Snuggly buggly part deux

Shearling hasn't just been confined to jackets this season; the shops also seem to be full of fluffy boots, which, after getting my crappy faux velvet Primark flats absolutely destroyed in the rain the other day, I'm thinking I definitely need. Strong, sturdy leather on the outside, fluffy and warm on the inside? YES PLEASE!

AMORE Shearling Ankle Boots, £95 and Unique Fur Cuff Boots, (this colour isn't currently on the website) £140, both Topshop

Fornarina Lace Up Boots, £185 and KG Wentworth Buckled Ankle Boots, £180 both ASOS

Leather Aviator Boot, £79.99, New Look and Korr Lace Up Brown Leather Boots, £92, Office

I've just realised that my picks are all rather expensive, especially the ones from ASOS - eeek! Also, eighty quid seems like a lot for a pair of New Look boots, but I suppose if they're real leather, they're bound to be a bit pricier. Even so, apologies for not providing a more varied selection. I know boots can be expensive, but I'm sure there are much cheaper options out there - please let me know of any you come across!

Right, back to X Factor - are you watching it? One of the things I've noticed is how well dressed so many of the contestants are! Not all of them, obviously (Chloe Mafia? Bleurgh...), but I do think it seems that more people are giving more thought to the overall 'package' of being a pop star; not just having a good voice, but also having a good image and personality etc, which makes sense really as X Factor (whether you think this is a good thing or not) isn't really a singing competition is it? Thoughts? And who are you loving/hating? At this early stage, I've got a feeling that Cher will go quite far, she's something a bit different and interesting, though I really wish she'd sort her eyebrows out....

Hello cheeky

I don't even normally bother with Miss Selfridge but I realised I'd not been into the new store since it opened in Liverpool (in the basement of Topshop, FYI) so I went to have a little snoop on Monday and found these babies;

Pink, polka dots and peep-toe? Too cute! And they're only £40!

Couldn't decide whether to buy them or not as I'm looking for a pair of shoes AND a dress at the moment and I figured if I buy these, it's going to limit what sort of dress I can buy (what do you think - should you plan an outfit around your shoes?). Then again, when they're only £40 I might just buy them anyway...

Took a little trip to missselfridge.com to have another look at them and came across these;

Polka dot, platform and lovely over-sized bow!? And also only £40! Now I'm really in a pickle...

Help please, which do you prefer? Should I buy both?!

(tea)spoonful of sugar...

Two years ago, when I was still at university and suffering from a particularly desperate cashflow situation, I entered a competition to win £250 to spend at Warehouse. It was fairly straightforward - you just had to make a list of your top five 'must-have' items from the website and then the lovely people from Warehouse picked their favourite list. Amazingly, I won! It was all quite exciting, especially because I literally had no money to spend on clothes at that time and it meant that I could actually buy a coat to see me through the winter months. Had I not won that competition, readers, I'd probably have died of hypothermia. Really.

Anyway, last week, ASOS were running the same sort of competition, except you had to pick three items and the prize was £1000 to spend on the site. Yep, £1000. That's a whole bunch of clothes. Even though I didn't actually come across the comp until the last minute and there was already A LOT of entries (understandably), I figured I'd give it a go. I mean, who doesn't want to win £1000 to spend on ASOS? In fact, who doesn't want to win £1000 to spend anywhere? I'd probably have entered if the prize was £1000 to spend at Millet's.

The thing is, picking three 'must-have' items from ASOS is really quite difficult because there are literally hundreds of beautiful things to choose from. And of course, because it was a competition I wanted my list to be unique. I spent a long time clicking through lots of different dresses, shoes, jackets, tops etc etc and in the end I went for three items that (I think) were suitably fabulous but not too obvious. The winner was supposed to be announced on Friday but I just looked on the ASOS Facebook group and it said the winner would be announced next week so I'm keeping everything crossed! Seriously, ONE THOUSAND POUNDS!!!

If you're interested, here are the three items I chose;

I'm loving maxi dresses at the moment so I went for this gorgeous printed one by Aqua Couture;

I wanted a pair of fabulous shoes on my list, and I thought these Carvela bondage-inspired platforms were really striking;

The final item I chose was this bejewelled bandeau bodice (hello alliteration!) by One Teaspoon;

I love this!!!

I remember when ASOS was first launched (back in 2000 when I was a wee 12 year old!); ASOS, in case you don't know (though I'm sure you do) stands for 'As Seen On Screen' and the whole concept behind the site was that it sold clothing 'in the style' of celebrities, so basically, things that you've 'seen on screen' and want to copy. Now, ten years later, while you can still buy celeb-inspired stuff, the site is no longer all about copying celebrities as ASOS stocks countless brands, both designer and high street, which are stylish in their own right and not just because Ashley Olsen was seen wearing them.

I've mentioned before that I don't often buy clothes online, for the simple reason that my size varies depending on where I shop and I can't be bothered with the hassle of sending stuff back if it doesn't fit. Because of this, I don't really visit ASOS very often, however, after spending a bit of time there for the competition last week, I'm definitely reconsidering! In addition to all the well-known labels you can find on the site, such as French Connection and Oasis, ASOS also stocks loads of independent and new designers which I doubt I'd have come across otherwise.

One of the labels that caught my attention was Australian brand One Teaspoon, which I noticed while I was weeping over the bandeau top above. I think the clothes are similar to the stuff you get at All Saints, although slightly more toned-down. The collection on ASOS features a selection of cute tee-shirts, tops and a couple of dresses; all quite simple but with a casual, urban feel to them. While it's not cheap (some of the tee-shirts are £40 and that bandeau top is £120!), I reckon that if I did have that kind of money I would definitely be spending it on this brand, as all the pieces are so unique but wearable. Here's a few more of my favourite items from the brand;

Beaded Tie Dye Maxi Dress, £70

Lace Bodice, £55

Sergeant Pepper Oversized Tee, £45

Studded Leather Waistcoat, £190

What do you think? Worth the money?

(all images from ASOS, click product names to go to their page on the site)

Mr Bojangles

Just a quick post, following on from yesterday's.

Despite Sheniqua's claims that the fashion show would be a formal affair, I decided to wear my new black dress from the Topshop sale, the leather jacket of dreams and these crazy pompom shoes (again from Topshop);

I love these shoes - I very rarely wear them because they're so bloomin' special - look at the pompoms! Look at the heel! They even came with a little silky shoebag to keep them all protected and clean!

I also wore my new massive earrings (again from the Topshop sale - what's wrong with me?!), which are jangly to the max, but also exceptionally heavy. I did fear that my earlobes would become elongated during the course of the night, due to the sheer weight of the things. I suppose it all comes down to the question of would you be willing to risk developing freakishly long earlobes for the sake of some fabulous earrings? The answer is clearly yes, yes I would.

Pat Butcher eat your heart out

Seriously - SO heavy!

Anyway, the moral of this story is that when you go out wearing an outfit which consists of fabulous yet somewhat painful shoes and super jingly jangly earrings - manage your time carefully. Otherwise you end up having to leg it for the bus which results in majorly sore feet AND sore ears!

Let this be a lesson, kids - jangly earrings and running do not mix...

On the good ship lollipop...

I think this just about sums me up - tomorrow I'm going to a joint birthday party for three friends, so today I went into town to buy presents for said friends. I came back from town with two DVDs (for me), a brooch (for me), a pair of shoes (for me), a present (for one of the friends) and this postcard of Shirley Temple (for me). To be fair, I'm going halves on the presents with another friend, and it just worked out that she'd sorted the other two out first. But I think it's safe to say that I much prefer buying myself things than buying them for other people. This probably means I'm a bad person, but hey, at least I'm a bad person with lots of cool stuff.

Why Shirley Temple? It's kind of a combination of intrigue, because when I was little, everyone said I looked like her, and vague terror, because I've always found her a bit creepy. There's something about those chubby little arms and shiny, shiny ringlets that just doesn't feel right to me. Ever noticed how in every single Shirley Temple film there's a scene where she does a tap dance routine with an elderly black man? It doesn't matter what kind of film it is - I swear I saw one where her character was on her death bed but, by God, could they stop that plucky little girl from doing a tap dance with an elderly black man? Like Hell they could! She tap danced to her dying heart's content, yes indeedy.

Here's a photo of me as a deranged-looking child for comparison. Note - I may have had the ringlets and chubby arms but I NEVER tap danced.

Back to my purchases - I went back to the wonderful vintage jewellery shop where I bought my owl brooch... I don't actually think all of it is vintage because, well it looks too shiny and new, but regardless, it's still cool. Today I bought an adorable little ballerina -

The detail is lovely on this - she's got a flouncy skirt and is tying up her little ballet shoe! I shall name her Annabel.

I also bought a pair of interesting shoes from Urban Outfitters, they were on sale - £20 reduced from £35 (I pretty much only ever buy from the sale section of Urban Outfitters coz it's so bloody extortionate). I was looking for a pair of black flats and came across these little beauts -

I love that cutout detail! So nifty! They're not really the sort of thing I'd normally buy - I'm more of a ballet pumps kind of gal, but they're so unusual and VERY comfortable so I threw caution to the wind and just bought them. Madness.

Hurting

I went for a little look around the shops today and felt so completely uninspired, it was just depressing. Here's the issue - everywhere is currently stocking spring/summer collections - you know; linen, pastels, flouncy skirts, strappy tops etc etc et bloody cetera. Zara was the worst culprit for it - clearly their buyers are extremely optimistic for a hot summer...maybe they know something we don't...

But at the moment it's so dismally cold and wet that I literally can't imagine buying anything except tights, cardigans, scarves (my friend dragged me away from a massive black one because she didn't understand my yearning for it...I may go back and buy it tomorrow) and possibly some kind of raincoat (ok, I'm joking). I hate the cold. Hate it. I completely understand the appeal of hibernating like woodland creatures do, in fact, I'm currently on the look out for a suitable cave, stocking up on acorns and advertising for a squirrel room-mate to keep me company.

So yeah, not feeling the summery clothes just yet.

Also, is it just me or is anybody else offended by how stupidly expensive Urban Outfitters and American Apparel are? I constantly find myself vaguely picking up some simple, basic piece, like a t-shirt or jersey knit skirt, looking at the price tag and then going "HOW MUCH?!" before hurriedly slamming it back on the rail and storming off in a huff. £52 for a fine knit jumper! I just think it's silly, I do, I really, really do. Maybe I'm getting old and cynical...

Even so, I did find one moment of sheer joy when in the shoe section of Topshop today. My goodness, their shoe designers are on form this season! Actually the whole of Topshop is very, very good at the moment - the current jewellery collection is incredible (I know I praised it a bit in my last post, but it really is beautious).

I talked myself out of buying the ruffled ones and then sat down to read Style magazine and was faced with a massive picture of them - it's clearly a sign that I should buy and love them forever...

from left to right - PASSION £95, SHE-RA £70, LULU £60

(photos from topshop.com)

Lovely thing of the week...

So, kicking off this new promise to post more exciting stuff on here, I thought I'd start with something I'm going to do as a feature every week, entitled simply, 'lovely thing of the week'.
Does what it says on the tin really - every week there'll be something lovely!

This week's lovely thing is this pair of gorgeous Mary Janes from Topshop. They're £65 and 100% leather, I know they're not HUGELY exciting, but there's something about Mary Janes that I just love (hence the title of the blog), they're just so simple and chic. The three little straps make these a bit different and I'm a sucker for a platform (no really; show me a platform and I'll do pretty much whatever you want) so they're just an all-round winner for me!