Fashion | How to wear your summer kimono in winter…

Its finally the Monday before Christmas! Honestly, I’m not sure either me or Josh feel all that Christmassy yet. As I write this up on the Saturday before we are both watching Muppets Christmas Carol and I am in new Disney, Bambi PJ’s (obviously). It has become somewhat of our own Christmas tradition in fact, A muppet Christmas Carol and new PJ’s, hopefully with disney characters.

Part of this years oddness is it our first ever at home, just the two of us. It makes the event a little different to normal years of going to our parents and Grandparents and so have set aside a couple of our own traditions. A christmas day walk before lunch (post champagne however), christmas movies or more exact movies of our past, this year we intend to watch muppets again, Chanel fours 1998 straight to TV movie of Merlin, Love Actually and About Time and finally of course new christmas day clothes, PJ’s all the way….

Before Christmas however, you need a different type of outfit, one acceptable for outside and general company, thats where this post comes in. One of my favourite silhouettes at the moment is the high waist, soft harem trousers with a tucked in shirt and belt, in Marrakech I called it Annie Hall meets Indiana Jones and I’m still a little bit obsessed.

Whats not been helping our Christmas spirit is this warmer weather… it doesn’t feel like Christmas. However, in its place are outfits like these, where you can wear your summertime Kimono in the depths of winter.

Like many, I love a good jacket and this green kimono from Zara is the perfect jacket for an outfit like this, it takes an oversized polo and harem trousers and makes the outfit fun again. For my own figure it also gives me a little more shape by cinching my waist in. So how do you wear a kimono in winter, well, its as simple as layering your clothes whether that is sweaters and long sleeved T shirts or pulling a shirt over a tank and the kimono also works great on black colours as it breaks up the outfit without breaking the silhouette.

Fashion | How to make dressing for a holiday party easier

Velvet Jacket+

When it comes to Christmas dressing I find that most people are in one of two minds. The person that dresses up for christmas and the person in PJ’s (or as close as). That being said however, when it comes to the christmas party there is often a whole other set of rules for what to wear.

Depending on what you want your outfit to say the Christmas party can often be a sticking point. Do you go smart casual or go full on, wear all the velvet and sequins you can get your hands on?

Personally I like to go simple, one thing to change the regular into the irregular.

When I saw this velvet jacket I knew it was perfect for the Christmas season, relaxed like you’re going casual, but velvet so you know your dressing up for once it actually makes getting dressed easy!

Finally I have the key, the dressed up jacket! Other dressed up options of course is a sequin jacket (hello sparkles), The silk bomber, Applique velvet jacket,  also I am officially in love with this sequin bomber jacket! Who said Christmas party dressing wasn’t easy?

Fashion | Shopping and why you should take photos of yourself in the changing room.

Green Roll Neck: Gap (On Sale!) , Cord Skirt: Next PLC (Similar – same store), Brogues: Clarks (In Black)

Oh, how I enjoy the shopping and planning process! It has to be my favourite part of any year. I think, just like planning one of our rooms to renovate planning for a season ahead brings so much more joy than I could ever expect!

(Look at the sleeves of this sweater! I call it my Snape sweater… – ultimate love right there) Its from Zara but I can’t see it online . . .

This Autumn/Winter I feel so much more on track to having a great, hard working wardrobe which is both on trend and flattering. I know, I used the word flattering! The horror! That being said I am feeling so good about this season that I figured why not show a few in changing room photos. Why do I take photos in the changing room? Well here goes . . .

They make you really look at yourself. Almost as though through the eyes of someone else.

I know that I have some really bad habits when it comes to shopping. I have been known to simply pick something up off of the shelf and buy it. Buy something that I don’t actually like because in my head I want it to work or because I simply want to make myself feel better. The best thing about photographing yourself however? You can’t hide from the truth. I mean you could . . . but its a lot harder at least.

When did I start photographing?

When I didn’t have my superhero mum telling me how terrible or good I really looked and secondly when I started the blog.

The reality is what we wear can look drastically different between our eyes and the camera lens, not to mention at mine and Joshes the mirror I use is slightly warped which gives me an unrealistic view of myself . .  . very helpful I realise.

To combat this I started photographing myself in changing rooms to look at myself from a different view point. To see my flaws and all! Since photographing myself I have on the whole seen an improvement in purchases, in fact I think that its why I am a better shopper if I go to the physical stores rather than ordering online. When I order online I’m more likely to keep something even if it doesn’t fit right just because I can’t be bothered to take it back. Therefore photographing a look in a dressing room? It can sometimes be so much easier then buying something half or blind and regretting it ever since…

Fashion | Fuzzy Gilet style

Jacket: Primark, Faux Fur Gilet: Long Tall Sally, Grey A-Symmetrical sweater: Zara, Leggings: H&M, Leopard Print flats: Barefoot Tess c/o Long Tall Sally, Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters

Since moving last fall my fashion sense has taken a serious nose dive. Partially because I get up at ridiculous o’clock now but secondly because when you have a wedding on the horizon your brain goes into, freaking out mush.

You might not believe me on this but honestly its officially happened, I’ve lost the will to spend hours creating looks. Instead, I favour getting in a crafty nap, watching a TV show or reading a magazine (I’m still working on the last one). With this in mind my closet has become a stomping ground for simple pieces that have an uber polished edge.

Right now my number one weekend go to’s are these slip on trainers which make the comfort of a trainer look uber funky (who can say no to leopard print). Zara Knitwear! I never paid too much attention to the knitwear basics in Zara but since purchasing this piece on sale (£12.99 from £25.99) I will definitely be purchasing these again! There is something to be said for picking up more quality pieces, I have become way over jumper shaving! Please stop with the bobbles!

Lastly faux fur? Instant glamour in a jacket!

5 piece wardrobe | Five pieces for AW15

5 piece wardrobe | the five pieces

As you know this year I am playing around with ways to switch up the capsule wardrobe and one of those is the five-piece wardrobe. If you don’t know what this is, it is a French concept where you can buy any basic pieces you need (like basic jeans, a white t shirt etc) and then on top of this you can buy five stand out trend led pieces a season.

So as I believe you can never plan to early I thought I would share the five pieces that have been speaking to me so far during the high-street AW reveals.

The Boho shirt from Next

 

http://www.next.co.uk/g722s1 

Am I Boho girl? Not really. But I love, love, love this shirt! I think what I really love is how its reflective of my living room in actual fact. Joshes parents have spent the last four years exploring Saudi Arabia and India and what they and Josh have bought back has really shaped our living room.

Maybe after having a living room in this style I probably shouldn’t bring that in to my wardrobe but really who’s to say I can’t wear it as well?

The leopard print/fun trainer

http://www.longtallsally.com/p/tall/petunia-animal-slip-on-16K12#16K12BRO

Choosing one pair of shoes is officially the hardest thing I have ever done, have I decided to buy only one pair this year? No. I still feel completely out and confused by what my foot needs to be happy but I know that something padded and supportive is the way to go!

I also love these! They are a little odd looking so who knows why but I do . . .

The 70’s on trend denim skirt

http://www.hm.com/gb/product/02010?article=02010-A

I loved the suede version of this style but never ended up getting one in the summer but will that stop me trying again this season? Hell no. I think I love the denim one even more than the suede one!

The sleeveless blazer

A sleeveless blazer; it should be a SS thing but I’m happy to layer it with jumpers and the likes to make it a must have AW piece. I love the instant style and layer potential that this piece has and I will definitely be loving this under last years camel coat for a bit more interest!

Dungarees

(Topshop! Petite, Regular, Tall)

I can’t explain why, I feel like I should just leave the word here like a ticking time bomb. You want to wear what?? Yup. I want to try Dungarees. I like the idea of the flashback to childhood to have something to wear at home and be silly in, I’m all about the whimsy these days and I think this AW? It’s the time to share that.

Topshop Dungarees notes: My ultimate favourite thing about Topshop is it offers its petite and tall ranges almost all the same options. The most frustrating thing I find as a tall woman is that all the highstreet brands offer a vastly different range for tall women. For example and I am sorry to name names but Dorothy Perkins loves to offer tall women (in bulk) black and white basics. Great for some but as boring as tax returns for the rest. The thing that I hate the most is that idea that tall women only want black trousers. Its something I feel like I talk about until I am blue in the face, but I wanted to ask the petite among you this, do you find yourself being type cast with the petite options available? Is there a style that you think high street stores tailor towards which frustrates you? I would be really interested to know and share in another post.

Between Capsule Wardrobes | Colour Matching casual

The Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters, The Sweater: Long Tall Sally, The Jeans and T-shirt: Zara, the Shoes: Clarks

Can you even believe its September? Already? I certainly can’t! Who saw that creep up on us? Regardless if you are doing a three month capsule wardrobe you might find yourself doing one of two things. Either you are super organised and so enthused for fall that you’ve already started, straight off the bat, you go glen coco! Or like me you’ve take a few days to either stare at your whole wardrobe and wonder, who are you and where did you come from? Or think like a girl in a candy store, what can I wear next?!?!

Either way I think there is always a slight bit of trepidation into a new capsule or when your having some time off to recoup after all the games changed what do you wear? My key to either way of thinking is going back to something simplistic and what is more simplistic than a good old colour match? As you may know from last Winters Capsule I love navy with a passion and I am pretty sure that my autumn and winter capsules this year will also feature plenty of this versatile colour!

Here I kept it simple by putting my favourite jeans together with a navy t-shirt and my favourite Eiffel tower sweater from last year. I actually tend to take this approach a lot mid capsule since this seems to be the time where I am thoroughly confused with both my purpose and my clothes. Other colours I love to wear together is all black for going to work with a bold accessory and maybe and even bolder coat or mixing reds and burgundy’s for a fun twist on basic colour matching. An excellent book I read a month or so ago is actually an interiors book by Abigail Ahearn but in it shes talks all about colour (It is after all called, colour) and here she states don’t be afraid of colour layer the same colour and make a luxurious feel! and really, isn’t that what we are all looking for?

The incredible shrinking “Lorelai” dresses

The Kimono: H&M, The Dress: H&M, The Belt: H&M, The Flats: Clarks, The Bag:Zara

The incredible shrinking “Lorelai” dresses

I don’t know what happened to H&M’s basics dresses this year. Last year they cost £7.99 apiece and are still going strong! This year they cost between, £12.99 and £14.99 and they came up shorter to start with and then proceeded to shrink in size. Clearly this was very unhelpful.

Honestly I am sad about this dress, I am in love with the colour khaki at the moment (and let’s be honest, who isn’t? – have you seen the highstreet? It’s saturated!) and yet this dress makes me antsy. Is it too short? Has it rolled up? Can this guy see that I am in fact wearing grey cycle shorts under this get up?

It’s an ongoing drama which quite honestly takes away from the purpose of a dress which would cover you and allow you an easy and freeing summer. It’s even worse with a capsule wardrobe because you know what these clothes need to last you, they need to be somewhat of an investment and I feel a little let down by this dress to be honest. It’s also shown me that come Autumn what I want to look into is smart workwear, I want longer skirts and dresses, that are structured and stand out pieces. It’s my dream, whether or not that comes true however is another thing completely . . .

The Capsule Wardrobe | Basics, the tunic

The Capsule Wardrobe | Basics, the tunic

I’ve talked about this dress all too often this summer so instead I’m going to just tell you these two things, If you want to know what has to be in your capsule but spring/summer and Autumn winter this year? Make it a tunic and a chambray shirt, I promise you won’t look back.

Shopping | Key pieces for Petite, Regular & Tall

Petite

Sleeveless white Ponte Jacket (I have tried this on in grey, tall and I adore it!!)

Chambray Joggers, Gap

Regular

White sleeveless tailored jacket, River Island

Chambray Joggers, Anthropologie

TALL

Sleeveless waistcoat, Long Tall Sally

Chambray Joggers, Long Tall Sally

Accessories!

Sunglasses: Topshop

Bucket Bag: Gap

Heels, Office (reduced!)

I couldn’t tell you why I went the chambray jogger route, but I think they just look so fun! Why should shirts hug all the spotlight right? Of course you’ll probably need a good T or shirt under that blazer but still I love the idea of mixing dressed up with a tad of the slouch! But guys, those sunglasses! Oh how I want them!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! (with either lots of shopping or staying strong!) See you Monday!!!

Your five tips to shopping Tall.

Your five tips to shopping tall.

Shopping tall can be an exhausting process and I know this because A: I am tall and B: I am currently looking for a non-wedding wedding dress. Similar to if you’re a gorgeous petite girl when you’re not average it’s like the stores have banded together to make our lives that little bit more complicated but let me tell you, it needn’t be so stressful!

Try everything on.

It’s an obvious one but I often find my clothes in unexpected places.

For example, Zara. Zara is ace in my books because online it gives you a handy little break down of what height each model is. I really don’t understand why more stores don’t approach their sites in this manner but they don’t. Because of this Zara has now become my go to for jeans and trousers. Not for everyone however but Zara suits my more boyish shape. It offers a good leg length and wider waist line which is the most flattering shape for apple shaped girls like myself.

So although sometimes it’s easy to dismiss a shop by its looks it’s often the place where you can find a great steal!

Shops who inadvertently cater to the taller girl include, Primark, Zara and Mango and these are not even specific tall ranges!

My new jumpsuit from H&M divided has surprising length in the body.

Adapt clothes.

Sometimes of course, this doesn’t work out. Whether that’s dresses with defined waists too high up or crop tops that become bra-lets with some cuts you just can’t win.

So let’s talk about adapting your clothes. You want a mini skirt right but you’re in H&M and the divided section is literally laughing in your face? Well march yourself to the grown-ups section and find yourself a knee length skirt!

Clearly this won’t work for everything but let me tell you, a lot of the time I’m rocking midi skirts as knee grazers and knee length skirts as miniskirts. In fact my favorite trick is with my black, jersey pencil skirt which during work I wear on my hips with a shirt half tucked and when/if I go out in the evening with my friends or the boy I pull the skirt up to my waist and tuck my shirt in to give me a mini skirt. It’s the easiest two ways to wear one skirt!

Two of my favourite tall brands! Long Tall Sally and Taller Than Your Average!

Scope out the tall sections.

Not all stores are built the same. In more ways than one.

New Look, Dorothy Perkins and Next for example only keep their tall sections online, why? Because apparently we don’t shop enough. Crazy right? I honestly miss the days of just popping into the high street to peruse the tall sections, but that’s pretty much over now. Which I think explains why I now shop more in the regular sections and cut corners.

Luckily however some other stores still carry their tall sections although in smaller numbers. Topshop is the main one and they have a dedicated tall section other than our obvious go to store, Long Tall Sally.

I love going in to Topshop for the headlines. I feel like this is the store for the big hitter trends which are not exactly my bag but if you need a great trend piece in a hurry than these are your guys. Other stores who offer longer leg lengths in store include Marks and Spencer and Next.

Cut monetary corners.

When a piece of clothing isn’t a sure thing I hate the idea of paying postage. It’s my biggest hate that I’m ordering not the cheapest of clothes which I have no idea what they will look like on and then I have to pay £4 postage. To make things worst certain stores then won’t have them delivered to you for another two weeks! No thank you. When you can deliver to store for free, do it!

It doesn’t take longer to arrive in fact sometimes its quicker because it just gets put in with their normal weekly deliveries and to make it even better? Your life just got even easier because you can get it delivered to the store closest to your work! Is there anything better than picking up clothes at lunch?

Shoes matter.

If you’re a tall girl shoes can be a problem, why? Because to balance those sky scrapper pins then you’ll probably have slightly bigger feet. Sucks right? Well I have found that shoes are my biggest problem mainly because I have size nine which is just out of most stores regular sizes but if you have size ten and larger my thoughts are with you poor ladies!

Size nine for me is limited and not just because they are big but balancing me along with an ankle injury mean that I have to have more support which is even harder to find! My favourite UK stores include, New Look. New Look is great for cheap quick fixes but remember where size nine shoes are concerned finding them on the high street is dependent on store location and clientele.

Next online order in to store for the best deals on affordable shoes which have slightly better support! My ultimate favorite however is Clarks. They are for great quality shoes which when bought on a deal really are a, really, really, excellent deal! Meanwhile for a wide range of choices Brantano is a great store!

Supportive needs are fulfilled by stores such as Hotter and for big is beautiful sizing check out the gorgeous ranges at Long Tall Sally!

So those are my quick five shopping tips for us tall ladies! If you have anymore great tips feel free to share them below!!! And stores where have you found mecca for tall clothing?

Oh so (not) Vintage.

I would like to introduce you to my most recent sale purchase. This yellow, white and black floral skirt was all alone in Dorothy Perkins and in my size so of course it had to come home with me right? It would get lonely on its own after all.

I think what I love most about it, is it has a vintage vibe. A great vintage vibe is all good in my books. Sure I’ll never look as good as the lovely Gemma but a girl can dream right?

I’m super excited for this weekend as a three day weekend is about three times just as great as a normal weekend. Also my fiancé made me watch the second Hobbit film this past weekend. Now, I know I had read the book at least three times as a child but for my own sanity I must have wiped it from my memory – how have they even contemplated making three films out of that one tiny book? Also I thought that film would never end. In fact i’m very grateful that now on Friday that I’m not in fact still watching it. Me and the Hobbit therefore? Not firm Friends.

Wherever you are enjoy your weekends whether they be one day, two days or three!

 

That Fall Back Blazer Look.

 

The Blazer: Blazer, F21, The Tee: H&M (basics), That Bag: Accessorize, Those Boots: New Look, That Watch: Michael Kors, Them Jeans: Dorothy Perkins

 

Basics: The Blazer;

My first ever blazer was from the new branch of forever 21 in Stratford Cities, Westfield Centre. I know this because I was still rocking the loan crutch while being stalked by an overzealous staff member who really just wanted me to sit down. I think because he was worried about me falling over and hurting myself but considering the centre had already claimed one ankle. I hardly thought that it was after my second.

It was dirt cheap at only £19.99 and it was perfect for my university days and like a gooey romance novel I just knew that it was the one. Right on trend with its Boyfriend fit it was both trend savvy while having thin enough sleeves that it was also crutch friendly. Something that that years winter coat was not. Which had faux fur sleeves that would get wedged above the arm support and leave for a rather unwelcome draft.

As with most f21 purchases though it really should have only stuck with me that year but somehow here we are almost two years later and its still a go to item in my closet. However those two years haven’t come and gone without leaving some bobbling and a slight tear in the left sleeve lining. So although I know I need to start looking for a new one really I’m kind of waiting for the next Zara Sale. I mean who isn’t?

In January I missed out on a gorgeous Zara blazer in a dark peach but because of one of those shoes or blazer moments ( The shoes won) I didn’t buy it and have regretted it ever since. I know that really a great fitting black blazer is really the only way to go forward when it comes to a great investment piece however! This time however I am looking for something slightly shorter in length and with a better fit around the waist. With that in mind now all I have to do is find the dream blazer! And how hard can that be?