Today I did something I have never done before: walked out of my hairdresser’s house and burst into tears. It is honestly the most upset I’ve been about my hair, and this is coming from the girl who had to go to her Year 11 Leavers’ Ball looking like Honey Boo Boo.

After having my weave re-sewn in today, I asked my hairdresser to trim an inch or so off the ends as they were looking a bit ratty – so please imagine my shock when I looked in the mirror and saw that what were my 18 inch hair extensions had now been cut into a bizarre long bob which is only about an inch longer than my natural hair.

I did the typically British thing of smiling brightly, saying thank you and commenting how healthy it looked, and then fled. I admit crying might have been a bit dramatic, but it dawned on me that since having extensions, long hair has become a bit of a security blanket for me. Suddenly being out with natural-length hair made me feel like a big naked weirdo – and who wants to feel like one of those?

After ringing a friend and explaining that I would be hiding in my house for a month, I received strict instructions to pull myself together, head into town and indulge in a bit of retail therapy. And so VOILA – that is what brings me to this post.

Primark

I was very excited to see that Primark have started introducing their Autumn/Winter stock in store. I might have massively slated the collection in my Primark A/W 2013 post, but since then I’ve actually had a change of heart about a lot of the key trends this season and so am much more willing to give things a go. Also, the sight of lots of black clothing really matched my post-hairdresser mood, which might explain why there is not a bright colour to be seen.

Camis – both £5

People have been loving the Topshop camis lately, but to be honest I haven’t been very interested in them; I’m strangely broad shouldered for my petite frame, so thin-strapped camisoles have never been that flattering on me. But when I spied these Primark versions, I decided to try the black one on just to see. I was actually pleasantly surprised with how it looked, as well as the overall quality, so decided to snap up the plum colour too. They also had them in coral, nude and grey, and other stores might have other colours too. For almost a quarter of the price of the Topshop camis, these are brilliant value for money and I’m once again left scratching my head as to why people would choose the more expensive option when I see such little difference.

Leather Quilted Skirt – £10 / Leather-Sleeved Tee – £4

Primark are all over the A/W leather trend right now, so if you’re not sure about it still and want to try a few cheap pieces then I’d definitely recommend taking  a look. This skirt stood out to me because of the quilted texture – texture is set to be really important this winter so it’s ticking a couple of boxes for only a tenner. I wasn’t sure about it when I tried it on, though. I don’t think a-line skirts are particularly the most flattering shape for me to begin with, and with this skirt I have the problem I have quite a lot of it being very fitted on my massive bootay and then a bit gapey at the back where my waist is smaller. I do think it will be a great staple piece though, plus on the mannequins it was paired with jumpers which would eliminate  my gaping waist problem. I’m going to try it with a few things in my wardrobe and decide its fate later.

I’m also a big fan of leather sleeves at the moment. I think PU trim can look a little tacky (especially in Primark, so sorry to say this but it’s true) but sleeves are a nice way of bringing in a little leathery edge. Primark have leather-sleeved skater dresses, jumpers and t-shirts so whatever your needs, you can have a leathery sleeve to match. I decided on the tee, and bought it 2 sizes bigger than normal with the idea of wearing it as a dress.

Kimono – £7 / Cardigan – £10

Ah, be still my beating heart. I’ve been after a kimono for a while now so was extremely chuffed to find that one of the last couple of these in store was a size 10. NABBED. I love the colours and the oriental floral/bird print. They had a few other kimonos in in lighter colours, but as I have my eyes firmly set on Autumn I stuck to the dark version.

I saw this cardigan recently on one of Lily Melrose’s hauls and loved the way she styled it. In keeping with the textured trend, I think this fluffy dream will be great for adding a bit of variety to outfits during the transitional Autumn period. Plus I just have hella love for anything remotely fluffy or furry, and it is SO warm and cosy.

Frilly Socks – £1.50 each / Ring – £1.50 / Tights – £2.50

I’ve recently bought some cut-out ankle boots (see below if you simply can’t wait) and so have been after a couple more pairs of frilly ankle socks to wear with them. I think the different colours peeking through will be – I dunno, cute/fun/interesting(?) – I just want it to happen god dammit. I also need to bring more gold rings into my life as I love my gold chains but have hardly any other gold jewellery, and who isn’t always in need of an extra pair of tights?

New Look & eBay

 

Cut-Out Boots – £27.99 / Wood Heel Platform Boots – £14.99

Neither of these were bought today, but I thought I’d include them anyway. Shoes aren’t something I actually buy that often, but I’ve bought two new pairs recently. Cut-out boots are everywhere at the moment, and I opted for this New Look pair (bought via ASOS because I like to take maximum advantage of my free next-day delivery) as they’re a slightly more feminine and work-appropriate version compared to the clumpy biker boots. I plan to do a full post on these soon, included how to style them and where you can buy alternative versions!

The eBay shoes are quite possibly my favourite things ever. Brilliant dupes for the Jeffrey Campbell classics, they cost just £14.99 from this eBay seller and are some of the comfiest but highest shoes I own. I think these will be brilliant for so many different occasions and basically I just love them mega loads.

So, that concludes today’s haul post. I hope your bank holidays are all off to a better start than mine – if anybody needs me over the coming weeks, then as stated I shall now be hibernating until I can afford a new set of extensions. Cheerio.