Fashion: Tartan and Daisies

Every year, I never understand the fascination with the January sales. Usually I buy a couple of bits and bobs here and there.. but this year i'm a student living off of my student loan, which somehow has meant all my money has disappeared into the January sales abyss, mainly the ASOS abyss actually. I convinced myself it was okay, because they offer free delivery and free returns.. Oooh and student discount! This is my ASOS haul (so far).

Black Polo Neck Crop Top - ASOS

Statement Necklace - Stolen from Mum's jewellery drawer..

Tartan Skirt - ASOS

Tights - Tesco

Boots - ASOS

Bag - New Look (Christmas present from younger brother).

Nails - OPI 'OPI Ink'

This first outfit is so perfect for A/W because it actually keeps you super warm aswell as staying on trend. Tartan has been so popular this season and pairing it with a simple black top keeps it wearable and suitable for everyday wear. I paired this outfit with a chunky statement necklace just to add interest and to show how this versatile outfit can quickly be changed from day wear to night attire.

The boots were a total steal at £30 for real leather! However i did have a couple of problems with ASOS because at first they sent me a pair with completely faulty insoles. They were glued in half way up the boot if that makes sense? I sent them back requesting a replacement and they sent me these which have the same problem, just less severe. So i'm currently debating whether or not to ask for another replacement.. what do you think?

Daisy Print Swing Dress - ASOS

Tights & Boots - As before

This dress caught my eye because it looked really comfortable and easy to wear, yet really pretty and feminine. I was right, it's super soft and hides and lumps and bumps, but does anyone else think it's a little.. unflattering? I'm really unsure whether or not to send it back. I adore the print, and wearing this to uni would be easy to just chuck on, but the shapelessness does me no favours. The t-shirt styled high neck also seems to look strange on me, so i'm really at a loss. Help and advice would be appreciated!

However, if you are one of the lucky so-in-so's who can pull off a swing dress, this would be a lovely piece for that difficult winter to spring wardrobe transition. I think it looks sophisticated and cosy with a pair of boots, but it would also look good bare legged with strappy sandals.

Leather Zip Jacket - New Look (old)

Leather Collar dress - ASOS

Tights & Boots - As before.

Lastly, I picked up this patterned leather collar dress from Club L at ASOS. Supposedly it's knitted, but it was also a complete steal at £11.50 (down from £40!). I've already worn this out to my friends birthday meal on New Year's Day and it's that type of dress that is perfect for that kind of Smart/Casual event. I love how the leather collars adds a little fierceness, yet the shape is so girly and cutesy. 

So yes, I've spent waaaay too much on the ASOS website this month, not to mention i've also bought some new Forever 21 goodies, books, candles, lush treats.. the list goes on and someone needs to stop me before things get out of hand.

Also, these are the first outfit photos i've taken in over a year and I have to thank my gorgeous boyfriend for helping me out. I think he's done a really good job, tell him what you think over on his blog. 

What have you guys bought in the January Sales? Let me know on my Facebook page!

Instagram 006: Strawberry Buttercream

1. Hair bow inspired by Emmerliejay 2. Autumnal Impress nails 3. Outfit of BFW12 4. New outfits 5. TGI Friday's cocktail 6. Boux Avenue opening 7. Birthday Cake 8. Making Mojitos 9.Strawberry Buttercream yankee candle 10. Milkshakes with my bestie 11. BFW with Milly 12.New missguided jacket

13. My Tattoo 14. BFW notes 15. Shakeaway Milkshakes 16. September She Said Beauty box 17. Nail Foils 18. Cybercandy goodness 19. Original Source strawberry shower gel 20. Molly and I winning a trophy! 21. Cookies and Creme Pop Tarts 22. Cocktails with Milly 23. Peanut butter milkshakes at Atomic Burger 24. Las Iguanas Mojitos 

25. £1.99 Essie Nail polishes 26. Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate 27. Boux Avenue goodie bag 28. Birthday money cupcakes 29. Outfit with my ECCO shoes 30. New skull bracelet 31. Forever 21 Earrings 32. Peanut butter chocolate heaven! 33. Peach and Green tea 34. Starbuck Refresha's 35. Batiste dry shampoo 36. Birthday cupcakes.

These past couple of months have contained a lot of milkshakes and tasty drinks! I didn't realise until i clumped all of these pictures together. Although the Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate is most definitely my favourite thing to drink at the moment. I hope you guys like these little updates, it's almost like a picture diary. I've been using Instagram a lot more recently and have tried to get into the habit of posting at least one picture a day so head on over and follow me, my username is @sleepwakehope

Do you have Instagram? What have you been up to recently? What's your favourite autumnal drink? Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

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?

A/W Wishlist 2012

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9

1. So the military trend has been very popular recently, and i can't help but jump on the bandwagon and fall in love with these army styled jackets. This is the cheapest one i've found on the market so far at £29.99 from Missguided and i really love the leather sleeves and stud detailing. 

2. I really love the style of this bracelet and i think the pink makes a really cool statement. The rope accent makes it seem quite nautical which i really like. I've been really loving Forever 21 jewellery lately.

3. Do i really need to explain this one? Another forever 21 piece and i just absolutely love everything about this jumper. I'm quite the hello kitty fan and i just think this is adorable.. someone buy this for me please?

4. Another Missguided love! This jumper reminds me of the wildfox jumpers but at a fraction of the price. I love the star print and i think this would be so cosy, perfect for A/W!

5. I really love the style of these chunky chain necklaces because i think they go with everything and just make an outfit look more put together. This one is from forever 21 because, like i said before i'm loving their jewellery right now! I think this is going to be a recurring theme..

6. I don't tend to shop at Republic too much but recently the gorgeous print on this skirt caught my eye and i just think this would be so pretty to wear either on a night out or dressed down during the day. I also really love the zip detail on the waistband.

7. All my current iPhone cases are of cute animals like cats and pandas and i feel like i should maybe get something a bit more grown up? I really love the colours on this case and i may have actually already bought this for myself.. Etsy is a really great place for awesome phone cases!

8. I also found this skirt through Republic but it's from the brand Reverse who always seem to have lovely cross prints on their clothing. I think this skirt would be really wearable, not sure i'm a fan of the price tag though!

9. The final thing on my wishlist at the moment are these really pretty rose gold bow earrings from Forever 21. For £3.15 these are an absolute bargain and i've been really into bow's lately. I just think they're so feminine, pretty and girly. 

What's on your wishlist at the moment? 

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 Rays

Hey guys! Sorry i haven't posted all week, I've been so busy with sixth form and work. I also started volunteering in the charity shop on Wednesday which was good fun! And they had some real treasures too, i pulled out a gorgeous Burberry skirt and a Ralph Lauren shirt. They even had some Forever 21 stuff in there! Never underestimate your local charity shop.

Anyway I've recently been really into this whole galaxy/cosmic print trend at the moment and wanted to share some of my favourite pieces with you guys.

First are these galaxy black leggings from Black Milk. Now it's coming up to winter, i need a night out alternative to dresses and skirts to keep my legs warm and these are really eye catching! I love the print and the colours. Black milk do a whole range of different unique leggings which are all really pretty. I also really like their swimsuits - this one reminds me of Dr who!

My next galaxy loving are these Galaxy Print Jeffrey Campbell Lita Boots. Unfortunately i don't really know where to buy them in the UK and they are sooo expensive. Maybe i could ask father Christmas for these this year :) They are gorgeous though, Jeffrey Campbell shoes are always genius.

Even Lush are following this new trend with their Space Girl bath bomb. I love the swirling constellation effect that the glitter produces on this one. You can buy these from lush at £1.90 per 125g.

Finally, there are so many DIY galaxy print tutorials on the internet at the moment and they are so clever! Youtube has tutorials such as this one to create the effect on your nails - I will definitely be trying this out at some point. And if you pop over to Lillie's blog Threads and Ends, she has done an AMAZING galaxy print bag tutorial too, i wish i was as creative as to think of this. She has a lot of inspiring DIY bits on her blog :)

So that's it for now, sorry i haven't posted in a week! I'm going to try to post more regularly this week as i have a lot lined up!

What do you guys think about the galaxy print craze? Much love xxx