I always wonder how early is too early to start talking about Christmas, I'd quite happily be walking around mid October with the Christmas play lists blasting on Spotify, never too early for Buble IMO. But with it now nearing December, I'm figuring pretty much everyone is at least getting a tad excited for the festive season. I feel as soon as all the festive coffee menus drop, the need to justify playing the Christmas play list in the office, lessens.
Even though there is always that one person that plays the Grinch role but secretly stashes chocolate coins in their desk - AKA the undercover buddy the elf.
VELVET. EMBELLISHMENT. RICH COLOURS.
The jacket here was probably the 10/10 piece, the angel on top of the tree, the last mince pie in the box when you thought your sister had finished them. I always find that building an outfit from one statement piece makes it a lot easier, which has always been one of my go to tips when I'm stuck for outfit ideas.
Find one, build the rest from it.
I actually styled it a little different at the event, I had THIS black top layered underneath but when I went home and started to play around with combinations a little more, I found that a plain tee contrasted so nicely with the lavish embellishment, it also opened my eyes to how I thought such a festive statement piece could only been worn for evening wear, when in fact it actually looked really cute layered with denim jeans and basic pieces.
We spent the evening learning the basics of calligraphy, PSA : it's not as easy as it looks, but oh my goodness the end result is just so damn beautiful. It really showed me how putting a little more of a spin on the decorative part of a present can make it mean so much more. Even the box you see here was hand decorated at the event, not by myself! (I wish.) But by one of the artists at the event, it's safe to say how blown away we would all be to open something like this and to be told it was all done by hand. Even though most of us probably haven't got quite the same artistic hand to be able to do what the artist did here, but just to do something a little different can make the gift mean so much more.
It reminds me of when I was in primary school, during the last few weeks before Christmas holidays we would spend every day doing (v non educational) festive things. Making paper chains, decorations, normally one or two things to give as presents and of course making our own Christmas cards which would normally feature a poorly drawn, lop sided, Christmas tree. I remember that feeling when you would go to give whatever it was you made to someone that you loved, and even if they looked it at it and couldn't tell what it was supposed to be, it would probably still be one of the favourite things they got that year because it was made by you with thought behind it.
I really adored the meaning behind the event, it opened my eyes to how special a gift can be made by small touches. I'll be trying my hand again at calligraphy when it comes to writing the tags for presents this year, even if they don't look perfect, it'll hopefully be an improvement on what I did as a child but I'm not making any promises.
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Hey you lovely bunch! Hope you've all had a good Monday to start the week with, hopefully not too hungover from the Halloween antics. Personally the only thing I'm recovering from is the amount of food I indulged in this weekend, a different hangover of sorts I guess. So this "Monday musings" is going to be a little something new I'm doing, it's going to be a chatty post each week talking about some of my current favourites, skincare, tv shows ( hello stranger things ) to the recent dramas in my life and what I've been up to. If there was a dear diary segment, I guess this would be it!
Things have gotten way hectic over the past few weeks, my horoscope has been telling me consistently that things were about to sky rocket with my career and I probably should've taken heed with that and gotten some of the more boring things done and out of the way before it started snow balling but we all know of that little monster on our shoulder called procrastination. Our dear old friend. So I've been running around at the same rate of "A" trying to get things done without anyone realising I was SO far behind. Calm, cool exterior but internally screaming and about one piece of clothing falling off a hanger away from a full on melt down. Making way for new opportunities in our already concrete routines can leave us feeling drained and disappointed in ourselves for not delivering the best we think we have to offer. I think it's something we all end up dealing with at one time or another, whether it's taking on an extra few projects at work or arranging to meet a few friends more than you can really fit in to your day and therefore ending up feeling like you're just not being your best self. We over stretch ourselves to try to keep everything moving along but in return we end up unhappy and demotivated. I've learnt to start prioritising and making sure I have some time in which I don't have ANYTHING planned. Phone off, Netflix on, curtains closed and coffee in hand. We can end up forgetting to take care of ourselves which when you think about it really should be our number one priority because otherwise nothing would get done at all.
I've done some of the best things for years over the past few weeks, I shot with Free People and @wildbindi which was SO much fun, I've always adored the brand and the clothing so to work with them was an absolute pleasure. I've dropped a few of the pictures below but I'll have a full blog post of the pictures in the next few days too. OH, also, I had a super strange but equally eye opening experience last Thursday...
Layla and I went to the Debenhams Halloween event which was amazing, they had tarot readers set up and of course me being me, a little obsessed with all things spiritual and strange, headed straight for the tarot table. I've been trying to get hold of the name of the man who did the reading because he was so spot on and it completely synced in with what is happening in my life right now and also with what my horoscope had been telling me. I haven't gotten the name yet but I'll be sure to update this post if I do. So to start the cards that were revealed indicated that things were really starting to sky rocket with my professional life, maybe I was taking on a new job, or pursuing new avenues or simply pushing to be the best in what I'm doing, but either way was going to be successful. He then went on to speak about me possibly have taken on something new in my life that was helping me, possibly new exercise routine, maybe yoga, which was incredibly strange as I had quite literally started practicing yoga a few days prior, queue me sitting there in awe. He told me this was going to really help me to stay on the right path and keep focused, to help me stay away from bad habits. Which was great to hear as I had been seeking something for a long time that would've helped me in that way.
There was also the chariot card, I don't know if that's the actual name for it but in layman's terms it's basically a carriage being pulled by two horses, both wanting to go in a different direction, this is something he said that the yoga will help with as it'll help me to maintain a path and stay focused on whats at hand. It was all very strange as he was going through the cards because they were all linking together, but not just that, because I know anyone can link one circumstance to another, but they were linking so truly to myself, my current feelings and events happening in my life. Another card that was drawn was a king, he said there was a strong male presence in my life to which my brain was very much like "oh honey, we were doing so well" no, no men, not right now. So we moved on from that and we drew another 7 cards for the next six months. This is where it all became very strange. So the devil card was drawn, regret was drawn, two more kings and also the earth sign. Those are the ones I can remember anyway, I walked away wishing I had recorded it, hindsight eh. He was shocked by the amount of king cards, there had been earth, fire and water kings on the table at this point, but there was also the devil, regret and heartbreak. He led me to look at the earth card and explained that there will be someone, someone who is hard working, not the shiniest penny in the crowd, but he is going to be the one to make me truly happy. But there is going to also be others, others that if I were to go after would leave me with heartbreak and regret. The devil card can symbolise bad habits or old routines, so this all went hand in hand, if I was to go after my usual type, it would end in heartbreak and regret, because I would lose the other guy who was right for me, "the earth".
It was all very bizarre, but I've stayed away from the dating scene for a little over a year now and so if there was all of a sudden to be an influx of guys then I'd have to say that the tarot cards were pretty damn accurate as there is currently 0 men on my mind. Anyway, I know there is a lot of people that are extremely skeptical of these sort of things and believe that the cards can mean whatever you want them to mean and they'll always relate to you in one way or another. But I'm not that way inclined and I've always been fascinated by spiritual practices so for me this was such an eye opener and I'm interested to see what's due to happen over the next few months. I'll of course be updating you all as to whether any new or old shiny pennies happen to fall in my pocket, hell its been long enough so I'm hoping the tarot cards remain true.
Until next time,
Beth x
When did the years start getting so short. No, I'm not losing my mind, I just mean since when did the days of the week start blurring in to each other and the weekends start slipping away like leaves falling from the trees with a soft gust of wind. Time seems to be halved as we grow up, we're doing double, triple, maybe quadruple the amount we did in our younger days. You're probably wondering where I'm going with this...
I started to realise that with the days flickering by that the seasons are also coming and going as they please, not month by month, but day by day. More so than ever now my wardrobe is changed up on the daily. Some days, even now in October, I'm walking out of the house with just a tee and some jeans on because the sun is bearing down and the air is still. But the next moment I could be caught in amongst a tornado of leaves falling, the clouds moving in and the sun taking its early siesta.
It's easy for us to push our summer wardrobes aside and haul in the knitwear and coats, but instead of bringing in all new members to your rails, why not make your outfits interchangeable and try simply throwing a new season jacket over a summer dress, or grabbing some high legged boots and throwing a cardigan over a tee. We don't need to fully recycle our wardrobes every season and we certainly don't need to set about having a full wardrobe cleanse to make way for the new.
Mix and match, dress winter with summer.
Layer knitwear over dresses, throw a coat over a linen shirt.
Honestly one of my favourite things to come of winter is September fashion week because the crazy amount of layering you see. Dig that satin slip back out and re-style it for the new season.
One of the most wonderful things about fashion is that the options are endless and you are completely in control of what you wear, re-discover your love for some long lost pieces, bring your favourite summer pieces back to life with a new jacket or scarf.
I hope this has inspired you to look in to the darker depths of your wardrobe and sparked a new way of looking at your seasonal style, have fun and go crazy.
Still wondering where I'm going with this?
It's easy for us to push our summer wardrobes aside and haul in the knitwear and coats, but instead of bringing in all new members to your rails, why not make your outfits interchangeable and try simply throwing a new season jacket over a summer dress, or grabbing some high legged boots and throwing a cardigan over a tee. We don't need to fully recycle our wardrobes every season and we certainly don't need to set about having a full wardrobe cleanse to make way for the new.
Mix and match, dress winter with summer.
Layer knitwear over dresses, throw a coat over a linen shirt.
We don't need to wave goodbye to our summer favourites.
Invest in some new key pieces, some knitwear, a staple jacket, maybe a few new accessories.
Have fun layering things up.
Making new combinations.
Honestly one of my favourite things to come of winter is September fashion week because the crazy amount of layering you see. Dig that satin slip back out and re-style it for the new season.
One of the most wonderful things about fashion is that the options are endless and you are completely in control of what you wear, re-discover your love for some long lost pieces, bring your favourite summer pieces back to life with a new jacket or scarf.
Have fun with it.
I hope this has inspired you to look in to the darker depths of your wardrobe and sparked a new way of looking at your seasonal style, have fun and go crazy.
The ideas are endless and your style is eternal.
You can find the jacket I'm wearing here or in the shop bit of my blog here.
For the new jacket edit by Superdry, click here.
You can find the jacket I'm wearing here or in the shop bit of my blog here.
For the new jacket edit by Superdry, click here.
* this was a sponsored post in collaboration with Superdry, however as always all writing, images and opinions are entirely by yours truly.
There's something about autumn fashion that makes me feel at home. It's the time of year when the cold is welcomed, the knitwear comes out and the morning journeys with a hot cup of coffee make you feel like everything is right in the world... until you get so distracted by something on twitter and inevitably spill the coffee down your brand new jumper, but you know, aside from that. On top of the knitwear buying frenzy everyone embarks on there's also the welcome addition of another solid autumn staple.
I happily wear ankle boots all year round but once the leaves start falling it gives me the urge to fully revamp my collection and get some newbies in for fall. I've always believed that shoes, along with bags, are the pieces in your wardrobe that you shouldn't hesitate spending a little more money on. They're the pieces that see the most wear and tear and so if you want to get ones that last, you're better off putting up your budget a bit. After all there is nothing worse with falling in love with a pair of shoes only for them to fall apart after wearing them a few times.
One of my favourite styles at the moment rivals the surprise element of actually growing to like kitten heels in 2017, which FYI I used to hold in comparison to crocs, I feel like there will be a lot of people that can relate to these feelings.
Patent, I hated everything patent growing up. It would be an immediate sad face if my mum picked up a patent style shoe whilst we were school shopping. The sad face was pretty useless though as it wasn't like I was going to get any say due to the "because I say so" line being dropped. But they've recently moved themselves off my "sashay away" list and in to my "shante you stay" section. High Shine shoes, you have shown nerve, charisma and talent (nothing like a good Ru Paul quote really is there). The ones I'm wearing here are from Debenhams and cost £95, they've actually got a pretty fab range in. I've never really considered shopping for anything more than skincare and make up at Debenhams as I'd always had the presumption that it would all be highly priced but I was surprised to see that the majority of the shoes I liked were around the £30-£60 mark. There's an entire edit for how to style high shine pieces too over HERE in case you're a little stuck for inspo, personally I think the high shine trend just adds a little jazz to your outfit, whether it's a simple pop with a boot or a statement coat.
I hope I've reinvigorated or perhaps spawned a new love affair for some of you with patent shoes, but if that childhood memory still sits heavy of your mum making you walk away with them in the shoe shop instead of the fun ones that came with a toy in the heel, then I don't blame you and you should definitely get some light up trainers to heal the pain.
<<<<< SOME OF MY FAVE STYLES >>>>
What I am wearing - Gabor
My fave everyday comfy stye - The Collection
A statement shape - Faith
The heavy weather style - Kurt Geiger
*this was a post in collaboration with Debenhams UK.
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