and cream faux leather design of the camera didn't sell it to me, because it really was a strong factor of me buying it.. very 'fashion blogger' themed indeed.

Anyway, a new camera should mean more blog posts and hopefully you'll be able to tell the difference in the photograph quality too. 

I hope you're all well. 

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OOTD; Pinafore and Stripes

denim pinafore | new look | £19.99

striped top | matalan | £8.00

shoes | new look

This weekend I headed to the Trafford Centre in Manchester to try my best at getting most of my holiday shopping done. I decided to wear this denim pinafore as it was quite simple yet dressy enough for a day's shopping. Although I did go for no tights, I took a leopard print coat just in case it was a bit chilly (it wasn't& my and my boyfriend ended up carrying the coats all day, typical hey). I feel like this outfit is abit kind of Alexa Chung inspired with the stripes and denim then the patent black shoes too.

Anyway, I was really happy with all the new clothes I got, especially some amazing bargains from the endless sales which were happening, ZARA well & truly dinted my bank balance. Whilst in H&M I spotted these cute little fruit keyring's in the accessories section, I couldn't choose between the banana's or peach so I ended up with both.. they did have other fruits though to including lemons and pineapples too. 

Have you picked up any good bargains recently? 

I'd love to know & I hope you're all well.

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Keeping Things Updated; Final Fashion Shows All Round..

I wanted to put together a kind of 'what I've been doing post' in terms of university and final year shows. As part of a trip with university we got to attend Graduate Fashion Week, the day was seriously so interesting, tiring but interesting none the less! We got to see the final catwalk show which was made up of twenty five graduate collections that had been voted the best. There were some really lovely collections and quite a few interesting ones which made it really fun to watch, its funny how you instantly compare peoples work and how long they have probably spent on each tiny detail of a garment for it to just be on a catwalk for thirty seconds or so. Whilst we were at Graduate Fashion Week I had my first ever 'fan girl' situation after spotting Susie Bubble from across the catwalk, I seriously love her blog and her sense of style too. 

With the end of the university year coming up (hence Graduate Fashion Week), it also means its time for final year fashion shows all around each university, college etc. including me! My final year show took place just last night and I thought I would share just a few photographs of my work and final collection. 

Although I have briefly said about my collection in a blog post before it was never in very much detail . I based my collection on the concept of Granny Chic, taking a lot of inspiration from the Advanced Style blog. I wanted to create garments that were very fun yet extremely oversized and could compliment either a older woman who wanted to seriously stand out from the pensioner crowd or a younger market such as myself who wished to look a little bit quirky and original in extremely oversized garments. My colour scheme included a lot of pastels as well as huge amounts of faux fur, pom pom's and PVC which came from the initial idea of granny's rain macs for those gloomy days.

Other parts of my final year show included showcasing other parts of my classes work. I included some of my illustration work as well as my styling and photography of which I had photographed my mum in my handmade garments. 

I think the shoot was quite quirky since she was sitting in a empty bath tub wearing bright pink rubber gloves& sunglasses.. not a typical Monday night in my household. I was actually really proud because my class decided they wanted one of these photographs to be on all the fashion show tickets! Meaning once someone bought a ticket my photography would be for everyone to see, as well as my mum in her fancy pink marigolds..

Since it's time for my to now venture into the big wide world of work and the 'real' fashion industry I thought it was about time to start getting a bit more serious with how I represent myself.. This meaning I have finally got around to all those little 'ah I'll do them next week' things on my to do list. 

So far my CV has been updated, I'm carrying my portfolio around wherever I go that I could meet somebody, I finally have a set of business cards and last but not least.. Contact Lenses!

I only usually wear my glasses for driving but recently my eyes have been getting worse.. I thought I since I may be getting job interviews/interning etc. that eyesight it probably a big deal.. 

Plus now I can actually wear sunglasses without feeling like the whole world is just one big blury place..

Sorry for how much of a chatty/blabberly blog post this has been but I hope you're all well.

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OOTD; A Trip To The Zoo, Cowboy Jacket Included..

jacket | pop boutique | £45.00

blouse | topshop | old

jeans | marks & spencers | £40.00

bag | zara | old 

To begin this post I think I should start with how strange it is for me to be blogging an outfit in which I'm wearing jeans! A few months ago I would never ever of believed anyone if they said I would be a fan of jeans as they were literally my most hated item of clothing in the world.. However now I am a changed person and quite the fan of jeans (owning a whole three pairs already). 

I think I had an idea of jeans looking really casual and boring however after trying out a few outfits I kind of realised that they are a staple and you can dress them up really really easily!

Anyway.. more to the point as to why I'm wearing this suede fringed jacket in front of a dinosaur.. 

Me and my boyfriend took a last minute trip to the safari park on Sunday and I can't even explain how amazing it was because we got the chance to feed giraffes from the car window on the way around the safari park! 

I don't know if its just me but I would never of imagined getting the chance to hand feed giraffes, especially with them just wandering around the cars and bending down to your hand for some food.. It was honestly one of the best things I've ever done. 

The safari park also had lots of other animals that you could feed including birds & deer.. I loved it as the zoo near my house doesn't have anything like that were you are able to actually touch or interact the animals.. I guess that's a perk of a long distance relationship.. getting to visit places you would never usually get to go to.

The suede fringed jacket was a last minute purchase for Parklife Festival which I went to a few weekends ago now, I wanted to wear something a bit different and something that 'spruced up' the typical denim shorts with wellies&knee high socks outfit.. &what could be more perfect to 'spruce' an outfit up than a 'cowboy jacket'. I had many comments about the jacket & even got the 'like a rhinestone cowboy' song sang to me.. so really what more could you want from an outfit hey?

Have you been up to anything exciting recently? 

&I hope you're all well.

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OOTD; Palm Tree Trousers

palm tree trousers | h&m | £14.99

fluff hem top | topshop sale

shoes | tesco | £6.00

fur coat | vintage

bag | zara | £39.99

Palm tree trousers in the palm tree house.. where could be better to photograph this outfit. If you are close to Liverpool or plan a day out here sometime then I would definitely recommend a quick hour or so trip to Lark Lane & the Palm House in Sefton Park. It's so lovely inside and although its only small I would still agree that its worth a visit. Me and my friend went and although it wasn't the nicest of weather it was still a lovely day, we also had milkshakes in jam jars and pancakes.. what could be a better way to spend a Monday morning after finishing university. 

I am obsessed with the whole botanical/palm tree trend for this summer and would be more than happy owning literally everything palm leaf print. H&M have currently got some amazing palm prints in, from bikini's to sunglasses cases .. I need them all! 

They are all pretty well priced too, making them perfect buy's for summer holidays. 

Have you been a new place that you've really liked recently? 

Hope you're all well.

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OOTD; That Meadham Kirchhoff Dress

As many people probably already know by now a few years ago Meadham Kirchhoff released a collaboration collection with Topshop. The collection featured a lot of faux fur, fluff, colour and crotchet. At the time the multicoloured crotchet dress was all I could think about buying however when I did try to purchase it, it was completely sold out.

The only thing that comes to mind in how I can describe how I feel about this dress is the quote "nothing haunts us like the clothes we didn't buy" &this dress seriously has haunted me for the past few years. I'd searched for it none stop on eBay, Amazon, Depop etc. as well as looking for endless dupes, even going as fas as buying a crotchet blanket to try and make my own version, however none of them just matched up. 

Anyway, a few months ago, I spotted one for sale on eBay &even though it was pretty expensive I just knew I had to buy it. The dress is actually in such great condition considering its been pre-owned and the seller even sent me the initial label for the dress too, I think it must of only been worn very few times if at all.

So after finally purchasing the knitted dress of dreams, I thought when would be a better time to wear it that my birthday!? 

I am now the grand old age of twenty two!

dress | meadham kirchhoff

knee high boots | ebay | £30

bag | zara | oldish

For my birthday me&my boyfriend headed to Nottingham for the night, I had never been before and really liked it as a place although I do think it is the kind of place that you need to go back a couple of times to have a real look around and get a feel for the place. The weekend included, pasta and cocktails, birthday pancakes, a bit of vintage shopping, photo booth posing as well as an emergency stop to buy socks due to these knee high boots been literally the most uncomfortable things ever made.. trying to put socks on 'gracefully' in the street was definitely not my finest moment, that's for sure. 

Birthday's always make me really emotional (trust me, every year I say the same thing) but I think it really makes you realise just how lucky you are to have the people in your life who you do& appreciate them as well as all the things they do for you. Soppy I know, but true none the less..

I hope you're all well & enjoyed your weekend whatever you got up too.

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OOTD; Vintage Leopard Dress

sunglasses | asos | £12.00

leopard dress | vintage shop via. eBay | £50.00

patent black shoes | new look | £10ish

bag | zara | old

Another classy changing room photo shoot for this post.

I think this could be my favourite dress of the moment, I spotted it on eBay from a vintage shop, they specialised in retro and vintage costumes but had a few quirky pieces for sale too. 

This dress was actually classed as a vintage 1950's night dress and was floor length when I originally bought it. 

I knew instantly that I would make it quite a bit shorter when I bought it and once I received it in the post, I cut quite a bit off.. I'm really happy with the idea of shortening the dress because it means I get to have a chunk of the lovely leopard fabric which I can use to either make something else or even a little accessory to match. 

I love buying vintage things because they are usually so well made and also kind of one off's since you can't just go out and find the exact same item on the high street, making the garment a little bit more special.

Have you found any vintage pieces lately?

&I hope you're all well.

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