Top - Topshop
Bandeau - DIY
 Jacket - Boohoo via Next2Nowt
Trousers - DaisyStreet
Shoes - Republic
Ring - Dorothy Perkins
Bracelet - Car Boot


  When I was putting this outfit together it did cross my mind that I might look a bit 'Sandy'-esque. It turns out that I do look like Sandy. For anyone who has no idea what I'm on about, think Grease. The weather hasn't been much to shout about this week ('summer' is a lie) - explains the lack of outfit posts!

   The top is another item I bought about 2 years ago but I've never worn. I think I've never worn it as it's see through and I don't tend to wear see through fabrics as I just don't feel comfortable in them. I still don't feel that comfortable wearing it even with a bandeau underneath, but I do really like it so it's a bit of a shame really! A vest top / strappy top just doesn't look right under it. If anyone has any ideas of how I could wear it I'd love to know!

   These shoes are beautiful, but they still need wearing in. The colour of them didn't appeal to me much at first sight, but I've grown to like it more as they can top off quite a plain outfit nicely.

   I've had a lovely week so far - my boyfriend came to visit for a few days. We made cinnamon sugar pretzels, which were ridiculously tasty (dangerously so... infact, I think my love for them is on par with my love for Krispy Kremes, and that's saying something!). Are any of you as crazy about cinnamon pretzels as I am?!
  
Jumper - Religion
Trousers - Daisystreet
Shoes - Converse
Necklace - New Look
Rings - H&M


   I sorted my roots, wahoo! I feel kind of refreshed now I'm back to (rootless) blonde, but for some reason it always takes a bit of getting used to. As I said in this post, I've been trying to start wearing things again that I haven't worn for a while. This jumper used to be a favourite of mine but I've not worn it for a good couple of months now!

   These are the trousers I featured here in my last post. As you can see, they're very discopant-like, but the fabric hasn't got that lycra-ish shine to it, they're more leather looking. I can't stop wearing this necklace! It goes with literally everything and adds some interest to relatively simple outfits like this one.

   I hope you're all getiing some sunshine! We did here yesterday (when I took these photos) so we went down to the coast and had (a rather large!) lunch at a hotel. I had falafel covered in rocket and yarg (if you don't know what yarg is, it's a cheese - try it ;)!) and it was delicious! I have a thing for cheese, shame it's so unhealthy, but who cares when it tastes so good!
Eye Ring, Filigree Ring and Feather Necklace - New Look / Leather-Look Trousers - Daisystreet / Sheer Fishtail Top - Fashion Union / Boots - H&M / Sleeveless Leather Jacket - Amazon


   I love that the Gothic trend is on its way back again as I own a lot of black clothing and I have a thing for leather jackets and black leather boots. Although, real leather can be pricey so I often buy pleather! (That word sounds so unappealing).

   Surprisingly I quite like these velvet, Doc Marten style boots from H&M. I'm not one to like velvet at all, so I don't really know why I like them! Maybe it's something to do with them being just £25?!

  Last night I came across Fashion Union's new collection (go and have a look at it!). There have lots of Gothic inspired pieces available, plus tons of other lovely things! I found this sheer, fishtail vest top for £15, which would look great with a bandeau under it, and thought it would go perfectly with these trousers from Daisystreet. I actually own these trousers and they're brilliant. The cut and style is very discopant-like, but the fabric is a matte-leather looking (best explanation I can give!). They're really comfortable and go with practically anything, so for £16.99 they're brilliant.

   New Look are currently offering Buy One Get One Free on all jewellery! I'm pretty sure this is instore too, but it's definitely available online - click here. Today only (21st Aug) they are offering free delivery too if you enter FREEDEL21 at the checkout! My favourite piece of jewellery here is definitely the filigree ring.

   Have you found any gothic inspired pieces for great prices?



You may have noticed I've changed 'Low Spend' to 'Less Spend', I know it makes no grammatical sense but I feel it sounds a bit nicer.
  Tons of you loved the faux leather sleeved khaki jacket I featured in this post recently, which was from New Look. I think the 'original' on the scene was the Zara version and I think the original price of it was around £80 (please correct me if I'm wrong). I'm sure a lot of you are aware of the Primark alternative that you can get your hands on for £25, but I've found another option for the same price (or less, if you're a student!). I actually prefer it to the Primark version that I did buy but ended up returning when I tried on the New Look Teens jacket I found.

   I'm always keen to look at the teen section in New Look as -handy for me and my budget- I can fit into an age 14-15 (I'm a UK size 10). This might seem a bit odd, but genuinely, you can get almost identical things you find in the rest of New Look in the teens bit for up to half the price of the adult clothes. I'm sure I've raved about this before - sorry, but it's great! Even better, as a student I got 10% off the £25 it cost, making it just £22.50.

Top - Topshop
Ponte Leggings - Primark
Boots - Topshop

   As I said, I really do prefer this to the Primark one. The Primark version was lined, but I didn't think the style of it suit me (it had a waist cinching thing that made me look a bit puffed up!) and the slightly paler colour looked odd against my skin tone. I much prefer the New Look one although it isn't lined - it fits me well and I prefer the darker shade of khaki.

   What do you think? Have you found any cheaper alternatives?
   Yep, I got in on the Olympics too. Seeing as I live only about an hour from Weymouth, it would have been rude not to. For anyone who hasn't been watching the sailing (I don't blame you, it's not the most thrilling of sports in my eyes!), Weymouth is where it's been happening! I'm pretty sure we won a gold and two silver medals in the sailing. Anyway, I hadn't got the chance to go to London, but I wanted to experience a little bit of the Olympic atmosphere. So I got the free (yes, free... seemed a bit too generous to me...) park and ride to Weymouth and had a lovely afternoon out. The weather just so happened to be brilliant and it was really busy, which made the atmosphere was amazing!

    Here are the (very few) photos I took. The quality of the images isn't great - I took my £30 camera this time as last time I went to Weymouth the sand got in the lens of my DSLR and wrecked it. But you'll still get a sense of what my afternoon was like!


 
    I've actually enjoyed the Olympics surprisingly, despite being a general moaning-pessimist about it all - I think it's been pricey and it certainly won't do what it's set out to achieve. I doubt it will have a significant long term effect on future generations partaking in sport. Ok, I'll try not to end this on a sour note! It's been great to see Britain do well. I think what the Olympics has let us show is that what sets us apart from a lot of other nations is that our athletes weren't (often) disappointed with not getting a medal, us Brits seem to embrace the (very true) saying - 'it's the taking part that counts'. I'll stop here, it's getting a bit soppy.

   I'm TOTALLY watching the Spice Girls tonight. I'll be disappointed if they sing just the one song as I'm planning on bringing out my age 7 Spice Girls t-shirt and waving it round like a loony (I'm not even joking). How have you felt about the Olympics? Are you looking forward to the closing ceremony because you've simply had enough of it or to see some great British music?!

Dress - River Island
Blazer - Topshop
Shoes - Matalan
Bag - BHS
Jewellery - New Look / Dorothy Perkins

   This post has taken a while for me to get round to doing! I was fortunate enough the be invited to a group interview on Thursday for a weekend job as a Fashion Advisor at John Lewis. Sorry that the dress is a bit creased in these photos as I wore it on the drive home from Nottingham, but I wanted to show you all what I ended up wearing to my interview.

   The dress is from River Island, (in all honesty) a shop I rarely go into these days. I wanted something simple but not boring and I think the cut of this dress makes it flattering and eye catching. It was £35, not a bad price considering it was made in Britain and I was pretty impressed with the quality of the materials too. Part of the reason I rarely shop in River Island is because I often find the fabrics they use aren't great for the price. I'm quite surprised the dress doesn't make me look tiny, as being 5ft 4 I don't find midi lengths great on me usually, but I guess the heels help me out a bit!

   The shoes are from Matalan, they were £18 and have brutally ripped my feet to pieces. I'm not blaming the shoes too much though, as I really should have worn them in. Court shoes always make me want to weep after a hour or so of wear - certainly not my most favourable type of shoe...! I shan't be wearing them again in a hurry... although the silver heel on them is lovely!

   My blazer was a bargain from the Topshop sale - I got it for £27 with my student discount! A price I am more than happy to pay as I have always found Topshop formal wear to be great quality. It was £60 full price (a little steep for my budget!) so finding it in the sale made me a very happy bunny!

   I love this bag I found in BHS, it was just £11 in the sale! I find so many cheaper bags look... well... cheap... and generally horrid. But this one looks like it cost a good £50! My jewellery is from New Look, if you read my blog regularly you'll know how obsessed I am with spiked things, so the necklace was a kind of statement piece I was comfortable wearing, along with an ivory and gold angular ring and pearl-look earrings.

   Wow, this post is long! I was going to write a bit about the interview but I don't want to ramble on (more than I already have..!). I should hear back within a week or so, I don't have my hopes too high as there was a current employee in the interview, who has worked in the department for a year so is clearly going to have the best chance of getting the job! But we will see. I might write a post about the interview experience for anyone who might be going for a similar role in the future, but I want to see what the outcome is first!

   Have a brilliant weekend - I'm off to Weymouth this afternoon to see what the atmosphere is like there on the last day of the Olympic sailing racing there (as far as I'm aware!).

Vest top - New Look / Shoes - Fashion Union / Jacket - New Look / Cardigan - Cameo Rose at New Look / Bag - eBay

   Here's the second Low Spend, On Trend post and this time it's all about army and khaki. Personally, I think these colours look great on anyone - any skin tone and any hair colour! I don't think I own any shade of green clothing at all! It's not a colour I tend to be grabbed by myself, but after creating this post I'm loving a lot of the things I've come across!

   My two favourite pieces here are (...unsurprisingly...) the most expensive of the lot! The jacket is to die for - I saw a similar one in Topshop yesterday, but I can't seem to find it on their website, so this New Look one will have to do! Yes, it is almost £50! But it's bound to be less than one from Zara or River Island! The cardigan would take you through until summer next year judging by the current weather in the UK. For £21.99 it's a pretty good buy I think. I've come to realise how versatile all of these colours are too - so maybe I should add some to my wardrobe!
 
   How incredible are the shoes for £8?! They only have them in a size 4 now though - so if you're a size 4, I envy you. Check out the Fashion Union  site if you're on the hunt for any additions to your wardrobe as their entire site seems to be sale items at the moment. There are even more unbelievable bargains to be found!

   I'm hoping to take some photos of my interview outfit to share with you guys today or tomorrow. They will be uploaded at some point this week! I found some reasonably good buys and I'm pretty happy with the outfit, so I'm feeling a bit more prepared now.

Shirt - Topshop (old)
Skirt - Internacionale
Necklaces - F21 / Miss Selfridge
Rings - H&M 
Wedges - Primark


   I recently bought this skirt from Internacionale and I love it! I can see it looking great with tights and Docs on a less sunny day but it would be equally good with heels on a night out. I'm all over spiked clothing, shoes (anything!) at the moment so I just had to buy it! For £9.99 it's a bargain. I managed to get 20% off online too for signing up to their newsletter.

  I'll keep this post relatively short and sweet today. I've got an interview for a job next week so I'm busy preparing for it. And not just preparing for the questions I may be asked! I'm hunting for an interview outfit in the sales. I  ordered £150 worth of stuff from ASOS but I'm not at all impressed by the quality of 70% the clothing unfortunately, so all of that's being sent back. There was one mid length dress that I quite liked, so I've re-ordered it in a different colour. I'm a little undecided about it though, so thank god for ASOS' free returns and postage!

   Oh, also sorry about the shadow in the bottom image! When I took these photos the sun was going in and out so they're not the best!

Top - H&M
Jeans - Topshop (old)
Shoes - Primark
Necklaces - Charity shop / F21

   I was literally ecstatic when I found these shoes in the sale in Primark for £5. They were the last size 5 too! I'd seen them on someone else's blog a week or so before I spotted them in my local Primark (sorry! I can't remember whose blog it was - but thanks for the heads up!). They're really comfy and the first pair of Primark non-flat shoes I've owned.

   The vest top is a recent purchase from H&M for £3.99. They had them in a few other colours too and I might just have to go back soon with my what's left on my gift card and pick a couple more up!

   The jeans are about 2 years old now, but they're still going strong. I picked them up in the sale in Topshop for £10 online and they've served me well over the years. I've got in the habit of wearing more than one necklace recently, maybe this is just because my jewellery is in a huge unorganised, tangled pile on my windowsill so I end up picking up several necklaces at once!

   I'm still weirdly fascinated by the Olympics, but I'm going to try to make myself start my dissertation research by Saturday. I haven't even decided on a topic yet! Ah well, I will do it.

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