A little party never killed nobody.

A few weeks ago (it was hot, so it feels like a lifetime ago), I made the ill-advised decision to wear my leather jacket on the northern line. Going to Old Street wasn't purely for the lols (although there were a lot of them over the course of the day), but it was to meet up with Sarah, Annie, Sherin, and Caroline, put on some totteringly high heels and have a day of dressing up with F&F. It was lovely to finally meet some of the bloggers I'd been following on twitter for a while, and we got on like we'd known each other for years, only stopping our chat when having lipstick applied. I would never go so far as to say I'm a model (and wouldn't want to be), but it's still a weird feeling playing the part, particularly having someone else do your make up when you've had the same winged eyeliner look for about five years. I can't thank the lovely girls from Tesco, Hannah the stylist, and Lisa the hairstylist for their encouragement and make up brush magic, nothing like an attack of self-doubt halfway through the day, is there? I thought I'd upload a few of the behind the scenes photos I took on the day (not to mention some of the amazing canapés we had at Lounge Lover that evening), and below is one of the final photos from the many that were taken.

Head over to the inspiration page to see more photos and what the other girls wore, or watch this short video and see me, um, flick my hair a lot.

Giveaway

After the shoot, I've found myself browsing through F&F's website and finding quite a few things that fit perfectly into my wardrobe (and I've received a fair few compliments on my hat from this post!). If you'd fancy winning a £50 voucher and getting some of this stuff for yourself, all you have to do is:

• Follow this blog via GFC or Bloglovin'
• Chose your favourite F&F Partywear item, and tell me how you'd style it in a comment below (don't forget to leave your email so I can contact the winner!)

The competition closes on 7th November at midnight, so I have enough time to pick a winner before I head off to Munich - good luck!

Read more

I don't know what they're telling you but I know we can turn this around.

Jumper: £21.50, French Connection. Joni jeans: £32.40, Topshop. Trench coat: Laura Ashley. Cossack hat: £10, F+F. Bowler bag: £43, Marks and Spencer. Wedges: c/o Shoe Zone. Necklace: Grace Face Boutique. Lipstick: MAC Ravishing. Nails: Nails Inc "The Thames".

I don't know why I was so excited to take these photos; they're the most cliché autumnal images you can find on the internet (yep, spot the classic "hold a leaf in front of your face" shot), but we keep going back to them for a reason! The park in town, only a few yards away from here, was the most obvious place for my mum and I to head to take them, and not just because it's only a stone's throw from M&S. The place I normally associate with picnics and school lunchtimes (which once included sitting on a bench and consuming an entire tub of Ben and Jerry's with a friend. In October.), is currently home to rust-coloured leafy avenues. It's not quite freezing point yet, so I wore a surprisingly non-itchy jumper over skinny jeans, with a trench coat, comfy wedge-heels and a hat that's far, far too big for my head - but it's fluffy, which makes it okay.

In the course of writing this, I think I've received four Paul Hollywood-based snapchats after last night and made my way through three mugs of tea. So it's time to stop procrastinating and putting off important things and get down to serious phone calls and emails - moving country is hard. I'm also planning to head to the AX Paris party tomorrow night, so let me know if you'll be there, and I won't be that weirdo sitting in the corner on her own!

Read more

The system might fail you, but don't fail yourself.

Verity velvet smock dress: c/o Boohoo. Leather jacket: The Kooples. Leather bowling bag: £43, Marks and Spencer. Anna boots: Topshop (old). Watch: gift, Rotary. Necklace: vintage. Polkadot tights: free, American Apparel. Lipstick: Topshop "Really Ruby". Nails: Deborah Lipmann "Razzle Dazzle" on Natural Collection "Black Cherry".

I am forever moaning about my lack of goth phase. I tried to convince myself that I was a scene kid in year ten, but realistically I went as far as neon eyeshadow and that was it (fortunately). Recently however I find myself being drawn to black clothing, and it doesn't look like this chapter is ending any time soon, particularly when Hallowe'en is only a couple of weeks away. That, or I'm spending too much time reading Camilla's blog, you pick. Last August I went along to boohoo's christmas preview and I've somehow only just got around to spending the voucher that I was kindly treated to on the day. I'm not the world's biggest fan of online shopping as I rarely know what I want specifically and find the pages of stock overwhelming (give me a rail to sift through any day!), so I narrowed things down to a much more manageable "black velvet" selection and came up trumps with this bad boy. Add a leather jacket, my new day bag (which my camera fits in, can I get a hell yeah?), and a slick of red lipstick on an abnormally good make-up day and I was ready to face the world, even if it were a only a trip to town with Danielle for wetherspoons burgers and window shopping - it's the small things.

Read more