May Wish List

Ice Cream Print Short-sleeved Grey T-Shirt, Romwe, £11.05 // Blue abstract print maxi dress, River Island, £50 // Studded Denim Hotpants, Kate Moss for Topshop, £50 // Leaf Cuff Bracelet, Asos, £12 // Filigree Fine Stack Rings, Asos, £8 // Subtle Geo Midi Rings, Forever 21, £3.90 // Palm Leaf Print Side Split Tee, Topshop, £36 // Black floral print visor, River Island, £13 // Light green oversized sunglasses, River Island, £13 // Westward Studded Sandals, Forever 21, £16.90 // Pineapple Shaped Color Block Bag, Romwe, £12.89 


Everything is better in summer. The days are longer, it tends to be warm and sunny outside and  it feels like you get a lot more spare time to yourself. I find it almost impossible to be sad and mopey on a bright sunny day - it feels like such a waste of life! Likewise, it becomes more acceptable to wear bright and colourful make-up (neon pink nail polish, orange lips and lime-green eye liner anyone?) and the shops are full of bright and happy prints.

The one thing I'm definitely looking into getting this summer is a light, floaty maxi dress that I can just dance and float around in on warm days. But me being me, it's got to have some sort of loud print on it, otherwise it would just feel a little too "meh".

After my recent obsession with friendship bracelets (which is still going strong) I've now branched out into gold jewellery, mainly delicate gold stacking rings and there seems to be loads of choice in the shops lately, at bargain prices too!

Speaking of prices, it seems like Romwe have really lowered theirs ever since I last looked on their website. I remember them originally charging around the £50 mark for a top, whereas now most items are firmly under £30. I can see a big online order coming up soon!

As the weather's getting warmer it's also time to start looking for some appropriate footwear. It's already too warm for boots and I can't just live in my Converse all the time. Sandal shopping is always a bit of a dilemma for me, as I tend to only like pairs with ridiculously high heels, which I then wear once or twice, realise how much they make my feet hurt and then banish them to the back of my cupboard. This year, I absolutely refuse to even consider a pair of Birkenstocks, no matter how comfy/fashionable they might be. I have, however, spotted quite a few pairs with decorated, wrap-around straps which I find very pretty.

An honourable mention goes to those denim shorts by Kate Moss for Topshop. At £50 I would consider them to be at the top end of what I find to be an acceptable price for a pair of shorts, but how perfect are they for festivals? And even if I don't end up going to any festivals this year, I can at least wear them out in the streets and pretend like I'm at a festival...

Fashion: Jewellery by Ruby South Africa + Giveaway!

When it comes to my style regarding clothes and accessories, the one thing I always look for is something that's unique, that nobody else will have. Even though I do love a good ol bash through Primark, it's way more satisfying to be wearing something that's perhaps not on everyone's radar. One of those finds I'd like to share with you today are a few necklaces by Ruby South Africa.

Just look at that pretty packaging! Aww! And what was inside is even better.

My absolute favourite of the lot is this swinger necklace. It sits a little bit askew, so that it literally looks like you have a girl on a swing hanging around your neck. (No, not literally. Not literally at all)

This Mini Africa necklace I've already had lots of compliments for! It's incredibly delicate and feminine and sits at that perfect spot right between the collar bones.

Ruby also have a range of upcycled coin necklaces which are literally coins from around the world, slightly embellished and threaded around a chain. They are a bit longer than the other necklaces and absolutely perfect for layering, particularly if you're going for a bit of a vintage look in your outfits.

I just cannot get over how pretty they look! Now, I did have some shots of how these necklaces look when worn, but unfortunately my chest decided to erupt in a random bout of redness (sunburn? excitement?), so I will spare you the sight of that.

But you've still got the chance to win some of these for yourself and style them any which way you like. In collaboration with Ruby South Africa I'm giving away three of their upcycled coin necklaces. Here's what's up for grabs:

All I'm askin in return is that you take a few minutes to check out Ruby's Count Fracula campaign which opposes fracking in the Karoo in South Africa. In case you don't know what fracking is (I had to google it), here is an excellent BBC News article on what it means and what the dangers of fracking are. In simple terms, it's a process of getting gas out of rocks by drilling into them and injecting water at high pressure. The problem is that the process can release huge amounts of carcinogenic chemicals into the drinking water and it's therefore highly controversial. In a region where drinking water is already in short supply, contaminating what little there is is doubly tragic.
Ruby have teamed up with photographer Gavin Goodman and copywriter David Gimpel to create a powerful campaign raising awareness of the dangers of fracking.

For more information or to help, you can visit www.treasurethekaroo.co.za

To enter the giveaway, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is international and will close at midnight on Sunday, May 4th.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see what other gorgeous jewellery Ruby have got on offer (make sure to check out their range of lingerie as well!), you can visit their website or alternatively their Etsy shop.

Good luck!

March Wish List

Edla Backpack Bexicheck, Monki, £20 // Sharon Leaf Necklace, Monki, £8 // Ice Cream Applique Jumper, Topshop, £45 // Jewellery Hook Mirror, Next, £16 // Set of 2 Fruit and Veg Hampers, Next, £12 // Mini tealight lanterns, Dwell, £34.95 // Double triangle hoops, River Island, £6 // Surrealist Knotted Headwrap, Forever 21, £3.15 // Pink kaleidoscope print high waisted shorts, River Island, £28 // Pretty-Tough floral high-tops, Forever 21, $29.80

How can you tell that we just moved into a new house? Sneaky home ware items have even made it onto my monthly wish list! My tastes in fashion and homeware couldn't be more diametrically opposed - while I love clothes that are bright, colourful and even quite childish at times, when it comes to home decoration I'm all for a muted, understated vintage look. 

The hooked mirror is actually intended for jewellery storage, but I think it would make itself very nicely in the hallway, to hang keys on and do that absolutely necessary last lipstick / hair check before you leave the house. I'm also on the hunt for a nice fruit bowl, but actually these baskets are probably a lot nicer than any old bowl - especially the white mixing bowl I'm currently using to put all my fruit in!! Lastly, I could quite happily decorate my house in anything from Dwell, but their prices are certainly holding me back. Those little tealight lanterns would make create such a warm, cosy atmosphere in the evenings - albeit £35 for the set is rather steep!

Back onto fashion and I'm so glad that it's now socially acceptable to wear backpacks instead of hand bags again. I love to cram my whole life into my bag and as a result my shoulder always gets stiff and sore from carrying huge bags, but with a backpack I no longer need to worry about that! I love the print on this Monki one and £20 is quite the bargain!

Speaking of prints, the kaleidoscope print on those River Island shorts is actually making my brain a little confused. It's like they're hypnotising me whilst slowly whispering "buy me..." into my ear.

Quite annoyingly, both the double triangle earrings and the flower print hi-tops are sold out - though I'm not even sure why I put the earrings on there, seeing as I can't even wear earrings due to my earlobes being stretched. Guess I just liked the look of them!

I also didn't think I'd ever say this, but I quite fancy getting my hands on a nice head wrap. I particularly  like the look of this bright Forever 21 number. I could just imagine feeling like a slightly crazy painter adding those deciding brush strokes while wearing my hair tied back in this. Perhaps that's my imagination going a little overboard, here!

And last but not least, that ice cream jumper. Happiness. On. A. Jumper. Need I say anything else?

Fashion Post: The tag necklace

I got this necklace ages ago and haven't given it anywhere near the attention it deserves. I've actually been wearing this on almost a daily basis, that's how much I've been loving it!

Anna Lou of London makes some absolutely gorgeous pieces of jewellery, hitting that perfect balance of girly and edgy that I look for in all of my accessories. With a studio in Earlsfield, which is literally ten minutes down the road from me, you couldn't talk more about supporting small local businesses!

My necklace came beautifully packaged in a cardboard box with a black bow and a little velvet pouch, where it now lives when it's not around my neck. I opted for the rose gold version with my initials engraved on the back. The beautiful thing about these necklaces is that as they're all hand made, you can have yours personalised to say anything you want, be that your initials, a positive message or your twitter handle.

The chain is delicate, yet very durable and despite my heavy wear and tear it's shown no signs of snapping. I love how it goes with almost everything I wear, whether I'm feeling girly, want to look sophisticated or even if I'm having a more grungy day.

You can find the personalised tag necklace over on the Anna Lou site here.

I've also got my eye on this beautiful name double ring, the crown earrings and the aztec bracelets.