Category Archives: shoes

The Hoodie

01st March 2017
Before I get properly in to today’s post I wanted to take a minute to say thank you for the incredible support I received on my eating disorders awareness week post. The feedback has been incredible and I truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time to read, comment and share the post on social media. The week isn’t over yet though and there is still plenty of time to get involved. Please do re-visit the post or go straight to the Beat website to find out how you can get involved.
And now on to the main part of my post today- an outfit post featuring one item I never thought I’d wear again, let alone feature on the blog. That item is the humble hoodie, which along with some questionable trouser choices was the uniform of my teenage years (and when I say questionable I mean purple tie-dyed flares…I’ve come a long way!)

Hoodie: Monki | Skirt: Pull&Bear at ASOS (similar) | Converse: Schuh (non holographic version)

See, I knew it wouldn’t be long before another Monki purchased happened- I just can’t help myself. I’ve been eyeing up their hoodies since my first visit in to the Bristol store but held off as I just wasn’t convinced I’d actually wear one. I’m a long way away from the teenage me who felt the need to hide inside a massive hoodie but in the end this mustard yellow won me over and the hoodie came home with me and whilst I haven’t reverted back to living in one, I admit the hoodie certainly has it’s place in the wardrobe.

One way I’ve been wearing it is with this grey pleated skirt. I love the colour combination of grey and mustard and the laid back look this outfit creates. It’s a casual outfit but manages to make me feel a bit more ‘together’ than if I’d just slung on jeans and I’ll always embrace any excuse to wear my converse- their pale pink holographic nature never fails to make me smile (although I wouldn’t say no to this pair).

What do you think of this super casual outfit? Have you re-visited any clothing items from your youth? Between this and my current enjoyment of dresses over jeans I think I might be having a “help I’m almost 30” kind of crisis!

end

Posted in charity, life, life stuff, outfits, shoes, shopping

Permalink 1 Comment

The Embroidered Jeans Re-Visited

20th February 2017
If there is one trend I’m glad to see sticking around for another season it’s the one for all things embroidered. I first fell for it early in the Summer when I caved in and bought my first pair of mom jeans (see blog post here). At the time I thought they were strictly a warm weather thing, not quite sure how to style them for colder times but with a little bit of trial and a lot of error I finally settled on a look I liked. Since then I’ve become a bit of a magpie for embroidered items and I predict a few more pieces finding their way in to my possession over the coming months.

Top: Topshop (similar) | Jeans: Glamorous (darker version only £15!) | Boots: River Island (available still on Zalando)

Although this is quite a simple outfit it takes me so far out of my comfort zone it may as well reside on another planet. Wearing fitted tops with jeans is a style barrier of mine but I felt surprisingly at ease in this combination once I got used to it. The attention deflecting boots probably played some part in that- there is something so spirit lifting about popping on a pair of jazzy ankle boots!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for another week. I had such a brilliant week last week that I’m not sure this one can compare but far be it from me to write it off before it begins, I’m open to whatever it wants to throw my way.

What trends are you glad to see sticking around? How would you style these jeans?

end

Posted in fashion, life, outfits, personal style, shoes, trends

Permalink 3 Comments

Valentines Looks with Ego Shoes

10th February 2017

Honestly, up until a few years ago I didn’t get Valentines at all. It was just a reminder that I was single and alone and I was generally a bit bitter about it all. Then I fell in love and started to see the appeal- things come full circle though and now I am firmly out of love and flying solo again and to be honest I thought I’d find Valentines day a bit depressing this year.

What’s actually happened is I’ve gone to the other extreme and have several days worth of girl dates booked in with my nearest and dearest- not Valentines as such I suppose, but any excuse for a get together and some gossip therapy right?

Ego Shoes recently sent me a couple of pairs of their shoes to style up with some Valentines outfits so with my plans in mind I’ve popped together a day time and evening look that would work perfectly for both my girly social time OR for a daytime/evening date if that was where I was at.

Jumpsuit and Top both from New Look | Esmme Heeled Mules c/o Ego

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to get on the mules bandwagon as these are so comfortable and easy to wear – so much so that shortly after they arrived mum hopped on to the Ego website and ordered herself the hot pink colour way. This is exactly the kind of outfit I wear when I go shopping or out for coffee (with my friends or potentially on a date) and I realise now that I kind of failed at getting decent photos. In my defense, it was freezing cold outside and by the time I realised didn’t have many pictures it was a) raining and b) I had run out of time. Blogger fail!

Dress: New Look (this one) | Elise Velvet Floral Heels c/o Ego

For this outfit I had dinner/drinks in mind. I would say dancing too but given the dizzying height of the heels on these and my clumsy nature I don’t think it would be advisable. I couldn’t resist them though- velvet, embroidered and oh so pretty these are the shoes my dreams are made of and I am determined to get some practice in so I can actually wear them without fearing breaking my ankle.

I love how the embroidery detail just so happened to go perfectly with this dress from New Look, a cheeky purchase with the last of my Christmas money and a 25% off voucher. I’m all about the midi lengths at the moment and this little number could happily go from desk to date with a simple change of shoes.

Just a little note on sizing- I’d say with Ego shoes if you’re between sizes then go for the larger rather than the smaller one as they do come up perhaps a little small. I’m usually a 7 or 7.5 but went for the 8 and they are perfect.

How would you have styled these shoes? Do you have plans for Valentines or do you just ignore the day entirely as I used to do?

end

Posted in brands I love, fashion, outfits, shoes, shopping

Permalink 5 Comments

Dress of the month with boohoo

23rd January 2017
I’m always up for a challenge so when one of my favourite online brands boohoo got in touch asking if I would like to take part in their “Dress of the Month” campaign I didn’t waste much time in saying yes! The idea is quite simple, boohoo send out one of their dresses to a few selection bloggers with the idea that we all style it in our own way. All I knew before the dress arrived was that it was going to be grey- the rest was a complete surprise and one I eagerly anticipated.

Dress c/o boohoo (get it here) | Boots: Miista | Backpack: River Island (alternative)

With this kind of challenge it generally has one of two outcomes- you either love the product you’re sent to style and it becomes one of your staples OR you wear it for the blog post then it never sees the light of day again. Thankfully this dress falls in to the first category and I’ve been getting a lot of wear from this since it arrived. The dress itself is an absolute bargain at £12 and also comes in blush and black. I did opt for a size up from my usual and I am glad I did as it’s a little tight across the shoulders so if you do decide to purchase perhaps bear that in mind!

I had several ideas on how to style the dress- a sports luxe vibe with trainers and a bomber jacket, something girly with pastels galore or a toughened up look with killer boots and a statement bag. In the end the toughened up look won, I’ve been favouring that style a lot lately and really I just wanted an excuse to get this kick-ass Miista boots out in to the light of day again as I love them so much and they don’t get nearly enough wear (and yes, they still remain one of my best ever bargains at £6.50!).

So there we have it. My take on boohoo’s dress of the month. How would you have styled it?

end

Posted in boohoo, brands I love, challenge, dresses, fashion, outfits, shoes

Permalink 2 Comments

What’s New Pussycat?

13th January 2017

The sales have been pretty kind to me this year- not only did I score some complete bargains but I also managed to snap up a couple of items I’d had on my wish list full price and resigned myself to not being able to afford.

The cat print dress in this post is one of those finds. First bought to my attention by the wonderful (and ever so stylish) Laura a couple of months ago I knew straight away that I wanted this but at £45.99(ish) it was way out of my price range. After a quick online browse of the Zara sale I was excited to see the dress had gone down to £26.99 but still assumed I wouldn’t get it but left it in the hands of the shopping gods and decided that if the Bristol store had it in stock in my size I would buy it- but because I didn’t technically NEED another dress I wouldn’t order online.

Someone was smiling down on me the day I ventured in to the sales (and the Zara sale is one I tend to avoid because it gets so chaotic and often vicious in store!) as there was one cat printed dress left hanging there all alone. A size up from my usual but I tried it on and decided I didn’t care, I like the sloppy look and so I happily trotted off to pay.

Dress: Zara | Boots: Office (similar)

These ankle boots are the third pair that have recently come in to my possession, but as my most worn flat black pair as starting to give up the ghost and I had a gift card from work I figured they were a worthy investment especially as they were reduced from £72 to £32. I’ve been after a pair of lace up ankle boots for a while and whilst the exact pair I got aren’t on the Office Shoes website any more I have linked to a very similar alternative for anyone else on the hunt.

This is probably one of my current favourite outfits. I’m a massive fan of longer length over-sized dresses at the moment and anything with a cat print on it is always going to be a winner in my eyes. I’ve already worn this dress several times so on a cost-per-wear basis it’s probably in the minus figures by now.

Thank you for all of the well wishes for my occupational health appointment, they were very much appreciated. It didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped- I suppose I thought that if I could get myself mentally a lot better I could somewhat overlook the physical side of things (and my first experience with occupational health seemed to confirm this). Alas this wasn’t the case so now I must face my biggest fear and hurdle in recovery and put on some weight before I can resume the job I love so much. I suppose I’m writing this down so I can’t back away from it. It’s so easy to get swept up in the disordered thinking of “well I already look healthy” but using my blog as a perspective I can see that I’m a way off looking like I did when I was last at a healthy weight (in this post for an example) and I’ve just got to man up and get on with it. I always struggle through the process of weight gain and seeing my body change but I know that when I get there I feel so much happier and more confident in myself- and the rest of my life becomes a lot more fun and fulfilling as a result. That has got to be worth toughing it out for. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m at a level where I can return to work, it’s so hard to know that the only thing holding you back from the one thing you really want to be able to do is yourself and yet you’re trapped by an illness that does it’s best to stop you achieving anything resembling a happy and healthy life.

Anyway, enough of that… tell me about your top sales purchases this year- or I suppose end of last year really!

end

Posted in life, life stuff, outfits, recovery, shoes, shopping

Permalink 10 Comments