Westfield Stratford

 I went to the new Westfield shopping mall in Stratford on Wednesday. It's absolutely huge, I feel like I didn't manage to see all of it. Quite a few of the shops weren't open yet, but all of the ones that were all really busy (apart from Topshop, which was dead).

At the Jamie's Italian for cocktails and dessert.

The Khiels store gave me some lovely samples, and the Zara and Topshop had some great pieces (several of which I bought). There are a lot of high street stores, even a Primark, but all of the shops are well designed, more modern, and look great. 

I wore a Topshop jacket, Whistles trousers, Office ballet pumps and an H&M bag.

I'd definitely recommend a trip, but not until the hype has died down slightly - I was there at 7:30 on a Wednesday and it was heaving. 

Has anyone been to Westfield? Are you planning on making a trip in the future?

What I Wore: After It Rained

This top is one of my favourites. I found it in a charity shop in Whitstable about three years ago and its never let me down. According to the label, it's very, very old Topshop. I'm wearing it with: a wool skirt I got last year from Zara, my favourite Converse, Ray Ban sunglasses and my Marc By Marc Jacobs watch.

What I Wore To: The Beach

Doing my best Rumi Neely impression at Broadstairs beach yesterday. 

The weather was finally nice enough to go the beach, but because this is England, it gets chilly in the afternoon once you come out of the sea, so I bought the biggest jumper I could find with me. The jumper and floral shorts are from Topshop, the sunglasses are from Ray Ban and the Coca-Cola is from the kiosk. I had a white shirt from Zara on underneath as a cover-up for when I was in the sun (you can just see the collar under the shirt).

Bavaria

Even though August has only just arrived, Topshop's fourth A/W collection, Bavaria, dropped last week and it's definitely my favourite of the four.  It's filled with gorgeous prints and great knitwear but if I'm going to get anything from this collection, it will be some of the accessories. In fact, it will be this hat (and maybe these earrings). 

I'm not going to buy it now (who buys a fur hat in August?!), but as long as it doesn't sell out, this hat will be mine the day I seeing the first leaf falling off a tree. 

Glitter shoes

I saw these gorgeous shoes on the Topshop website about three weeks ago and spent the following fortnight looking at them obsessively every day. I could have ordered them, but being of an awkward shoe size (anywhere between 3 and 5), I had to wait until I went to Oxford Circus to try them on. 

When I finally made it to Oxford Circus, Topshop had sold out of size 3, so I tried on size 4, and to my disappointment, the shoes were not what I had expected. As with a lot of glitter-coated shoes, they were quite rigid, but that normal softens out in time. However, they were also hugely wide, but my toes were crushed against the end, which is such a pity, because if they had fit, I'd have bought them and probably never taken them off my feet.

I definitely want a pair of glittery shoes for A/W '11, for wearing with cropped trousers and baggy knitwear as well as to parties. Has anyone seen any good pairs?

What I Wore: Black Milk Leggings

Lots of people (including me) have been obsessing over galaxy prints recently. My Black Milk Clothing galaxy leggings are my favourite thing to wear at the moment. They're so complex and detailed that I like to wear them with really simple things, otherwise everything is overloaded and distracting.

 I'm wearing my blue galaxy leggings with an American Apparel t-shirt, Ray Ban sunglasses, Topshop jacket and Dr Martens boots. 

3-Step Colour Blocking

There are three different ways to do the colour blocking trend, which has always seemed a bit strange to me, it's like wearing contrasting colours, by using clothes, accessories or make-up (like eyeliner or nail polish).
I seem to have inadvertently managed to colour block my bag, skirt and nail polish.

Having let the trend seemingly pass me by, I actually do like all the bright colours around at the moment. I'm wearing the Whistles Carrie skirt with an ancient Topshop bag and Barry M nail polish No134.

What I Wore To: Switzerland

For a country famed for it's mountains and snow, Switzerland is surprisingly warm. I could only take a carry-on case (thanks Easy Jet!), but I managed to get enough clothes for eight days into one tiny suitcase. Other than the clothes in these photos, I took one more skirt, top and dress with me, as well as some ballet pumps and Converse and that was it. I made sure that everything I bought with me went with at least two other items, so that I always had an outfit to wear. 

I'm wearing: Topshop t-shirt, Whistles skirt, Office sandals, Ray Ban sunglasses (I caved and bought some at the airport!).

Grace is wearing H&M jumper and jeans with Clarks Originals sandals.

Topshop t-shirt, American Apparel shorts, Office sandals and Ray Ban sunglasses.

H&M dress, Zara belt, Office sandals, Topshop bag and Ray Ban sunglasses.

I'm wearing: H&M shirt and skirt, Ray Ban sunglasses and Liberty headscarf (just seen). 

Grace is wearing a vintage shirt and American Apparel shirts (we have the same pair).

What I Wore To: Pack

I'm going to Switzerland for 8 days tomorrow, so I've spent most of the day rushing around, getting last minute things I need. 

The weather was lovely, a proper summer's day (finally! nice weather when I'm not a work), so this afternoon I took the dogs for a walk. I'm wearing a Topshop t-shirt (that used to be a size 8 but my mother has washed it and it has stretched beyond all recognition), American Apparel shorts and with a Marc By Marc Jacobs watch and Topshop sunglasses.

What I Wore To: The Zoo

I say zoo, it's more of a glorified farm that for some inexplicable reason features tigers and penguins. Although these pictures aren't very clear, I'm wearing a Topshop biker jacket, H&M t-shirt and trousers with Office sandals. Although it was sunny, there was a breeze, so my trousers, jacket and sunglasses were needed. I wish the weather would just settle on something so that I don't have to continually dress for three seasons in one outfit. 

Typist

I was given this type writer necklace for Christmas and I have barely taken it off, so much so that I can't believe it hasn't appeared on here yet. It's from Topshop, but I can't find it on the website. It so cute and it goes with just about anything. If I saw it in a shop, I would have picked it up and admired it, but probably wouldn't have bought it, so it goes to show how things can be surprising. 

I think the detail on the type writer is exquisite - there are actually words on the piece of paper and letters engraved into the keys.

I'm so bored of wearing tights

I took this picture at home over Christmas, just as all the snow was beginning to melt. You wouldn't think it was -3 degrees outside. The dress I'm wearing is from Topshop and its a dream. I can't wear it until I can wear it outside with bare legs and little black pumps. 

Winging it

I was given this gorgeous ring for Christmas. It's one of those ones that has two loops for your fingers. While it is a brilliant piece of design (the wing is like a locket, it folds out so you have two wings on your hand instead of one), it is very difficult to type with, as your fingers don't stretch as far. I wore it to work and really messed up the muscles in my arm. 

It's from Topshop (can't find it on the website) and while it is lovely it broke on New Years Eve (for no apparent reason). I'd definitely give a double finger ring another go, but I'd probably go for one less likely to fall apart so quickly. 

Experiments in length

I picked this dress up in Topshop a while ago, and I love it, but it has taken me a while to work out how to wear it. I wanted to try out the mid-length skirt trend that is going to be huge come spring/summer. I like that the slip underneath is the length of the dresses I normally wear (just above the knee), but the chiffon skirt on top is that bit longer. I tried wearing it with black tights but the effect of the longer skirt was lost, so I had to borrow some nude tights from my mother. I wore the dress with ankle boots from Office. 

Black Velvet

While taking a break from my coursework, I was reading through some blogs, I came across a post on the Walk The Sand blog about this black velvet headband from Topshop (here on the website).

It's £12 (without student discount) and will be arriving at my flat in 3 - 6 working days.

It took me about 30 seconds to see it on Walk The Sand and get it up on Topshop's website and another 30 seconds to have it ordered and on it's way to me.

I've been looking for something like this for ages. In the past couple of months, I've really got into the whole headband look (very late, I know). I've mainly been wearing bandanas, but they don't stay on my head very easily or keep my hair under control as I'd like or keep my ears warm, which I hope this headband will. 

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.

Happy Birthday Nathan

My friend Nathan, who writes the blog Real Horrorshow Tunez, turned 19 on Friday. We had planned to go to a roller disco (complete with 80s outfits), but the snow put a stop to that. Instead, we went to a little club in Kingston where Amerie (of '1 Thing' fame) was performing. She came, sang three songs, and left (so there was no time for anyone to take any decent pictures). 

James and Lydia (who had refused to give up on the 80s theme): 

Laura, laughing because I reminded her about this:

Laura and I in our Topshop dresses:

The birthday boy:

What I Wore To: Go Ice Skating

I'm wearing: a navy blue cable knit jumper and jeans from Topshop, cashmere socks from Falke, the gorgeous (and warm) cashmere scarf I got for my birthday, and a bandanna I stole from my mum's wardrobe.  I also had several layers on underneath my jumper, so I was toasty warm while I was skating. 

I bought the jumper in a UK Size 10 and it's really big on me - which I what I wanted - I can layer up underneath, and it's really not obvious at all. 

Flo x

Scarlet Woman

I wear a lot of black. I love it's simplicity, it goes with everything, and it's easy to wear. However, for a while now, I feel like I've been wearing black too much - I regularly wear all black outfits (black dress, tights, cardigan and boots) - and it's getting a little dull. 

So I've decided to branch out, and get some colour into my wardrobe. This past week, I've bought a red dress, and a pair of red heels. 

I bought this red dress from Topshop: 

It's sold out online, and they didn't have in the Topshop store where I'm studying, so I had to go to the Topshop concession in the department store - this was a bit annoying as I got vouchers for my birthday I could have put towards the dress. 

I also bought these gorgeous red suede heels from Office, that were on my birthday wish list and that I've been lusting after since August. I'm normally a UK size 4, but I had to get a size 3 and put half-insoles in to get them to fit, but they are worth it - so beautiful and so worth it. 

This photo and the poor lighting in my room really doesn't do these beauties justice. 

19th Birthday

My birthday cake, made my mother, and decorated by my little sister:

I received some very lovely presents this year - my mum me got the THE BEST DRESS IN THE WORLD EVER. I didn't realise at the time, but it has pockets. (Pockets!) A dress with pockets is the best kind of dress. I'm wearing it now, and I tried to take photos but my room in halls terrible for photos - the lighting is truly dreadful. 

My brother bought me the benefit make-up I posted about back in September. It's just as good as I remember (again, photos to come when I have better lighting). 

My dad bought me these cashmere gloves and scarf. They're so warm and cosy, but I'm really worried about losing them, I'm terrible with gloves, I always lose the right hand. 

My sister got me a Topshop giftcard, my uni friends got me a lovely bookmark and all my drinks when we went to the pub in the evening, and a friend gave me American Psycho - I'm rush-reading all my uni books so I can give it my full attention. 

Flo x