Sunday

Tula: A Closer Look.

When I started blogging it was really a personal thing. Anyone who has ever met me will probably tell you I am a woman of constant words so starting a page where I could express my many and various opinions seemed natural to me.

As I say, when I started it last year I  didn't actually get as far as considering I may have an audience, but when post after post was getting read and commented on I'll admit, it made me feel good.

Eleven months on and I've written articles for bar openings, clothing launches and big high street names. I'm always beyond flattered when I'm asked to write for brands but last week came my most exciting blogger milestone to date. I received my first physical item to use and review.

The very kind Yellowdoor provided me with a stunning Tula mock croc, red leather bag to write about, so all week I've been using it for various things - work meetings, dinner with friends, cocktail evenings. You name it I've worn it there.

So let's take a closer look at the lovely thing.





As you may have seen from earlier posts about the contents of my handbags I'm generally a 'the bigger the better' kind of girl when it comes to the storage capacity of my over the shoulder companions. So I'll admit, when I first saw this bag I dismissed it to a degree as a 'bar' option. You know, evening essentials only. But how wrong I was.

The bag has 3 compartments; the central a zipped one; space for your mobile and even slots for bank cards. Turns out that's more than enough room. And there's me lugging the equivalent weight of the kitchen sink around.

I love the colour red so fitting this into my wardrobe was easy. Here are a few shots.

Seems I had a case of Angelina Leg that day...







With an adjustable strap that can be just as easily worn as tucked away inside the bag this little stunner is a firm favourite of mine now and won't be leaving my clutches any time soon.

Unfortunately it's also proved popular in store and has sold out online but here's two of the closest options: Here and Here so be sure not to miss out on these hot tickets!

Right, I'm off to pack my favourite bag for work tomorrow so that's all from me for now.

I'll leave you with this.



Friday

BooHoo - An Outfit For Under £50.00.

As the economy continues to ail and our bank accounts continue to plunge towards the red a decent outfit for a reasonable sum of money is a little like the holy grail to us fashion addicts.

Gone are the days when pay day meant a weekend spent in Selfridges and the like, and don't we know it? As a result I am always interested in brands that can deliver that high-fashion feel without leaving you dreading next month's bills.

So I was thrilled to be invited to enter the blogger competition on Fashionvouchers.com to mark BooHoo making it into their  Top 10 Fashion Money Saving Websites.

The challenge was to find an outfit on their site for under £50.
When I first saw that I almost disregarded the whole thing as impossible; but upon closer inspection it would seem BooHoo is a veritable Aladdin's cave of fantastic low-price, high fashion pieces.

I wanted to create an outfit that not only kept to the competition guidelines but also actually represented my taste in fashion and would be something I would genuinely wear.

With all that in mind, and my calculator in hand to make sure I wasn't a penny over, this is what I put together:



This is an outfit that I think any fashion focused girl would feel comfortable wearing in a number of situations. From anything from work to a bar I think this is a great look for a 20 something girl who wants to stay abreast of the trends but save her pennies.

I'm a big fan of highlighting a colour throughout an outfit and the small clutch mirrors the tone of the brogue sole perfectly.

I actually already have those brogues and I love them - the next day delivery was great and they've been really hard wearing. Which surprised me considering they're from a more economy conscious website. But in my experience you certainly get your money's worth from BooHoo.

Here are the component parts in closer detail:



This basic jersey is only £15.00 and has featured in Look so you know it's a winner. I love plain dresses like this as they're so easy to use throughout a number of seasons - update the accessories and you've got a whole new look. Buy yours here.


Like I said, I have these and they look great with anything from a dress to jeans and a plain t-shirt. Most recently, in fact, I had them on with black leather trousers and a pink/purple floral chiffon shirt and it's certainly a look I'll put together again very soon. Buy yours here. (P.S. If you're a size 3 you're in luck they're in the sale for just £12.00!)


This is simply brilliant. Collars with this detailing can sell for as much as £100 thanks to Karl Lagerfeld's influence on us but BooHoo have really come to the rescue with this beauty at only £10.00. I can't tell you the number of hours I have spent trawling eBay for the perfect collar at a good price and all the while it was right under my nose. (No pun intended.) Buy yours here.
No outfit is complete without a bit of bling and finger consuming metals are all the rage at the moment. At just £8.00 and in two colours this is a great find. Buy yours here.
Finally a little clutch finishes off the look perfectly. Complementing the tone of the shoes really gives the outfit an over all polished look and this is only £5.00. Buy yours here.

And that's it - an entire, very cool, very fashionable outfit for bang on £50.00. And with accessories included; this site looks set to go right to the top of my 'favourites' list for bank-account-friendly purchasing.

So while you feel the government may not have your back financially, BooHoo certainly have. Happy shopping!

Sunday

Under The Influence.

As I told you all a few days ago I'm having a somewhat troublesome time with my threads and working out what to wear each day is becoming increasingly frustrating.

I'm a big believer in dressing for your mood and not for a trend in particular but just recently even that's seemed a challenge so I've been relying heavily on celebrity/street style influence.

Today I decided to escape the city and venture back into the 'burbs to see my family and spend a good few hours just sitting - does anyone else need that sometimes? Just a few hours with a cold orange juice and a sun lounger? Well I do and today was that kind of day.

As alerted by the kind weatherman last night I knew today was set to be a bit warm so I wanted to dress in a way that allowed for public transport use without fear of passing out due to heat exhaustion.

I sleep beneath a huge framed image of Audrey Hepburn so today's outfit was put together with her heavily in mind.



Some cats eye sunglasses, a dress my mum bought me years ago that I still love, some basic sandals and a lace Toki&Nabi cropped jacket in case the temperate were to drop.

Makeup was minimal so there's no real face shots but here's the details:




 
 

(Oh, look how comfortable I am in front of the camera! Note: the frozen smile and awkwardly curled toes. Nice!)


That's all for today guys but more soon. Hope you've had a lovely, sunny Sunday wherever you've been.

Jacket ¦ Toki&Nabi
Dress ¦ Mango
Shoes ¦ Primark
Sunglasses ¦ H&M for Wateraid
Watch ¦ Michael Kors

Thursday

Lim Lust.

The Lim in question? Phillip, of course!

The item in question? The Pashli bag.

A woman can never have enough bags. (At least that's what we tell ourselves as we weep with a mix of guilt and elation while handing over our credit cards to the robot-like sales folk in Harvey Nics and the like.)

You may or may not agree with the above statement, and that's fine. But what isn't up for discussion is the beauty of this item.




I'm a real sucker for classic items with gold detailing. Brought up in a family of silver-wearers it wasn't until my late teens I discovered I actually prefer and suit gold more. My skin tone has a tendency to lean towards olive at times so I guess it just sits well with it.

Tone aside I really wouldn't care if I was purple - I need this magnificent specimen in my life.

Here's Pashli in action at various fashion weeks.




Almost wept with lust over it then.

One day...

Tuesday

Man Up.

Right, my hiatus is over. I have missed blogging but due to a very intense work schedule and some unfortunate situations in my family life my blogspot has been, necessarily, down-graded somewhat in my priority list.

However, the world keeps turning and we must get on so as my work diary has thinned a little and time has moved on I've managed to shift 2DyeFor up a few rungs.

I've been having what I can only describe as a mild identity crisis of late. You know those mornings when you wake up and you just can't settle on a 'look' for the day? If you don't know what I'm on about then this is probably not the blog for you. I am always writing about 'looks' and the way an outfit can make or break a day.

As a result of this dip I've gone back to basics. We're talking monochrome, maxi dresses, Converse and high black heels. (Not all together, you understand.) To demonstrate the severity of my sartorial slump let me tell you that I went out last Friday and Saturday evenings in the same outfit as I simply couldn't formulate another enjoyable ensemble for myself out of the war zone that is my current wardrobe. To say it needs thinned out would be an understatement.

But until the mass clear out I've settled with using celebrities for inspiration of a morning when I just can't hack it. My most Googled gals are Olivia Palermo, Kourtney Kardashian (really the only cool one) and Blake Lively, amongst others.

This morning I decided to go a little west of my usual search zone and have settled on a Janelle Monae look. She's featured on this blog before so you can hardly be surprised. She's a style icon.

Anyway - he's what I'm sporting today.


And here's the details:


Bow Tie | Topman
Chiffon Shirt | Little Mistress
PU Leather Trousers | H&M
Shoes | Primark
Nail Varnish | GOSH
Watch | Michael Kors
Ring | YSL
Lipstick | Revlon

I'm currently working up to this look...


*Sigh*