the 30th.

Oh my!
I always seem to begin a post with "apologies for lack of updates". Today, its the same case, sorry!
I've been working alot the past few days/week and have not had much time for posting! I wish to thank Char for keeping the blog going, shes a total diamond. And thank you to all the people who have been reading and commenting our blog, its great! Thank you!

So, my top from my last post came from Topshop, and it is pretty much mauve/grey! I have come to like it more and more now, although I still wish it was cream! I wore it to the wedding me and Char attended on Saturday just passed;

Oh dear! Not the best of angles for my face hahaha! Aw well, it looks like we are having a great time and thats all that matters (and that we look good!). I wore a similar coloured vest top underneath the top too. My camera ran out of battery before I could take any pictures at all, so I'll just tell you what I wore it with!
Superfine black skinny jeans; Harvey Nichols. Patent two strap mary janes; Peacocks.

So, its my birthday soon! (Saturday the 2nd to be exact *wink wink*). I cannot believe I am going to be 21!! I dont feel and dont look it (this is only when I got purchase alcohol etc that I get asked for ID EVERY SINGLE TIME!!), so it feels strange! Friends and myself are going out into Edinburgh for my birthday so expect lots of photos (including loo shots!) and outfit pictures YAY!

What I am wearing today;

Nothing too exciting, I am such a jeans and t-shirt girl the more I think about it, I am forever buying t-shirts, cardis, zip up hoodies things! My laces are undone as I am not quite ready yet LOL.
Tee; Primark. Jeans; Topshop. Shoes; Converse (a recent purchase, man I missed have a pair!!).
One of our friends gave me my b-day present on Saturday as she won't be able to attend my birthday bash. I thought I'd post a picture of what she got me as I love them both so!

A lovely black patent purse and a black & gold waist belt, I love them loads! I have already transfered all my purse-y things into my new one haha.

I may be going shopping tomorrow with a friend to see if I can get a fabulous dress for my b-day woop!
Sea .x.x.

Tuesday

Hey there!

Alas, it's back to work today. Only a few weeks left of my law firm job though, it'll be nice to have the time off! I know I moan a lot on here about how much I work, and for that I apologise - you guys all work/study hard too, I'm sure! This is first and foremost a blog about fashion and personal style, I've been thinking a bit about what to include on the blog so any suggestions would be welcome! I think this reflection began with a post from Kirsty Lee in which she said she didn't want her blog to simply be about "look at me, look what I'm wearing!" and I have to agree. I'll be working hard to include more depth and content in my posts, especially now that have the time to do so. Although, the flip side is that, on other blogs, my favourite thing (and I think a lot of peoples' favourite thing) is seeing daily outfits. Speaking of which this is yesterday's outfit, I had a quick lunch with my Mum which was really nice though I had forgotten I was also going out for dinner for a friend's birthday! So it was a good day, food-wise!

Pretty dull/casual outfit really! Tights - primark, shoes - ancient Topshop, skirt - H&M, t-shirt - etsy.

This skirt has braces but I detatched them today as they tend to make my chest look huge and I generally don't like to draw attention to this area, I prefer to minimise the whistles/comments I get from the male species! I'm hoping nobody will notice that I reattatched a button (which pinged off this morning and into the bin, a sure sign I've been munching too much chocolate!) with bright blue thread. It's pretty poorly sewn, squint and bright blue!

Take a look at my handiwork, try not to be jelous of my mad sewing skillzzz!

I wore the same skirt out for dinner/drinks. These photos were taken in the hallway outside my flat, isn't it gross? Why paint it brown...it's like living in somebody's colon.

Hair bow - primark, white vest - Zara, lace slip - Armstrong's Vintage, skirt - H&M, belt - ebay, cardigan - Primark, generic black tights, boots (not seen) - New York. This is how foggy it was all day/night yesterday and most of today!
Ordered these bad boys from the Topshop website yesterday, I really hope they get here soon! Although there's no rush really as I'm saving them, or at least trying to to get bored of them, for Autumn. I kinda like buying new stuff for going back to uni, it' s a little bit like school..."Mum, like, can I have some money to buy, umm like, stationary and stuff. For school." I've been collecting quite a few things for Autumn actually, I'm very organised/geeky! My winter wardrobe is always bigger than my summer one anyway since a) I'm Scottish, winter dressing is in my genes and b) it's 9 months of the year!I've been wanting a long cardigan for absolutly ages, but was unwilling to pay more than £20 for it which eliminated most options, I even checked the guy's bit of both H&M and Topman and found nothing! So this one was only £15 and I really like the big poclets and slouchy sleeves.
This is the back of the dress I ordered, I suppsoe that's obvious since it has a butt, but I thought I'd state it anyway. I don't really know what this is going to look like in real life becuase that crazy "zoom" thing on the website doesn't really help, but a black dress for daytime is another thing I've wanted for a while.

The tartan/plaid obsession continues and I got this baby from etsy, it's not here yet and I think it'll be a while since it's coming from the USA but it's another "save for Autumn" thing anyway!

My younger stepsister, of the blog Zen Trend, has observed my love of pinafores/jumpers, it must be fairly apparent since I see her an average of once a year! Are you guys hoarding things for Autumn too, like little fashion squirrels? I know The Fish Tank is, I wonder if others are too!

Char x

Topshop strikes again

I posted before about Topshop "borrowing" fabric from another high street store, of course, that could've been pure coincidence.

This, however, is not a coincidence.

What bothers me about these items isn't the fact that they are almost direct copies of runway looks, if Topshop thinks that's what the British (and beyond) public want then they are totally entitled to provide it. Personally, I'd like to think that we could be credited with more imagination than that. The really irritating thing, for me, is that these are new-ish items, as in intended to be worn into Autumn/Winter and yet they've been ripped right from the Spring/Summer collections. Topshop, usually known as being fashion-forward, creating it's own designs which are often as covetable as any designer is copying what are effectively last season's desgins. Perhaps they are not able to copy these designs as quickly as, say Primark, but surely a whole season is excessive?

Another worrying part of this new facet to Topshop is the Forever 21 factor, as in you can push it so far before designers get irritated and the word "lawsuit" is mentioned. Yes, fashion is about borrowing from others. Taking elements of other designs and other times and putting your own spin on them but not blatent copy-catting! The irony being that Topshop itself has fallen prey to forever 21's "blatent copy" policy, when one of their Kate Moss dresses was copied:

Kate Moss for Topshop on the left and Forever 21's version on the right via nitrolicious

Other desingers famously copied by Forever 21 include; Diane von Furstenberg (a link to her lawsuit is here), Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui and Catherine Holstein. Do a google image search if you want!

Counterfeiting and copying is something I feel strongly about, I can't say that I approve of fake bags and other goods and these copies, for me, are one step down from that. It's one thing to be inspired by someone else's work but to straight off copy it is something else. Of course there is the argument, often used in defence of the high street, that they are bringing high fashion to those who otherwise couldn't afford it and I can't really argue with that since I am one of the many who can't afford it!

Thoughts?

Char x

Image credit - style.com, Topshop.com, nitrolicious.

Sunday 27th

Hey there!
Apologies (again!) for the lack of post over the weekend. It gets a bit hectic at weekends, with work and usually some party, or this week a wedding. I can tell you, Polish weddings are really fun! Sea and I went to the wedding of my ex - and Sea's current - colleague, who is Polish and is married to a Scot. More on that later. This was Friday's outfit; I did some uni work and a little bit of thrifting, I picked up another long pleated skirt to cut! This one is a kind of rusty red colour but I can't photograph it right now as it's in the wash.

Shoes (now completly broken and headed for the bin) - Debenhams, generic black tights, dress - H&M, belt - H&M (I think), cuff - gift.

This is what I wore to the wedding, the dress is kinda difficult to photograph, probably because it's black, but it has sequins all over. The leopard print shoes are a tribute to the bride, who is known for her love of the leopard print!
Shoes and dress - New Look (I hate to admit to that as I find New Look really quite icky, even more so after reading flying saucer's excellent post which completly summed up the slighty yuck feeling New Look gives me!) A slightly better photo of the dress (though it looks cheap due to flash, but actually it was cheap!) and also a couple of old men creepily watched Sea taking this photo and then imitated my (weird) pose!
Today's outfit. As you can see, I am embracing British summer by not wearing tights under my over-the-kness for perhaps the first time ever! It's quite annoying though since they fall down even more without tights, exposing my knees to the world (I hate my knees, random fact).


Shoes - Dorothy Perkins, socks - Topshop? skirt - primark, top - Zara. No jewellery/accessories/brushed hair since all I did today was go to the supermarket!

Char x

Nearly there...

Hey there!
Nearly the weekend (though I am working, boo!) and nearly payday, score. I have a few things lined up that I must buy. I wore this outfit yesterday, and I am quite mortified that it is almost all from Primark. Nothing against Primark, obviously, I just prefer to mix Primark stuff up a bit with other high-street or vintage stuff...to dilute the cheapness perhaps. Or maybe so that if the poorly sewn seems all fall apart I wouldn't be totally nude.

Dress and cardigan - Primark, tights - tightsplease, bag - H&M, bracelet and pearls - vintage via ebay.

Today on the way home from work, I did a quick bit of thrifting (quick because everywhere was closing!) and got this skirt. When I find my fabric scissors (lost, along with the instruction for the sewing machine I borrowed from my Mum - ooops!) imma snip this baby up and have me a bad-ass Luella-esque skirt. My two new obsessions are tartan/plaid and lace, I think both will play a large part in my winter wardrobe. Which brings me to a question; what are your guys' favourite ebay/etsy searches?
Please excuse the awful photography! Am I the last person in the world to hear about Luella being sold in Urban Outfitters? I read this amazing piece of information on another blog but have forgotten where, sorry! I must start saving now for something, anything!

Must go now, Char x

Monday, take 2.

Hola!
Jeez, its been a while since I last did a little post on here! Although, I love reading Char's posts as her clothes are AMAZE!!
So in my last post, I mentioned that I was graduating. I finally did on the 9th July, ahh it was scary! But I did not fall over in my heels which was very good. The stage was carpeted and not varnished wood *phew!* So hooray, I now have my degree! I just need to get a fab job now, lol.
Below is what my dad got me for graduating;

Its a bracelet and I love it so much!
So happy Ive graduated and got my degree, I didnt think I was capable of such a thing - go me!

Here are some outfits of recent;

Shoes; Topshop/eBay. Sock;s Topshop. Tights; Primark. Dress; H&M. Belt; Camden market. Tee; Primark. Necklace; Accesorize.

This was to go out on Saturday, twas a very fun night! As you can see; (LOL).

Another;

This was from meeting a friend, for a little bit of wine/champagne ha!
Heres a better shot of the top (love!);
Top/Dress; H&M. Jeans; Topshop. Grey cardi; H&M. Shoes; (again!) H&M. Bag; ASDA.
And finally, today's outfit;

Top/Dress; Topshop. Cardigan; American Apparel. Jeans; Topshop. Shoes; Topshop (i think!). Bag; vintage (eBay).

Char and myself are going to a wedding on Saturday, I've ordered this from Topshop;

Although, I am a bit confused as just after I had ordered this, I noticed that he description says the colour of this is 'mauve' - it looks cream/beige in this picture - which is what I am hoping it will be when it arrives! Heres the link, someone give me their thoughts on what colour this top actually is!!
http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=93614&parent_category_rn=42325&productId=730476&langId=-1
Or if anyone has this top, let me know what the colour really is! If its the same in the picture up there or anything would be great, merci!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sea x.x.

Monday

Hey!
How's everyone? It's finally sunny here today, and I don't have plans other than lying on my bed watching movies with the window open. I wore this outfit yesterday, didn't do anything more exciting than visiting Sea at work, but that's what Sunday's are for...

Shoes - Dorothy Perkins, tights - Primark, skirt - Primark via ebay, vests (grey and beige) - Topshop, cardigan - Primark, pearls - vintage.

I'm wearing this today, not doing anything exciting at all!

Shoes - ancient Topshop, leggings - New Look, dress and belt - H&M, old bangles - don't remember where the heck they're from!
Detail on the dress...
My Primark hairbow.

Char x

Fashion Police

Hey!

I have some time off work this week so expect outfit posts aplenty. It's nice to finally have bit of time off. Anyway, this is an outfitI wore on Friday to have dinner at my Mum's house (yes, I know I live a life full of excitement). I felt a bit pirate-y and my brother did ask why I "always dress nautical", I think it's the boots combined with the stripes!

Boots - asos, ankle socks - tightsplease, tights - who knows? skirt - Primark, belt - H&M, striped top - River Island, cardigan - H&M, pearls - vintage via ebay, chain bracelet - Topman.

Sea and I were out in Mussleburgh (the town where Sea and some of our friends live) again last night. We had mad fun taking photos in the car park of Lidl, whilst waiting for our ride and got called "fashion police" but some overweight, middle-aged guy who was smking outside a pub. Good times. I wore a version of one of the outfits I created when playing around with my new lace slip.

Boots -asos, tights - tightsplease, skirt - vintage via ebay, belt - came with another skirt (Primark), brown vest - Mexx at House of Fraser (British department store), lace slip - vintage (Armstrong's), bag - thrifted, wooden cuff - Oasis. I also wore a grey H&M cardigan but for some reason I hadn't put it on while I was taking photos!
Proof that I actually do were my outfits outside, places other than my living room! Excuse the goofiness but I thought I'd brighten up your day with my mad posing skills.

Char x

July 15

Hey there!
Wow! A whole week since our last post, can you tell that we're working a lot? Ten days till payday though so all is well. I want to thank everyone who is reading this blog, despite our periodic absences from the blogosphere, and especially those who have been commenting, those little comments make my day! I'm in the process of updating the links list so if you want to be added drop us a little comment...I'm always looking for new blogs to add to my long list of compulsive daily reads! Warning: a lot of text lies before you (feel free to skip to the pictures!).

At work today a guy told me I dress in an "unusual" way, which I found a bit odd because I really do tone it down for work and thought I was (almost) blending in with the sea of black/grey suits and crisp shirts. It was definatly intended in a complimetary way though, and of course I took it as such. When I told him that my work wardrobe was really just a toned-down version of how I dress the rest of the time, he looked shocked and said "How do you normally dress?", I suppose my response summed up my attitude towards clothes, "I'm just not really a jeans and a t-shirt girl". Jeans, yes. I do own (and wear) a good few pairs of jeans (not a lot though, maybe 5 pairs?) and I do own t-shirts, but I don't often wear the two together. Rant over, I just hadn't ever considered before how I'm perceived at work or that the way I dress is particularly crazy...I take small risks with my outfits, but nothing compared to some other bloggers (who I admire immensly). Also, didn't expect compliments today as I forgot to wear a vest top under my white (and unironed!) shirt and had on a yellow bra! Not neon or anything but still not a good look...

I had a pleasant walk home from work today, not least because of my unplanned stop at one of Edinburgh's best known vintage shops, Armstrong's. I know I had mentioned previously my disapointment with Edinburgh's vintage offerings but today I suddenly remembered a pretty lace slip I seen before last month's payday, which had played through my mind for days and which I had sworn I would own at the first opportunity. The fickle fashionista that I am, I forgot all about it once my trip to Glasgow was planned. I was pleasantly surprised that it was still there when I returned today.

My pretty new lace slip and the view from my kitchen window, an attempt to make photos more interesting! After a delicious dinner of baked potato I played around a bit with the slip and came up with a few ways to wear it, turns out to be very versatile...
Worn as a dress, over a black dress - Miss Selfridge, grey tights (in all the photos as I had them on for work) - tightsplease, shoes - vintage via ebay.
As a skirt, top - H&M, tights and shoes as before. Obviously I still had the black dress on underneath, hence the rugby player shoulders!

And finally as a top! I think this is maybe my favourite of the outfits so I may wear it in real life soon...whenever my next day off or fun activity is. Shoes - H&M, skirt - vintage via ebay (I couldn't figure out what to wear this skirt with, until now. Matching vintage with vintage seems so obvious in retrospect) belt - came with another skirt (Primark), bag - thrifted, vest (underneath) - Topshop. Lace is everywhere on the A/W 08 runways so I think I got a good bargain there.

How sweet are my new socks from sox-populi? I was informed by flying saucer of their sale, and there are some pretty awesome socks to be had for anyone who is even nearly as obsessed with leg wear as me! They have some tights too, but I guess that's not their real focus.
With the same grey tights as before, H&M wedges and pink ankle socks from tightsplease.


After all the pretend outfits from earlier, I actually do have a real outfit! Sea and I had a few drinks with some friends on Saturday night and this is what I wore...
Outift details: shoes - New Look, tights - Primark, skirt - Primark, belt - Dorothy perkins, vest - Topshop, shirt - asos, bracelet - gift from lil bruv, pearls - ebay, ballerina necklace - Topshop.
Close up of shirt/necklaces. The weird black stripe is just part of my mirror!

This is another outfit I wore recently, to have dinner with my mum and brother. It was bit rubbish as I just stuck a skirt on over the shirt I'd worn to work that day (which is really baggy and hence unflattering) but I'm showing it because I wore my new legwamers and I didn't think they looked too bad! They look a bit like knee-highs I suppose. I said to my brother that i was bringing legwarmers back and he replied "Yes, I can see that's what you're trying to do.". He's a bit metro and loves clothes nearly as much as I do and is almost as bitchy.

Shirt - H&M (New York!), skirt - Oasis, tights and legwarmers - tightsplease.

I hope the uber long-ness of this post makes up for the haitus!

Char x x x