Sunday Lust List #9

1. I have been a firm fan of Butler and Wilson for a few years now, and when I spotted these dazzling beauties in a little shop in Wells a few weeks ago, I fell in love! A little bit out my price range perhaps, but that doesn’t have to stop me dreaming of them, right?!

2. This dress is a pink, sparkly, princessy dreaaam! I missed out on wearing these kinds of dresses when I was little, because I was such a fiend when it came to pretty outfits – as my poor mum can vouch for! Nonetheless, I would absolutely love to pair this up with the other accessories in this Lust List, and head off to a fun summer ball – a girl can dream 🙂

3. Ever the mermaid wannabe, I would love to be able to carry my essentials around in this cute little Zara Rhodes seashell clutch – perfect!

4. I seem to forever be on the hunt for the perfect heels – practicality always comes above looks when it comes to shoes, for me, which is always what stops me making that purchase; I am currently Carrie and Lucy’s house, which is full of pretty shoes, and am having some serious shoe envy, which is making me increasingly eager to update my collection!

5. I am currently starting to get a little bored of my usual smokey eye look for evenings out, and felt that some fun variation could come in the form of this forest green shade by Bourjois! I am very much an aesthetic-led kind of girl, and have always really loved the packaging of the Bourjois little Round Pots; I’m surprised that I don’t have more of them in my make up bag!

6. After having my last mascara on the go for round about a year, it has finally given up on me, sob sob! I’m always a little cynical as to whether mascaras can realllly be that different, brand to brand, but I’ve been hearing good things about Bad Gal Lashes by Benefit, and would like to give it a go sometime.

7. WOWWWW. This ring is too amazing for words! I’m hoping to be able to buy myself a little graduation treat in the next month or so, and this is currently top of my wish list! At around £30 I think that its pretty reasonable too – I can’t wait to pair it up with some of my favourite summer outfits : )

Down at the Dockside…

Dress Charity Shop
Kitty Flats and Baroque Sunglasses eBay
Tree Frog Ring Cherry Humbug

Because us Brits are so keen to talk about the weather, you’ll know that we have been blessed with some beauuuutiful sunshine over the past few days! Being the outdoorsy countryside girl I am, when the sun’s out, I am completely compelled to get outside and spend as much time in it as possible so nothing makes me happier than some lovely hot sunshine : ) you could say it came at the perfect time too, as I have now officially *finished* university forever – how that happened, I will never know! I’m feeling liberated and excited to be moving back to Somerset for the time being, and am ready to work hard on Cherry Humbug as well as some other fun projects I have lined up – life is good!

You may have noticed that my hair is looking a little more red than in my last outfit post (which was a while ago, ooops!) I feel a bit wary of the fact that red hair is ‘the thing to do’ at the moment, but this isn’t the first time I’ve been a cherry red-head and is definitely not the last, and I actually really love having more of a vibrant colour, and although it might look cliche, I’ve never been one to worry too much about what other people might think! The only downside to having red hair is how quickly it fades… so if you too are thinking of going for a change, be prepared for the regular upkeep that it entails; for some reason unbeknownst to me, red is known to be the colour that fades the fastest, to quote my hairdresser… good choice Katie! Haha.

The dress I have on is one of my favourite charity shop finds as of late, and I feel super summery when I wear it! You can see that the sunshine also puts me in high spirits, as I felt the need to sit on a rock and impersonate my childhood girl crush and hair-icon, Ariel from The Little Mermaid – which got us some funny looks from a couple of men passing by, but hey… : ) I am also bit obsessed with animal themed clothes and accessories (mouse shoes, and now cat shoes… what more can I say?!) so its no wonder these kitty flats found their way into my wardrobe! I might also add that these are possibly the first flats I’ve ever bought that have never given me blisters in the first few wears, quite an achievement I’d say – so when these fall apart, I’ll definitely be purchasing some more : )

Anyway, the sun is calling my name, so I hope you are all enjoying it as much as I am, and I will see you soon! xox

Sunday Lust List #8

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before, but River Island is definitely my favourite high street shop. I’ve had some free time on my hands now my degree is finito (yay!) and was browsing the website last night; with too many pieces I luuurve, I couldn’t choose just 1 or 2 items I liked, so I decided to put together a whole River Island themed Lust List this week! Also, River Island haven’t contacted me about doing this or anything (all of the items from past lust lists have been put there purely by my own accord, too!) just incase this looks like a PR jobby/sponsored post – I’m a genuine RI fan through and through and have been for a long time, pinky promise! : )

1. I think I’ve waffled on enough in past Lust Lists over how obsessed I am with baroque/scarf/chain print, or whatever else you want to call it… and paired with a dash of dalmation print (puppy friendly, might I add!) this dress is pretty damn groovy if you ask me!

2. I have this skirt in Hot Pink, which I bought in the sales around Christmas. I’ve pretty much been wearing it with everything, and with the amount of material involved in this case, I’d say for a high street item its a bit of a steal – the cut is really flattering too!

3. I’ve never been one to turn down a Fruit Salad chew sweet (remember those tangy delights?!) so when I see an item of clothing co-ordinated to the colours of a favourite sugary treat, who am I to resist? Also, I’m a huge fan of Hot Pink lately, and alongside orange I would have to say this is one of my favourite colour combos! I’m also surprised that I only own 2 or 3 playsuits, so I feel this would be a worthy addition to my wardrobe.

4. Currently on the hunt for some new ‘going out shoes’, these perspex platforms are more than edgy enough to tide me over and keep any outfit interesting, and black is always a safe bet as far as shoes go, for someone who doesn’t like to buy heels that often!

5. Because who doesn’t love some kind of crazy/clashy print as an addition to their summer wardrobe??

6. This is an idea I wish I’d thought of, and I think its genius! I’m a big fan of mini-skirts, but not so much a fan of the whole bending down and revealing my knickers to the world… so what could be better than a skirt that shows a bit of leg at the front, but helps you save your dignity whilst allowing a dramatic entrance every time? plus, this is my favourite colour and reminds me of a waterfall… little things please little minds, right?

7. This clutch not only looks sparkly and fab, but it has a chain strap too – perfecto! I’m not one to be trusted with handle-less clutch bags, because inevitably unless a bag is attached to me in some shape or form, it won’t be going home with me, which means bye bye mobile phone and purse, and a lot of aggro to follow! I’m a huge fan of dazzling but practical items, so this is a match made in glitzy-bag heaven!

8. Scalloped edge blazer?? YES PLEASE. Not because I want to be jumping on any bandwagons, but I am a huge huuge fan of smart casual with a bit of a quirky edge, and isn’t the colour gorgeous? Anyone wearing this would certainly stand out in any dull and dreary boardroom, I love it!

9. Because sunglasses are fashion’s gift to those of us who’s eye make up refuses to stay put all day, and because the perfect pair of sunnies are also an immediate lift as far as the glam factor goes… and most of all, because personally, I can never have too many pairs, and with a fun little retro pop can you really go wrong?

10. The UK is failing us miserably this year in terms of bringing some serious Spring sunshine… which means the tights are lingering around longer than ever before! So, the best way to counteract the annoyance of having to wear tights when you wish you could be frolicking bare legged, is to embrace all kinds of crazy patterns and have a field day with them. These striped creations may be a little more Beetlejuice than most, but if the fashion myth is true that vertical stripes are flattering, perhaps these could be the key to supermodel pins any day of the week? Bonsoir Beetlejuice… bonjour Victoria’s Secret Angel! *flips hair*

DIY Tutorial: Marc Jacobs Mouse Flats

The Real Mccoy = £235 vs. DIY = £12. Need I say more??

You might remember that I got a little bit obsessed over these mousey chums courtesy of Mr Marc Jacobs when I spotted them a little while back? As much as I would love to be able to treat myself to the real mccoy, I have to admit that as a student, and a general normal person, I’m not really in a position to spend £235 on one pair of shoes. So! With that in mind, and imagining that there are more like minded ladies out there, on a budget, craving these sparkly beauties, I got a bit creative and have done what I can to re-create this look without having to blow big bucks for the honour.

I’ve been wanting to do this tutorial for aaaages now, but due to 3rd year university work, stress related illness, and general wiped-out-ness from dissertation and final major project, I’ve been a bit lazy – but we got there in the end : ) Happy creating, my little Mouseketeers!

1. To start with, you will need a pair of shoes to transform! I really fell in love with the gold glitter versions of the MJ Mouse flats, which is why I chose this pair. You can find all kinds of brand new ballet flats cheaply on eBay, which is where I got these ones from.

2. You will need: Fabric (for the ears and nose), Rhinestones (for the eyes), Some plastic thread (for the whiskers), a form of adhesive (I’m using my trusty old glue gun!) and of course, scissors! I am using some fabric I cut off from a tote bag that I had lying around in my room, but you can use whatever you want as long as it’ll stick to the shoes etc with the adhesive method you’re going with : ) The idea with the tutorial is to be thrifty, so by all means use something you already have if you think it’d be suitable – or if not, you can always get some materials together cheaply elsewhere!

3. You can’t see the thread very well in the other photograph, so this will show you better what I mean (I hope!) if you can’t see it.

4. The first thing you need to do is to decide where you want the eyes to go. This is essentially down to you! I have spaced mine about fingers’ width apart, and have dotted them on with a dry wipe marker. This kind of marker is good because you can rub off the dot if you want to move it somewhere else, as I had to do once or twice!

5. You will now need to cut out some little semi-circles to make the ears with. You will need 4 of these, to make 2 ears for each mouse – unless your mouse is a little anatomically challenged of course, haha : ) The semi-circles I made are approximately 3cm high x 1.5cm wide, but it really is down to individual interpretation, as well as the size/style of your shoe!

6. In order to create the folded over ears, you will need to fold the semi-circle in half, glue/sew/bondaweb (or whatever it is you’re doing!) along the long, straight edge of the fabric, and glue them so they look less like shapes and more like little mousey ears!

7. Now’s the time to see the mice take shape, with the addition of the ears. Simply attach it to the shoe from the smaller edge so that the majority of the ear stands off of the shoe, like ears do!

8. Now is time for the finishing touch, the nose and whiskers! I opted not to put the whiskers on in the end, but if you want to use them you can simply cut them to size and stick them to the back of the noses before they are attached to the shoe. All you need to do is cut out a couple of pieces of material that look like this, and glue them on to the tip of the shoe. I’m not really how to describe them shape wise, but they will look perfect as a nose for your little friends : ) ta da!

I’m going to stitch around the noses and ears when I get some more time (and a thimble!) so as to give them a little bit more staying power. I am planning on wearing these shoes so I want to make sure I won’t potentially be walking the high street with an earless mouse – that’s no good for anyone is it? Least of all the mouse…

If you’d like to have a go at it yourself, here are a few affordable shoe suggestions, all found on eBay! 1, 2, 3, 4.

P.S If any of you give this a go, I would LOVE to see your creations : ) if you do, feel free to Tweet me with a nice picture of them!