1 Motel Dress, 3 ways to wear

I've been a long time fan of Motel since the early days, back when their specialty was printed body con dresses. The brand has really evolved and I love seeing the new prints they bring out each season.
I recently bought the 'Petal Shift Dress' in the tangerine Morris Flower print and below are three ways to style it (though excuse my laziness in not changing up my hair and makeup too :p):

Look #1: Smart/ Sophisticated
Though the dress is pretty loud, a blazer and some strappy heels smartens it up

Look #2: Bright and Casual
With a denim jacket and neon necklace this dress can be dressed down for a casual pub outing

Look #3: Clash with other prints It can be hard to successfully clash prints, but for some reason leopard print seems to go well with all sorts of patterns- spots, stripes, tartan and floral too. Knee high socks are a bit passe now, but I kind of like them with this outfit.

Making a statement #1: Tops

Despite my original intentions to have this as a fashion-focused blog, I'm not the best person at putting outfits together. So I usually pair a statement piece with something more plain. Here's a selection of statement tops I've recently bought- any interesting fabrics or textures always catch my eye:

Metallic Jacquard top- Boohoo

I was so impressed with this top from Boohoo. As much as I like some of Boohoo's designs, I feel the quality can be a bit hit and miss. However, this top is so well made and looks a lot more expensive than it is. The overlaid stitching and colour of the fabric makes it look almost like burnished metal. See the close up below.

The piece looks great over skinny jeans for a simple dinner outfit, or with leather shorts or a pencil skirt for a more dressed up look. It was £18 when I purchased, but you can get it right now for £15

Waffle-textured leopard print top- Topshop

Again, another great top for dressing up or down. And do you see what I mean about loving texture? This has a 'waffle' sort of texture with the leopard print design over the top. It's quite out there, and when I picked it up I had a brief moment of trying to decide if it was hideous or amazing! Obviously, I decided on the latter. I think this was £20, it's not on the website anymore and last time I went into a store it had gone in to the sale for £12, so there might be some knocking around still.
Below is another close up to show the texture.

Teal Jacquard top- Topshop

Stores at the moment seem to love labelling pieces 'Jacquard'- I have to admit I don't really know what this means! But in this case, it is almost like a tapestry-like effect because of the weaving of the fabric. This was the statement top I bought first, as my eye was drawn to the colour and unique fabric, which has a slight sheen to it. This was £28 and is no longer available, but Topshop have some  similar styles here, here, and here

White Leather Look Tee- Missguided

I was umm-ing and ah-ing over this for ages and finally bought it. I got a 10 (as I tend to find Missguided sizes a little small) but because of the cut I should have got an 8, as it looks a bit big in the shoulders. However, I still really like it and looks great with a statement necklace (post to follow soon...). This is still available on the site for £17.99, but I think I got it a bit cheaper as Missguided is very generous with dishing out discount codes!

So that's my first post on statement pieces, more to come soon!

What's in my basket....New Look

I think New Look is a brand that girls of my age have a sentimental fondness for. It was one of the first stores where I would spend my pocket money on buying my own clothes, from the 915 range. At one point I don't think the brand had the best reputation, but the last few years it has gone from strength to strength, managing to keep up with the trends and remain affordable. Here's my pick of recent pieces (links below)

Coral Boyfriend coat: £34.99 
Gingham top: £12.99
Cream check A-line mini: £17.99
Floral Midi skirt: £19.99
Black rucksack (also available in a beautiful taupe): £17.99



Do you ever shop at New Look?

Wednesday Wishlist #2: Jumpsuits/ Playsuits

There was a time when my wardrobe was filled with playsuits, but I've never been brave enough to go for a full length jumpsuit. Here's a selection that have caught my eye (can you tell I'm a fan of florals?)

From Left to Right:
Lace V-Neck Jumpsuit- £39.99- Missguided
Pink Floral Jumpsuit- £29.99- Missguided
Floral Playsuit-£20- Shelikes
Red Floral Jumpsuit- £55- Motel
Belted Floral Jumpsuit- £29.99- Missguided

Birthday outift

So today's my birthday :) Not got any major plans for it, just having my girls round for cocktails before heading into my local town. So not a super dressy outfit; my fail-safe disco pants, Ant boots, and new crop top which was a bargainous £10 from Top Shop. 

Top: Topshop

Jacket: Topshop avaitor jacket (old)

Trousers: American Apparel Disco Pants

Boots: Topshop 'Ant' (see this post)

OOTD: Fur and Jewels

Working for Top Shop/ Top Man, I have to represent the brand, which means getting pretty dressed up just for work. It can be a struggle trying to find something to wear everyday, so I tend to jazz up an outfit with accessories. I got this fur stole in Select for a mere fiver and over winter it pretty much never leaves my shoulders. The bejewelled necklace also brightens up any outfit, and was £6 from Primark. 

Jumper: Top Shop

Stole: Select (old)

Disco Pants: American Apparel

Boots: Top Shop

Top Shop Mini- Haul

My recent purchases from Top Shop have been far too optimistic...though I love winter clothes I've already started thinking about Spring/ Summer 2013 and outfits :) Though with snow today and the cold front coming over from Russia, some of these outfits may not see the light of day for a while!

-

Denim Pinafore dress (£36) and grey crop top (£10): didn't buy both together to intentionally have an outfit but I think they work well together. I'm planning on wearing the dungaree dress with long sleeve crop tops and boots or creepers now while it's still cold, and I can imagine wearing it loads in summer with gladiator sandals

Green speckled dress (£26): this comes in a few different colours but I loved this one; unusual colour between bottle and teal green with little flecks in it. This is great for just chucking on with tights, boots and a fur stole

White cropped jumper (£30): I don't usually wear white as I think it washes me out, but with my new Kate Moss lipstick this looked great. Will wear with disco pants now and high waisted shorts in summer.


Seriously why am I thinking about summer so much already?!

I really want to begin doing outfit posts, however my camera isn't brilliant and I'm not in possession of a tripod. I was too embarrassed to ask my mum to take photos as don't think she'll really 'get' the blogging thing but I'm going to swallow my pride and just ask her :) I think when everyone starts out blogging they feel a bit embarrassed and like a total newbie, so hopefully it's 

Wilfox S/S 2013: Clueless!

Oh wow. Not usually a fan of Wildfox [or rather my bank balance isn't] but the new look book is fabulous! Best of 90s style and inspired my one of my favourite 90s films, Clueless! I love how each model represents one of the three girls, Cher, Dion and Tai. and N.B. How gorgeous is the 'Tai' model? Serious hair envy here!

Bottom left- totally me!

I'm not even sure it's just the clothes, or more the essence of what they evoke: carefree teen summers with no worries. Wish I could back to these times!  

Outfit: Military inspired

When military style came back in this season, I quite liked it at first. But now I'm getting sick of seeing camo print everywhere. I do like the colour palette of the trend as it's perfect for autumn winter, but I didn't want to fall slave to the print. I featured this dress in a 'What's in my basket' post a few weeks ago, and finally ordered it. 

I like how it's still in the military style, but a little bit different. I went up a size as I know Boohoo stuff can come up a bit small because of the clingy fabrics they use, and it's a great fit. I'm a massive fan of the midi length too.

Are you a fan of the military trend?