better stranger

asos | mini haul

just bricks in the wall

 

 necklaces: asos & charity shop

high neck crop: primark

belt: primark

skirt: new look

rings: family gifts

bag: ebay

shoes: primark

yesterday the sun decided to momentarily hide away, so while i wasn't a totally gross sweaty mess i decided to grab some quick outfit shots. since buying my first midi skirt, i've been totally loving having the extra bit of material to my knees and in turn worrying less about unwanted bum shows, so when i spied this in the new look sale i knew it had to be mine. it's a lovely light material so is perfect for the warmer weather, but i think due to the colours it'll also make a fab transitional piece into my winter wardrobe paired with a collared shirt and jumper – anybody else buy clothes with all the seasons in mind?!

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oh, hello, mr sunshine!

 crop top: topshop

dress: ebay

necklace: gift

belt: asos

boots: primark

bag: primark

here today in middlesbrough the weather has been absolutely glorious, and lo and behold because the sun's made an appearance, i've been otherwise occupied and have spent the majority of the day cooped up in my bedroom catching up on research work ready for my hand in on tuesday - boo! after dinner, i decided to change from my pyjamas, make myself somewhat presentable and take to our garden (if that's what you can call it) to catch 10 minutes of the sunshine and snap some outfit pics, too.

i was a little sceptical about taking pictures out back because, to put it frankly, it's a little bit disgusting; it's a tiny alleyway overgrown with weeds and strange, washed out paintings along one of the walls, but much to my surprise, it kind of worked! the lighting out back was brilliant, being light enough to make pictures clear, but not directly in the line of the sun that'd mean they were over exposed, so all in all a pretty successful endeavour that i'll probably attempt again at some point; you know, provided i can find time where my housemates are otherwise occupied so they don't walk into the kitchen to find my posing awkwardly for my camera and tripod... it's something that i've been caught doing a couple of times now, and non-bloggers just seem to find the concept a little bit odd, making for awkward explanations. sigh.

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wednesday

 dress: asos

necklace: handmade

sunglasses: primark

rings: primark

socks: primark

shoes: primark

ok, so, first things first: awkward pose of the year award most definitely goes to me. it was one of those days where i had to quickly shoot and go, so please do excuse how terribly goofy i look. it's a curse, sigh.

i'd been eyeing this dress up on the asos website since around october last year, so when i spotted it in the sale while asos were offering an additional 20% off of sale items, i saw it as a sign and finally placed my order - bagging it for £17 from £30 was definitely something i didn't want to miss out on! i initially had issues with the sizing of the dress as there were only size tens left in stock, and when it arrived i found out there was very little room around the bust, but a lot of room around the hips. now, i'm not particularly chesty, and my hips are pretty sizeable, so i'd love to know which flat chested, hippy girl they're modelling these dresses on! however, after a little bit of DIY unpicking some of the stitching around the bust, it fit like a glove and i was good to go. my only issue really with the dress is that it's a drop waist fit rather than sitting around the waist, meaning it's not quite as flattering for my body type as it could be.

the dress has an underdress to it, making it quite warm to wear and fairly bulky. while it'll be fabulous once again in the winter with a chunky coat, throughout the warmer months it's also easy to wear alone, bare legged. i find because of the lace details and buttons on the dress, you don't really need to dress it up all that much, meaning if you're lacking outfit inspiration one day you can be safe in the knowledge of throwing this on with a few pretty rings and fab sunglasses will do the job nicely!

 

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today: monochrome florals

 hat: h&m

dress: new look

shirt: charity shop

necklace: shop dixi

belt: asos

rings: primark

socks: primark

boots: primark

as of late i've felt my blog become a little monotonous and stale due to the posts i write in advance and schedule to post on certain days, so because the academic year's coming to an end and i'll soon have a lot more time on my hands to blog, i've decided to try and make my blog a little more organic by posting outfits on the days i wear them instead of shooting them in advance. i still have some posts backed up for the next few weeks so i'll go ahead posting those as i'd planned, however there may be the odd couple thrown in on top of them depending on how much time i have! i'm hoping throughout the summer to post a little more regularly and true to life, so fingers crossed for it all going to plan!

yesterday i nipped to town to pick up a couple of things for my trip to new york (i go on saturday, eek!) and ended up picking this dress up after having a nosey around the new look sale. it was only a fiver so i suppose it doesn't really matter that i have too many dresses! i'd seen a few dresses with this neckline before, mostly on motel, and really wanted to buy one, however i really didn't want to pay motel prices for one, so this was the perfect compromise. i'm looking forward to wearing it alone in the summer with some chunky sandals, however for the time being i love it equally on top of a shirt and paired with chunky boots and a leather jacket. bargain!

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punching in a dream

 dress: motel

necklace: handmade

belt: asos

socks: h&m

boots: missguided

motel is a brand that i find myself constantly browsing the website of, but never actually buying anything from, and it all boils down to the fact that their full price items are just so bloody expensive, even with the constant 20% discount that they offer! the last time i bought a motel dress was back in the summer when they had a sale on, so i decided to have a nosey through their january sale to see if anything took my fancy and this little number caught my eye.

this dress was £20 in the sale, and after adding my additional 20% student discount onto the price, i walked away with it having only paid £16 which is a reasonable price for any dress, let alone one that had been previously priced at £45! the standard delivery service was superb and i had my dress within 2 days of ordering, so definitely no complaints on service from my end!

the dress is a tad on the large side, however i was so eager to throw it on that i didn't have the patience to send it back in exchange for a smaller size so threw a belt around the waist to pull it together a little and i think it did the trick. definitely a new wardrobe favourite!

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layering up

hat: h&m

jumper: primark

blouse: charity shop

dress (worn as skirt): asos

necklace: primark

shoes: primark

when i bought this dress back in september, i bought it solely as a going out dress, but soon realised that it's far too dressy for what i like to wear on your average night out. because of this i started thinking about other ways to wear it to make sure i'd get my money's worth out of it. i generally don't wear bright colours like this, with muted colours making up the majority of my wardrobe, so it was definitely something different for me to consider for everyday wear. once again, hundreds (maybe a slight exaggeration) of layers make for perfect winter wear, so this look will be something i'll be sporting until the weather warms up and i have an appropriate occasion to wear the dress to. who knows, maybe i'll go on holiday in 2014 and get plenty of wear out of it. it seems more realistic that it'll make an appearance on a warmer evening in britain, though. shame.

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baby fox print

dress: asos

jacket: charity shop

necklace: primark

scarf: urban outfitters

shoes: matalan

i'm an avid sale shopper because i love a good bargain, however when i came across this dress on asos i had to have it there and then, regardless of the fact that it was full price and almost £30. i'd seen the asos elephant print dress earlier this year and loved the whole simplistic illustrated design, however i didn't love it enough to part with my money for it, but that soon changed when i saw that basically the exact same dress was now being made with foxes in place of the elephants - perfect! i've never, ever come across a dress that i think is more 'me' than this, and it's easily now one of my favourite dresses because i love the loose, oversized smock fit combined with the adorable print. i think the only way this dress could be more suited to me would be if it was adorned with sloths (hint hint, asos.)

if you've now fallen for the dress just as i did and plan on making an order, i would highly recommend downsizing when ordering because i ordered a 10 and it is huge; it doesn't look it in the photos because i've done a little bit of diy and clipped the excess material away neatly at the back. if i'd have had the patience to send the dress back i'd have definitely opted for a size 8, and i'm usually a 10/12, so i'd definitely recommend downsizing by at least 1 size, perhaps 2!

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little pink dress

hat: h&m

necklace: primark

dress: asos

belt: asos

shoes: missguided

i first stumbled upon this dress on asos in black, and just before i added it to my cart i noticed there was another colour option, so i asked myself the question: do i really need another little black dress? and in that moment, i did something really daring and bought a bright pink dress... ok, it was daring for me.

i'm pleased i went for the pink, the colour's really pretty and i feel instantly girly and feminine when i slip it on, although i do like to dress it down a little with my hat so i still feel a little like myself when wearing it. i wore this dress for my first night out during freshers and it couldn't have been a more appropriate choice, what with me being stuck in a sweaty room full of giddy drunken first years (ah, god bless 'em.) the fact that this dress is rather lightweight and there's, erm, not very much to it, means that it's a good choice for when you know you're going to be pretty warm all night.

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