Outfit: Green & Purple Thursday

I had to wear my new boots again today – they are pretty comfy and I love them! I like this dress paired with tall boots so rather than adding black tights & a tank, I thought I’d stick with colour and added purple & green accessories. I added the scarf as I was leaving the house because it looked chilly out. I was right – it was just 9˚C. I’ve removed it for now but may need it again later when the lads crank up the air conditioning and I am freezing!

I finally have an evening in tonight. I plan to catch up with some TV and read magazines.

Green print dress (shortened) – Florence + Fred at Tesco (charity shop)
Purple tank – New Look Tall
Green tights – New Look
Purple boots – Next
Purple bracelet – Esme-Grace (gifted)
Heart necklace – Scope
Silver bangle – gifted
Lilac scarf – Diamonds & Pearls

Total Est. Cost £49

Outfit: Wednesday Evening

I have a drama group singing rehearsal tonight. I loved the colour combination from my work outfit, so decided to stick with it, changing up the way I’m wearing the scarf and adding in denim to make it more casual.

Blue cardi – Dorothy Perkins
White tank – Topshop
Denim skirt (was jeans) – Topshop Tall
Purple tights – Accessorize
Turquoise flats – New Look
Blue bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Whitby Jet cross - gifted
Scarf - charity shop
Blue & turquoise bangles – Oxfam

Total Est. Cost £58

New Look’s New Season Heels

I was sent a copy of New Look’s autumn lookbook last week and was particularly interested in the shoes (see the title of this blog!). And ever since New Look started making many of their styles in a size 9 recently, I have been extra happy with them. I have already mentioned that I love the bright purple over the knee boots, but what else is on offer?

The over the knee boots also come in black faux leather and feature the same fab metallic heel. I would be inclined to steer clear of these though – I know leather thigh highs are the big thing for autumn, but I have always thought that this look was easier to pull off in the real world in suede or faux suede.


The metallic heel is a recurring theme through out the collection, with several other styles incorporating this feature. I particularly like the bright pink ankle boot.


Finally, I am quite taken with these Union Jack stud courts. They would work well with the 80s/punk revival that is going on at the moment – I can see them with skinny grey jeans and an oversize print tee.

Get all these fabulous footwear styles online and in store at New Look.

Outfit: Colouful Wednesday

I wanted to incorporate my third and final thrifted scarf into today’s outfit. The blue in it matches this dress so that was the starting point. This one was £3.99, BNWT. I thought it would be fun to pick out some of the other colours in it too, making a very brightly coloured ensemble. I have been reading What Katie Wore for the past few months, ever since seeing the spread on her in Grazia magazine. Katie always wears very bright colours so I guess she was partially my inspiration today.

Black jacket – Long Tall Sally
Blue dress –Wallis (charity shop)
White tank - Topshop
Scarf – charity shop
Purple tights – Accessorize
Turquoise shoes – New Look (charity shop)
Blue chunky bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Blue & turquoise bangles – Oxfam
Whitby Jet cross – gifted

Total Est. Cost £65

Outfit: Committee Meeting

I have just spent a few minutes messing about trying to figure out the best place to take photographes now that I have a remote control. I think the top of the hi-fi in the front room wins!

I’m off to the committee meeting tonight. Two days of wearing heels and my feet are sore! Such a lightweight. So I’m in flats to give my feet a rest. I won’t be able to wear white shoes far into the autumn so I’m getting a little more use out of them whilst it’s still warm.

Blue cardi – Ethel Austin
White tank – Topshop
Jeans – Gap
White shoes – Priceless Shoes
Teal necklace – Scope
Teal bangles – Accessorize

Total Est. Cost £34

Outfit: Tuesday

I’ve not worn this dress in ages and it’s a good transition piece for autumn as it’s warm but sleeveless. Typically though, the building thermometer I pass on the way to work said 16˚C this morning – that’s warmer than it was in the mornings for most of July & August! But it’s dull & overcast here so I don’t think it’s going to get overly hot today.

Tonight the drama group committee meets – in a pub in my village! I have been voted on to the committee this year so this tonight will be my first meeting.

Teal dress – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Black & white stripe shirt – Next
Black patent belt – New Look Tall (free with a shirt)
Tweed shoes – Matalan
Teal necklace – Scope
Teal & silver bangles – Accessorize

Total Est. Cost £41

Outfit: Monday Night

We had a new instructor last night at Body Combat. Combine that with my having missed 2 weeks whilst I was on holiday, and it meant that I was a little bit achy by the time I got to choir practice. It was joint rehearsal with the choir & the drama group as we are all doing a concert together next month so it was fun seeing everyone together for the first time and the choir being almost twice the size that it usually is. I knew the church would be cold so despite it being fairly warm outside I put on a sweater and put a scarf in my bag – and I was glad I did.

Black sweater – Long Tall Sally
Jeans – River Island
Black & cream shoes – Next (charity shop)
Brown & silver scarf – market stall at the mall

Total Est. Cost £87

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing heels – because I can!
…reading the October issue of UK Elle magazine
…watching season 2 of The Flying Doctors – Season 4 arrived in the mail & I’m still waiting for season 3 so I’ve a lot of episodes to get through!
…listening to the new MP3s I downloaded whilst I was off work
…eating at home
…shopping for nothing

Outfit: Back to Work

I was quite excited to get up for work this morning. Not to actually go to work, you understand, but to get dressed up in something other than jeans and flat boots. Oh how I have missed my dresses and heels! And now that it’s September, I can wear my boots without feeling like I’m wishing the summer away.

My second reason for excitement this morning was the new remote control I bought for my camera. It arrived whilst we were away so other than a quick play about with it yesterday, this morning was my first time using it. I still need to find the best place to take pictures, and mess around some more with the height of the camera. If anyone has any advice about positioning a camera please let me know! (I don’t have a tripod at the moment though I may consider getting one.)

So, this evening will be a bit of a rush – I have my body combat class at the gym, then I have choir practice so I’ll need to fit in a super speedy shower in between.

Oh, and yes, I bought the boots I blogged about last week. I ended up returning the black roll neck sweater and I got sent a free shipping code so what better excuse did I need?

Purple shrug (cut down from a top) – charity shop
Purple dress – Dorothy Perkins (eBay)
Purple boots – Next
Paisley print scarf – charity shop
Whitby Jet cross – gifted

Totat Est. Cost £47

Catch Up

I’m back! We had a fantastic week away. On Tuesday we headed down south to park up at the young man’s godmother’s. She lives just outside London and had agreed to give us some lunch and then drop us off at her local station to catch the train into London. She is one of my favourite people in the young man’s family and so it was lovely to see her.

Tuesday evening we headed to Leicester Square to eat and have a wander around. We saw the famous plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Tuesday’s outfit:
Blue cardi – Dorothy Perkins
Blue cami – Topshop
Jeans – River Island
Tan Obi – ASOS
Blue beads – Scope
Blue bangle – Diamonds & Pearls
Brown cowboy boots – New Look

Total Est. Cost £127


Wednesday it rained so we went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, and to the Bank of England Museum. I don’t have a photo of my outfit for that day. It was still raining in the evening, so after a dip in the pool & Jacuzzi at the health club, we ran across the road to eat at a Thai restaurant opposite the hotel.

Thursday the weather was better so we took a trip to the Portobello Road Market (but there wasn’t much doing there) and then took the Underground and DLR right across London and out to Greenwich to the Royal Observatory. It was very windy so this isn’t the best picture of me on the Meridian Line:

Grey cardi – New Look Tall
White top – Tall Girls
Jeans – Topshop Tall
Leopard print flats – Priceless Shoes

Total Est. Cost £40


Thursday evening we took a walk along Kensington High Street and ate at a small Italian place. We had delicious pizza and home made ice cream. The light wasn’t great in our hotel room, hence the poor quality photo:

Blue cardi – Ethel Austin
Black & silver cami – New Look Tall
Jeans – Topshop Tall
Leopard print flats – Priceless Shoes

Total Est. Cost £33


Friday we took a walk along Kensington High Street and looked in some of the shops, then returned to the hotel to check out and go back to collect the car. After a quick lunch we drove down to Bournemouth to spend the weekend with a couple of friends who were on holiday down there.

Black & blue dress – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Black leggings – New Look Tall
Brown cowboy boots – New Look

Total Est. Cost £63


I have no further outfit pictures. Friday night we ate out at a Chinese in Bournemouth. Saturday we took the ferry across Poole Harbour and went to Corfe Castle & Swanage. I used to go to Swanage on holiday in my teenage years so had a great time reminiscing about what we used to get up to there. Saturday evening we decided to stay in so I cooked a lasagne in the flat and we watch television. We drove home today.

I can conclude that my packing strategy did in fact work OK, although I think I may have taken a few too many items as I didn't quite wear everything that I packed.

Outfit: Autumn Inspiration

I wanted to post at least one outfit picture whilst I was away and now that it’s September, what better than to play dress up with my new EMU boots? Here are two looks I will definitely be wearing this autumn/winter.

Black sweater – Long Tall Sally
White jeans – Topshop Tall (eBay)
Black suede boots – EMU Australia (Fitness Footwear, gifted)
Leopard print scarf – Diamonds & Pearls

Total Est. Cost £53


Black sweater – Long Tall Sally
Denim skirt – Gap
Black leggings – Long Tall Sally
Black suede boots – EMU Australia (Fitness Footwear, gifted)
Turquoise scarf – eBay

Total Est. Cost £52

Wanted: Next Purple Boots

They will be mine in the next couple of weeks, I swear.

Next Shopping Spree

I put in an online order at Next a couple of weeks back and got the following:

Pajamas

Shoes

Sweater in black

Tall Tip

Boots with a foldover top can be adjusted to the height you require – no more ‘mid calf’ rather than ‘knee high’ boots!

Review: Trevor Sorbie Firm Hold Hairspray

I have been a fan of Trevor Sorbie’s hair products for a few years now. I use his Straightening Addict shampoo, conditioner and heat protector spray regularly. I had not tried out the hairspray until my friend gave me a goody bag for Christmas which contained a mini bottle of it. I tried it out and was instantly impressed. The hold is indeed very firm, but because the bottle has a spray pump, you don’t choke on the hairspray as can happen with an aerosol can. As long as you keep the spray light, there is no crunchyness to your hair, but it brushes out easily should this happen. I use this product on a daily basis now and will definitely buy another bottle once the one I have is empty. The fact that it also comes in a miniature travel size is another bonus.

Buy Trevor Sorbie Firm Hold Hairspray for £4.39 at Boots.