This little lovely arrived in my mail today

 Today my super cute necklace from Etsy store Aziankyootie arrived. Browsing the latest Hello Kitty products listed I fell for this adorable piece straight away. I love the mixture of parts put together; I think it sits perfectly between not being too simple, because I do like my jewellery bold, and not being all out mad. There's a lot of pink there, but not too much and I can't wait to wear it! It came packaged not only safely but really nicely- with Hello Kitty tape to be precise which I thought was rather fabulous.

'I Look Pretty'

Trawling etsy, I came across the store I Look Pretty and was immediately taken with the cute delights on offer! I pondered a long while and decided upon Hello Kitty and carousel horse rings, and bunny and flower earrings and today they arrived in their sweet packaging, just as pretty as the images on the site.

The earrings match my b.young skirt so well I put them on straight away. I can't wait to wear the other things too, they're all so cheerful.

If you love all things adorable I really suggest checking out the store and they come at a wonderful price too. Postage and Packaging in the UK is capped at a lovely 85p and according to etsy $3.83 USD for elsewhere. Find them on facebook here.

Small pleasures

I went with my lovely friend Emma to see Alice in Wonderland at the cinema this morning, there were some wonderful dresses in it by the way, and for a spot of shopping. I seem to have mended my shopoholic ways at present, coming back from Birmingham and London with barely any money spent, actually at the latter I do believe I didn't buy anything no from an art shop.
Today I fell in love with this beautiful rose bracelet in River Island which I'm sure shall go with everything I own being pink and floral. I stocked up with a £1 pair of socks in Dorothy Perkins and spotted the prettiest charity pin for Breast Cancer Care at the till; a gorgeous little purple heart.
My Fashion & Textiles coursework is in tomorrow so though I'm also getting the exam brief now's time to break out the DVD boxsets and have a nice relax.

Fueling the obsession

I went round the local charity shops today looking for objects to draw interesting still life compositions, but only managed to indulge my pearl and pastel coloured tweed addictions. The skirt was an amazing £1.50 in Oxfam, it's originally from Next and though the waist is a little big at the moment a small while on the sewing machine should fix this.
The faux pearl headband actually fits really well so hopefully no headband-ache from this pretty thing; bought brand new from the British Heart Foundation for 99p. A small while ago I entered Amy of Confessions of a Fashion Editor's blog birthday competition to complete the statement, "If I ruled the fashion world, I would..." with a somewhat long answer. OK, I actually went to bed afterwards and became vexed when I thought of more I could have said! Hmm, I think about these things too much. Anyway, I won! :) And my lovely, quirky prizes provided by Temporary:Secretary Jewelry arrived in the post today, aren't they nice!

Bargain alert

I popped into Topshop today after college not looking for anything in particular, I just hadn't been in for a while and was amazed to find the above packs of earrings for the prices I got them for!
So the one on the left has a missing pair of studs and the other has an admittedly very pretty earring missing, but I was amazed that a tiny portion of the pack being missing should be mean a tiny portion of the price was asked! They went from £8 and £6 to a mere £1 each.
The yellow flowers are just lovely and have to be my favourites, meanwhile I've been looking for some pretty yet unobstrusive studs to wear as most of my earrings are quite stand out pieces.
I am very pleased indeed.
Have you found any bargains lately?

The £3 ban flaunt

So last weekend I went drawing with Emma again, and though I came out of the New Look shoe sale unscathed, Accessorize was another matter.
I do think these rings are rather sweet though, and £1.50 (full price! Amazing value) each is not so bad.
Only a week of the shopping ban left now, it shall be a relieve when it's over. =]

Bought at Bicester

Having greatly regretted not buying a Cath Kidstone purse in Selfridges and then on my first trip to Bicester Village, I came home with this lovely one on Friday. I just could not resist the pastel floralness, and my old, loyal one is sadly past its best. I also got this lovely littl headband from Accessorize, despite some tough competition, at £1 it wins bargain of the day.

My Luella handbag has already been out for a couple of airings and I love it very much. It's got a fabulous vivid orange lining (must take a picture) and just the right amount of practical pockets inside. The flower clip also got an outting today and stayed in perfectly, a good job as the front of my hair was behaving very oddly indeed! And on that topic can someone please explain how my hair can sometimes dry perfectly straight (as in could not look more so if you used straightening irons) and can sometimes go into ringlets? I am confounded by it.

Surprise Eggs Kitty Style

I first found these lovely Hello Kitty surprise eggs in Topshop at Easter 2008- they are so sweet! Inside is some candy (hmm), some stickers (ooooooh) and a little kitty figure (yay!).

I did not see them return this year but found the figures in these gifts at Claire's Accessories (they do have some nice HK stuff). On the plus side you're guarenteed to get the one you want, but then it is stuck to the base and could be tricky to separate.

Yesterday I went to Manchester with college to go to the UCAS art & design event and look round the various university stands.

I also went to abakhan haberdashery in Oldham Street to go on a bit of a ribbon spree, and while successfully staying away from the basket of lovely tweeds (got a gorgeous pink one last time to make into a Chanel style pencil skirt) and all the yummy vintage shops, I was drawn into Forbidden Planet (a collectables shop, very expensive for Twilight fans- there was so much merchandise) by some very pretty Hello Kitty items in the window. They had some really unusual plush toys and things. I had been hoping for some Hello Kitty Pearl Cards as my local W H Smiths has sold out :( and my collection is not quite complete, but was very happy to find a tray of the surprise eggs. I also got a HK goody bag, but considering some past shopping trips spending £6.50 is not so bad! And I also went out with a very lovely friend, who (un)fortunately encourages me in my spending and I do likewise in return (she likes florals too) and managed to only buy drinks etc! I was very proud, and did not have to come home and tell me lovely mum about going over budget as usual. :)

Even more of a surprise with the eggs is that there aren't 12 designs now- there are 24!! :O I really want the ballerina one (circled in pink above).

Below are my new ones: :) I think the left one is rather cute.

A Bicester Day

I had a very lovely time at Bicester Village yesterday. I'd heard so many good things about the place and finally got round to going! The main temptation for going was to coo over the past season Luella. I may be odd, but I actually don't see something being 'last season' as a bad thing, in fact I see it as a positive. I also see outlet shopping as more environmentally friendly than normal shopping as however much you buy, the items aren't going to be replenished with more of the same so no new products are made.


Unsurprisingly I headed straight for Luella. The stock is currently pretty much made up of the aw08 collection. Which is fantastic for a Luella lover like me who has actually either not been overly aware of a brand that long or just couldn't shop there for some practical reason. The first time I went to Luella Brook St ss09 was already in stock.
Next stop: Mulberry. So many gorgeous handbags and bargainous prices! If you know you want an investment handbag but don't want to spend more money than necessary, this is the place to go! There were some clothes and scarves too, but what caught my eye were the shoes, the ones from ss09 which I've been coveting in magazines for months, so I made a mental note of them and continued.
From here I went to Cath Kidston. This shop is a haven for gift shopping, such lovely kitsch items were for sale, from bags to tea cups, and also very lovely clothes, and an extremely lovely changing room! (see left) There were several items I really loved, but I went for a lovely floral skirt. I'm soon in Calvin Klein underwear, and come out with a very fun pair of bright knickers! Bicester is a very good place to shop for good underwear with labels such as Agent Provocateur and Myla.

Up the street I go and find myself in Vivienne Westwood. So many nice handbags here and also some fabulous jewellery. A really fun brightly coloured (there's a trend emerging here) bag catches my eye. But I remind myself that I would hate to spend an awful lot of my budget in the first few minutes and regret when I see something later! So I head to Dior, where I am relieved to not see any pieces I already own at a much cheaper price. Phew. Lots of beautiful jewellery, at a very good price. The clothes here are beautiful. If you need something for a special occasion and can't normally afford the price tag this is a very good place to get a beautiful outfit. There was the most divine full length floral gown, priced a little over a thousand from over seven thousand.
Not an everyday purchase, but if you know you want something like that, get it here!

I find myself back in Vivienne Westwood and heading for the till with a certain bag.

Time for some ice cream I think! It's from Amarino, and I had a medium tub, (cones also available), I could have had up to four flavours, but being the allergic person I am stuck to vanilla. It was divine indeed! My dad had the same and seemed to enjoy it equally, maybe this is why he doesn't mind coming shopping with me..
There is both a D&G store at Bicester and a Dolce & Gabbana one, they happen to be an opposite ends of the village. Two of my favourite stores of the day. I love D&G dresses and the pink, floaty floral one pictured below was so incredibly pretty!

Another shop for special occasion wear is the one below, stocking Amanda Wakely, Matthew Williamson and Temperly. There were the most gorgeous evening wear dresses, and also lots of fabulous dresses. Some of the clothes were just mind-boggling beautiful, this may be an outlet shop but the clothes and top quality.

The Monsoon and Accessorize store provided some absolute bargain evening wear! It's like at the end of the sale and everything's 70% off- but with loads more stock! There were even £5 racks! I got some very long lace gloves, very ladylike and only £3.60 from something like £18.

A good part of the afternoon was surprising spent looking in menswear shops! My dad is not normally one for spending money on himself (bless), but he actually got rather enthusiastic about going into lots of menswear shops! We started at Paul Smith and ended up at Racing Green where he got not one but two jackets for £114. It made a lovely change and I was very proud of him. We also went in Brooks Brothers where I got a tennis whites style skirt. The clothes reminded me of Charlotte York (of S&TC, I love Charlotte!) in her Trey days at the Hamptons house.

At the Cosmetics Company store I was very surprised to see Hello Kitty for Mac items, as they sold out super quick at the MAC counters I went too. There were items from other collaborative ranges too. I came out with a very nice eyeshadow from MAC.

And so back I went to Mulberry. Those shoes *drool*. As you can probably tell from the photo below, I bought them. =D

Heading back to Luella, I didn't buy clothing but stickers!! And I still got a carrier bag. The staff were lovely.
For one last purchase I went to Dolce & Gabbana where I had seen some gorgeous scarves earlier, I was choosing between the ones I had already seen when I noticed one with the prettiest, most delicate floral on it. A short queue later I was out of the store with yet another carrier bag.
As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed my day! I'm really hoping to go back when Luella ss09 is in stock! *makes happy noises* There'll also be some new shops such as Armani and Gucci open by then. It was a really nice environment to shop in, and I love what I bought. The ice cream was yummy too. =] I know this is a terribly long post so more photos of purchases coming tomorrow, I just couldn't resist putting the shoes up today!

Bootie Call

I'm liking these booties. I bought them in New Look on yesterday afternoon's shopping trip. No, they weren't an impulse buy, I'd been looking at them before! See- bargain. ;)

Randomness

I'm really tired today, and I only did a morning of college yesterday and half one today! Can't wait for a mini lie in tomorrow, except I always wake up early anyway!

Today I'm liking this little mushroom pencil sharpener. Though apparently it's actually a rubber too! Clever mushroom, it multi-tasks! I clearly underestimated it's intelligence... Bought in 'the nature shop' as my family calls it (run by 'Welsh Wildlife Trust') at the top of the Great Orme in Llandudno, though I've recently seen something similar in Accessorize too.

=)

Pop!

I've wanted gloves like these for a very long time! I'm so happy I found nice ones that fit.

Borders is dangerous- too many unusual, very nice, expensive magazines on sale in one lovely display. Fashion overload.

Lookie!

Look what I bought today!

It's large, it's orange, it's sparkly and it's kinda fabulous.

Bought in the Topshop sale for a mere £2, some of the gems are missing, but I don't mind. :D

Oh Elle

I bought a copy of UK Elle last night (I like to spread my magazines around the month or it would get rather dull by the end) and I just adore this John Galliano designed notebook that came with it.

There are also Vivienne Westwood and Giles ones to choose if you prefer- or you could splash out and get them all. ;)

The Jeggings Debate

Jeggings vs Denim-effect leggings.

Both lack the bulk of normal jeans- buttons, zips, pockets- and are therefore more suitable for layering on top of.
For those with problem area stomaches (hello me) they are both far more flattering than normal jeans, and are also more comfortable and won't dig in- goodbye muffintops!

Jeggings: If you don't like leggings but like their positive features, this is a good denim look. It still counts as a jean.
The crotch area is a lot more appealing than that of a legging. Though the waistband may not be attractive to you, you can wear shorter items on your top half with ease.
They don't look quite as natural under dresses as leggings do.
As they have the shilouette of leggings and are not stretchy, it can be hard to find a pair that fit your stomach, thighs and calves without them getting stuck on the way up or being lose in an area or two, it's a question of trying different brands. Miss Selfridge ones are no good on my calves but Dorothy Perkins ones are perfect.

Denim-effect leggings:

They're different to the norm of the black legging and are thicker and less transparent- like upgrading from 20 denier tights to 60.

Are very good for putting under dresses- whether it's for a dressed down look or you have a lot of walking to do.

It takes a brave person (preferably with a flat stomache) to pull off wearing them with a short length top half. I shudder just thinking about the crotch situation..

They're more flexible than actual denim so tend to be more comfortable. They also tend to be less stretchy than other leggings though, so have less give.
Unfortunately don't always look that great around the ankle area so are a little difficult to choose shoes and socks for. They tend to show up the socks underneath a lot.

Tatton

I had a lovely time at Tatton Park today. I found this lovely little mirror (pictured above) in the gift shop, I had actually been wanting one and I couldn't resist this adorable design. I also bought 'The Seventies in Pictures', this is one of a darling little set of books of which I already own the 40s, 50s and 60s. Where the rest of the century is I'm not quite sure, but they are very informative with some great photos.

I also acquired this beautiful rose today, when I happened to be there as a kind gardener snipped it off my accident. I threaded it through my mum's woven bag.

I finally got round to subsricing to Grazia a little while ago and my first issue came today which also makes me happy. =D

Socks!!

I love these socks! I had been admiring the above in other colours online, and happened upon them in Topshop at London. They make something practical become a statement. They're cute in a kind off romantic way.

A second bath boutique

The shop's called 'instant vintage'. There was a lovely selection of clothes, and the accessories were fabulous.

There were so many lovely earrings to choose from, but these ones are just perfect and go really well against my skin.

A Yumi Dress

The dress I bought in Bath yesterday;