Double Denim Saturday

On one of those random lunch break shopping sprees I  passed by H&M or Hennes as it's called in the UK and saw this really simple staple denim shirt.

It is is really simple and it's simplicity is what makes it so versatile. It has been the most worn piece of clothing in my wardrobe this summer.

This weekend, I decided to go old school and team it with dark blue skinny jeans. There is something about dressing like the 90s thats so nostalgic and fun! Also, I love how the light blue shirt and the dark blue jeans look together.

To bring the outfit together, I wore tan sandals with a chunky heel and dark tan satchel bag and a snake skin printed scarf. I love tan coloured accessories. Be it shoes, bags or belts. I love it all! The colour in itself being fairly neutral, has a knack of completing outfits perfectly.

It was a glorious summer day and London from the South Bank looked beautiful as always.

Shirt: H&M
Jeans: H&M
Sandals: River Island
Satchel: Urban Outfitters
Scarf: H&M

Getting Ready for Summer

Summer is finally here! The sun is shining and I couldn't be happier. I decided to pick out a few key pieces of accessories for summer from the wardrobe and in the process I realised that less is more.

Summer in my opinion is all about minimalisation. So this year I decided to have only 3 key accessories  for all of summer and then I feel like, depending on the outfit and occasion I can always add or subtract something to match my outfit.

So here is a list of my summer essential accessories:

1. Ivory/ White coloured Sunglasses

A light coloured sunglasses frame screams summer and looks really chic. Mine are from Michael Kores and have a lovely rose gold detailing at the top rim giving a very on-trend, cat eyed effect.

2. Comfortable Nude peep toes

Nude peep-toes are very versatile and can be dressed up or dressed down very easily. Mine are really comfortable with a very slight wedge heel. I would wear them anywhere and everywhere possible this summer; right from a wedding to a holiday. 

3. A bright coloured Satchel

A satchel is just a perfect bag for summer. It is the perfect size, not too big but can contain everything I need. I personally prefer a bright coloured one as I feel it adds a fun element to my outfits and is quite a statement piece. I got this from a boutique while I was in Spain last year and absolutely love it.

I wore all three of these items to the park yesterday with a lace top and polka dotted jeans. You cant see the nude wedges in the picture but those are the shoes I wore with the outfit.

Hope you are having a good weekend! x

Neon and Nude Ballet Pumps

Neons and Nudes was a really hot trend last spring. Everyone from top designers to high-street fashion brands to even makeup brands came up with collections featuring nude and neon colours together.

The trend has returned this year and although last year, I dint really buy into it, this year, for some reason, I gravitated towards the whole nude and neon thing. 

Enter, these gorgeous H&M patent ballet pumps.

I was just casually browsing through H&M when I saw the florescent pink pumps. They are really, really bright and the above image is true to colour. I instantly fell in love with them. I know that they will be a love or hate item with most people, but I genuinely adore them.

I was on holiday last month and caught quite a bit of sun and they truly stand out against my really really tanned feet!

I saw the nude shoes as well but wasn't sure if I wanted them and hence did not buy them the day I got the pink ones. A couple of days later, I had to run back to H&M for a pair of tights and they were still there. I tried them on and really liked them. As a result, I now have nude and neon ballet pumps!

These nude shoes are perfect for just about anything. From afternoon coffee to work, I'd be happy to wear them anywhere and they would fit in. 

These pumps are really inexpensive and so did not dig a big hole in my pocket either. I think H&M is on top of their game right now. They have really good things coming out for spring and they really aren't very expensive.

Although I am in love with both these pairs, I haven't had an opportunity to wear them yet. With temperatures as low as zero degrees in London this week, sadly, all I can do at the moment is dream of spring. Hopefully I will get to wear them soon!

& Other Stories Blue Clutch

& Other Stories has just opened their flagship store in London at Regent Street. It is a new edgy and chic brand from the H&M group. It received a lot of PR coverage in press and amongst bloggers last week on its launch. The brand is supposed to be inspired by bloggers instead of catwalk trends and I believe, has currently launched only in 10 European countries.

They have a huge range of clothing, accessories, shoes, bags and makeup. Their make up range is surprisingly quite extensive for a such a young brand.

They have a website too that looks like a tumblr-meets-pinterest board, which I personally think is quite unique.

I was overly curious to find out what they had to offer so I went to the store a couple of days ago, and came home with this...

It's a very chic looking blue clutch with a red inside. It is made from Scuba diving wetsuits are made, giving it quite an edgy look.

It has a side-press buckle that sort of reminded me of my old school backpacks but in a cool way. The black strap sort of breaks from the blue colour and adds dimension to the clutch.

  

The inside of the clutch is lined with red scuba material and looks really good as the red stands out against the blue when its folded.

I tried to pair this with something casual I was wearing the day I bought it. However, it could be dressed up just as easily. Also, it surprising holds things quite well. I had filled it up with all my essentials before this picture and it still maintained it shape well.

The store itself has a very boutique like feel to it and is really big. Since it is not too cluttered with clothes, the experience of shopping in there was really good. All in all, I am really impressed with & Other Stories and will definitely be making a trip back there soon.

Spiky studs meet the Bag Lady

Yes, I am referring to myself. I admit, I have a little problem when it comes to bags. I want them all. 

Studs have been around for a while, in clothes, accessories and shoes, but I never fancied them until I saw this... 

Hello awesomeness! 

I first saw it in Topshop and though it was cute, but not worth the price. I then saw it Zara and firgured that it was slowly infiltrating its way through all high street brands. I saw it again in Primark, six times cheaper than the original Topshop bag. It was a bargain I couldn't resist. 

I absolutely adore this little clutch and have taken it out with me thrice so far. It fits in a lot of things for a clutch and is quite comfortable to carry around thanks to that little strap it has.

All in all spiky things are my new favourite! Next stop...shoes!

McQueen, I love you.

The title almost gives it away, this post is all about my love for Alexander McQueen. I'll be honest, I have always believed in being trendy and that does not necessarily convert to be branded or brand conscious. When I moved to the UK, I was introduced to a whole new world of brands, brands I did not even know exist, brands I would lust after, the minute I was introduced to them. 

On my very first evening in the UK, my new found friends and I decided to go to the city centre and get familiar with the city. Soon we found ourselves in a mall (come on four girls in a new city; what do you expect?) As soon as we entered, the first store my friend saw was the McQueen store. "Oh I love McQueen.", she gushed. "Really? Me too." the other one added. I instantly saw them bond over something that I dint even comprehend and stood there silently. They looked at me, waiting for me to add my little bit about McQueen, but there was nothing I could add so I simply smiled like a fool and in that moment I knew where this newly founded friendship (4 hours before this incidence) was going.

Flash forward January 2013, yes, I did figure out who Alexander McQueen was, thank you very much. Not just that, but I fell in love with his style. Classic designs with that goth edge. Just perfect for a little punk-chic rebellion every now and again. 

Over time I have collected a few McQueen accessories and love them!

To start off with, I love the green scarf in the picture above. Although it is has the skulls on it, it is very unique and very different to the usual Mcqueen skull pattern. This scarf was from the SS12 collection and is in a jersey material. As it was for spring, the skulls are actually in  floral pattern and hence unless seen carefully virtually invisible. My mum loved the floral pattern on the scarf and almost stole it from me until I told her that the floral pattern was actually skulls. "I don't think I can carry off a skulls look at work." she said quietly, clearly not happy with it. 

The purse is from the SS12 collection as well. This is in a limited edition sky blue variant, although the pattern makes an appearance in all collection in different colours.  The studs give it an edge and the pastel blue makes it look feminine. I simply adore this purse.

Lastly, I own the gold razor double wrap bracelet. However I have tiny wrists and can manage to wrap it around thrice around wrist. "Is that a razor you are wearing on your wrist?", my manager asked me yesterday. "A bit too gothic for you isn't it?", she went on. But thats what I love about it. It is a bit gothic without being too overwhelming and I can wear it practically with outfit and it looks good.

Purse: I couldn't find a link to the blue one but the black one is now available at 55% discount on Outnet! Link

Bracelet: Is now available at 50% of the original price I got it at! How unfair! Link

SALE

Happy New Year to all!

January is the first month of the year. January is the month of resolutions, but January is also the month of SALES!

4 alphabets, 1 word, that I am dreading at the moment is SALE. Yes, to most people this is a wonderful word. It brings joy of sorts I can’t explain. Oh the joy.... but let’s not go there. My resolution for 2013 has been to not shop. Although this is probably overly dramatic, I like to think of myself as a recovering shopaholic. My resolution for the new year is to bring my shopping under control. 15 days into the new year and so far, I'm doing pretty well. the idea is not to not shop at all, but to cut it down and enjoy the pieces that I currently own. I will still allow myself to buy clothes but it must fall into the following categories for it to be a valid purchase Reason to buy things: a.       It is an absoloute necessity b.      Reason a +It is rare and if I dont jump on it now I will never have it c.       Reason a+ I have wanted to own this item for years but never found one that I like enough to buy in the past. I will admit it is really difficult to try and control the urge to buy things, but I like to be positive and l believe I have found a new approach to tackling this. One of the reasons why I like to shop is I like to constantly update/ upgrade my wardrobe and outfits. Over the years, I have accumulated so many pieces in my wardrobe, that i have realised that if I take a new approach to styling them, they can be  mixed and match and I can create several new outfits that i have never worn before. This break from shopping has given me a fresh perspective to styling.  To start off with, my winter cape. I bought this cape 2 years ago from Miss Selfridge. It is navy in colour and I think it is a classic colour that never goes out of style. The cape had rather large clunky buttons that I wasn't particularly fond of and as a result, last winter I dint use it at all.  I had completely forgotten about it but found it in my cupboard after deciding to go through all the things in my wardrobe as the first step of my self imposed shopping ban/cleanse.  I realised that the only reason I wasn't wearing the cape was the buttons and hence decided to change them. I ordered new buttons from LoveCraft.com. They were very efficient in their delivery I must add. This is the pattern of the button I selected.

I am so pleased that I did this, as I believe was the best thing I could do to my winter clothing. The cape is warm and stylish and oddly makes me feel very parisian, although I'm not exactly sure why. A beret with it is my ideal winter outfit. I could wear pajama shorts inside it and it would still look chic! (just kidding)

All in all I'm happy the way my utilitarian resolution is shaping up my hedonic need to style outfits!