untouched

Spring/summer fashion is approaching like morning breath at 7am, on a sunday, after a rough one. With sale percentages going up to 70%, retailers desperate to clear space, it wont be long until we're ditching our wooly tights and donning our denim shorts. The problem i encounter each time one fashion season ends, and another begins, is where to start. I usually start by digging out last years summer garms to see what i can salvage, then i search down the sides of any couch i can find to tally up the pennies and mentally traipse around online stores, creating out of reach shopping baskets. It's hard to decide which style route you're going to go down when you're basically starting with an empty summer wardrobe, although it is refreshing the fact you can go down any route you want, like a clean slate. So i've done the traipsing on the UK's most popular clothing websites, found some must-have items that may help you decide whether you rape the florals or the pastels this summer, and documented them in four posty-wosts. Number one being Urban Outfitters'. Enjoy.


Urban Outfitters


best of the florals...

             001. £38                |             002. £10              |             003. £38               |               004. £42              |             005. £55   

In my opinion, with florals, you can't go wrong. There also very adaptable to all seasons, just by the simple changing of a few colours, and add instant femininity to any outfit. As long as it's a nice print, and a classy design, floral is über versatile and i haven't met one person yet who doesn't suit it. I'll definitely be bringing my garden into my wardrobe this summer.


best of the brights...

             006. £55               |              007. £65              |             008. £38               |               009. £45              |             010. £55   

Brights definitely scream picnic in the park. I pretty much suit every colour, except yellow, so i'm quite lucky. I always have trouble wearing brights though, because i never know when to stop, and i don't like my outfits to look too matchy-matchy. I think i'll be sticking to soft colours this summer, alot like the first and second picture, but i do have a garm crush on 010.


colours of the sky...

             011. £143               |              012. £28              |             013. £30               |               014. £116              |             015. £30   

By colours of the sky, i mean blacks, whites, greys and pale pinks and purples. I would absolutely love to be able to fork out £143 for a silk top, especially the de-lish one shown in 011. I reckon this'll be my style for this summer, i love simplicity and i like layering, and these colours aren't too overpowering to layer. I'm definitely getting the swallow t-shirt, i'm actually in love with it, and i'm debating the cross one to because i'm obsessed with anything 'cross' lately.

accessories...

             016. £10                |              017. £8               |             018. £22               |               019. £12              |             020. £16   

               021. £18             |              022. £16              |             023. £24               |               024. £16              |             025. £68  

Headbands are going to be a huge part of my dressings this summer, i've decided, even if no-one else wears them. I'm also going to start wearing more silver jewellery, i barely ever  stray from gold, but this summer i'm going to drape dirty silver all over me. How erotic. I usually opt for two pairs of sunglasses every summer, a girly shape, and an edgy shape. Last year i went for nude-pink wayfarers and gold aviators, this year i already have 022 in black, and i'm heading straight for the heart shaped frames as my girly pair - sorted. 

best of the feet huggers...

               026. £85             |              027. £115            |             028. £24               |               029. £115            |             030. £38  

I don't really put much emphasis on the shoes i wear, i often find if i don't think about what feet-chums i wear, it makes the outfit more edgy and less topshop-y. My one weekness, however, is gorgeous heels. So it was drool city on saturday in the oxford street store when i saw the suede cut out wedges, aren't they beautiful, and i'm feeling the cream cross-overs. In contrast to my first comment about shoes, if it's a nighttime outfit, i find it easier to pick the shoes i'm wearing first and build my outfit around them. Weird, huh?

So that's urban outfitters checked off the list, next, topshop.

Are you all good? I bloody hope so. I'm loving all the e-mails i'm getting about the blog names, keep 'em coming, you lovely beans.

Spankyou.

P & L

out on your corner in the pouring rain

First of all i would like to give you all this qwerty hug - o|-< - to apologise for the extreme abandonment on my part, you're all the prettiest most coolest people ever, you all rule and i drool. How's that? Excellent, moving on for now, i'll explain all in my next post which will probably be tomorrow if i don't go to the wetherspoon's christmas quiz. How cool am i?

Raw Edge Boutique went online on the 31st October, offering the fashionable population one of a kind garms, unavailable on the high street. Yes there are beautiful - but few - fabrical porn pieces, yes they're reasonable priced, yes their blog offers tons of show-biz goss and their take on future fashion trends. The only bad side? I want it all but my purse isn't as big as my wardrobe needs! I keep getting e-mailed about and discovering beautifully stocked websites, then i take one look at my online banking statement, then one look at my shopping basket and find myself making this noise; "ohhhhwwww". Anyway, as my bank account can never hold this blogger back from doing some good old hearty windows explorer shopping (i actually use safari but windows ties in better), i browsed the website and shallowly picked out the prettiest subjects. I somewhat apologise for doing this again, i know a lot of you slap my wrist for introducing you to new websites, teasing you with new perv-worthy subjects which make you cancel your life insurance to afford a floral number. 

Here are my picks:-

001. £25     |     002. £18     |     003. £18     |     004. £25     |
005. £10     |     006. £32     |     007. £12     |     008. £18     |
009. £25     |     010. £18     |     011. £20     |     012. £41     |

I do love these garms, but none of them were in my size, sooo devastated but maybe you lot can snatch them up before someone else does.

Anyway, sorry i haven't shown you what i got from H&M when i went to london yet, but i couldn't find any of the stuff i bought on t'internet so i'll just wait until i get my camera for christmas and photograph my lame self in them instead. Deal?

P & L

it was only a kiss

Yayer.co.uk is where beautiful garms live; beautiful, affordable vintage treasures that are like hugs for your eyes. I could write a cleverly worded paragraph, throw in a few random metaphors for good measure, sit back with my brew and gaze in awe at my wit. Instead, i'm going to pick out my besties (which is almost everything) and let the clothes speak for themselves, enjoy amigos.

vintage

1...2...3...4
5...6...7...8
9..10..11..12
13..14..15..16
17..18..19..20

That may seem like i've posted the whole bloody stock, but believe me, i haven't - getting the numbers down to this many felt like i was a judge at the v-factor (vintage).

modern 

21.....22.....23
24...25...26...27

My favourites out of the whole bunch, if i was only allowed to pick three, would be 13,18 and 25. There was one negative though, they were sold out of a lot of the stuff i wanted, but hey it's not their fault i discovered them after everyone had snatched up my eye candy - i would've if i got there first. Plus i still had a lot of URLs to pass on to mother duck, i should hopefully get them, if she figures out what URLs are and how to use them.

You may be thinking "wow what a lazy oaf, not much writing there, therefore it's blatantly a half-arsed picture post", but believe me, this took me hours. Picking out a decent number without having the whole website featured, sizing all the pictures so they all fitted on the same line then linking them all in - all whilst tweeting with fitties Gem, Purdey and Sarah - made for some very tough work, it's a good job i enjoy the shit out of it. 

P & L

Currently listening to

Words on the Floor by Tommy Reilly 

christmas time, topshop and wine

For those of you who read 'deck your halls with frocks from asos', you'll know what i'm doing over the next few weeks, for those of you who haven't here's a brief overview of what's going down init *totally street*. Christmas is that time of year where looking glam is expected, people looking fabulous are thrusted upon our eyes making us that more aware of how we dress and the pressure to live up to the super stylish standards of this holiday. So i'm scoping out all of the high street online stock, chucking out all the riff raff and posting all the goodies i find here, sort of like an online exclusive nightclub. So sit back with a mince pie, while i do all the hard work so you don't have to, splendid.

Next? I was going to do Allsaints after a comment from Ray suggesting i do so, so i checked it out but there was nothing wearable below £100, so i wouldn't have had much to write about so i chose to give topshop's dress section a whirl. I was rather impressed, array of colours, nicest dress starting at £26. Topshop, are you feeling okay? I'm not usually a topshop regular, because i prefer thrifting, i begrudge paying an obscene amount when i know i can get it for cheaper. Anyway, here are my findings:

spare change - £20-£39

    |      oo1. £28        |       oo2. £29        |       oo3. £30      |      oo4. £30      |       oo5. £32     |    oo6. £32     |

|    oo7. £32       |       oo8. £34      |      oo9. £35       |       o10. £35         |       o11. £36       |       o12. £38       |

Kudos to Topshop, this was very difficult and i actually had to push a few out to squeeze some nicer ones in, it was quite the task. I managed to pick my favourite however, i just love how number oo4 is so laid back and simple in a block colour, like a blank canvas. Here's how i'd wear it:

Dress £30   |   Ring £7.50   |  Tights £8.50   |   Bracelet £12.50   |   Shoes £62   |   Cameo £12.50   |   Shrug £25   |   Bag £20
Total = £168

Quite expensive, but considering the whole outfit is from topshop, still quite cheap. Plus, the shoes are the most expensive item, you could probably find a lower priced twin and drag that price right down. I think i'm just going to buy that dress for the sheer lust i have for it, and the fact it's only thirty pound-a-mundos, bargain!

if you've got the doe - £40-59

|        o13. £40        |      o14. £40     |      o15. £42      |     o16. £45       |      o17. £45        |      o18. £46      |

|        o19. £48        |      o20. £48      |      o21. £50        |     o22. £55      |      o23. £56        |      o24. £56      |

Once again i'm pretty much IN LOVE with all of these, especially o21, but because i used a similar coloured one for the first one, i'll opt for number o16.

Dress £45  |  Ring £7.50  |  Feather cape £75  |  Shoes £100  |  Fabric necklace £14  |  Bag £35
Total = £276.50

I love this outfit, i'm obsessed with socks and sandals, albeit this isn't quite sandals and socks but this is the winter version right? I saw a girl in flip flops in chester last thursday while i was people watching in mcdonalds, she had a huge fur coat on though, i had to take a second glance and i nearly spat out my festive pie.

if food isn't important - £60-£150

|        o25. £60        |       o26. £60            |    o27. £65      |     o28. £65      |      o29. £65         |    o30. £75      |

|        o31. £75      |      o32. £75        |      o33. £79    |     o34. £85       |      o35. £95          |      o36. £150      |

Oh my god, this one took me ages, which i'm surprised about because when dosh is no object, i trolley off and get it within minutes. But this one was very hard, every time i picked a dress to do, i'd struggle on a certain section like jewellery or shoes so i'd pick another dress. This is what i eventually came up with though, très bon, if not a bit sickly matching.

|  Dress £65  |  Bracelet £18.50  |  Shoes £80  |  Necklace £15  |  Shoulder chain £40  |Earrings £12.50  |  Ring £5  |  Bag £65  |

Total = £301

See what i mean about the sickly matchingness? I do, but i still like it, think it'd look cute. Doing my usual riff raff sieving of topshop was one of the hardest i've ever done, i had to resist putting every single dress in, almost buying a mortgage worth and i was surprised at how cheap the dresses started; they weren't even half arse dresses in the low price range, in fact, i think i'll get about three of them and parade around telling people they were four thousand pound each. And all let's not forget, it's free UK delivery over £75, perfect excuse. Very impressed topshop, very impressed.


P & L

Currently listening to 
xx by the xx

deck your halls with frocks from asos

It's that time of year, party season is around the corner, and i'm definitely feeling the pressure of finding the perfect glam outfit. I'm doing the whole thing online for now, because screw-me-silly im so frickin' ill, i have slim-to-no patience when it comes to shopping crowds, plus it's so much easier. When it comes to shopping online for a deadline, you have to start at least four weeks before (to allow for the delivery, returns and maybe some alterations), also i like to get the dress exactly right before i shop for anything else.

So basically, i'm going to start scoping out all things bright and beautiful on the most popular fashion websites, and then present my findings to my beautiful followers.

Starting with good ol' ASOS, i'll pick my favourite dress with matching jewellery and shoesies, for all price ranges. May i add, there's an amazing sale on at the moment which made it extra difficult, tons of absolutely stunning dresses for less than £30.

spare change - £22-£45

001. £22 | 002. £24 | 003. £28 | 004. £28 | 005. £28.50 | 006. £28.50
007. £32 | 008. £32 | 009. £38 | 010. £40 | 011. £38 | 012. £45 

Above are my favourites (so much love for 009 but for more of a daytime look), in a price range affordable to moi, however i'm going to choose one that would most suit my body shape and whack a bunch of jewellery and feet huggers next to it to create an outfit option for myself (and maybe some of you).

011. £38 | Body chain £32 | Bangle £6 | Shoes £25 | Clutch £17.50 | Ring £10
Total = 128.50

Some people may not agree that this is the best way to wear this dress, but i made it my aim to only use ASOS, and i would personally wear this outfit and feel super! I know the body chain is quite pricey, but i just love body chains, they add pizzazz in such an understated way and i think it'd go quite lovely with this mink coloured number. Anyhoooooooo, onwards we go.

if you've got the doe - £50-£75

013. 50 | 014. £50 | 015. £55 | 016. £55 | 017. £55 | 018. £55
019. £55 | 020. £55 | 021. £65 | 022. £70 | 023. £75 | 024. £75

I love the dollyness of the the last two, they're just adorable, yet very hard to do justice. It's quite noticeable the huge amount of long sleeved beauties i choose, i can't help it, i just bloody love them and chiffon. The one I choose i think is very understated, yet easily dressed up, overall the best investment as it could be worn as a daytime outfit.

020. £55 | 120 denier tights £6 | Cuff £30 | T-bar heels £40 | Owl pendant £8 | Vintage ring £12 | Clutch £65
Total = £216

This was quite an easy dress to do, i went for the turquoise and tan look, which i suppose is typical but i think it looks great. I like how this frock is so versatile, i could of gone in so many directions; turquoise and silver; turquoise and black; turquoise and grey etc., at one point i was going to try turquoise and red, based on the fact that i think this ring goes so well with it, but there just wasn't the right stuff online that i could use to make it work.

if food isn't important - £80-£199

025. £80 | 026. £80 | 027. £85 | 028. £85 | 029. £89.90 | 030. £110
031. £112 | 032. £128 | 033. 140 | 034. £165 | 035. £170 | 036. £199  

Usually, i'd never dream of buying dresses in this price range, unless the dress was sell-my-kidney stunning; but still, it's okay to admire from a distance, with my student overdraft firmly locked away in some sort of bullet/fire proof safe.

035. £170 | Spike wrap bracelet £100 | Suede shoe boot £125 | Gemstone ring £118 | Handbeaded bag £65 | Hoop necklace £135 | Faux fur coat £125
Total = £838

I love some of the pieces in this one, i love the dress like cheese on crackers, and the fur coat would be worth going without food for at least a week. Although it'll be a while before i can even dream of shopping in this price range, i just love looking through clothing websites pretending money isn't an issue, so i really enjoyed this one.

Kudos to ASOS, you beautifully stocked bastard, i'll be back soon to order my arse off. I'd love some suggestions from followers dearest, to see how they'd wear it, or if there's anything i've put in that they would 'remove from shopping basket' faster than ASDA's own smash.

Also, what website shall i violate next?

P & L

Currently listening to
Hats Off To The Buskers by The View

Currently loving

Tea and Rocky bars

walk on by...

I did it, i took the time out of my life to give river island a second chance, there's two hours of my life i'll never get back. The just arrived section was the expected, page after page of tacky, vom-worthy garmistakes with only the odd buyable item. Now a lot of people do actually like river island, so i'm not saying that those beings are in anyway tacky, it's just not for me. Maybe it's my lack of imagination, because i have to love something on it's own, to want to splurge out the doe. I'll start, however, with the items which didn't make me want to throw up my toblerone (bare in mind that this is not based on the whole RI website, just the 'just arrived' section).

The good...

              (001)                      (002)                       (003)                          (004)                           (005)

001. Average pick really, i mean the actual garm is lovely (minus the shoulder zip), the £69.99 price tag however, is
       not - especially considering it's "62% nylon and 38% other fibre". There are just plenty of cheaper, nicer, less
       itchy alternatives out there.

002. I actually really like this dress, despite the cheap-ish looking belt (which can be removed), the tailoring is
       actually quite impressive; it has minor detailing near the hips to give it a bit of an edge, the length is perfect
       for this season, and i think the puff sleeves are adorable and balance out the shape of the dress. This scoop
       neck beauty will only set you back £44.99, i use the term 'only' loosely, and in comparison to the prices of the
       rest of the garms.

003. Once again, another great fashion offering from river island. I love the colour and the floatiness, it appeals to my
       long sleeve shirt love, and although at first i thought the shoulder studs were a little tacky, after looking back at
       it a few times, they've grown on me - they make it an option for evening wear, they wouldn't really affect daytime
       wear either as no-one would see them because let's face it, nobody is leaving the house without a coat this
       season. Bad side? £29.99, although not a major bad side as it does have some value for money, but with so
       many similar cheaper options it just wouldn't get snatched up (by me).

004. I do like this jumper, i love the colour, the cables and even the little pom poms. The price isn't that bad either
       (£44.99) considering similar knits are going for £40-50, the wool count however is much higher from the likes of
       topshop/H&M/dorothy perkins (80%), whereas this woolly chum is only 20% - bummer. (Also available in red
       and cream).

005. This cream lace cropped blouse beauty is only £29.99, and i think it's adorable, i would  never wear it the way
       the 'create the look' section has suggested though. J'adore the floaty sleeves and the lace detail, but the neck
       area looks unusually cheap, and it's completely put my off it, but if it ever goes in the sale, that baby is getting
       snatched up faster than a free date with Adam Brody.

          (006)                          (007)                     (008)                      (009)                                (010)

006. N'awh, isn't it cute, with it's gorgeous little rose print. I'm not quite sure if the roses are textured, or printed, as it
       says 'rose print' in the title but they look raised. I do quite like this dress, it's simple yet detailed, and i don't
       think i've seen one the same as of yet. There is a very tacky gold zip on the back though which i bloody hate,
       and a hefty £49.99 price tag, but it's okay i guess, i think it will date rapidly though and be shoved to the back of
       the wardrobe before the winter is up.

007. This is kind of amateur, i'm sure that the navy white and tan trend came and went this autumn, i do still like it
       though but maybe without the belt. And the pocket detail? Bleugh. £34.99.
008. As i've said before when i reviewed topshop's new arrivals, i really like winged accessories, and this little pearl
       number is super cute - only £6.99 too, bargain!
009. Quite similar to a lot of things i wear, which is probably why i spotted this bell sleeved tunic, the almost 35
       squidders price puts me off it though. I mean, it's not an amazing-can't-get-this-anywhere-else garm, so why over
       charge for it - it's pretty, that's it, full stop.
010. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, even to myself, this would be so buyable if it wasn't 40 whole pound. It
       ticks a few boxes for me, it's velvet (much to Jack's disgust), it's burnt orange and it's floaty; i really like it, if only
       they didn't charge so much, £40 is like two weeks worth of food for me and it's not even a 'love at first sight'
       dress.

The bad...

          (011)                      (012)                          (013)                               (014)                           (015)

011. I honestly can't see these being worn, i can't see anyone i know buying them, and i especially can't see anyone
       parting with a penny short of 50 quid for them!
012. It's winter, not central america during crop season, why oh why would someone pay 30 pound for these? On the
       other had, i can see someone very versatile - fashion wise - pulling them off, i just wouldn't go anywhere near
       them.
013. Now this isn't horrendous, it's just not very nice, it would just do absolutely nothing for my shape and i can tell
       that just by looking at the picture. It looks like someone has gone all jekyll and hyde and sewn a skirt to the
       bottom of a jacket, the heart buttons are cute though, but nowhere near worth £60.
014. I hate these, i think they're hideous and to me, they look unfinished. The thing i hate most about these gross
       feet enemies, is the toe section, it flicks up! WHY? Oh, and they're £64.99, no thanks.
015. This looks like something a scally would wear to go to the races, or maybe to go to the Jeremy Kyle awards
       (*secretly loves jeremy kyle*), or perhaps for a good old night out on the lambrini. It just looks too busy, tacky
       and over the top, like it's trying to look 'movie premiere' but just looks 'wetherspoons opening' (and itchy). I do
       like the colour though and i've been looking for a cardigan in the same colour, but this is a huge no no - i
       wouldn't touch this frock with a barge pole, never mind fork over almost 70 quid for it.

               (016)                             (017)                        (018)                  (019)                         (020)

016. If there's two colours i can't stand together, it's green and orange or yellow and navy, so this monstrous combo
       will not be going anywhere near my wardrobe (£40).
017. Urgh, this just screams tack, louder than a damn fog horn. I honestly don't know why anyone would wear or pay
       20 pound for this, it's a 2 quid t-shirt with an iron on logo, and chelsea girl? What is that and why would
       someone proclaim that they are/are wearing chelsea girl across their rack? If it is in fact a fashion line
       exclusive to river island (more than likely is, i don't know/follow river island), then it's the worst name for a
       fashion line ever, for some reason it reminds me of the infamous 'wag wannabe/in the making' tees a while back
       - vom.
018. Anyone who parts with a penny short of a fifty for this paper looking, over designed, unflattering "dress" definitely
       has more money than sense. The description also says "perfect for a glamorous night", i wouldn't wear that
       dress if i was a toilet attendant at a glamorous night club, it looks like a card and glue project from a nursery.
019. Anyone up for walking the streets? No, didn't think so. "Look sexy in this black thin strap dress with front zip 
       thru detail and all over eyelet design" should be "pay £64.99 to look tacky and scally-ish in this black denim 
       vom frock, you'll make your money back in no time the amount of extra business you'll get" - great.
020. Now these, on the right fashionista, could look quite nice. But on their own, they look hideous, cheap, totally not
       worth £74.99 and i definitely wouldn't put my toesies anywhere near them. However, they look like VivWest's
       finest compared to the monstrosities that follow.

and the 'what the fuck were they thinking?'...

        (021)                     (022)                   (023)                   (024)                 (025)                        (026)

021-024. What on earth are these? What the hell? I can't even look, they don't deserve an item description, all i'll say
       is it'll cost you £34.99 and 1 social life.
025. If i ever saw anyone wearing these, i'd throw what ever was in reach at them, even if it was a kitten. Anyone who
       is willing to spend almost 30 squids on star trek reject outfits, needs help, serious help.
026. I don't like hareem pants, i don't like blue and i don't like elastic features, so these didn't really stand a chance
       with me really, especially as they have the word "bling" in the item description. Shame on you river island, i'm
       sure these never went flying off the shelves at £74.99 a piece, *shakes head in dismay*.

                (027)                          (028)                     (029)                        (030)                           (031)

027. Ew, just ew, this looks like a reject from Britney's Toxic video. £19.99.

028. These look slightly familiar, hmmm, maybe they had a load of left over black denim, and eyelets and they
       needed another dress and pair of pants to complete the collection. One can only guess/avoid what inspired this
       piece and who priced them at almost 65 quid.
029. Like, seriously, who comes up with these designs? One of the worst pieces i think, excluding the foil maxi
       dresses (*shivers at their mention*), RI must be stupid to think we'll part with £24.99 for that eye sore.
030. So many things wrong with these feet knobheads, separately i they'd be two alright pairs of shoes, but together
       it looks like someone with a leather leg wearing black buckle shoes. They should pay me £150 to wear them.
031. I think the majority of the population can agree, there's only a small handful of people who can make kitten heels
       look good, and only a handful of decent looking kitten heels; these leopard print mistakes not being the latter.
       Why do they curl up at the end? Gross. £29.99. My mild OCD was screaming at me for finishing the post on 31,
       but i had to include all the disgusting finds.

For blog research, on wednesday i ventured into RI chester with my besty Hannah (i spent £200 on that shopping trip, but that's a whole different post!), the overpriced (usually plastic snake skin) bags were on shelves right at the entrance, it was five minutes before we looked at each other and said "shall we go", thus ending practical research! I've noticed that on the website product descriptions, they throw the word 'sexy' around a lot (almost in every description), and i don't know why but it creeps me out. I just don't agree with it, (i may be reading too much into this) it subliminally fuels the society that think that they are meant to dress to impress the opposite/same sex, and encourages people to walk around baring all, i think we should dress how we like and in what makes us happy. But that's just my opinion!

I shalln't be shopping at river island anytime soon, but hey i gave it a chance, now i have a legitimate reason not to shop there; the reason being that it's utter shite.

P & L

Currently listening to
She had a knife! by This Drama