My Week In Outfits

Last week, I had a four day working week. I took the Monday off for my Birthday and relaxed and enjoyed a longer weekend. My outfit for my day off was pretty boring...just a cream dress and pink pokadot Tom's. For that reason, I have decided to write about my four outfits for four days of the week....starting with Tuesday. Luckily, we have been enjoying some relatively sunny weather. I think this is the best summer we have had for a few years and it means I can wear more brighter clothing - dresses, skirts, coloured jeans, tshirts and not have to worry about bringing a jacket!

All of the other bloggers can relate, it's not easy to take a picture of your outfits everyday with anything other than you phone! I tried to set up my camera on a tripod and set the timer, but right now the photos are appearing blurry. I need to get that right first and maybe one day, I won't have to wait for one of my kind friends to take a photo for me! Until then, I had to make do with photos from my phone! I have the Nexus 4 and the camera quality is pretty good. It is the same quality as the new Samsung galaxy. I use the camera on this a lot more than my previous phone and I am really impressed with it.

Day 1

Turquoise paisley print dress from H&M. I bought this dress a year ago, however, H&M repeat this style every summer so you can buy this dress in plain yellow or a nice khaki colour. This dress is so light and perfect for warmer weather. I wore this with a gold and mint green necklace from Forever 21. If you haven't checked out Forever 21 accessories...I urge you to visit a shop near you soon. The accessories are such good value and with such a huge range, you are sure to find something you love. 

Day 2

I bought this dress in the "Concession" section in Topshop, so it's not the Topshop brand. This dress is really unusual so it stood out to me straight away. I also don't have any other clothes in this colour so it's unlike anything I have. There are little pink and red roses throughout with a beige belt. I don't really like the best so much so will probably swap this for another belt. Generally, the belts on dresses aren't as nice as belts you find separately...does anyone else find that?

Blue floral dress - Topshop

Day 3

Today was a little over-cast so I needed a jacket. I decided to wear a white top I recently purchased in River Island, lilac blue jeans from Penny's with a faux leather jacket from Miss Selfridge. The stripey snood is from Topshop (last summer) and I wore navy and white pokadot Tom's. Ever since I bought my first pair of Tom's I want to wear them everyday..they are so comfy!

White top from River Island. Faux leather jacket from Miss Selfridge. Jeans from Penny's. Cotton snood from Topshop.

Day 4

The last outfit is my cream forever 21 skirt, which I seem to wear a lot this summer. I love when you find something that you definitely feel was worth the money. I bought the tshirt on sale in New Look last September. I tied my hair back in this gold leaf hairband from Penny's  which is still available in shops. 

Tshirt from New look. Skirt from Forever 21. Hairband from Penny's. 

Do you have any favourite outfits this week? Leave a comment with your thoughts below. 

Twitter / Facebook / Bloglovin / Pinterest

Birthday Celebrations

It was my birthday yesterday, so we took off for a weekend to the West of Ireland. The sun was shining on Saturday so we enjoyed a nice walk on the beach and wandering around the shops. The evening was spent in a restaurant called "Artisan", which served delicious food. I was treated to lots of nice food and some lovely presents.

I love birthdays and always try to make them last as long as possible - although they always seem to fly by!

This past year has been an exciting year filled with surprises and lots of fun. Looking forward to more fun adventures over the next year.



Jeans: Topshop - Baxter
Wedges: Pennys
Top: Jack Wills

Follow through Bloglovin

Sunny Sunday Outfit Of The Day

Lazy Sundays in the sunshine are completely relaxing and wonderful. I try to make the most out of the longer days by going on walks, picnics in the park, trips to the beach, catching up with friends, eating ice-cream, shopping for summer clothes and enjoying all of the pretty flowers which have finally bloomed.

Most of my summer clothes are a combination of items gathered over the years, that have only been worn once or twice (some haven't been worn before at all). Living in Ireland, we don't have much of an opportunity to wear Summer clothing, so the wise Irish tend to limit the amount of Summer shopping, as you just won't get the value for money. Taking a few holidays a year, for a couple of days at a time, I still don't get the opportunity to wear everything! For that reason, my white jeans are 6 years old and still look brand new, my summer dresses are between 3-5 years old, and each year I add one or two new pieces.

This year, I picked up a beautiful cream skirt from Forever 21. I love the length as it just hits above the knee, however, there is a lace band around the bottom so the lining underneath is shorter, giving the illusion it is longer and shorter at the exact same time. Does that even make sense? Well it does to me and you can make your own judgement from the images.

I also love how I can transform this skirt into an Autumn/Winter outfit by pairing it with black tights, a long sleeve black body top and black pumps. I live in monochrome throughout the Winter so this will be ideal.

My necklace is also from Forever 21, and you have probably noticed most of my jewellery accessories are from there lately. I have noticed dupe's for this necklace throughout Spain and possibly in Primark (Penny's in Ireland) or maybe Forever 21 copied them...who knows!

My pink-red top vest top is from Topshop. I bought the top last year but Topshop have these tops in every single year in a multitude of bright colours. The tops are not unlike other vest tops that you can buy in pretty much every clothes shop at this time of year - Warehouse, Oasis, M&S, River Island, Zara and Penny's (Primark!)

And the final part of my outfit...my feet...I am wearing my wedges from Penny's. They are high but surprisingly comfy. They are most likely still available in store and I would recommend as they go with everything! From skinny jeans to skirts and dresses, these are ideal for this time of year and if you are lucky enough, for holidays!

Leave me a comment with your favourite summer outfits and your favourite shops to buy them.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow me on GFC to get updates as well as on Twitter, Pinterest and Bloglovin!

                                                           Follow through Bloglovin

My Top Five Places To Find Fashion Bargains

It's the weekend and let's face it, we all love a good bargain! I made a promise to myself to stick with my wonderfully shopaholic rule "It's only a bargain if it's high quality at a low price, so keep searching so that you don't go home empty handed". I have a little bit of a problem with leaving a "browse in the shops" with nothing to show for it, and I desperately need make a little bit of a dash, at least into Boots, to buy a new nail polish (By the way, Collection have really improved their polishes!!).

With bargains on the brain, I decided to share my favourite top bargain sites. These are sites which I have made a purchase with the satisfaction that it was excellent value for money.

TK Maxx

TK Maxx now have Flash sales. Flash sales have grown in popularity over the last number of years, with more and more flash sales sites appearing. The concept is to, build awareness and suspense so that you have a core group of people who really want to grab a bargain. The suspense is killing all of the shopaholics waiting, nervously over their laptop. Within a split second, the top you had been eyeing is gone and you frantically search through for your second choice. Flash sales are fun, although I am still waiting to bag myself the ultimate bargain. You can shop at TK Maxx online here: http://www.tkmaxx.com/

I usually go to TK Maxx in-store, but every now and then, I browse online with the hope I will spot something amazing. My latest purchase, is a dress from TK by Nine West. It is a beautiful Summer dress, ideal for a BBQ party or weekend brunch with friends.

Secret Sales

Ssssshhh!! It's a secret - but if you sign up with your email address it won't be anymore! Secret sales happen when designers don't want to "cheapen" the brand by having a sale. Secret Sales are a dream for those who are "fastest finger" first, hand is on the pulse and they grab themselves a bargain. You can sign up at https://secretsales.com/

Fashion Vouchers

For the last 5 years, I have been a pretty avid shopper of ASOS. I shopped on ASOS before the long list of high street stores and designers came on board - now that does make me feel old! I also shopped on ASOS before there were discounts available and now, there are a multitude of sites sharing discount codes. Many of the codes are out of date, so I found signing up to http://www.fashionvouchers.com/ made the process so much simpler and time-saving. The great aspect about Fashion Vouchers is that you can sign up to particular lists. I have signed up to ASOS, Boohoo and All Saints. 

ASOS

Not only do I sign up for Fashion Vouchers, as mentioned above, to make sure I am not missing out on any discount codes, ASOS has amazing sales every season. There is pretty much a sale happening on ASOS all of the time. In fact, right now there is 30% off in the Summer Steals collection. I adore this cute navy and white spot print dress

eBay

Last, but by no means least, eBay is filled with many fashion bargains. You will find quite a lot of last season's stock from Topshop, Oasis, River Island and All Saints on sale. Because of the fast moving fashion world, last season's stock seems like a lifetime ago, but really there are many fabulous pieces of clothing that you could wear from season to season. The key is, to keep revisiting eBay searching for the keywords "topshop dress size" or "All Saints skirts" as new items will be posted all of the time. Many eBay sellers ship Globally so you could find something amazing from the states. You can find more Topshop dresses for sale on eBay here

Recently, I spotted a red sequined dress that reminded me of a dress from the 1925's film, the Great Gatsby. It was a bargain at only $25, with free shipping to the US. So I posted it to my friend who was coming over on a holiday anyway. I might do a separate post on this dress once I have found key pieces to style with it. It is simply stunning so you never really know what gems you can find on eBay.

Let me know what your favourite sites for finding fashion bargains are in the comment section below.

                                                       Follow through Bloglovin

Neon Summer Attire.

Whilst I was browsing through blogs and the online pages of Grazia and Elle, I came across a couple of Coachella photos. Coachella, music festival, was quite a number of weeks ago but the image stood out as a suggested "festival" outfit. A really nice neon yellow Tee from Rag & Bone. The price tag however, was equally as nice, and out of my price range! I stored the image in my mind, as something I would like to find, but hopefully a high street shop would create a dupe. And they did....this time it was M&S!! Do not under-estimate, how fantastic M&S can be - not just for stylish granny's! The quality is excellent and for basic items, you can't really go wrong! I was walking through the clothes section after emerging with little energy left from a very packed food hall and spotted this T-shirt! I couldn't believe I found an almost identical duplicate for the Rag & Bone tee. Immediately, I had to buy it and thought, buy now, find something to wear with it later!

For a while, the T-shirt lay folded in my wardrobe, unworn, because I wanted to find something nice to go with it. I thought about pairing it with white jeans and a grey jacket for cooler days and then the above outfit for warm, sunny days. Neon yellow is definitely a colour I have adopted for the summer and have completely embraced colour and said goodbye to black - at least for now anyway!

Above T-shirt Rag & Bone - $70

T-shirt in Outfit Photo M&S - €15

Necklace F2 -$13

Topshop Shorts - €32

Neon & Floral Trend

If you haven't quite found your way into the wide open neon embracing arms - make your way there soon. Neon is here to stay - for the next three months at least. With my usual, "play it safe" style , I didn't hop on board with neon immediately. I learned how to disguise neon, offering a glimpse every now and then. Why not try dipping your toe into the neon waters by wearing a neon tshirt underneath another plain cream or beige t-shirt. Why not? Maybe you aren't quite there yet but here I am, offering my advice to you to try, if you will! 

I will write a post soon where I actually wear the clothes but for now, I am going to give you a sneak peek and items I am loving. Again, not quite sure if I am incredibly brave enough to wear the sunglasses, but maybe if I decided to hit up Glastonbury with the cool kids! 

Dolly Bow Bow sells cute floral headbands, floral sunglasses, bows - anything of the cute variety. I have been following Dolly Bow Bow's YouTube channel and blog for quite a while now so I feel it is time I make a purchase. Everything on the Dolly Bow Bow site is really reasonably priced so if you haven't heard of it...get browsing!

I promise I will return very soon with more updated blog posts and new outfit posts! Coming soon to a browser near you!

Quay Retro Sunglasses

Topshop Striped Top

Topshop Frill shorts

Dolly Bow Bow Floral Headband

Topshopping

Jeans & Top - Topshop

Imagining a world without Topshop, is like imagining a world without sunshine. A world without Cadbury's chocolate. A world without a bunch of lilies. Before this get's ever so deep, I want to simply share my love of Topshop. 

When I was in Chicago, walking down the Magnificent Mile, which for those who haven't heard of it or visited it is a portion of Michigan Avenue which is lined with shops, restaurants and the beautiful bridge where you can see the boat tours sail by. Upon walking through this area, I saw a Topshop in the distance. It was like a home away from home. My eye was firmly on a door, even though a voice inside of my head kept repeating "you can go to Topshop at home, this is a waste of suitcase space, go find real american shops." Luckily, I listened to the sensible voice but I still had fun browsing. I love the "Dress Up" collection. But for me, everyday clothes are what I am drawn to 99% of the time. I can't live without my Leigh jeans. Life without Leigh jeans....yes this is almost as bad as imagining life without Topshop.