FLYING SAUCER

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 22

    22nd. A piece of clothing or jewelry that was a gift

Evening all! This weekend has had loads of great happenings for me which is a bit out of the ordinary as usually I have zero plans unless I'm at home! Yesterday I was working at the Bloggers Boutique event in London, amazingly created and hosted by bloggers Shore, Shope and Amy. It was the perfect mix of a huge, airy, glass bar/restaurant with lots of seating and a host of fantastic brands to browse, including Motel! Motel girls Becky, Taz and I popped to the London showroom (with the most amazing stock of hundreds of Motel things!!) and crammed a rail, press board and collection into a black cab to be there with all the spring trends, and a sneak peek at the coming items and prints. I did a little talk on the prints and key items, but kept it short and sweet as it was great chatting to so many bloggers and seeing old blogging friends of years like Kristabel! Also congratulations to Aisling who won our little competition for a Motel goody bag; very pleased Taz picked her name out of the tote as she is awesome! A huge thank you to Shore, Amy and Shope for being amazing hosts, extremely welcoming and accommodating, and even giving us an incredible goody bag - we were happy girls!

Ahh aren't Becky and Taz total babes to the max!!! Thank you to Camilla for the lovely photo, check out her blog for utter loveliness!

I wore the new Rowena Dress in Fiji Print, which cheekily is my most-loved Zoe Dress but with cut outs at the back! I also wore my Litas and they were absolute comfort for the whole day and journey back, where I finally went into Monki on Carnaby Street (and died of a broken heart that it's not payday yet!) and to The Diner - tattoo and hard milkshake heaven!! Shout out to seeing Hayley on the train too! We had had a great time and the event was such a success, so we went out in Bristol to celebrate straight after to a super humid club with So Solid Crew and Artful Dodger hahaha! It was uncomfirmed where the people on stage ever actually were part of those groups but it was hilarious! Also when we got to my house to throw on some lashes and new outfits, my housemate was back getting changed too and her friend said 'oh my god, I have your shoes too!' about my Litas. She asked me how much mine were (£100) she started boasting about how I must be so gutted as hers were only £30 from Boohoo, and she had no idea what Jeffrey Campbells were but hers were totally the same. Haha! Welllll my friend: they are totally not the same (fake pink plastic with a lower heel and wrong looking platform) and I would much rather walk round in the real deal even if they cost more, which I was happy to pay!! Each to their own I guess, I hope your fashion senses would be tingling if that happened to you about your most beloved items haha!

I spent the day reading magazines in the park, not feeling very hungover at all, and have been sorting my washing and bedroom this afternoon. I left the said park when a baby bird pooed on my arm though - I hope that is good luck as I broke a mirror this week too!!! Don't sit under trees is the new rule! Sharing is caring.

I am sooo excited for the bank holiday this weekend and then it's a month until Wireless, which sadly means I can't see some great Midlands bloggers - of which in the last blogger meet up, I won this Lulu Guinness necklace for being best dressed! That was unexpected! I don't often get bought jewellery or clothing as I have a set thing I'm always looking for, so this is my answer to the question as it's such a lovely prize. It's perfect with my Motel lipstick print body!

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 21

    21st. Something that is your favourite brand

Am I cheating if I say Motel is my favourite brand? It's definitely the brand I think the most about of course and I think I know it inside out and back to front. And yes, we all end up know the names of every dress off by heart! I wish I could share the secrets of the retail world and all the things you would never expect - maybe I will after this challenge is up! You get an almost love/hate relationship with items, and you never end up buying the things that you love straight away, but the things that end up growing on you.

I wasn't particularly into this Zoe Dress when I first saw it but after a while the though of white against my hair, and the white making you look more tanned, really appealed! It also looks great with gold, and now that my hair is darker, I love wearing blue. I made the video before I went out on Saturday and nowadays I stay with my Nan as my Mom has moved out of central Birmingham - haha look out for my Nan's cameo at the end! Don't forget to watch it in HD as it's ten times better.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 20

    20th. Shoes you love but hardly wear

Evening all! Gosh it's hot isn't it? Boiling! I have to dry my hair in about half an hour which won't be too fun! I've just been on a veeery cheeky shopping trip as I needed to pick up another hair tint from Superdrug and they didn't have my colour. I popped into River Island and had to try on the shoes I'd blogged about yesterday, and then had to buy them! I tried on the floral pair but they were a bit too *much* for all the patterned things I already own, so I got the nude/taupe pair. The hidden platform really elongated your legs and improved your posture, and I got £8 off as they have a mark on the front which I'll try to remove!

I tried on these aztec flatforms too which were fab but would have sealed the deal if the platform was really oversized. I couldn't decide so I tweeted my dilemma - thank you for all your help! I thought I could the new trainers with: neon, Riding Pants, my pink Circle Skirt, high waisted denim shorts, my leather rucksack, a sleeveless polo neck, and I'm wishing I owned a neon green, rolled-up sleeve sweater/top from the H&M Trend section that I spotted last weekend. Why Bristol doesn't have H&M Trend, I really don't know.

As for shoes I don't really wear, I've only worn the River Island beauties below a handful of times as they need a certain sort of outfit and occasion. They're definitely one of a kind and a really unique shape, with lots of straps. I wish I had more occasions to wear them!

 

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 19

    19th. An article of clothing/jewellery that instantly makes you feel great

So this challenge makes no sense today because I'm having one of those times where nothing feels right, you don't like anything you own and you generally feel wrong! This could probably be remedied with a good night's sleep, a room sort-out and a relaxing evening, but I do not have time for any of those this week as I'm working right up until Saturday and it's a heat wave! The glorious weather is super cheery and we ate lunch on the grass today, but I need to get familiar with my summer wardrobe again (did I even have one?!). It's going to be scorching again so I'm going to have a hunt of my wardrobe tonight to unearth some maxi dresses hopefully.

At the moment I wish I could magically have this amazing Nasty Gal maxi dress and River Island platform sneakers, which I saw on a girl on the street and they make your legs look fantastico! Failing that, the Jeffrey Campbell Zomg sneakers would be rather nice, thank you!

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 18

    18th. Your brightest lipstick 

Hi guys! Gosh I apologise for the break in posting the challenge, I'll have a catch up now! I was home over the weekend from Friday and didn't have time to schedule any posts, and didn't want to make them half-hearted. However maybe fate caught up with me as I set up all my bright lipsticks for this post and whatdyaknow, there was a lipstick avalanche and loads fell on the floor. Great! I can cut a layer away but this was not part of the plan and many are now smooshed. It was mostly to illustrate the fact that I have a lotttt of bright coral lipsticks!! I am always after the perfect one and it is a search that is never complete. I've actually banned myself now as there is no point in buying another as it will probably be a smidgen different to at least three I already own! I definitely need to start wearing these more haha maybe I have a century's worth of lipstick.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 17

    17th. Something you wear when it's sunny

Evening all! Today's challenge fit quite nicely with my wears this week. I haven't worn this skirt for months and months as I don't think it looks right with black tights, but at the moment now tht it's spring, I wear skin coloured tights and wore it twice this week! It's a really full, light skirt from H&M which swishes and kicks up when you walk, but not it an overly dramatic way. It has lots of layers so it isn't sheer, and I can wear it really high waisted so it goes with my shortest crop tops. Today I wore it with my Topshop skull print bralette and on Tuesday I was really inspired by this white, cream, nude and gold outfit by Angelica Blick (she is so stunning!!!) and wore another Topshop crop top!

I actually tried to take this top back as the studs are sewn on without stretch, so it's impossible to get the top on! Well, obviously not impossible as I am not half naked, but it takes a lot of crazy arm positions and a possible cricked neck. I couldn't return it as it had makeup on, but my explanation that I accidentally got makeup on it when I tried it on because it was hard to get on didn't work and I was referred to customer services. I certainly do not have time to go through Topshop's CS so I decided to lump it and keep the top, as I rather like it anyway! I wore it with Miss Selfridge gold hoops, which I'm wearing non-stop, and one of my H&M gold cuffs.

I also made a video of this outfit! Something strange has happened and it has got loads of views in only a few days - I have no idea why! I've been really busy this week so I'm not sure if someone mentioned my channel as I haven't managed to watch any videos or read any blogs this week!

The nice thing about this challenge is that I probably wouldn't have blogged this skirt because I would have thought 'It's just a skirt, not exactly interesting!' but actually it's just what I should be blogging! I will definitely jump on any content once the challenge is over as when I blogged a few years ago, it really was an extension of (the fashion side of) my brain.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 16

    16th. A customised item

Well it's officially the 16th so we are half way through May! And then... June?! I can hardly believe it! Today's challenge answer is a bit of a cheat as this is an item about to be customised. I had a little New Look spree when I visited home and in my hunt for the perfect high waisted shorts, I tried on these and loved the fit. Sadly then I went on to buy some dark St Moriz fake tan and they ended up travelling back with me in the same bag, doh! What do you know, I've got tan on brand new shorts.

After scolding myself, I decided to turn disaster into opportunity and customise the shorts! Annoyingly they are more '50s style than a button up pair so I don't think rips and shreds would look totally right. Then again, maybe frayed hems would? My first though is to cover up the stains with some studs that I just bought off eBay - I might do two heart shapes as the stains are big blobs! Alas, I will keep you updated with my progress as I'm going to wash them first and hope for some improvement! Do you have any suggestions?

 

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 15

15th. Nail art/your favourite polish and your nail varnish collection 

Hidihi guys! Is it only Tuesday? It feels like a Wednesday night! I need to get my nails infilled but can't decide which colour to get, hmmm. I'm still thinking I will have a break from gel nails when this set needs changing so I'm going to get crazy on down with the nail art next week! For this week, I just did some accent nails and loved the pink and green together. Coral pinks are definitely my favourite nail colour, especially in the summer when you're wearing summery skirts and dresses.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 14

    14th. The item that was hardest to hunt down/buy

I definitely stalked these shoes into my life! I am pretty good at finding sought after/sold-out items but I definitely met my match with my Forever 21 floral mary janes. These shoes were a hit online as Miu Miu rip-offs just before F21 launched in the UK at the Bullring in Birmingham. In the vain hope that they would be stocked here, I woke up at 6am to check the UK website as soon as it launched, and then rang the newly opened store asking if they had them. I even sent my Mom down there to look! In the end I got them from America on eBay for around £70 including postage, when in reality they were only about £20 RRP! Still, these remain the greatest shoes!! I wore them to death and they are still fine, just a little dirtied from clubs. I even wore them on holiday in Madrid but realised my feet have shrunk! None of my heels really fit now which is very sad, so I'll have to shelve them until maybe they can be resurrected with a perfect outfit.

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May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 13 + 40% off American Apparel

    13th. Your lazy day at home with style (in front of your housemates/bf/visitor) outfit

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and aren't feeling too much like this, if only the weekends could be longer! I thought I'd turn this post into a Sunday prep post as usually I sort my whole life out! Here's all the prep I do to start off my week as stress-free as possible.

First I tidy my room and shift back anything that has left it's place, usually in a morning bad hair day situation! Then is the laborious task of actually washing my hair, of which at the moment I'm using John Frieda shampoo and conditioner with a dabble of Philip Kingsley Elasticizer and Superdrug hair tint. At the moment I'm using this seriously minty shower gel that came in a Glossybox, and I'm trying out Superdrug's hot cloth cleanser, which is a bargain price but I'm not too sure about it yet.

In preporation for tan, I moisturize loads, usually with a Body Shop Body Butter, this one being Papaya that I got in the airport on the way to Gran Canaria last year. Holiday smell!

While sorting and straightening my shelves of products, I spotted these wash-in/wash-out pink hair dyes I had ages ago... hmmmmmmm interesting.

Then I wash and clean all the makeup that I've used that week (with antibacterial wipes and brush cleaner) and have a little shift around to 'shop my stash'. This week to use I've pulled out a Sleek palette and MAC Mythology again, Barry M 147 and MAC Marquise D' lipsticks, a new NYX lip cream, Topshop Neon Rose blush, and I thought I'd try other bronzers/contour powders so I've picked out some 17 shades and an ELF duo. Should be a good week!

And here's what I was wearing this afternoon, which was just a River Island top. I seem to have loads of these tops, maybe because I sway towards all the cuteness in stores like Forever 21, but then they feel too casual way too quickly. Right, time for some beauty sleep!

Newsflash: I was browsing American Apparel and spotted they're doing 40% off  'cold weather styles' with the code BYEBYEWINTER until Tuesday, and the Riding Pants are included! Get them now guys, you won't be disappointed! I wear size small FYI xx

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 12

12th. The outfit you've had the best times in

Hello my darlings! Well this post is a bit of a blast from the past right! When thinking of the outfit that I've had the best times in rather than something that I love for a certain reason, it's definitely the American Apparel U Neck dress that I got in 2008!  I did actually replace it about a year ago with an identical one, and would still wear it to this day if I hadn't worn it a million times before!

Warning: old photo alert!!!

This photo is really funny to me because it's from a post on 27th February 2008 and it was when I only took photos in the mirror like this, and most fashion bloggers did! This was the bathroom in my University halls and I used to run in, snap these photos, and then hope the other 8 girls that shared the bathroom didn't walk in! The red thing in my hand was my room keys! I actually remember taking these photos and then bumping into my two friends right after who said they liked the dress. Buying this dress was quite significant as American Apparel was hardly well know then and I'd never worn anything tight or bodycon. I was only 18 so I didn't even know what suited me! I would sooo love to get in a time machine and go back to uni.

I've worn this dress on new years, in Sweden, to a Girls Aloud concert, in London, in Manchester, in Birmingham, basically a million times everywhere. It's one where you'd be in trouble if someone splashed you but that is a risk you should take! I also have the black short and long sleeved versions and wear them all the time alone and with skirts.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 11

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    11th. Your spring essential

Aloha guys! Ahh I missed Day 10 of the challenge, noooo! I didn't get back until about midnight last night as us Motel girls were at the GLOSSYBOX 1st birthday party in London and so we had to go to London and then all the way back to Bristol! I've met the GLOSSYBOX girls (who are even more glamourous than you could imagine they are!) at our Motel parties and even visited GLOSSY HQ once so it was lovely to go to their party now and really it is incredible they are only one year old! They credited beauty bloggers and vloggers as a great contributor to their success in the amazing speech and it's really cool how the promotion of their brand was so natural as everyone loves blogging about their boxes. Apparently 12 months ago they started in a basement on laptops! I'm not sure what the future holds but judging by the party, it's going to be good! There was a huuuge box shaped cake and a display of every box that there has ever been, and an array of pink cocktails. I saw lots of sweet bloggers and vloggers who I've been lucky enough to meet before and was rather star struck to meet the YouTube gurus Fleur De Force, Louise of Sprinkle of Glitter and Sara of SWalkerMakeup! Do you watch their channels? I've been blaaawging for a long time now but it's still really crazy and amazing to meet people you watch or read about. Its also hard to convey how much you really do like someone's blog by just saying 'I love your blog!', but I'll say it anyway! It was like meeting celebs.

I will do day 10 of the challenge when I take an outfit photo as I do have a pair of cute tights I'll wear to work next week, but for today, my spring must haves are tropical prints!! You know I am desperate for some sort of summer holiday and probably to flee England all together, so Hawaiian prints add that little bit of summer to your life. I love everything at River Island, especially this bralette which has a bit of neon pink in it too. I would SO snap up this bikini if I were going away, and these jeans may quite be tropical heaven; even more so if they're as high waisted as they look.

I also saw the preview of H&M's WaterAid Collection, launching in early June, on Nitrolicious and this shirt and ruffled skirt are aweeesomeee. The skirt would be amazing with a sheer, burnout tee and pointed Zara heels, or with a crisp button up sleeveless shirt.

And of course at Motel we have the new Palm Print, but I've literally been looking at it for the past 3 months so it almost feels like I own it already! I can exclusively say it's coming in a crop top, pencil skirt and bikini (!!!) in the coming week or so! Ahh I do love the salmon pink, hmmm I may reconsider but I am trying to save the pennies at the moment. We shall see! There are also more tropical prints coming soon too hehe tropical overload! I need them now.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 9

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    9th. The item at the top of your wishlist

Evening guys! Today I was reminded it is a five week month, oh gosh! This turn of events will make this challenge even more of a count down and a definite reminder of what we already own! Leave the purse along for a few weeks and embrace your old favourites!

However the things I am very much wanting at the moment are HIGH waisted denim shorts that are shredded at the hem. The reason I say HIGH is because I have quite a long body so I need things to be really high waisted to look high waisted, and that's the reason why I haven't just DIYed a pair myself from old jeans. None are quite high enough! There are so many sites that are selling these now but I need to try before I buy, and the satisfaction of finding your own vintage pair would be immense!

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 8

    8th. Something you forget you have but love

Hey guys! Gosh the bank holiday throws out your week so strangely, it almost feels like it's nearly the weekend again! I had a marvellous 3 days off at home and I did go to that foam party, OMG! It makes it even funnier that it was in a rock/metal club and we got there really early so the cannons all around the room were very unnerving! At around midnight they played a few songs that filled up the dance floor (1,000+ people) and on realising this, my friend and I ran to the toilets in a last minute panic! The rest of our group were guys and when we returned they were all SOAKED and so we just got on with it - it was insane! I was sopping wet all night!

What made it worse was that I was having a really good hair day!! Haha typical! As soon as I went in the foam I tied my hair up but God knows what it looked like, terrible probably! And there were loads of circle mosh pits because of the music and for some reason they always look really fun to me, even though my friends have to remind me that I would probably get crushed by a million burly, tattooed guys. Pits and foam was a bit crazy, I totally wanted to go in! And I probably drank a gallon of the foam as it floated in your drinks and you just scooped it out with no real though!

I didn't wear lashes for once as I guessed they would just fall off due to foam and I was even wearing flats so it was pretty laid back for me! I wore a lot of MAC Mythology and usual black shadow, and my eyes are totally different shapes so remember your shadow and eyebrows should be like sisters, not twins!

Then I was out again on Sunday, first to a pub type club but ended up in my favourite club, crashing the DJ box as usual! I'm not a DJ, I mean just annoying the DJ with various song suggestions that they would never play. Nicki Minaj at an indie club? Maybe one day!

Now then, for today's challenge the things that seem to basically slip my mind are accessories in general! I hardly ever wear any jewellery, though I have been wearing earrings more recently. I just don't like things jangling around, but I'm really annoyed I didn't wear my big hoops with the stripy Motel dress I wore on Sunday! I even wore flats then because of my knee and my friend and I determined that a definitely larger number of guys talk to you if you're not in heels! I will have to test this theory again but this is a scary realisation as I am always the true tan/lashes/heels girl, never under dressed! Do you go out in flats often? I don't ever get any pain from heels but I'm generally quite tall in them so maybe that's it.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 7

    7th. A special occasion outfit

7 days into May! I hope you all had a great bank holiday weekend, mine was so good!! I will have to dish all the gossip tomorrow as right now this song generally applies to life and I don't feel great! I shouldn't have got a megabus back to Bristol either as it was really nasty but hey ho, I'm tucked up in bed now about to catch up on some TV and blogs.

I haven't really been to that many special occasions or events I don't think so I dug out this photo of me at 15 at my prom in 2005! My dress was a sort of green/olive colour with lots of sparkles and was from TKMaxx haha! On Saturday night (the dreaded foam party!) I was out with my girl Lou in the red dress, friends forever!

MAY FASHION BLOGGER CHALLENGE DAY 6

    6th. Something out of your comfort zone but you love it

Hey guys! I immediately knew the answer to this question as I have been about to wear MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick for about a month but just haven't yet! It's just a bit too bright for what I'm used to and I have no idea what makeup to pair it with. Do you own it? If so, please tell me how you wear yours!

MAY FASHION BLOGGER CHALLENGE DAY 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  5th. Your best bargain

Hi guys! This is a scheduled post that I am currently writing on my lunch break! I usually just eat and carry on working so this is me speed typing! I type verrry fast! At this moment in time on Saturday I should be preparing to go to a foam party, which I am dreadingggg!!! I'm going out for a friend's birthday and it just happens to be a foam party night, worst luck. I have a feeling I'll either avoid the foam all together or might as well just dive in! I fear for my hair and lashes!

My best bargain to date is definitely this Topshop skull bralette, which was only £12! I think they're sold out now but you can get lots more and they're really cute. They're quite small though so I'd size up if you have any boobs!

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 4

    4th. Your favourite print

My gosh, as a blogger I spend way too much time going back and forth over photos! It's really hard to take a photo of yourself and judge it. Do you prefer single photos or them side by side like this? I couldn't decide but went with these because my room crowds the rest of the photo, because as you can see my room is very teeny! I can reach everything from my bed! 

Today's challenge is 'your favourite print' and mine at the Tropical Butterfly print from Motel of course. I'm not even biased as if you know Motel, you know it's all about the prints! This is actually because everything by Motel is made within the business (many high street brands buy ready made clothes from Asia and then sew their label on at that stage, without the design process) and the prints are hand designed, hand printed, and everything is hand knitted. Motel has their manufacturing mostly in Bali, where the British design team are based most of the time and where all the website photos are taken too! So the models on the website are usually supermodels of Indonesia, and often during clothing manufacture, the rolls of printed fabric are dried on the beach! Amazing!! I am quite into the ethics of textiles after studying CSR at uni in Sweden so I really love this about Motel and appreciate how the process of making everything I buy can be tracked back. It's not too hard to be ethically responsible!

Anyway, back to the print! Haha I could chat all day about Motel as you know I love to ramble anyway; I'd love to be a lecturer one day. I love the Tropical Butterfly print because it's rainbow! I would never, ever normally wear something so bright but the colours are so citrus-y and light, and the butterfly detailing is black so it's easily wearable with other black separates. I'm wearing the Zoe Dress but you can get it in an actual body and other styles too. The greens at the top go well with my hair and the lilac and pink at the bottom are perfect for my girly side! I waxed lyrically on day 2 of the challenge about the shape of the Zoes too, which are very flattering. Happy Friday everyone, see you tomorrow!

Zoe Dress (as top), American Apparel Summer Peach Circle Skirt, Demonia creepers, H&M gold cuff

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 3

  

    3rd. Something you're wearing for the first time

Ooo guys it's nearly the weekend!! The bank holiday weekend too! I am going home so I am double excited, and I hardly ever get to see my friends nowadays so I am triple excited! As a student you don't realise just how flexible your time is and how much you have off; it's a scary realisation that you won't ever have a bulk holiday EVER again when you enter the working world!

I am lucky that in my job I can basically wear whatever I want style wise, though of course nothing ridiculous or scruffy! The girls in the office all have different styles and I'm probably the girliest, though my style has evolved to something a little more androgynous and cool, and more confident! I have to get the bus to work now because of my knee which I am totally loving! Before when I walked the long mile up hill to work, I would pass about two people, see the girls at work, and then trudge home; practically the life of solitude! Now I don't need to think about walking down loads of main roads and can hop on the bus wearing just about anything, avoiding any honks from lorries or major wind ruffles, and I even see Hayley! Shame the bus is sooooo expensiveee! 

I popped into town on Monday to try to take back a Topshop tee that has studs sewn on in a way that you can't actually stretch the top over your head (they weren't having any of it sadly), and saw H&M had released their new Fashion Against Aids Collection, donating 25% of their sales to the prevention of HIV and AIDS. I've bought from the collection before and this one is the perfect tribal/aztec mix. Loads of items caught my eye, especially the high waisted denim shorts that just didn't quite look perfect on, but the pieces that were least impulsive to me were these two crop tops, only £7.99 each.

I almost wish I got the matching necklace now! I could only get the black top in an 8 and the aztec top below is a 14! It fits absolutely fine but maybe it's meant to look a little smaller like on the model above. I like how the print is almost like crosses, and I wore it right away on Tuesday with my Riding Pants. More tomorrow!