Category Archives: shopping

A Satchel for Summer*

29th June 2016
This Summer I’ve been craving pastels and bright colours more than anything. I guess it’s the grey skies and gloomy atmosphere that’s doing it but I suddenly want all of my accessories to be as bright and punchy as possible- even ditching my beloved black Mulberry Bayswater in favour of a mint green TK Maxx find. I’ve always had a soft spot for Satchel Bags, from their multi-ways to wear and practical nature to the way they effortlessly make you look that little bit smarter, both in dress and intellect. So in my sick-leave induced virtual window shopping I’ve popped together a little round-up of some of the highstreet’s best offerings.
The top two bags are via House of Fraser and the most expensive offerings being Michael Kors and DKNY. Despite being (in my eye) what I wouldn’t call a typical satchel I was persuaded by the beautiful soft colours and hint of luxury to include them in this list. It’s not all designer details at House of Fraser though, you’ll find plenty to suit all tastes and all budgets- I never manage to leave a store without some kind of purchase!
The middle row goes to ASOS, home of every bag style under the sun including those you never knew existed. I especially like the laser cut detail satchel as it’s perfect for adding a laid back boho vibe to a denim and white tee kind of outfit or a paisley printed dress.
Last but by no means least come two beauties from Brit-Stitch, a brand I have followed from the start and watched grow and flourish. I’m a big bag kind of girl, I just don’t seem to be able to condense down what I carry but given how head over heels I am with the adorable “with love from Brit-Stich” pink heart detailed mini satchel I’m going to have to perfect the art.
Are you brightening up your summer with accessories too? The perfect compliment to a sun-shiney day and an essential mood booster on the grey ones.

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Posted in accessories, shopping, wish list

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Denim Dedication with George at Asda

27th June 2016

Jeans and I have a slightly love/hate relationship. From the ages of 15-20 I pretty much lived in them solidly with a carefully curated collection of pairs I knew I could rely on. For a while though I just didn’t like jeans at all. I suddenly took against every pair I owned and just couldn’t find anything I liked enough to replace them. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago at the grand old age of 27 that I decided to brave jeans again, branching out and trying new styles and shops and learning to embrace cuts that previously I would never have contemplated.

George at Asda have recently done some research in to the ultimate Jeans Queens and invited me to take a look at their selection of denim and pick out a pair to style. With my collection slowly and surely building again and inspired by the selection of gorgeous bloggers featured on the Jeans Queen page I decided to select a pair of Summer skinnies to my denim wardrobe.

Cold Shoulder Top, Sandals and Jeans all c/o George at Asda

At £16 these jeans are an absolute steal and fit me as well as any other high street brand, if not better. I felt like the belt gave this an almost boho vibe so rolled with the theme and picked out this beautiful and on trend crochet cold shoulder top and embellished sandals to finish the look. It might not be adventurous or truly fashion forward but this is the kind of thing you’ll find me wearing over the Summer weekends, perfect for a seafront stroll or picnic in the park and the jeans will look equally as good with one of my beloved slogan tees and my faithful Converse too!

Are you a denim devotee? Who’s jeans style do you admire most? I find bloggers far more inspirational than any celebrity if I’m honest and I have serious wardrobe envy over much of my bloglovin’ feed. After seeing them on several of my favourites I’m thinking some bright and funky embellished jeans are next on the list…

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Saying it with a Tee

24th June 2016
Every fashion season I get obsessed with one particular style of clothing. For winter it was roll neck tops and for Summer it’s the slogan tee. I’ve picked up quite a few already- not the loud and proud slogans of my youth, I’ve been drawn to it’s more grown up sibling. Just a little bit of quirky detail that makes a subtle statement. Daisy Street has been almost the sole source of this season’s obsession with it’s brilliant range affordable statement tees, at £12.99 a pop I already have four to my name with my sights on a fair few more!

Tees c/o Daisy Street | Dungarees c/o Long Tall Sally | Denim Skirt: New Look

The combination of denim with a slogan tee has become my default outfit choice of late. Usually I alternate between my trust denim pinafore dress or the denim skirt you can see above but I also love these wide leg dungarees a lot so once I get around to finding some wearable heeled sandals these will be taking a more regular place in my denim parade.

I sometimes feel I should be branching out a bit in what I’m wearing at the moment but I’m in a funny situation where I’m off work and not many of my clothes fit. This is something I feel cool and comfortable in- if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right?

Have you got a uniform of sorts right now? What slogan would you most like on a tee?

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Posted in life, outfits, shopping

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One for the Boys: Noose and Monkey*

23rd June 2016
It’s not very often you’ll find menswear crop up on the blog but it has been known to happen when I’ve seen a collection or brand that has particularly caught my eye- and Noose and Monkey succeeded very well at bringing themselves to my attention. Their SS16 collection is bold, bright and very, very loud. Not for the fainthearted (I’m not sure I could persuade Ben to give anything but a plain-ish shirt a try) but aesthetically easy on the eye, the first word that springs to mind is “snazzy”.
The brand has a pretty cool ethos. Looking at the truth and the lie, the innocent and the guilty and the Noose and the Monkey. Their concept is to look at the two sides to every story and every man and to play with twisting those ideas.
Prices are pretty good in my eyes. I’m not overly familiar with shopping for a suit but at £35 for a plain shirt, £120 for a jacket and £12 for a tie they certainly aren’t as eye-wateringly expensive as some designers!

Do you have an appreciation for menswear? Any men reading, would you be brave enough to wear one of Noose and Monkey’s suits?

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Stylewise Direct

20th June 2016

Today’s outfit post is one with a little bit of a twist to it. You see, it actually features items from a Stylewise Direct who sell women’s wholesale clothing meaning that the items for sale on the site aren’t available to buy as a single unit, they need to be bought in bulk.

So why am I featuring them? Well, because I know that several of my blogger friends have their own blog shops, or might be thinking about starting one and therefore when Stylewise Direct got in touch I thought it would be great to be able to attest to the quality of some of their items for anyone who might be looking for a supplier or taking the plunge in to setting up shop.

Stylewise Direct sent me the floral dress and floral bomber jacket for the purpose of this blog post.

Because I’m not very good at explaining things at the moment I’ve used the Stylewise website to help me out, from their “About Us” section:

“Stylewise Direct aims to fulfil the gap between the suppliers, customers, retailers and warehouses by providing latest trends as soon as they hit the fashion scene at the lowest prices possible without compromising quality. Our main priority is to keep our customers happy and benefited.

We are one of the top wholesalers in women’s and ladies clothing in United Kingdom. Located in Manchester and established since 2000, we have been going strong by keeping our existing and new customers happy by giving them the best deals in the industry.

Our main aim is to make our customers grow round the clock by giving them the best deals so they never miss out an opportunity to grow big, which will make our customers different from others.

We have an extensive range of ladies clothing and supplies for group store buyers, bulk buyers, small retailers and wholesalers. We are also suppliers of discounted ex-chain store clothing…”

My main concern over cheap clothing is always about the fit and quality and this is where Stylewise Direct have lived up to their word. Both the dress and the jacket are excellent quality, true to size and well made. The floral jacket is my favourite of the two pieces and given these are currently flying off the rails on the high street would be a very worthy investment, I’ve been living in mine since it’s arrival.

The customer service I received in the process of sorting out my order was also second to none, something I think is especially important if you are making a bulk purchase or are running to a stock deadline.

I might not be brave, or organised enough to set up a blog shop of my own but if I did then Stylewise Direct would be my wholesaler of choice. Is this something you would consider, or do you already have a shop of your own? I’d be really interested in hearing about your experiences.

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Posted in life stuff, outfits, review, shopping

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