Parka Life

 Parka - Primark - £16
Top - H&M (customised)
Skirt - H&M
Belt - H&M
Bag - Primark (very old)

Today, I'm introducing you to my new baby, my pride and joy. This is my new green parka. I had originally gone shopping looking for a dupe of the well known parka/leather sleeves Zara jacket that had apparently been massive last year, something I had completely missed. However as I caught on this year round, I wanted in. Zara don't sell it anymore (to my knowledge) but a lot of high street stores have dupes on offer. See River Island and Topshop. I was surprised however to see that Primark had joined in as well. I was trying Primark's version on (annoying my friend for opinions while she slumped in the corner with a headache - sorry!) as I spotted this little gem. I tried them both on, trotted to and from the mirror countless times but settled on the parka with the advice from my lovely friend.

I just know I am going to wear it countless times, it goes with almost anything. It's also really lightweight so is perfect for school. Although, it doesn't have a hood and I don't like the sleeves rolled down but hey, I'll be cold and have wet hair but the parka will still look good. (right?)

Last week I got my AS results, I'm happy with what I got (AABC) but cried none the less. I don't know what happens to me, whenever I get results I cry, good or bad. Anyway, I went for a celebratory meal with two of my best friends the day after and wore my parka over my new playsuit.

Sorry it's an instagram photo but I didn't have time to take a decent photo and I've shown the playsuit so recently that I thin it would just be repetitive. (Also, I was in the middle of unpacking so, mess!)

Are you into the new parka trend? 

Victoria x

Topshop Shorts

After my recent purchase of these ice cream print shorts from River Island, I have a hankering (really.) for shorts. Even though it definitely isn't the weather right now and I can't wear them as they break our schools dress code, it is only nine days until the summer holidays begin meaning no dress code and hopefully some sun.

Normally, I tend to stay away from the Topshop website because I think it's really quite expensive. However, what with all the sales going on right now I thought it was worth a look. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

Above are the four pairs I loved the most but there were so many to choose from. There were lots of prints which I absolutely love. I think prints are an easy way to make a statement without having to go too 'out there', for me anyway. The £36 pair was the only pair not in the sale, the others all are which brings a rather attractive price tag. I'm considering buying the bottom right hand pair as they were the first pair I spotted that I really loved and they are reduced! I'm thinking they would be easy to dress up and down so would create a good wear/cost ratio.

What do you think? 

Hope you're having a wonderful week,

Victoria x

Utterly Unfocused

Top - Primark

Skirt - H&M

Belt - H&M 

Jacket - New Look

Bag - Next 

I was going to take these photos outside today but then I realised it was raining pretty heavily so decided it would be better for everyone if I didn't look like a drowned rat. 

I absolutely adore this snake skin top. It's really tight though and I tried on a couple of sizes and they all seemed to be like that so I think that it might just be that the material doesn't have much give in it. I love this skirt at well as it's a change to my usual tube skirt for school. I like that it isn't figure hugging either because if we're honest, you just don't need that some days. 

I was going to put my denim jacket with this but I wore it yesterday and so wanted to wear something different so I opted for my NL jacket so that it would keep me warm. Although it's been so humid this afternoon I really didn't need it. I want some steady weather please! I love my school bag but it really is on its last legs and is no way big enough for my school folder meaning it doesn't even do up properly and embarrassingly pops open sporadically through the day. 

Hope you're having a lovely day and week so far!

Victoria x

wolf pack

Denim Jacket - New Look (old)

Shirt - Primark (old)

Skirt - H&M 

This is a very quickly put together post. It's taking longer than it should due to my cave man like laptop but we're getting there! 

I'm wearing this to go for an Indian with my friends. As it's just us girls tonight I wanted to go fairly casual. Normally we go in massive groups (we once had about 21 people - that was a little too much..) and I feel I have to dress up a little more but these girls have seen me looking like all sorts so it's a little less effort. 

The girls will not be surprised to see I've opted for my tube skirt. It is a definite staple item and a play it safe item for me. I chose the floaty top as a strategic move really, I mean I'm going out to eat - I don't need body con there. 

My hair is looking a little crazy because I've had it up in a bun since 9am (now 7pm) but it will probably be poker straight by the time our food arrives because my hair is too heavy to hold any style for too long. 

Anyway, I should be off as I'm meant to be at my friends house in four minutes. I hope you are having a lovely weekend! 

Victoria x

Ice Cream Shorts

River Island - £10 (down from £25)

I spied these on the River Island website not so long ago and then snapped them up when I saw them in the sale today. The River Island sale is so good. I don't usually buy much from there but I wanted almost everything I saw in store today! 

Hope your having a lovely week,

Victoria 

printed tee's

I think one of my favourite and easiest looks to go for is a tee tucked into a tube skirt. It can look so good with very little effort. However, I do think that it's hard to find good women's graphic/printed tee's. Men have a much bigger and better choice which I suppose is understandable as the tee is more of a staple for men than women. This means that I tend to have a cheeky look into the men's section in shops and online. One of my best friends bought a cardigan from the Primarni men's section and it always 'makes' her outfits. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, the tee's will often (depending on cut) provide a slightly oversized look which can make an outfit look edgy and that little bit messy-but-cool look. So I've found my favourite three printed tee's for men. 

click to enlarge.

I know we all sometimes still feel a little awkward about the Kanye/Taylor award speech fiasco, but come on we've moved on, we've listened to her song Mean (which is amazing & it just came on my YT playlist!) and now we're all guilt free to wear Kanye across our chest. Also, the £5 'Students are Revolting' tee?! I adore it, definitely going to purchase that one. 

There are printed tee's out there for women though. These will be 'cut' for women so will most likely provide a better fit even if they've been designed to give an over sized look. 

click to enlarge.

My favourite here has to be the Asos 'what you waiting for' tee. I love a good slogan(?). 

Have you ever looked around the men's section? Do you own any men's clothes?
Victoria x

Jack Wills: Is It Worth It?

This is a post that I've been meaning to write for a long time!

Jack Wills, for those of you who don't know, is a store that markets itself as a 'university outfitters'  with the tagline of 'fabulously British' and in the most part sells clothes but has expanded into shoes, accessories, home wares and even condoms and yoga mats. Yep, that's right people.

Jack Wills clothes, in my opinion, are quite expensive. I find it a little odd that it's marketed as a university outfitters when a lot of uni students are probably more than reluctant to fork out £200+ for a JW blazer, but that's just me. I have never bought anything from a regular Jack Wills store, I always use the discount ones (e.g.the Jack Wills Outlet - which you need to be a member for - or there is a discount/last season store in Bicester Village if someone is near there) which are last season stock. This means that usually when some one tells you how much their item of JW costs there is an unspoken air (or spoken when the person isn't there, lets be honest now)  of 'Really?! Is it worth it?'. This is because while JW do other items they are best known for their t-shirts, jumpers and tracksuit bottoms. More often than not the item in question with have 'university outfitters', 'Jack' or 'Jack Wills' written on a plain backing. This surely means you are paying quite literally for the name?

I think this is true to an extent, at the end of the day they're a brand, they've built it up and they know what they're doing. However, I do think this idea of 'paying for the name' overshadows the quality of the clothing from Jack Wills. I own four (well, 3 I chose as presents) pieces of clothing from Jack Wills; a grey charcole zip up hoody, a black sundress, grey trackies and a red pull over hoody. Aside from the dress which I usually keep for holidays, I wear each of these so so much.I definitely get my moneys worth. I've had the grey hoody for I think just over two years now, maybe three, and while the inside might not be as fluffy anymore it still keeps me really warm and the colour hasn't faded at all, it's been my go-to jacket since I received it. As for the other two pieces, well I'm wearing them as I write.

I love Jack Wills and their clothing but I've  just given my opinions some good, some not so.
What do you make of Jack Wills and the whole 'paying for the name' idea?
Victoria x

Favourite Purchases of 2011

As we're having to say goodbye to 2011 tomorrow I thought I'd post about some of my favourite purchases that I've made this year. 

Matalan

I actually got a coat this year, my lesson was learnt after a cold 2010. I kind of wish I'd gone for this in one size down but then it's useful for when I have to layer up! I completely adore this colour even with the vast amount of times I've been called red riding hood. 

left - Boohoo & right - New Look

 The boots on the left I posted about yesterday so I wont repeat myself but as I love them so much they had to be included in this post. I've genuinely had them at the side of my bed since I got them. The heels on the right are very special to me. One because they are my prom shoes and two (mainly this one) I can actually walk in these, fairly confidently even if I do say so myself.

Models Own Website

 I think most of us remember the Models Own 50% off sale, don't we. It was bittersweet, the ordering being a little bit of a nightmare but the customer service from the Models Own team was really amazing and they deserve medals for it. Then of course, the sweet part was receiving it! These two are my favourites out of the ones I got. 

Apricot

I got this in the sale and have worn it so many times. I will say that I usually wear it with thick leggings or trousers rather than the tights in the picture - I wore a tube skirt underneath this to save my dignity! This is really summery, comfortable and girly. I love it because I don't feel I have to put much with it, an nice easy outfit in my opinion!

James Corden - May I have your attention, please? & Ed Sheeran - + (christmas presents but probably Tesco and Amazon/HMV)

I read James Corden's book in  two days and a bit of an evening. I love it and him. Admittedly, having watched his Piers Morgan  Life Stories there were some bits I knew about but they were more detailed in the book and the majority of it was new to me. It's entertaining and eye opening, before Piers Morgan's show, I had no idea about his time kind of 'off the rails' for lack of a better phrase but he talks really openly.

Ed Sheeran, you beautiful man. His album is so good, I'd heard most of the songs before I got it but that didn't matter to be honest, it was still so good. Only found the cheeky extra track on track 12 on about my fifth time replaying the album. Yep, I do that. The album seems to go really fast and it's perfect to revise to.

One Direction - Up All Night

&Sorry about the blurry photo but you get the idea! I love this album so ridiculously much, it is in fact playing while I type this. I played it almost solidly for two weeks when I got it, people seem to think I'm exaggerating when I say this, I'm not.

Belt - H&M

       I'd been after a plaited belt for ages. At the end of 2011 I have acquired two or three. The best is by far my H&M one as it was a steal at something like £3.

Primark - £2.50

I'm not a big jewellery person, at all, but I do adore this ring. The price was lovely as well!

Primark - £12

Without a doubt, this was one of the best things I got in 2011. My friend and I looked in the women's section for onesies but they were all plain blue with one cupcake on, so we headed to the men's section. We found this beauty and were sold. It is so so warm and perfect for sleeping in, although I don't sleep with it zipped up as I got too warm one night, tried to unzip it but I'd slept on my hand and so i was, effectively, trapped in my onesie. Still love it though. 

So there we are, my favourite purchases of 2011. If you've done a post like this then I'd love to see it! 

I hope you have a truly wonderful new year, however your're spending it. 

Here's to 2012.

Victoria x

Clothes Show Live 2011

I've finally been to the Clothes Show - I've wanted to go for a couple years but either we could never make it or we thought we were being taken with school but then that would never work out. But I made it this year! I didn't really know what to expect to be honest and I didn't really see how we were going to use up something like eight hours, but it is possible.

The show was amazing. Again, with the title 'A night at the department store' I didn't know what to expect because I thought the title was a little unusual but It was so good. The whole performance of it all was excellent and the clothes were obviously amazing. My mum and I did recognize one of the male models from the London Graduate Show - he's beautiful and always gets involved with the audience which makes for a great atmosphere.

So, down to the main business - what we bought. This is everything me and my mum bought put together which I don't think looks that bad. The majority of things we got were deals like get these products worth £50 for £10 or words/numbers to that effect. We also got a couple of freebies including several Nivea samples, a heat magazine and two tubes of St. Moriz tanning lotion. I also actually bought some clothes and the clothes show (who'd have thought, right?). I did buy more than I was expecting to to be honest but the fact that I had my first ever pay slip that week added to the whole excitement of the clothes show and little self control meant I couldn't help myself. 

state of the art blue tack used to photograph this without it folding over .

The two tops above were in a £5 'bin' from the company Your Eyes Lie which I now adore. I've wanted something with a space/galaxy print on for a while and after losing hope on finding any decently priced galaxy print leggings I thought this would be a good alternative. The Oh Deer top needs turning up as it's a little long on me right now but for a fiver I don't think its too bad!

I love these dresses. The stall I got it from doesn't have a website or anything they just go around selling at events like the Clothes Show. The first dress is going to be my New Years dress and the second is very similar to one I saw in New Look (i think?) a couple of seasons ago and I liked it then but didn't get it so I thought I'd go for this now.

These feel quite strange to wear as they're knitted and don't have that much stretch in them but I'll get used to that. I've wanted some tribal or fairisle leggings for a while now and these were only £10 which is the cheapest I've seen them so I thought I'd go for it - this was also my first purchase so I was a little excitable as well. I think I still might get some fairisle leggings for the festive season.

Overall I really enjoyed the Clothes Show (free Hagandaaz anyone?! seriously.) I loved the actual show and then looking around all the stalls with my mum was lovely and I think we got some pretty good stuff, some of which I've decided to blog about separately otherwise this post would never end.  I'll definitely go again!

Have you ever been or did you/are you going this year?

Victoria xx

New Look 20% Off

My friend gave me a 20% off New Look voucher (which they are actually running online with the code 20NOVTREAT) today as she says she won't use it in time as it finishes Sunday but I'm going tomorrow so she kindly said I could have it. As a result of such kindness I have produced this post on some of the things I like in New Look right now. 

1. I went straight to knitwear on the website as I just adore it. It's finally getting colder now and this jumper would be perfect to just throw on and complete an effortlessly chic (cringe.) look.

2. Everyone and their mothers seem to have found their 'perfect boots' already this year. In all seriousness I am the only one left in dollies out of my friends. I seem to be particularly fussy with boots but without knowing  what I don't like about a pair or what, in fact, I'm looking for. Enter New Look. I think these just look cool. Whack them on with a skirt, tights, leather jacket. 

3. Cheap, cute and colourful. I'm not a massive jewellery wearer so I don't like to spend a lot on it but I think I'd be able to part with three pounds for this. 

4. I picked this because it's a purse in the design of an own. That.is.amazing.

5. These would be a great little present for someone. They're seasonal, useful and cheap so that makes a good present to me. 

6. I think everyone needs a pair of socks like this. These and Number 5 are in a 3 for 2 deal and none of the items included are that expensive so it might be a good starting/finishing place for Christmas goodies. 

7. These obviously caught my eye because of the colour. I've wanted some aztec leggings for ages but haven't spotted any perfect ones. I think these are so beautiful and bright which means the rest of your outfit can be really simple as the leggings do the work. 

8. If, like me, not sure you've yet got the guts to wear something as bright as the leggings before but want to go for the aztec print then these are probably more your thing. These are more toned down but still as lovely, they're also a little cheaper.

9. For years I have been after a cream cable knit cardigan. I've seen quite a few but not loved any of them or not wanted to pay the price they were being sold for. If this is as nice in real life as it looks online this may well be the one. 

Are you planning on using the 20% off code?

Victoria x

listen to my voice, it's my disguise

flash. 

Up close - No flash.

I've had this for a while now and have been meaning to post about it but got lazy/procrastinating. You know how it goes. I love this jumper. It's warm, colourful and cute. 

This is from Tesco, it was around £14ish when I bought it but I cannot find it on the website and think I saw it in the sale in store so the price may well have changed by now. 

I think this is so perfect right now as the colour is really Autumnal and when we do get into Winter it will still be as perfect because Winter = knitwear.

My brother said he hadn't realised I was a 75 year old women but haters gon' hate. Granny chic. I love it. 

Ever been told you dress like an elderly woman?

Victoria x

we were in school, listening to grown ups.

 Jacket - £24.99 - H&M

I got this today because I need something to wear to an interview on Tuesday (eeeeeekk). 

I think i'm going to wear my trousers and then the chiffon shirt in the photo. 

This is a little pricey to me, just because I'm not used to spending over £15 for clothes, ha. This will be used again though and I suppose I'm going to need to look professional and smart on other occasions as well. 

It's quite a weird material, it reminded me of grandmas when I first touched it, but I love it. It's cut really nicely  and the shape is lovely. Ah! I love it. 

Hopefully, it will give me some luck on Tuesday. My interview fits in to my free's that day, which is lucky. I'm trying not to get my hopes up though because lots of people have applied for it. If I don't get it, there will always be somewhere else, eh. 

Hope you've had a lovely weekend.

Victoria x