Party dress wish list

I visited Kingston University today to find out about their foundation course. It's definitely somewhere I'd like to study but it's so competitive only 10% of those who apply for the course actually receive a place so I'm not holding out too much hope! On another note, I've been buying quite a few things on ebay recently which I'll be sure to show you at some point in future outfit posts.  

As it's coming up to Christmas and the party season is getting closer, I thought I'd pick out some of the dresses I'd love to own this winter. My friend's having a Gatsby themed 18th party so I've been browsing ebay for cheap finds (let me know if you spot anything!) and have been lusting over a few other dresses on there as well. Anyway, for full price/ridiculously expensive outfits, here are my picks....

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Bargain outfits

I'm sorry my posting has been a bit 'off' recently. I've been quite busy at the moment and have lots to do before I go away on Sunday. Chances are I won't have prepared any future posts so my blog will be post-free for a couple of weeks. Although I'm trying to save up all of my money, I've got to admit there have definitely been a few tempting items in the shops at the moment. I've created four outfits here by trying to choose the cheapest possible items. Let me know what you think...

Outfit 1

I really really want this dress. I saw it in the shops when it first came out and now it's only £15. If that's not reason enough to buy it, then I don't know what is! Anyway, for the sake of my bank balance, let's hope no outfit posts with this dress appear on my blog any time soon! I still haven't got myself a pair of heels like these (there's never an excuse to wear them). I considered buying the cheap Primark versions but never got around to it (maybe next time).

Outfit 2

Probably my favourite outfit out of these four. It's always exciting when you find something good (and cheap) in the Topshop sale, such as this top and this skirt. And these heels are definitely going on my wish list (I love that colour)!

Outfit 3

I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that these heels were only £17 and this lovely dress only £10! *reaches for credit card*

Outfit 4

The cheapest jellies I managed to find were this pair from New Look. Although they're a lot less chunky than the originals, they're not a bad replacement. 

P.S. My shop will be closed while I am on holiday and will be re-opened on the 5th September. 

Green Paisley Dress

I made this dress recently planning to put it in my shop but accidentally ended up making it smaller than I planned! (You can still buy it in my shop if you want) but I'm not overly bothered if I don't sell this one as it's definitely something I'd be happy to keep for myself! I can't tell you how much I love this fabric. It's come out quite blue in these photos but in real-life it's slightly more turquoise-y. My mum loved it so much, she's commissioned me to make a similar dress for her (hopefully in return for a pair of shoes!). I haven't worn this necklace in ages (some of my long lasting followers may remember the stage I went through where it would turn up in every single blog post) but I'd really like to wear it a bit more. This Office heels go with lots of things which is pretty handy. I've probably mentioned this before but they didn't actually come like this and I added the lacey-white fabric onto them so that I could wear them to my Year 11 prom last year. 

What do you think of my outfit? 

 heels - Office/diy

dress - homemade (buy it here)

necklace - River Island

Sales Wish List

Hello! I thought I'd do a 'pick of the sales' type of post to show you what I've found whilst browsing countless sales online recently. I keep seeing so many bargains dotted around but I've had to keep my money in my purse unfortunately (actually rather difficult to do), to ensure I have enough money for my holiday to Spain (only 19 days to go - whoop! whoop!). I was pleasantly surprised by the Nasty Gal sale (I'm sure every blogger knows how great these clothes are, no need to explain) and almost decided to buy something until I realised postage was at least £10. I've only just realised I've left out Zara in my round up (oops), which just happens to be one of the most talked about sales around (I really should take note of things more often).

Anyway, here are some other items....

Which are your favourites? Have you found any bargains?

1//2//3//4//5//6//7//8//9//10//11//12//13//14//15

Don't forget to visit my shop for vintage or high street clothes. I'll be uploading new items soon... - My Shop

Homemade dress

I've finished all of my exams now so I've got a week of literally doing nothing until I start A2- so happy! Plus, the sun's out which makes it so much better (22 degrees next Saturday apparently). 

So, this is the dress that I made recently. I'm really pleased with it because it's quite a complicated design. The fact that there's loads of different sections (8 to be precise) on the top means that it's actually quite a difficult design to make compared to some of the other things I've created and it's definitely good practice trying out something new. I saw this dress in Topshop recently and decided that I'd make a variation of it (the fabric was from Southall and only cost £2 per metre!) rather than spend more money. Usually when making my clothes, I just really quickly and easily make a pattern using my mannequin but this design actually required a level of skill to work it out. It's actually really interesting figuring out how this sort of style is made (well, it is to me anyway!). Anyway enough of me talking about sewing stuff. (By the way, please excuse my white legs in these photos. I'm not wearing any tights and my legs haven't seen the sun in about 9 months).

Are you enjoying the nice weather? What do you think of my dress?

dress - homemade
shoes - Office
necklace - bought on holiday
sunglasses - River Island

Paisley Pattern

I saw the Great Gatsby on Wednesday. It was really good but nothing particularly spectacular. The costumes (Carey Mulligan's dresses = amazing!) and the soundtrack (I will never get bored of this song) were the best parts in my opinion, but I'd still recommend going to see it.

I went to Westfield yesterday with my Mum and my brother for a bit of holiday shopping. I couldn't resist buying this wonderful dress from River Island (I really wish I had a huge pair of Jeffrey Campbells to pair it with!). It cost £25 which seems a bit pricey (especially since I have no job and am trying to save up money for my summer holiday) but I just couldn't help myself! It's very similar to the ones you can get in Urban Outfitters for about £50 and I can tell that I'm going to wear this dress a huge amount (I really adore the style and shape) so I don't feel too guilty about the purchase. I think I'm going to have to give myself a spending ban for a while or force myself to find a Saturday job. I worked at my local garden centre during Christmas (hence why I have the money to go on holiday) but I've sort of come to a dead end with my job search and I  came to the conclusion that I can manage on minimal, cheap clothes. This can't last though and there's lots of other things I need to save up for now - it's so scary that in under a year I'll legally and officially be an adult with adult responsibilities and adult things to worry about. God, things are so much easier when you're only 17!

What do you think of my outfit? How is your week going?

 shoes - New Look

dress - River Island

 Don't forget to enter my giveaway here

and visit my shop here

What I've been liking at the moment...

I was going to do an outfit post for you today but then I looked outside and decided against it. Next time I will trek outside even if there's wind and hail, I promise! I thought I'd show you some things that I've really been liking at the moment . Here are mine...

 (checkered crop top - Yayer, green crop top - Roksanda Illincic, shorts - River Island, belt - John Lewis, shoes - Topshop)

1. Crop tops

The chances are I'll only have about 3 days this summer to actually wear a crop top since the weather's so rubbish here in England. Who knows, maybe this summer will be hot and sunny - I'll report back in a few months time. I really love this trend though at the moment. I keep seeing crop tops on other people's blogs and it's given me loads of inspiration.

 (black top - Yayer, purple top - Topshop, Shoes - Topshop, necklace - Oscar de la Renta, skirt - Helmut Lang)
2. Off- the - shoulder tops and dresses
I don't know why but I really love this style. I guess it sort of makes an outfit a lot more elegant and can be mixed with something completely not elegant such as the boots above and look amazing.


(top - Givenchy, shoes - Jeffrey Campbell, skirt - Temperley London, belt - Oscar de la Renta)
3. Sheer fabrics
You can never fail with a plain sheer top. I'm pretty sure this trend will never go out of fashion due to it's wonderful versatility and ability to glamourise any outfit (if worn right that is!).



(dungarees - Boohoo, shirt - Todd Lynn, shoes - Jeffrey Campbell, bangle - Kate Spade)
4. Dungarees
Partially inspired by my friend's recent purchase of a very lovely pinafore dress. I really really want some dungarees now!

What items do you really like at the moment? What are you looking forward to wearing?