missguided | Vanity Claire

ClaireAugust 20, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Neon Shorts and White Shirt.

Hello lovely ladies!
Claire and I hosted a house party at what we affectionately call the Bitch Shack (colloquially known as the shack of bitches) on Saturday in honour of my birthday. Obviously, it called for a new outfit and about 10 layers of St Moriz!

I have raved about these shorts since I bought them around two weeks ago and I’ve been a genuine eager beaver to wear them. They’re from Missguided and cost me the grand total of £19.99 – I believe they do a dress in the same print if you are interested and as eager for the floral neon as I am! It took me a while to figure out what to wear with it, but I finally decided on this creamy white blouse from Primark (£8) and this triangle/bunting style necklace that also happens to be from Primark (shock horror…it was £3 FYI!). I borrowed a pair of heels from Claire as I’d left the cream ones I wanted to wear in Birmingham and my outfit was well and truly done! I did my nails in a matte effect Models Own nail varnish and some nude lipstick to keep things from getting too wild.

I was vair vair happy with it actually – perhaps even one of my most favey outfits to date! The party was vair fun too – apart from when I smashed my bottle of Moet on the floor when someone told me they didn’t like Game of Thrones…

ClaireAugust 18, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Primark Floral Crown and Split Maxi

Floral Crown – Primark / Crop Tee & Maxi Skirt – Missguided / Necklace – Primark (old) / Shoes – eBay

Happy Sunday y’all. Here at Stylingo HQ we are both nursing quite ludicrous hangovers after throwing a house party last night in celebration of Lauren’s birthday (yes, ANOTHER celebration – the girl knows how to milk a birthday). We consider ourselves to be quite tip top hosts and this time even treated our guests to a mini-buffet from Iceland – needless to say, everyone was thrilled. There was also a lot of Kanye West and a lot of tequila, so all in all it was a successful night.

As you can see, I went pretty ‘out there’ for me. By which I mean I wore the exact same sort of outfit I’ve been wearing loads lately and a crazy blind pensioner could have predicted that I’d wear something like this. Ho hum!

ClaireAugust 15, 2013

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.

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?

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.

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?

ClaireAugust 9, 2013

Outift of the Day: Missguided Crop & Topshop Trousers

Crop Tee – Missguided / Chain – eBay / Trousers – Topshop / Shoes – JuJu / Bag – Forever 21 / Lipstick – Barry M ‘Palest Lavendar’

Everybody, look! LOOK. I’M NOT AT WORK. On a Friday! I hope you’re all as excited as I am about this fact. Normally, having a day off work is thrilling enough, but today I’m especially excited because one of my very best friends is coming to stay with me for the weekend. I’m just about to leave the house to meet her at the station and welcome her to sunny Coventry, but thought I would quickly share what I’m wearing out for our lunch and drinks date.

This sort of thing has very much became a bit of a go-to outfit for me this year while the crop top continues to reign supreme. It’s only really been this summer that I’ve started to incorporate them into my day wardrobe, after being a bit iffy about the idea for a while. But now I think I can safely say it’s acceptable, though only when teamed with something high-waisted of course – belly buttons are the new nipples, keep them covered unless you want to cause too much of a stir.

I teamed this Missguided crop (from the Sweet Deals range which I have raved about numerous times) with these Topshop trousers that I’ve had for about a year and absolutely LOVE. They’re so light and cool, and surprisingly versatile. They crease like a bitch and as a general rule I don’t iron clothes, which is why they don’t receive quite as much love from me as they should. If you’re interested in learning a top tip from my Lazy Girl’s Guide to Living Like a Human, then to get these crease-free this morning I blasted them with my hairdryer. My trusty fave eBay gold chain adds a dollop of ghetto fabulous to the outfit, complemented by this Forever 21 chain strap bag. The JuJu jellies don’t really match seeing as they have silver glitter in but SHUT UP I LOVE THEM, aaaaaaaand today I’m even wearing a lipstick in the day, which is rather unlike me.

On that note, I am very very close to being late and leaving Chiara stranded in the mean streets of Coventry, so I must dash. I hope you all have proper jazzy weekends, LATERS.

ClaireJuly 30, 2013

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.

Midi 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.

Leather 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…

Crochet 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!

Crop 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?

ClaireJuly 27, 2013

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…

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.

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

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

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.

Primark Floral Headband – £2.50

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

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:

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.

ClaireJuly 20, 2013

Missguided:‘Sweet Deal’ Value Range

Working in an office on a business park, where the only place to venture out at lunch to is a manky bench round the corner, I have become quite the regular online shopper. Online browsing can become repetitive and boring, but every now and then you find something that, in my case, literally makes you slam your hands on the table and shout ‘WHAT THE EFF?!’ The last time I experienced this kind of shock was when ASOS started stocking Primark – this time it’s another exclusively-online retailer that’s made me want to throw a stapler at the wall in excitement (what, that isn’t a normal way to express yourself?) View Full Post

ClaireJuly 15, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Neon Skater Skirt at Wireless Festival

Good afternoon one and all. After suffering from a terrible case of bloggers’ block, dithering about what to write about today and Claire threatening to throw her pen at me (SEE WHAT I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH?!), I have finally settled on filling you in on my weekend.

If you follow our Twitter account, you may have noticed a slight lack of activity on my part (I can tell you’re thinking, ‘Ah, this is why I felt a horrible sense of loss over the weekend’). This was because I took the plunge and decided to leave the comforting streets of Coventry to hit the big city with my pal for Wireless Festival. After agonising for MONTHS about what to wear, I ended up spending Thursday night cleaning the house, lying on my bed reading ‘Dancing in my Nuddy Pants’ and generally not choosing what to wear. I’m half on a spending ban at the moment (tell that to WH Smith’s and their half price note pads), so I decided to be frugal and not buy anything new (which was probably sensible as port-a-loos and new outfits don’t mix brilliantly). However, it did mean getting up at 7am on Friday and charging around my room in my pantaloons with a horrible sense of panic. We’re having beautiful scorching weather (WOO), so being too hot was a no-no. Unfortunately, I also burn like Guy Fawkes and Joan of Arc on a hot (paha) date, so I need to be covered too. PROBLEMATIC? Horribly.

I ended up settling for a neon yellow skirt I bought a month or two ago, a black body, a pair of casual sandals and a chunky gold necklace (obviously channeling my inner Waka Flocka Flame). I teamed it with a denim jacket while we were still in Coventry because at that point it was cloudy and I didn’t want to look like a raving lunatic at 9am. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too boiling at Wireless. Which was most likely because of the lovely hydrating pints of cider I was drinking, mmm appley.

I thought I’d give you a little picture tour of my day on Friday; I didn’t take many snaps as I was too busy realising how much I love Ke$ha.

If you’re interested in recreating this little outfit, here is where you can get the same or similar items (I have to admit, it’s quite a good one for the hot weather when you want to protect your shoulders!).

I only went for the day on Friday, so me and my lovely friend stayed at a hotel in Shoreditch, did a bit of shopping in the Spitalfields Market on Saturday and then headed back to our respective homes. Claire and I headed out in Birmingham on Saturday night, which we should hopefully have some outfit of the night posts up soon (I wore Claire’s trousers, so no new exciting clothes there either. Sniff.).

My highlights of Wireless were definitely Frank Ocean (still swooning) and of course, Justin Timberlake. Did anyone else head to Olympic Park this weekend?

ClaireJune 28, 2013

How to Dress Like… Iggy Azalea

I don’t think I can accurately describe how thoroughly in love I am with Iggy Azalea. Ever since first seeing the ‘Work’ video, I’ve dedicated good portions of my day to stalking her Twitter and Instagram accounts, lusting over her hair, clothes, figure… okay, her everything. It borders on a creepy crush, and I’m perfectly fine admitting that to you all.

I figured that I may as well put my obsessive perusing to some good use and run through some of Iggy’s key looks, how you can replicate them and general tips on how to embrace your inner Iggy.

Look 1: The Body

Miss Azalea is regularly spotted wearing leotards that perfectly show off her teeny tiny top half. One of the reasons I absolutely adore her style, and I’m sure I’ll waffle more about this in a bit, is because she’s proud of her ‘runway tits’ and doesn’t go in for trying to make them look bigger like other small-boobed celebs do (Rihanna, I’m looking at you, ya B-cup faker).

Motel body / Miss Selfridge Black Mesh Body / New Look Print Body

Look Two: Urban

I’ve read numerous bits about how Iggy moved from Australia to America (which is not something I’d necessarily do – waving ‘laters’ to fit Aussie surfer boys just seems like the actions of a lunatic) because she considered it to be the home of hip hop. Her love of this culture is obviously something that passes into her style, so she’s regularly repping the urban look. Generally, I wouldn’t encourage you to start going out in full tracksuits unless you’re a big name in rap, but luckily the current trend for sport luxe means that you can incorporate this in a wearable way.

River Island Mesh Crop / Topshop Grey Quilted Joggers / River Island Studded High Tops

Look Three: Bright Bodycons

One word will suffice here: CURVES. She’s always emphasising hers in bright prints and colours. I’m personally really intrigued to know whether she ever wears fat pants to suck it all in – I mean, I know her abs are amazing, but what if she has a really big pie before an event? Unfortunately, I don’t think I’d get a response if I tweeted her about her underwear. Sad face.

Boohoo Ombre Dress / Motel Jolene Dress / Motel Zoe Dress in Aztec

Look Four: The Crop Top

A girl after my own heart, Iggy has a selection of amazing crop tops. If you had a stomach like this, wouldn’t you constantly be flashing it?

Topshop Leater Look Bralet / New Look Aztec Crop / Urban Outfitters Halterneck Crop

What do you all think of Iggy Azalea’s style? Who are you admiring at the moment?

ClaireJune 19, 2013

The Best Sites to Find A Fashion Bargain.

I feel like I may be giving everyone the wrong (or right) impression of me here on Stylingo. With posts like my guide to the best cheap makeup products out there at the moment and various other references to being a bargain hunter, I do think you might all see me as some kind of homeless penny pincher. This is kind of true to an extent (apart from the homeless bit). I’m still looking forward to the day that I can shop in Topshop without feeling horribly guilty and I have discovered that being a grown up means you have to buy boring things like food instead of a new pair of shoes, SNORE.

For this reason (and making sure we can afford tequila, vodka and other important things), Claire and I tend to always be on the hunt for a bargain. Claire is officially the queen of eBay and impresses me daily with her bidding action and I physically can’t say no to something that is on offer. We tend to do a fair bit of shopping, I mean client research, online at work because it’s convenient, so we have actually become quite the experts at where to find cheap clothes and products, how to obtain a fashion bargain and what the best way to save money online is. And because I’m such a kind and giving person, I’m sharing this list with y’all.

eBay

It’s not a huge surprise that this is at the top of my fashion bargain list! You can buy pretty much everything from eBay and it’s a great place to check for second hand gems. Over the years, I have accumulated quite a lot from eBay but probably the best buy I got was a pair of baby pink Hunter wellies for £20. The eBay shops are also brilliant and they often do things that are on sites like boohoo.com or missguided.com. Claire and I have come to the conclusion that eBay shops and some online fashion retailers have the same supplier, but often the eBay version is cheaper. It’s worth having a look what’s available; we have our eyes on the platform block heeled boots that are everywhere at the moment.

Asos Marketplace

This has a similar vibe to eBay, but is run through Asos and is a bit more upmarket. There isn’t a bidding system but it is a place that many people sell second hand items. Asos impose strict quality control, not only on the clothes themselves, but also on how people sell them (you have to post pictures that have been taken outside etc!). You do have to have a bit of a root around, but you can really find a great bargain for really high quality and fashion forward stuff!

Blog Sales

If you’re a frequent reader of blogs (which chances are you are, if you’re reading this!), you may have noticed that a lot of bloggers do personal blog sales. This is usually to get rid of any unwanted products or clothes and it’s a brilliant way to get a bargain from one of your favourite bloggers. They sell anything from high end products to cheap clothes, so it really is worth having a look at what bloggers are selling.

Cheaper online options:

I’m definitely not knocking missguided.co.uk, boohoo.com or any other online retailer. I’m actually a massive Missguided fan and I tend to check there before anything where I’m looking for an outfit. HOWEVER, it is worth saying that there are other alternatives online that sell exactly the same thing for a cheaper price. Similar to the eBay shop situation, a lot of these online shops appear to have the same wholesaler and you can usually pick up a bargain if you’re prepared to have a good root around. Some examples of cheaper alternatives include:

OMG Fashion
Fashion Union
Mary Jane Fashion
Karma Clothing
Daisy Street
Desire Clothing

It just goes to show what a difference a quality model, good styling and a good marketing strategy can make!

Online shopping tips:

It is amazing to find a bargain on the internet, but buying cheap clothes online can also be a bit disappointing. You do have to be a bit more shrewd when it comes to choosing what you buy, because you can’t check out the quality, fit and real life colours for yourself. Over my internet shopping years, I’ve picked up quite a few handy tips so I thought I’d do a little addition to this post to share them and make your online shopping experience that much more magical.

1. Check the sizing! Claire did a really good post a few weeks ago on vanity sizing and what high street size you really are, which really highlighted the size differences between shops. Also, a lot of the cheaper shops do basic sizes like ‘S/M’ or ‘M/L’. This is slightly bizarre, because I am most definitely a ‘M’, whereas Claire is definitely a ‘S’. There is no way I’d fit into her teeny tiny jeans for example, just as she wouldn’t fit into one of my bodycon dresses. It’s worth really thinking about the garment you’re planning on buying and deciding whether basic sizing is going to have an impact. For an oversized jumper, basic sizing wouldn’t really matter but for tighter fitting clothes, you may want to try and check the measurements. Of course, you can always return something if it doesn’t fit properly, but that’s a faff and aint nobody got time fo’ dat.

2. Check the country! If you’re buying on eBay or other auction sites, it’s really important to check where the item you’re buying is being delivered from. Sometimes, the really cheap stuff is from the US, China or other international places, which can mean that delivery costs will be high. In the end, you might not actually save that much money. International items also take a lot longer to ship, so you might need to think about whether you can wait a few weeks for that must-have to arrive.It can be worth it though, I bought 60 pairs of eyelashes from Hong Kong for about £7. They took a while to arrive but really were a bargain!

3. Research voucher codes! Most online shoppers will be aware that brands often put out codes that offer money off, free delivery or other special offers. These can be amazing and are really worth taking advantage of when you can find them. I often find these on Twitter or Facebook, but you can use great sites like Fashion Vouchers. These let you search through various categories and find what offers are on at the moment. If you’re shopping from a regular high street store, there really is no reason not to find what voucher codes are out there.

SO. That is my rather long winded post on what good websites for cheap fashion are available out there in the big scary mystery that is the internet, as well as a few online shopping tips because I am just feeling pretty generous today ;). What do you all think? Have you got any other tips to add?