SHOES | RIP River Island Boots

Today is a sad day. I've been in denial about it for a while but I think my poor, beloved River Island chelsea boots may be coming to the end of their life. Forgive this slightly ridiculous, emotional post dedicated to a pair of shoes. I just love them that much, okay you guys.

I've had them reheeled countless times, worn them pretty much every day for a year, and well and truly loved them to death. Needless to say, as a result, they're looking pretty worse for wear. I've had to cover countless scuffs with black Sharpie pen. They are a shadow of their former self. I know I'll continue to wear them until they fall apart, ugly as they are. It will be with a heavy heart that I finally say goodbye to these worn-out old bastards.

OUTFIT | #112

cardigan, top: H&M; skirt, boots: River Island; watch: Seiko; lipstick: Revlon 'Red Velvet' lip butter

Looks guys, I'm wearing colour. Technically it's not really branching out. Black, navy, and red are my go-to colours. But this skirt is super red, and I wore it with a red coat, outside my house, and everything. Baby steps. It's the new skirt I mentioned in my last post. The pleats are so cutesy, I can't help but love it. River Island and I have a love-hate relationship. Too many things I've bought from there have fallen apart but then they produce some gems, like my favourite boots ever that need no introduction really because you see them all the damn time. Like in this post, for example (And every other post ever, since the dawn of time. Basically.)

The lighting in these pictures was all over the place and took some serious Photoshopping before I didn't look really orange and weird. The bulb blew in my uplighter lamp a few weeks ago and the replacement bulb I got just isn't as bright and makes my pictures come out all weird. It's pretty frustrating but I'll live. Supposedly it's spring soon anyway so with any luck I won't need to take pictures when it's dark outside anymore. Anyone else dying to bring out their summer dresses and shorts? I know I'm not the only one.

RECENT PURCHASES | February 2013

trousers, crop tops: Topshop; skirt: River Island

Essie 'Chocolate Cakes', Barry M 'Amethyst Glitter'

As I'm sure I mentioned in my last blog post (Which was nearly 2 weeks ago, how did that happen? Oops) I've been having a bit of a stressful time of it lately. So what do you do when you're feeling a bit crap and have some spare time on your hands? Go shopping, duh. Some people eat their feelings, I tend to shop mine. I haven't done much shopping yet in 2013, due to being ridiculously busy, so everything out in the high street was new to me. I could easily have bought loads but I restrained myself, for the time being. 

As always, when shopping my feelings, I bought nail polish. I don't know what it is but after a hard day or a bad mood, I like to get a new nail polish. Probably because it's cheaper than a new pair of shoes or something like that. I'm a bit disappointed that this Essie colour shows up more burgundy than chocolate brown, as the name would suggest. It's still pretty, just a bit misleading. The glitter is a true ten out of ten winner though, I would highly recommend it. It's ridiculous and obnoxious and everything glitter polish should be (including incredibly difficult to remove, you were warned).

Of course I bought some crop tops. Topshop have an amazing selection currently and I'm really into this cobalt blue that's everywhere right now (mostly because it makes me feel like The Little Mermaid with my hair this colour) so it was just meant to be. I'm especially enamoured with the lacy number I picked up, it fits like a complete dream. I also had a poke through the sale rack and found some adorable cigarette leg trousers for only £9. Now, I'm not typically a sales shopper; I find them a bit stressful. But I couldn't pass these up. As for the red skirt, I've been wanting to find the perfect red skirt for ages and happened up this one in River Island. The pleats sold it for me.

OUTFIT | #111

jumper: Zara; shirt (underneath), necklace: Topshop; skirt, boots: H&M

I'm going through a phase where I'm really into shoes. Around Christmas time I bought several pairs of boots and new shoes and I'm still getting around to wearing them all. The snow and bad weather meant I couldn't for a while but now it's (seemingly) nearing springtime, I figure this is the best time to break them all in. Maybe it's something I'm getting from my mother. She is a certified shoe queen and I'm always teasing her about having tons of shoes and never wearing them. Looks like the tables have turned. Soz, mum.

I like these brown H&M boots a lot, although I don't tend to wear a lot of brown. It's one of those colours that scares me a bit. There are so many rules about what you can and can't pair it with. No navy, no black, etc. Those are my staple colours. Brown makes me feel a bit lost at sea. I wanted to buy these in black too, since they're like those Acne Pistol boots I've coveted forever. But I didn't let myself, I thought the brown would be more of a challenge. Apparently I went for a brown theme on this particular day. Not that you can tell but I also wore some bronze-y eyeshadow and MAC 'Taupe' lipstick too. I think I was feeling a little 'blah'. 

OUTFIT | #110

blazer, skirt: H&M; top, 'ALEXY' boots; Topshop; watch: Topshop

Sometimes I think about what I would rename this blog if I could. Mostly because I made the name 'Miss Periwinkle' when I was 15 and I don't know what the hell it's meant to mean. It's a little too whimsical for my tastes now at the age of 20 but oh well, what you gonna do? It's here to stay now, I guess. If I could change it though, sometimes I feel like calling this thing 'A Million Different Ways to Wear Black' would be the most appropriate title. It's just my favourite. Some days I feel guilty and try and mix a bit of colour in but I think I'm just accepting that I wear black a lot. This may be a phase and I could fall in love with pastels some time in the future, who knows. For now though, the black works.

This week has honestly been pretty shitty and I'm glad it's nearly over. To combat the general shittiness, I've been power-dressing. My life may feel out of control but at least I can look great. This tends to be the way I deal with stress. It usually does the trick. I think I'm going to try and get back into blazers too. I have so many but I haven't worn them for ages. Hopefully it warms up a bit soon so I can ditch the big winter coats and layer with blazers instead. 

OUTFIT | #109

cardigan, skirt: H&M; blouse: charity shop; boots: River Island

I'm honestly not a big vintage or charity shop fan. I tend to shop with a purpose and don't enjoy sifting through racks to find something I like, I get bored too quickly. Every now and then I find something I like though. My best find was a great leather satchel that I love to bits. This blouse is what has been dubbed my grandma blouse. Possibly not the most flattering fit (but what does 'flattering' even mean, anyway?) but I like it. It has interesting lapels. I'm into it.

I'm increasingly aware of how beaten up my beloved River Island boots are becoming. They're pretty much a sight for sore eyes these days, a fraction of their former beauty. I'm not sure that I'm ready to give them up just yet, at least not until I find another pair of boots to replace them. They've been well loved though. And it's definitely beginning to show. Poor babies.