Tan Boots

Ahhhhhh - remember how I bought these boots a while ago and how I wished that I had bought the tan version before they sold out? Well Zara may have solved my issue with these beauties! Love 'em, and even better they're in my price range. WIN. I may also have to buy these beauties...

Somewhat less practical but also so ridiculously pretty that they need to be in my wardrobe. It's the end of November so my self imposed shopping ban can finally come to an end! Hurrah!

Love B x

Sequins & Prints

So on my way home from work, I had to pop to the shops to buy my friend a birthday present and I may have accidentally gone shopping for myself whilst I was there. I picked up a couple of things from New Look and Accessorize.


 First up, is this. I love this top. The sequins are a really muted bronze/gold colour and it's the perfect top for drinks on a winter evening. It adds just enough glitz to an outfit but still is understated. Love it! It was around £22 too so it's a perfect little addition to my wardrobe. For me personally, New Look can be a bit hit and miss with their clothes but when they get it right they absolutely nail it.

Next up is this silky shift dress with 3/4 length sleeves. This is exactly the kind of dress I normally wear and I love the blue and tan shatter pattern. The tan isn't as orange as it would seem in this picture so the colour combination is really lovely. I love the interesting pattern and the exposed zip at the back. To dress it up a bit I wore it with House of Holland suspender print tights in black on black {rather than black/nude}. Again it was only about £25 which I think is brill for an interesting little party dress.

Last up is this bracelet. I haven't wanted to stop wearing it since I bought it! It's a bit more glam and in your face than I would normally wear but I love how vintage it looks. My friend had on the matching earrings that night and I think I might pick them up come payday too. It's the spot on balance of sparkle set in muted/dark gold that saves it from looking over the top. Instead it adds the perfect amount of sparkle to an outfit. It was around £15 so it was more than I would usually pay but I'm quite select about buying jewellery so I don't mind paying around £10 - £15  for something I know I will love and wear on rotation. Like the horseshoe necklace in the first picture! That was around £8 from Topshop and I live in it!

Not bad considering I was buying a friend a present! Now, to avoid the shops til payday! Though I desperately want to pick up more of those Leigh jeans from Topshop! I had always avoided buying Topshop jeans because I found they give too much and lose their shape and size. These babies are perfect though - just the right amount of stretch and so soft!

Love B x

Shopping...

Well. Just talking about knitwear didn't last long at all. I went shopping in Glasgow over the weekend and bought this jumper from Topshop. I'd seen it a while ago in Durham but had held off but I'm so glad I bit the bullet and bought it {even if I maintain Topshop can be a bit pricey for what it is}. It's a lovely soft knit and it isn't itchy or scratchy at all {a real bug bear of mine with jumpers}. I love the dusky pink/blush colour as well, and the bow detail on the back at the neck.  I bought these Leigh super skinny jeans too that are a lovely blue-grey. Or at least I think they're these ones? The online photo seems much more grey.They're lovely and soft, and I just hope that they don't stretch out too much. I love this colour combo, so no doubt it'll become a regular feature in my wardrobe. Excuse the mess in these photos - we were not long back from a weekend away at a friend's wedding.

I'll be pairing them with these boots, that I've just ordered and cannot wait to get my hands on. I had wanted the tan but dilly-dallied too long and they had sold out by the time I came to order them.  Black though is probably far more practical for Autumn/Winter in Edinburgh though. I'll do a post on them when they arrive. I've ordered a couple of other bits and pieces online as well {can you tell it was payday?!} so I'll be sure to post about them too.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a great start to the week?

Love B x

Seagulls

{River Island}

I am in love with this gorgeous little River Island blouse. Isn't the seagull print sweet?

Love B x

Untitled #7

Knit cardigan

Knit sweater

Zara cable knit sweater

River Island grey cardigan

REISS Womens Whisper Grey Cable Panel Roll Neck Kni

Seeing as we are truly into Autumn now {how on earth is it nearly October?!}, my thoughts have most definitely started to turn towards knitwear. Specifically, the kind of chunky knitwear that goes best with skinny jeans and boots of any sort. These are some of my current favourites - roll on payday. I love, love, love dressing for Autumn/Winter. I'm so much better at knitwear and layers than I am at the supposed 'effortless' dressing of Summer.

What do you you think?

Love B

x

Shopping...

I had gone into town with the intention of starting to source work clothes {I have finally got myself what will hopefully be a lovely job starting in September} and yet here I am surrounded by gorgeous but decidedly casual clothes. Oops!

{L-R: Jeans: Topshop, Stripey Jumper: H&M, Dress: Zara}

These jeans are a lovely rust/blush colour. I had pretty much held back from the coloured jean trend {despite my love of it} and I had only bought a red pair that I thought could see me into Winter/Autumn. I don't really go for bright colour but I knew I wanted a more muted pair that would see me through into the colder months. I was lucky enough to spy these in the sale and they were perfect. Even better {this is going to sound odd} the belt loops at the back had come away leaving tiny holes so with a discount for that added to the original sale price, these beauties only cost me £26! The issue is totally fixable once I get my hands on the right coloured thread and until then, I don't really wear short tops so the belt loops are always covered {I have issues where I'm convinced they make me look really disproportionate - just me?}.

The dress is from TRF in Zara. Always worth a look for a slightly cheaper version of some of the clothes that you find in Zara woman or Basic. I was once told that its a different set of designers working on each lot hence the difference in style, but I always think it's worth a look anyway. Always size up though - they're cut for tiny, pre-teen girls I swear! I loved the bird print though, and the back is slightly cut away. It comes in white but I thought the black was probably more versatile - it can be worn now with sandals {rather it could if it was actually sunny in Scotland} or later in the year with boots, tights and chunky cardigan.

Finally, the striped jumper was £15/£16 from H&M. It's a really fine, light weight knit making it perfect for the upcoming transition into Autumn and considering my love of stripes I couldn't really not buy it.

Love B x

Black & Tan

Kg boots, £180

Leather shoes, $185

Zara bike booties, $100

Kurt Geiger ankle booties, £260

Beige heels, $124

ASOS heel booties, $78

Gucci tassel boots, £625

To turn my mind on to autumn again {I know, I can't help it!} here is a round up of some of the boots available at the moment that I would gladly make room for in my wardrobe. Black and tan seemed to be an unintentional trend, as was suede. Some of them are practical, and some considerably less so and some, are within my budget whilst some are considerably outside of it. 

Such is life!

Which are your favourites? I love the Zara biker boots and the Tan suede ASOS pair. Can anyone enlighten me as to why polyvore insists on muddling up some of the prices into dollars? I definitely linked them from U.K sites. Thanks!

Love B

x

Miss Selfridge

Miss Selfridge polka dot dress £22 

Miss Selfridge knit cardigan £45

Miss Selfridge polyester shirt £39

Miss Selfridge blazer £55 

Miss Selfridge leather slipper £45 

All missselfridge.com

Whilst not one to often shop at Miss Selfridge, I am really quite enamoured with some of their current stock. The aztec print knit in particular is lovely - perfect for Autumn - as is the dress with the rough polka dots {though I'm not keen on the belt}.  I love the idea of the blazer with the faux fur collar though  I fear that, in reality, the quality might not do it justice. Shame really, it reminds me of this image that I've had in my inspiration folder for ever:

Le sigh. So chic! Maybe I just need to find myself a faux fur wrap/scarf* and a tweed blazer instead! Oh and a Chanel bag!

The Leopard loafers are bang on trend too, with plenty of others bringing out their own versions. Not one to judge a book by its cover, I'd be interested to see what the pieces are like in real life.

What do you think?

Love B

x

*I'm aware this is 99% unlikely to be fake. Not really my cup of tea to wear real fur. I still think the combination is lovely however.

Today's Outfit (and some shopping)

Today's outfit could not be less post-worthy if it tried: oversized grey knit {H&M - lovely!} and jeans. Practical outfit for a grey day at work.  I did want to blog about these shoes though. From New Look, they cost £15 {reduced from about £25 I think}. I'd put off buying a pair of shoes like this for a while - constantly trying them on then convincing myself I looked like a numpty.  I borrowed a pair from a friend though and instantly fell for them when I wore them outside of New Look's shoe department. They've got a slight give to them so became quite comfy, quite quickly and I love how I'll be able to wear them as a smarter work pair of flats.

This necklace I've mentioned before but I ended up snapping it trying to take a photo of the shoes {skills} and I just love how it catches the light. The grey jumper, the H&M one, though not really post worthy is really worth investigating. It's a fine, oversized knit that comes in a range of colours, and for £15 it's a great piece to have tucked in your wardrobe ready to move into Autumn.

Finally, to make the post a bit more interesting, I popped into Habitat on my way home from work and picked up a couple of lovely bits and pieces. If you haven't already popped into one of their closing down sales, it is well worth it. I bought two of these lovely chandelier tumblers {I thought they'd be sweet for water on our bedside tables or as make shift vases} for £4 and 2 glass candlesticks to add to my already hefty collection.

What do you think?

Love B x

Sunday Afternoon

It's been pretty grey and horrid here today so we've spent the afternoon curled up indoors. I like to pass the odd afternoon mentally shopping online - I pop whatever I fancy in my bag and think nothing of it. Thankfully I stop myself before I press 'buy' else I could end up spending a small fortune on net-a-porter and the like.

I spent this afternoon browsing H&M's current collection and there are so many pieces I'm coveting that would make perfect additions to my Autumn/Winter wardrobe. The ones above are just a small selection. What do you think? I reckon I might need to go shopping...

Hope you've have a lovely weekend!

Love B x

Sale shopping

As much as I love a bargain, I generally abhor sale shopping.  I don't really have the patience to deal with hoards of other shoppers or the clothes that seem to end up on every surface {I know this isn't true of all sales, but we're talking standard high street here}.  However, faced with a very quiet Thursday morning in town, shopping for a girlfriend's birthday, I nipped into a couple of shops en route. Now these purchases aren't exactly ground breaking {and actually, technically 50% weren't in the sale but were a bargain!}.

First up, a ring from the Orelia range in Topshop. I love this range - it does delicate jewellery {think pretty cocktail rings, long delicate chains and whisper thin bracelets} that I'd happily adorn myself in.  I try and restrain myself from going near it, knowing fine well that I could easily spend a fortune there {compared to Topshop's own line, it's a bit pricier}.  Anyway, they just happened to have some stock on mega sale, and after snooping around a bit I came across this beauty:

'scuse the Photobooth photo.  It looks more delicate than that in real life with a delicate, hammered gold effect and a lovely reflective gunmetal grey stone. She was marked down quite heavily too so I picked one up for me and my little sis {who is joining me for graduation on Monday, yay!}.

Next on my bargain hunt was these lovelies from New Look. I had seen them on one of the little ads alongside blogs and, having assumed they were leather, had planned on buying the tan pair and dying them black {so I would have a pair of wooden block heel black pumps, a la this post}.  I have to say, only seeing a tiny picture in an ad was probably a good thing - I'm not sure the images of them on the NewLook website do them justice. As it is, in real life, they're a kind of faux suede so my original dying idea was out of the question.  The tan had a matching tan heel, which I wasn't keen on and the black had a black wooden heel, which wasn't what I was after.  Then, like the Goldilocks of shoes, I came across these that were just right. The uppers are a deep rust/burnt red colour that contrasts perfectly with the tan heel and I think the particular colour makes them a little bit more interesting.  I can imagine wearing them with skinny jeans and a blouse for drinks and dinner.  Plus the heel height is 'right'.  I don't know if that makes sense to you, but I often find with cheaper shoes that the proportions of the heel to the shoe style don't seem quite right: a block heel will often not be high enough to lift it from clunky to stylish, if you see what I mean? Maybe I'm just too fussy...

Anyway, these were already under £20 but with my student discount they came to a fab £17-something so considering I think they're lovely, as so far they seem pretty comfortable, I can't really complain.

Like I said, not quite a sale bargain, but a bargain none the less. Guess the title of this post was perhaps a smidge misleading eh?

Love B x

I'm back baby!

I made it! 4 years of studying was all over by 4.30pm yesterday. Can I just say, it feels marvellous.  Granted I now have to consider what I am actually going to do with my life and start taking the steps to get there but I'm hoping maybe, just maybe, I can deploy the head in the sand approach for just a little bit longer.  Until graduation at least! Until then, I'm sat here considering all the things I want to do and now have the time for...

Like making these tasties {if they could talk, they'd be jumping up and down yelling at me to try them, so I'm pretty sure it's rude not to}...

{smittenkitchen}

Browsing {and perhaps purchasing} some pops of colour...

{zara}

Doing my bit to help the environment * {got to love a good collaboration}...

Attempting a DIY version of this lovely, having been inspired here

Learning to use my camera on the course I just signed up for...

{via}

Exercise...

{via}

And restoring calm and order to slightly neglected abode {it looks like a stationary shop has exploded all over our kitchen.  Last minute cramming will do that to you}...

{potterybarn via here}

I've also decided to set myself a challenge.  I LOVE to cook and bake {who am I kidding, I love to eat too} and I haven't had much time on my hands to do that recently, so I'm going to try and do fourteen foods in fourteen days. Some will obviously consist of the dinner that I'm making that evening but still, I'd like to push myself.  I think I'll start with the guys I mentioned at the beginning of the post.  Watch this space and hopefully I'll have something to show for it tomorrow!

Told you I would bring my A game back after exams...

Love

B

x

*and if you are a bit non-plussed as to why, you need to go here