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Friday, 22 April 2011

Summer OOTD!

As its Good Friday and got the day off I've had a great day just mooching around in the garden, watching the parents build a patio and making a scrap book (which was a little tricky as my my paper kept flying about) I will put up some pics of the pages when they are finished.
This morning I dragged a huge bag of summer clothes out of the loft as I'm hoping to book my summer holiday this weekend and also its such fab weather I can wear some of it. This is what I wore today, I also had my hair cut this morning and I love it!


Purple Oversized Sunglasses £3 Dunnes
Pink Lace and Pearl Vest £6 Boohoo.com
Polka Dot Culottes FREE Big Wardrobe

Have you brought out your summer clothes yet? Anyway must dash, the BBQ has been lit!

Alyssa xx

Wednesday, 20 April 2011

OOTD && NOTD!

I'm feeling a bit fashion-y today. I decided I wanted to wear my Henry Holland Giraffe top which I got on ebay for a bargain 99p but everytime I put it on, I always end up changing for something else....
In the end I decided to team it with a gorgeous grey-blue silk skirt by Isabell Kristensen (RRP £120. bought for £20 at TK Maxx) The skirt is way too big for me so I rolled over the waist band and tucked it under a chunky waistbelt, perfect! I then put on my military blazer and pewter flats and was ready to go!

The cute giraffe print

I also tried out the Barry M crackle effect nail polish last night on my toes and was really impressed. I used Max Factor nailfinity in 704 Disco Pink underneath which is fab as it doesn't chip and goes on really smoothly. I also applied a top coat as I wanted it really shiny as the crackle effect is matt looking and would probably come off quite quickly!

**WARNING** You are about to see my toes!



What do you think? I can't wait to try the white one too!

Alyssa xx

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

The Countdown & Mexx Look Book

Its Andy's birthday on Saturday so we are off shopping at J32 through the day to get him some bits and pieces and as Lent will finish on Saturday I might even spot something for myself too, the countdown has begun, only 4 days to go! And I get my hair done on Friday so I have that to look forward to after a week of working late (uber-busy in the fashion catalogue world!)
I've been looking around the websites of the stores which I know are there so I know sort of what to expect. J32 is an outlet centre but they generally have current stock in as well as the clearance so hopefully I wont be disappointed. First shop is Quiz, usually I avoid this shop as it isn't really my style and is a little bit cheap looking but I have seen a few pieces I quite like:

Chiffon Dress

Mocha Trousers

Coral Chiffon Blouse
I also looked at Mexx, I have had quite a few bargains in the Mexx outlet before but I was quite drawn to some of the newest pieces in the April/May Look Book. I always love seeing Look Books, not sure if its because I work in catalogue production?!

Love the peach trousers and shirt combo- very summery!

I own a couple of jumpers similar, not keen on the socks though :S

The print on this shirt is really unusual.
So what do you reckon, think I will find the perfect outfit for Andy's Birthday night out or will the shops be full of last seasons cast offs?

Alyssa xx

Sunday, 17 April 2011

What's in Your Bag?

So, its Sunday night (boo!)

Decided to get everything ready for work tomorrow which included sorting out my main handbag as I have been taking little ones out with me this weekend. I also like to have a nosy and see what other people carry around with them so thought I should share mine too.

I'm currently using the Suzy Smith Derina bag which I love as its so soft and squishy and can fit loads in! It also has a really lovely bright pink lining so I can find things in the bottom.

Then here is what I carry to work with me everyday, bare in mind that this doesn't include the copious amounts of food I take with me everyday, hence the need for a huge bag!


1. Security Pass
2. Keys (with the new addition of a tacky I love Andrew keyring)
3. Julian Macdonald purse
4. Pink Sony Ericsson Xperia (dinkiest phone ever!)
5. Pink Pen (Arthritis Care)
6. Jai Kudo Glasses (i have 3 pairs of glasses at the moment as I always loose them)
7. Pink Japanese Cartoony Nail Kit
8. Kitty mini make up bag from Next (with paracetamol plus the things listed below)
9. Loreal Glam Shine Lipgloss
10. Ted Baker mini body spray
11. Benefit IT Stick (dosn't work but useful for emergencies)
12. Denman fold away brush and mirror

So there you go, all my (very useful) junk...what do you keep in yours?

Alyssa xx

Saturday, 16 April 2011

Date Night OOTD!

So tonight I'm off to the pictures, not seen a film in aaages and I usually end up falling asleep anyway! So thought I had better put something comfortable on, usually I resort to leggings on such occasions but the bf hates me wearing them so opted for a maxi dress, not brave enough to bare my legs just yet! I havn't worn this maxi in ages so thought it needed to be brought out again, adding a little belt to break up the tie dye pattern a little. Wearing my Vivienne Westwood glasses as otherwise I wont be able to see the film, and you will notice I'm barefoot as I havn't found my shoes yet!

Maxi Dress £18 Matalan
Belt £3 George
Glasses £? Vivienne Westwood



I will let you know how the film was, although I can't even remember the name of it!

Alyssa xx

Update: So I went to see the film Source Code. I was expecting it to be pretty naff but I actually quite enjoyed it and I didn't fall asleep! I was a sort of mystery so Andy enjoyed it and I liked it cos it was weird and sciencey. So I give it a 7/10 and suggest that you go see it if its still on near you.

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Britain is Great..and other bad puns!

With the 'Royal Wedding' only a few of weeks away I decided to do a set on the best of British, I'm not a huge fan on union flag clothing and accessories but obviously I had to include it and I actually quite like the more subtle pieces in the bottom left hand corner, Accessorize seem to have a lot of themed products in at the moment and I liked this union jack weekend bag, I even came across a lovely compact mirror too so its worth having a a look at the Accessorize website.
Vivienne Westwood features a couple of times in the set, I picked items from her Anglomania collection naturally and this shows the cross-over between royalism and the punk movement with a gorgeous tartan-esq dress. There were loads I could have chosen to include but I thought this was very uniquely Vivienne Westwood!


Roland mouret dress
$2,910 - net-a-porter.com
Forever21 scoop neck tank top
$14 - forever21.com
House Of Holland wool sweater
295 EUR - colette.fr
Punk clothing
$30 - kirnazabete.com
Hunter tall red boot
72 GBP - my-wardrobe.com
Union jack handbag
40 GBP - accessorize.com
Balmain leather clutch
780 EUR - lindestore.com
Simeon Farrar wedding handbag
85 GBP - liberty.co.uk
Hoolala silver plated jewelry
13 GBP - hannahzakari.co.uk
Dorothy Perkins union jack umbrella
10 GBP - dorothyperkins.com
Vivienne Westwood wool shawl
$250 - net-a-porter.com


So, what will you be doing on the 29th April; waving your flag and eating cupcakes or putting safety pins through your clothing and shouting 'God Save the Queen'? I know which I will be doing!

Alyssa xx

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

Feature: Zara Spring Collection

As some of you might already know I gave up buying clothes for lent as I had far too many and was aquiring clothes for the sake of it.  So for 40 days I wanted to see if I could survive without buying any clothes, shoes, bags or even accessories and so far so good, only 1 week and 4 days to go! For this reason I have been getting my clothing fix from online window shopping and I have been looking at shops I would never normally go in and yesterday I stumbled across the Zara website (www.zara.com).
I always found Zara quite dull and overpriced, and I also found the stores a little daunting as they are always huge and spread out! However, I quite like some of the new collection as shown in their April Lookbook as shown below but first some interesting facts:




Founded: 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera.
Originated from: Galicia, Spain
Products: Clothing for men, women & children

About: Zara controls every step on the supply chain from design, manufacture and distribution. 50% of products are manufactured in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe, and 24% in Asian and African countries and the rest of the world. It produces upto 11,000 product lines every year comapred to between 2,000-4,000 of other similar retailers. It has a quick turn around and products can be on the shelf within 2 weeks making it a quick fashion chain, this means it sells products that are already popular rather than promoting upcoming fashion trends. If a certain design doesn't sell in week, it can be withdrawn from shops and production stopped. Certain fashion-forward designs could be on the shelves for only 4 weeks making Zara customers return to the store regularly. If you want to read more there are loads of great articles on business sites about their success including this one here.

 April Look Book




Some of these pieces arn't currently available but I'm looking forward to paying a visit to the store and maybe trying a few things on as they alway look different in real life! I also had a scoot round the rest of the site and found some other great pieces. I noticed that there was a contrasting mix of neutrals and brights so moving between the winter and summer styles but most items were quite plain and great for mixing and matching which I love to be able to do.






 I was especially keen on some of the trousers as a lot of them are the sort of skinny/straight leg style and the tops and shirts tend to be slouchy and casual so will look great together for day to day wear. I would really like to get some trousers in different colours although Im not sure I would be brave enough for the bright pink ones in the middle! My favourite item shown here would probably be first dress which is a gorgeous colour and the pleats look really flattering.

I also took a look at the shoes and I even came across these clog style shoes that are not rediculously high. If your read yesterday's post you will know I am currently hunting for some!

 I also found these great flats which I think will be so useful this summer as they are kind of similar to some I have in black which I wear all the time!


And finally, these beauties, I can't wear heels but if I could I would certainly be having these!

So let me know what you think of Zara and their latest collection?

Alyssa xx