Fashion: Amour Outfit of the Night

Although Valentines Day was a good couple of weeks ago now, I feel like I have to dedicate this post to it because it was really special for Nick and I. It was actually our first Valentines Day together and I know a lot of people complain that it's just a commercialised money making scheme, and "you should show your love everyday," but we love treating each other, and this was just another excuse to. During the day, he had work and I had a full day of uni, so we decided to have a romantic evening in with good food, a film and lots of candles and rose petals!

I felt very lucky! I thought i'd also include what I wore. I know we stayed in, but I still wanted to look nice, and I needed an excuse to wear this adorable red skirt with black leather panels from River Island. I bought it last year but have only worn it a handful of times so far. Straight after we finished eating, I ran upstairs and changed into joggers because that's the real me.. haha.

Black polo neck crop top: Select

Gold statement necklace: Primark (borrowed from my housemate - Thanks!)

Black waist belt with gold hardware: Primark (old)

Red mini skirt with black leather PU side panels: River Island

Black creeper styled shoes: New Look

Rose gold watch: Tesco

Pandora Bracelet with heart and bow charm: Gift 

So the night before Valentines Day, Nick and I stayed up until midnight to exchange gifts because we were so excited! He enjoys Geocaching (if you don't know what it is, google it) so I bought him a GPS device to use when he goes out, plus he's a real gadget geek. And I was surprised with my very first Pandora bracelet! The thought behind it was to buy a new charm at monumental times in my life, so each charm means something special to me and brings back certain memories. He had also bought me my first charm, which was the little puffed silver heart and the word 'love' in a few different languages. However, I was allowed to buy one another charm and chose the cutest little bow, i'm such a girly girl!

So I was a very lucky and happy girl and I really appreciated all the effort he went to in order to make Valentine's Day so special for me. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day too, in a relationship or not. My housemate who is single teamed up with one of her girlfriends and made cards and gifts for each other which I thought was a really cute idea too. 

I also need help and inspiration for new charms! I'm so excited to fill up my bracelet and make it personal. If you have one, or have done a blog post on one, i'd love to read it.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to Vodka Revs in Bristol for the #BrizBlogMeet - Let me know if you are also attending or if you want to follow the event throughout the course of the day, you can follow me on twitter (@katiefhowell) and track it through the hashtag stated above.

What did you do for Valentine's day? Do you have a Pandora bracelet? And if so, what kind of charms?

#Blogmas Day Two: Fairy Cake

It's blogmas day two and today I thought i'd share a little outfit post with you all. This is the kind of thing i wear day to day, just to run errands and that kind of thing. The jumper is a new addition to my wardrobe and i love the colour, as you may of notice I'm slightly obsessing over burgundy colours! It is slightly thin though, so it's an essential to layer this one up. What i also love about it is the little speckled detailing which just makes the colour more interesting. 

The tights I'm wearing are also totally adorable with little white polka dots, however not very practical for the colder weather. I'm on the hunt for some chunky warm tights at the moment. Also I've been wearing these shoes to death, i love creeper style shoes grunge down an outfit and they're also super comfortable which is a bonus. 

I bought this necklace a while ago on a whim in primark. The geometric shapes and almost illusion-al print caught my eye. It's a unique piece and it definitely makes this outfit more interesting. Plus it was a bargain at something like £3! It looks great with high neck tops more than anything or under a collar, but it can work with outfits like this too. On my lips I'm wearing the collection 2000 creme puff in fairy cake again simply because i rediscovered and fell in love with it. The colour is so pigmented and it lasts for ages! 

Jumper - New Look

Necklace - Primark

Skirt - Primark

Tights - H&M

Creeper styled shoes - New Look

What has been your winter staples this year? Stay tuned for more #blogmas!

Also, please like my Facebook page for regular updates.

Studded Camouflage

I have LOVED the wardrobe transition from summer to autumn/winter and i've particularly loved the military trend at the moment. If you saw my latest wishlist post, you will know i was obsessing over this beautiful army styled jacket from missguided and i loved it so much, i just had to buy it. 

I've literally been wearing this jacket with almost every outfit recently, i feel like it's a really versatile style and can look good with most other clothing. I particularly like wearing it with my leather look leggings to match with the sleeves and my favourite khaki hat from Forever 21 which hasn't yet left my head since the first leaves of Autumn fell! I've seen a few alternative of this jacket floating around but what I love about this one is all the little detailing including the studded pockets and zips on the sleeves. This is definitely a staple piece in my wardrobe this season and such a reasonable price too.

Hat - Forever 21 (Sold out online)

Jacket - Missguided

Top - Primark

Leather Look Leggings - New Look

Nails - Impress Nails

Rings - LLYMRS & Vintage

Shoes - Forever 21

Another trend i've fallen in love with is this gorgeous deep shade of mahogany or "oxblood" as i've heard. It's a really vampy look and i think it looks perfect for the autumn/winter seasons. I particularly like wearing this colour on my nails and lips as you can see! On my lips i've been wearing the Revlon Lip Butters, "berry smoothie" being a favourite or I've been using the 17 cosmetics lipstick in "pink posey." For my nails i've invested in the impress nails which have been floating around the bloggersphere for a while now. I love how quick and easy they are to apply and i absolutely love the colour however they don't seem particularly durable in my opinion. I've been wearing them for 2 days and have already had to replace a fair few. I'll let you know when i've made my mind up about them!

In other news, i've been super busy recently with work. As some of you may know i work 2 jobs, in the daytime I work in a store pretty much full time and by night i work in a club behind the bar. Therefore with the little free time i have i'm either sleeping or catching up with friends! With the run up to Christmas, things have been much more hectic than usual so that's why sometimes things get a little AWOL on here. I'm very much looking forward to Halloween and sharing some spooky stuff with you guys though so keep a look out for that :)

What's your favourite Autumn trend? Have you entered my giveaway to win tickets to the BBC Good Food Show?

Bristol Fashion Week: BFW12

As the summer fades into crisper weather and autumn approaches, it can only mean one thing. A new season and new fashions! A couple of weeks ago i headed down to The Mall at Cribbs Causeway for Bristol Fashion Week, some of you may have seen my tweets. I was very lucky to attend as a blogger and meet up with some other lovely bloggers where we received a champagne reception and some jam-packed goodie bags after the show.

The show itself was inspiring and a lot of fun as it always is. What i really love about Bristol Fashion Week is that they include a wide range of models from all ages and sizes and they make it very engaging. All the models are smiling and dancing around as if they are really enjoying it which makes it a lot more entertaining to watch. Plus there were some very attractive models this season!

What I wore: Top - Bottom

Hat - Forever 21 (I've been living in this lately!)

Cut out stripy top - Forever 21

3 Chain necklace - Dorothy Perkins

Belt - Primark

Bag - Ebay

Black Maxi Skirt - Topshop

Gold bow flats - Forever 21

Other lovely bloggers: Amie, Milly, Me, Tara and Vicky

Thank you to Kim for the photos.. Now onto the show!

Delicious and sparkly reception - I loved all the fairy lights!

The show kicked off with a museum styled theme with fashions from Marks and Spencer and jewellery from Accessorize. It was all very glittery and sparkly, but very tailored with suits and fancy jewels. As you can see, the autumnal colours have hit the runway with warmer shades of plums and browns.

There were also fashions from New Look and menswear from Burton and children's clothing from Next. As you can see, in this scene the guys came out on roller skates - this is what i mean about the show being a lot of fun to watch! This scene was based around street style so there was a lot of slogan t-shirts and the cross print seemed to be very popular too.

We also saw fashions from Phase Eight and Austin Reed with shoes from Jones Bootmaker. Now i've never shopped with Phase Eight before, their clothing is a little too mature for me but i really loved their elegance and how chic all the clothing was. It seems that the colour emerald green is popular with them for the fall as it cropped up everywhere including the dress above.

Next up we had quite an oriental little scene. Now floral prints are typically worn through spring/summer but this season they are expected to be popular too, just in darker colours and a more sophisticated print. Above is John Lewis' take on the fashion.

Another fun scene was fashions from Fat Face, children's wear from John Lewis.. and the disney store of all places! I really like fat face, not the price tag, but the quality of clothing is lovely.. so comfortable and perfect for layering. Bristol Fashion Week took a western style approach to their fashions but i absolutely love the boots styled with jeans and skirts. Next on my wishlist is definitely a pair of knee high boots!

We were told in the show that purple is going to be a really popular colour this season, a "cadbury" purple to be exact. This was seen on the runway with some gorgeous evening wear from Coast, menswear from River Island and some very sparkling footwear from Dune. 

Another collection from M&S was up next with footwear from Clarks and jewellery from Ernest Jones. This scene also presented us with really pretty autumnal shades that complimented the heritage theme. It all felt very vintage and reminded me of the new John Lewis advert! 

*All photo's are credit to The Mall Cribbs Causeway
In the finale we saw the theme of a Venician ball take place which included fashions from various retailers at the mall. The key colours here tended to be black and gold which reminded me a lot of a New Years party in the winter. I also noticed a lot of velvet which may become a key trend in the months to come!

Overall I really enjoyed the show and i'd like to thank The Mall at Cribbs Causeway for having me. I can't wait to layer up my clothing for the autumn/winter and accessorise with woolly scarves and winter hats.

What's your favourite trend for Autumn/Winter? Also don't forget to enter my giveaway to win tickets to the BBC Good Food Show!

Birthday Girl

Last weekend i celebrated my 19th birthday, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! Usually i really take celebrating to the extreme on birthday's, but this year it was a rather quiet affair, i spent the day working followed by an evening in with my family, Indian take-out and a glass of champagne. Classy, right? I received some lovely gifts and a really tasty birthday cake! So i thought i'd share some snaps from the day with you. 

 Birthday lunch at Las Iguanas & My amazing birthday cake!

Overloaded with gifts!

Malibu & Disaronno, my favourites..

Gifts from my brother - Purse, belt and scarf.

Pretty cards, scents and candles..

New geek stuff.. yay for a hard drive!

Pretty, sparkly things..

Some cute make-up bits, the bronzer is so pretty!

As you can see, i got some really lovely little gifts. Not to mention, i was lucky enough to spend the day on Sunday in London, visiting my best friend and exploring the joys of Oxford St. I really enjoyed trying everything on in Forever 21, oogling over how big Topshop is and spending hours on end in Victoria Secret.. It was literally like my version of heaven. I did also pick up a few treats for myself including some cute bow earrings, a new hat, sparkly bow pumps and a delicious VS scent. 

Have you visited London recently? Where's your favourite place to spend birthday money!?

Cosmic Unicorns

I am totally in love with this new T-Shirt from Orange Circle. I was actually lucky enough to win Kim's giveaway a few weeks back, meaning i could choose my own Orange Circle Tee. Now, i've been actually looking over their site for a few months now and every now and then i'd be tempted to place an order, but i've never been a huge t-shirt wearer and thought they'd just make me look well.. frumpy. But ever since this bad boy arrived, i've found every excuse to wear it, i even wore it out on a dinner date last week! It's just so cute and comfy, and i absolutely love the design and print. Orange Circle have such a vast selection of designs and prints, it was hard to decide on this one, i love their "Ice Cream" tops.

(Excuse my strange facial expression)

Top - Orange Circle

Jeans - Primark

Shoes - Topshop 

Bracelet - The Prettiest Things

Ring - The Accessory Stand 

Nails - Barry M "Shocking Pink"

I paired this tee with my mint coloured primark jeans which i think are just perfect for adding colour to an outfit. The galaxy print in the unicorn works well with the mint colour too in my opinion, and my trusty Topshop studded loafers to complete the outfit. Unfortunately they're getting a little worn out now, which breaks my heart! It's definitely a comfy, casual outfit, perfect for everyday wear and errands. 

In other news, not a lot has been going on in my exciting little life. I've been working a fair bit, and partying hard before i get my A-Level results next week. I've also been preparing for my little getaway holiday next week, any idea's where i might be going? You'll never guess! I'm off to the River Wye for a tipi adventure holiday with a big group of friends. It's going to be crazy, they literally put you on your canoe with a map and off you go! No technology for 3 days will be a little hard to adjust to, but a nice break all the same. 

I'm off to film a primark haul now for the 3BrokeGirls channel, so be sure to check that out if you get the chance!

Have you been away this summer? Or are you going? What's your favourite Orange Circle design?

Jack Daniels Burger Night

I went out yesterday evening to TGI Fridays for a meal with my friends Alley and Grace and decided to get a little bit dressed up. At weekends i seem to find myself with no free time and going out with my friends can be a rarity so i enjoy dolling up a bit! 

Leather Jacket - Thrifted

Blouse - New Look

Necklace - Clothes Show Live

Shorts - Primark (Only £5!)

Tights - Gift

Wedges - Primark

As usual i opted for my trusty leather jacket, seen in all my outfit posts! And i have to mention my shorts which were only £5 from Primark - that is what you call a bargain! I'm thinking of studding these around the pockets or something to give them more of an edge, if any of you have any ideas of what i could do let me know! 

But yeah, last night was lovely. I had the classic Jack Daniels burger because i love the sauce! And a couple of yummy cocktails, if you haven't tried their baileys/oreo milkshake cocktail, YOU MUST! I had it instead of a dessert and it tasted so good. It was also really nice to spend some girl time with Alley and Grace, we got a bit of shopping done too and i FINALLY bought the RT stippling brush that everyone raves about. I also have to thank the girls for helping take some photo's, they kept making me giggle and we had a lot of fun.

I love Alley's shoes and the colour of Grace's skirt! Anyway, i hope you guys enjoy the bank holiday weekend. The majority of my weekend is and will be spent working. I've recently started working in a club in town on Saturday nights, so juggling that with retail on weekends is quite tiring! Also i've been asked to nanny two young girls on a Sunday afternoon after work so it really is go go go for me at the moment but i am still fitting in blogging! I have a tonne of beauty related posts heading your way soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Just a couple of crazy snaps..

What plans do you have for the bank holiday weekend? Enjoy yourselves!