Favourite Colours

Wearing: Whistles trousers & boots Pieces bag Crumpet cashmere biker vintage jewellery QSW blouse

For me to wear colour is quite unusual. It seems to be a fairly recent thing, or maybe it's the time of year, as I do have a little colour in my wardrobe, mostly muted, to be honest, but there is some in there! However, I always refer to my favourite palette at the moment, which involves (and is pretty limited to) navy, black, cream, and camel. Sometimes it's easier to dress in colours (or shades) you actually like, rather than trying to shoehorn in colour for the sake of it!

What's missing in colour I made up for in print and pattern, my fave blanket check Crumpet biker jacket is perfect for this time of year and it actually works quite well with this pretty printed Quiksilver blouse that I bought in TK Maxx towards the end of last year (I had summer in mind when I bought it as it's short sleeved!)

Apologies about the trouser/boot combo, promise I'll try not to wear them again, such a failed blogger! I have been wearing the boots frequently due to a bad foot, which does seem to be getting better now so there will be some different footwear in my next outfit post, I hope! I actually found a pair of perfect vintage tan heeled sandals on this particular trip to Weston (where these pics were taken) which would have looked amazing with this look, so I'll have to try and post about them soon!

XO Amie

Instagram Week #16

Blogging in Bath // Boat People Vintage post // Damart Lookbook // Chanel Shoes // More Chanel shoes // Blogging in Bath again // Making new blog friends // Shoe dreams in Reiss // New record

As you'll no doubt have seen from last week's post, Sunday was spent in Bath as part of the Bath in Fashion warm up event. I really like events like this where I get to meet other bloggers or bloggers who I know if but haven't had much of a chance to speak to before, so it was great to catch up with all the gals. 

On the shoe front (always featured in my Instagrams!) I am loving that the warmer weather has allowed the ballet pumps to come out! I've been wearing my Chanel ones an awful lot but I also managed to score a pair of Chanel brogues from eBay for a ridiculously low price earlier in the week so I'm going to be switching them around and wearing both. 

Brand wise, I got the chance to look through the Damart look book this week, which, as always, was impeccably styled and totally got me thinking about fashion for warmer weather, and then I also spent a good portion of Easter Sunday (it was raining all day, mind!) browsing one of my favourite vintage website, Boat People Vintage, and totally wish-listing all of it.

XO Amie

Boat People Vintage Picks

I've spoken about Boat People Vintage here on my blog before. The brand handpicks selected vintage items to sell on their online store, as well as running a blog which encompasses a love for vintage with DIY's and fashion stories. I really enjoy the DIY videos that BPV post on YouTube and I have referenced them a couple of times on my blog for my DIY posts.

A lazy Sunday afternoon often involves, for me at least, browsing online stores and the beauty of this is that it can be done from the comfort of your sofa!  Vintage online stores bring the best of the picks straight to your mouse and can be purchased with minimum effort and delivered straight to your door; something that can't be said for vintage shopping in real life. It's often a bit of a rummage to find what you're after, but to be honest, that's one of the most redeeming qualities, I find, and then when you find a gem, it makes it all the better!

Nonetheless, what I do love about online vintage shopping is the styling and being able to see a vintage garment on a person which enables you to better judge fit and sizing. I probably would vintage shop online, but only if I was looking for something in particular, as that's something you can never do when you are thrifting or charity shopping-if you go with an idea of what you want in mind, you are unlikely to ever find it!

 

You can check out the Boat People Vintage store here, I've not bought anything from them yet but only because shipping to the UK starts from $30, so it would have to be something that I was desperate for to warrant my paying that much money to have it sent over. Shipping is free, however, if you spend over $200, so if you wanted to treat yourself to a few items or if you and your girlfriends all put in to place an order together that might work out better. I reference the site often for inspiration, I love the styling and it also gives me ideas on items to look out for in the charity shop!

 

XO Amie

Spring Beauty Refresh

Spring Beauty picks: Umberto Giannini Festival Styling Kit // No.7 Beautiful Skin Make up Wipes // Balenciaga Florabotanica // MUA Matte Palette // DermaVio Seasalt Spray // MUA Extreme Mascara // Hairy Jayne Hair Refresher // Essie Reptile Effects nail polish // Trevarno Overnight Replenishing Cream

Because I subscribe to Glossybox, I rarely actually buy beauty products. I have mentioned before that I'm not the sort of person to change their makeup look very often; I know what I like and I tend to stick with that, though I will try out new products if they are on offer now and again. I have recently got hold of some new hair and beauty items so I thought I'd share them!

A lot of the items I found were on the clearance rack in Boots (class!) I love a good sale; unopened makeup shouldn't go off and so it's a good excuse to try out new colours, styles or products without too much outlay. The first thing I found was the Umberto Giannini Festival Styling kit. This was reduced to about £2.50 I think, and I really only bought it as it had a really nice compact mirror and also a handy comb inside that will be ideal for sorting my fringe out! It also comes with ribbons to rag curl your hair, I don't think I've got the patience to do this and because my hair is soooooo long and quite heavy, it's hard for me to keep curls in it without them dropping out. It also had a quite nice headband in the pack too as well as instructions on the back about how to get cool boho hairstyles. Which are always useful for summer time, I suppose!

The No.7 Beautiful Skin wipes are a forever repurchased item, I always wait for the Boots voucher offer which makes them £2 a pack and then stock up. They aren't harsh and I have sensitive skin, I don't find them drying and they do take makeup off easily.

I have so many perfumes that I really didn't need another but this Florabotanica by Balenciaga was reduced to £17 from almost £50 so I couldn't resist it. It has quite a heady scent which is not particularly floral but it's quite striking and wearable all the same. It also lasts really well throughout the day, it's definitely been my go-to daily fragrance for March and April.

I went to Weston the other week and their MUA section was much better stocked than my local one, so I helped myself to a Matte palette (£3) and an Extreme Lengths Mascara (£2). The palettes are such good value, the shades have great colour payoff and little fallout and I like the wearable combination of colours included. This is a replacement for the 'Undressed' palette I had been using but I chose this one instead as there were a couple of colours in the Undressed palette I didn't like, and I really liked all the shades in the Matte one. Unfortunately, the shade I use to fill in my brows is in the Undressed palette (which, by the way, is a good dupe for the Urban Decay Naked palettes) and I couldn't buy it as a single, and the closest colour match in the Matte palette isn't as good, so I might have to re-buy the Undressed palette anyway just for that one pan. Mind you at £4 it isn't too much of an outlay, even if I don't use a couple of the shades! I also picked up an Extreme Mascara, most of their mascaras are £2 and are really quite good!

The last thing I found in Boots was this Essie Reptile nail varnish which was reduced to £3. It is one of those with a magnet in the lid so when you hold it over the polish it creates a snakeskin effect. It took a bit of practise to get the effect even, but when it worked, it looked so good! I was so surprised that it was in the sale as well, as Essie polishes usually retail at around £9 so it was a total bargain too.

The final three items are picks from my #BrizBlogMeet goodie bag. I was lucky enough to get some amazing products at the event and it's been great to be able to use them all, but a couple really stood out as favourites. First up, the Trevarno Overnight Replenishing Cream, which I actually wrote a whole review post on here. Also, I got some amazing haircare from DermaVio in the form of this seasalt spray, which is a product I absolutely love and use quite often in the summer because it encourages the natural wave in my hair, without the frizz! Secondly was this amazing Hair Refresher / Perfume / Heat Protectant from Hairy Jayne. I'd not heard of this brand before but this product is wonderful. It smells incredible (probably down to the bergamot, geranium and vanilla contents!) and not only protects your hair from heat damage, but also fragrances it with the lovely scent too! I think it's also possible to use it as a refreshing spray if you don't have time to wash your hair, too, but I didn't use it for this purpose. I've actually finished it so no doubt it will appear in an 'empties' post soon! Hairy Jayne is a handmade brand, and Jayne is a real hairdresser who makes her own handmade products, so they are natural and free from nasty unpronounceable ingredients. Read more and buy here!

XO Amie

Bath in Fashion Blogger Day

Team Fashion Vultures: Sophie, Lily, me, Hayley, Jess

On Sunday, I visited Bath to take part in a Bath in Fashion blogger day. Sort of a warm up for the event itself, the lovely Gina (who took the snap above) acted as host for the day and had arranged a really exciting itinerary for us. We met at the gorgeous Royal Crescent Hotel which has just been refurbished and is looking incredible. We used the beautiful gardens for a spot of photography!

First up, we were given a talk by Nicky Hancock who is a member of the team organising Bath in Fashion. She walked through the different elements of the event and what was on offer this year, stand out events for me included talks by both Meadham Kirchoff and Barbara Hulanicki of Biba fame.

Next, we were split into teams, and had to go on a fashion scavenger hunt around Bath. we had been given a list of trends and had to find items pertaining to the trends in various stores, and then instagram them with specific hashtags. Points meant prizes, and for wearing the garments you got more points, hence my team running from shop to shop trying on all manner of random items in a bid to be victorious-and we were! We were thrilled to win and our prize was a beauty box by organic brand Souk Souk, each. I'm actually going to dedicate a post to a review of this so watch out for that!

After the challenge had come to an end, we met back at the Fashion Museum to have a look around whilst Gina totted up the scores. I'd been to the museum not long before Christmas, so I wasn't sure if there would be much more to see, but a few of the exhibits had been updated and there was a small selection of looks worn by Princess Diana, with letters she'd written to David Emmanuel. I don't know if this was new or if I'd just missed it last time, but I enjoyed looking at it this time around.

Also new was 'dress of the year' which had only been installed two days before our visit! This exhibit is a dress chosen by a person in the field of fashion which they believe epitomises the previous year. So 2013's dress of the year is: Christopher Kane, chosen by Style Bubble blogger, Susie Lau. It's an interesting choice and very current; Susie is famed for her love of bright colour and intereseting fabrics so I wasn't surprised to see these were well represented in her choice!

I had such a lovely day; we were told to wear comfortable shoes as there was quite a considerable amount of walking to do during the day so I wore a midi skirt from ASOS White with a Gap knit and Topshop chelsea boots-first time I'd got my legs out this year! It was a glorious day, too; perfect for pottering around the streets of Bath. We were also given amazing goodie bags after the event which contained gifts from Anthropologie, (which is opening in Bath in May) Liz Cox, Weleda and BiOrganics; amazing!

XO Amie

Instagram Week #15

Jewellery // Dream shoes //Anthropologie goodies // Charity shop find of the week // Pleats and pretty shoes at Reiss // Trendy backpacks ladies // Comptoir des Contonniers // Vintage shop // Studded slippers

Yesterday I attended a Bath in Fashion blogging event which was super fun. Apologies for spamming up Instagram with loads of random pics; as part of the event teams took part in a fashion scavenger hunt, which involved finding trends on a list we were given and then snapping those trends. Bonus points involved if the trend was being worn! As it happened, the team I was on - Team Fashion Vultures - won, which was really cool! I am going to write a post on the day and explain what went on in more detail but it really was a lovely event and the weather was perfect for lots of trotting around the shops of Bath!

Also this week I went over to Weston and found an amazing pair of shoes in a charity shop where everything costs £1. Usually there's not much there but I always have a look in case I find a gem, and this time I did! They are vintage by Saxone and so cute! I also decided to get the black Swedish Hasbeen ornament sandals after deliberating over Instagram which colour to get. I love them; they are so comfortable and I think the black is a little more interesting than the tan ones; if probably more seasonally inappropriate now!

XO Amie

Saturday Swoon c/o Topshop

Age Chelsea Boots from Topshop

This week's Saturday dream shoe is actually a boot from Topshop. I had some Toppers vouchers to spend and after weeks of trying to find the perfect chelsea boots, I think I've managed it with this style. They are currently on offer for £50 and they are amazing. I love the pull tabs at the back and front, which makes getting them on really easy, and they aren't too wide on the foot either, which is something I've found quite a common fault in Topshop boots.

I've only worn them once so far and they were very comfortable, I thought I'd post about them because if you're on the hunt for an amazing pair of chelsea boots that won't break the bank, you'd do worse than to get these!

XO Amie