I'm all over these compilations of 2012 outfits popping up on my Blogger feed and I'd love to make my own, but I feel like I've not been in the fashion blogging game for long enough to make a decent one. It'd be more of a May to December of outfits!

 My blog actually started its little internet life at the end of January of 2012 as a beauty blog and gradually began featuring the occasional fashion / style posts around April; this has resulted in my posts from the last 6 months documenting my outfits best. So, I've decided it'd be better for me to share my 3 best buys / most worn of 2012 - although, in reality it's just my 3 best buys / most worn for AW12 because of the lack of outfit posts in my earlier blogging antics.

So here they are. The three gems that have been my best friends through rain, mud and more rain (with an umbrella to hand) over the past few months! Also, for the number of times I've worn them in the relatively short time I've owned them, I've already got a ridiculous amount of wear out of them all.
 I cannot express my love for this coat enough. I feel like a cat in it, and that's enough to make me want to wear it every waking minute of the day. In all honesty, I've worn it pretty much every other day over my outfits since purchasing it a couple of months ago. It's so versatile and most importantly super-duper warm. I had a 20% off code for Boohoo when I got this so I paid £28 instead of £35.
 It's no longer sold on Boohoo, but I actually spotted (what I believe to be) exactly the same black faux fur coat on PrettyLittleThing.com for just £25 in the sale, there's only a size 12 though. So if you're interested in snapping this up too, you can now get it at an even more affordable price (if you just so happen to be a size 12)!
 
 Part of the reason I adore this jacket so much is probably mostly because it's from the teens range in New Look. I'm mad about the kids bits in high street shops - I'm around a size 10 and can usually fit in an age 14-15. I know, pretty much everyone and their vicar has one, but it's the only khaki thing I own (I think) so I'm allowed to love it. You still get student discount on the teens clothes at New Look too, bonus.
If I had to pick and one of these three as my BEST best buy, it'd be my Docs. Although they were utter hell for the first 2 months (mine were near impossible to wear in), they're now my most worn shoes. And yes, I did buy these in the summer - boots are all-year-round footwear for me! 
These were super cheap (... for Docs!) as I had a 20% off voucher for Amazon and I'm hoping they'll last me years!

Well, I guess this post has kind of shown my outfits over the months as well as my best buys of (what has been on my blog) in 2012!
Did you buy any clothes, shoes or accessories this year that you've been mad about?

Have a fantastic New Year!
 
Leggings | Karma Clothing

All I could think of while putting this together was this tune - if you don't know it already, it's pretty darn snazzy right? I'm currently singing along - not very festive, but it does make me want to stand up and shimmy (I'll resist the urge).

Velvet isn't my favourite fabric, I'm not to sure about it. I think it's the texture... although I do feel like a bit of a velvet snob. I don't mind the more expensive velvet, but cheaper velvet in general tends to be velour (ie. a 2000's tracksuit) trying to disguise itself. But that's just personal preference! After the popularity of the Lavish Alice Red Velvet Shorts in my Christmas outfits on a budget post I had to make some sort of post dedicated to velvet.

Being the velvet snob that I am, I love the New Look clutch Ive featured here - it's really gorgeous and elegant I think! The peplum top is also something I'd totally wear if I had a job where this fit the bill (I finished on the 22nd! Plus, we couldn't wear sleeveless tops or dresses!). I think it looks far more expensive than £9.95, the baroque print is a nice dressy touch too.

Do share what you think of velvet!

Anyhow, I'd better let you all get back to your festivities! This isn't the most Christmassy of posts, but I hope you've still enjoyed it. Have a fantastic Christmas!

(also available in silver, green, champagne and red)

Oh my god guys, I'm super excited to share this find with you. I almost cried with joy when coming across Hidden Fashion on Tuesday night. LOOK at their prices!!! I mean, have you ever come across such amazing disco pant dupes for anywhere under £20?! I thought not. I can't believe these are £7.99. Even better is that they come in several different colours. I've ordered a pair for myself in the grey colour pictured above as I really couldn't resist, but I absolutely love the emerald green pair too. 

I might have also (definitely did... oops) cheekily purchased the black beaded dress on the top left. I'm hoping it comes in time for Christmas / New Year as how fab would that be to wear for either occasion?!

You may have also recognise those platform boots, I did from seeing similar ones on some of the 'big' bloggers' blogs. I've seen them retailing at a hefty £40 or so; I cannot believe these are only £12.99. I do wish they were black, but that's just personal preference, they're still a massive bargain!

I love a good bit of pleather and the skirt is so cute with the little star studs, it makes it a little more unusual. The Versace inspired cross dress is definitely another gothicy number - well, I'm still a fan of the gothic trend aren't I!

Definitely head over to the Hidden Fashion eBay or Amazon pages if you're looking to spend your Christmas moolah on some new wardrobe additions (or just looking to treat yourself, of course ;)!). They have pretty good feedback on eBay and it seems a little bit cheaper than the Amazon shop.. Postage on my order was £1.99 for one item and my extra item was £1 on top of that. 

I'll let you know how my order turns out! If you come across any more fantastic bargains or buy anything from Hidden Fashion share it in the comments - I'm nosey so I'd absolutely love to know!

Fur collar | H&M sale (in store £4)
Jumper | H&M boys
Shirt | Topman (via eBay)

Oh wow, I didn't realise before writing this post that this outfit is a third male clothing and a third kid's clothing. I'm stating the obvious here, but both kid's and men's clothing tends to be significantly cheaper than women's clothing. Actually, I usually check out women's, men's and kid's clothing equally. I definitely save myself a good wad of cash.doing this! Take this denim shirt for example - it's a Topman number I got from eBay. Topshop denim shirts were selling at the time on eBay for about £25 (yep, second hand, madness!), but this men's version fits me fine and I snapped it up for £12.

Words cannot describe the love I have for this fur collar - and we've only been together for two days. On Monday while I was in town on a visit to post my giveaway prize off to the winner I spotted this in the H&M sale (sneaky little detour on the way to the post office!). I instantly fell in love with it, it's SO soft it's unreal. It was only £4 and it's basically like having a pet (I can't lie, I keep stroking it). I really loved the subtle leopard print on it. I'm such a faux fur fanatic, in fact I've got this H&M faux fur stole coming my way for Christmas, which I'm insanely excited to wear. I might actually start calling my faux fur pieces 'pets' as I am so obsessed with them and I have the urge to pet them all the time (odd).

Well, I don't have long to wait for that fur stole now! Me and my boyfriend are having our own mini Christmas on Thursday before heading to Westfield Stratford on Friday for some (unfortunately, probably just window) shopping. But maybe I'll grab a few sneaky Krispy Kremes or a cinnamon pretzel! Then I'm working all day Saturday and tootling back to the quiet little place that is Somerset on Sunday. (Please don't snow. PLEASE don't snow.) I've sorted some scheduled posts for the rest of the week that I think you'll love!

I apologise if this post led you believe I genuinely had a new pet - I wish the collar was a a real (alive) cat draped around my neck, but allas, this is not possible.
Dress | Primark
Fur Stole | New Look
Earrings | Primark
Tights | Supercosy from Primark

 Yep, I caved and got some creepers! This whole things a bit of a strange love story really. I'll be honest, initially I really wasn't a fan of creepers. But, eventually, after seeing them on numerous (wonderful) blogs I decided I'd have to give them a go. After all, I've become a fan of the flatform look - actually, I love anything that can grunge up feminine outifts, as I'm not very 'girly'.

I was lucky enough to have be given the chance to choose some shoes from Barratts the other week - the perfect opportunity to try out some creepers!  If you're still not sure about creepers you should definitely look at the Barratts creepers range - they have a multitude of colours and styles! But my favourite were the grey ones, so I chose them to review. The photo I uploaded on Twitter of me wearing them on the day they arrived resulted in some great comments! 

I found them pretty comfortable, but I'm not used to walking in flat shoes (I pretty much never wear completely flat shoes), so it does feel a little odd! I think I could do with a 5.5 (I got a UK 5 as there were no half sizes and I'm usually a 5 / 5.5) as my toes are a bit squashed at the ends. Apart from that, they didn't rub my heels (like so many new shoes do!), so that's super, and I absolutely love how they look with my pastel shade dress here. I'm so glad I picked the grey!

Also Barratts have 30% off for 2 more days, so you can grab these for £21!

Have you come over to the creeper-side yet (that sounds scary haha!) or have you always loved them? What colour would you go for?


Ps. I announced the winner of my giveaway, Ashleigh, on Twitter yesterday! Congratulations to her!

If you haven't already, I'd really appreciate it if you personal style blog readers could fill out this survey, it's for my dissertation - please share it with anyone you know who also reads personal style blogs! And don't worry about long answers, I love them! Thanks in advance :)
I'm a Christmas-blogging virgin. Having started my blog in January of this year I narrowly missed out on the masses of Christmas wish lists that would have (evidently) been all over my feed! Don't get me wrong, I do like looking at them, but me being me, I never know what I want for Christmas. And in all honesty many of the things I've actually asked for are definitely not blog worthy (I've asked for a Lidl fleece, no, I'm not joking. I need it for body-heat insulation purposes, ok?!).

So, I decided to do something a little different that's hopefully a bit more useful than showing you a Lidl fleece. Plus, it's kind of a continuation of the Christmassy outfit I put together using my own wardrobe! I may have got a bit over-zealous though - my searching uncovered enough to create 4 outfits! But hey ho(hoho ;)!) plenty of ideas to help you dress for Christmas if you've not yet got anything planned or if you're simply looking for inspiration. Oh, and all 4 outfits are under £50 (two are under £32 actually -super purse friendly!) AND they should all get to you in time for Christmas if you order today (I checked each sites delivery options!).

I better quickly explain the odd names I've given to each outfit. Basically I find it a pretty lacklustre referring to outfits as 'outfit one, outfit two', so on and so forth. So I thought I'd get just a teeny bit creative and name them in the style of Friends ('The One...'). Because I'm just cool like that and I like to try to amuse you all!
Wedges | Daisystreet




Wedges | Everything 5 Pounds


Dress | Mary Jane Fashion
Shoes | Everything 5 Pounds

Let me know what your favourite is - I think the one with a bit-of-spangle is my favourite, I love the style of the dress and I can't believe it's only £20! Also what do you make of the £5 shoes... amazing right!? I've not actually bought anything from Everything 5 Pounds before, but I might have to in the near future! Mary Jane Fashion are also offering 20% off until the 31st January with the code WINTER20.

Do share what you've bought for your Christmas day / party outfits - sharing is caring (and clothes make me happy).
Shorts | F21
Belt | Primark
Hat | River Island

Imagine the title sang in the tune of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, that's what I was going for. I know, the titles for my posts suck. But this is a step away from the previous, dressier posts - ie. back to casj (casual!). Yeaaah, moving on swiftly...

I'm wearing this hat a lot at the moment to brighten up my notoriously neutral outfits (imagine this without the hat. Pretty boring, right?). I haven't worn this jumper in an absolute age, but one of the things that I like that its not 'highstreet'. As much as I love New Look, Primark and all those other wonderful kinds of shops, I sometimes want something a little more unusual. That's where the more expensive brands' outlets come in handy!

Stating the obvious, I know, but how ludicrously cold is it at the moment?! And I'm not just talking about outside. The ice cave that is my room is inhospitable unless I'm under my duvet and blanket, have my hood up and have a hot water bottle against me. These 9ft (or something ridiculous like that) ceilings definitely do not help the situation! Brr.

Do I get the trophy for the most gormless look in outfit posts? I have no idea how to 'pose' my face in photos, it's ridiculous.

You only have 2 days, I repeat TWO DAYS to enter my giveaway! Click here to enter if you haven't already! I'm really quite jealous of whoever ends up winning this watch... it's so darn cute.
 Top | Topshop
Jacket | Boohoo
Skirt | Miss Selfridge
Belt | Primark
Earrings | Primark

 I thought it was about time I had another rummage through my drawers to pick out an old gem that I had so cruelly forgotten about (I did this a few months ago here!) In fact, I found two things I'd completely forgotten about. This a) tells me I need an ebay clear out, as my wardrobe is definitely not being used to it's full potential and b) means I need to get out of the habit of just wearing my new-clothes-outfits and to make sure I mix the old in with the new.

Old gem numero uno: this top. Purchased a good 3 years ago from Topshop in the sale for a tenner. I think it dresses down old gem number two perfectly.
Old gem number two: the skirt. I actually bought this probably about 5 years ago... yep, verrry old. But I love the bright purple shade of it - although, it's a tad on the short side! But nothing opaque tights can't resolve.

These tights are just a little bit snazzy too - they have socks attached at the foot, perfect for boot-lovers people like me who wear them all year round -  it makes the experience of wearing tights at this time of year a whole lot cosier. I bought them a while ago now, so I'm hoping that Primark are still selling them! As I'm keen to grab some more!

I hope this post entices some of you to snoop through your wardrobes for a long-forgotten treasure. I don't know about you, but I find it quite magical coming across something that still has potential and that I've not worn in ages!
Spike Headband | Primark (pretty much identical one here)


I do love a good monochrome outfit, especially with a bright lip colour - simple but classic. And I'll add that this lipstick is absolutely brilliant. I snapped up this 17 Supreme Shine lipstick in Hot Stuff for half price (£2.50) using a voucher from the Boots advantage card kiosk. It's not drying and although the name would suggest otherwise it's a relatively matte formula, perfect as I prefer a matte finish!

I bought this Motel Leona Ladder Back Dress in Black and White Foil about a month or so back using some store credit I had - it's just £15 in the sale, what a steal! And you can still get your hands on it now. The back is a little bit quirky, with a ladder effect (see here for a photo). I wasn't actually wearing a black bra with it here (tut tut!) so I didn't show the back! I chose it for the pattern mostly, as I think it makes it a bit less dressy. It'd look equally fab dressed down with a denim shirt over it in the spring / summer. 

Here's a slightly amazing treat for you all too MotelRocks are offering 30% - yes, thirty percent, off their dresses with the code DRESSNOV30. Perfect if you've not got that Christmas party dress sorted yet! You'll need to be quick though as the code expires tomorrow (10th Dec) at midnight. I think it only applies to full price dresses, but that's an incredible deal. My favourite dresses from Motel at the moment are the Catalina Off Shoulder Skater Dress in Black and the Deborah Off Shoulder Dress in Black with Studs. If you miss this offer you can still use the code 'robynmayday' to get 20% off at anytime.

One week of uni left! I can't believe I'm pretty much half way through third year already. I'm definitely looking forward to heading home for a couple of weeks and not living in this ice cave (what I call my uni room) for a while.

Skirt | Internacionale 
(sold out online! But I'll link it when it's back!)
Studded Bag | Primark
Earrings | Primark
Necklace | F21

Ps. Have you entered my giveaway yet? If not click here to win an ASOS watch, a clutch and a beanie!

Christmas seems to have jumped upon me this year - I've felt like this year has gone super fast in general to be honest! Unfortunately, I have no Christmas parties to attend (don't pitty me, I don't like turkey or eggnog... or seeing the company MD doing the macarena with a Poundland Christmas hat on.). But I still like dressing up, so I felt the need to put together what probably would be my Christmas party outfit. I don't think I've ever done a 'going out' outfit on my blog... so this post and my next one are to change things up a bit and hopefully to inspire you to think about your more dressy winter outfits.

Of course, the outfit has an obligatory festive feel to it. I think sequins are perfect for Christmas and New Year so I spent a measly £7.50 (using a voucher code) on this sparkly skirt from Internacionale. It did originally have netting under the skirt, but I didn't think it looked to flattering, so I grabbed some scissors and chopped that off - I think it looks way better now! Nothing like a bit of DIY eh. 

The shirt is pretty much my favourite dressy shirt I own (I think I only own two... but still my favourite!). I think it was a tenner in the New Look sale around this time last year. I'm not one for bold shades (as I said in my River Island sale post!) but once I'd tried this on I thought it complimented my hair colour / skin tone well, so I was sold. I don't think I've actually featured it on my blog before, solely because of my lack of dressy outfit posts!

Have you got any ideas for Christmas (and dare I say) / New Years party outfits yet? I'd love to know your ideas! It's never too early to plan an outfit!


Last Thursday I took a little trip to Manchester to go along to the Daisy Street Fashion Bloggers Christmas Party. DaisyStreet.co.uk have only been around for about a year now; I think I first heard about the brand about 6 months ago, when they were strictly a shoe retailer. They branched out a little while ago to add clothes to their range, and I must say... they are genuinely one of my favourite new online retailers! I've got some JC lita look-alikes from Daisy Street (similar here, featured in this post) and also some matte disco pant style trousers (that I wore on the night! See them in this post). Their prices are extremely reasonable, particularly the clothing, and they offer free delivery (I'm a sucker for free delivery, remember!?).

I met up with Abi (Handbags and Gladrags) and Demi (Moments de la Mode) (both in bottom image) before heading to the venue. When we arrived there were gorgeous clothes and shoes on display all around the room, along with plenty of champers and canapes! There was a definite festive feel: sequins, deep reds, velvet, fluffy jumpers and glitter galore, with a mix of party pieces and cosy casuals. Some of my favourite pieces were the lace and velvet dresses (not yet on the website unfortunately, but they will be soon!) and the disco pants that came in a multitude of colours including khaki, emerald, bright red and wine - almost as many colours as American Apparel has!

We were each lucky enough to be able to place a tag on one item that we'd like to review. I thought this was a brilliant (and generous!)  idea, as it's always handy to see a product in the flesh. I picked out the Draco Studded Boots in black (pictured above, the Chloe Susanna lookalikes) as I live in boots throughout the year and I'd fallen in love with them after seeing similar pairs on other blogs! 

I met some really friendly bloggers throughout the night and Daisy Street and Punk PR made it simply fantastic! I doubt I need to entice you anymore, but if you haven't checked out the DaisyStreet.co.uk website you seriously need to! Keep an eye out for more brilliant AW pieces hitting the website over the next couple of weeks too.

 Top | River Island
Skirt | Internacionale
Hat | River Island
Coat | boohoo.com
Belt | Primark
Boots | Dr Martens
Bracelet | eBay
Shop River Island sale now!

Oh my... I look so glum in that first photo! I seemingly managed to crack a smile in the last two snaps though, so excuse the face. Like my cute coral beanie? Brings a bit of brightness to my glum old face I reckon! I spotted it in the River Island sale while they had free delivery for £3 - around the price you'd pay in Primark. I don't really own any statement accessories, I think this hat may be my first, and what a good'un it is. I feel a bit like a beacon of... coral-ness in it, but I do like it.

The t-shirt was another River Island sale purchase. It was only £10 and I really like the hi-lo fit, although I think I will have to wear high waisted bottoms with it as having a strangely long body the front comes up a little high for my liking. The gold studs on the neckline means I don't have to faff with a necklace - handy - and the back of the top is just gorgeous. It doesn't come down too low for it to expose my bra (one thing I despise about cut out backs on tops!), but it's still a little bit sheer, so I popped a vest top under it here. The material creases pretty easily, not ideal for someone who irons with hair straighteners (I kid you not.), but it's bearable! This ones sold out online, but it might still be around in stores.

Have any of you grabbed any super sale items recently?

Ps. thanks to Tasha for her recommendation of putting Vaseline onto the tough bits of my docs! It worked a treat it would seem! 

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