Reaching for the forbidden fruit.

Yesterday I went about my daily business in my new ASOS slip dress, ASOS crop top, eBay necklace and jelly shoes. I was feeling a bit mischievous so went outside to see what I could get up to.

Whilst out there, a ginger creature slinked over to me. He told me he had something important to say, something about some forbidden fruit. I was hesitant to listen to such a mysterious fellow but he intruiged me in his strawberry blonde coat. I bent down just enough so he could reach my ear and he said, 'If you reach up, pick that apple and eat it you will be lavished with all the luxuries in the land.'

Well, this news brought a wide grin to my face but why was this young chap trying to help me? What would he gain? All he asked for in return was a tickle behind the ears and a bite of the apple himself. He may be a gangly fellow but he doesn't quite have the advantages of a human. What shall I do?

I slowly reached up with the golden devil cheering me on. I guess he had some luxuries to claim for himself...

Temptation got the better of me and with a firm tug, the apple came loose from the branch. What now? 'Eat it', hissed the creature.

So I did. Oopsy!

I am yet to see the luxuries promised by the ginger bugger.

So long, summer.

Two weeks ago I was wandering around Brighton, sipping on some ice cold Bubble Tea and appreciating the sun warming my skin. September was embracing the summer and it felt like the sun was here to stay. Fast forward to now, I'm wrapping myself up in my dressing gown as soon as I get home and the heating as already been switched on (shock, horror). We've got a long old winter ahead of us folks.

Today the sun was being a provocative old geezer and kept flashing us from behind the clouds, to only greet us with a ghastly, icy breeze. Being the vitamin D lover I am, I needed some sort of reminder that we did actually have a pretty great British summer so here to bid farewell to the heat is a collection of pictures which I took of my niece showcasing her summer style. (I was meant to upload these ages ago, naughty me).

I'm not going to babble on about where her adorable playsuits are from as there will be no need for them now, but what I will say is playsuits are ideal for the little ones. Just slip 'em on and they're ready to go about playing with snails or making mud soup. I suggest you all now go away and dream of a hot, exotic location and try to keep the summer alive!

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-two.

Hey kids, I know it's been over a month since my last post. I'm so naughty. It's not a valid excuse but some of you may know I've been lucky enough to complete an internship with the ASOS press office for five weeks. That obviously kept me very busy and it was an amazing experience. All the press girls were such wonderful, helpful people and I learnt loads (as well as bagged a few freebies which I'm sure will wriggle their way onto the ol' blog).

On Sunday it was my birthday and I turned the grand old age of twenty two. Plenty o' Taylor Swift was sung and plenty o' cocktails were drank and I unwrapped this beautiful Cambridge Satchel Company bag from my girl! Isn't he a stunner? I love him with all my heart and his name is Curtis.

Now moving down, you may have noticed the little fellas on my feet. They're sexy and they know it. As I co-ordinated them with this dress from Matalan, I thought it would be suitable to also match my hair to my wilderness surroundings. That explains the frizzy curls.

Do you like my newbies?



Don't let anyone dull your sparkle kids!

Pottering around in pyjamas.

I love pyjamas. The first thing I do when I get home is whip off my bra and snuggle into my pj's. As one of my favourite past times is sleeping, I suppose my love of lounge wear is inevitable. You can imagine my surprise when I slipped on this silky playsuit from Zara and it dawned upon me that I can kid myself that I'm wearing pyjamas and that it's completely socially acceptable. Yippee. 

Basking in the sun, I decided to plant myself in this wonderful, empty pot.

But then the sun decided he was feeling a little shy and hid behind the clouds. I became a sad flower.

He soon got comfortable and came out to play again and once I was able to photosynthesize again, I was a pleased plant.

As mentioned before my playsuit is from Zara (but I bought it off eBay after hunting around for weeks for the darn thing), my lovely necklace is from Topshop and my white loafers are from New Look.

Are you a pyjama freak like myself? What's your go-to comfy-chic outfit?

Here she is again.

I'm going to be honest here, I'm still not entirely comfortable with posting pictures of myself looking all serious and posy on the ol' blog. I'm sure it'll get easier with time but in the back of my mind I have this annoying little squeaky voice laughing at me. 'Ha ha you're so shifty lookin'.' Although I will still upload some of my own outfit posts, I feel I need a little breather in between. Or maybe I'm just being lazy and letting my niece do all the hard work...

Here is the little cutie enjoying the glorious sunshine. Her pretty, embroidered top is from the children's department in Next, tucked into these lovely, rose-print shorts from Tesco. Tesco actually has a very sweet and affordable children's range and when they're at the age when they're going so quickly (or they have an Aunty that loves to dress them up) it's a great place to stock up on versatile little pieces like these. During this shoot, she decided she wanted to be at one with nature so bare feet it was, but we accessorised with the pink sunglasses from Primark and a little pink bow in her hair. Oh the co-ordination. 

As usual, let me know what you think of her little outfits and if there are any other kind of posts you'd like to see, I'm always open to suggestions!

                                                                       x

Prancing about in Egypt

Kimono, ASOS // Body, MissGuided // Shorts, Rokit // Wedges and cuffs, New Look// Sunglasses, Primark//

Here's me prancing around in Egypt in another outfit post! This is the last one I took during my time in Africa so I've currently got a case of the holiday blues but this wonderful British weather (I'm not being sarcastic for once) is easing me through and topping up my tan. There's a deal I want to make with Mother Nature. If I promise to cope with rain, snow and freezing conditions for six months of the year, she can reward me with this delicious weather and I can continue to lounge around bronzing myself and living off ice cream. Good deal right? How much happier would our little island be?

Anyway, back to why we're here. This is an outfit I wore one evening in Egypt. My little kimono/cover-up is from ASOS and I absolutely love it. The colours are amazing and it jazzes up any casual ouftit. I'm looking forward to style it in different ways but for now I teamed it with my MissGuided backless body and my vintage Levi shorts from Rokit. My monochrom wedges are from New Look and are the perfect height for a pool to bar situation.

Well I am seriously close to booking another holiday, but for now I'll have to make do with being an ants climbing frame in the back garden.

Introducing...

Today is a great day, the sun is shining, there's a warm breeze and everyone is sneezing. Feels like summer, doesn't it? It's also a great day because I'm introducing you all to my favourite little person, my beautiful niece Lucia aka Luli aka Minky aka Cutie Pattoottee (my family tend to give each other silly nicknames and they usually stick. My two older sisters go by the name Wow and Blab and they will until we're little old ladies). Anyway on to the the little lady...

I took her to a cute little poppy field in her cute little playsuit from Next that her wonderful Auntie (me) got her for her third birthday.

Look at her being a mini blogger.

She showed off her new ink too...

Her adorable little bag is from the H&M childrens department. 

Don't you just love her chubby little knees?

Rocking the oversized shades...

She's a pro at this isn't she?

Well I think she did a better job than me for sure, so I was thinking of making her a regular visitor on my blog. What do you think?

It's just, a little crush.

She’s got the hair of Rapunzel, the body of a Grecian Goddess, not to mention she makes you giggle like a school girl. Welcoming the girl crush…

The Urban Dictionary defines a girl crush as, “an overwhelming sense of awe felt by a girl for another girl elicited by varying causes ranging from deep respect to unadulterated lust. May result in the any or all of the following: general euphoria, prolonged sense of inspiration, desire for intellectual-intercourse with crush, simple sexual arousal.”

Take the Victoria’s Secret fashion show for example. Although it may make you want to hibernate for a year, to come out only if you have the body of an Angel, you somehow find yourself mesmorised by the lithe limbs and perfect behinds sauntering down the catwalk. Your boyfriend may be drooling, eyes out on stalks but you don’t care. Why? Because you’re drooling too.

The term girl crush could cause some confusion, it’s not about wanting to pounce on Mila Kunis and drag her to your sex den, it’s about admiring someone. Their looks, their humour, their personality or their great boobs. Video blogger and funny girl Jenna Marbles (who happens to be on the ever growing list of my own girl crushes) made a video on this topic and said, “In my opinion you can love balls and dick and peen and boys or men and still have big, giant girl crushes on girls. Like big time.”

So why now? Females are often believed to be bitches jealous of any other woman who is more skinny, more beautiful, more successful or in a more perfect relationship than themselves but now we’re coveting the beauties that grace our television screens or magazine covers and embracing the lady love. Aisling McDermott of style website Beaut.ie explains, “These women have a sense of humour, a sense of style and most of all they look like someone you could be really good friends with. They’re beautiful in an inspirational way, not an unapproachable one.” Take Cara Delevigne for example. She’s a stunning supermodel with A-list friends, an enviable wardrobe and a more than successful career. If stereotypes were anything to go by we’d be foaming at the mouth with jealousy anytime we saw her name (which would be everyday), but instead we’re tweeting about how much we love her or Instagramming her butt-naked LOVE Magazine cover with quirky filters over the top, #QueenCara.

Social media has allowed us to delve in past the perfect photo shoots or carefully rehearsed interviews and see the ‘normal’ people our crushes really are. We can even fool ourselves that we’re friends with them, let’s not pretend we haven’t left a comment on one of Rihanna’s sexy pictures saying “looking fine, girlfriend!” (No? Anyone?). We’re being hit with the biggest wave of girl power since the Spice Girls and it feels good. It’s OK to celebrate other women instead of being torn up by rivalry, get perving girls because the girl crush is here to stay. In the words of Jenna Marbles, “Girls are majestic fucking creatures.” Damn right we are. 

Who's YOUR girl crush?

(A bit of a different blog post, but it's a piece I wrote for my magazine project at uni, hope y'all liked it).

I Got My Freakum Dress On

Check out my very faint tan line...

Dress, H&M // Leotard, Missguided // Cuffs, H&M // Wedges, New Look

So a couple of weeks a go I made my way to Egypt with my girl and managed to snap a couple of the outfits I wore out there. The heat was blistering, the pool was heavenly and the camel ride hurt me in precious places. Overall it was a nice, relaxing week!

I'm absolutely in love with this dress, it is from the Beyonce H&M collection. I think it's supposed to be worn as a beach cover up but I thought it was too good to throw on over a damp, salty bikini. In true Beyonce style, this thing is my Freakum Dress! I  layered it over my Missguided backless leotard to preserve my modesty through the sheer material, added some silver cuffs and my monochrome New Look wedges. In H&M they have the same dress in a pinapple print which is adorable and if I go on holiday again this year (fingers crossed) I think I'll definitely need to snap it up. What do you guys think of the Beyonce collection?

Caution: This dress nearly got me sold in exchange for a camel farm.





First Outfit Post (Be kind).

Top Bershka // Trousers ASOS // Sandals River Island // Necklace Charity Shop // Watch Casio // Sunglasses New Look // 

So the day has finally come. I have decided to post my first ever outfit post. Now, I've been toying with the idea of adding these sort of posts on to my blog for a while but have always put it off for one reason or another. 'My camera isn't good enough', 'My hair is weird today', 'I don't want people to think I'm vain', etc. 

My blog has been a bit dry lately, I keep meaning to post but don't really ever get round to it so I thought maybe doing an outfit post at least once a week will make me commit to my little space in the internet a bit more. Let's see if this is the first and the last...

Since I'm new to this malarky, I haven't included various angles of each stitch of clothing and different locations, but I've started with the basics. I did have a close up of my sandals but then realised that my nail polish looked more like some sort of fungal nail infection than a pedicure but I'll be wearing those little beauties again so will include a little more detail next time. 

Anyway, on to the outfit. I'm in love with these trousers from ASOS, my wonderful housemate got these for me when she was interning with the ASOS press team. They're worn a bit lower on the model on the website, but being a lover of all things high-waisted I positioned them as high as possible, whilst maintaining my dignity, and they actual sit high quite comfortably. I'm obsessed with all things white at the moment so teamed them with a simple white crop top, my white sandal flatforms and a little bit of gold jewellery. 

Lucky ol' me is going on holiday to Egypt tomorrow so I plan to snap some holiday outfits, watch this space!

I hope you enjoyed my first outfit post, let me know what you think and I'd love to hear any tips!

Under The Sea

When you read the words ‘mermaid’ or ‘under the sea’ it’s hard to not be bombarded by thoughts of a certain redhead in a shell bra and her singing lobster companion but for spring/summer 2013 Ariel from The Little Mermaid becomes our unlikely style icon.

Influence from the deep blue was apparent at spring/summer 2013 catwalk shows from Alberta Ferretti to Just Cavalli. Dark Lighting and projected bubbles onto the backdrop made the models appear like exotic fish swimming down the runway in shimmering, scale-like sequins at Alberta Ferretti. Netting was draped over intricate, nude lace ensuring the models looked like they really were the catch of the day. Embellishment on bags and shoulders were reminiscent of coral reef crustations. At Just Cavalli, there was a more bohemian take on the sea-inspired trend. Bright whites and deep pinks and purples replaced the soft hues of blues and greens of Alberta Ferretti and metallic, muted sequins adorned tops and dresses with a flash of blues and greens, exactly how you would imagine the scales on mermaids tail to look like. The models looked like they had stepped right out of the ocean with long, wet-look hair.

Maia Bergman, a Central Saint Martins graduate, produced her final collection by looking at sea life and bacteria growth. Using sheer fabrics adorned with tiny shimmering beads in pastel greens, blues and yellows, dresses and tops reflected all the colours of the ocean. ‘The whole mermaid vibe is sexy,’ Maia expresses. ‘I knew exactly what I didn’t want my collection to be: no black, no tomboy, no linings, no screen printing so I did the exact opposite.’

An artist who also believes mermaids are sexy is girl of the moment, Azealia Banks. After performing at Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris home, she is making waves in the music and fashion world. Putting on a show for the iconic designer, she certainly resembled her favourite mythical creature. ‘I looked like a fish,’ she told SPIN magazine. ‘It was real pretty, greens and blues and purples and shit.’ This is where she really got recognition for her mermaid hair. Before the release of her anticipated album Broke With Expensive Taste, she dropped a 19-track mix tape, Fantasea, the imagery of the mix tape being a cartoon, mermaid version of herself. Azealia continues to incorporate this undersea enchantment into her stage shows, often dressed fully as a mermaid, very apt when performing her songs, ‘Atlantis’ and ‘Aquababe’.

Not only reserved for catwalks and rap stars, the mermaid, aquatic-theme has inspired extreme sub-cultures such as the inexplicable micro genre ‘seapunk’, (which is an infusion of 90’s house and techno music with pop and rap). Coloured hair and sea life paraphernalia is the uniform of this genre, think Charlotte Free on the cover of Wonderland, mixing pastels and rainbow colours but with 60% of our readers stating they would experiment with coloured hair in a recent online poll, it makes it clear that this isn’t a trend reserved only for the eccentric. Fan of all things in pastel hues and mermaid related, Dawn Smith, creative mind behind Dawntroversial, sells custom made hair extension dubbed ‘Hairmaids’. ‘I love that artists like Azealia are making it OK to revert back to our childhood and re-live the fantasy of being a mermaid. I wanted to make that look easy for anyone to achieve so created my own hair extensions in all the colours of the rainbow and in dip dye styles.’ Her most popular extensions are the 24 inch, pink dip dye extensions fading into pastel purple and baby blue. ‘The coloured hair trend was popular last summer, especially around the festival scene but now people are wanting the length too in order to live out their own ocean fairy-tale.’