Styling Band Tees

TOP // H&M
SKIRT // URBAN OUTFITTERS
WATCH // URBAN OUTFITTERS
HEELS // PRIMARK

TOP // HMV
DISCO PANTS // RIVER ISLAND
WATCH // URBAN OUTFITTERS

NECKLACE // CHARITY SHOP
TOP // H&M
FLOWER BRACELET // PRIMARK
SKIRT // PRIMARK
HEELS // PRIMARK

Band tees seem to take up a large proportion of my t shirt draw, so I thought I'd do a post on how I like to style them. The first, the Ramones tee tucked into a patterned skater skirt, is an outfit you can dress up or down with heels or flats, accessories or a jacket (I think a blazer or leather jacket would fit the bill perfectly), so you could wear it to a gig or just to go shopping. The second is my go to outfit if I can't be bothered to make an effort. Disco pants are super stretchy and comfortable, and if you're having a day where you simply don't have the energy to put thought into an outfit, tucking a baggy tee into some disco pants is a safe option.   In my third option, the outfit with The Beatles tee, I've paired it with a chunky woolly skirt and a pair of plain black heels. I think it's nice to look like you've put some thought into an outfit by accessorising, without going over the top and losing the casual feel.

 

I hope you liked this post and my outfit choices guys. Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I'm juggling a lot of responsibilities at the moment but I'm going to try to find the time to post more from now on! I hope you're all having a lovely weekend, and I'd love for you to comment your own favourite ways to style band tees or just baggy t shirts in general. Again, thanks for baring with me guys!

Kate x

 

 

 

 

 



January blues

JUMPER // TOPSHOP
SKIRT // URBAN OUTFITTERS
TIGHTS // PRIMARK
BOOTS // INTERNACIONALE
NECKLACE // CHARITY SHOP

 January is upon us again, which means two things: health kicks and sale shopping. As usual, I'm naughtily focusing on the latter of the two (slaps wrist), and yesterday I braved the crowds and headed into town to find some bargains. As I find crowded shops are usually sweaty and claustrophobic (the perfect combination),  I tend to avoid wearing heavy jumpers and constricting tight trousers, so I opted for this Topshop baby blue cropped jumper and this Urban Outfitters skater skirt, which has this gorgeous print.

 I paired this with this necklace that I got a few years ago in a charity shop, which for some reason is one of my favourite pieces of jewellery. I think it's the assortment of beads which give the piece a unique, sort of rustic edge, and I think sometimes it's nice to change it up rather than sticking to my usual chunky statement necklaces. I opted for a fishtail braid to get my hair out of my face, because there's nothing worse than trying to shop with a mop of hair in your eyes.

 

I'm aware that my posts have been a little infrequent and out of schedule recently, unfortunately I've had to spend most of my time revising for my mocks which start tomorrow... There's nothing more frustrating than spending hours working and trying to remember something when none of it goes in. I can't wait for Friday night to come around! Thanks for reading anyway guys,

Kate x





 

Christmas Beauty Haul

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas, as usual the whole affair flew by far too fast for my liking. This year I was spoilt rotten (which makes me feel extremely guilty), particularly on the beauty gift front, so I saw it as the perfect opportunity to do a little haul, as usually my budget doesn't allow for anything particularly exciting, but Christmas is obviously an exception.

Yes, this beauty is finally mine. When I opened the Naked 3 palette by Urban Decay I inwardly (and possibly outwardly) squealed in delight. The rose gold packaging makes the palette feel even more luxurious, and as soon as I opened the tin and saw the eye shadows themselves I just knew that I'm going to be obsessed with this for the foreseeable future. Unlike it's predecessors, Naked 3 is composed of mainly rosy tones, which I find really compliments my blue/green eyes, and unlike the latter Naked palettes I can see myself using every colour, which I think is a very rare but desirable trait in a palette. Though a little expensive, retailing for around £37.00, I think this palette is the perfect treat for any make up lover, and I definitely think this is going to be my new beauty staple for the next few months.

I've seen myriad recommendations for the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation, but it was watching over some of Tanya Burr's tutorials that prompted me to put this on my Christmas wish list. This foundation gives the user the illusion of vibrant, flawless skin, cancelling out any scarring or dark circles. It glides effortlessly over the skin on application, and I find it lasts me pretty much all day which is a major plus in my books.

Moving away from make up, to my delight I received various Soap and Glory products yesterday, one of my favourite brands. Firstly I got a 500ml bottle of the Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying shower gel, which smells gorgeous and I'm pretty sure this huge tub last me a long time! I also got the Scrub 'Em and Leave 'Em Body Buff, which also smells divine. My parents also treated me to a new hand cream from the range. I've previously loved Hand Food, which I mentioned in one of my Winter Essentials posts, but I wanted to expand and try something new, so I'm now using Soap and Glory's Hand Cream Super Cream. This bottle is the perfect size to slip into your handbag and the cream is absorbed super quickly, which is essential if you're like me and lack the patience to wait for ages to do anything after application.

 After an abundance of hints, my parents bought me this LUSH gift set, which goes by the adorable title 'Best Wishes'. This set includes some of the classic winter bath treats from LUSH: Snowcake Soap, a Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic and a Luxury Lush Pud Bath Ballistic. I'm really excited to try these out over the next few days, once I can force myself to open it and destroy the beautiful packaging.

I was lucky enough to be given the Groovy kind-a love! gift set by Benefit this Christmas, and I already absolutely adore it. Inside the cute little tin, perfect size to slip into a handbag, it has a mini Benetint, Porefessional and They're Real! mascara, which are all items I've used in the past and loved. It also comes with 4 eye shadows which are all quite shimmery, perfect for the party season, and a mini blush duo of Dandelion (which has been my go-to blush for as long as I can remember) and Gimme Fever, which also has a shimmery quality which I think will be really flattering and I'm excited to try it out. I love getting this type of make up giftset as it allows me to try out a range of products I wouldn't be able to afford individually, and it's a really useful way of trying out products to see if you like them before committing to a full bottle/ tub.

I hope you had a beautiful Christmas and continue to have fun over the upcoming new year, it's come around so quickly! Thanks for reading,
Kate x

Christmas days

It's getting so close to Christmas (squeals)! Over the last few days I've been spending quite a bit of time doing festive activities with friends and family to really get me into the mood, and as I love reminiscing about past Christmases and hearing about how other people chose to spend theirs, I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you guys.

One of my favourite things to do in the run up to Christmas is curl up on the sofa in front of a fire with my family and watch Christmas films. They're a great way of bringing the family together and getting everyone in a festive mood, and there's such a wide selection out there I think it's easy to find a film which caters to every family member's needs. If you want to see which are my Top 5 Christmas movies I did a post about it last week, which you can read here.


Photo from www.telegraph.co.uk

If you're not really into sitting around and watching movies, I think a great alternative is to go and do something Christmassy out and about. Something I do every single year is go ice skating with my friends. There's an outdoor rink which is set up throughout the Christmas months near to where I live, and the combination of the atmosphere and the ice guarantees to get me into the Christmas spirit. I think this is a great alternative if you want to do something active and fun with your friends and family, and it's also a super fun way to exercise compared to running on a treadmill by yourself for an hour. If you do decide to go ice skating, I'd recommend to make sure you're dressed appropriately because it honestly will make such a difference to your experience. I think gloves and a hat are essential, and remember to take a spare pair of socks in case the ice gets into your skates and melts. You don't want to be walking around the rest of the day with cold, wet feet!

photo from amazon.co.uk

My final recommended festive themed activity is playing board games. This may sound mundane and unenthralling, but for me playing board games with my family have made for some of my fondest Christmas memories. There's the classic Monopoly or Scrabble, neither of which I find particularly fun, but I prefer the ones which get you to interact with each other, as I think they often provide more humour. For example, I love Articulate (basically you get a card with a word printed on it, and you have to try and get the rest of your team to guess the word without you saying it) and think it's especially hilarious when you're playing with someone who doesn't understand/ is really bad at the game. I think as well as being enjoyable, board games are a great way to bond with family members you might only see once a year, as they're great ice breakers.

What festive activities have you been loving this year?
Kate x

Festive Five... Songs

It's getting so close to Christmas (squeals)! I'm currently struggling to sit still, the excitement and stress is all getting too much. I've been doing some studying today (oh, the joys), and I've been relying on Christmas music to get me through it, and it got me thinking: if I had to pick my favourite Christmas song, what would it be? From the title of this post, it is probably apparent that I failed, but I did manage to pin point my top 5.



photo from amazon.com

Coming in at number 5, I've chosen Bing Crosby's It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas. As I said in my 'Festive Five... Films' post earlier this week, I am obsessed with Bing Crosby. In my opinion, he is Christmas personified, forget Santa. I also adore him singing White Christmas and Little Drummer Boy, and they were close runners up.


photo from www.last.fm

At number 4, I sort of cheated, sorry guys. I've chosen Coldplay - Christmas Lights, as well as their cover of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. These two are a little different to the rest of the songs on this list as they're not as jolly and are a bit more emotional and gritty (or morbid, if you want to be rude). Despite the lack of bells, both songs get me into the festive spirit, and they're perfect to listen to if you're sick of all the cheesiness and glitz of the vast majority of festive songs, and just want to wind down.

photo from amazon.co.uk

Number 3 has to be good old Mariah's All I Want For Christmas Is You(ooooooooh). I don't think this one needs much explanation other than the fact I'm obsessed with it and have been every. single. year.

photo from amazon.co.uk

I've cheated again here, and this time I've picked a whole album. I bought Michael Buble Christmas  a couple of years ago, and I mean hsfkfhksnfdsknfdkfnsdf. Sorry. It's just too much. That is all.

photo from en.wikipedia.org

At number 1 (da da da dummmm) it has to be Fairytale of New York. It's not Christmas until you've screamed this song loud enough to deafen anyone within a six mile radius.

This has been a shorter post than usually, I'm aware that generally I tend to babble on a little... Anyway, thanks for reading guys, what are your favourite Christmas songs? Not long to go now! I'm off to do a last little touch of Christmas shopping now, til next time..
Kate x

Festive Five... Films

Being an excitable person, I've never really had much trouble getting into the festive spirit (I start in October for crying out loud), and I always find that Christmas movies are integral in switching my brain from Summer holiday to Christmas mode. My favourite thing to do on cold December nights is to tuck up in bed with a mug of mint hot chocolate (I'd recommend Mint Madness by Options), watching a Christmas film. Since it's just over a week until the big day, I thought I'd compile a list of top 5 festive films and explain exactly why I love them so much.

My first pick is probably one of the most popular festive films, and rightly so. Elf is a comedy Christmas movie starring Will Ferrell (my hero), but if you don't know that I'm assuming you've been living under a rock for the last few years. I watch this movie every single Christmas without fail, and it's one of the few Christmas movies that has the approval of my whole family, which is an achievement in itself.

The next film I'm recommending is Arthur Christmas. I saw this in the cinema when it came out a couple of years ago and I've watched it on a myriad of occasions since. It's a really cute, feel good film, and although it's primarily aimed at children I think it's suitable for the whole family to sit and watch together. 

When I was younger I absolutely hated White Christmas, but after watching it again the other day I've had a change of heart. Yes it's cheesey, yes it's dated, and yes there are better quality films out there, but it's a classic and it makes me feel all warm in side. Bing Crosby is an utter legend, and my favourite actress/ dancer, Vera Ellen, plays a supporting role and manages to execute it flawlessly (I may be slightly obsessed with her). If you're looking for a quick fix to get into the festive spirit, this is it.

 The Muppets Christmas Carol is definitely a modern classic. Although I do like the original black and white version from 1951, I find this to be a lot less morbid and to be honest I like to keep the blubbing to a minimum around Christmas time. This is a light hearted, family friendly adaptation of a classic and once watched you won't be able to shake the songs from your head for days (I'm currently battling with 'We're Marley and Marley, whooo).

My final pick has to be Nativity. I was dragged along to see this by my little sister, and was surprised when I actually enjoyed it. I laughed and I cried, and the star studded cast (Martin Freeman, Ashley Jenson and Alan Carr feature) didn't disappoint. I absolutely adore this film, so much so that I went to see Nativity 2 last year and loved it just as much (especially since David Tennant is in it. How can you not love him?). The children in both movies are adorable, it makes me inwardly squeal, and it's so. damn. cute.

What are your favourite movies which get you into the festive spirit? Feel free to leave a comment down below as I'd love to hear yours and maybe even discover something new. Thanks for reading, til next time...
Kate x

Confessions of a Wallflower

I'm a wallflower. I'm shy, an introvert and generally as far away from being gregarious as a person can possibly be. It's just the way I am, I've been this way since I was little and it's the only way I know how to be. It didn't used to be an issue, but as I get older it's starting to become more of a hindrance to my work and social life. I think I started to notice this when I was about 9, when I realised that in every school report there'd be a comment like 'Kate is shy' or 'she lacks confidence' etc. They were making it seem to me that being shy is a negative thing, which now I understand is utter rubbish, it's a personality trait not a choice. I didn't wake up one day and think 'Oooh, I'm going to be shy', and I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and think 'Ok, I'm not going to be shy anymore' and that'll be that. There's this stigma that people who are less confident and less outgoing are that way because they just can't be arsed to make the effort to be louder, that being 'shy' is just an excuse. For a long time I believed this, and every time I was in a situation and I'd feel like I wasn't contributing as much as everyone else/ as I could, I'd beat myself up about it afterward, and spend the rest of the day wallowing in self pity that I was a pathetic human being. But I'm just not that person who can go up to a stranger and start a conversation or volunteer answers in class every 30 seconds, I'm just naturally quiet and private, and I only say things if I need to. Is that necessarily a bad thing?

A lot of people say that quiet people are 'awkward' and uncomfortable to be around. Well guess what, maybe you make me uncomfortable, sat there bitching about every person you've ever met and harping on about how you're such a strong person for being able to speak your mind, no matter how rude and uncalled for your words are. Doesn't anyone value respect and kindness anymore? I think a real 'strong person' wouldn't blast their mouth off every time something doesn't go their way, but instead they would consider it carefully and take the other person's point of view on board, and  maybe, just maybe, take into account that the world doesn't revolve around themselves.

That's what us wallflowers do; we observe. We watch other people and learn from their mistakes, and although we don't always contribute, we always listen. Anyone can talk, but not everyone is able to listen, make sense of a stream of someone else's unadulterated consciousness. I'm not saying being loud and outgoing is a bad thing, sometimes I wish I was able to be able to say whatever I wanted without worrying how others will react, but I can't and I won't. Everyone is different. It doesn't matter if you're quiet or loud, we all contribute different things to society, be it in the form of our own ideas or supporting other people's through listening to what they have to say. If everyone was shy life would be boring, and if everyone was loud it would be the same. Different personalities are what make society work, they're what allow the human race to accomplish anything at all, because for every speaker there needs to be a listener, and vice versa. That's just the way humans work, so just because someone's shy you shouldn't try to change them, in the same way that if someone is opinionated you shouldn't tell them to shut up. We all have a voice and a mind, but each of us choses to use them different ways, and I think that's beautiful.

Thanks for reading, til next time...
Kate x