Category Archive: Dear Diary

May 14 2013

Bright New Things: Styled By Coast

Last week I attended a mini-styling session with Coast and a host of gorgeous bloggers including pals Sherin, Ree and Monica to check out the brand’s high summer collection and I got to try on some amazing dresses.

I have to be honest I haven’t shopped in Coast before and I have not got a reason why not after visiting their flagship store, which is not only decorated beautifully but the collections are incredible. If you are attending any weddings, garden parties, cocktail bashes, or even a night out at a fancy restaurant you need to check out Coast’s gorgeous dresses. Whether you are into florals, love embellishments, ethereal styles, or prefer something more dramatic, I think you will be surprised by the choice.

The event was a lot of fun, I got to wander around the store gushing over all the pieces I adored, I got my hair and make-up done, and the best bit was being styled by Coast’s Oxford Street stylist Marie, who picked out two gorgeous looks for me.

The first was a bright pink duchess satin ‘Chancey’ cocktail dress, which is super flattering thanks to the placement of the statement floral print, and it looked perfect styled with purple accessories including the ‘Lana’ shoe with its gorgeous one-sided bow and ruffled ‘Charlie’ clutch. What I love about this dress has to be the gorgeous detailing to the back – so different.

Keeping with the purple accessories, I changed into another floral dress, this time the elegant ‘Amelie’ print fit and flare style dress, which was teamed with a bright yellow skinny belt to cinch in my waist. More of a grown-up look, I really love the silhouette of this dress and I think it would work perfectly at a summer wedding.

Out of the two looks it is hard to choose my favourite, I loved both, mainly because they are two dresses that I wouldn’t normally wear because of the large floral prints. Also looking back on the look I really need to add more purple into my wardrobe as I really do love the contrast these accessories bring.

But as always at events like this I do love seeing what all the other bloggers wear and two looks I adore were Really Ree’s cool monochrome look and Hi Fashion Sherin’s pink textured ‘Edwina’ dress.

Have you checked out Coast’s latest collection? And do you like what the stylist dressed me in?

**Thanks to Sherin for the fab piccies, Bare Minerals for making me look pretty and Coast for inviting me**

Tags: Coast, My Style

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May 01 2013

My Style: The Swans Travel To France

So you might have noticed that my blog was a little quiet last week, I was in France visiting family and I forgot to put an out-of-blog on, to be honest I did plan to blog while I was away but I just decided to relax and take a mini break from my laptop.

Much like the weather here is was sunny and bright while we were away, well for the most of it, so I thought it was a great chance to wear my gorgeous Tory Burch swan printed wedges. These beauties have been in my shoe collection since last year when I got them in The Outnet sale and I have been praying for the sunshine so I could wear them, and it was worth nearly making my luggage over the allowed 10kg allowance on Ryan Air!!!

As we were just pottering around the garden, checking out neighbouring villages and getting very jealous over the gorgeous châteauxs **she below my dream house/castle**, I decided to team the swans with my Hudson crop jeans, which have become my new favourite and a slouchy tee from New Look, oh and lots of cute jewellery pieces.

As well as giving my new wedges a run out I also decided to try out how to work a tuck, well I have seen numerous celebs and some of my fav style bloggers so I though I would give it ago, also I was inspired by a piece in People Style that I read on the plane over.

I went for the loose front tuck, a kind of relaxed look where you loosely tuck in the front and let the sides and back hang out. I am not sure I fully mastered it – but hey I gave it a go – and I liked it.

**Coming soon – the side tuck, the full tuck and the smart front tuck – only joking, well sort of!!!**

My Style: Swan-print wedges, Tory Burch via The Outnet // Hudson Jeans Bacara in Vancouver, Jeanography (c/o) // Red t-shirt, New Look // Panda watch, New Look // Evil eye friendship bracelet, Astley Clarke // Wisdom skinny bracelet, Astley Clarke (c/o) // Beaded bracelets, Accessorize // Silver wrap ring, New Look (c/o) // Heart ring, designed by me with Stephen Einhorn & HTC (c/o) // PDS ring, stole for the day off my boyfriend // Glasses, Retro54 //

Tags: Accessorize, Arm Candy, Arm Party, Astley Clarke, France, HTC, Hudson Jeans, My Style, New Look, OOTD, Stephen Einhorn, Tory Burch

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Apr 22 2013

My Style: The Kooky Cat

I like black, I like colour too, but black has to me go-to wardrobe staple, I think it is because in my head it is slimming, and to be honest I need all the help I can get. But to jazz up an all-black look I like to either add bright accessories, normally a bracelet stack, a colour-pop handbag, or in this case a quirky top.

I have already shared my love for Lulu Guinness’ collaboration with Uniqlo a number of times, and I have to say that this second collection is better than the first and it is all to-do with the summer-feeling sleeveless tops. My favourite being the updated Kooky Cat, you might remember the grey t-shirt version last year, well this is the revamped style featuring a cute dotty Peter Pan collar.

When the weather is warmer I plan on wearing this without the cardigan, but to be honest even though the sun is shining at the moment it is still pretty chilly, but it works perfectly teamed with my Topshop skater skirt and ankle boots. I really think that this a versatile piece, you could pair with slouchy jeans and wedges, a denim skirt and kitty flats, or how about just showing off that fab collar under a bright jumper – there is so much you can do with this top and priced at only £12.90 it really is a bargain.

My Style: Lulu Guinness for Uniqlo Kooky Cat top, Uniqlo // Skater skirt, Topshop // Long cardigan, AllSaints // Ankle boots, Topshop // Panda watch, New Look // Glasses, Retro54 // Skinny belt, Primark //

Have you checked out Lulu Guinness’ latest collaboration for Uniqlo? Which pieces are your favourite?

Tags: AllSaints, Lulu Guinness, Lulu Guinness for Uniqlo, My Style, OOTD, Topshop, Uniqlo

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Apr 16 2013

My Style: When Hudson Met Lulu

This weekend actually felt like spring, it was sunny, it was warm, and it meant that I could finally wear something that wasn’t layered up – cue the crop jeans, the statement tee and a colourful pair of trainers!!!

A couple of years ago I am not so sure I would have got my ankles out for a pair of jeans, that was because I hadn’t been introduced to the boyfriend style of denim, since I got my Gap pair I have been a little obsessed in finding a pair that was a little longer in length that would be perfect with trainers, and then Jeanography came along and recommend these Hudson Jeans and I think I can safely say they are going to be my spring/summer staple.

As we had friends over this weekend we took full advantage of the sunny weather and took in the sights, shops, and gorgeous parks of St Albans, a market town that I haven’t been to in a while and it is so pretty. As we were doing a bit of walking around I decided to wear my new Onitsuka Tiger trainers, so, so comfortable and I am in love with the gorgeous pink colour, which works so well with blue denim.

To complete my look of first time wears, which wasn’t intentional I just realised while writing this post, was my Lulu Guinness for Uniqlo doll face tee. You may remember I was a big fan of Lulu’s first collaboration with the Japanese fashion brand, I have the Kooky Cat and the original doll face, so when the collection came out earlier this month I couldn’t resist updating my wardrobe with the new style and at under £15 this tee is a bargain.

If the sunny weather keeps up like this I think you will be seeing a lot more of these jeans, these shoes and an array of statement tees!!!

Do you have a go-to sunny Sunday afternoon attire?

My Style: Hudson Jeans Bacara in Vancouver, Jeanography (c/o) // Lulu Guinness for Uniqlo Doll Face tee, Uniqlo // Panda watch, New Look // Glasses, Retro54 // Bracelets, Marc by Marc Jacob // Onitsuka Tiger – Mexico 66 trainers (c/o) //

Tags: Jeanography, Lulu Guinness, Marc by Marc Jacobs, My Style, New Look, Onitsuka Tiger, OOTD, Outfit, Retro54, St Albans, Uniqlo

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Apr 14 2013

My Style: An Outfit To Make My Glasses Shine

On Saturday my new Swag & Stare glasses arrived so to celebrate I thought I would wear an outfit to show off my new specs. As I went for the Gramercy in red I decided to wear my new red River Island smock dress, which is kind of perfect for this in-between weather we are kind of having, as it looks good layered up with a chunky cardigan and paired with biker boots for a casual weekend look, and it matches perfectly with my red and black frames.

As we had friends over this weekend we went into Cambridge to enjoy the gorgeous sunshine, yes for most of the day it was warm, the sun was shining, and it was actually spring-like, it sadly changed towards the end of the day into rain showers, but hey a couple of hours of sunshine is better than none.

While in Cambridge we just had a chilled out day, took a walk along the river, saw some fluffy baby geese, messed around on a huge log, oh and nearly fell off, wandered around Corpus Christi College, so I could admire the architecture, oh and stopped now and then for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks.

Is there any better way to spend a lovely sunny day than catching up with friends over a walk and a few drinks?

My Style: Gramercy Red Glasses, Swag & Stare (c/o) // Red printed smock dress, River Island // Skinny black belt, New Look // Biker boots // Black cardigan, AllSaints //

Tags: AllSaints, Cambridge, Glasses, River Island, Swag & Stare, Swag and Stare

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Apr 09 2013

I Instagram: National Stationery Week

If you follow me on Instagram you will already be used to seeing my many additions – Barbie, badges, my kitty monsters, flowers, and general pretty things, well all last week I celebrated National Stationery Week with a daily post on some of my favourite pieces of stationery, yes I do have favourites!!!

I have to be honest I only found out about National Stationery Week on Monday, so these daily snapshots into my very large collection of stationery weren’t planned, I just did as a bit of fun.

It was fun gathering together my favourite pens, having an excuse to buy new pieces for my growing collection, and generally a good way to feed my notepad and pen addiction. Sadly it did show my boyfriend how much I was actually hiding in my office!!!

Day 1: “First up a pink affair – my Petit a Petit diary, my mini Flex by Filofax and my fluffy topped Barbie pen.”

Day 2: “My love of Paris, colourful Bic pens and my continual search for all things Barbie.”

Day 3: “Is beauty inspired thanks to my new Decades of Beauty notebook from Bourjois.”

Day 5: “All about the slogan notepad – I love the ‘Upside Down Notebook.”

Day 6: “Stripes, block colours and florals mixed in with a splash of Chanel and sparkles from Astley Clarke.”

Day 6: “Is with a French flair – fav magazines Vogue Paris & Citizen K surrounded by gorgeous pads, pastel pens & pansies.”

Day 7: “Did anyone ask for a spare pad? Yep, I’m an addict, and proud of it!”

So which day gets your vote?

Tags: Barbie, Bourjois, Instagram, National Stationery Week, stationery

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Apr 06 2013

My Style: Denim & Stripes With Added Arm Candy

This week has been kind of quiet – with the Bank Holiday I haven’t been into London much, instead I have been baking up a storm for the Great River Bake Off *more to come on this*, but on Thursday night I did venture into the snow storm, I know I thought April was all about the rain showers but apparently Thursday was the coldest April day in Blighty for the past 50 years – seriously crazy weather.

The occasion was catching up with my good friend and fellow blogger Sherin from HiFashion and also head over to the Kipling x Helena Christensen party at Beach Blanket Babylon – I had planned to wear a new dress I have been dying to wear, but the weather had other ideas so I decided to work my mini flares with a stripy shirt, a classic but an easy style to throw on.

I wasn’t going to do a style post, mainly because I like to take my shots outside and I wasn’t willing to take my coat off in the freezing conditions, but I actually quite liked the moody lighting at Beach Blanket Babylon that I decided what the hell as I really like this look.

For me this outfit was made fun by my jewellery, which I seem to be obsessed with off late, I just find it the best way to jazz up an outfit or brighten up my mood. This week when mooching around New Look, like you do, I came across this adorable black and white panda watch, I instantly fell in love with it and at £9.99 this watch is the perfect addition to any arm candy party!!!

As I don’t like to mix my metals, I teamed my watch with some of my favourite pieces of silver jewellery – my moo cow necklace that my mum bought me a few years back from Christmas, I literally wear this necklace to death it is so cute, my new ring from & Other Stories, I just love how simple it is, and no jewellery look is complete without a stack of bracelets – I went for these ornate ones, also from New Look. I do love to jingle.

Do you love to jazz up an outfit with your jewellery?

My Style: Denim jeans, Dorothy Perkins (very old) // Striped three-quarter sleeve shirt, not sure, so old and it doesn’t have a label // Bag, Rebecca Minkoff (c/o) // Panda watch, New Look // Cow necklace, present off my mum // Silver bracelet stack, New Look // Multi-coloured bead bracelet, H&M // Ring, & Other Stories // Glasses, Retro54 // Ankle boots, Topshop // **Thanks to Sherin for my outfit snaps**