- SHEER & SPORTY -

I went back home to Gibraltar for the Easter weekend, and amidst the massive pile of shoes in my closet, I rediscovered these Original Converse high top sneakers that I used to be obsessed with! I was so so excited to bring them back to London and revitalise them; almost like giving them a new life!

That's one of the best things about keeping all my old clothes and shoes, even when I'm convinced that I'm totally over them. Some might call it hoarding, but there's nothing better than spotting something you used to wear years ago, and seeing it in an entirely new light. I think I'd wear these so differently now to how I used to a few years back! 

Regarding the outfit, I know how I keep banging on about my lack of funds (still very much lacking) but I'm so so in love with the white trend that's been lingering around for a while now; it's so clean and fresh for the Spring and Summer months. I also love sheer pieces, but I realised that I barely owned anything neither white NOR sheer. 

So I decided to hit Primark in the hope of finding a few bargains! And BAM; I managed to kill two birds with one stone with this cute t-shirt. I accidentally bought it 4 sizes too big, but after parading around my living room with it on for a while, I realised that my mistake may have in fact been a serendipity, as many things are, because I think I like it much more in that oversized look as opposed to fitted and tight!

I don't know about you guys, but when I discover something new, and I like it, you won't see me wearing anything else! Watch out for my next blogpost, where I'll team this sheer top with a slightly more chic look!

Liebster Award | NOMINATION

Being very new to the blogging game, I had never even heard of the Liebster Award, but now that it's been brought to my attention, I think it's a greeeat idea & fantastic concept to promote new blogs that haven't had their chance to shine yet!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to Carmen Henry of theartofvintagerevival for nominating me! 

So here are the rules:

> Make a post about the Liebster Award and thank the blogger who nominated you
> Write 11 interesting things about yourself
> Answer the 11 questions created by the blogger who nominated you 
> Nominate 11 other bloggers (they must have less than 200 followers) and notify them that you nominated them
> Write 11 new question for your nominees

11 facts about myself!

1) I was born and bred in Gibraltar; an overseas British territory on the southernmost tip of Spain!

2) I have a degree in English & American literature

3) I have no lateral incisors :( I was born without them

4) For many years, I competed in sports such as taekwondo, show-jumping, tennis & sailing

5) I am currently doing a course in Fashion & Personal Styling at the London College of Style

6) I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to be doing after that, but I'd love to be a stylist or a writer or start my own fashion label.

7) As I was growing up, I was literally obsessed with the film Matilda and used to watch it at least once a day.

8) I loooooooooove music and can't go a day without listening to it - anything from Ludovico Einaudi to Bon Iver to Jay-Z

9) I have a (probably) unhealthy passion for Harry Potter

10) My favourite book is 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini

11) I could eat my weight in olives. YUM <3

Carmen's questions

1.What inspires you the most?

Fashion-wise, images on tumblr, pinterest & blogs inspire me mostly, as well as people's personal styles. I'm also inspired by amazing books and films.

2.What is one item of clothing that you can't live without?

I don't think I could live without my black skinny jeans. They're so versatile and go with absolutely everything. 

3. What is your favorite fashion themed movie?

The Devil Wears Prada for sure!

4. What are you looking forward to wearing this spring?

I'm on the hunt for some boyfriend jeans as well as some high-waisted ankle grazers. Also, I just wanna wear pretty pastels because I tend to keep it black n' white monochrome most of the time. 

5. Heels or Flats?

Oooft, this is a tough one! It really depends on my mood and outfit, because I love heels, but sometimes I like to wear bad-ass high top sneakers or my Doc Martens. 

6. Your biggest style regret?

Hmm, I'm not sure if I regret anything too much from recent years. Although when I was really young, I used to love wearing these really tight stretchy crew neck tank tops with awful graffiti prints or cringey shapes. FACE PALM! But then again, I guess I didn't look too ridiculous since everyone seemed to think they were a good idea!

7. Your favorite song?

How could I possibly pick just one!? But right now I'm gonna say 'Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)' by Mr Probz cause it's aaaamazing! 

8. What's your favorite dessert?

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING!!!

9. The last book you've read?

Right now I'm reading 'Thrive' by Arianna Huffington!

10. What is your favorite season for fashion?

Mmm, probably in between seasons, where I can wear summer clothes, but team them up with boots, cardigans, light weight jackets etc. I'm not a massive fan of Winter!

11. Favorite magazine (on-line or print)?

Other than fashion magazines, I love reading Intelligent Life. But I'm on the hunt for some great new fashion mags! I need ideas! 

I nominate these 11 wonderful blogs:

<3 http://charnellegeraldine.wordpress.com/

<3 fashionatyourfingertipsuk.blogspot.co.uk

<3 frockled.blogspot.se

<3 shannisideup.blogspot.se

<3 thisisfrom-matilda.blogspot.co.uk

<3 nrahmichelle.com

<3 stylish-life-lovers.blogspot.com

<3 the-beauty-drawer.blogspot.com

<3 tasha-meline.blogspot.co.uk

<3 bryonydodds.blogspot.com

<3 styleinllondon.blogspot.co.uk

11 questions for my nominees

1) I need new books to read! What's the best one you've ever read?

2) What's your favourite blog?

3) Who's personal style do you love? 

4) What is your favourite fashion magazine?

5) Describe yourself in 5 words!

6) Which is your favourite store to shop at?

7) If you could give one piece advice to your peers, what would it be?

8) What's the best movie you've seen in the past couple of years?

9) What do you hope to gain from blogging?

10) What are some of your goals you're working towards right now?

11) If you could have dinner with 5 people, dead or alive, who would they be?!

I hope you've enjoyed this post! I had lots of fun writing it! :D Looking forward to seeing the responses from all my nominees. I hope this tool works wonders to promote new up and coming blogs! 

Watch this space for my next outfit post! 

- Playsuit & Docs -

Here's my latest laid-back look that I wore to watch the London marathon on Sunday, which luckily passed right outside my flat. I really needed a casual summery playsuit that I could just throw on without too much thought, and I found this cute little number in New Look for an amazing bargain. I also found an adorable gingham pencil mini skirt, which I'll hopefully feature in another post soon! 

 I think that girly items like this look amazing with a slight edge, so I paired my playsuit with an oversized cardigan and my trusty Doc Martens, which can literally shake up any outfit and look super cute! 

|Playsuit: New Look | Cardigan: Thrift shop | Doc Martens: Office|

| The Ragged Priest |

 I finally got my hands on the SNAKEBITE DRESS by The Ragged Priest, which I've had my eye on for aaaages. I pretty much love all the pieces in their new collection, but I decided to go with this one, because, surprise surprise, it's grey, nothing new there. Also, it's super versatile and easy to wear, not to mention, it's frikkin' snake skin print, which, come to think of it, I've never really owned before.

I'm in love with the material; it's really stretchy and sort of waxy, so you can literally just iron out creases with your hands - very convenient for a girl who isn't a fan of the whole ironing malarkey. I love the way it hangs loosely on the body too, without making it look like you're wearing a bin bag as a poor excuse for a dress.

Loving loving loving my new fishnet socks! I really went through a crazy fishnet tights obsession a couple of years ago, but it had never really occurred to me to wear them as socks, which I think look super snazzy with cut-out boots or chunky heels. 

| Dress: The Ragged Priest | Cardigan: Urban Outfitters | Bag: Primark | Socks: eBay | Boots: Topshop | 

I feel like this dress is going to become one of the staple items in my wardrobe that I wear to death!

YAY!

SPARKLE + FADE

I decided to peruse Oxford Circus's Urban Outfitters yesterday, which I rarely do, as it's usually quite the depressing experience for me, seeing as pretty much everything's out of my price range. I don't know if I've been living under a rock, or merely in denial to the wonders of this store, but I was quite surprised to find an entire floor devoted to other individual brands (Topshop style with Motel, Religion, Dahlia etc). This floor featured some of my favourite designers and labels such as House of Holland, Maison Martin Margiela's 'MM6' and a plethora of others.

Obviously, this proved to be even more of a tragic encounter than the rest of the shop as far as prices were concerned, but it was definitely thrilling and motivated me to find a job quiiiiiiiick to be able to treat myself to one of these glorious items some time in the near future. (maybe?) Anyway, so the point of this post is that I came across a brand that, in actual fact, wasn't toooo expensive, and I absolutely fell in love with everything about it. It consisted mainly of blacks, whites and greys, as per usual, these colours are the ones that seem to attract me the most - as hard as I try, I can't shake the habit.

So here are some of my favourite items from the collection dubbed:

 SPARKLE + FADE!

Tartan Mesh Dress in Black

£48.00

Short sleeve shirt in bandana print

£45.00

Lace scalloped bralette

£18.00

Sporty tank in grey

£30.00

Lurex bodysuit in silver

£28.00

Trench blazer in black

£75.00

Drop shoulder sweater in stripe

£38.00

Textured mix bomber jacket in grey

was £65.00, NOW £30.00

Marl mini skirt in tartan

was £30.00 NOW £15.00

Check out the entire collection HERE!

ASSIGNMENT - Outfits that flatter a pear & athletic shape (part II)

Following on from my last post, which reflected on a module I've just completed that focused on body shapes and learning all about which clothes enhance our bodies as effectively as possible, the following images are the second outfit that I had to style on myself for one of my assignments.

Enjoy!

 Recognising the benefits of horizontal and vertical stripes, I chose this dress to best enhance these areas of my body. For a pear shape, vertical stripes above the waistline do wonders to highlight the bust and give the illusion of more volume in that area. Simultaneously, vertical stripes on the lower half of my body will lengthen and slim this area. As well as the benefits of the horizontal stripes, the bright colour will add inches to the bust area.

The dress itself is fitted at the bust, with a floaty skirt that balances my figure and skims neatly over my lower half to create a flattering A-shape.

 I decided to pair this dress with a light beige cardigan that I felt contrasted nicely with the dress, and used a leather belt to highlight the waist.

Literally obsessed with the back of this dress! <3

| Dress: Dahlia | Cardigan: Thrift shop | Belt: Accessorize | Brogues: Topshop |

X

ASSIGNMENT - outfits that flatter a pear & athletic shape (part I)

The module I just completed focused on body shapes and which clothes/items are most suitable for different women (and men) in order to enhance our best bits, and then also disguise the areas we may not like as much. For one of my assignments, I had to style 2 different outfits on myself that highlighted my body in all the right places.

Here's the first one!

 Unfortunately, I'm not too well endowed in the upper half of my body, but I DO have some hips on me, and have had from a very young age. These disproportionate attributes would typically make me a pear shape, but I also had to take other factors into consideration, as I'm also quite tall and slender. I had to place myself in between two categories; that of a pear shaped woman as well as an athletic/slim one. 

Belts do wonders for most body shapes. I used one here to cinch in my outfit and highlight my waist to define it as much as possible. 

An A-line skirt is essential for a body shape like mine; it skims over the hips gently, concealing them and balancing both halves of my body.

 We all know that dark colours are slimming. So if you're hippy as opposed to busty, you'll want to focus your darker colours on your lower half, and lighter colours up top. Detailed tops like this one, which has lace all along the front, will create the illusion of a bigger bust, and bold statement jewellery like a chunky necklace will draw the eye upwards, instead of towards the hips.

 Heels are great for all body shapes; they lengthen the leg and add inches to the body, as well as balancing out the leg and proportions. 

 On another note, my hair is getting way too long and samey and boring, and I'm so tempted to just chop it all off, and try and work a little summer bob, but I'm scared that I'm gonna majorly regret it! I need coaxing!

 I've been trying to keep my makeup as natural as possible lately. Last week, I was at home for 4 days doing my course work, and didn't put makeup on onceee, which made my skin feel really good and free. I use much less foundation than I used to, which I feel really works for me, while still covering up my blemishes for a more even skin tone. Plus, I've found that, although I love my MAC foundation, it literally melts off my face on hotter days.

So that was my first 'flattering outfit' - I hope I hit all the crucial points.

Watch this space for the second one!