GOLD ZARA OXFORDS

My Mum talked me out of buying these Zara shoes when they were full price but luckily they were featured in the sale so I picked these up for less than £30 around Christmas time. They are the kind of shoe that invite comments. Taxi drivers say they pulled over for me because the gold flashes caught their eye, strangers in supermarkets tell you they love them and they even seem to steer on the right side of kooky cool for the guys at the office who haven't fallen about laughing at them. At least not to my face. 

Shirt - Equipment 

Jeans - Topshop 

Socks - Tabio 

Shoes - Zara

MIX

It is cold in London. Not normal cold but the kind of cold that is reminiscent of New York's bone crunching temperatures. I'm not happy about it. This weekend has been effectively cancelled in my mind and I've been tidying / clearing / organising my clothes instead. I keep finding things I have totally forgotten about, which is good for me but really just a result of my being very, very bad. 

Blazer - Topshop 

T shirt - Eleven Paris 

Trousers - Zara

Shoes - Vintage Thierry Mugler from thrift store in LA

Badge - from YSL exhibition in Paris during 2010

MY WHOLE WARDROBE IS WHISTLES

Prepare for an onslaught of Whistles dresses. I swooped in at the last minute for the final reductions and picked up some real bargains. Two short but sweet numbers (this is one of them), a 70s number for £50 that was £175 and a party dress that is so impractical but so fabulous that the utter impracticality was blocked out because it was trimmed with feathers.   

Cardigan - Vintage Dior from thrift store in NY 

Dress - Whistles 

Tights - M&S

Clutch - Zara

Shoes - Robert Clergerie

NOT CORPORATE

I haven't worn trousers to work in over two weeks. I think every now and then the flip switches in my head and I go from being a jeans girl to a dress girl. 

This jumper dress is perfect for winter and fun enough to make me not feel corporate. Having shiny shoes helps too. I'm so glad I don't have to wear proper office wear to work, I actually don't think I could cope. I'd become like the schoolgirl I once was wearing a band t shirt under the school issue white shirt just so everyone could see what music I was into. 

Dress - Markus Lupfer

Tights - M&S

Shoes - Zara

SEQUIN DRESS

This Zara dress is almost perfect - the shape is great for wearing everyday, the print is striking and the sequins aren't too shiny, so you don't look like a human disco ball or a lone wolf from a hen night. There's only downside...I seem to be allergic to it. Yes, really. I come out in a rash all over my arms every time I wear it, yet I still do.  

Dress - Zara

Tights - M&S

Shoes - Alexander Wang 

OUTFIT PANICS

This outfit was basically a lie in bed at night awake trying to work out how to tone an old lady style wool coat I bought from Zara and make it, well, less old lady. 

My Mum and I would term this coat a 'Judi Dench' and that is not a bad thing at all. It's just at at least half her age I'd prefer people to not walk down the street and think 'Judi Dench' just yet. At first I was thinking perhaps a belt would work, but either the coat was too bulky or I am. 

So in the end I went for trainers, turn ups and a hat I was given by my Ma at the age of oooh...17? Still, I kind of liked it. 

Hat - ???

Coat - Zara

Top - American Apparel 

Jeans - Uniqlo 

Socks - Topshop 

Trainers - Nike Air Max

Bag - Zara

GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI THIGH HIGH BOOTS

My blue sparkly cuban heeled Giuseppe Zanotti ankle boots are probably my shoe of the year. Nabbed in the Barneys sale back in Jan / Feb at the beginning of the year, they have become my go to boot. Comfortable enough to spend all day on your feet, sleek enough to feel dressed up and with the right amount of disco to put a spring in your step. 

When I saw a similar boot, thigh high with an identical heel and foot shape, on Yoox.com I knew I had to have them. Thigh high could be a bit street walker but with a 1 and half inch heel they don't feel that way. In fact I managed to go out on Saturday night in these and only had my friend notice I was wearing them after about 2 hours they are so under the radar. 

Jumper - Zara

Jeans - J Brand 

Boots - Giuseppe Zanotti 

CHALLENGE DRESSING

I came to a realisation on Sunday that I don't wear my jewellery enough. 

I'm currently on a 50 day shoe challenge at work where the girls have given me 50 days in which to wear a different pair every day, and I think I've added a jewellery challenge to that - not a different piece every day, just some to try and make use of my many bits and bobs that I don't give a decent airing.   

I realise a 'challenge' that basically involves wearing stuff may seem a bit stupid but I always find it a fun way of taking myself out of comfort zone. I love clothes but I can be a lazy dresser, always reaching for the same uniform - being just a touch more creative does reap rewards. 

Dress - Cos 

Snake bracelet - Maria Francesca Pepe from ASOS

Cluster bracelet and ring - Whistles 

Tights - M&S

Slippers - Zara

FRIDA KAHLO HALLOWEEN COSTUME

I went as Frida Kahlo for Halloween. Got to say, I'll be repeating the look from now on, the hair accessories and makeup (extra strong brows) were working for me, although it did take about a gallon of hairspray to keep my style in place. 

I look even more serious in my stair photos than normal - blame Frida, she wasn't much of a smiler. 

Flowers - New Look & Superdrug 

Earrings - New Look 

Collar - Hobbs 

Bangle - New Look 

Dress (worn as top) - Chelsea Girl by River Island 

Skirt - Zara

Belt - Charity shop

Boots - Ksubi 

Scarf - market stall in Cambridge 10,000 years ago 

SIMPLE ALWAYS WORKS

Sometimes the simplest outfits can be the most pleasing. I felt like a lumberjack mixed with Alexa Chung in this getup, although I have a sneaking feeling that I'd probably only fit an actual lumberjack's clothes and never the latter' s. 

Shirt - Thrift store in Austin, TX

Jeans - Topshop 

Boots - Zara

INHERITED DRESSING

My Dad always complains that my Mum's default dressing setting is a striped top. It seems to run in the family. 

1 & 2 

Jumper - Zara Man

Jeans - Topshop 

Boots - Marc by Marc Jacobs

3 & 4

Top - American Apparel 

Trousers - J Brand 

Shoes - Chanel 

PRE HALLOWEEN PURCHASES

1. Skeleton necklace - Topshop 

2. Neon snakeskin print socks - Topshop 

3. Spine ring - Topshop 

4. Alien skull & stud clutch - Zara

All taken with Instagram