Best Fashion Buys 2013

Hi everyone, it's been a while! I'll start by apologising for the lack of blog posts and this is mainly due to college work and also the lack of sunlight we have in England, meaning I cannot take decent photos. When I leave for college it's dark and when I get back home it's dark!
But anyway, nevertheless, this year has been a great year for me as I've spent a considerable amount of it at Oxford Street and even better, in Topshop on Oxford Circus! During my last visit with two of my best friends, we discovered the photobooth which I never knew was there before. We only planned on taking a few photos as it was the rip-off price of £3 per sheet, but we were pleased to find out that it was broken so we could take as many photos as we wanted and it would be completely free! So, of course, we took advantage of that and now own many many sheets of Topshop photobooth photos..

Over the year, however, there have been a few clothing items that I'm very pleased I bought. Does anyone else get that? When you leave the shop feeling extremely pleased with yourself and the next few months wearing that item over and over again and just generally feeling happy that you bought it?
There have been a few items this year that have definitely stood out to me as my best buys, so I thought I'd share them with you.

First up is this dress from Motel Rocks at Topshop:

~ Motel Rocks smock dress - September ~

I actually bought this on the day we took all the photobooth photos and I believe it is in that bag I am holding up in one of the oh-so-flattering pictures. Over the summer, smock dresses had made a large appearance in the fashion world and I was yet to own one as I was unsure if the style would suit me. There was a daisy print one on asos I'd had my eye on for ages which was also a Motel Rocks dress, so I just picked this up to try on so I could check if the style and size would fit ok before ordering from asos. However, I ended up loving it so much that I bought it (and never bought the asos one..) I've learnt that I'm definitely a smock dress fan and they're great for wearing to meals out as you can eat as much as you like without worrying about the unflattering bloated tummy or feeling uncomfortable in a tight waistband.

~ Topshop Cardigan - September ~

~ Topshop crop top - May ~
~ Topshop joni jeans - August ~

Next up are these three items, all from Topshop too! Let's begin with the cardi.. Although not the most photogenic of clothes, it's still perfect in my eyes. Every time I went to Topshop throughout August and September, I tried on this cardi but I always seemed to be with my practical friend who would say 'No Zoe you're not a cardigan person, you'll never wear it!' and 'They don't have your size anyway, you don't need it!' Most of what she was saying was true - I am not a 'cardigan person,' they did not have my size the 10 times I tried it on and I did not need it. However, the day my NUS card (student discount) arrived I got slightly overexcited and went on a mini shopping spree, this being one of the things I bought and I'm soooo happy that I did! At first I didn't wear it out much; it was more of a comfy evening cardi to wear at home but I've recently been wearing it to college a lot more.

The Joni jeans pictured here were my second pair and I think I have spoken about them before so I'll try not to go into too much detail. But basically, I ordered what I thought was the pair I wanted online but I had actually ordered the very light version. When they arrived, I was slightly disappointed but it turned out to be a good mistake as they are now my favourite pair of jeans! And a few months later, on a trip to Southampton they had the pair I had originally wanted in my size so I bought those too!
And lastly, this crop top which I barely even remember buying - which is odd for me, I'm known for having a great memory, especially of irrelevant events! All I remember is that I was out somewhere with my mum that wasn't my hometown and it was just before the huge heatwave we had.. But anyway, I bought this just because I loved the pattern so much, thinking I probably wouldn't wear it out much, only on holiday, but I surprised myself and went out multiple times in England in this crop top and it ws probably one of my most worn tops throughout the heatwave!

~ Urban Outfitters top - July ~
~ Topshop shorts - June ~

Woohoo, here's an item that I didn't buy from Topshop!! I included this daisy top in a haul I did back in July when I went to London to see 'Matilda' in the West End. Since then, I have gotten a lot of wear out of it. I'm not one of Urban Outfitters biggest fans as I see them as unnecessarily overpriced but this top had daisies on, it was impossible for me to not buy it!
Now these shorts are without a doubt my most worn item throughout the summer months this year! The colour and the style are perfect and I noticed that Topshop also does them in a few other colours so I will definitely be buying some more for summer 2014! Unfortunately, today was the first time I've tried them on since about August/September and I was disappointed to find out that they suddenly seem 2 sizes too big on my waist. I'm not entirely sure what's gone on in my wardrobe as they are the same waist size as all my joni jeans so I'm slightly puzzled as to why they are so large. I guess I'll just have to put them through the wash and hope they shrink back down again.. But apart from that they are the perfect shorts!

~ Topshop christmas jumper - December ~

And last but not least, this Christmas jumper from Topshop! Again, not hugely photogenic but it looks a lot nicer in person, I promise! This sold out in Topshop so fast and I was disappointed that I missed out on buying it, however on my 2nd trip to the Topshop sales (how many times have I said 'Topshop' this blog post?!) I saw it hanging there on the end of a row and I could feel my eyes widening and I internally screamed before literally diving for it and grabbing it off the rail before anyone else could. And to my amazement, it was in my size! WHAT ARE THE CHANCES!! (This was only 2 days ago, I'm still not over it ok!) So then, I ran over to my friend and started waving it in her face and shouting 'LOOK LOOK THEY HAVE IT IN MY SIZE OH MY GOD WHAT ARE THE CHANCES HALLELUJAH I LOVE LIFE' and she just smiled and gave an unenthusiastic woop before edging away from me..
This is the same practical friend who tried to persuade me not to buy the cardi so when I tried it on she just said 'dude Christmas is over, you do not need a Christmas jumper' and did her 'intimidating eyebrow raise' that she's famous for, but I followed my heart and bought it anyway, for £20.25 instead of the full price of £42! I love this jumper so so much and will be proudly wearing it throughout the rest of winter even though Christmas is over.

Wow I've written a lot.. This blog post is more of a story of HOW I bought each item rather than why I love them so much, but oh well, I hope you've enjoyed reading anyway! Comment below what your best buys of 2013 have been and leave links to your blogs as I'm always on the lookout for new blogs to follow!

Happy New Year!! x

Ellie Goulding Concert & OOTN!

Hiya! So last month I went to see Ellie Goulding in concert during her Halcyon Days tour and I can honestly say IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST CONCERTS I'VE EVER BEEN TO! I've always been a fan because my best friend is a huge Ellie Goulding fangirl, but it was only this summer when I finally took the initiative and tried my best to end my love affair with Taylor Swift's Red album; by forcing myself to listen to the very few different bands and artists I had on my ipod, that I really began enjoying her music. (If you're in need of the perfect song to blast out at full volume and scream along to, then 'Joy' is perfect for that! - It starts off slow and takes a while to build up, but it's insanely good once it gets to the loud part, honestly!) (and even better live!)

So before I get into all the details of the concert and begin fangirling and rambling on about how great she was, here's the dress that I wore (I made the silly decision of going into Topshop at a time when I was very poor and ended up spending the last remainders of my money on this dress and was left with literally 40p. That is no exaggeration, I bought a dress, leaving myself with 40p to last me the week. Not like I needed food or anything.. Priorites Zoe, priorities):

~ Me and Leana about to queue up ~
~ Me / Dress-Topshop / Coat-Miss Selfridge / Bag-Zara / Vans-ebay ~
~ Leana / Top-Market in London / Coat-New Look / Shorts-Dorothy Perkins / Bag-TK Maxx / Boots-Primark ~

Luckily for us, the concert happened to be on a Wednesday; the one day of the week when we both finish college early, waheey! (Not that we were planning on skiving the last lesson in order to get to the concert in time..nope, not at all...) Being there early meant that we were able to get very close to the front without shoving our way in and here's some pictures where I show off just how close we were: (We practically breathed the same air as Ellie!!)

For me, the best part of the concert was when she sung I Know You Care - a ballad about her Dad - and the arena fell so quiet (well, quiet in comparison to how rowdy we were the rest of the time) It's incredible enough when whole arenas are united together, screaming song lyrics back at the artist, but when it's the other way around, everyone falling silent to just listen; wow, it was such an amazing 3 minutes! Here's a small clip I took of the performance; I'm annoyed that I stopped recording half way through too ok!

Another amazing part of the concert was during her final song, when she sang 2 lines looking straight into my eyes and, excluding when I found out I got an A in GCSE French, I have never been so overexcited in my life! Unfortunately my camera wasn't filming for those wonderful 10 seconds but it's well and truly engraved in my memory so even if I have no proof, at least I can remember it well!

If you haven't already, then I definitely recommend seeing Ellie Goulding live. She's touring again next year so make sure you don't miss out on tickets!
See you in my next blog post, Zoe x

A/W13 Shoe Haul!

Recently, I've realised how few pairs of shoes I actually own. According to google, the average British female owns between 25-40 pairs of shoes and I've known many people to have multiple shoe racks and wardrobes dedicated to their shoe collection. For me, my shoe collection consists of 2 pairs of vans which I wear pretty much daily; my trainers which I wear to the gym (haah not that I go there very often) and a few pairs of 'seasonal' shoes like flip flops and wellies. Not very impressive.
A few weeks ago, I found a bag of studs which I bought at the beginning of summer as I was planning to make some of those cool looking shorts that you see all over tumblr, but I never got round to making any. So instead, I bought a pair of white converse during the 'Southampton freshers shop-in' (in short - 20% off everything in shops in Southampton for students for one evening only, meaning it was insaaaanely crowded, but worth it for the money saved!) I then spent most of my weekend putting the studs into the shoes which was an extremely boring task and also very frustrating as it's more difficult than it looks to ensure they're all in line! But anyway, here they are...

~ What they look like on the inside ~

I've worn these a few times already as they go with pretty much every outfit. I think the studs add a touch of uniqueness to them and I definitely prefer them to plain white converse!

Now onto the next pair...
Whenever I go to events with smart dress codes, I never fail to turn up in a posh outfit but with a pair of vans on my feet, so I decided now was a good time to invest in a pair of reasonably smart shoes. As I don't go to posh events that often I just wanted some simple black shoes that can be dressed up or down, so on my regular visit to the topshop website, I mixed things up a bit and had a look at the shoes as well as the clothes. I instantly fell in love with this pair of black lace-up ankle boots with gold toe caps...

~ Yes, I wore them to college and despite my best efforts to avoid all dirt, I still managed to get mud on them ~

I really love these shoes; they're not something I'd usually go for but I'm so glad I did buy them! They're not as comfy as vans but it's definitely good to wear a different style of shoes sometimes; plus I got a lot of compliments when I wore them to college, always a bonus!

And finally, the last pair of shoes I bought - which only arrived today! You know that one item that you've had your eye on for ages, but never actually bought? Well, these shoes are a pair I've had bookmarked for months (ever since my last visit to Topshop's shoe section, in fact!) and this weekend when I realised Topshop were doing free delivery, I thought I may as well go for it and order them.

 

I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed when they arrived as they're a lot darker in person than how they were pictured online, but the initial disappointment disappeared when I realised they had shearling lining! It does explain this on the website, but I'd somehow managed to miss this the million times I'd gone back to look at them. I wore them out earlier and they're super comfy and so warm because of the lining so I love them already! Very glad that I finally made the decision to buy them!

I know this was only a small shoe haul, but for me it felt massive! Thinking about it, the last pair of shoes I bought before these was back in January so it was good to finally replenish my collection, especially in time for winter. Which pair is your favourite? Have you done any hauls recently?

Zoe x

College OOTW!

Hi, it's been a while since I last blogged and in that time, I've started going to college to study A levels. I'm enjoying the subjects I'm doing and the amount of freedom college gives you, but mostly, I've been enjoying being able to wear my own clothes after TWELVE YEARS OF SCHOOL UNIFORM, so I thought I'd share with you my college outfits of the week!

~ Top - Asos ~
~ Jeans - Topshop's Joni Jeans in original colour ~

~ Top - River Island ~
~ Cardi - Topshop ~
~ Jeans - Topshop's Leigh jeans in pastel blue ~
~ Vans - ebay ~

~ Watch - Asos ~
~ Zz top - American Apparel ~
~ Leather look skirt - River Island ~
~ Gold Necklace - River Island ~
~ Denim jacket - American Eagle ~
~ Heart midi ring - New Look ~
~ Bird midi ring - Topshop ~
~ Vans - ebay ~

~ Top - River Island ~
~ Jeans - Topshop's Leigh jeans in dark blue acid wash ~
~ Vans - Office ~
~ Khaki jacket - Topshop ~

~ Gold triangle midi rings - River Island ~
~ Z ring/small heart midi ring - Topshop ~
~ Large heart ring - New Look ~
~ Watch - Urban Outfitters ~

~ Natural hair in side parting - I also tried to show my makeup but the lighting makes it look as though I have extreme makeup on one side and none on the other ~
~ Close up of the acid wash pattern on the jeans ~

~ Kimono - Topshop ~
~ Top - Topshop ~
~ Jeans - Topshop's Joni jeans in light acid wash ~
~ Necklace - Bijou Bridgette ~
~ Scarf - Jack Wills ~

~ Hair in messy ponytail ~
~ (If you've never seen just how pale I am, this is how light my skin is! Finding foundation is so hard!!) ~

~ Top - Topshop ~
~ Jeans - Topshop's Joni jeans in dark acid wash ~
~ Vans - ebay ~

~ Close up of darker acid wash Joni jeans ~

I hope you've enjoyed this OOTW and let me know if you'd like me to do more! As you can probably tell, I have an obsession with Topshop jeans, especially acid wash ones; the pairs I wore for the two most recent days are almost identical, one is just slightly darker but I absolutely love them!
If you haven't already, I would definitely advise buying some as the patterns are super pretty and they go with almost anything! Here is a link to the lighter pair and here is a link to the darker ones.

Which outfit was your favourite? Have you done an OOTW recently? Leave links below!

Zoe x

MY LIFE IS EMPTY: Finishing the Hunger Games

I know I shouldn't really be complaining seeing as I'm currently writing this from Cyprus with this as my view...

But I just finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy and now I seem to be in one of those 'post-something depressions.' In this case, post-hunger games depression (which I can assure you Katniss and Peeta did not suffer from)

It's strange that the only reason I bought the books was cause I wanted to take advantage of the HMV sale earlier this year. Nothing in the shop was in any kind of order and OCD was beginning to kick in, so I just grabbed the best bargain I could find and left asap. I ended up buying all three Hunger Games books for £5 which I thought was pretty awesome, and added them to the bottom of my 'reading pile.'

I have watched and rewatched the first Hunger Games film many-a-times so knew exactly what was going to happen. Although, I was not prepared for how upset I'd get over Rue's death even after seeing it on a screen (and crying too) more times than I can count. The book, however, makes her death ten times more upsetting and her name is now a new addition to my list of 'fictional deaths I will never get over' - alongside Alaska Young, Augustus Waters and Tom Clarkson *cries* (sorry if I just ruined a book/TV series for you)
Even though I know the film backwards, I was still unable to put the book down and as soon as I'd finished, picked the second one up and began to read straight away.
In my mind, the second and third book (Catching Fire and Mockingjay) have sort of merged into one - the 3rd picks up where the 2nd left off. Without ruining everything for you, all I can say is that they are both the twistiest books ever ever ever! And the second book holds the biggest secret ever ever ever which is revealed on one of the last pages and I have never experienced such a huge twist/secret/suprise before!!!!
In the third book there's a new twist/disaster at the end of almost every chapter; the deaths become a lot more graphic and nearly everything that happens makes you internally scream 'NOOO WHYYY!' But it's still weirdly enjoyable to read.
Whenever I finish a book I just sit there for a while wondering what to do with my life, but it's been a long time since I read a whole series and the empty feeling you get afterwards is even worse! (But still well worth reading the books cause they are amazing!!!!!!)

So err, here's a picture of me looking sad after finishing Mockingjay..

I'm just looking forward to the next films coming out now (ha mainly cause Sam Clafin AND Josh Hutcherson AND Liam Hemsworth will be in them)

I've brought 5 other books on holiday which I need to get a move on with in order to finish them all in 2 weeks! But that should be enough to help me recover from the Hunger Games..although I'll probably become attached to even more fictional characters now!

What's in my summer handbag

After seeing Zoella and SprinkleOfGlitter's 'Summer Essentials' video about a month ago, it became my main priority in life to track down this neon yellow bag and to buy it! Although it's originally from Zara, they had completely sold out, so I spent days looking for similar ones online and hours walking round town trying to hunt one down. I had no luck until I checked ebay for the 1000000th time that week and the bag was finally on there! Of course, I ordered the bag straight away and have now had it for a few weeks. So before it is completely full of receipts, food wrappers and useless items (like all my other handbags) I thought I'd do a 'what's in my summer handbag.'

~ Bag - Zara (the colour is a lot brighter in real life) ~

It's only a small bag so not much can fit in it (which is good as I normally take half my bedroom with me wherever I go) From left to right, I have a small perfume from Victoria's Secret's PINK - it's my second bottle and I absolutely love the smell! It also seems to last forever, I've had the same bottle since November and sprayed it multiple times a day, yet it's still practically full!
Next, I have my Fiorelli purse which takes up about 90% of the bag! I have so many small purses but I just prefer using one large one that will fit everything in.
Of course, I have my keys in my bag which are attached to a fluffy blue pom pom type thing which speeds up the 'I can't find my keys' process that I seem to go through daily as it means you just have to feel around in your bag for something furry. My keys are also attached to a 'Keep Calm and Love Nathan Sykes' keyring that I got for my birthday because I am slightly (very, extremely, like insanely) in love with Nathan Sykes (from The Wanted)
The only makeup that's always in my bag is my Collection 2000 powder. I keep one at home and one in my bag all the time cause its just a useful item to carry around with you!
I also have some hand sanitizer which I like to keep because you never know when you're gonna need it!
My ipod comes with me almost everywhere, along with some earphones. It's a nano 5th generation that I've had for nearly 4 years now and you probably can't see in the picture but it's completely destroyed - covered in scratches and marks and the camera has fallen off and the click wheel always falls out. But as long as it stills plays music, that's all that matters! Plus, getting a new one and having to sort out itunes and syncing all the music seems like way too much hassle.
As I appear to be in the 1% of human beings who dislike chewing gum, I carry polo mints everywhere instead. It used to be tic tacs but they rattle in your bag and I used to feel very self conscious walking along with a rattling handbag so I've converted to the silent polo mints instead.
I keep a little mirror that has the Eiffel Tower on and says 'Paris' on it, although I actually bought it from Mont St Michel - a little island next to France with a cathedral on top. And when I say little, I mean little - as in an area of less than 1km - so yeah, if you're in France anytime soon...definitely go there! But anyway, I have been to Paris too, so I'm not cheating with the Paris mirror ok!
Next, I have my Oyster card as I go to London a lot and I don't want to lose it so just take it with me everywhere. And lastly, my small makeup bag which I just put whatever makeup I might need to reapply throughout the day in.

So that's everything that I keep in my little summery handbag/satchel type thing - I think it's known as a messenger bag? I'm going to Cyprus next week and will definitely be taking this bag with me. Just as Zoella said in her video, it's so useful having a small bag as it makes you actually think about what you really NEED to take with you and prevents it from being stuffed with useless items!
I hope you've enjoyed reading and please follow me on bloglovin if you've enjoyed this or any of my other posts! Also, let me know in the comments what your essentials are for your summer handbag and leave links to your blogs as I'd love to read them!

Zoe x

Oxford Street Haul / Matilda

 On Thursday, I went to see 'Matilda' in the West End with my mum and as we didn't feel like travelling home at 10pm, we decided to stay overnight in a hotel in Leicester Square. If you don't know London, Leicester Square is a ten minute walk from Oxford Street (one of the world's best shopping destinations!) and of course, we followed the motto 'when one is presented with a shopping opportunity, one must take this opportunity.' So we did; and here's what I bought...

I had to force myself to minimise the amount of items I bought in Topshop - there were so many more I tried on and wanted to buy, but I chose my favourites and ran out the shop before the tempation of more clothes took over me. (That makes it sound as though I didn't pay for the clothes - I did!)

~ Topshop - £22 ~

This shirt looks slightly 'nurse uniform' but I do really like it and think it will go well with high waisted shorts/jeans.

~ Topshop - £25 ~

I've been desperate for some new sunglasses for ages as the only ones I ever seem to find that suit me are those huge bug-eye ones. But in Topshop I found so many non-bug-eye pairs that actually suited my face and was forced to choose. I settled on this pair in the end, then spent another half an hour choosing the case I wanted.

~ Topshop - £10 (for sunglasses and case together) ~

Next up was Urban Outfitters which is conveniently situated next door to Topshop, so we rushed straight in there and again, I entered the changing rooms struggling under the weight of all the clothes I had to try on, but left with as little as possible! In the end, I settled on just this top, basically cause it has daisies on and nothing else I tried on did - anything with daisies on, I will buy!

~ Urban Outfitters - £28 ~

River Island is definately my favourite place for summer shopping but being July - the middle of a heatwave when everyone wants summery clothes - shops are conveniently full of their autumn stock now, so sadly I found no clothes in there at all. But to cheer me up, I did find this cute anklet instead (anklets are another obsession of mine)

~ River Island - £3 ~

Inbetween shopping, we took a quick break at a small restaurant called 'My Old Dutch' which is one of my mum's favourite places that shes wanted to take me to for ages! There are three of these in London, so if you ever go there my advice is to only order one thing and not the potato wedges! One portion of potato wedges comes in a large pyrex bowl and should belong on a buffet table to serve a large party, not as a starter in a restaurant for one person! By the time my pancake arrived, I was way too full so ended up eating about two bites of it and taking the rest home to eat later - it tasted amazing though!

~ 'My Old Dutch' / Potato Wedges / Pancakes ~

On the way back from My Old Dutch, we stopped off in Waterstones where they had a buy one get one half price offer on John Green books, so I bought two that I don't yet have and another book called 'Girl, Interrupted' which I have also wanted for a while. I've been reading a lot recently - I'm in the middle of the Hunger Games trilogy at the moment - and need more books for when I go on holiday, so am looking forward to reading these!

~ Waterstones - An Abundance of Katherines / Girl, Interrupted / Paper Towns ~

By this time I was running out of money and American Apparel definitely isn't a great place to shop when you're low on money, but it's known for being sweatshop free which is why the prices are so high and if theres one thing I learnt from GCSE Geography it's that sweatshops are not good! Because of this, I always feel as though I should support shops like American Apparel for not taking advantage of workers in poorer countries and ended up spending £14 on a bandeau top which is insane!! But it had daisies on, I couldn't not buy it!

~ American Apparel - £14 ~

I'd spent all day looking for midi rings as I think they look so beautiful and aren't as scary as normal rings because they don't get stuck on your finger or cut off your circulation so when we went into the final shop of the day and found this pack of three, I had to stop myself screaming with joy - I think they're sooo pretty! And here they are, being expertly modelled by my not so attractive fingers...

~ Miss Selfridge - £6.50 (pack of three) ~

So that's everything I bought on my quick trip to London. I had such a good time and am already planning my next trip where I'll probably go to Westfield (I tend to shop in Oxford Street/Covent Garden in the warmer months and Westfield when it's cold outside!)

Matilda is also an amazing show to go and see so if you're planning a trip to London soon, then definitely book some tickets! It's so different from the film which is good as you don't know what's going to happen and aswell as being a musical, theres also a lot of comedy in it! It's been in the West End for a long time now so I'm not sure how much longer it will be around, but I've heard that it will soon be on Broadway too!
I tweeted about the show afterwards and two members of the cast favourited me which was pretty awesome too! Liza Minnelli was also there on the same evening as us (I didn't know who she was but my mum had a mini fangirl moment when she found out)

Finally, here's the pictures I took in Leicester Square! I meant to take pictures in Oxford Street but became too absorbed in the shopping, so completely forgot!

~ Leicester Square ~