A Few Of My Favourite Things.

 Alexa, play "Gold" by Spandau Ballet...

I noticed the other day that I've been building quite a collection of gold jewellery and fun accessories, so I thought I would share my favourites with you and link pieces where I can. 

ACCESSORIES

I received this Oliver Bonas bracelet as a gift from the Wingfield PR team as a goodbye present at the end of my internship. I've not worn a bangle in years, but this piece is so light that I sometimes forget I have it on, until I'm complimented on it. Such a sweet gift. 

Gold bobby pins are the most inexpensive way of jazzing up your hairstyles and subtly taking part in the hair clip craze that seems to have taken over Instagram. 'Teen me' is also screaming that scrunchies have come back as a thing. I struggled to make any accessory work in my hair. The struggle was most definitely real. We thank God for hair extensions, Youtube tutorials and developed knowledge of how to handle my own hair...yes 'Teen me', it gets better 🙏🏽.

EARRINGS

I've turned into quite the Magpie when it comes to gold earrings, they're just so shiny and beautiful. You cant help but feel like your Sade in pair of gold hoops and these statement shell drop earrings make me feel like I've got my life all the way together; so chic, so luxe.

NECKLACES

If you remember my posts from back in the day, you will remember that I was obsessed with chunky statement necklaces. The bigger the better, I wanted everyone to see I was wearing a necklace. Back then dainty chains did not appeal to me and it frustrated me how they would get lost behind your tops neckline and become a tangled mess. Now I can't think of anything better than layering gold chains with varying lengths - that look becomes a statement in itself. 

RINGS & DIY

I love the look of stacked rings and I've been looking for a signet ring for a while, but they always seem so big. So while rooting around my old jewellery stash I came across an ASOS ring from many years ago and inspiration struck! I took my black nail varnish and painted the stone. Voila!

The chunkier "rings" that you see are actually cuff earrings that I've repurposed. I was inspired by jewellery brand Wolf Circus, who sell these beautiful solid, thick gold signet rings that are just ugghhh!

Sometimes its handy to take a look at the items you already have and consider if you could give it a new leese of life before spending money on something new.

The pinky ring is actually my baby ring. Never fit me then, doesn't fit me now lol but I like stubbornly stuffing it onto my pinky finger. On my more sensible days, I put it on a chain.LOL

Where are your favourite places to buy jewellery?

London Fashion Week AW19 Street Style.

It's time for some street talk...

So another season of London Fashion Week may be over, but lets take a minute to check out what the street stylers were wearing...

Skirrrt, Skirrrt.

A trend worthy of investment...

The 90's era is still well and truly inspiring the fashion scene and everywhere you turn theres a silky midi skirt on the gram. Usually trends in fashion can be here one minute and gone the next, giving us moments in style to look back on and inwardly cringe about (I for one regret the season I turned all my tights into crop tops and most recently...cycling shorts 🤦🏽‍♀️) but I believe the slip midi skirt will become a wardrobe staple. I first spotted this trend on bloggers who are rich rich; incredible pieces by Reformation, Ganni, Realisation Par and Annie Bing that are totally outside my budget. Over time the high street began making their own versions and before I could get my hands on it, Topshop's slip skirt sold out twice within 48 hours of its online launch! 

So I bit the bullet and ordered this version from La Redoute. Now I hate to speak negatively about brands, but I always want to be honest with you guys, plus to be clear I'm speaking specifically about this skirt not the brand in general. I bought it on sale with an extra 10% off on top of the sale price, thank you Black Friday, so it was sad when the quality of the skirt did not match up to its original £59.00 price tag. The zip was stubborn, the waistline was poorly stitched and the hemline did not flatter my shape or flow well around my legs, but thats just my opinion. 

I had considered keeping it; do you ever do that? Just keep an item because its "not that bad" and you convince yourself "I'll make it work" but lets face it those kind of items rarely leave the wardrobe, gathering dust and eventually being sold, given away to a friend/family or donated. I realise its better to keep items that spark joy and make you feel good...hey that Netflix 'tidy up' woman might be on to something...

Cue New Look.

Sometimes I forget about how great a shop is and then *bam* it pulls out all the stops. Whats not to love about this skirt? Pros: It has an elastic waistband ✔️ gives you a flattering silhouette ✔️ great length ✔️ only £19.99! ✔️✔️✔️

Cons: the available colour-ways are so gorgeous its so hard to choose just one!

Nude pink or black? They both look so good with my chunky Primark roll neck and either my Nike Cortez's or Nike M2K Techno sneakers. 

I've put myself on a tight budget so in the end I kept one...the black. Its a practical colour that will go with just about everything and even though its black I don't feel like this piece is in any danger of becoming boring. 

And if like me, you're super conscious about your lower limbs and spend most days in trousers but wish you wore dresses/skirts more often, then the midi length is perfect style-territory for your comfort zone. I recommend it!

My top 3 styling tips:

1. Wear yours with a graphic tee layered underneath a cozy oversized cardigan.

2. Pairing it with a knit jumper, like mine, is a flattering and cozy look for all body shapes. Belt up to accentuate your waist. A tip I'll always remember from the Gok Wan days!

3. Footwear? - sandals, trainers, loafers or boots - its your choice, they all work!

Will you be adding a slip skirt to your wardrobe?

20-mine-teen.

A look back so we can look forward...✍🏾  happy new year!

Dear blog fam,

Now y'all know I occasionally go ghost on my blog. amirite? I be here and then I don't be here  🤷🏽 - the truth is even though its not my job (yet) to make blog content...it is my passion and like a lot of passions the energy for them can dip 🎢 or focus on other things. But just so were clear, since 2012, no matter how long I'm gone for, I be's coming back, and I always will.

First, lets address the big-ass-grey-four-legged-long-trunk-having-never-forgetting-friend in the room... blogmas...didn't quite go to plan eh? 

I had real belief that I would smash it ha! what do I really know lol?? I only managed 3 posts (I'm so sorry 🤦🏽‍♀️) but apparently my laptop had other plans for the last month of 2018. First it was problems with the hard-drive and now its the battery. I was beyond fed up with dealing with laptop malfunctions, frustrated with myself about the pressure I had applied to create content around the busiest time of the year, with no real preparation, and tired of looking for employment that does more than credit me back the price of a flat white and a meal deal, y'know while my other financial responsibilities side eye me 👀. I even had to forgo paying some of those bills just to survive December and lets just say Argos gets pretty relentless with their 😡📞 when you miss a £22.14 payment...thankfully thats all sorted but *whew chillay*

Life has been moving fast and I haven't been able keep up. 

Mind and body shutdown creatively and physically. It just stopped, it was like "...nah" ✋🏽 - just like my laptop. 

So I took that as a sign to have a bit of time offline...therefore no more blogmas.

Btw I had a great Christmas break - food, family and fun. I made them binge watch "The Haunting of Hill House" in 2 days...not exactly in keeping with the festive spirit 👻 ≠ 🎄, but it had to be done. They thought it was epic, it was a #proudmoment for me, we then watched 5 Christmas movies to counteract the scares.lol.

Pretty much spend 24/7 here - my desk is in need of a serious makeover...remember when it looked like this!

"Be strong!",  I whispered to my WiFi signal...

January was given over to God, I prayed, I fasted, I asked for His presence in my life. I emptied myself of all online consumption that was keeping me full but not fed. Just staying quiet. True I suffered some FOMO; absentmindedly reaching for my phone in the mornings, and it pained me to see my following count drop massively, heartbreaking in fact, but over time I've got over it. 

Now its mid Feb (already?!) and I feel like the inspiration is flowing again, like the ideas that have been swirling around in my head for months are now finally being manifested. I cant wait to share new content with you!

I've no fancy IG story-style review of 2018* to show you just a quick recap: I did three internships 👩🏽‍💻, dipped my toes in the freelance world and chased invoices 💸 like a big girl. I returned to medical reception work 🏥, it was brief as I was reminded why I was right to leave this type of work in 2017 and wrong to bring it into 2018 - note to self: always move forward, never go back. I worked with a few brands on sponsored content, modelled for a jewellery line 📸 and was a guest on a 🎤 podcast. I ended things with my BFF. Remained happily single . Practiced more self-care by way of journalling 📓. Tried but failed at Veganism (🍔= weakness), began slowly mastering the art of eyeshadow and became very reliant on flat-white's ☕ - 2018 not too shabby?! 

Now 2019 is here and I'm not about to hit you with the "this is my year" spiel but I will say...I'm motivated for it to be 20-MINE-TEEN. 

I got next.

*Just know that if 2019 goes the way 
I hope it does my IG story's gonna bang. 
I'm using filters, gifs, memes, 
long ass fake woke captions, 
that Unfold app. the lot. ha!

Thank you sincerely for supporting my blog throughout 2018, thank you for taking the time to read, share, like on bloglovin and comment - I appreciate it all! ❤️ I'm open to blog post suggestions so lets talk! Let me know how 2018 went or how 2019 is treating you so far! 👇🏽