Rome - City Break Style

Ciao Bellas! It's been a long time coming but finally, I'm back! A lot has changed since I last blogged. For one, I have waved good-bye to Cheltenham and traded in cotswolds life for city life in Manchester (where co-incidentally I started my blog in the first place). So, you can now find me tapping away on my keyboard blogging in a little flat in Northern Quarter! Living up here has given me all the more reason to re-start blogging, what with the copious amounts of fashion, cute cafes etc, plus someone to snap some outfit shots for me - thanks MisterYoungProfessional ;) - I've found myself four years down the line, fresh new blog look, fresh new start for 2016! (How very 'New Year, New me' cliche of me!) 

But before I begin on Manchester, I just wanted to do a little city hop and share some snaps from my recent mini-break to Rome with previously mentioned pal MYP and Quite Contrary Style to bust the January blues, enjoy a little "Vino al Vino" in "any bar, just your average Roman bar" and you know, I guess maybe see some sights on the side...                                                                                                         Well I can officially say that in just a few short days Roma romanced me with it's gorgeous buildings, amazing pizza and gelato and cultural charm. So much so I have picked out many a new home there over-looking a beautiful Piazza. One day you shall be mine chandelier filled, marble floored apartment of interior dreams! 

Packing for our chilly, but sunny, weekend away with a smaller-than-cabin size suitcase was not the one for an over-packer such as myself, but on our very own 'door tour' of Rome I got a few shots in front of one of the many incredible doors of one of my city-break outfits! As we all know outfit layering and flat shoes are pretty key when it comes to walking everywhere to explore a city. so I found these patent leather-style shoes a treat! My trusty silver satchel carried my camera along with the worst map of Rome in the world quite nicely, and I picked up the tassel-end scarf in Aldo whilst we were there because I definitely did not leave my scarf behind in Manchester....

Outfits aside, I have lots of shots of the city itself to share with you all on my next post! 

So, till next time, Ciao! 

 

Polka-dot Tea Dress

Polka Dot Tea Dress //  River Island // £25
Faux Leather Jacket // Topshop // Old. Similar Here 

My love for collared items of clothing never ceases to grow and alongside that, my polkadot collection has now managed to make a sure mark in my wardrobe too! So it was unsurprising when I found this spotty number in River Island just before Christmas that I loved the cute combo of the two! This dress is great to wear with jackets and coats, or you can just pop a jumper over for a more casual look. It’s very much a dress up/dress down kinda piece, which is the best in the books in my opinion! Also I just want to make a point of saying it has a really good fit on the waist. I tend to struggle a lot with it as I have higher waist point in most of the standard sized dresses and they can sit too low! But this one was spot on! (Excuse the pun haha) It also wasn’t too pricey either which my purse thanked it for!

 I’m really trying to build up my wardrobe with a few nice day dresses and items like this at the moment as it’s nice to mix it up and take a step away from wearing trousers and jeans on a day to day basis! I’ve been scouring the sales online at the moment to try and get any last minute bargains! There really are some amazing deals still on places like ASOS lingering so I recommend having a look if you’re in need of some wardrobe sprucing!

 

Blazer and Breton Stripes

Weigh Anchor! I can't help but feel a little Sailor-esq in this classics outfit I paired up the other day! This stripey linen breton striped tee from Topshop has been a bit of a fave staple at the mo, amazing to pop on with jeans, cardigans-you name it, but I'm sure you guys already know that as it's a bit of a basic in every gal's wardrobe! And of course, the fitted blazer is another one of those everyday essentials! I got this blazer for Christmas but with all the rubbish weather we've been having I've not managed to wear it much! It's from Mango and has such a cute cut to it. I love the ribbon lapels and sharp lines! I know what you're thinking.. another jacket?! Honestly though I wish I could have a whole wardrobe of them! Make-up wise I went fairly natural with some new goodies I will share with you all soon! I also added a dash of my MAC Ladybug Lipstick which I still love and have had for ageess now. I'm going to be sad the day my trusty red ends!  

What do you guys think?

 

New Year.. New Blog Design

Source: Unknown

Happy New Year Everyone! - I know what you're thinking.. erm it's mid-January?! But better late than never and all that! I unfortunately haven't managed to pop up a post yet this year as I've been whittling away when I can giving my blog a whole new fresh look! Yay! What do you all think? It's taken quite a while and I've even managed to crack on a bit of HTML and CSS. Yes. It actually scares me still just writing those words! Thank god for Google is all I can say. Anything I got stuck on I found a load of answers just searching online and being able to edit code made me feel a lot more professional than I actually am! I don't think any Website Designers will be worried about their jobs just yet though...  

Anyway, for my blog refresh I've also used  features from an Etsy shop I found online called 'Carrie Loves Design.' If you're thinking about changing your blog design and not sure how or where to start (I didn't really have a clue) I definitely recommend having a browse on Etsy to get some inspiration! Pinterest is also a must visit if your looking for social media icons, colour combinations and header design inspiration too! And you can download lots of icons for free! Perfect! Luckily I did a fair bit of graphic design at Uni so was fine with all the Photoshop bits but again Youtube and forums are fab for tutorials with those programmes! 

I hope you're all enjoying 2014 so far, I'm excited to get back into the blogging routine again now I'm done with the design! I'm going to try and do equal posts this year on outfits, beauty and music which hopefully you'll be able to navigate easier to with my new page tabs :)  so stay tuned guys! 

 

Next SS14 Press Day

Last Wednesday I headed on down to London for the day to hit up a couple of SS14 press days! I can't believe how quickly this last year has gone, it feels just like yesterday I was heading down to check out all the newbie SS13 goodies! But nevertheless I excitedly grabbed my copy of 'Mad About The Boy' popped my Oyster card in my pocket and headed to the train station. My first stop of the day was at Next, which was being held in the Film Museum in Covent Garden. After a couple of delayed trains I finally made it there about an hour later than planned and trawling through the pouring rain trying to find the way- I'm not too London-lingual so completely relied on my phone, thank goodness for Google Maps (and my fedora hat) hey! 

As soon as I arrived I immediately felt like I'd stepped into a different season with all the lovely summery-ness displayed and had a good look through all the new collections layed out in Womenswear. I have to say Next have really pulled it out the bag for next years trends- the accessories and little bomber jackets in particular were amazzzeee balls and I developed multiple crushes on little cute cut-out brogues, heels and tote bags. Check out the quilted leather backpack too, so perfect! The main collections that stuck out to me were the mustard & monochrome with all the fluffy jumpers, brocade jackets and the casual denim & blues with oversized sweatshirts and denim shirts. I'm excited to see them in the Next stores in 2014 in summer!

After having a good rifle through I spotted the lovely Becca from Fashion Train snapping away (who's blog I have been reading for agggeess) so thought I would go over and say hi! I then luckily met lots of my favourite other bloggers too who were all so so lovely and enjoyed chatting with them all over a few cucumber & elderflower 'bomb' cocktails and yummy canapes! After having a good long gossip with the fab Kirsty from Fashion Champagne and meeting some of the Next ladies too, Amy (Wolf Whistle) , Kristabel (I Want You To Know) and I decided we should probably take a little more of a walk round and checked out the beauty room and homewear bits!

In the gorgeous beauty hub the Next ladies were giving everyone complimentary manicures and blow drys. It was a shame I had ran out of time otherwise I would've definitely got my hair joojed up a bit after being totally rained on! 

The Beauty Room

How gorgeous are all the shabby chic homewear bits? I've also now decided I would like a wooden boat and oars in my future house. Maybe I'll have to swap a sofa for it? Totally do-able though, right..... 

What do you all think of Next's SS14 collection?