Outfit of the Day: Cami and Leather Look Leggings

??????????Cami – Primark / Leather Look Leggings – River Island (old) / Shoes – ASOS /Necklace – eBay / Ring – Primark

Greetings earthlings! I’m going to state the obvious and say that this is not my OOTD from today. Today’s a Thursday, I’m at work, and I don’t think the world of digital marketing is quite ready for leather-look leggings and 7 inch heels (much to my disappointment).

This is actually what I wore when we went out on bank holiday Sunday for a couple of drinks. I know it’s incredibly, painfully, momentously, catastrophically dull but basically a nasty encounter with some sort of bug left me with a really ugly bite mark on my leg so I had to cover up. Well, that and the fact that I managed to get attractive tan streaks on the white dress I was considering wearing. I really am such a failure at life.

I never really got on the disco leggings hype and instead managed to blag my way through that fashion phase by re-wearing my old leather look leggings. I thought I did well to get away with it for a while, but am confused by the fact that, seeing as leather is sticking around again into Autumn/Winter, I might still be able to wear these? It just doesn’t seem right to get so much wear out of one item, it’s like living during a war!*

|| Don’t forget that you can follow us on Bloglovin’ and Twitter! ||

* forgive me for this slight exaggeration.

Autumn/Winter Trends: Wishlist.

Claire and I are definitely being those girls at the moment. We have decided that summer is officially on it’s way out (even though I tried to wear I chunky knit to work today and may have somewhat melted) and it is now time to get properly excited about autumn/winter. Even though we live together, work together and generally see far too much of each other, we’ve somehow not run out of things to say to each other. This has been especially true this week, where we have spent approximately 100000000* hours discussing how we’re going to work the autumn/winter trends and what things we’re going to look at buying.

I must admit, I have been quite worried about the autumn/winter trends. So worried in fact, that I had a nightmare I dressed head to toe in tartan last night and Kate Moss told me I looked like a genuine fool (which is probably something that would actually happen if I ever met K Mossy). After some hyperventilating, a few cups of tea and some soothing head patting by Claire, I’m feeling a bit more positive NAY EVEN EXCITED about things to come. So excited that I’ve put together my wishlists for each trend, even though most high street stores haven’t revealed their autumn/winter collections yet. WHOOPS, I’m keen. Call this a autumn/winter trend sneak peak if you will (you probably wont), but here’s what I’m thinking of investing in this autumn/winter.

Tartan CollageTartan Tshirt: Topshop | Tartan Blouse: Boohoo | Tartan Cambridge Satchel | Paisley/Tartan Scarf: Miss Selfridge | Tartan Cigarette Trousers: River Island | Leather Panel Tartan Leggings: Boohoo |

Does anyone else have that problem of not really loving a trend but then coming round to it as soon as it’s going out of fashion? SNORE. This happens to me constantly. For example, I have finally decided that I like creepers approximately 2 years late. With this in mind, I have started convincing myself that I like the tartan trend months in advance so I’m prepared for the new season. I think I might have become as obsessed with it as I am with neon at the moment, so I’m going to be seriously investing in some key tartan pieces when the time comes! Oh to own that Cambridge satchel…anyone want to lend a homegirl £140?

PVC COLLAGE
PVC Skater Skirt: Glamorous | T Bar Shoes: Topshop | PVC Backpack: Topshop | PVC Mini Skirt:Topshop | PVC Scunchie: River Island | Leather Look Tshirt: OMG Fashion | Patent Skinny Belt: ASOS |

I’m a bit dubious of the autumn/winter PVC trend but I’m willing to embrace it with rubbery arms, provided things don’t get too prostitutey.

PASTEL COLLAGE

Rose Midi Dress: Missguided | Mint Acid Wash Mom Jeans: Topshop | Lilac Beanie: Topshop |  Yellow Crop Top: Missguided | Pink Watch: Olivia Burton |

My theory is that winter pastels are going to be more on the ‘dusty’ side – with more grey tones in them that the bright summery pastels. This is definitely an autumn/winter trend that I’m looking forward to! Apparently I’m really excited to wear lilac.

WELL. These are just the top three autumn/winter trends that I’m looking forward to! I’m also really keen for oversized coats, metallics (sorry Claire) and wearing dark plum lipstick again.

What do you all think? Have you got any trends you’re excited about?

Outfit of the Day: The Mirror Edition

You know how people say that as a parent you just feel permanently guilty and worried that you’re not helping your kids enough? I feel that way about this blog – does that make me terribly sad? That question is strictly rhetorical, don’t answer. Anyway, I’m aware that I haven’t done an OOTD post for ages, and have felt very guilty about it. So I finally set up the tripod and camera at the weekend to capture my oh-so-fascinating outfit and what was I greeted with on the display screen? Battery Depleted. SUPER.

So, like the absent father that I feel like, I’m trying to make amends. To give you a rough idea of outfits I’ve been loving lately, here’s a selection of rubbish mirror selfies that I’ve uploaded to our Instagram account @StylingoUK over the last couple of weeks.

OOTD 29th July 4Midi Dress – Primark / Cross Belt – Primark / Watch – River Island (similar here)

I featured this midi dress in my June haul post last month, where I said how rubbish it had looked in the changing room and that it would probably be going back. Well, wasn’t I just being a Negative Nancy. After trying it on properly and jazzing it up with a belt and better shoes, I now love this dress and it’s one of my staple work dresses (I took this at work, hence the attractive toilet shot). A good example of why it’s a good idea sometimes to buy things and try them out at home before making your mind up about them.

OOTD 29th July 3Leather Gilet – H&M / Vest – H&M / Maxi Skirt – Motel Rocks / Cross Necklace – eBay

I wore this outfit last week when I went into Birmingham to meet one of my old uni friends for lunch (FYI, Red Pepper in the Mailbox is THE best place I’ve eaten for a really really long time)(really really). I bought this sleeveless leather jacket months ago and have kind of just never got round to wearing it. I’ve seen plenty of other people wear them, but you know when you get those items you just can’t make work for yourself? I finally bit the bullet and teamed it with my knitted maxi skirt from Motel and I think it kind of worked…

OOTD 29th July 2Crochet Top – Primark / Vest – Primark / Denim Skater Skirt – Topshop

Ah, I love my little Topshop skirt; and it came in so handy during the heatwave. I wore it with this crochet tee (which I stole from my sister about two years ago and never returned – thanks Amy, if you’re reading!) for work one day as a simple summery outfit. I’m lucky to work somewhere where an outfit like this is seen as acceptable, I have NO idea how people who work in offices with strict dress codes coped during that heat!

OOTD 29th JulyCrop Top – Missguided / Trousers – Primark / Jelly Shoes – JuJu (via ASOS) / Lion Head Necklace – eBay

I love this outfit. It’s a shame that I only wore it round to my mum’s house and so it was just met with the greeting, ‘Those trousers are… interesting’. It will definitely need to be re-worn somewhere that it will get a bit more appreciation. I also wore my new favourite piece of jewellery, the lion head necklace that I first mentioned in my eBay dupes post back in May.

I actually ordered it just after that post went live, but there was an unfortunate incident when it was delivered. You see, I just happened to be quite drunk when I came home and discovered the parcel, and all I could remember the next day was the parcel ending up somewhere and my drunk mind thinking, ‘you’re NEVER going to find that when you’re sober, har har har’. And drunk me was right; I searched high and low for it for days and could not track it down. It eventually turned up two weeks ago, wedged behind the back of my chest of drawers. I do wish drunk me had been more considerate and left a note for sober me.

So, I apologise once again for the quality of these OOTD posts. I will soon fix the depleted battery issue and take my parental blogger responsibilities more seriously. Do you forgive me? Can we go bowling now?

July Haul: Missguided, Primark, ASOS & More…

Forgive me father, for I have shopped.

As it was payday this week, and as I was left on my own today while Lauren swanned off on her holiday with her family (erm, did she miss the part of our housemate contract where it said she wasn’t allowed to go away without me in her suitcase?), I decided to pop into town for the ever mysterious ‘one or two bits’. Of course this always accidentally turns into six or seven bits – but I can’t help that I have a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina no willpower.

I’ve also had a few things delivered the last couple of days, oops…

PicMonkey Collage

ASOS Petite Pencil Skirt £15 (SALE) / Missguided Split Maxi Skirt £5.99

This ASOS skirt is my favourite thing that I’ve bought in quite a while. I’m going to Sheffield next weekend for my friend’s birthday and had originally ordered the white bardot dress from Missguided’s value range for that. However, when it turned up with the rest of my Missguided goodies, I wasn’t in love with it and so this skirt was swiftly ordered in its place. The colours, the print, the fit… it simply makes my soul happy. The maxi skirt from Missguided was thankfully not a disappointment like the dress was. I LOVE this skirt and am actually wearing it today (god help any neighbours who would have been walking by at the point where I whipped it off to take these photos). The slit comes to about halfway down the thigh so it’s just about daytime-acceptable.

Haul 27th Collage 2

Missguided Acid Green Skater Skirt £5.99 / Missguided Crop T-Shirt £3.50

Don’t worry, I will iron these before wearing them…

PicMonkey Collage (1)

Primark Playsuit £8 / Playsuit Leopard Boyfriend Tee £5

When I went into town I popped into Primark to look at the shoes, and ended up coming away with these. This playsuit was one of those things that you almost don’t want to buy in Primark because it seemed as if literally everyone was snapping one up, but it was simply too pretty to leave without. I also picked up this t-shirt on a bit of a whim. I love leopard print but actually don’t tend to wear it very much (blonde extensions, fake tan and leopard print – it’s even too much for me, and that’s saying something); this print with the leopard faces really caught my eye though. It’s an oversized, boyfriend-fit tee which isn’t my usual thing but I thought it would be good for slouchy days. To be honest I have no real idea at the moment what I’ll wear it with, but I like clothes that also give you a good challenge, like you’re on the Crystal Maze.

PicMonkey Collage (2)

Primark Floral Headband – £2.50

Excuse my MASSIVE SHNOZZ but – I’ve finally hopped on the floral crown bandwagon.

PicMonkey Collage (3)

Naturally, I ended up picking up a few beauty bits too. My first stop was Poundland, where I found these bendy hair rollers. Next, I swung by Boots and picked up No. 7’s Exceptional Definition mascara to try, after reading some good reviews. Usually I’m loyal to Boots, but I headed to Superdrug too today to investigate the MUA range and instead discovered the Sleek stand. I’ve only seen Sleek online before (probably due to my afore-mentioned Boots loyalty) and so spent ages poring all over their different products before eventually deciding to try their BB cream. With my trip to Sheffield next week in mind, I picked up a new Barry M lipstick in ‘Palest Lavendar’ and of course some new false lashes. I went quite small compared to my usual drag queen-esque lashes, as the lipstick’s quite intense:

PicMonkey Collage (4)

And so I came home quite a bit poorer of purse… but richer in mood? That’s a legit justification for spending, right? I’ll be trying and reviewing all of these bits soon and pestering you all with my thoughts on them, YOU LUCKY THINGS.

Short Girl Problems: The Best Petite Clothing

They say that good things come in small packages – but what if the package wrapping just doesn’t fit?

Lauren and I are both self-confessed hobbits. I always liked to ambitiously declare myself as 5’3, though a cruel machine at the gym recently broke the news to me that I am in fact 5’1.8 (the .8 makes all the difference). Lauren comes in even smaller than me – some rumours suggest she is as little as 3 feet tall, and just wears special shoes like Tom Cruise.

Hobbts

Here is a recent photo of us.

We both quite like being short – you never really have to worry about finding a boy who’s taller than you, you’re brilliant at hide and seek because you can easily fit into most cupboards, and you can often get away with paying child fare on the bus.

One thing which is a proper snore about being short, though, is the clothing issue. Trousers drag along the floor. Midis cut us at awkward angles. We trip over our maxi skirts (Lauren face-planted in the middle of Birmingham City Centre just a few weeks ago due to this. Of course I didn’t laugh when she told me. Not one bit). Yes, these problems could all be fixed by altering our clothes but, frankly, the furthest I ever got in textiles lessons in school was making a puppet that was supposed to be a rabbit but more closely resembled something you might pull out of the hoover when you have a blockage. The domesticated life is not the one for me.

Another option is sizing down in ‘normal’ ranges. I have quite a few size 6 dresses in my wardrobe which, if you saw my hips, you would know is NOT my true size. But going a size smaller means you have less material, so it can be spread across your body better (sorry, I couldn’t find any better way of saying that). This is a good tactic with bodycon stuff, dresses in particular – I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for a pair of jeans, as fitting a size 10 bum into size 6 jeans will just result in an arse split that will be difficult to hide as you hand it back to the shop assistant.

My TIP TOP TIP though, is to find out where do good petite ranges. Things just look so much better when they are made for someone of your height – they keep you in much better proportion, plus you have less bruising from falling over all the time. So, here’s my list of the top 3 places to head to for petite clothes.

Petite - Clothing - Topshop
Topshop Petite
Topshop are hands-down one of my favourite shops that cater to my little-legged needs. They always have a decent sized range and often do petite versions of the season’s best-sellers, so we don’t have to miss out just because of the poor genetics passed onto us from our parents.

ASOS Petite
ASOS Petite
ASOS’ petite range is another personal favourite of mine, particularly for maxi skirts and dresses. Whereas Topshop only stock sizes 4-14, ASOS go up to a 16 so the majority of us tiny tots (did I really just say that? Yep, moving on) can find something to wear. What I also like about ASOS is that they do a lot of pieces exclusive to the Petite range. This makes me feel like I am in some sort of special club and can sashay around in amazing dresses that would leave taller girls flashing their foofs.

New Look 915
New Looks – 915 Range
Okay, DO NOT LAUGH. But buying kids’ clothes really is a superb idea if you’re petite. Have you seen how tall these 14 year olds are?! I have a slight problem with New Look’s 915 range because as I browse the crop tops and mini dresses, I can’t help but wonder where on earth 9 YEAR OLDS are going dressed like that. But that is a problem for parents and not for us short shoppers – so just enjoy the cheaper prices and worry about the nation’s children at a later date.

Are any of you petite? What are your tactics for dressing for your height?

Outfit of the Day: eBay Mint Blazer


OOTD 13th July

 

OOTD 13th July Shoes

 

OOTD 13th July accessories

OOTD 13th July Face

 Mint Blazer: eBay / Dress: ASOS (old) / Necklace: Primark / Watch: Casio (can buy here) / Shoes: Primark

Good afternoon lovely folk of the world! If you’ve read any of our other OOTD posts then you may notice that this we’ve had a slight change of scenery today. Usually we take pictures in our front room because the lighting’s better in there and it’s where our desk is, making it the room for all things professional. However (much to Lauren’s delight), that room is currently cluttered up with loads of my stuff that my mum unceremoniously decided she wanted out of her spare bedroom, and so until I find the energy to move it all up to my bedroom I had to re-locate to the other living room to take today’s OOTD.

Obviously, this was a really bad decision. The angle was terrible, the light was terrible and I suffered from a bad case of bitchface because I was worrying about all of these things too much. These are sadly the best of a very bad bunch. Sigh, the things we go through(!)

Anyway, this is my new(ish) blazer that I absolutely LOVE. Being short and quite small-framed, I really struggle with blazers as they’re usually too long and bulky. So when I found that this selection of cropped, waterfall blazers on eBay actually fit quite nicely, my little heart soared. I’m usually not a fan of having the same thing in various colours, but I’ve got to confess I have this in both the black and white versions too. As you can see in the first photo (or the bitchface photo), the lapel tends to run amok a bit but generally, for the price, you can’t beat this little number!

I’m planning to do a post soon about my favourite eBay bargains, so keep your little eyes peeled.

On that note, I need to go and find a pub garden immediately. T’ra.

ASOS Sale: The 6 Best Bargain Dresses For This Saturday Night

ASOS Sale Dress 1Mini Polo Neck Dress / Petite ‘Cold Shoulder’ Aztec Print Dress / Glamorous Number Print Midi Dress

Asos Sale 2Square-Back Mini Dress / Motel Midi Dress /River Island Diamond Print Bodycon Dress

I always get overly-excited when Asos launch a big sale – it’s one of my favourite retailers, and I never fail to find something on there. There are always great bargains to be found in the sale section, but at the moment they seem to particularly have a frankly SUPERB selection of going-out dresses. As I’m a kind-hearted girl, I thought I’d pick out six of the best dresses that you can pick up for under £15 – and if you order today or tomorrow, it can still arrive in time for that big night out at the weekend. You are very welcome.

Wishlist: The Search For A New Handbag.

Handbags. Even girls (who arguably should be sectioned) that claim they don’t like shopping and ‘girly things’ love a good handbag. Where else are you supposed to keep essential items like phones, keys and snacks for later? POCKETS? ARE YOU MAD? HAM SANDWICHES DON’T SURVIVE IN POCKETS.

Ahem. Anyway. I’ve been on the hunt for a new handbag for a while now and I’m in two minds whether to invest in something fancy or just go with my usual standard of buying a cheap handbag that only lasts a couple of months. At the moment I’m using a horrible combination of a little black box bag for the days I don’t have a lot of stuff (it’s a really old Primark one that’s not worth getting into too much detail about) and a big floral one for when I’m going to the gym (or have a big lunch…). They’re doing me fine for now, but I really feel like I need a nice grown up handbag in a sophisticated shade of black or tan to make my life a bit better.

So, with all of this pointless information in mind, I’ve decided to put together a handbag wishlist to try and streamline my ideas and also share with y’all the best of the handbags on the highstreet.

Contrast effect bags:

Screen Shot 2013-06-25 at 12.44.31As you may notice, I’m after a bit of a classic bag that’s going to last me over the next couple of years (fingers crossed), so I’m a bit wary of getting involved in anything too neon or rucksack-y. On the topic of rucksacks, me and Claire were discussing what perils you could encounter while wearing one. Don’t get us wrong, we are both big fans of rucksacks but there are things that need to be addressed. What if someone stole my lunch on the way to work (don’t pretend like you didn’t unzip people’s backpacks at school and hide their things)? What if I fell over backwards and squashed my belongings? What if I was mistaken for a five year old and told to go back to pre-school? Will I actually just look like a giant douchebag? For these legitimate/worrying reasons, rucksacks have not been featured on this bag wishlist. Sorry gals.

Tan bags:

Screen Shot 2013-06-25 at 13.00.08

Printed bags:

Screen Shot 2013-06-25 at 13.34.06

I’m painfully aware that the tan bags and contrast bags I picked are all a bit boring, so I’ve decided to do a ‘printed’ category to take me out of my comfort zone a bit. I’m not sure how classic these are but the I do enjoy a good bit of leopard and geometric print so one of them might be the one!

What do you guys think? Any particular favourites or recommendations?

 *Note – Claire just pointed out I wrote about lunch on three occasions in this post. IT’S MY FAVOURITE MEAL OF THE DAY, I’M SORRY I ENJOY A FREAKIN’ SANDWICH.