Finally!

After weeks and weeks of window shopping, trawling through the internet and reading Elle and Marie Claire back-to-front a zillion times I have finally found three birthday outfits! You heard me, THREE! Magically, they haven't cost me an arm and leg either, and not juts because I haven't bought them all yet.

I've also entered a rather lovely competition to win a new outfit, I found it thanks to the wonderful Olivia Purvis and her blog What Olivia Did (make sure you have a read!). The comp requires you to create three outfits, all under £200 each. I thought I'd use two of my birthday outfits for the party/casual categories and I can dream about the holiday outfit until the summer finally comes (it may nearly be April but it's still snowing in Newcastle). 

Lets get the holiday outfit out of the way before I start crying–

Dress– Topshop, £75; Bag– ModCloth, $49.99 (£32.91); Shoes– Topshop, £45; Earrings– Olivia Divine, £10; Watch– Olive, £35.

Grand Total= £197.91 (close!)

If there's one colour that screams "THE SUN IS OUT!" it's yellow. That's why I love this dress from topshop, it just makes me smile! With something as bright and pretty as this, I just wanted to keep all of the accessories quite subtle– I think the white looks really clean. I might be a bit worried about getting tan lines by wearing a watch, but this one from Olive was just too nice to leave off!

My birthday day-time casual attire–

Shirt– Zara, £39.99; Jeans– Topshop, £35; Shoes– Zara, £49.99; Bag– TK Maxx (L.Credi), £39.99; Earrings– Aldo, £9.98; Ring– New Look, £4.99; Bracelet– ASOS, £15

Grand Total= £194.94 (close shave!)

There's something really unique and simple about this blouse from Zara, it reminded me of being in Thailand for some reason so I picked out the Buddha ring and elephant bracelet to keep the thai vibes. The pointed court shoes add a little edge to what could have also been a very laid-back outfit, if worn with ballet flats.

And this, ladies and gents, is my birthday party outfit!

Dress– Dorothy Perkins, £44.95; Bracelet– ASOS, £8; Shoes– Topshop, £55; Bag– Accessorize, £39; Earrings– Gins, £3.40

Grand Total= £150.35 (unexpectedly under-budget!)

Of all the outfits I thought this would be the most expensive by far! I absolutely love Dorothy Perkins fit & flare dresses, especially the boutique ones. They just fit so wonderfully– especially for a girl like me with a small waste and big hips! That was the only reason I picked up this dress; I thought it might fit nicely on the waist– I was right! Seeming as I bought it for my birthday I wanted to make some sort of statement with the rest of my accessories (hence the orange killer heels and floral clutch).

Only 5 more days until I'm an adult. I keep having childhood flashbacks. Playing with my dolls, having water fights in the street, being obsessed with vampires (real vampires– not twilight or true blood or whatever) and Harry Potter– I was mental about Harry Potter. Those were the days...
Any how, I think the mamma and pappa are taking me camping in Durham this weekend! Then the Daddy and step-mum get back from Mexico on Sunday :)

Enjoy your Easter!

P.S. Two blog posts in one day? What is the world coming to!?!?

Tailor Made

There's one item in my wardrobe that seems to be dictating my fashion choices lately, and that's my blazer. Trying to find a tweed blazer that isn't too expensive and isn't so "countryside" that you need a whippet and a flat cap to wear one is pretty difficult.

Originally, I had a blue blazer with very fine white pinstripes and a brassy/gold ancor button; only an £18 purchase from Primark, it surprised me by being my most complimented item of clothing at the time. A year or two later and over a stone lighter, I needed a replacement. I ended up obsessing over a £200 beauty from Jack Wills– not exactly within my price range. And when I had just-about convinced myself to save up the money to buy it, my Dad booked our holiday to Bangkok.

And what, you say, does this have to do with a tweed blazer?

Tailors.

Thailand is well known for having some of the best tailors and textiles in the world. Having been to Thailand before, my dad was pretty familiar with the process of getting something made, so after days of being mischievously deviated into unexpected tailors by ALL of our tuk tuk drivers and walking past tailor after tailor on our way out of our hotel, we were eventually persuaded by Buno (our private taxi driver for three-ish days) to use his "cousin" in Silom.

Buno's cousin was no more his cousin than Audrey Hepburn is mine. Nonetheless, we found styles that we liked and good materials resulting in two very happy customers and one bored sister who had to put up with several trips for extra fittings– sorry!

Luckily for me, dad paid for mine as a Christmas gift. So that's £300 saved on the JW jacket, plus £80 on the one from the tailors. Not bad, I say.

Now that Christmas has come and gone I can finally wear and accessorize my tweed wonder. Due to the lack of choice in tweed at Buno's cousins' I had to opt for a pattern with a pink stripe when I would have preffered red or burgundy. To my surprise, I think the pink has actually proved the better option.

Those black boots are my absolute favourites, the pandora I got for christmas (added the charms from another bracelet and got the airplane and butterflies brought back from a skiing trip by my mum and pappa). Can you guess how much that clutch was? £3. Primark. Never thought I'd go in there again but I'm glad I did. Found the scarf amongst the chaos in TK Maxx- finding something in there always feels rewarding because it takes so much effort to do it!

Jensen.

P.s. That's my cat, Quincy. She's mental.