"Jackie No."

Dress: Charity Shop// Cut-out boots: Topshop//Bag: Dooney & Burke (Charity shop)// Sunglasses: Lacoste 

The sun has been shining for over a week now, I'm getting suspicious. It's either the end of the world, or global warming has helped Britain out a little. Oh well, there's nothing one likes better than a good cynic. Just like a typical Brit, I've been moaning about the heat, liberally applying sun cream and hiding out in the shade, with the lines 'it's not proper sunshine' or 'it would be better in Spain' on the tip of my tongue.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my previous post, now exams are out of the way, I've had time to let my hair down and actually get to know Lancaster a little better. Sometimes in my posts the only reference to the town is the library which, although quite a cosy spot on a December afternoon, doesn't really resemble the eclectic mix of shops, restaurants, bars and people which are all part of this lovely northern jigsaw. I've been out and about with the house quite a bit and on one rather peculiar shopping trip (which included hunting for a blonde wig, a camel-coloured jacket and cake pop kits) I picked up this gorgeous embroidered dress in the charity shop for £2.99. Yes, it's rather short and yes it has been handmade so the seams aren't perfect and the pattern isn't regular, but pop a black tube skirt underneath, admire its uniqueness and you're sorted! 

Saturday night saw a few of my housemates led on a magical mystery tour of nearby Wigan, by one of the more exuberant residents of 1 Willow lane. It was a surprisingly good night and left me wishing for something a little like Indiependence in Cheshire! I wore the dress and boots (£40 in the Topshop sale - steal!) after being warned that my newly-purchased sky scraper wedges wouldn't survive the night and I'm so glad I did, it's my new favorite outfit! 

Have you found any bargains whilst rummaging in charity or vintage shops recently? 

TTFN

Scotland calling...

Dress: River Island//Shoes: ebay// Cardigan: h&m (charity shop)// Fringe Bag: charity shop

Sophie looking very swish, I know that her cardigan is from Jack Wills but if you want to know where she got anything else, drop me a comment and I'll ask her! 

As those unlucky enough to follow me on Twitter know (due to the constant tweets about all things Scottish), last weekend my best friend Soph and I headed off to Edinburgh. We did the typical tourist trail, heading up to the beautiful castle and admiring the view from Arthur's seat, although I must admit, due to inappropriate outfits (ugg boots, converse and dresses) we didn't make it to the top!

We both fell in love with the city, there's such a buzz about the place and it's filled with quirky bars and restaurants. According to mother Nagaitis, it was voted the no.1. place to live if you're a young, sprightly thing, which explains a lot as I'm head over heels for the place.

Anyhow, I promised you an outfit post and the sun conveniently shone on Saturday morn so Soph and I headed to the gardens of the National Gallery to take a few photos.

I know I keep promising that I'll take some pics of high street stuff that I've bought and finally I've kinda delivered with this lovely River Island tapestry dress which was a mere £15 in the sale! I couldn't believe my luck with this bargain and the thick, quality material means that it's great for this colder-than-average April. Later on I'll be wearing it sans tights for dinner out and drinks in the garden. The bag is another relatively new purchase which I've fallen in love with. It's leather and I picked it up for a mere tenner from British Red Cross. It was perfect for Edinburgh and I've been using it ever since, I think the Mulberry's feeling left out!

More from me soon!

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

Dress: Topshop (Charity shop)// Boots: Dena & Ozzy//
Cuff (just seen) Chelsea Doll// Ear cuff: ASOS

So here's an outfit post from the depths of my room at Uni! After trying loads of different areas of my room, I decided that my huge wardrobes were the best background for my pics. (I've not been brave enough to ask my uni friends to take photos of me, feel that's a little OTT!)

I picked up this dress in town yesterday whilst having a cheeky charity shop sesh with my lovely pal Christina. I have to admit, you would never expect to find the gems I've snapped up in Lancaster, but I warn you looks can be deceiving and this little city really does have some fabulously stylish people (who buy lots of clothes!).

This iridescent beauty was at the back of the rail in Age UK and, to be honest, on the hanger it didn't do much for me. Chrissie convinced me to try it on and, although it's a little figure-hugging, I fell for the material and the gorgeous back piece you can see in my last photo. Also, it had all of the Topshop labels still attached and was only £6, it would've been really rude to say no...

I have to admit that I do feel a little bit like Leeloo from 5th Element (If you've not seen it, then it's a brilliant sci-fi film with Bruce Willis in, get it watched!) and the Chelsea Doll cuff definitely makes the outfit.

I wouldn't suggest such an ensemble for Sunday lunch with your folks, you might get a few looks from regulars, however it's definitely an outfit for clubbing which is very on trend for S/S 13.

With Balenciaga's statement sci fi jumper being worn by the fashion elite and Jonathan Saunders experimenting with holographic and unusually textures fabrics, now is the time to let your alien out.

Do you like the sci-fi look? What've you bought to channel this new trend?

We're creepy and we're kooky...

Wig: Wilkinson's// Collar and Cuffs: charity shop// Dress: Mango (old)//
Bag: thrifted// tights: DIY// Bracelet: Internacional.

So here I am on Halloween, dressed as an older version of Wednesday Addams! I thought I'd go as a vampire this year, but when I found this long, black wig, I couldn't resist a cheeky Wednesday look.

This outfit was so easy to put together and also so comfortable for a Halloween party- nothing too clumpy and something that didn't require too much effort (typical student!) 

My fave part of the look was the detachable collar, which was actually cut off a man's shirt from the charity shop - the shirt was pretty hideous, so I think I've done fashion a favour by turning it into something more useful! Teamed with the cuffs, the white, starched material made my dress pop - very PPQ, even if I do say so myself! 

Tights-wise, I cut some holes in an old pair to create the 'spotty' look. 

Finally, my makeup was really simple - a load of talc applied on top of still-wet moisturiser/foundation, eyeliner and dark purple lipstick...voila! 

How did you dress up for halloween? Send me your pics, I'd love to have a look! 

Lots of thursday lovin' 

Maoohsive D.I.Y post!

So I've been busy with dieing and shizz and put together a lovely post for you all about my little D.I.Y adventures!

Recently, I've been preparing myself and my overflowing wardrobe for uni by having a massive clearout. I filled nearly two bin bags with clothes that either didn't fit me, or that I just didn't want anymore. As you know, I'm a bit of a charity shop lover so loads of my clothes were bought on a few hauls, which meant they were pretty cheap, so I wasn't bothered about sending them back to charity. However, there were a few bits in my wardrobe that I liked but really didn't suit me, so I turned to my dye sachets and slight alterations to them up.

I had two different tops that I wanted to dye. One jumper, a particularly fetching mustard yellow colour and another cream lovely which, with my yellowy skin tone looked awful on. So, after buying some Navy Blue dye, I dyed the jumper all over, whilst I thought I'd try a tie dye for other top.

To create the tie dye effect I squashed the top into a ball and layered elastic bands across the top at different angles - the more bands you add, the more patterns that will appear on the top!

I then got busy with my dye. If you wanna see the method have a look at my last post on dieing, here, but remember to keep the pieces in the dye for the effect that I've achieved on the tops below! After about an hour, take the tops out of the dye and wash thoroughly with cold water. When the water starts to run clear you know your dye has been successful! I then popped the bands off my tie-dye top and hung it, along with my jumper out to dry!

As an add on I thought I'd popp some spikes onto my green jumper, which I found browsing Ebay the other week. They were around £2.99 for 100 and I felt that, by adding them to the jumper, I'd create a jumper that was bang-on trend for the Military look which is big for A/W 12.



The studs were really easy to add to the jumper, I just folded the sharp tips underneath themselves when attached to the material. For extra security, I superglued each stud to the top too!

As I had some extra studs left, I cut up some old bootcut Levi jeans and added studs to create some grunge, 90's style shorts!

Have a look at my post above for the finished pieces!

Lots'a love