new clothes, new nails and new hair

Hi Guys!

So I think that the (London) sun has definitely gone away for the rest of the year. And I am loving it. Autumn is my favourite fashion season. I love the outwear, footwear, colours, layers and just over autumnal feel.

To give autumn a big hello I (messily) painted my nails in Leighton Denny's Saturn Seduction which I thought was a deep plum wine red but on closer inspection was a gorgeous chocolate colour, but still red and not brown. I don't know - but I loved it. I love my bright nails but nothing like a deep sexy colour to make me feel all grown up and powerful.
Am I being weird?

Even though the sun is pretty much gone it isn't actually what I would consider cold. I work indoors and my journey to work is 10 minutes so apart from shoving an umbrella in my handbag I don't feel the need to start wrapping up yet. Dress down is over at work - I've been wearing my favourite dorothy perkins cut out booties to work but once there I have 5 pairs of heels to choose from to office-fy my outfits - 3 black, 1 nude and 1 tan. {Above pic] I'm wearing my new shirt (chiffon blouse?) from old faithful Primark (£12). This isn't a very flattering photo but I wanted to capture the dip hem. 

[Above and below pic - same outfit but with and without the 'jacket']

This outfit consists of my usual skinny Next trousers, velvet peplum New look top and then I popped on my new Primark jacket/cardi thing - a faux tweed with faux leather trimming - a bit Chanel but for around £15 (that's a total guess, it was between £10-£20 - sorry!)

I titled the post 'new hair' and frankly, I lied. This isn't new because you would have already read my previous hair post (if you haven't - go read it :)) However, it's the first pic of my hair 'done'. For the first 5 days after bleaching my hair I had it up - because I wanted to give it a rest from heat and also because honestly I was a bit scared of what I would see when I brushed and straightened my hair. In those 5 days I've been researching long bobs non stop and contemplating making an appointment with my hairdresser but....but now I feel much better about my hair. I'm use to the colour (even though it seems to look a different colour every day) and the texture isn't too awful all things considered. I'll probably have to get it cut sooner rather than later but for now I'll enjoy keeping my longer hair.

How are you guys doing? Have you had to shift your wardrobe around for the weather or are you still holding onto your sandals?

Dorothy Perkins ankle boots

I'M SO HAPPY!!!

I've been wanting to jump on the cut out boot trend for a while now but frankly couldn't afford what I'd seen. Then I saw these ankle boots in DP for £35! They obviously look quite cheap but I love them!!! And...with a few online discount codes I got them for £25!!!!!!!!!

The heel height is perfect for me - comfortable enough to walk to and from work but high enough to stop me being a total dude. The cut out if showy enough but not impractical - my feet didn't get wet in the rain. I love the wrap around strap and the gold hardwear. I'm sure that you will see this in many OOTD's soon! The only thing I don't like is personal to me but I'll tell you anyway - these are a size 7 and a tiny bit big for more, so there is a lot of stomping going on. But I even enjoy stomping, reminds me that I have my new booties on :)

Are you starting to get ready for autumn yet? I can't wait!

Mini Haul and OOTD

Hello hello!

I had a dress down day at work and picked up a few casual pieces that I thought I'd share with you. It's been so long since I've posted an ootd!!

I wore a new look oversized t shirt (£6) with a elephant head printed in the front paired with very light blue Eden jeggings from Dorothy Perkins (£23). Paired with a black bucket bag and very old primark sandals. Probably not a great shoe choice since the ankle detail clashes with the light blue but I haven't unearthed my summer footwear yet so these were the only option at hand.

As well as the elephant print (close up below)  I also got a bright heart print t pic above - also £6 from new  look). This is quite bright and casual for me but I'm trying to embrace the sunshine.

And that's it. How is your summer wardrobe looking? Mine is...black and wintery. Hate summer dressing.

OOTD: Studs and leopard print

[Pic 1]

Hi Guys!

Outfit of the day for you featuring my DIY studded white shirt from ebay. Apologies for the crappy photo's but I wanted to show as much as I could and was running late for work!

What I'm wearing:

White shirt -ebay (DIY Studded collar)

Beige mini skirt - Dorothy Perkins £5!

Leopard print skinny belt - Asos

Over sized blazer coat - Primark (a long time ago)

[Pic 2]

[Pic 3]

And just one more photo (sorry about the mess) from a different day but to show you the coat in more detail:

[Pic 4]

The coat is...coat material (!) with cropped sleeves (past the elbow). It is literally just a big blazer jacket (with the most lovely grey leopard print lining!). I bought it maybe two years ago and never wore it. It was too big and just a bit blah. But then I cut off the buttons and when the winter is mild I just wear it open like a blazer [picture 2] and if I want a bit more shape and coverage I belt it [picture 4]. I think it's really cool and laid back and an interesting piece to throw on over skinny jeans.

Thanks for reading :)

Pride OOTD

Hi Guys,

Just a quick share of yesterday's outfit of the day. Amazingly I am not wearing anything black (bar my undergarments but you can't see so doesn't count!).

I find dressing in the hotter weather very difficult because a) I am fat and b) about 99% of my clothes are black.

Faithful blog readers might recognise the dress I am wearing - it's the one I got exactly last year to wear to 'the' wedding but I didn't wear it because I didn't like it and felt stupid in it. Not much has changed this year but I had on my fake tan and I didn't feel so bright in the dress so I took it on a tour around Oxford St. (It was £16 from Matalan btw).

I paired it with my patent nude sandals from Primark (last year, I think they were £12) and a primark bag my mum just gifted me (£3!!!!! - she also gave me a black version too - similiar shopping habits!)

I initially had on my biscuity cardigan from Gap Outlet NY ($9) but I only had that on for 15 mins before stuffing it into my handbag.

Hair is in a giant bun. So happy to have my hair off my neck and face; it's like a bloody blankey sometimes.

Oh! The dress came with a fabric belt in the same material but I took that off and jsut put on my tan Dorothy Perkins belt instead (£8..or £12)

Also my toe nails were NY Cin i131A (imaginative name(!)) and my nails were beige style by rimmel.

I have a feeling I shall be recycling this look everytime I need a bright and breezy outfit!

Hope you have had a nice weekend, and any LGT peeps readig; happy PRIDE to you.

Much love xoxox

More window shopping

R and S are currently in Las Vegas. A few days before they jetting off I ended up accompanying R to a last minute summer dress shop. I got a few things which I have yet to share with you.

But first here are some random pics from the changing room:

No skinny minnie, no nothing

Hi Guys, hope you are all well and having a nice weekend,

So after work last night I quickly went to Oxford Street with 2 aims :

1. Buy my brother a birthday present
2. Buy a pair of black skinny jeans

Result?

I went home empty handed barr a bottle of diet pepsi, paracetamol and some exfoliating face scrub from superdrugs. Exciting(!)

1. In regards to my brother's birthday present, he wants a belt. Which sounds cool and easy, but my brother is not like me. My brother like's big brand names and luxury brands aka expensive shizzle. Prior to penny palace I loved buying my brother presents, his birthday and xmas were the only times I went into the flashy stores and left loaded with bags a la pretty woman on rodeo drive. Since penny palace, the quality (and quanitity) of gifts has rapidly gone down hill.

The belt I wanted to get him was a D&G (I think he'd prefer LV or Gucci but you get more bling for your buck with D&G lol) belt, but it cost £235. Erm, no. But then even the 'cheaper' one's that fit the specification are still around the £150 mark and that's still a no.

So I am in a dilemma. I don't want to get him a belt from the high street for the sake of it, or even get a middle range brand belt (aka CK or Hugo Boss) cos he won't love it, so should I just get him a Selfridges gift voucher to put towards the belt of his dreams? Or is that copping out? Personally, I LOVE getting gift vouchers as a gift, I prefer it to a 'real' gift (unless I specifically told you the product number lol). His birthday is on the 20th so....ARGH!

2. I went into Evans and Dorothy Perkins to look for black skinnies. DP didn't have a good size range and Evans...well the customer service was beyond crap.

I went into the fitting rooms with 2 jeggings and 2 harem pants. Turns out the jeggings weren't jeggings, just elasticated bootcut jeans so....

Me: "Excuse me, do you have these *point to black jeggings*?"
Shop Assistant: "I don't know. Maybe. If we have it, it'll be on the floor. Why don't you have a look?"
Me: "Erm....ok, thanks"

So I just left the store.

Then DP....despite my hatred for them I was feeling desperate because I've got two teeeeeny holes in the inner thigh area which is cool generally but an absolute no-no for saturday work so need need a replacement.

Anyway, my shop dash was crap, I was really disappointed but not surprised. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a 'normal' size and be able to just pick stuff off the rails. Oh well.


This is me in the Evan harem pants......£22 or £25. I liked them actually, but could have maybe done with a bigger size but they didn't have it in stock. I looked like I'd swallowed a canon ball from the side lol

Moving on to DP....before I tried on the jeans I had to try on this cape with leather buckle detail:



It was ok but it was not love. Which is just as well since I can't afford it anyway.

Next was the 'skinny jeans' which were not skinny. Come on now!



Skinny jean mission shall continue until I'm successful. Belt mission need to be ended v. soon. I'll let you know what happened.

xoxo

Dorothy Perkins Haul - Pt 3: Hat

Short and sweet. Hat, rrp £12. I look like a gnome. This is being returned.

Dorothy Perkins Haul - Pt 2: Coats

It's hard taking pictures of yourself.

Hi Guys,

Here is part 2 of my DP Haul: Coats...

I got 3 coats.

Coat 1:
This was the most expensive one, rrp £75. It is gorgeous, especially the side view which I tried to capture. But it is not gorgeous enough to justify the price....I think. Argh I don't know. I want it. But I can't afford to keep it. It didn't take my breath away and make me scream with excitement, or even let out a hushed 'wow'.

Coat 2:



This was £60. Potentially great, but a big stonking disappointment. Probably didn't help that I got this about 5 sizes too big (perfect coat to wear with my asos wildebeast catching dress!!!!!! lol). It's a boiled wool coat with a massive collar and big sleeves. A definite return.

Coat 3:


This was £60. And I like it, but again it's not wow wow wow. And I like the shape and style, but I dont like the collar and wrist ribbed detail, a bit casual for me. I want a pretty but functional coat.

I'll be honest, I probably would be keeping coat 1 and 3 but that's prior to my trip to new look that I've shared with you. Dorothy Perkins were nicer (in terms that I could wear coat 1 and 3 year after year after year) but I think new look will be ok (snood coat - yay? nay?) for this year and next for sure.

Please tell me what you think below.

Thanks :)

Dorothy Perkins Haul - Pt 1: Jeans

At last! Sorry it took so long, but here's the stuff I got from Dorothy Perkins online that I had all the trouble receiving. And the wait wasn't even worth it because I think (still not sure) I'm returning it all.

In return for your patience I've taken quite a few pics. Unfortunately lighting is bad so you can't really make out any detail but just take my word for it, nothing to get excited about!!!

Forgive my appearance, I'm in my pyjama top and I haven't brushed my hair for 4 days haha I did put make up on though :)

I'm doing this blog in 3 parts: Jeans, Coats and then Hat.

I brought 5 pairs of jeans altogether, but duplicate styles in different sizes. So these pictures are of 2 jeans. Shockingly (in the best way) all five jeans were toooooo big (YAAAAAAAAY) but I'm considering keeping these two, or at least one, as an emergency pair.

I'm not even sure which jean is which. One is super skinny, and one is super skinny pleat (which is the reference to the pocket i think). One is definitely black, the other is....either black or really really really really really dark indigo.

You've seen pictures of me in my skinny jeans (or you've seen me if you know me!) and you know I wear them tight. So tight I can't keep my little vaseline in my back pocket. So tight that I can't sit down on the bus. So tight that I'm splitting out of them hence this mad desperation for skinny jeans!!! lol

Well, the two jean's pictured have two problems. Even though they are 'short' they are not short enough for me. And even though they are skinny, they are not skinny enough for me. The leg is bagy because it hits me in the wrong spot, but even generally they are really big. I've never had a pair of jeans that I could tuck my top into (not that I'd be brave enough to rock this on street, tuckage is for blog photo only!).


But look how stretchy they are! I can actually move my leg!!!!!


Check out my BULGE!!!!!!! LOL And that's not even all the extra length. Not cool. And I've got the jeans pulled up to under my bra. Not cool!



What if I roll them up? Quite cool for spring/summer/autumn. Crap for winter.

(that white string thing is the price tag btw)

So.....what do I do? I'm not sure if these jeans are practical. It's all good prancing and posing in my living room, but on the street I imagine that I'd be hitching them up all them time (even with a belt). It is nice to have jeans that don't cut off my circulation though......

Tell me what you think below!

Cheers :)

Good things come in BIG packages...

Well well well! What do we have here? Is that a delivery package from Dorothy Perkins you see? YES IT IS!!!!!

Before I haul (which won't be today because the lighting is crap) I just wanted to tell you the story of 'the package' since it has been a long and strangely nerve wracking wait. I made my online order with Dorothy Perkins on 19th Sept 2010, and I received the package yesterday (02/10/10).

After placing my order I missed a few deliveries basically. On the online tracking it said that delivery had been attempted but I wasn't getting any delivery cards and was worried they were lying (as parcelnet/asos once did). So I called up to complain and check if they could deliver at a different time and they made a note for delivery to be made after 5pm (and rushed home averyday for a week - not including the week before in which I took time off work to wait for the package ahem ahem). Over the phone the (lovely) girl told me that hermes do not leave delivery cards but shockingly after my complaint I was left 4 delivery cards (as they continued to come at the same time and not after 5pm as requested).........


So lets rewind back to Saturday morning....I'm on the way to work and just reaching the carpark barrier when I notice a small van and a man dragging a box towards the building. For some reason I say to the dude, "Is that for Flat XX?" and amazingly he said, "yes". He asked me for my name and then he basically just left the box on the (wet) ground and got into his van and drove away. He didn't ask me to sign anything, nor did he ask for proof of ID or address. Just another thing to add to the long list of shabbiness that is Hermes delivery service.

But anyway, so I'm not in the wet carpark with a huge box as well as my handbag, and movement is difficult as I've just squeezed myself into my skinny jeans. It takes me a bit more than 10minutes to drag the box into my flat and to leg it to the bus stop (by which time I missed 2 buses). Amazingly I was only 2 minutes late for work.

******************************************

Photo's below are just two people I snapped whilst waiting for the bus.

Photo 1: Fringe, wedge, suede, nude, ankle boots, studs - how cool is this girl!?

Photo 2: Unmatching purple (which was worse in the daylight), adidas tracksuit, wrong type of footwear, the handbag - how wrong is this outfit!? Even Sue S from Glee would not be impressed.

Duffle do, duffle don't?

You know in life there's also a bunch of stuff you always want but for whatever reason you never get?

For me, one of those never-have items are dungarees and the other is a duffle coat.

The above is from Dorothy Perkins and is £65 before the discount. It's been in my shopping basket all day but I've decided to delete it. I love the idea of a duffle coat, and I love other people (like potentially SF!) in one but I just don't think it's for me. If I win the lottery I will definitely buy a duffle coat but for the amount of money this is it's not worth it for me. I can't wear it during the week to work (doesn't go with my work clothes) and so that leaves Saturday (since Sunday is pj day and I don't need to wear a coat with my pj's lol) and I doubt i'd wear it every Saturday so....yeah. Cost per wear would probably be £22.50 for Winter 2010!!

Oh well :(

I want!!!!!!

Oh man. So I just checked my hotmail email account and luckily saw I had 25% off anything at Dorothy Perkins until midnight tonight. So I've been looking at coats and I WANT THIS ONE!!!!

It's a gorgeous (well, i think so) camel trench coat, rrp £75. Sadly, all sizes apart from size 16 are sold out, and even more sadly, it's been a long time since I could fit into a size 16 :(

Luckily for me, they do have it in my size in black so I've put that into my virtual shopping basket alongside a few other coats (order, home delivery, try on, return in store). I hope I don't fall in love with all of them cos I can barely afford to keep one!! lol

And I guess realistically, I probably would have not looked great in a camel coat anyway, with my fat arse and sallow skin :(