New heroines, new Marilyns.

Sequinned cage back playsuit: c/o boohoo. Black tuxedo jacket: c/o Closet clothing. Peperosa cut out boots: borrowed from Carmen.

Photos by Carmen.

If there's ever going to be a time for sequins, it's definitely during the festive period. For my twenty-first, I whipped out this snazzy little number, but for the Stylight christmas do I've decided to step it up a notch with this playsuit's cut-out detail on the back. Although it goes beautifully with this tuxedo jacket that I chose after my friend's horrified reaction when I admitted to not owning a black blazer, I think more than a little jacket will be necessary to battle the german elements at this time of year. Heading out for just twenty minutes to take these and Carmen's photos resulted in some very frozen hands which could only be fixed with a whole tub of potato soup, my most extreme soup stunt to date. If you fancy winning yourself a little sparkly something, boohoo are running a competition on instagram with the prize of a £500 wardrobe just for hashtagging your christmas style with #dressmas. If I win, it's safe to say that I'll be heading straight to the coat section...

PS, I'm currently looking into buying a domain for my blog (about bloody time!), so if you have any host recommendations please send them my way!

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With one hand you calm me, with one hand I'm steel.

Contrast collar dress: c/o Closet Clothing. The Kooples leather jacket. Rotary watch: gift. Choies checkered boots: Kavita's Topshop "really ruby" lipstick: £7.20.
Photos by Kavita.

Well, here you go, my first post hailing from Germany! Taken literally in front of where I work at Stylight HQ (seriously, everyone kept asking us when were going for lunch as they walked past to get their own), you might not be seeing Munich's most picturesque view, but it's the best lunchtime can offer! I keep trying to describe the city to my friends by comparing it to a British equivalent, but the closest I can get to is The City of London; it's affluent, with lots of business people and glass-fronted buildings, but there's the Altstadt (english: "old town") of archaic late Gothic buildings nestled right in the middle of it. I've hardly seen any of it other than the area immediately around where I work, but hopefully this weekend will involve me layering up and going exploring!

I've worked in an office before, so you would expect me to be better prepared for working in one again. You would be mistaken. I packed two leather skirts (yes, two) and a smock dress instead of anything vaguely acceptable, read: comfortable to sit at your desk in all day. Thankfully Closet got in touch just in time and speedily sent me out this Carven-esque dress of dreams. It would appear that I'm not completely over my collar phase, but I am 100% okay with it when dresses like this exist. Paired with a pair of borrowed shoes and my favourite lipstick, maybe it turns out that I can just about pull off workwear.

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Bell bottom blues, you made me cry.

F+F leather t-shirt: £25. American Apparel truffle corduroy circle skirt: £15, via ebay. Topshop grey boyfriend blazer: £27. Charity shop fur scarf: 50p. Marks and Spencer leather bowler bag: £43. Charity shop Bally chelsea boots: £8. Rotary watch. Toujours Toi boat necklace. Charity shop belt: 20p.

Nothing like some photos taken just off Regent Street to make a girl feel homesick! Perhaps the burgundy obsession is getting a little out of hand, but why shouldn't I match my outfit with the backdrop? After all, nothing compliments an American Apparel circle skirt and oxblood bowler bag like a wall in the same colour. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.

Thank you all so much for the well-wishes regarding my move to Munich! It's been a lot of fun so far, and so as long as it continues in the same way I'm sure I'll enjoy the whole of my stay. I'm planning to drag my camera to work this week to get my first german outfit photos too, so expect to get well-acquainted with the car park. I haven't spent that much time wandering the city yet, but a walk to the Altstadt with Kavita last week showed me how beautiful it is - now all I need to do is wrap up warm and see the rest of it!

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I call this the traveller's chant.

This one's for all the nosy parkers! I love reading "what's in my bag" posts, but have never written one before. As I've recently moved to Munich, I had to do some pretty cutthroat packing, and my fedoras didn't make the cut, even though the kitchen sink almost did. Hand luggage is always tricky (Shini's post inspired me to write my own!), so I thought I'd give you a bit of an insight into what I decided were the most important items to have on me at all times.

Leather bowler bag: £43, Marks and Spencer.

You've definitely seen this one before. I love this bag, and I use it enough to reflect it. It's leather, burgundy, and sufficiently roomy enough to house my camera (which would've been photographed, had I not been photographing with it) and every other "necessity" that winds its way into my possession on a daily basis. And it has a shoulder strap, which is the bag equivalent of clothing having pockets.

iPhone 4S, and telephone box case: £2, Primark.

Although I'm yet to get myself a German sim card (Handykarte in german, in case you were wondering), my phone's definitely coming with me. I've loaded it with the MVV and Munich Metro apps in some vain attempt to help me know where I am, and the EasyJet one means that I don't have to worry about losing my boarding pass, which is a legitimate concern for someone who is not used to waking up early and has a flight at 7am. And it has AM (plus B-sides) on it. 

HP Slate: Argos.

One of those "I didn't realise I needed this till I got it" items, this tablet has become my go-to piece of technology. Although right now I use it mainly for reading (come on guys, free books without having to leave the house, this is the dream), I've sorted it with Munich maps and tourist information. As my phone's getting a little weatherbeaten, the speed of this is appreciated, and the bigger keypad helps with my essay-length facebook message tendencies.

Purse: Luella (old and battered), with Costa, Nando's, and debit cards, and pounds/euros.

This was the first designer piece I ever bought, I was about sixteen at the time. Heavily reduced (I think it was about £70), I still love it now, even if it's seen better days. You can kind of see in the first picture that it's split into two halves, which I'm treating as my GBP/EUR sides, and is pretty handy for making sure I don't mix currencies. The cards bit is self-explanatory, because everyone needs caffeine, chicken, and the ability to pay for it.

Make-up: Benefit powder and eyebrow kit, Optrex eyedrops, Essie nail varnish, Bourjois eyeliner, and Vaseline.

I'm not one to cake on the make-up, but these are the bare essentials that I'd be pretty annoyed if I lost. I've bought another eyeliner to take with me in case of emergency, and it really would be an emergency if it ran out. The eye drops are a familiar sight for anyone who wear contacts (holla), as I find that any foray into air conditioning/public transport/cold weather/hot weather dries my eyes out, so I'm sure at some point during the flight I'll come into contact with one of these instances.

Disposable camera: ebay.

Ah, the holy grail! I love my DSLR like a child, but film photography will always win when it comes down to nostalgia. I haven't posted a disposable camera round up for a while, but I'll make sure to post one at the end of the year at least. As part of my very lovely leaving gift, Jazmine included one for me to take with me, so I'll have at least one to develop when I come back!

Post written in collaboration with Argos

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I got all I need, so give me whisky measures.

Coat: £29.99, Zara. Blouse: £3.25, charity shop. Jumper: Next (old). Suede skirt: £8, charity shop. Bally chelsea boots: £8, charity shop. Bowler bag: £43, Marks and Spencer. Watch: Casio.

Life's been a little challenging recently, but sometimes all you need to cheer you up is to find a cute blouse in a charity shop, a chocolate and orange mocha from Costa, and time to re-read "The Wrongs of Woman". Being blown down the path by my house on the way to the shops was perhaps not the best time to decide to capture my outfit (and certainly not my hair!), but as the nights draw in and the perpetual rainclouds show no sign of moving we took advantage of what little light there was; perhaps not my finest photos, but you can't be completely perfect every time. I'm starting to get a little nervous about moving to Munich on Saturday and feel completely unprepared, but constantly telling myself that "everything will be alright" is going some way to calm my nerves. Last weekend's Hallowe'en festivities were certainly the perfect sendoff, if only a reminder of how much I'll miss everyone (fomo anyone? Although it's nothing on my friend jumping out of a moving taxi, but that's another story), but I'm sure there'll be plenty of new stories to tell by the time I come back - wish me luck!

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I've been infected with restless.

Leather jacket: The Kooples. Crochet trim blouse: £38, Topshop. Jacquard trousers: £22.50, Marks and Spencer (black version here). Leather bowler bag: £43, Marks and Spencer. Nude heels: £75, Christian Louboutin, via charity shop. Faux fur scarf: £1, charity shop. Casio watch: c/o The Watch Hut.

Okay, I'm really sorry but I cheated a little with this outfit. However much I love these shoes, I just don't think my feet were cut out for wearing them to Morrisons, and swapped them for a pair of heeled boots. But just join me in pretending that I was actually on my way to a series of very important meetings in Canary Wharf rather than deciding whether a "trick or treacle" themed tin of Lyle's black treacle would end up in the trolly (FYI, it obviously did). Every outfit I post here is something that I've worn all day (or all night, whatever), but I really thought that these shoes deserved another outing post-graduation, and these burgundy trousers seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Paired with a non-seasonally appropriate but completely wardrobe necessary blouse, I feel like I'm channelling someone slightly cooler. Perhaps. Maybe we need to keep pretending...

I haven't completely glossed over Hallowe'en, oh no. I've absolutely loved reading everyone's posts showing off their costumes, but mine only turned up yesterday so I didn't have time to take photos - curses, ebay! I'll be sure to instagram shots from tomorrow night and Saturday rather than create a "proper" post as mine will never be able to beat the ones I've read about so far (have you seen Megan's? Cobweb-induced jealousy!), and I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone I'm seeing either night. But, just in case you're interested, here's what I've worn for the past three years. I hope you all enjoy yourself, whether that means a night in with whatever scary film's on channel 4, or being a nightmare in town!

PS, don't forget to enter to win a £50 F&F voucher here!

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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!

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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!

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