Outfit Post + Other Interesting Things

Hasn't the weather in the UK been wonderful recently?! I have this week off work, and for once I've timed it to coincide with this glorious weather so that I can enjoy it rather than be stuck indoors the whole time.

First outfit post in a very long time, it's been a chore getting into the habit of taking them now I'm back at work. I'm going to try to do them on a slightly more regular basis, and I have no excuse now that the evenings are lighter (British Summer Time ftw).

Hat: Matalan // Dress: Tesco // Sandals: Primark

I wore the above for a short trip to East Riddlesden Hall, a manor house not far from me. Just a simple floral dress - one of about 20 I have in my collection, no kidding. I really love these sandals that I got from Primark last week; I've been looking for a kind of simple, rustic sort of pair for ages, and once again good old Primark came up with the goods. They're real leather, and although at £12.99 they're not cheap by Primark's standards, I was prepared to pay that princely sum - we'll see how long they last though, I am pretty brutal to my shoes!

East Riddlesden Hall wasn't the most interesting of places to visit, though it was very pretty; on a day like today, it was worth the entrance fee just to walk round the grounds and get excited about green things growing (I get that excited about springtime). 

Ta-Dah!

Woohoo, no stupid shoe to wear any more! I am free to walk around normally, though I can't get back to my horse riding for another two weeks just to be on the safe side. It's really strange walking now, my hips feel unlevel as the shoe I had to wear had quite a high wedge. There is also no strength in my calf whatsoever, I am actually having to learn how to walk all over again! It's quite bizarre, I find I'm paying much more attention to the biomechanics of simple things like going upstairs because it feels so alien!

To celebrate my new freedom I went out for a drive and a short walk - hence the stompy walking boots above. I bought them yesterday, straight after my final appointment at the hospital, and they were nicely supportive for my little sojourn to Sandal Castle.

Also, the hat is pretty awesome, no? I love how ridiculous these animals hats are, and I don't care if they look a little childish, I had to have one. :D And I certainly couldn't say no when it was only £3 from a charity shop!

hat - charity shop // jumper - Primark // jeans - Topshop // boots - Go Outdoors

In the interests of something none foot-related, here are some pictures of Sandal Castle - it's not the most exciting of castles I've ever been to, but I'd never been before and that's as good a reason to go to something as any, in my book.

An Afternoon in Haworth + What I Wore

A brief drive out to Haworth today, birthplace of the Bronte sisters and the setting for all my Wuthering Heights-esque fantasies. I'm pretty sure I would be shot for admitting this as a relative local (I live 5 miles away), but for all its touristy clichéd-ness, I do actually like Haworth a lot. It's super-pretty, has gorgeous wild countryside all around, and has plenty of cute little shops - and, of course, a sense of history. 

I took both my digital camera and my Diana with me, photography poseur that I am, with the intention of wandering down the main street and taking some pictures. Unfortunately, the heavens decided to open the minute I stepped out of my car, and Haworth itself was practically dead, and only a handful of shops were open. Who knew that Haworthians (I just made that term up) have Christmas holidays that last until the 13th of January? So, I only took a few small snapshots on my phone in the end.

 

A fantastic second-hand bookshop crammed with books on all sorts of categories. This shop would have been absolute agony for me, on my no-book-buying kick, but I didn't have any money on me anyway so temptation was removed, thankfully. Though they did have a beautiful encyclopedia on horses from the 1950's which was beautiful, and I'm tempted to go back and get it - I've decided I'm allowed to buy non-fiction still!

On to a cafe for hot chocolate with a book from my reading list (The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro); pretty items in the only vintage shop that was open; the main street in Haworth.

striped body: George at Asda // cardigan: H&M // belt: Next // skirt: Boohoo // bag: H&M // right shoe: can't remember! A cheap and tacky shoe shop I think

I wore this belt for the first time today, which I feel a bit bad about because it was a birthday present from my parents and I'd wanted to make use of it sooner than I have. As I mentioned when I got it, I wasn't quite sure how to wear it; it's so precious I wanted an outfit to show it off. Don't think I quite managed it here but it's a start. I think I need to maybe wear one plain colour with it, for example a plain black dress. I just don't like wearing plain colours!

a nice way to spend a bank holiday + what i wore

Even though every day feels like a bank holiday for me, I've been off work for a month now.

I went to an antiques and collectibles fair in Halifax today. I've never been to one before but I would like to start collecting a few bits and pieces at some point - especially when I eventually have my own place. I loved it; I adore car boot sales, so this was basically an upgraded version, and indoors as well so no freezing my socks off/getting drenched. I was expecting a lot more high-end stuff but there was plenty of random tat, just the way I like it!

Here are some photos of a few things I was drooling over.

pretty jewellery

 

 cute typewriter

vintage sewing magazines

I didn't have much of a budget today, having bought a new laptop as a Christmas present to myself I am having to be strict with myself until the end of the month. However, as I said above there was a surprising amount of affordable items, so I was able to buy a couple of things. I of course homed in on the bargain £1 boxes of jewellery like the bargain-hunter I am!

'pearl' ring, £1

bangle, £1

bangle no. 2, also £1

my favourite purchase of the day, this ladybird purse! It has a little zip on the other side of it, but I'm not going to use it; it's too delicately beaded for that. A bargain at a mere £2, and I shall add it to my growing collection of ladybird-related objects.

dress: George at Asda // belt: Primark // right shoe (!): H! by Henry Holland

wish my spots would go away!

The dress has such a pretty print, I love it; easily the nicest thing I've seen in Asda in a long time. I dyed my hair red yesterday; I've had blonde highlights for many years and before that I was my natural colour (medium brown), so it was a big change for me! Unfortunately my hair is so long and thick there wasn't quite enough dye to evenly do all of my hair (or maybe my mum did a rubbish job for me - I got her to do it seeing as I'd never dyed my hair before, perhaps it serves me right!) so the ends at the back of my head are more brown than red. But it's only semi-permanent so it won't be too long before I can re-dye it. And, as shown above, I can still wear my beloved red lipstick (something I was a bit worried about)!

New Purchases + Outfit Post

So, the Boxing Day sales started yesterday, and I ventured into town with my mother for my first Boxing Day sale shop in years. I've not had the money to go shopping for sale bargains for quite a while, normally I'd still be skint from Christmas by this point. I didn't go mad, as I've bought a few other bits and pieces before Christmas... My plans to restrain my spending isn't going *quite* as well as I'd planned...

This dress was part of my first ever order from Boohoo.com, I received it about a week or so before Christmas. It was only £20 so I was prepared for the quality to be lacking and was expecting to be sending it back straightaway. However, it's actually not too bad. The fabric is cheap synthetic, but it's thick and nicely-fitted so it's a keeper. The belt is horrifically tacky up close, supposed to be patent but it's obviously plastic and the buckle just makes it look cheap. However,  have been wearing the belt with other outfits anyway, as it's made me realise I have a black patent belt-shaped hole in my life.

 

This skirt also came from Boohoo, along with another in the exact same style only in black which I haven't pictured because, well, black's a bit boring. I ordered both colours because I couldn't decide between the two; this has unfortunately backfired as I like them both so much I'm keeping the pair of them. They're made from a lovely thick material that's sort of ribbed, and the skirts are lovely and full so very flattering. The length is decent as well; in fact, the only thing I'm not keen on is the elastic waistband, which is a little narrow - if it was a bit deeper the skirts would be perfect. I've already worn both of them, they're perfect for all the pretty blouses I seem to have acquired recently.

Teerrrrible quality pictures of the above sparkly items, that's the last time I borrow my mum's camera! Both the shoes and the bag were bought from Barratts, for my mum's birthday party next week. I have a lovely sea-green dress to wear for the party and I had wanted silver sparkly shoes and some sort of clutch to wear with it. The shoes are more of a dark pewter than silver, but they were the closest to silver I could find - everything seems to be gold at the moment. I absolutely love the bag, it's covered in glitter with a light pink-ish tint to it. I'm not sure whether I'll wear the shoes that often, but I'll definitely use that clutch at every opportunity.

I bought this from the pre-Christmas sale in Dorothy Perkins; £29 reduced to £7, bargain! It doesn't look great on the hanger, but it actually fits a lot better in real life. It's like a thin jersey material, with gold metallic thread running through it. This was my Christmas Day dress :)

This dress is so cute, I was supposed to be buying a few last-minute bits and pieces for Christmas in Asda but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it - and the fact that it was only £16 only served to encourage me. It's a lovely fit, and the bird print is so sweet. 

 The only two things in this post that were actually in the Boxing Day sales, haha. The polka dot one is from Topshop and the pink one is from one of the concessions sold in Dorothy Perkins. I'd had my eye on both of them a month or so ago, especially the pink one which is just so adorable, but I'd already bought plenty of things at the tim so I decided to restrain myself. Being in the sale, though, meant they were fair game!

I think the Topshop dress feels more summery to me, though I may end up wearing it this winter anyway. The pink one I just love - I had to risk it as I'd not tried it on before and the fitting rooms were closed due to the sales, so I wasn't sure whether it would fit, as you can see in the picture it doesn't look very fitted and it's also quite short. Fortunately, it does fit well and though it's a little short for my tastes, I'm just going to wear it anyway and be brave - I think I'm just a wuss when it comes to skirt lengths.

 

So, I went a bit mad in Boots recently. I mentioned in a previous post about being disappointed with one of the sparkly Model's Own polishes I'd bought, so I decided to get the Mystic Mauve (above middle) which is a more interesting colour than the Champagne. It's a bit more vivid than in the picture, but still quite subtle. 

I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing over buying a red lipstick for a while. I'm not the bravest girl when it comes to makeup, but I do love the way red lipstick looks and I wanted to give it a go even though I wasn't sure it would suit me. I bought a lipstick from Boots' 17 Supreme Shine range, in

Red Devil. I'm happy to say it does suit me (I think!) and I'm going to make myself wear it as often as I can just to get used to it. While I was in Boots I saw they had an offer for a free makeup case + three polishes if you bought two items from the 17 range. So of course I had to go for that, and bought the shimmery blue polish to get the other three.

Then I sat the jewellery stand by the checkout, which was all half price. I went a bit mad buying rings, I loved them all and couldn't decide between them so just bought all four; I think they were only a couple of quid each in the end. Only problem is, they don't all fit that great; it was difficult to tell in the shop because of the rubber band in the ring holding them onto the packaging, and the ring was a lot looser than I anticipated once I removed the packaging. They still fit, though, so I should get plenty of wear out of them.

And now, my first ever outfit post! I finally managed to figure out the self-timer on the camera, find a place to shoot from and somewhere to balance the camera precariously. Clearly, I didn't have time to move my fringe out of my eyes. My beautiful-sexy post-op shoe can also be seen, unfortunately that's the only shoe I'll be wearing on my left foot for the next 6 or 7 weeks,

cardigan: Primark, dress: New Look, belt: Tesco, right shoe: Peacocks, left shoe: NHS