Best of eBay no.2: TOPSHOP Astrix boot copies !!!

Hello!!

Long time no blog! I have been so busy with starting my new job and finishing my old one. I really am so sad that I've finished working as a Teaching Assistant. It was my dream job and I met some lovely people, and some amazing children. I'm struggling with my new job, but just hoping it gets better and I can get some more hours. 

Anyway in order to distract myself from my woes, I turn to shopping (as usual). I have been lusting over the Topshop Astrix boots for ages now. I just think they are so edgy but also really casual and understated. The perfect mix of a statement shoe and the "I haven't even tried" look because they are basically a heeled plimsoll. But rather than paying £40 I have been scouring ebay for a cheaper alternative for literal months. And bingo I've finally found a copy, I would be bold enough to say an identical copy, for just over HALF THE PRICE. eBay and your bargain knock offs, I salute you. 

Can you spot a difference? Because I can't!!

There are loads of sellers selling these for around £25 and a few quid extra for delivery. But they are such a good copy!! I wanted a pair in white but every pair has sold out in a 4, so I bought black anyway- they'll be great for winter. For that cheap I would get both colours. There's also a pair with black canvas and white soles which could be cool! Get these here here here here

I'll let you know what I think when they arrive! 

Hope you're well and a huge thankyou for reading! I couldn't believe I had 6101 views when I came on to write this. It just gives me a huge push to blog more and make myself better at it. Thankyou again and don't forget to follow me on bloglovin!! You'll make my day!

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OUTFIT no.2 : Heatwave

Hey!
How amazing has this weather been? Its been so hot where I am I've spent the whole weekend tanning and I'm proud to say i have tan lines! Woo! 

I am loving white at the moment so so so much! These shoes are new, as is the bag. I wasn't sure I would keep the bag but actually it goes with quite a lot and is sooo bright. I wore it to a 21st on Saturday night and everyone was like woaaahhhhh so bright. So I'll probably keep it for that reason! You can't go wrong with neon, white and a tan this summer!

necklace - ebay

mesh crop top - New Look (sale/diy)

skirt - Boohoo

neon bag - TK Maxx

heels - ebay

lips - MUA Power Pout in Justify under Barry M Lip Paint 154

nails - OPI Nail Envy matte

earrings - Spangle

tan - NATURAL (for once) 

This is the kind of outfit I would love to wear on a night out! White is quite brave, also its impossible to keep it clean, but I think its so worth the risk as it looks so clean and bright. And I'm converted to white high heels, after thinking they were for strippers for as long as I can remember. These are an identical copy of a pair called Oxygen from Office which were around £65 but now sold out. Bargain! They also come in black which would go with loads of stuff. 

In other news I had my taster day at college today for foundation diploma in Art and Design, and had a really really good time. Met some lovely people and did a fun painting task. Feeling so positive now got lots to look forward to! I also managed to get tickets to see Arctic Monkeys (my all time favourite band EVER) in October at Earls Court and I still haven't come down from that high! Life is spectacular!

Thanks for reading, lots of love! 

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Glastonbury style 2013

Now I am by no means a festival kind of girl, in fact I'm a festival virgin. The thought of sleeping in tents, not washing, having greasy hair etc. is my worst nightmare to be honest. But I love the idea of live music, drinking, fun and of course festival fashion. I'm all over some denim shorts, hunters and a floral headband as much as the next person. That being said festival fashion can get VERY boring and very samey. I'm all for a different festival look. 

But anyway here are some looks that I've been loving this Glasto:

(photo credit www.graziadaily.co.uk)

Millie Mackintosh - Cara Delevingne

Kate Moss and Stella McCartney - Bip Ling

Rita Ora - Cressida Bonas

Rita Ora - Iggy Azalea 

Some pretty obvious choices there! I'm not even particularly keen on Millie Mac's outfit but she just makes anything look incredible with that body, tan and attitude. Special mention to Iggy Azalea, love her performance outfit, especially her hair and makeup. She looks flawless. Not entirely sold on Cressida's (Prince Harry's gf) outfit. Dungarees and Nike Air Force 1s seems good on paper I just don't think the look really suits her.

I just want to be Bip Ling's best friend not going to lie.

What do you think of festival fashion?

Oh and also google reader is shutting down as of today so make sure you follow me on bloglovin to stay up to date with my pretty sporadic posts! Got lots of new clothes (naughty) so hopefully will do some outfit/styling posts soon if anyone is interested! The spending ban starts tomorrow!

Thankyou so much for reading!!

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DIY American Apparel inspired scrunchies

Sunday afternoons were made for making scrunchies. I had so much fun making these and they are so quick and easy to make. 

I was inspired by the ones from American Apparel which are from £4.50-£7- a lot of money for something so easy to make. 

Photo from American Apparel

Here's how I did it:

I love the shiny purple one but its that annoying fabric that sheds everywhere. Looks like I have glittery purple dandruff. The black one though works fine!

I prefer scrunchies to hairbands because:

1. They are easy and quick to make
2. They reduce breakage because they are softer and don't snag
3. You can put your hair up wet without breakage
4. You can create some very big, voluminous messy buns you wouldnt be able to achieve with bands
5. Adds an 80s/90s twist to your outfit and takes you down memory lane
6. Easier to find in your bag
7. If you turn up a skirt, dress, trousers etc. you can make one from the excess material to match your outfit- my scrunchie always used to match my dress when I was little ha
8. A lot more interesting than a plain old hairband

What do you think? Would you wear a scrunchie?

Thanks for reading :)

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DIY men's gold chain bracelet to necklace

Hello :)

I got this bracelet originally to use on my box clutch DIY but it wasn't long enough for a wrist strap. I always just assume men's bracelets will be enormous but this one wasn't sadly. (I got it off eBay for £2.99 including delivery).

I'm a big fan of the gold statement jewellery around at the moment. Everyday I wear my gold Marc by Marc Jacobs watch and gold midi rings and stacking rings- i feel lost without them. I thought I would use this bracelet to make a similar more daintier version of the chunky chain necklaces about at the moment.

Here's my step by step DIY. It's super easy to do using any old men's gold chain bracelet.

Sorry about the images being all different shades; I took a couple at another time of the day. 

I'm really happy with mine it makes a statement but it isn't too in your face like some of the necklaces at the moment. I think you could wear it day or night. 

Let me know if you have a go at making this, I'd love to see your necklaces!

Thanks for reading and hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

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DIY Inspiration : Box Clutch

Today I found a box clutch in a charity shop which I snapped up for £3. Its a great shape and I'm just thinking about all the things I could do to it. Here's some clutches inspiring me at the moment:

All Lanvin apart from the green (Burberry) and the yellow (Kenzo). (All images sourced from google)

Recently I've bought loads of new pencil skirts and crop tops for nights out . This summer I especially love the white and colour block trends. My favourites are a white pencil skirt and a white crop top with mesh sleeves with thin strappy heels and a bold lip. I think gold and white looks so good together, so I'm definitely going to add a thick gold curb chain wrist strap to the box clutch like the Lanvin ones above. 

I'm also loving the lion and tiger imagery which is about at the moment, especially from Kenzo. I think it really adds some personality!

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DIY 80s vintage dotty dress transformation

Hey!
Two posts in one day! I don't know what's happened to me haha! This is just to show you the vintage dress I changed and basically made into a mini length. I bought this in a charity shop and it was enormous as you can see from the pictures! I fell in love with the navy dotty print and the wide lepels. This just made me think of Princess Diana, and straw boater hats.   
Here's what it looked like before I took my scissors to it: 

Truly hideous and I do question why I put photos this unflattering on the internet haha! 


So I began by turning it up to a shorter, more wearable length. I threw out the original belt, but surprised myself by actually keeping the shoulder pads in; normally they are the first things to go but I didn't think they were too extreme this time. I then just took it in at the sides and lost about 4 inches off each side. I didn't bother with darts because I wanted it to still be slightly loose. Lastly I cut the sleeves shorter and rolled up and sewed on my machine.
I'm quite pleased with it, its not my favourite dress ever, just something about it I'm not happy with..? Maybe I'll come back to it at some point and do more to it. I definitely like it more than before though that's for sure!

And here's the finished result:

(Scrunchie - handmade, belt - market, shoes - Forum Gladiator from Office)

Thanks for reading :)

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DIY vintage long skirt to pinafore dress

Hey!
Here is a little dress I made using an old vintage skirt I got for a £1 in a charity shop. I was just going to turn it up and make it into a skater skirt but I thought I had loads of fabric left that I could make a pinafore dress from! 

Here is the before:

It had a nice fit actually, with pockets and an elasticated waist.

And here is the after pics:

 Pinafore dress DIY, watch Michael Kors (fake from ebay), Vans Authentics from Office, Grey T from H&M

How I did it:

1. Turn up the skirt. Try on, pin it to desired length, overlock the raw edges (or just use pinking shears to finish), hem on the machine. 
2. With remaining fabric cut out a square to use as the top part. I don't have exact measurements for this, I just used trial and error depending on how wide/high I wanted it to come on my front.
3. Sew your square right side to right side with more of the skirt fabric (only if you have enough), or another cotton. Leave a gap to turn right way out, and iron.
4. Add button holes using a function on a machine, or by hand if you're clever. Add them to the two top corners where your straps will be fastened.
5. Pin the square onto the waistband and topstitch across neatly to join the two. Make sure you try it on so you're happy with where it sits on the body and that its even.
6. With remaining skirt fabric make straps. Mine were 4cm wide and I cut out a piece of fabric 9cm wide and as long as I could. 
7. Sew strip into a tube and turn inside out. Press with a hot iron making sure the seam is straight down the back of the strap. 
8. Measure how big each strap needs to be and cut your long strap to size. I crossed mine over but you don't have to!
9. Hem the straps' raw edges. Pin on straps at the back, try on to make sure you're happy, then sew the straps down.
10. Add buttons to the other ends of the straps.
11. Cut off any dangly threads and you're done.

This was surprisingly easy to do and I'm really happy with how its turned out. But I think its definitely not warm enough to wear yet, and I'm definitely too pale!

If you have basic sewing knowledge you could make this from any old skirt. Just as long as its long enough to make the pinafore part and straps. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. In the future I will try and do a step by step of how I alter my clothes as that will probably be easier to understand!

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DIY Cut out shoulder vintage shirt

Hello !
Thought I would post my latest DIY project! 
On my usual lunch break charity shop rummage I found this shirt; I thought the print was kind of horrible and amazing at the same time, and for £1 i wasn't going to leave it behind.

I thought how can I get rid of some of this horrible print? Cut away some of the fabric to make cut out sleeves. I found The Fitting's post on cut out shoulder shirt and thought I would try and do something similar. See her original post here.

I started by cutting out a sort of oval shape with a square end from newspaper and pinned onto the front of my shirt, then tried it on and made adjustments. I wanted mine to be quite big cut outs because I thought little ones would look silly on something so oversized.

Once I was happy I cut away the cut outs. 

I then folded under the raw edge to about 30-40mm, pinned in place and stitched it by hand. Usually I prefer machining but the fabric was slippy so I thought I would play it safe.

I rolled up the sleeves and it was done! I'm really happy with it- I wore it to work with a high waisted skater skirt and got lots of compliments from the kids (I work as a Teaching Assistant in a primary school).

Definitely will be using this technique again.

In  case anyone's interested my jeans are Topshop Leila (very old), hat is Divided at H&M, boots are Uncanny from Office Shoes, necklace is New Look.

Hope you enjoyed!

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