sheer coincidence

sheer pearl collar shirt - ASOS

green bodycon skirt - ASOS

nude heels - new look

hello!

Woops. It's either a sheer coincidence that my last few outfit posts have featured a black top and bright bottoms or it's a sign that I'm getting too obsessed with the combination. I think it's the latter. In my defence, pairing those dull, dark shirts/crops with coloured skirts/shorts allows it to reinvent itself as a contender in your spring/summer wardrobe. Ditch those dark wash skinny jeans and black leggings (shiver) and wander over to the colourful side instead. Check your wardrobes, if you've ever bought something beautifully vivid and loud but was unsure as to how to style it... this is a great alternative!

I received this sheer pearl buttons shirt from my sisters for my 20th birthday and I love it so very much! Now, it comes to no surprise that I like my shirts but I often find them to be unflattering in both real life and photography if they're an oversized fit. This black chiffon number is sheer enough to show off some flesh without having red danger lights flashing furiously at you. It's still stylish and arguably a piece smart enough to wear to work? The dainty pearl collar gives it a girly twist and eliminates the need of a necklace too. Win win.

Now, my general rule of thumb is to only wear one oversized item in an outfit. If I tried it with my top and bottom half, I'd break the balance and end up looking like a deflated balloon. This bright green bodycon skirt is perfect. It's actually my little sister's so imagine my glee (and her dismay) when I realised that I fit into it? Yoink. Bandage skirts and dresses will always get a huge thumbs up from me. It's tight, yes, but it also magically hides those pesky food babies out of sight too. It's an item that will hide a multitude of sins and for that reason, I shall be wearing it forever more. Sorry sis.

Will you be wearing any brightly coloured bottoms in the near future?

I hope you're all having a lovely day!

Shu x

MAXImise

black lace crop top - primark

coral maxi skirt - new look

nude heels - new look

aztec necklace - primark

rose gold watch - asos

hello!

What did I say about another crop popping up, ey? I. Am. Obsessed. It's wondrous when it's paired with high-waisted numbers and it doesn't give you those awkward lumps and bumps when you find yourself tucking a long shirt in. It's never attractive and it looks rather weird when you're adjusting it in public.

Excuse the derp face in the pictures, the sun was out in full force. As a bid of giving my black clothing items an excuse to be worn for the summery months, I'm hunting down the ones that checks themselves off my 'versatility' list:

- Can I wear it for all four seasons? Oui.

- Can I wear it from day to night? Si.

- Will it go with both plain jeans, high-waisted bottoms and printed trousers? Ja.

- Can I think of at least 3 outfits to wear it with? Yes, yes, yes. 

There we have it. 

Bonus points include that it's black lace (a 'rocky' alternative to its feminine lighter counterpart), short sleeved (easy to layer) and it's see through at the back (but not at the front). The best part? It was only £4 in Primark. Hurrah! If you're interested in purchasing one, size up. There isn't any elasticity in the item so unless you want to sport it clinging onto your head when you're trying to change out of it, get it bigger!

This maxi skirt is in one of my favourite colours in the universe: that merge between a coral, salmon, peachy pink. Beaaaautiful. Adult maxis usually transform into a train when it's paired with my short self so when I spied it with my little eye in the New Look teens section for a mere £14.99, I flung it triumphantly into my basket. It's airy, breezy and is quite lovely to wear for wind or shine. For those chillier days, pair it with a pair of opaque tights and people would be none the wiser.

It's definitely something I'm looking forward to wearing in the next month!

Are you sporting the maxi?

I hope you're all having a lovely day!

Shu x

the end is nigh

boyfriend crop top - primark

cobalt blue shorts - h&m

white blazer - topshop

nude heels - new look

gold choker necklace - forever 21

hello!

Long time no see, I hope you've all been well! I've been swamped under a list of deadlines and personal commitments hence the temporary hiatus with the blog - so sorry! The last weeks of university have been the bane of my life (slightly overdramatic) but the end is nigh, my friends. I only have one more assignment left - hurrah. I am so excited to be able to blog again without having a niggly voice of 'shouldn't you be researching articles for your essay?' nagging me.

This outfit post was actually from my Spring/Summer Evening Outfits video; I often blog about daytime attire but not often the things I'd wear in the evening! I have become overly obsessed with crop tops all of a sudden and it's a phase that won't be leaving anytime soon. Expect to see a few more outfit posts featuring this lovely little number!

For someone with very short legs, wearing crop tops and high-waisted bottoms helps to give off an illusion of an elongated pair of legs. Now, this isn't something I'd say no to. It also hides the problematic area of the lower abs and enhances the curves of the waist too. Anything to hide a food baby, ey?

Now, it's always all too tempting to slip into wearing an monochrome outfit. It's a habit that I'm constantly trying to break out of so alas, let me introduce you to these blue shorts from H&M. They're bright, loud and I love them very much. Cobalt blue is forever on trend no matter the season and the best thing about the colour is that it works for every skin tone. Unlike its cousin, the neon trend, they don't obnoxiously glare out at the world but they're enough to step out in to welcome spring/summer (I'm not in denial, the hot weather will arrive soon).

The white blazer blends the colour palette together and it's now one of my staple items in the wardrobe. It's refreshing and has its own sense of independence about it. All too often, I rely on my black blazer to solve every outfit problem but this one has recently taken its place. It lifts the colours in my clothes and also gives it a twist for the warmer climate. I'm excited to experiment with an all white outfit soon - if there's ever a trend to enhance a non-existant tan, it's this one.

I hope you're all having a lovely day,

See you soon!

Shu x

Sheep Thrills

hello!

This is different to my normal outfit posts but I thought I'd brighten up any Monday blues with cute lamb pictures (or baby sheep as I like to call them). What could be better, ey? As it's currently lambing season, Jordan and I recently went to our local farm to have a little look. Now, I'm aware that this is something you do between the age of 3 - 10 (as proven when we were the only two people there without a child) but I had never been before and I was extremely excited to go! :) 

This is a bit of a cheesy story but my nickname from Jord has always been 'sheep' (shushi to shu...sheep) and ever since then, I've had some crazy fascination with sheep/lamb/ewe/goats. I just find them to be so cute and I love me some goat singing on YouTube. 

It cost £3 to go into the farm and we were surrounded by them! It was sad that they were all stuck in the pens together though but I fed them a bit and gave them a hug. I even climbed into the lamb petting pen at one point with all the kids (much to the parents' amusement) and swiftly left when they started to pee all over the place. 

We also witnessed a lamb a few hours after its birth. He/she was trying to stand up and it was adorable!  I've fallen in love with them even more now. :)

Have you ever been before?

I hope you're all having a lovely day!

A Love Affair with Monochrome

vertical stripy shirt - h&m

faux leather shorts - forever 21

red satchel camera bag - eBay

bowler hat - urban outfitters

hello!

Lo and behold, we have another monochrome themed outfit post. I don't think my love affair with black and white attire will be ending anytime soon so I'm embracing this in all its glory. This vertical striped shirt has been deemed as the 'referee' shirt by my boyfriend and other male friends. It's frequently greeted with a 'ey-up, have you just come back from reffing a football/wrestling/other sport (delete as appropriate) match?' which is then met with some awkward laughter... and a sigh.

Whilst I'm all about the stripes, its horizontal sibling does have a great tendency of widening my body which obviously isn't desired. This vertical number hits both the monochrome and striped trend on the head and I've got to say, it's love. The sleeves are made from a soft cotton material whilst the main body is from a silky chiffon. This is ideal as I often find chiffon sleeves to be unflattering in both real life and photography; it flashes back in photos and adds excess bulk to the arms. 

The faux leather shorts are now too big for me (can I have a collective boo hoo please? :( ) but I love pairing it with shirts as it stops it from looking too smart: gotta love the slight sheen! The red satchel bag doubles up as a camera bag for my DSLR and it's the perfect pick-me-up companion with this monochrome outfit!

So there we have it!

Are you also a lover of a good black and white outfit?

Thanks so much for the lovely comments in my last post, I'll definitely do them more often! I'm thinking of doing a '7 floral outfits for 7 days' video so I shall keep you all updated. 

I hope you're having a lovely day!

7 items for 7 days in 7 ways

hello!

I'm sure we've all been in this situation before... some more than others (putting my hand up here) - I go through a phase of being a crazy shopping lady, I storm into the high street, buy everything I see and then take a step back a few months later and realised that I've forgotten about most of the items. I'm ready to check myself into shopaholics anonymous.

now, this could either be an excuse or a (good) reason but I travel a lot and as a result, I have to pack a weeks' worth of outfits in a rather stealthy manner. I try to go through my wardrobe wisely ensuring each piece gets its fair share of... being worn.

So when I was invited to be a part of a collab with kmoneykmoneykmoney, TheKalynTheory and frominsidemycloset - I jumped at the chance. The basic idea of it is to only use 7 items (including shoes but excluding accessories) to style 7 outfits for 7 days. It's a lot harder than it seems but it encouraged me to think outside of the box and to try and style each item differently to what I'd normally do.

Part one of shoppers rehab done!

It's a great way of revisiting your wardrobe to try and stop yourself from buying anything new!
Have a look at the video I uploaded onto my YouTube channel below to see how I style the items!

Which seven items would you pick?

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

I love me a good preppy outfit

blue striped shirt - Gap

black and white school blazer - H&M

denim shorts - Primark

office city bag - Zara

(Sorry that I've been away from my blog for so long. I've been ill these past few weeks and along with Jordan's 21st/university and work -it all got a bit too hectic. Blog posts will resume in no time at all - bear with me.)

My 'go to' outfits are always ones that fits within the smart casual dress code and my recent Gossip Girl marathon has only reinforced this (minus the designer price tags). It utilises the basics in the wardrobe and it's extremely easy to shove on early in the mornings.

GAP isn't normally a high street store I wander into but after my mum's excitable claims of 'OOH - A 75% SALE!!!' a year ago, I couldn't resist. I found this basic light blue striped shirt for £20 and I knew that it had to come home with me.

It was a shirt.
It was on sale.
They were the only two reasons I needed to justify the purchase.

I paired it with these £5 denim shorts from Primark. They aren't Levi's but they do the job and fit nicely. The denim and blue striped combination means it's a nice twist from my usual monochrome offerings. It's also a lovely way of feeling more 'spring-like' too than having bold blocks of black.

The school blazer is an ancient purchase from H&M many moons ago. It still remains as one of my favourite blazers to date simply because it's so different and easy to wear. The gold crest buttons lifts the piece and adds warmth to the outfit. The white piping detail keeps it looking on trend and emphasise the lapels and cropped shape of the blazer. If you're interested in wearing white blazers but aren't ready to step out in the full thing, this is a great way of introducing it to your wardrobe.

Of course, I had to include my Zara Office City bag with this outfit. What's a preppy outfit without a suitable bag? ;)

What are your go-to outfits?

Hope you've all had a lovely Easter break!

I'm 20 and I still love to wear stripes and dungarees

Dungarees/Overalls: Topshop

Striped Top: H&M

Red Satchel Bag: eBay

Bowler Hat: Urban Outfitters

Toy Watch

The child in me squealed excitedly when I spotted a range of dungarees (or overalls) in the high street stores. What better way to bring the 80s/90s back this spring/summer than to gallop around in these denim gems? Granted, they're not to everyone's taste but it is a clothing item destined for a lazy summer's day, oui?

Unlike the ones we may have been used to during our toddler years, these ones have been modernised for those who are still a big kid at heart... i.e. me. It's a lot more form fitting, the denim wash is flattering and the structure of it caters better for the feminine body.

Aside from the black bowler hat (essential to look more 'grown-up' and more like Charlie Chaplin) I decided to keep it classic by channeling a nautical/Parisian theme by working with a blue, red and white palette. It's the ultimate colour combination for spring and also a nice comfortable step away from my monochrome obsession.

I'm not the best of friends with horizontal stripes and our relationship is worse if it lands on a day that I feel bloated. Those pesky stripes are usually the culprit for making things worse. However, these dungarees acts as the peace maker. The main body of the top is covered by the denim and helps to separate it into smaller sections.

I'm excited to experiment these with some other shirts/blouses/tops with different cuts. The possibilities are endless and luckily, I have the whole of spring/summer to figure it out! 

What do you think of the dungarees/overalls trend?
Will you be wearing it this summer?

p.s. Company Magazine are holding their annual blogger awards and I would LOVE it if I could be a part of it!

If you enjoy reading my blog posts and would like to nominate me in the category 'best personal style blog', it'd make my day and i'll no doubt be grinning from ear to ear! Of course, feel free to nominate other bloggers too!! :)

Please visit: http://www.company.co.uk/stylebloggerawards2013 if you're interested! :)

I hope you've all had a lovely day! :)

What I Wore to New Look's Hi Summer Event

cut out layered blouse -  a gift from mother!

white blazer - topshop

leather shorts - forever21

rose gold watch - ASOS

tights - primark

alibi leather ankle boots - topshop

On Friday 1st March, I was invited to New Look's Hi Summer event - if you fancy having a peek at their upcoming collection, you can read my post here. I rummaged through my wardrobe with the hopes of finding an outfit and after trying on three blazers, two jackets and a gazillion tops - this was the result.

A monochrome outfit will forever remain as one of my safe bets. I should've donned a rainbow coloured number in honour of the spring/summer event but I was soon coaxed out of that thought and thus, this outfit was born. A b&w outfit talks for itself so I didn't want to detract it away from its natural simplicity but chose to work with the textures of each individual piece instead.

The layered chiffon blouse was a kind gift from my mother and I have a feeling that it'll be one of my favourite pieces in the next few months. The flower cut outs and scalloped edges are very feminine but I love that it's a white blouse as opposed to the more obvious choice of blush pink. The interesting neckline eliminates the need of wearing a statement necklace as it draws the eyes away enough. 

I've been reaching for this white blazer a lot recently (my black one is sobbing in the corner of my room, woops) and it's such a refreshing change to my usual choices of outerwear! The change of colour completely transforms the look of the existing items in my wardrobe and it looks even better with an all black outfit (I'll never learn) 

As this outfit seems appropriate for a day in the office, I decided to give it a casual twist by wearing my faux leather shorts. I need to hunt down another pair as it's now too big for me! Of course, this fact didn't sink in until the shorts were halfway down my thighs whilst I walking down the broken escalator at Waterloo. D'oh.

What are your spring wardrobe staples?

I hope you're all having a lovely day! :)

Floral Blazer and Zara Office City Bag

Floral blazer - Topshop

White shirt - Topshop

Black skinny jeans - Ralph Lauren 

Zara Office City Bag

Studded Vectra slippers - Topshop

Now, I love me a good statement print so I couldn't resist this floral blazer in the Topshop sale for £13.50. In fact, I spotted it from across the store - gasped - ran (well, I walked very quickly towards it) - grabbed it and didn't hesitate to hand over my debit card to the shop assistant. It's perfect for the warmer weather and is a welcome addition to my (already extensive) collection of blazers.

An obsession with outerwear... moi? 

This is a very 'marmite' item meaning you'll either be in the 'love it' team or fall into the 'burn it' group. It reminds me of oil pastel paintings and it's very hard not to smile when you see the print. It's loud, colourful, bright and I LOVE it. It's well structured, flattering and very form fitting. Black 'lines' of fabric run inside the arms and down the waist; this gives off the illusion of a much slimmer figure by creating shadows along the areas that may appear otherwise.

Wearing such a vibrant blazer means the rest of the outfit has to be toned down. My white shirt goes along with the classic shirt and blazer ensemble and it also emphasises the vivid colours of the florals. As it's a spring/summer outfit, the white shirt is also a welcome  and refreshing change to my usual dark pieces too.

Similarly with the shirt, the bottoms had to be simple too - let me introduce you to my Ralph Lauren jeans from TK Maxx! It was a steal at £39.99 and it's so comfortable, my tights have actually taken a backseat. Coming from someone who lives in skirts and shorts, this is no mean feat!

My obsession with the Zara Office City bag is spiralling out of control but what do you do when it goes with everything? Well, you step back and enjoy it! :)

What do you think of the floral blazer?

Will you be investing in one for spring/summer?

I hope you're all having a lovely day so far! 

New Look Say Hi Summer- Spring/Summer 2013

There's nothing better to kick start the mood for summer than a new collection full of clothes and accessories for the warmer weather; New Look's Say Hi Summer event held at their press room on Friday 1st March did exactly that.

The Refuel Room event during London Fashion Week had shown only a preview of what's to arrive in stores; Say Hi Summer showcased a more extensive collection and expanded on each of the trends that will be hitting the high street soon. I have to say... I'm impressed.

Put on your cowgirl boots as denim is revisiting its Western roots. From silver studded collars to checkered shirts, the traditional American cowboy look has been revamped just in time for summer. Yee-ha! Giddy up, partner! We've got to get this wagon train a-movin! (I couldn't resist the Toy Story quote...) Say HI to the 80s/90s throwback as dungarees will be a huge spring/summer '13 trend. Did you rock the trend during your toddler years? Sling on some wedges, a floppy hat and a stripy top to modernise it for 2013! 

Tapestry prints, florals and pastels also featured very highly in the collection in the form of maxi skirts, midi dresses, patterned trousers and crop tops. There was a particular navy textured boucle jacket I had my eyes on, rich colours of red and blue ran through it... it was gorgeous and paid an ode to its Middle Eastern inspirations.

New Look's swimwear is all about bright colours. From shocking neons to rainbow aztecs, there's nothing dull about frolicking on the beach this summer. One pieces have also taken on a 'fierce' risk as the king of felines are printed on with waist cut-outs and layers of thick rose gold neck chains. Who said swimming costumes were boring?

If you're a jewellery and accessories lover like me, the colourful array of turquoise pendants, gold/rose gold chokers, neon chains and aztec layered bead necklaces would have had you quivering at the knees.  They were all presented inside wooden picture frames and I can see why, it's art.

Bright fluorescent watches and bracelets were showcased, the Hermes-inspired 'LOVE' and 'YOLO' belts were under the spotlights and if you're shopping for chokers this summer... the more spikes, the better.

Trainer wedges seems to have returned for another season but this time, it has a futuristic twist to it. Will you be indulging in the holographic shoes?

The event was Mexican themed and it made me feel oh so summery. There were sombreros, moustache props and maracas to shake (which we did as The Muse TV filmed us all talking about our favourite pieces from the collection. The first video from the Refuel Room event is now up on New Look's YouTube channel! Click here if you fancied a look!)  

Nachos, burritos, smoked salmon canapes and cocktails were at hand - perfect. :)

I met up with the lovely Allie, Luce and Sophie and after being serenaded by a jingly band outside of Oxford Circus, we arrived at the event and snapped away at the clothes (and of each other... outfit post coming soon!) 

It was so nice to see them all again to have a proper chat over American milkshakes and burgers at The Diner ending with a mini shopping trip. Do check out their blogs as you will not be disappointed!

All in all, it was another well-organised and amazing event!

Thank you to New Look for inviting me and putting together Say Hi Summer;

Thanks to The Muse TV team (Olwen, Bela and Simon) for always being so welcoming! Dilly the dog was adorable too :)

What do you think of the new spring/summer collection?

Has anything caught your eye?

I hope you're all having a lovely day! :)