Clarks Spring/Summer 2016

As we gear up for a winter of jumpers and sequins, it's hard to imagine baring coral-polished toes to the sunshine. But this week, the Clarks Spring/Summer press day had me dreaming of warmer climes last week.

Clarks Original desert boots, sandals and shoes for Spring/Summer 2016

They've added some open-toe styles to their Clarks Originals range. These tassled sandals are made in the same buttery soft suede as the original desert boots. Instead of having to carry around a crack-team of plasters to break these in, I suspect the suede will mould to feet beautifully.

Clarks Originals sandal with tassel for Spring/Summer 2016

Another sensibly sturdy summer shoe was the cork sandals. The clean lines of these soft black leather beauties would look great with your battered 501s or toughen up your favourite summer dress. 

Clarks Original cork and black leather heeled sandal

Of course, the Clarks Original Desert Boot was also on display. As well as the classic sand, they've introduced an oxblood colour way that would actually fit better into my autumn wardrobe alongside leopard print coats and leather skirts. 

Clarks Originals Beige and Oxblood desert boots for summer

There was also a spattering of ever-popular animal print on show – I loved these neutral lace-ups.


It looks like sliders will still be going strong next year too...


Shoes available from January at Clarks.

JustFab blogger event

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A few weeks ago I attended the JustFab blogger event to preview their latest styles.
You might have seen their ads on TV,  but in case you’re unfamiliar with the brand here’s a quick run-down: JustFab is an online boutique where everything is £35. You become a member with the hope that you will buy one item per month. But if you don’t make a purchase you can roll it over to the next month. Full details can be seen here.
JustFab2My favourite item was these jewel green court shoes from the new Luxe range. I also loved this Gatsby-inspired clutch bag with art deco details.
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These burgandy leather Hinton boots are also from the brand's Luxe range. But the website isn't all about shoes and bags, they have a great range of jewellery styles too.
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At the blogger event we also got a demonstration from artist Boyarde who paints on bags and shoes and has previoulsy worked with Charlotte Olympia. Made in Chelsea's Rosie Fortescue also popped in for a peek at the new bags on offer.
After the event, I chose the Azra booties* with gold detailing from JustFab. I wore them to my work Christmas party with a velvet dress but I'm planning on wearing them with jeans in the day too.
The idea of joining a sort of subscription fashion service had never really appealed to me – I like to shop where and when I please – but I was delighted by the preview of goodies the brand has to offer.
If you can bear to click through the pages of 6-inch platform pumps there are some real hidden gems and something to suit all styles.

Style Picks: Matalan SS13

I don't usually pop in to Matalan but when their SS13 Lookbook landed on my desk, quite a few pieces caught my eye. So I've pulled together my favourite styles. Take a look and let me know what you think...

MatalanSS13-Fringed-tops copy

Grey Jersey Skirt £10
Chiffon Tie Dye Shorts £12
Warrior Necklace (left) £10
Spike Necklace (right) £8
Fringe tops (price unlisted)

I love these Tie Dye Shorts, they remind me of the tie dye I use in my blog header. They'll look great in the summer with tanned legs and creeper-soled sandals.
The fringed tops have that summer holiday feel and would add great texture to this basic jersey pencil skirt.
The Tribal style of these silver spiked necklaces would jazz up any plain tee.



MatalanSS13-Dresses




Left to right: Shift Dress £16
Stripe Dress £15
Shift Dress £16

Dresses dresses dresses. Need I say anything more? The stripy peplum is my favourite. I would wear it with black ankle boots and a slick of red lipstick.


MatalanSS13-Jumper-and-Jacket
Jumper £18
Military Jacket £35

These are two items that would slot seamlessly in to my wardrobe. The holey grunge knit would look great over a white shirt for work or with high-waist jeans for the weekend.
I'm glad to see khaki jackets with contrasting sleeves are still going strong for next season. This hooded jacket would be handy for those April showers.

What's your favourite item? Are you looking forward to Spring styles already too?

Tim Walker: Story Teller at Somerset House

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During my recent visit to the Tim Walker: Story Teller exhibition at Somerset House I felt like I was stepping onto the pages of the most wonderful fashion story you could imagine. Either that, or I was tumbling down the rabbit hole...


Tim Walker

As I wandered through rooms filled with flying saucers and jelly hats, giant snails silently climbed the walls and I spotted a bee playing the cello and a grasshopper on violin. You might mistake this as a tale from Through the Looking-Glass, but I was in fact being swept away by the surreal imaginings of fashion photographer Tim Walker.

A bed made from bones with skulls as bed-knobs caught my eye and I realised that behind each fantasy, stark mortality looms. Walker portrays both the wonder and fragility of life through his enchanting photographs. Breathtaking props and unworldly models are captured with a click of the shutter.

Placing the unexpected in mundane situations, Walker captures the imagination and creates a story for the clothes. My favourite pictures were a series of photographs taken with Tim Burton in Colchester, Essex in 2009 when a giant skeleton sat in a field full of red roses and models dressed up as Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.

Admission to Tim Walker: Story Teller at Somerset House is free and the exhibition runs until Sunday 27th January, 2013. I highly recommend a visit if you get the chance.

Have you seen any good exhibitions recently? Are there any coming up that you're looking forward to?

Burgandy at the British Museum

150113OUTFIT

Beanie: American Apparel
Jumper: H&M
Levi shorts: Urban Outfitters
Creeper boots: Deena & Ozzy
Pendant: Vanessa Mooney
Leopard print coat & bag: Vintage

Today me and my housemates all got up and wanted to wear the same thing. Burgandy. Emily started it with her dress and Kate was soon to follow with her socks and pom pom scarf. I wore my burgundy shorts so that we could look like a girl band.

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We went to the British Museum to look at the Ancient Egypt galleries.

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We also found this fertility tablet. Mega LOLZ.

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FIST BUMP.

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New Years Day 2013 Shopping

New Years Day Shopping

Lace dress: H&M
Diary: Cath Kidston
Pendant: Vanessa Mooney at Urban Outfitters

We may have partied hard at the Mansions last night to celebrate the New Year, but today's hangover feels infinitely better than the norovirus I've been suffering with for the last week. So, today I left my housemates to The Mighty Ducks and headed to Seven Dials to do some sale shopping. First stop was Cath Kidston for my new diary. I wanted one that was small and light enough to carry around every day but still pretty enough to tempt me into actually recording some goings on inside. This fits the bill nicely and also has a handy zip pocket for any loose things I want to keep hold of.

Then I headed across the road to Urban Outfitters and steered myself wisely past the shoes and clothes (I have so many new things from Christmas I haven't got round to wearing yet!) and went to look at the jewellery. I picked up this Vanessa Mooney pendant reduced to £25. I love its unusual shape and its the long length of the chain. It'll look suitably gothic with a long black jumper and jeans.

Finally I popped into H&M and couldn't resist this dress reduced from £29.99 to £7. The bright pop of colour is just the thing I need to kick start the New Year so I'll wear it to my first day back at work on Thursday. 

That was a pretty mild sale indulgence - I blame the hangover!
Have you picked up anything good in the sales this year?

Recent Purchases...


American Apparel Nail Lacquer (Hunter)
American Apparel Beanie (Black)

I've been meaning to buy this hat for a while but hadn't popped into American Apparel for AGES and they've now sold out online. I forgot all about their free Nail Lacquer with any purchase thing so this was a nice little extra at the till. I chose the Hunter shade because I think it'll look all festive with a glitter topcoat.


Motel Deluxe Wild One Sequin Bustier Dress in Black
Motel Tinsel Sequin and Mesh Dress in Iridescent Green

Last week I bought a couple of sequin dresses from Motel with Christmas week and #NYE in mind. I LOVE SEQUINS and Motel are like my go to for party dresses.


The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Also I decided to get some morbid reading ready for when I get bored of TV at Christmas. (It does happen.) I'm reading American Psycho at the moment so I decided to go for some more cult classics.

Thursday Goth



Jumper: H&M
Necklace: Primark
Rings: Ibiza jewellery markets
Nail Polish: Toma, Wicked Witch

I've been wearing Christmas jumpers, jeans and glittery nails pretty consistently for the last week so I thought I'd take a day off from the festive cheer and go back to goth today. I painted my nails with this so-dark-it's-nearly-black berry shade from Toma and put together a suitably gothic outfit of all black with silver accessories. Tomorrow I'll probably be back to snowflakes and glitz. People at work must think I have a split personality. 

Autumn Afternoon in Primrose Hill

On Saturday I went for a walk with Mil and Kate to Primrose Hill. Mil wanted to spot celebrities.


This was before Kate got in a bad mood...



Look how happy she is in her duffle coat like Paddington Bear...


Camel Coat: Thrifted in New York
Denim Shorts: Urban Outfitters
Ipso Facto band tee
Scarf: J.W. Anderson x Topshop
Wishbone Necklace: Marc by Marc Jacobs

The view was pretty nice. Here it is in grey...


And blue...


We didn't spot any slebs but Mil did find some 'Quite Nice Mugs'.


By this point we'd walked all the way to Camden and Kate was in a #BM because we couldn't get to a McDonalds fast enough.
The moral of the story is that Primrose Hill is ultimately a bad place for a hangover walk due to its lack of fast food.

London Fashion Week Day 2

(1) Getting my hair done at the Toni & Guy Blow Dry Bar at LFW (2) The finished result (3) Leaving the house this morning (4) The queue for the Yifang Wang show (4&5) Vauxhall Fashion Scout (6) crucial pick-me-up (7) my outfit for LFW day one.

Day at the beach

Swimsuit: M&S
Shorts: Vintage Levis
Sunglasses: Monki
Lips: Rimmel London Oxford St. Fuchsia
Nails: Red Carpet Manicure

I decided to embrace the 80s for my trip to Southerndown beach in South Wales last weekend. I matched my bright purple and pink swimsuit with the new Oxford St Fuchsia lipstick shade from Rimmel London. You can read my review of the new Rimmel lipstick shades on Sugarscape here.
I had my nails done by Red Carpet Manicure last week. I chose bright red, but it just ends up clashing with most of my outfits. It's supposed to last up to three weeks but I already have a few chips after four days, so it's not looking too good for my review so far!

Invites for London Fashion Week started coming in at work today. After years of following the whole thing online and through Twitter, it'll be great to actually be there and see some shows. Now I'll just have to work out what to wear...






V festival 2012


Top: Urban Outfitters
Shorts: Vintage Levi
Bag: Vintage
Boots: Dr Marten's
Nail polish: Maybelline Forever Strong in Dark Denim and Nails Inc Diamond Arcade Nail Jewellery

I went to V Festival in Hylands Park this weekend with the girls from Sugarscape. It was so hot we thought we were going to melt! I wore this outfit on the first day we arrived. Cut-offs were definitely the way to go but I stood out like a sore thumb around all the Essex girls in their bikini tops and even smaller shorts! It was so hot I had to plait my hair back, long hair is not good in the heat.


We spent lot of time wandering around looking for good street style for Sugarscape (harder than you might think!) We also spent a good amount of time sat in the shade in hospitality with super cold beer. The heat was unbearable!


When the temperature finally cooled down we caught a bit of David Guetta before heading off to watch Ed Sheeran. 



Boom!