Minty fresh.

There is nothing like a fresh pastel colour to give you a mood boost on a day like today - I had two exams so I was in serious need of one! This is just going to be a quick little post since I have been at work this evening as well, but I wanted to share my outfit with you all. Anyway, today I relied on my favourite hue of the moment to pick me up and put on possibly my favourite jumper..

Jumper, Earrings & Leaf Ring - Topshop; Shorts - Blue Miss; Tights - Primark; Shoes - George at Asda; Necklace - H&M; Camera Ring - Temporary Secretary.

I absolutely adore this Topshop jumper because it is in a gorgeous spring colour with a cute white collar, and the loose knit makes it perfect for transitional weather like today's. I also love how the oversized shape works with shorts and tights for the perfect balance between covered-up and baring skin. These tights were a bit of a welcome departure from my black opaques - I have had them for years and absolutely love them because the pattern is nature-inspired and really cute and individual.

Now I'm just curious.. but when you guys aren't feeling your best, or have a stressful day ahead, are there any colours, prints or pieces you like to put on to perk yourselves up?

Love and kisses, Tara xox

My bank balance takes another hit.

My bank account must be feeling abused by now, as I keep splashing the cash on gorgeous new clothes.. It feels like every other post on here contains new I have bought - maybe a little restraint is in order? And yes, I say that every time. And then go and spend more money. Someone, call Shopaholics Anonymous.. 

This lovely little (or rather large) haul comes as a result of my shopping trip with a friend yesterday, which was a brilliant way to spend the afternoon. I think I went shopping originally in search of shoes, and she needed an outfit for some event or other in our buzzing social lives.. The mission was partially successful - her outfit is sorted. But take a look at what I bought.. not a shoe in sight.

Vest - Topshop

The first place we went was a dangerous one to start with - Topshop is probably my favourite shop on the high street. And then there was a sale. I got more than a little excited and got a few gorgeous things, beginning with this shimmery, opalescent vest top. I had seen it in the store before, but it was a little pricey for me. On sale however I couldn't resist this - it is perfect for the under-the-sea trend that is a big hit this spring/summer. I love the pale, shimmering, iridescent hue on such a simple shape, which means it makes an impact but will still be easy to style.

Jumper - Topshop

Another sale find that I couldn't resist. This is the perfect, lightweight jumper for now - all my chunky ones are being banished from my wardrobe because I am optimistically believing that summer is just around the corner. This is such a fine, light knit that it will be ideal for the transitional weather, and the dove-grey hue means it will go with pretty much every item of clothing I own.

Jacket - Topshop

I have resolutely packed away my coats for this year, and the suddenly wintry weather has taken my remaining jackets and cover-ups by shock, so I was really excited when I found this jacket. Number one, it was a complete steal in the sale. Number two, it is cute, light and cropped enough that I won't feel depressed wearing it in April/May. Number three, it is so Chanel-esque that it hurts a little.

Bralet - Topshop

This is my final Topshop find, and I know what you're thinking. Yes, it's a slightly strange, retro-style bra. Well technically yes, this is probably meant to be underwear. But I intend to wear it as a very cute, vintage style bralet for a bit of a 1950s vibe. It looks enough like a top that you won't be able to tell it is underwear, especially by the time I am finished styling it. I just couldn't not buy it, I totally fell in love with the structured, vintage corset shape and those quirky giant polka dots.

Skirt - River Island

River Island has also become very dangerous territory for my debit card - I am literally in love with about 70% of their stock right now. My friend walked in and started pointing out all the things she could see me in and it took a lot of restraint not to go on a complete spending spree. I did however pick up this insanely cute 1950s style skirt. I just couldn't resist the kitsch cherry print and the gorgeous shape of this skirt - it's the ultimate curve creator on someone as curve-less as me! 

Shorts - Primark.

Okay, okay, maybe I am getting a little too obsessed with the 1950s Americana trend that is going on. But come on, just how Prada are these shorts? I have wanted some car print in my life for months now and procrastinated over the River Island car print pieces, always finding a reason not to buy them. These however were such a bargain that I couldn't find a reason! The print is so cute and fun that I just want to go running around on a beach in blazing sunshine, so I am hoping the weather picks itself up soon..

Skirt - New Look

I may have gone a little skirt-crazy here - but at least I am all set for mixing and matching my wardrobe now with the variety of prints! This gorgeous floral skirt caught my eye straight away with its bold blooms and rich blue background hue.. you know what I am like with florals. This will be so versatile for summer with its light fabric and flippy shape, and easy to pair with most of the tops I have.

Bracelet - Accessorize

Finally, something that isn't 1950s inspired! This harks back to a slightly earlier time still since it is reminiscent of the 1920s/30s costume jewellery worn by the screen sirens that are my idols. I just loved the slightly over the top feel of this bracelet and couldn't resist buying it to add a bit of glamour to my outfits.

Skirt - H&M

This is the last skirt, and the last item - I ordered it a week or so from H&M and it arrived on the same day as my haul.. Fate? Definitely. Especially since it will work so well with pretty much all of the tops I bought! This is another retro-inspired piece, a sweet-yet-chic lace pencil skirt. With its sharp, vintage cut I will have a gorgeously retro silhouette, and the candy-pink lace is the perfect pretty colour to wear in summer. This is an uber-feminine skirt, and will be so versatile. I love it!

And that is my haul! It is all deliciously summery - I am eagerly anticipating the warm days when I can wear the skirts and shorts without tights, and when the tops won't need to be covered with a jacket unless I specifically want them to be. For now, I am looking forward to layering them up for the transitional weather, and making good use of that Chanel-esque jacket. I am seeing a bit of a theme in my purchases though.. I am definitely being drawn towards retro glamour, from the 1920s to the 1950s. And why not? It was an undeniably stylish era, full of high octane fashion and screen icons. I am fast becoming obsessed with old black and white movies, so maybe my fashion sense is just reflecting my general interests. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that pretty much the entire fashion world is loving that era too..

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Someone make it SS'12 already!

Today my half day at college was made even better by a quick shopping dash, and then arriving home to yet another package full of goodies I bought online last week. I can only liken last Friday to a total shopping binge - after the Mary Katrantzou blowout I just carried on chain-shopping on ASOS.. But my wardrobe desperately needed a new season update, so I limited myself to must-have key pieces as much as I could. I am most definitely in the mood to really rev up my SS'12 style, and I wish the weather would let me. Today I did slightly disregard the rain/cloud/wind/cold in favour of some spring style though...

Jumper & Clutch - New Look; Skirt - H&M; Shoes, Necklace & Earrings - Topshop; Tights - F+F at Tesco; Ring - Temporary Secretary; Bracelet - Lola Rose.

I am more than a little bit in love with this candyfloss-pink jumper - it is the perfect way to wear spring's sweet pastel hues while maintaining some vestige of warmth in these icy February days. To juxtapose the slouchy, relaxed, casual shape & style of the jumper I opted to dress it up with lots of sequins, glitter, and a statement necklace, along with a pop of bright pink lipstick. These all made today's ensemble look very pulled-together rather than thrown-together, and I really like the clash of textures between knitwear and sequins. Something that really brings the outfit together is the lipstick; I said only this morning that putting on lipstick always makes it look and feel like you have put some effort in - I honestly don't feel dressed without mine! My favourite little detail though is my Lola Rose bracelet, courtesy of my free shopping spree.

Now you've seen me working spring pastels today, take a look at which SS'12 styles are going to be popping up in my wardrobe soon, thanks to my ASOS goodies..

First up is this gorgeous tropical print pencil skirt - take me to Hawaii! I am now dying for summer, sun, beaches and blue sky.. But this skirt will have to do for now. The main reason I love it is that despite being tie-dyed and crazily printed with digital blooms, the pencil shape keeps it chic.

Alright, so I am going crazy for florals.. what can I say? The new digi-flowers are just too cute and eye-catching not to end up in my wardrobe, especially the ones on these stunning trousers. Not only are they gorgeously tailored, wildly printed with just a touch of neon from the orange detail, and achingly du jour, but these trousers are from the petite section, which means they will actually fit me well! I can't wait to wear them, but I will expect more than a few funny looks, since they are pretty out there..

When I saw this dress online, I literally had to get it. Do I need another dress? Realistically, no.. but there was no way I was letting this dress go. I think everyone is familiar with that gorgeous SS'12 Louis Vuitton collection that starred Kate Moss & was basically the epitome of pretty.. Well, I dreamed of owning one of their dresses, and then along came this little beauty - it is a stunning powder blue, with large, cutout broderie anglaise style lace and a cute fit-and-flare shape.. basically it is so Vuitton it hurts. Therefore, it was always going to be mine.

It does feel a little premature to be buying sunglasses, I'm not going to lie. Then again, if we do get a sudden burst of unseasonal good weather, my peepers will be bang on trend in these perspex, pastel pink cat-eye shades. Trust ASOS to have the perfect addition to any summer outfit on hand!

When I went to town shopping today I will admit that my latest purchases were playing on my mind.. leading to two things. Firstly, a lot of restraint since I spent rather a lot of money recently. And secondly, when considering what to wear with my new ASOS trousers & skirt, the realisation that I don't own a pair of simply black high heels. Well, that had to be fixed..

And the solution came from Dorothy Perkins. These simple, suede effect shoes are exactly what I wanted - a chic pointed shape, sleek black colour & the perfect heel height for walking around all day. They did come in a rainbow of other tempting colours, but I needed black shoes, so black shoes I bought!

I think this ought to be the last major shop that takes place for a while, because totalling up what I have spent recently just gets painful. I don't even want to look at my bank statement! A few weeks of restraint are in order... which will also give me a chance to get creative with my new purchases. So just to be clear, this should be the last shopping haul post you see for a while (or a day or two until I just buy something anyway), but prepare yourself for a lot of outfits...

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Impractical as usual.

It's Friday.. and not a moment too soon! Another week has dragged on by, bringing with it my January round of exams (over now - woo!), the sudden realisation that this (college) year is disappearing into thin air and an unspeakable desire to shop again. Unfortunately, my weekend will not be either restful OR a chance to lose myself in some retail therapy, since I am working Saturday & Sunday.. Anyway, ramblings about my busy old life aside, the other thing that Friday brought was a definite drop in temperatures & an icy wind - making today's outfit vastly inappropriate.

Jumper - New Look; Shorts - Reverse; Shoes - Lime; Tights - Primark; Necklace & Ring - Temporary Secretary; Bracelet - Accessorize; Earrings - TU at Sainsburys.

Okay, okay, I'll confess to taking a jacket too. But this is what I really wanted to look like all day today! I have completely fallen for this jumper now I have christened it by actually taking the tags off and wearing it.. not only is it a totally gorgeous shade of candy pink that makes me feel like a sorbet, but it is also ridiculously slouchy, comfortable and flattering. Hello, spring style staple. To balance the slightly oversized fit of the jumper, I decided to break out one of my many pairs of mini-shorts (I know, totally not sensible in January).  I love my Americana shorts because they are so fun and quirky, different to your average denim pair - they are just not the most winter-appropriate clothing in the world. Especially not when paired with thin mini-dot tights! But cold or not, I loved my outfit today, especially the new jumper and my Temporary Secretary jewellery, so don't expect to see me give up my style for practicality any time soon.. Love and kisses, Tara xox

Print me.

For the first time in what feels like too long (probably around a week to ten days) I have been able to go shopping, because I wasn't working this lovely Saturday morning. It's strange, but shopping is one of my favourite pastimes - it's practically exercise what with all the walking, I get constant inspiration from all of the new things & window displays in store and I usually come home feeling with that lovely buzzy, happy feeling of spending money and getting gorgeous new stuff. Today, admittedly it was pretty freezing so I wasn't focusing too much on the store windows.. it was all about getting to my favourite haunts as quickly as possible and scouring them for new season pieces. And this is what I wore to go on said sejour into town..

Jacket - Desigual; Skirt - H&M; Shoes - New Look; Tights - Primark; Bag - H! by Henry Holland; Ring - Topshop; Necklace - Christmas present.
I just had to give you both angles on this jacket, because both the front and back are gorgeous, crazily printed and totally eye-catching. Which is why I love it. It's by Desigual, a Spanish brand, and I had to beg and plead to even get it for my birthday a few years back because it was quite expensive.. But so worth it - it is just one of those standout pieces that I will keep forever, and it doesn't try and tie itself into a trend as much as just look awesome whenever, wherever. That said, I did originally pick it out to wear because of the crazy mish-mash of prints, which fits perfectly in with the loud and proud print trend of SS'12! This is a great way to bring spring fashion into winter, without totally freezing, and I intend to wear it again soon! This time, I decided to keep the rest of the outfit quite simple, but next time I am incredibly tempted to clash my prints...

Out on today's shopping trip I was quite restrained really. I don't know what it was. Maybe the fact I just repaid my mum the money I owed her from the internet spree, or because I'm not working much this month, so money could be tight later.. whatever the reason, I only let myself get pulled into buying a few little things.

It's official, knitwear has some kind of strange power over me. And I'm not letting go of my jumpers come spring, and possibly not even come summer - I am simply moving into the realm of lightweight knits, like this gorgeous candyfloss-pink jumper from New Look. Yes, once again I fell for a New Look piece. But it was so affordable (£9.99 - couldn't pass that up), and is so gorgeous. It's got a wonderful slouchy, slightly oversized shape that makes it look so comfortable, while the pastel pink hue captures the SS'12 adoration for pastels and ice cream shades. Perfection.

I love painting my nails, whenever I get the chance. Therefore I am always on the lookout for hot new shades, especially since a nail polish can be the quickest, simplest (and often cheapest) way to update your look and incorporate some new season colours into your wardrobe. Barry M is one of the best purveyors of trend-capturing makeup, including pretty much every nail polish shade under the sun and I simply fell in love with these three beauties. From left to right, I bought 273 Raspberry, 306 Blueberry Ice Cream & 318 Peach Melba. They just scream spring with their fresh, clean hues and fruit salad names (I wonder if you can get your five-a-day from nail polish?), and I will go into more detail about their quality etc when I get a chance to test them out!

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Holidays are coming..

I don't want to bore you all with endless ramblings about how much I love Christmas.. but there is really only one way I can go with this post! First off, even more lights have gone up. Secondly, Christmas adverts are currently blaring at me. Thirdly, and most importantly, I deemed today an appropriate time to wear my new Christmas jumper..

Jumper - ASOS; Skirt & Earrings - H&M; Tights & Boots - Primark; Socks - Urban Outfitters; Rings - Accessorize & Rock N Rose.
To combat the huge fuzzy warmness that was the jumper, and add a little bit of interest below the waist I opted for a tight bandage skirt and spotty tights, along with the new, beautiful fairisle socks. As much as I adore this jumper (and that's a lot), if I wore anything loose on my bottom half I would look ridiculously shapeless. It's all about balance. But I do love this jumper - it is cosy, soft, warm and pulled me through the day by getting me into the Christmas spirit! I'm prepared to wear it many, many more times and honestly think it will be a winter staple for me for years to come. Love and kisses, Tara xox

I'm free, I just spent all my money.

Today was of course another Monday, which I was rather unimpressed about. Mainly because this means I haven't had a lie in in days (after starting work at 7am both Saturday and Sunday). Consequently, when I was woken up at 6.30am I decided it would be more fun to go back to sleep for a bit.. then I woke up again at about 7.10am - I have to leave at 7.35am - and panicked. Big style. Cue frantic running around room, throwing on clothes and jewellery, practically slapping on the warpaint and trying to dry shampoo my hair into some semblance of nice-ness. Now you can be the judge of just how well I respond to intense pressure-dressing!

Coat, Jeans & Boots - New Look; Earrings - Miss Selfridge.
Okay, ignore the double chin - I'm blaming it on the angle, not an OD on cake. Anyway, today the beautiful new coat came out! I absolutely love it - not only is it super-flattering, but it is ridiculously cosy and the details are just too cute. It looks especially good with this very du jour burgundy jeans because they are a little bit different. This whole outfit was a bit of a rush, so it is a little simple, but it is, in my humble opinion, a failsafe winter outfit, revved up with some seriously cute boots. It is a little bit of a New Look fest, but that only goes to show how versatile and mix-and-match-able their pieces are - kudos to them.

Today, something else new came through the letterbox (well, nearly - it didn't quite fit) to cheer me up..

Apologies for the seriously weird camera angle - it looked normal on screen! But anyway, if you read my post a week or so ago where I was continuing my knitwear obsession and lusting after Christmas jumpers, you will probably recognise this little ASOS beauty.. and you will know how much I fell for it. It was a little pricey, I was a little poor, and it was going to have to wait until payday - and then ASOS had a 25% student discount thing, and I discovered £50 I didn't think I had.. So obviously I bought it! And I am ridiculously glad I did, it is even more wonderful in the flesh wool. Super soft, thick, warm and just downright sweet all over, I can't wait to break this one out. Oh, and just check out the close up on the pattern - reindeer, snowflakes and little yellow stripes. Gorgeous. Is it too soon? Possibly. I'm feeling like I should wait until December, to avoid Christmas overkill. But once I have released this piece, be prepared to see a lot of it. Love and kisses, Tara xox