That's enough snow, thanks.

Thanks to the snow, it took me two hours to get home from work tonight (the journey normally takes me 20 minutes). Luckily I was all wrapped up in several winter layers. 

I finally found a big cosy man-style coat (I've been looking for one for ages) in Topshop a couple of weeks ago. It's got lots of lovely pockets to keep my hands warm, but it means that when I get back to my flat, I have to spend ages hunting for my keys, which are always inevitably in the last pocket I look in.

My coat and hat are from Topshop, my scarf was a birthday present and my desert boots are from Office (I raved about them here). 

I'm sure everyone is doing this, but here's a picture of the snow in Canterbury - I'm back at home for Christmas break, so I was at work when the snow started. It had been snowing for about 45 minutes at this point:

While I was keeping warm in Topshop on my lunch break, I bumped into Gem, who writes Gem Fatale's Style Blog. She was so lovely and chatted to me for a few minutes - you should definitely go and check out her blog if you have a chance.

Hat Stand

When I moved into my room in halls at university back in September, one of my biggest problems was the minuscule amount of wardrobe space provided. This problem has only got worse as I have bought more clothes and gone home and come back with winter coats and jackets that I didn't need when I arrived in September.

The problem was solved when yesterday, when a hat stand arrived in the post. With the help of my friend Lydia, I put it up this afternoon, and got some storage space back. 

Instead of gathering dust in a heap on the back of my door, or clogging up my tiny wardrobe, my coats, scarves, bags and hats are now stored and displayed, barely taking up any room. 

The stand is made from wood painted white and adds a nice touch to my room (I think) - it doesn't look like anyone else's now. 

Flo x

Topshop A/W 10/11 Lookbook

In case you haven't noticed, I rather like Topshop. So today I finally sat down and had a look at the Topshop lookbook for this coming season. I was really disappointed in Topshop's last winter collection (they had all those ridiculous vampire tops because they were cashing in on the Twilight craze), but this year's A/W is looking pretty good.
Most of the looks feature coats or jackets, which suggests that they are going to be part of my wardrobe this winter. There is also a variety of different hem lines, rather than the basic mini length, which makes things more interesting. The colour palette is also good - mostly dark but with bright splashes of colour make a difference from Topshop everything-must-be-black looks. Interestingly for a dress devotee, like me, there are only 3 or 4 dresses in the entire look book - the focus is mainly on separates. 

My three favourite looks:

This jacket is obviously Burberry inspired, and I really like the different shades of the fur/sheepskin/shearling on the jacket. I love the length and colour of this this skirt - I think it would look really good with a pair of thick wool tights.

Although this hat and cape together look a wee bit Inspector Gadget-esque, I like them both. Camel is going to be really big next season, especially in cape form, and I'm a sucker for any kind of hat. I also like the tartan on the skirt.

 

Another cape, this time in navy blue (my favourite colour!). I prefer this to the one above because it has a hood. Despite my love for hats (I have about 20), I rarely wear them due to my hair - hats and big curly hair don't mix - so a hood suits my needs perfectly, but very few coats have them. I really like the jodhpur-style leggins, but I'm really not sure about the boots. They look like they belong with a Balmain-style leather jacket.

Two other looks I liked:

I liked parts of these looks, but not the whole outfit:

I like the coat. It reminds me of a coat my dad still has somewhere in the back of his wardrobe that looks like what a football commentator might where. I really dislike the cable knit pattern on the top - why print the pattern when you can get the real thing? And I'm not sure about the structured skirt with the outfit. Nice socks though.

I love this skirt. I have a similar vintage Betty Jackson one that used to belong to my mother. I think the white boots are an interesting twist on the tougher black boots, or plain white trainers. The top half of this look confuses me. I can't tell whether that the t-shirt has a bra printed on it, or whether the model is wearing a bra over the t-shirt. Either way, I'm not keen. I admire anyone who can pull off wearing their underwear-as-outerwear, but it's not really a look for me.

What do you think of the look book?

Flo x

What I Wore To: Lovebox

The weather, and people on Twitter, told me that it was going to rain while we at Lovebox, so I dressed for rain. It didn't rain in the end, but I was glad I had the ridiculous coat, because it got cold later. 

Apologies for the poor picture - my camera was charging while I was taking this. 

I wore my mum's coat (that she walks the dogs in - stylish!), Topshop dress, and my festival staple, Office boots, and wool socks. 

Flo x

Coat.

I know, I know, it's July. Summer has barely begun. Yet here I am, lusting over coats that I will be wearing come late September. For all my love of girly dresses, floaty skirts and heels, I love nothing more than a masculine coat for winter. Last year, my brother had to ban me from borrowing his coats - I wore them more than my own (sadly I don't have any pictures though - that would be evidence of my theft). 

This year, I decided that I would simply go Zara Mens, or River Island Man (where Bear got his coats from) and deal with the strange looks but now I don't have to. I was checking my emails and I opened one from Topshop, containing this beauty.

It's everything I look for in a coat - double breasted WITH pockets, long sleeves (none of this 3/4 nonsense that to deal with), big collar, and the perfect length to wear with dresses and trousers. The only downside I can see is that it is from Topshop, which means a lot of people may get it, and as I like my clothes to look as unique/different as possible, I may still go to the men's departments. My mother just reminded me about vintage and charity shops so I may try there as well. 

Flo x

Image via: (the new-but-not-improved) www.topshop.com 

Burberries.

Christopher Bailey is a very clever, and very nice, man (I shook his hand once). 

What he has done with the brand since he joined in 2001 is very smart indeed. It went from being stuffy, just-for-the-upper-crust to being quite hip and trendy. 

Getting Kate Moss on board (after the cocaine scandal) really hyped the brand up, and this picture made me really want a trench coat . 

Then came the group ads, which I have BIG LOVE for, especially the really early ones featuring Agyness Deyn and Alex Pettyfer. 

Then Emma Watson was made the face of Burberry, and as one of the most recognisable actresses around (hello! she's Hermione!), everyone went a little bit crazy. 

I LOVE the Autumn/Winter '10-'11 collection that Bailey presented at London Fashion Week on Monday. I love the colours, the mix of light and heavy fabrics, but most of all, I love the coats. Military jackets, shearling  aviator jackets, fur, ponyskin, wool and suede coats. 

 

I don't care that this is a man's coat. I adore it. I want it. Now.

However, as much as I want to rave about Burberry, I can never forget this image that has been burned into my brain and given me and aversion to the legendary Burberry check: 

Flo x

Catwalk images via: vogue.co.uk

All other images: Google images