Partytime

Blue Skirt - Fashion Union

White Cami - ASOS

Gold Clutch Bag - New Look @ ASOS

Wedges - Ebay

The dark nights are setting and the weather is getting worse, I love layering and chunky knit jumpers but I haven't properly put together my winter wardrobe yet so for a change I thought I'd show you what I wore on a recent night out. As you can see the usual photo-taking spot of the garden was ditched because it was dark and absolutely freezing so excuse the lighting!

This never usually happens for me because I'm very picky about what I wear but for once everything in this photograph was brand new! It all started when I fell in love with this little cobalt blue skirt, its a wrap style skirt with a zip detail to one side in a beautiful jacquard printed fabric. I had never bought from Fashion Union before but I managed to find a few discount codes online and ended up paying around £17! 

I paired it with a while silky cami from ASOS and my new favorite metallic gold clutch (New Look at ASOS) which is the perfect size for everything I take on a night out (cards,cash, keys, phone and powder!) and makes a change from my usual little black bag.

I am still having a love affair with my new wedges which I snagged on eBay for a mere £21 and they are surprisingly comfy and easy to walk in!

#accessallasos

A couple of weeks ago I came across the  accessallasos hashtag on twitter thanks to other bloggers, I was supposed to be filling in job applications but curiosity got the better of me and I ended up doing a bit of exploring.

Access all ASOS is a new exclusive insiders community for ASOS fans and all I had to do to become a part of it was fill in their short and very fun application form! 

I had almost forgotten I had even applied until I woke up one morning to the postman delivering a parcel for me (for once I wasn't actually waiting for any parcels!) 

I love surprises so I was ecstatic when I opened it up and found a cute gift box filled with gold stars and gifts wrapped in tissue paper alongside a handwritten note saying I had been chosen! (and the most appropriate fortune cookie ever though I think I'd prefer destiny to come to me in fewer clothes!)

Being an access all ASOS insider means I have a login to the exclusive site where amazing opportunities, events and discounts are posted.

There have already been some super exciting events posted up (such at the opportunity to interview Don Broco) and I can't wait to get involved and see how it grows! 

Pink vs Punk

Okay so if you've read our London Fashion Weekend post you'll know that we were lucky enough to hear the talk by head of design for Topshop Emma Farrow, as you would anticipate if you had one question to ask this woman it would probably be "what should I be wearing/buying for next season?"! The first word to leave her lips when asked was 'PINK!"

So pink is stereotypical, girly and pretty but there are ways of wearing it that won't make you look like Barbie. The high street is awash with different hues of pink and as Emma said this trend is one you can style however you want, it might be as simple as one pink accessory or if you're brave then head to toe, also don't forget that there are no rules when it comes to the shade, pastel candy floss pink is just as on trend as shocking hot pink.

Now I have to admit I'm not sure I could rock head to toe pink, what with my blonde hair I think I would look a little bit Elle Woods a la Legally Blonde so I've picked my favorite pieces from the high street that could be added to any outfit.

1. Pink Topshop Dress £38 buy it here

2. Pink Topshop Sequin Crop Cami £35 buy it here

3. Pale Pink River Island Biker Jacket £120 buy it here

4. Pink Knit River Island Tube Skirt £30 buy it here

5. Pink Tartan River Island Scarf £25 buy it here

I am very very tempted by the scarf and the sequin crop but my bank balance won't be happy with me! 

Another of my favorite high street trends of A/W 2013 is 100% tartan/check! Had you asked me to wear a tartan skirt two years ago I would have probably replied with "no I am not wearing a kilt" however this time around I've really fallen in love with everything checked! Handily I picked up a lovely navy, green and red tartan wool scarf in Paris in April and paired with a chunky jumper and my leather biker jacket its perfection!

If like me the idea of wearing tartan initially terrifies you then perhaps go for a black/white monochrome check. Here are my favorite of the high street/online stores offerings!

6. Tartan Fashion Union Mini Skirt £15 buy it here

7. Check Crepe Fashion Union Dress £20 buy it here

8. Rose Check River Island Jumper £35 buy it here

9. Monochrome Check River Island Leggings £22 buy it here

10. Tartan Crop Lavish Alice Tee £16 buy it here

I already own these leggings and they are lovely (you can see them in this post) and I very nearly bought the Lavish Alice top...

The reason I titled this post Pink Vs Punk was because the two of these trends seem like polar opposites, so not only did I want to show you my picks of the high street but also how you could mix the two trends to form the perfect A/W outfit. 

Asos Check Smock Dress £25 buy it here

Topshop Biker Jacket £58 buy it here

River Island Pink Bowler Hat £20 buy it here

Lavish Alice Heeled Chelsea Boots £28 buy it here 

(Oops may have just bought the leather versions of these boots from Ebay post coming soon!)

How to wear: White Shirt

Shirt - Hobbs

Leggings - River Island

Shoes - Primark

Watch - Michael Kors

Shirt - Topshop

Skirt - Primark

Tights - Primark

Heels - Missguided

(Please excuse my face/general appearance I was suffering after a girls night out)

The transition from spring/summer to autumn/winter is a tricky one, especially when the weather cant make its mind up.The easiest way to tackle it is to start building up a collection of basic staple pieces that can be layered and dressed up or down. Recently me and Lauren have both invested in crisp white shirts, I have to admit they do remind me a bit of old school uniform days but they are the perfect staples.

We both wear them underneath lightweight jumper just to give our outfits a smarter more put together look as opposed to a jumper and jeans alone. For this post we paired them with our latest buys, my tartan/check monochrome leggings and Lauren's bodycon denim skirt. I went for a more boyfriend style mens oversized shirt so that i can wear it with leggings or tuck it in to high waisted skirts/jeans and where as Lauren's Topshop shirt is more tailored and with short sleeves.

What are your autumn winter staples?

London fashion weekend 2013

Today is Lauren's 18th birthday so as her present I got us both tickets for the Friday of London Fashion Weekend at Somerset House, unfortunately neither of us are lucky enough to get invites to the LFW shows (yet) so this made a good substitute! 

I booked the tickets online using a discount code from ELLE magazine so we managed to get access to the shopping and exhibitions, the trend catwalk show and a showbag each for under £30 each! 

Let's start with the showbag: this years was an exclusively designed tote bag by Sister by Sibling filled with goodies from all of the LFWend sponsors as you can see below! 

The discount code we got from ELLE also entitled us to a free maybelline gift box which we picked up when we visited the stand - we had a choice of four boxes containing four different 'looks' and a money off voucher for foundation! 

We also got handed one of the limited edition maybelline lipsticks, a bright fushia pink which Molly from the Saturdays has put her name to especially for LFWend (post coming soon).

The day itself was lovely, Somerset house is a beautiful setting and although some of the designers exhibiting were a little out of our price range it was exciting getting to browse through! A few pieces caught my eye including a cute tweed Celine skirt (completely out of my price range!) and a few pieces of jewellery.

One thing both of us did buy were the drinks and teas from BeautyIn. An exclusive product made and imported from Brazil, cold bottled drinks and flavoured teas as well as cereal bars and candy (we got some collagen gummy bears in our showbags 0% fat or sugar!). I'm not really a tea or coffee drinker but the green tea with collagen and grape flavouring tasted amazing and I can't resist a gimmick so if it makes my skin look great that's a bonus! it was £2.50 for ten sachets which can de drank cold or hot! 

There was also the 'bueno lounge' which was literally my idea of heaven; a room filled with cushions and bean bags and free massages and more importantly free kinder buenos! 

After all the shopping and filling our faces we headed to the first talk of the day 'designing for topshop' in which Emma Farrow was interviewed about her job role an the latest trends by the lovely Antonia O'Brian. We nabbed a front row seat and I was honestly in awe, it is fab to see someone so admirable and inspiring seem so grounded and genuine, I think its a common misconception that a lot of the top women in fashion are Miranda Priestly-a-likes! We also got a lot of insider information and the opportunity to ask questions (I will tell all the secrets in a later post!)

We finished of our day by watching the trend catwalk show, second row because Vodafone customers were able to reserve the front! Four key trends were talked through with a full catwalk of outfits for each. It was both of our first experiences of watching a catwalk show live and it was amazing! The clothes, the models, the photographers at the end of the runway, the music, the lights...everything you'd expect and more! 

I would absolutely recommend London Fashion Weekend to anyone who wants to get a glimpse into the world of London Fashion Week but doesn't quite have the credentials to get in yet! 

Ps. Excuse the shabby iphone photography, stupidly neither of us took our cameras! 

Feeling Blue

If there was one item I would most like to steal from Lauren's wardrobe it would be the blue Topshop jumper she is wearing in the photo below. It is the perfect thickness to layer over other outfits and ideal for autumn, I hate wearing big chunky jumpers when there's a chance the sun might come out and I'll end up a right sweaty betty.

So I stole it!
Not really, I just borrowed it to see how it would look layered over my new midi dress. The black midi underneath it is this strappy number from Missguided, part of their new 'sweet deal' range at a bargain £6.49!
I have to admit I actually ordered a crop top from the range and found it to be quite poor quality and weird fitting however this midi dress is perfect, basic but perfect, and you really can't argue with their prices, at only £6 for a dress you can't go wrong and Missguided have always been good with delivery and returns in my experience.

Jumper - Topshop

Midi dress - Missguided

Boots - Mr Shoes

Necklace - ASOS

Back to College

If you read our first ever post you will have seen that Lauren is in the process of swapping colleges to start her Fashion and Design course. Having found out her start date is mid September she has recently been shopping for new outfits.

College is a huge jump from secondary school, you've been stuck with the same people for five years and all of a sudden everyone is going their separate ways. More importantly you are no longer made to wear school uniform! I remember getting really excited about this fact until I reached roughly the second week of college and realized I had run out of clothes. It is nice however to go shopping with your friends and buy something new knowing you will be able to show it off tomorrow rather than constantly waiting until the weekend.

With studying fashion also comes the expectation that you will always be immaculately dressed, Lauren has styled three full outfits that she is planning on wearing come the start of term.

Jumper - Zara

Skirt - H&M

Trainers - Nike

Bag - eBay

Top - Ebay

Shorts - Vinatge Levi's

Trainers - Nike

Bag - Fred Perry 

Glasses - Gok Wan

Watch - Ebay

Top - H&M

Skirt - H&M

Trainers - Nike 

Bag - eBay

Top of the Crops

I am off on a spontaneous girls holiday to Kavos next week (it won't be a cultural experience I know but it will be a right laugh!) and having sold half of my summer wardrobe on eBay already I spent one evening browsing the ASOS sale in search of a few cheap bits to take with me!

I spotted this aztec bralet top for a mere £8 and added it straight to my basket, and I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived this morning! It's so cute, has a sweetheart neckline and cut out detail to the front and straps, perfect paired with black or denim shorts for holiday!

I also cheekily added another gold chain necklace to my order, but it was only £12 so thats ok..no?!

You might have noticed if you've looked at my older posts I've also had my hair chopped off again and my colour done...all for £35 thanks to my lovely hairdresser! (Lauren has also had a full fringe cut in which you'll see in her post next week!)

Top - ASOS find it here (think I got the last of the small sizes though sorry guys!)

Shorts - Topshop

Necklace - ASOS find it here

Jacket - Vintage Levi's 

Flatforms - Primark (read more here) 

(admittedly I will probably ditch the jacket and swap the flatforms for converse on holiday!)

Ugly Ducklings

I wanted to give our readers a better idea of who me and Lauren are and why we have started this blog, and considering most of our posts so far are fashion based I figured what better way than to do a nostalgic photo post showing you the wonders of our wardrobes through the years.

Despite the 3 and a half year age gap between me and my sister our mum still made it her mission to dress us in coordinating outfits much to our dismay, and what with mum being a seamstress 'its too big/small' was never a good enough excuse not to wear something.

Lauren has gone digging through the treasure trove of old photographs we have and picked out the best of the bunch. (you know how magazines always go on about 'fashion revivals' and how pieces that were in fashion years ago come back on trend? well I couldn't believe how true that seems after looking through these photos!)

Here we have Lauren rocking a tartan print tea dress and me in a glorious floral number, both with frilly socks and it appears I have some sort of creeper-like mock-croc loafer on too?! (The frilly socks you can now pay £8 for in Topshop!)

Next up is what I like to call our festival look. As you can see I was already styling out the high neck crop top and leggings and Lauren has the cutest ever bumbag! I'm sure everyone would of been envious of her had she kept that for Reading!

Here is a prime example of the matching outfits scenario. Hot pink cami dresses with a mesh and diamante shift dress over the top...wonderful! As you may have also noticed we also have matching haircuts...thanks again mum!

And to top it off we have our 'party' look. If I remember correctly this was for a 'McDonalds party' (I would love to go to one of those now...so many mcnuggets) but they didnt have the pink dress in my size so I had to settle for this sort of two piece top and wrap skirt combo. The skirt over trousers phase was a good'en!

And look at us now, you couldn't get more opposite.

Lauren:

Jumper - Topshop

Shirt - H&M

Shorts - H&M

Boots - Office

Jodie:

Top - Topshop 

Skirt - Topshop

Boots - Mr Shoes

Have also just noticed that in all but one photo I always stand on the right and Lauren on the left (basically fashion bloggings answer to Ant and Dec no?!)