"so that people don't walk over you"

This skirt is £6.99 from H&M - I want it. (maybe in the black and the peach)

I've not been shopping in a while, so I wouldn't have even known that this skirt existed had I not spotted it, in its various colour options, on three or four different blogs. That's one of the things I love about fashion blogs - they do the same job as magazines when it comes to keeping you in the know about all the lovely things that are currently in the shops. And, unlike magazines, most of the items of clothing or beauty products that I read about on blogs are things I could actually afford to buy (my fashion magazines of choicIe are Elle and Sunday Times Style, both of which seem to assume that all of their readers are millionaires. Believe me, we're not).

'm sure I've mentioned it before, but when it comes to fashion and beauty, I'm very easily influenced and pretty much want to buy every lipstick/dress/skirt/cagoule I see, especially when it's being shown off to it's full fabulousness on several different blogs. I've already seen this skirt here, here and here and no doubt it's been featured on loads more, because it's super versatile, flattering on pretty much any body shape and crazy cheap. Excellent skirt all round I say. Plus it's available in loads of different colours (and there's a very similar patterned one too). Well done, H&M , well done.

What do you think? Will you be buying this H&M lovely? Have you already bought it? What colour should I go for?!

Je voudrais s'il vous plaît - H&M

There is very rarely an occasion where I'll go into H&M and not want to buy something. Unlike Topshop, where I'll pick up something gorgeous but then feel my stomach turn as I read the price tag, H&M is home to fabulous, wearable fashion that is super affordable and, quite often, a lot cheaper than you'd expect. Take, for example, the blue dress above; super cute, could be worn in so many ways AND is only £14.99. FOURTEEN NINETY NINE! When I saw it in store a couple of weeks ago, I expected it to be around £30, and I reckon most people would be quite happy to pay that. I actually tried it on but decided to get a different dress instead (sadly couldn't justify buying both, despite the cheapness, as I'm still very much a pauper) but I do think it's lovely.

The tiny glimpses of sunshine we've had this week prompted me to start thinking about Summer, hence my slightly more colourful choices for this wish list. I realised that a large portion of my wardrobe is made up of black or dark colours, although this must be subconscious thing, as I don't necessarily prefer dark colours, I just seem to end up buying them. This will change; I want to be colourful and wear pink and look cheerful and girlie this Summer and there's not much doubt that I'll be end up with more than a few pieces that hail from H&M, so it seemed like a good idea to start picking some stuff out, even if it is only February.

What do people think of the H&M online store? I can't say I've really used it, as there's actually two H&M stores in Liverpool anyway, so I don't really need to shop online. It is quite good for a browse, although I do find the layout a bit confusing; it's not quite as straightforward as other online shops. Also, it's a bit weird, because when you click on an item, it doesn't take you to a specific product page, it just opens up a viewing window thing (I'm very good at technical-speak, aren't I?) so I can't actually link to each item like I did with my New Look wish list. I'll still list the items with prices, but if you actually want to look any of them up, you'll have to just visit http://www.hm.com/ and search them out yourself, sorry!

Donald Duck tee - £9.99 - also available with Garfield on it!

Chiffon tunic - £19.99 - available in powder and pink

Butterfly top - £7.99 - available in turquoise and powder pink

Tiered dress - £14.99 - available in bright blue and yellow

Lace up pumps - £7.99 - available in floral, leopard print, blue, white and black

Skirt - £14.99

Ring - £3.99 - available in black/gold and coral/silver

Are you an H&M fan (how could you not be?!) Bought anything good lately?

Products of the Month - November

New video. I am a fluffhead.

This is the pixiwoo video using the Sleek Graphite Palette that I loved so much. Like I said, the colours in the Bad Girl Palette are very similar, so you could definitely recreate this;

TOO GORGEOUS.

little black book

André Lorenz Stock is an 18 year old Swedish tee-shirt designer who founded the label Black Book. His designs are quirky and unusual, using a combination of photographs and a few humourous words, which he prints as transfers and then assembles, collage-style onto cotton tee shirts. On their website, it says that the Black Book philosophy is summed up by their logo (pictured above);

"A subtle word with a mysterious meaning that makes you wonder what's written in the black book while the leopardpig screams out for attention"

You gotta love that leopardpig.

Anyway, the label has been so popular that recently, H&M collaborated with André, giving customers from all around the world the chance to submit their designs with the best fifteen being selected by the designer to be made into tee-shirts and sold in H&M stores worldwide.

The final fifteen tees are a varied selection of witty, silly, random and downright weird designs and are available to buy instore right now (some are in the men's section and some in the women's but to be honest, I'd say they're all unisex really). Here are my favourites;

MALE COUTURE, £7.99

BILO THE MONKEY SO WRONG YET SO RIGHT, £9.99

ONE EYED REDHEAD, £12.99

LEOPARD BEARD IT'S REALLY TRENDY, £9.99

You can see all the designs on the H&M website - which is your favourite?

[image source]

Things

Something wonderful happened yesterday. I went into town looking to get a few bits and bobs from Boots (because I pretty much always need something from Boots) and to go into New Look because this month's Cosmo had a 20% off voucher in it and I'm a sucker for a bargain. Now I wasn't expecting anything great to happen; it was just another ordinary Saturday in Liverpool - girls were out and about with their heads full of velcro rollers (seriously, they do that here), scallies were lurking outside McDonalds and blinged up babies reclined in their pushchairs (I actually saw a pushchair lined with fake fur yesterday, no lie) but this day was to become a day of glory...

Aaaanyway, I went to Boots and New Look, bought some eyeshadows and conditioner and a long tee-shirt and a bunch of necklaces and then decided, because apparently I hadn't spent enough money already and because the window display was enticing me, to go to H&M. Now I've come to realise that I am basically a walking advert for H&M, it's very rare that I'll go in there and not buy anything, but yesterday nothing really called out to me. I picked up a pair of very blue jeans but then put them back again because I realised I'd look like a twat in them. Then, suddenly, from above, it appeared, like a beautiful leather bird of paradise; magical and overwhelming, the JACKET.

Oh it's just... there aren't enough words. Let's take a minute to compose ourselves shall we?

Thirty five of your English pounds and worth every single one of them, thank you very much.

Now I know what some people (ie the stupid ones) might be thinking - "a leather jacket? Really? It's Spring - it'll be Summer soon - will you wear it?"

Well I have two things to say to you, firstly, it's cropped, so it's perfect for Spring/Summer. And secondly, I live in England. Even when it's hot, it's still cold. Judging by last Summer, I'll probably need a bloody cagoule, never mind a leather jacket.

So I was the happiest of all the people in town yesterday, I guarantee it. So happy in fact, that I was momentarily blinded by sheer joy and literally went mental in HMV because there was a sale on and whenever there's a sale on I panic and think "Oh my God 4 DVDs for £20 - I should buy all the DVDs, ALL THE DVDs!!!"

You see, I've got this image of me in the future, where I'm rich and have a big house, and in the big house there is (as well as a pool boy with an ass that won't quit) a massive DVD library, which I've built up over the years and has every single film and tv series imaginable. Of course what I always fail to think of is that, by the time I'm a proper grown up with a big house, DVDs will probably have become obsolete and we'll all be watching films by having some kind of chip implanted into our brains that allows us to watch whatever film we want when we close our eyes... anyway, I digress. So I bought Madagascar, Fight Club, the 28 Days/Weeks Later boxset and Atonement, which I've not seen before and watched last night. Bloody hell it was depressing, but their silly posh accents made me chuckle and James McAvoy is beautiful in a "is he beautiful? No, not really...and yet he is..." kind of way, so I still liked it.

But back to the jacket. I had a conversation with my friend fairly recently about how I feel that I'm just not very fabulous anymore. Now please don't read this as me being a big vain loser, because, while I may be those things, I don't mean it like that. It's just that I used to take risks with fashion and wear whatever I wanted and not care; my first year at uni I wore the most ridiculous ensembles, but they were eye-catching and interesting and people said things like "I love that whole Africana vibe you've got going there" and "wow, you look like a model"...I'm coming off as vain again aren't I? Well I don't mean to, honestly, I'm just trying to make a point. You see the thing is, I got lazy, and I spent a lot of time being skint and I just kind of forgot how to shop for fun things. Whenever I had money for shopping, I'd buy the things I could afford rather than the things I loved, and while those things were still cool and pretty and fashionable, they were very rarely *FABULOUS* and I found myself falling into a bit of a style rut. Cue the violins... oh dear...

Well, anyway, the point I'm making is that this style rut is officially over! I can't blame it on not having money anymore because I'm now in a better money situation, which means I'm allowed to shop and buy fabulous things, such as the JACKET! So I'm making a vow to make more of an effort with my outfits and take risks again! RISKS! Starting right now with ensembles such as these... (when I say 'right now' I don't really mean that because it's night time and I'm in my pyjamas, but, you know, the next time I go out)

Jacket - H&M, Skirt - H&M (see? I should have shares in the place!)

I know, blurry, and you can't see my shoes, but my bedroom is incredibly small and it's very difficult to get a full length photo of yourself...

Shirt - H&M (seriously), Skirt - as before (so H&M then?), Shoes - Topshop

I'm actually really liking this whole "let's bare our midriffs like it's 1996" thing, but only with something high-waisted, obvs.

Having a non-curly day... Necklaces, worn as headband - New Look

Can I get away with this? Who cares!? RISKS!!!

And finally, remember the sunglasses I bought from (where else?) H&M last week? I didn't realise it at first, but look! They're two-toned! Which means they are awesome :)

Happy days.

The Prints and the Pauper.

It's Saturday night and I'm at home listening to my parents and their friends getting drunk downstairs. I know, I know - what kind of lame-ass 21 year old am I?! This is the first Saturday night I've had in ages where I've not been in work so really, I should be dancing like a lunatic somewhere to make up for all the nights out I've missed of late. But you know what? I'm tired ok? I've been busy doing all kinds of crazy things this week so just give it a rest and let me boring, yeah?

Anyway, one of my favourite people in the world came to visit me yesterday and apart from a minor mishap involving an exploding bottle of chilli sauce and my H&M oversized shirt/dress thing (which was washed to within an inch of its life when I got home), it was a lovely day. Being the good friend that I am, I showed her the joys of Liverpool shopping. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it) both of us were feeling thrifty so we didn't spend a great deal, but I did still manage to snap up some nifty little bits and pieces.

Owl brooch - £4.50 from an amazing vintage jewellery shop in Grand Central, Collection 2000 Glam Crystals eyeliner - £2.70 from Boots, dress - £14.99 from H&M and sunglasses £4.99 also H&M

The dress was really just something I was trying on, I'd actually intended to buy a different dress but it's such a lovely, "flippy" (as my mum called it) shape that I changed my mind. My sister (very sensibly) pointed out that it'd go well with a leather jacket so now I feel like I need a shrunken leather jacket, I think it's important for my personal well-being that I get one soon. The sunglasses were too good a bargain not to buy; I only ever wear bug-eye sunglasses coz I've got a massive head and other sunnies don't look right on me (aviators make me look like John Lennon for some reason).

Can anyone explain why, when I turn the flash off on my camera, the photos go really blurry? Why is that? Why? I was trying to take a photo without the flash so that the brooch and the eyeliner didn't go all reflecty but it just didn't happen. Harrumph. I am in love with the little owl though. The price label called it a "Tweet-twoo brooch" - how ca-yoot is that?!

If you were to take a little look-see into my wardrobe, the first thing you'd notice, as well as the disturbingly massive collection of knitwear I own, would probably be just how many of my clothes are covered in prints and patterns, obviously my new dress is a good example of this. My other most recent purchase, another dress, this time from French Connection via ASOS is also all about the pattern;

Dress - £24, French Connection (ASOS Sale)

Ignore my hair in the photo as best you can, I was between styles (not quite curly because I hadn't scrunched it after washing but not smooth enough to be straight - the Little Curly Girl's eternal dilemma...). Anyway, the dress was a kind of random impulse buy; I generally don't buy online because I'm never sure what size I am and can't be bothered with all the faff of returning things if they don't fit, but I figured since French Connection sizes are pretty consistent and a smock dress is basically a sack with sleeves, (a very nice sack, but a sack nonetheless) I'd take a risk. I bloody love it so it was a risk well-taken. It's very flouncy, and flounciness is pretty much something I always want in a dress, plus I don't usually wear long sleeves so it makes a good change. The drop-waisted shape and the dense black and white print really remind me of these two pieces from the Anna Sui Fall RTW show;

( photos from style.com)

So now I'm thinking I need a cameo brooch (back to the amazing vintage jewellery shop go I), a pair of fringed boots, some lacy tights and, of course, a crazy feathered hat. But then, don't we all need a crazy feathered hat?