Saving money whilst keeping up with trends

I'm not one of those people that obsessively follows trends and thinks 'I have to buy this because it's in'. However if there is a trend that I really like (eg pinafore dresses) then I will buy something new and follow it. I don't often buy a lot of stuff that's in trend because I think I won't really be able to wear it for very long and it'll be a waste of money. So I want to explain how I try and save money and keep up with trends.

1. Don't get rid of something just because it isn't in fashion at the time.

I have done this many times, you're ruthlessly going through your drawers, find that black lace top you never wear, throw it in the charity bag. Then a couple of seasons later you want it back. (I still miss that top). Fashion often repeat itself so to save yourself from buying it again, just don't throw it away, just in case. This is also the case with my tartan skirt, I bought it last Winter when tartan was in and this year it's back! I'm happy about this because I love my tartan skirt.

2. DIY 

Simple DIY customisation on clothes can make them look brand new and for hardly any money. For example when the whole 'putting spikes/studs on everything' came in, a lot of people just added their own spikes or studs to old clothes because they're only about £2-3 in shops or eBay. I tried to do a bit of the DIY thing too, when it was the yin yang phase I drew them on my shorts, but I'm not sure how great that looked. I also added beads to the collar of a dress when beaded collars came in - a more successful DIY. All I did was sow little beads to the corners of my collar and it made the dress look a lot less boring. So you don't need to change your whole wardrobe each season, just change the clothes you already have.

3. Buy one piece of clothing that's in trend to go with your old clothes

This summer I bought a skirt that fitted in with the whole monochrome idea but it was the only monochrome thing I owned. However, it goes with so much, I can wear it with vest tops, bralets, jumpers etc, so I can do monochrome in lots of different outfits with one skirt. This also happened with the pastel phase. I had a couple of pastel pieces like a cardigan and a tshirt then paired them with shorts or jeans so it was still following with the pastel trend. 

4. Take a look in a charity shop

Charity shops can be full of all different and exciting things and you never know unless you look. Sticking with the same idea that fashion repeats itself, if someone donated some clothes that were in a few or maybe even ten years ago, then eventually they will be in fashion again, so have a look and you may find something in trend and at a reasonable price.

Too much Tartan

Hello! I took these photos yesterday using my tripod so they're not as good as the photos my boyfriend takes. It's got a lot colder recently so I've had to layer up with a hoodie, jacket and scarf - I really should just buy a coat. 

In these photos I'm wearing...

American Apparel Tartan skirt here

American Apparel grey hoodie similar here

H&M jacket (I can't find the same jacket because I bought it years ago but other H&M coats and jackets here)

Cow vintage tartan scarf (can't find similar but look around vintage/charity shops and you'll probably find something!)

this black top is from Topshop but I got it ages ago
Dr Martens here

So this is my first real winter outfit! I don't really have that many winter clothes but I wear the same clothes in winter as I do in summer. But I might go shopping soon, then I can do a little winter-y haul and loads of outfit posts, yay!

Lots of Love

Sophie

xxx

ps. I've had silver shampoo on my hair for over an hour so my hair will probably be purple when I wash it off (ah)

Tartan

A new season has come and as expected has brought along new trends with it. My favourite of the Autumn trends at the moment is tartan. I love how it can look classic and wintery but can also look grungy when paired with leather.

This year I have seen tartan everything. Dresses, skirts, coats, trousers, I've even saw someone wearing tartan tights. 

Miranda Kerr, Alexa Chung, Cara Delevingne, Olivia Palermo, Kate Middleton

The Autumn/Winter catwalk was filled with tartan everything, blanket coats at Celine - looking a lot like picnic blankets - fitted jackets at Tommy Hilfiger and Marc Jacobs. Then there was the more grungy looking side of tartan from Phillip Lin with the leather sweatshirt paired with tartan trousers. The Emilia Wickstead show was full of pale colours and long tartan dresses making tartan look more pretty and elegant.

Lots of Love

Sophie

xxx

Jewellery Wishlist

I don't really wear a lot of jewellery but it's not because I don't want to, it's more I'd rather spend my money on clothes. I always look at jewellery in shops then see the price and think 'I could spend this money on clothes instead'. But now I've changed my mind and like a magpie would say I want shiney things.

I love the Pandora Stacking rings but the cheapest one is £30 and the idea is you buy a lot to stack them together, I don't think I'll be buying these any time soon. But doesn't mean I can't look and admire the prettiness. 

Maybe these don't really count as jewellery but they have pearls on and they're shiney. I like anything that is cat related and they are so cute. I probably wouldn't wear them, I just had to put them in my wishlist because of their cuteness.

River Island £4

Continuing my ring hunt I went on Asos and found loads of different versions of what I wanted, completely the opposite to a few weeks ago when I was looking for plain gold rings and went to Topshop, Primark, New Look, H&M, River Island (every shop in Nottingham) and there wasn't anything that was just plain. I really should just look online more often.

Asos Rings shown above £8-£15

A bit of a cat theme going on here... I love dinky little silver necklaces because you can layer them up and wear them with anything. This necklace is from Little Teacup which is a lovely online jewellery shop run by Chelsea Jade. (Cat necklace £3)

I already have a gold Casio but I don't like mixing gold and silver jewellery, therefore I need a silver Casio. This one is slightly bigger than my other one and it has a light (wow). I found this for £30 on The Watch Hut website.

As you can tell I prefer minimalist jewellery to spikes and diamonds and things so another reason I don't have a lot of jewelry is because of how picky I am.

Lots of Love

Sophie

xxx

Summer Tartan

These photos were taken about a week ago but I've only just got time to post them because I've been reading loads for English Lit because I went back to College (wah) last Thursday and suddenly realised I should've read two books (oops)

I think this outfit is a mix between a Summer and Winter outfit. Tartan is something mainly worn in Winter but I really missed wearing my Tartan skirt over Summer so I thought because it's officially not Summer anymore, I pulled it out of the wardrobe for the first time in months.

(American Apparel - also this skirt is now half price and only £16!!)

Despite the fact it wasn't officially Summer anymore, it still was quite warm, so I didn't wear anything on my legs and wore Dr Martens to bring the Winter bit back. I always thought it looked a bit odd when people did the Dr Martens-in-Summer thing but now I've done it and changed my mind. I think Dr Martens with bare legs doesn't look that bad.

(Dr Martens)

The vest top is from H&M but I've had it years and the gold necklace was a Christmas present from my Great Granddad, which I have also had years.

I like mixing Summer and Winter clothes together because if I only wore jumpers and jeans in Winter I'd get a bit bored, so I usually wear a Summer dress but with layers. In the Summer I suppose it's the opposite, wear stuff you could wear in Winter but reduce layers (like I did in this outfit).

Photos taken by my boyfriend

Lots of Love

Sophie

xxx

Getting bored of Summer

I think the title is a bit misleading but it seems to fit too. 

I love Summer, I love the freedom and the sun and doing fun things like picnics and bike rides but every year I miss my jumpers, beanies and snugly clothes. I get a bit bored of shorts and dresses even though in Spring I'm excited to bring my Summer clothes out again. It's partly because I don't have a lot of Summer clothes, I have a lot of jumpers and a few dresses so in Winter there's a lot of combinations you can do with one dress but in Summer you don't have as many options (hence the lack of outfit posts). When it's hot we just try and wear as little as possible so we don't melt. 

As Winter approaches however, I do miss Summer. I miss the floaty dresses and the fact that you can just throw something on without worrying about being cold and having to add numerous more layers that also have to match the rest of the outfit. I also I love how in Summer there is no need for tights, I hate tights. I think they ruin outfits, of course some dresses for example do look better with tights but I'd rather wear socks than tights anyway, however when it's really cold we don't have a choice between tights and socks, it's just tights - and normally 2 or 3 pairs. 

Here in the UK Summer only last for a month - and that's if we're lucky, so by the time I want to buy anything I feel like 'I can't buy this because I'll only be able to wear it for a few weeks'. I have literally been saying this since June, and this is why I didn't ever get round to buying sandals, I still want some but right now, in the last week of August, there isn't any point. 

The Topshop T-Bar shoes I wish I'd bought and now it's too late

With a new season brings new trends so with the colder weather we have the excitement of the new clothes coming into the shops. And therefore brings the end of Summer sales! So you can go and buy bikinis and what not for next year and then wait a year to actually wear them. But really I am excited for the new season of clothes, I love jumpers and pretty soon the shops will be rammed with new ones to spend my money on (I will never have enough jumpers!). 

The start of Topshop's Winter jumpers

So what I'm trying to say is, the end of this season is sad because we will have to put away the floaty dresses away for another year but on a positive note, we can pull out the pretty jumpers and big cosy beanies. Personally, I like change, especially in my wardrobe, so I am looking forward to Autumn/Winter. Does anyone else agree?

Lots of Love

Sophie 

xxx

Diana Mini

A few months ago my boyfriend bought me a Diana Mini camera. They're these really cute film cameras that are only a bit taller than a reel of film, it takes 35mm film and the photos have a square frame. You can also do loads of interesting effects with them, such as overlapping photos, panoramic photos and you can choose from rectangle or square frames. You can also buy a flash for it because you need a lot of light to take photos with it, probably why a lot of my photos came out dark. I've used it before but the first time the photos didn't come out very well because I think to do all the fancy effects you have to be a bit of an expert. This time they came out quite good so I thought I'd do a little post about them! 

I started this reel of film in May when I went to Skegness so there's some really old photos. I like it when I can't remember what I've taken anyway because it's like a little surprise when they get developed! 

These are some of my overlapping photos, I can't remember if I did it my accident and just forgot to wind the film along so it looks like my boyfriend has strawberries on his face oops. 

I would just carry it around everywhere with me because its so small but its so hard to find cheap film, I found it once in Poundland but it's disappeared now (wah) I may have to do some deep Internet researching to find some! 

Lots of Love

Sophie

xxx