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!

 

We are the reckless, We are the wild youth

It's been a little while since I've cracked out an outfit post, but H&M finally hit the Cheltenham high street on Thursday (I'm TOO excited!) and as those of you on Instagram will know, the shopaholic in me may have got just a tad carried away with my purchases! I forget how fab all the H&M basics are and before you now it you've filled up one of the shopping bags to a brim with the essentials! (It's not just me.. right?) For once I put my sort of 'sensible' shopper head on and got things I really needed to tie over my wardrobe! Luckily it's my birthday next week so most of the clothes I bought that day I'll be kindly given from my family as birthday presents. I did keep a couple of the cheaper things that I bought which I decided to pair together for this post :) - this polka-skirt is only £7.99 as well.. bargain!  

The opening day was suuuuuper busy but I quite enjoy the whole hustle and bustle and there was live DJ and nail painting etc going on which was all fun and reminded me of when I used to go shopping in Manchester! I wasn't one of the first 15 to get the 25% off and goodie bag unfortunately, but people were queuing an hour and a half before it opened which I just didn't pre-empt at all! I just need to make sure I prize myself away from there before I go on another spree again!! 

Mustard Crochet Jumper // H&M // £14.99
Faux Leather Jacket // c/o Lasula
Polka Dot Twill Skirt // H&M // £7.99
Lace Collar Cream Shirt// Oasis

I decided to team this mustard crochet knit jumper from H&M and my lace collared shirt from Oasis with the polka dot skater skirt. I really like the detail that shirt collars bring to outfits so in the Autumn/Winter season I like to pop one on under my jumpers, even if it's just to add another layer to keep warm! The skirt as well is a great little one to pair some thick tights with for the day or wear with a nice top and a pair of heels for a night out.. and as I mentioned earlier, it's a right bargain! I luckily received this fab cropped leather jacket from the lovely lot at Lasula which I've been wearing lots recently! I love the gold zip details and the cropped style of it, it's so easy to wear with so many different things and bring a bit of a retro vibe with the padded shoulders!

What do you think of this look?

 

London Fashion Week SS'13: What I Wore

Hey Mixbagers! After my last street style post I thought I would do a feature on what I wore down to the cobbled streets of Somerset house for fashion week last week! It luckily turned out to be quite a sunny day so I happily wore the beaut Motel Digital Love print shift dress I had been given! MTV babe Lilah Parsons has also been spotted wearing it, so naturally I now feel like I  can claim I have something in common with a famous Chanel model haha! *air high five

Picture c/o Motel

Hollyanna Shift Dress in Digital Love Print c/o Motel // £35
Topshop Faux Leather Jacket // Similar here
H&M Black Bowler Hat // £7.99
New Look Chunky Strap Platform Heels // £27.99
Stud Clutch c/o Next // N/A

 I absolutely adore the bright digital print- it's a pretty stand out design with it's mirrored images and mish mash of neon colours and as much as I had a bit of a 'it's fashion week so I've GOT to look fashionable' stress on, I found my classic biker jacket from Topshop and bowler hat from H&M ended up suiting it the most anyway! I have to say with my dress on the train to London I felt like a right bundle of colour amongst all the suits and ties, but hey it was Fashion Week and it's got to be done right?! Shoes-wise I ended up opting for the chunkiest wedge of a platform I have ever worn. My mum was convinced I was going to come home with a broken ankle or something (I'm quite clumsy at the best of times!) but surprisingly I found them quite comfy and I arrived home ankles in tact and all!

Instagram: @FashionMixbag
Above is a photo of me and two of the other Motel girls Lucia and Holly c/o Motel! You must check out Lucia's blog 'Style Confessional' if you haven't already!

A pic of the entrance and a close up of my exhibition pass! In all honesty I was a bit nervous that I would get turned down mid application for the bloggers pass and have to do a shameful walk away but thankfully it was all absolutely fine!

So here are some snaps of what was in the exhibition rooms! Alongside all the designer showcases, it was a bit of a bloggers hub with laptops everywhere, MAC makeovers and free vitamin waters being dispensed out all over!

Gorgeous Liam Fahy Shoes! I couldn't even pick a pair they were all so amazing! I recommend checking out the website!

Shoe crush on these Liam Fahy dalmatian print wedges!

Sophia Webster Shoes & Bags. So crazy aren't they amazing?!

Topshop NEWGEN area. Each Newgen designer had their own slot machine with an individual pin design you could choose from and keep!

I have a new jewellery designer crush on Le Nereides. A beautiful Parisienne brand who have a right mixture of gorgeous designs!  

I think I can safely say I got Fashion Week fever and was desperate to go back next day! I can't wait to head down to the next season shows now I'm no longer a fashion week newbie I reckon I'll be brave enough haha!

Did any of you go to LFW?

Jumper Dress & Chunky Knits

Hello Hello Mixbagers. I can only apologise for my poor posting this past week, I feel like I’ve already put my blogging New Years Resolution in jeopardy and it’s still only bloomin’ January! But anyway onwards and upwards and all that -  the reason I’ve been so busy is I have recently started interning at Motel Rocks HQ for 2 days a week and am still working at my retail job alongside it so it’s all been a tad busy! I’m absolutely loving it though so it makes not having much spare time worth it! You can check out the blog posts I’ve been posting on the Motel blog here, here, here and here.

Faux Leather Quilted Biker Jacket // Topshop
Jumper Dress // Primark
Knit Scarf // Similar -Topshop
Stud Bag // Similar - New Look
Bird Necklace // Oasis

Above is a quick glance at another of my outfits from the snow days last week! In the winter a jumper dress is definitely one of my favourite outfits, I love nothing more than popping on a comfy jumper dress, leggings and boots! This one was a bit of a steal from Primark for £10, I love its maroon colouring and the feature elbow pads and it’s also been made with a novelty yarn so has a flicker of different colours running through it. (hello textiles info!)The chunky knit scarf which I have worn to death this winter is Topshop and the little bird pendent necklace is from Oasis whilst the stud bag is from New Look.

It feels very strange looking at these snow pictures now the sun is out! Hopefully it’s here to stay though and we can all start looking forward to the Spring Summer season! I've got some product reviews to share with you all shortly as my nail art transfers from WooWoo nails arrived the other week and I've recently bought an amazing Lee Stafford product I want to share with you all :)