Am I hipster yet?

Working a completely different style to the previous post, I have attempted to edge up my look a little to match my (gorgeous) new creepers. There is just something about them that makes me want to shop in the slightly grungier half of Topshop and plaster myself in crosses and a serious attitude. But of course, I'm not an all-out grunge kid, so this look was a little half-and-half. I like to call it eclectic. In contrast to the floaty, floral, summertime look of the last post, here I have added a bit more of a twist to my outfit - but of course the girlie girl inside me hasn't been completely overruled..

Shirt & Bralet (underneath) - New Look; Skirt & Eye Bracelet - River Island; Creepers - Amazon; Socks - Urban Outfitters; Bag, Earrings, Leaf Ring & Cross Bracelet - Topshop; Star Bracelet - Lola Rose; Camera Ring - Temporary Secretary.

See, even when wearing some super-cool leopard print brothel creepers, the girlie-ness works its way in there, as seen with my beloved pink skirt, new pastel handbag and pastel blue nails. However, the simple white buttoned blouse with a black bralet underneath and some edgy jewellery (crosses and such), as well as some glittery ankle socks keep it eclectic and cool. It might not be the most obvious way to work your creepers, but personally I like the contrast of masculine and feminine elements, and the way the shoes make the whole look fiercer when it easily could have been sugar-sweet.

These photos were taken out in town with Akikik of DREAMS, full credits to her for capturing me. We also took some more random photos just for fun - once I get hold of the ones she took on her camera you can see us being super-cool, as per usual..

Love and kisses, Tara xox

May the odds be ever in your favour.

I am falling behind on my blogging lately - this outfit and ramble dates back to Wednesday. Oh, shame on me. This post, as you may have guessed, is mostly dedicated to my wonderful time out at the cinema on Wednesday afternoon/evening seeing The Hunger Games. I love the Hunger Games books and have been desperate to see the film for absolutely ages, and I was not disappointed when I finally got to go! I was on the edge of my seat for the entire film, despite the fact it was very long, and was really impressed with the effects, casting and direction. There was always the thought that the film could not live up to the hype, but in my opinion it did! Here's what I wore for my trip to the cinema..

Blazer - ASOS; Skirt, Ring & Cuff - H&M; Top - Kylie Minogue Anti Tour; Tights - F+F at Tesco; Shoes & Earrings - Topshop; Necklace - Accessorize.

I couldn't resist the temptation to wear my Anti Tour t-shirt out, but I gave it a bit of a fashion-forward twist by tucking it in to my pleated colour block skirt, then throwing on a blazer, some diamond-print tights and glitter pumps, topped off with gold jewellery. This was another of my darker looks - I seem to be going back to black when inspiration fails me. It's not all dark though, because my stereotypical pops of colour are everywhere.. my shoes, bag, nails, lipstick and even the hem of the skirt. 

After seeing The Hunger Games a little later than planned (the showing we wanted sold out!), we decided to hit up Pizza Hut. I hadn't been there for years, but luckily my friends knew what was good. We also ended up getting more than a little carried away with the Ice Cream Factory - they said since we were sharing we could only go up once, so we really loaded our bowl with ice cream and sweets. Then felt a little sick afterwards. All in all a pretty awesome day. I'll leave you with a photoset done by the gorgeous Akikik of DREAMS..

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Partying, partying, yeah!

Last night another one of my beautiful friends turned 18, and had a big old party to celebrate. I am now feeling like the only 17-year-old on the planet, as I watch my friends go out like adults.. Since the party was at a pub & obviously under 18's can't drink, guess who got to drive around? Me. I do love driving, but the stress of trying not to lose your keys is a lot of pressure! That and not killing whoever else is in the car with you..

The party itself was so much fun, kicked off by getting ready with two gorgeous girls.

Here's a close up of what I am wearing..

Dress - Topshop; Shoes - New Look; Ring - Parfois; Bracelet - Pull & Bear.

This is in fact a dress you saw a while ago, way back in September when I first bought it to wear to another friend's 18th.. But don't worry, I have not broken my rule about not wearing the same combination twice - this time around I went bare-legged with gold heels, my hair down and bold eyes instead of lips. I love the detailing on this LBD - without the neckline detail it would be quite a simple dress, but that neckline adds interest and makes it more unusual. I cannot believe it took me 5 months to break it out again!

I said I went for bold eyes this time, so here is a quick close up of my slightly more experimental makeup look.

I can't remember where I saw this makeup look, but I was desperate to try it out. In my mind it is called Peacock Eyes. To start with, I applied a bright gold shadow all over my eyelid, going past the socket line, and a little to my lower lash line. Next I blended a royal blue shadow into the crease of my eyelid, then onto the outer corner of my eyelid. Into the blue I blended a tiny bit of green, for that peacock-feather effect, then smudged some inky black shadow onto the outer corner of my eyelid and the crease. I also extended the blue and black under my lower lashline. To finish the look I added a line of liquid eyeliner along my upper lash line, and a liberal coating of mascara. A quick clean-up with a face wipe and my peacock eyes were ready to go on display.

(disclaimer: I am not a very good beauty blogger, nor do I claim to be one, but beauty is such a part of fashion that every so often I will try something new and just have to post. Sorry if the beauty elements to my posts make little or no sense!)

After an awful parking job, we got to the party and basically spent the night talking, laughing, dancing and karaoke-ing. That's right, karaoke. I usually hate singing in public, but somehow I ended up singing Sk8r Boi by Avril Lavigne, and Born This Way by Lady Gaga... It was fun though! It was good to go out and let my hair down, as well as catch up with some people. Here's a few snaps of us all looking splendide!

I will just say that my camera ran out of battery about ten minutes in to the party (shame on me for not checking it was charged) so most of these photos come courtesy of the amazing Akikik of DREAMS. Hope the birthday girl had a good night and is enjoying being an adult now! Love and kisses, Tara xox

We are in the Christmas spirit!

It's been a few days since I inundated you with my absolute love & adoration for the festive season, and that's a few days too long in my book.. Especially when I couldn't have been provided with a better excuse than today - the day my gorgeous group of friends and I got our Secret Santa on & swapped prezzies! First Christmas present of the year - woohoo! The thrill of presents buoyed me through the first half of the day until lunchtime, and even managed to make me get up in the morning and get dressed without too much inner grumbling..

Dress - Internacionale; Coat & Tights - Primark; Shoes - New Look; Ring - Accessorize; Earrings - present from a friend.

Although this looks quite simple, finding a coat to go with this dress was quite stressful. Originally in my head I had just pictured the dress, tights, shoes combo and couldn't shake it from my brain, because I really wanted to wear it - outerwear just didn't figure - and then it was so nasty outside that I simply had to find one. This is why the first picture is sans coat, it is how I wanted to look, and the second is how I actually looked. I am quite fond of my blue trench though, it may be a cheapie, and a bit of an oldie, but it is a classic - classic style, classic colour, classic chic. It also fits pretty nicely, nipping in at my waist, unlike my other coats which create a vastly different silhouette. I will just say that what with the fit-and-flare dress, red lipstick and bow-seam tights I was trying to channel my inner Marilyn.. not sure if it came off, but in my head I was strolling around like a vintage movie star. Reality may have been vastly different, but that was the character I was today - screen siren on a casual day (meaning you still don't leave the house without your trusty red lipstick). 

I said there was Secret Santa, and while it didn't remain so secret in the end (we all fessed up to who we had after the presents had been distributed and loved by all), I think it was just what we needed to perk up this penultimate college week. Everyone is getting bogged down in exams, coursework and depressing weather, so a little bit of love goes a long way. I also chose today to give out my Christmas offering to my beautiful friends (whom I love VERY, VERY much)...

Merry Christmas my lovelies! Yes, I continued my trend of cake for gifts, indulging in some intensive baking last night to produce some lush little cupcakes, vanilla & chocolate, iced in white, chocolate, green & red, adorned with edible glitter in silver, white, green, red & gold. Sense the festive colour scheme here. Edible glitter is my new dessert obsession - I believe it was the great Kylie Minogue that said "when in doubt apply more glitter" - and it really made these cupcakes look Christmassy and special. They went down well I think, so I am glad to report that my Christmas present was a success! I decided against actual presents for several reasons (1 - money is tight. 2 - would rather make a big deal about people's 18th birthdays. 3 - I just love baking cakes.), but cake is a good way to show you care.

This is neither fashion-related, nor cake-related, but I just wanted to put this out there - I love my bestie Florence SO SO much, and just wanted to share this beautiful picture of us in the midst of the Secret Santa joy...

Isn't she gorgeous! And I even look tolerable here.. Love you loads Flo! Now just a few little extra comments to be made...

Credits to akikik for the first cake picture and the picture of me & Flo - amazing blogger, amazing friend, awesome photographer. Also just a quick notice of love for all of my friends, you are all brilliant, you get me through the day. In friends, I am coming to include you my little band of followers/readers/commenters - there may not be many of you, but seeing that people are actually reading what I write and taking the time to comment really makes my day! Finally, this marks the official, official start of this festive season for me, so MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Love and kisses, Tara xox