WINTER COATS

With pumpkin spiced lattes hitting every Starbucks I knew it was time for the annual winter coat hunt. After reluctantly packing away my denim jackets and floral kimonos, I give you my top 7 coats for every possible wintery occasion.

(From left to right)

The Camel One- Zara £89.99

Is EVERYWHERE and yet I wouldn’t mind blending into the crowd if it meant I got to wear this coat. The neutral shade of beige looks effortlessly smart, much needed for that 9am lecture when you’re pretending you understand every word.

The Minimalist One- Mango £54.99

A throwback to the minimalist 90’s, you can’t go wrong with a simple white cocoon coat. The clean cut and collarless neckline takes things back to basics and makes an excellent canvas for many essential tartan scarfs.

The Teddy One- Topshop £79.00

The phrase all fur coat no kickers comes to mind in the sense that I can confidently say this coat will take over your entire outfit and there probably is no point in wearing anything else. But I think we can all agree that when you’re toes are near to turning blue; this oversized coat will be a stylish lifesaver.

The Checked One- Lavish Alice £60.00

For years my Mother has banned me from buying patterned coats for fear that I’ll hate it within a week or it’ll match only about 4 outfits I own. Finally, I stumbled across a checked duster coat with a simple design to curb my patterned needs whilst keeping my Mother happy with its versatility. No doubt it’ll come in handy as I try and avoid looking like an Eskimo sipping mulled wine in the local bar.

The Fur One- Topshop £68.00

Finally, a coat that looks incredibly warm and I can still flash my ankles. At wintertime I always feel obliged to wear the biggest coat possible, which, like everyone, causes me to neglect the outfit choices I wear underneath the mound of fur. Yes I probably will wear the same jumper/jeans combo for 2 months. This fur bomber is the answer to my prayers/whinges about nobody being able to appreciate how cool my new leopard patterned tights are. All hail.

The Draped One- H&M £39.99

This coat would go with anything and it would go with nothing, god forbid you distract away from the draped lapels. Ideal for the endless Christmas parties in the next coming months. 

The Sensible One- Warehouse £65.00

Let’s be serious now. The rain has started and won’t end till next June, and that’s if we’re lucky. We forget we live in dreary wet England and not Lapland. Instead of preparing for the snow, you need to worry about the rain and there is nothing better than an old-fashioned mustard rain mac to avoid the dreaded soggy jumper.

KITSCH CLUTCH

High-street:

Whitepepper ASOS excusive Eye Clutch- £42

Skinnydip London Crunch Clutch- £35

Deena & Ozzy for Urban Outfitters Metallic Lip Pouch- £14

New Look Fur Foldover Clutch- £17.99

Deena & Ozzy Speech Bubble Pouch- £7

Designer:

Charlotte Olympia Eye Want You Clutch- £1295

Anya Hindmarch Daz Georgina Clutch- £595

Lulu Guinness Neon Lips Clutch- £245

Moschino Barbie Collection Logo-detail Envelope Clutch- £320

Sophia Webster I Don’t Speech Bubble Leather Clutch- £340

When Steps- Tragedy comes on the radio, you find yourself stuck between either throwing yourself at the power button or throwing yourself into that old school disco dance routine. That is Kitsch. It’s garish, it’s tacky and quite frankly, it’s amazing.  

The kitsch trend prides itself on nostalgia and ostentatious drama, as if someone has dragged the past into the present with a pritt-stick and sequins in hand. The trend has exploded onto the catwalk and now the high street has jumped on the excessively glitzed-up bandwagon, offering us all the glamorously trashy accessories we could ask for at a fraction of the price. The loud and creative clutch designs are everywhere from New Look to Chanel, making sure we step out the door looking far from boring.

Fashion has become fun, a competition of who can be the most out-of-place, the most outlandish and the most flamboyant. I’m sure the 8-year-old girl inside us all is screaming out for the ever-so-kitsch Moschino Barbie collection, not so different from the spectacularly garish treats you’d expect in 90’s party bag, along with some sherbet straws and candy coloured yoyo of course.

NEON PATTERNED PALAZZO

Palazzo Pants- Primark // Bralet- Missguided // Sliders- Primark // Mini Clutch- Primark

With my holiday booked (finally!!!) I headed straight to Primark for some summer suitable outfits, after putting my much loved turtlenecks to bed. 

A pair of palazzo pants are a summer must-have, especially against the heat waves Cyrus will no doubt throw at me. Nothing is cooler than a pair of flares and I love how I can roam the streets feeling like I'm in my Pjs. Definitely feeling those chilled hippy vibes in these pants. 

The pattern is not too garish and worked perfectly with my neon mini clutch which I fell in love with purely for how eye-catching it is... literally. Neon is my favourite to style at the minute, I love injecting a bit of colour in my outfits without going over the top. 

I paired these pants with a simple bralet to balance the outfit out and again in prep for those summer heat waves. I also realise I have mini bunches in but why not. 

And obviously, no summer is complete without a Primark Birk dupe. 

(I have left the tags on as I'm still debating between this pair and pair of palazzos... will be up on the blog soon!)

Palazzo Pants- £12
Bralet- £10
Sliders- £5
Clutch- £2

DOGTOOTH

Spaghetti Strap Vest- Missguided // Formal Joggers- Primark // Tattoo Choker- Ebay // Heels- Topshop // Clutch- H&M // Lip Creme in Sweetie- Topshop Makeup

For someone who loves nothing more than a black and white outfit combination, dogtooth is an absolute dream.

I had been swooning over this top for sometime before Missguided offered a 20% discount at which point I was straight online to snap it up. I love the 90's neckline, which I have a little bit of an obsession with at the minute, however, the material is a little strange... It reminds me of a bathing suit, much like neoprene I guess, just much cheaper in appearance. I think the lesser quality appearance is however mostly due to the patterning which seems really... fake? For £8 though, I can't complain, I definitely don't regret this buy. 

To liven up this outfit a bit, I threw on my electric blue heels and a hot pink lipstick which surprisingly worked better than I expected. 

Dogtooth Vest- £8 (Originally £10 without discount)

Formal Joggers- £12

Tattoo Choker- £2.59

Heels- £45

Clutch- £18

Lip Creme- £8

90'S MAXI

Black Maxi Dress- H&M // Studded Wedges- Topshop // Mac Lipstick- Ruby Woo 

What. A. Surprise.

I chose a black dress to attend my English Society ball... shock. In my defence I did in fact want something simple and which maybe made me seem a tad sophisticated... seem underlined. After sneaking in a bottle of rum into a rather prestigious ball I clearly don't know the meaning on the word classy, but can anyone living on a student budget? Justifying it to myself as always. 

I fell in love with the modest 90's neckline on the dress, the way the chiffon hung and the subtle side split to flash a bit of leg. Overall, this dress was a perfect timeless addition to my wardrobe. 

Much like the dress, I kept accessories basic with some plain studded wedges and red lipstick. I really felt like a princess (in a weird gothic kinda way) after buying my first maxi dress and I could wear it all day everyday if I could. 

The photos are courtesy of my flatmate and her a m a z i n g photography skills and I can honestly say I had the best night with this girl. The Midsummer Nights Dream themed evening was a fantastic celebration of the end of first year which although is kinda sad, I'm never been more excited to spend another two years with my favourite people. 

Maxi Dress- £15

Wedges- £25 (Sale price)

Lipstick- £15

WHITE JEAN TREND

White Jeans- Primark // Kimono- Primark // Black Vest- Topshop // Cleated Boots- H&M // Mac- So Chaud 

If I'm honest here, white jeans are not really my thing. Up there with disco pants... I've always thought they were a tad tacky. However, after becoming a blogger and the apparent rise of the white jean trend I've become less cynical. 

One of the things I love about blogging is your whole opinion about an item of clothing can change depending on how another blogger has styled it. I mean, who the hell made Birkenstocks cool? 

About a month back, I saw someone (who's name I don't remember) who had jumped on the white jean trend and dedicated a blog post on how they styled them. The blogger had ripped them at the knees, had a pair of sliders on, a long grey cardigan and an oversized t-shirt and my opinion changed. I loved how laid back the outfit looked and decided to challenge myself to styling a pair of white jeans to my personal taste. 

The biggest success as a blogger is the ability to style an item that would otherwise be considered 'unfashionable'. Making the unfashionable fashionable to put it simply. One, to demonstrate the diversity of fashion- which is not constrained to the current trends, and two to prove you don't need a full wallet to be considered stylish and can instead work with what you already have. I for one am always dragging clothes from my wardrobe that haven't seen the light of day since I was 13... But I always think Fashion moves in circles. An item will crop back up in the limelight in a few years no doubt. 

These jeans are in fact my Mam's jeans, which I was dying to rip but that would not go down well at all. I'll no doubt purchase my own pair when I get some money in the bank, but for now I think I'll just lend hers... 

I wore this outfit out for a few cocktails in sunny sunny Newcastle, paired with the prettiest Primark kimono. Unfortunately its not a longline kimono which I am so so pining after but I just couldn't say no to such a small price tag... obviously. I'm only human. 

Kimono- £8

White Jeans- £10

Cleated Boots- £35

Topshop Vest- £8

Mac Lipstick- £15

BEARING ALL WITH PERSPEX

Kendal Jenner's rather exposed walk down the Marc Jacobs runway quite literally epitomises fashion of the 21st century. Nothing is private. As our outfits become a little more risqué, a little more revealing, so do our accessories. For those who say the window to the soul are the eyes they are wrong, its the contents of a woman's handbag. Be prepared to bear all with the arrival the perspex clutch, the incredibly minimalist nothing-to-hide fashion statement of the year. Personally, I'd pair these clutches with a neutral outfit, keeping with the subtle nature of the bag whilst making sure I kept the contents to the standard of a show room. I'm sure no one wants to see old grotty vaseline tubs, a staple for nearly all my handbags.

90'S MINIMALISM REVIVAL- How to be a REAL basic bitch with Rag & Bone

Cigarette in hand, nipples exposed and ears throbbing with the pro-drug culture Trance club classics. 90's minimalism in full swing and centre of it all none other than herion-chic queen Kate Moss. Everyone remembers when Moss famously hit the 90's clubbing scene in a braless silver Liza Bruce Spaghetti Strap Dress  right? A spectacular middle finger to the try-hards, the fashion conscious wannabes and well within the grunge ideology of the era. Hair pulled back, black knickers on show, stroke of mascara and topped off with a see-through dress. A truly effortless ensemble. Minimalism (or mnmlsm for the avid fans) is a concept which flourished in 90s fashion with a surge of neutral shifts, clean cut basics and straight-edged classics. All hail Calvin Klein's slip dresses such as the  '97 clueless mini dress, Jil Sander's '96 simple monochrome pieces and Helmut Lang's sharp tailoring, pioneers for all those out and proud basic bitches. 

Quite literally as simple as black and white, Neville and Wainwright sent their S/S '14 monochrome models down the runway and with a quick pout and a fearless nod, Rag & Bone elegantly revived 90s minimalism. Complete with trademark slouched boyfriend trousers, traditional military tailoring and newly adopted feminine cuts in the form of those old familiar slip dresses.

Platini Pant // Rosa Top // Kershaw Top  // Darted Pascal Blazer // Molly Dress // Oda Top // Mckenzie Dress

If you have a spare few hundred lying around Rag & Bone is your one way ticket to achieving those minimalist vibes and becoming a REAL basic bitch. Above are a few I have picked out myself for when I win the lottery... An amalgamation of simplicity and boldness, this trend presents an atmosphere of unintentional maturity, as if you just effortlessly stumbled upon adulthood. In the words of Ludwig Miles van der Rohe, without a doubt, 'Less is more'.

In the spirit of basic bitches, I leave you on this note:

H&M LOOSE FITTING TROUSERS

These formal esque-jogger pants are perfect for a dress down Sunday, especially for someone you wouldn't catch in a pair of nike sweat pants even if the other option was public nudity. Possibly a slight exaggeration... but I just stress enough my distain for tracksuit bottoms of any sort, no pretentious Jack Wills sweats for me thank you. 

Although, in contrast to the norm of duvet drowning and TV catch ups, I generally spend my Sundays shopping so these trousers are ideal to channel those chilled Sunday vibes. A much needed comfort during the obligatory coffee break but not so much that you appear to have just rolled out of bed. 

Paired with a crop top and a boyfriend coat, there is no way you could be mistaken for a sweat pant enthusiast.

GEOMETRIC FLORALS

The fusion of a simplistic geometric pattern and delicate turquoise floral is truly a design worthy of the digital age. There is just something high-tech about this look that screams 'so 2014'. A spin on the spring floral craze, this is one for standing out from the crowd and at only £25.99 it is top of my wish list.

Move over daisy printed t-shirts, you're so 2010.