OUTFIT | Hallowe'en

playsuit: Primark; tights: mytights.com; shoes: Topshop; lipstick: Rimmel Kate Moss #04

I don't really enjoy fancy dress. It's not my thing. My typical response to why I don't enjoy it is 'I dress fancy enough anyway'. I'd just rather wear my own clothes, look nice, and not get messy. So when it comes to Hallowe'en, much as I enjoy it as a holiday, I tend to just repeat costumes year after year. Case in point, I took this picture last Hallowe'en (as you can tell from the background, this was taken in my old room) and never got around to posting it on the blog. I'm wearing it again when I go out tonight so I figured I'd just post it now. Is that cheating? Maybe.

If you couldn't tell, this is my beloved Wednesday Addams costume. It's all stuff I already own, which is a plus. I hate buying new stuff just to wear for costumes. Such a waste of money. Admittedly the tights are a throwback leftover from my teenage years, I probably wouldn't wear them day-to-day now. It's my favourite Hallowe'en costume I've ever thought up, and I think it's reasonably good too. People from the party I went to wearing this last year still refer to me as Wednesday occasionally in passing.

OUTFIT | #171

jumper: Cheap Monday; skirt, boots: Topshop

It's dark by 6pm now and I'm not happy about it. If I spend all winter whining about how I hate how pictures turn out with artificial lighting in this room, I apologise. I'll try and keep it to a minimum. Or just take pictures in the early hours of the morning when I wake up, I guess. Wearing all-black doesn't help so much. I was in a pretty terrible mood the day I wore this particular outfit, so I decided to be a horrible cliché and ditch all colour. Including black nail polish. The red lipstick was an added touch because I find it helps make me feel better on a bad day.

I've never owned anything by Cheap Monday before, although I've wanted to. This jumper was my first purchase. I spotted it in the ASOS sale and decided to go for it. Usually Cheap Monday stuff is always a little bit more than I'm willing to pay, although I really like their stuff. You can't tell from these pictures, but the jumper has slit sides that show the top I'm wearing underneath. I popped a striped long-sleeve shirt on to add a bit of dimension, but you could only really tell if I turned to the side.

OUTFIT | #170

shirt: BDG; skirt: H&M; boots: Topshop; watch: Casio

The semester's nearly halfway over and I'm getting to that stage where I feel like I'm drowning in work. There have been a lot of long days of campus, putting in several hours at the library. The life of a final year uni student, eh? As a result, I've been reaching for my most comfortable clothes. Nothing that requires tucking or a lot of adjustment throughout the day. Anything baggy and cosy will do, basically.

This flannel check shirt is definitely up there among the most comfortable items I own. Every time I wear it, I briefly consider never taking it off. It's pretty much the best. The pleather skirt, believe it or not, is also really easy to wear. It's so soft and makes it look like I thought about my outfit a lot more than I actually did. A truly winning combination.

OUTFIT | #169

jumper: Primark; blouse: Forever 21; jeans, boots: Topshop

Breaking out those cropped jumper and blouse combos like it's my job lately. Always a firm wardrobe favourite for the winter months. This one's from Primark, which has never been a place I've shopped much. I always find it so messy and stressful. I wandered in the other day to buy socks or something though, and spotted that their knitwear section is actually pretty on point right now. I would recommend a trip to check it out. This cheap little number is super cosy and soft. 

I felt a little predictably black, white, and grey in this outfit so I pulled out some bright red socks for a sneaky peek of colour. Barely visible, really, but I liked it. I used to like really busy, patterned socks when I was younger but lately I've become a fan of just block colour, bright socks. Yes, I am blogging about socks. Has my life really come to this?

OUTFIT | #168

jumper, jeans, boots: Topshop; blouse (underneath): Forever 21

I think my love of cable knit jumpers may be reaching ridiculous levels. I've bought 3, in various colours, in the past 2 weeks. I'm running out of knitwear storage. I think it's probably time to introduce a shopping ban. On the plus side, at least I look cute and warm all the time now. This peach jumper is super cosy. It's angora, or some kind of angora blend, but not the itchy kind. My love of knitwear stops at anything itchy. 

If it would just stop raining, the weather would be ideal right now. I can layer up, finally, without having to wear a bulky winter coat all the time. Instead I'm running around with umbrellas, worrying about frizzy hair and damp shoes. A typical British autumn, I suppose. I've basically lived in these flat equestrian-style boots from Topshop of late, since they're flat and practical but more rainproof than any of my Converse that I lived in for the past few months.

OUTFIT | #167

skirt: H&M; top: Zara; boots, necklace: Topshop; lips: MAC 'Rebel'

Every time I wear this skirt, I'm reminded how much I wish I owned more pencil skirts because I look great in them. This skirt has a cool scale-like pattern on it and makes me feel like an icy mermaid, which is always a fun look. It's one of my faves, but I don't wear it as much as I'd like because it's not a colour I reach for too often. Note to self: Get a black pencil skirt. Surely that's a wardrobe staple? Seriously, why haven't I made this purchase yet? 

This is probably one of my favourite outfits I've worn lately. I had to spend the day on campus in the library and going to meetings, then go to a concert afterwards. It is, I guess, one of those transitional outfits that works for multiple occasions. Plus I brought a spare top and changed into that so I could go out in the evening and it worked with that too. A pretty damn versatile outfit, if I do say so myself. 

OUTFIT | #166

top, boots: Topshop; skirt: American Apparel

This skirt with a pair of boots and tights is just too cute, I love it. I've almost definitely mentioned on here before that I struggled to wear it in the summer, being so short. With tights though, not a problem. It's also one of the only tan/brown items I own and can comfortably wear with black. In fact, it looks great with black. It was pretty much made for this outfit. As someone who is afraid of browns and neutrals, I can work with this.

I wore this on a day where I didn't think I was going to do anything or go anywhere but I ended up going out to dinner with my housemates in the end instead. So that was cool. My weekends at the moment are a mixture of going out to clubs, working behind a bar, or catching up on reading I couldn't find a spare minute for during the week. It was nice to change out of my pajamas, ditch the books, and get out of the house though.

OUTFIT | #165

top, jeans: Topshop; necklace: ASOS; shoes: Clarks

You probably can't tell but I redyed my hair (the same colour as usual - Schwarzkopf Live Color XXL in 'Red Passion' if you wanted to know) and it's much darker and wintry now. I love the colour it is when I first dye it. It always makes me feel super sultry and confident. Plus, after feeling a bit stuck in a rut for a while, I feel a bit more daring and interested in what I'm wearing again. I honestly just think I don't get along with summer clothes. The minute it got colder, I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out my knitwear and tights.

Maybe I'm weather confused but I never wore this crop top in the summer and now I want to wear it a ton. I still need a version of it in black, because I need to own everything I love in black. Crop tops and high-waisted everything is all that's on my mind, once again, after avoiding that combination all summer. I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say here, except that I totally lost my mojo when the weather was warm and now it's back and I'm pretty pumped.

OUTFIT | #164

top, skirt, necklace: Topshop; shoes: Converse; watch: Casio

I'm never really one to save clothing items for 'special occasions'. If I buy something, I'll wear it whenever I fancy. This skirt felt really autumnal to me though, so I wanted to stave off wearing it until the weather started to feel cooler. Seeing as I bought it in July that took a while but I finally wore it the other day. I like it a lot. It's a pretty simple skirt, but it has some nice smaller details like the pleats and heavy material. I foresee myself getting a lot of wear out of this in the coming winter months.

This outfit went through a lot. I've been spending a lot of long days on campus, between work and various projects I'm involved in. One this particular day I was on campus for 17 hours, which is ridiculous - even for me. I'd have worn different shoes, probably some heeled boots, but I had to work in the bar for a while hence the Converse. I never wear anything other than Converse to work, since I don't care if they get a bit scuffed up. Converse look better, in my opinion, when they're well worn. 

RECENT FAVOURITES | September 2013

FJALLRAVEN KANKEN
I mentioned that I was thinking of buying a Kanken in a wishlist post a while back. I got one just before I came back to uni and it was such a good decision. Usually I bring a satchel type bag or some kind of more structured handbag, but I pack a lot of crap and it was beginning to hurt my shoulders. The Kanken is so ridiculously practical. A few people have commented that it's not necessarily my 'style', perhaps a bit outdoorsy for me? Or makes me look like a child on the way to their first day of school. I still love it though. Plus it's dead durable and comes in a million different colour ways.

L'OREAL EVERSLEEK SMOOTHING & INTENSELY NOURISHING SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER

Ever since I was 13 or so, I used Tresemmé products on my hair religiously. I never ever switched brand and it always worked for me. In the past year or so though, since I began to dye my hair and wear it naturally - not straightened every day, Tresemmé wasn't quite cutting it. I'd heard good things about the EverSleek range and I'm interested hair care with less sulphates, parabens, and siliciones and all of that at the moment. My hair is really dry so I went with the 'Intense' formula and I love it so far. I've had so many people tell me that my hair looks brighter and more red too, which can only be a good thing.

ORLY 'SMOULDER' NAIL POLISH

I picked this colour up when I was in America over the summer and it's become my favourite nail polish for autumn. It's a deep metallic burgundy and basically just gorgeous. I tend to favour black or red nails in the autumn and winter anyway, and this fits right into that colour family nicely.

OUTFIT | #163

cardigan: H&M; top, jeans, boots: Topshop; watch: Casio; lipstick: MAC 'Diva'

I bought the Topshop Joni jeans. Finally. They've been on my mind forever, basically since they emerged as the cheaper alternative to the AA Easy Jean. My friend Bridie (who has a blog about things and you can read it here) has been singing their praises recently and I caved. They're so stretchy and comfortable, I might be in love. Not to mentioned they're the most high-waisted pair of jeans I own now and I'm totally cool with that. The higher the waist, the better. Low-rise can get out of here. Now I probably won't need any more black jeans for a long, long time. 

I really love this whole outfit. I wore it out for a giant brunch, which was delightful. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures. Rookie mistake. It covers all my style bases though: black, burgundy, leopard print, and ankle boots. Another of those 'my style summed up in one outfit' outfits. I was worried the boots would rub because I haven't worn them a lot yet but once again, Topshop boots did not let me down. My favourite forever.