Feeding my obsessions

As you all know, I can't walk past a striped top. So imagine my joy when this festive little number with gold foiled stars from French Connection landed in my inbox last night.



So cute! It reminds me of something out of PopSister. Naturally, I had to go in this morning to buy it. And while I was there, this caught my eye:



I've had a leopard scarf on my wishlist for a while but I haven't found the right one. This one with its subdued colours is just about perfect.

It seems that I'm trying to make sure I have every item of clothing in leopard print. At last count, I had the scarf, my beret (thanks so much Ish!), a pair of Mickey-shaped earmuffs from Tokyo Disney, my sadly worn out ballet flats, and as of last weekend, this cardigan:



This is the Nala cardigan by Review. I got it on sale as it's from their AW collection, so if you want one I suggest you hightail it to the shops immediately. Again, I like its subdued colour - it's almost a snow leopard.

I think I had better call it quits on the leopard stuff for now (unless I find a replacement pair of ballet flats, which is totally acceptable.) If you see me buying leopard shorts, call the police, or at least a fashion psychiatrist. I'm turning into a Versace monster.

-Hayley xoxo

More wardrobe investing

I read an article that said that "investing" in your wardrobe is a load of rubbish, because clothes don't appreciate in value. (Except Birkins.) But that's rubbish, because if it enriches you then it's already an investment in your happiness. So with that in mind, here are some things I've bought.

So after my "I don't know what to put on my bottom half if it's not jeans" post, I went on a mission to find some other stuff to wear. I decided on one pair of pants and one skirt for starters. Yesterday, I found my pants.



They're from David Lawrence, which is fast becoming my go-to place for pants. My last three pairs of jeans have been from there too. They fit really, really well. (However, they're usually about 3cm too long in the leg. If you're reading this, David Lawrence designers, could you do me a solid and make a Slightly Shorter size? I'm tired of hemming pants.) The wide leg on these is very figure-flattering. They make me feel quite feminine because they're sort of masculine - they're my Katherine Hepburn pants. The fabric is a swishy herringbone pattern:



They came with a belt. Usually I find free belts with pants to be sort of lame, but this one I like quite a bit. I wore these to work today and they were quite widely admired. Win! (By the way, the way I arranged them in the photo makes it look like I have one leg shorter than the other. There is no basis to this rumour.)

My skirt purchase was, frankly, happenstance. I went in to Claremont this afternoon to pick up some shampoo from Mecca, and thought I would duck in to Laura Ashley to ogle their chandeliers while I waited for Ant to meet me. And wouldn't you know it, but just inside the door they had a rack of velvet skirts. Anyone who has been talking to me in the last fortnight knows that velvet skirts have been on my mind, um, a lot. I've tried on quite a few and the cut has been all wrong every time. But this one is different! It's a faux wrap, finishes just above knee, and is g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s.



Velvet doesn't photograph well at all, because it sucks up all the light, so you'll have to take my word for it on the cut. It's luverly. And when I went to pay for it, the sales assistant threw in a cute spotty scarf for free! It's been a really stressful week so that was a nice surprise, and a great start to the weekend.

*****

I was telling Anthony today that since we started the blog, I feel like I'm making smarter purchases. I don't know if it's a coincidence, or perhaps that I've putting more thought into what I really need, or that I'm just ashamed to share bad shopping decisions with you, but I feel like my wardrobe is really filling out well. I don't know what my next purchase will be, but I'm sure it will be something I'm really pleased with. Until then!

-Hayley xoxo

ASOS Loot

I’ve had a bit of bad luck with internet shopping and deliveries lately so when my ASOS package arrived a day earlier than expected and everything was in the package, nothing broken or missing and everything looking prettier than in the pictures on the internet I was over the moon. I will say it has to some degree restored my confidence in online shopping, which is good because there are so many wonderful things on the internet to buy!

This is my loot from ASOS... (I’m too much of a lazy bones to take real pictures)

A pair of awesome peep toe ankle boots! I’m absolutely loving ankle boots at the moment. It’s funny because until this season I haven’t liked them at all! I used to screw my nose up at the sight of them. What was I thinking? I don’t know....? The taupe is a great neutral colour, they will go with everything! ASOS have some awesome shoes, so if you’re looking for some check out their website.



I was only going to buy the shoes above, but then I thought that I may as well grab a few more things because I am paying for postage after all. So I had a look at my wish list and remembered I recently put a scarf on it. So I had a look at all the scarves and found this gem! It’s really very beautiful, the colours are nice and bright, it will add a pop of colour to any neutral winter outfit.



I’ve been wanting a gold bangle for a while, I mainly wear silver but I’m finding myself wanting to mix it up a bit with some gold. At first I thought this bangle was a bit too dainty with a few too many sparkles but then I saw this picture of it on the model and clicked on ‘add to cart’ within seconds. It’s a gorgeous piece jewellery and I absolutely love it. It’s not dainty in the slightest and the rhinestones add some glam without it looking cheap and gaudy.



Lastly, how could I go past these oversized statement earrings. They’re kind of costumey but they’re so pretty and I love them too much to care. I think if I wear them with a simple outfit they will look divine. I’ve put two pictures up so you can see how big they actually are! I love earrings and especially big statement earrings.





That’s me for now, I am expecting something very awesome to arrive either today or tomorrow so check back soon! It’s sooooo cool, I can’t wait to show you and I’m keeping it a secret until then!

Ishia