S/S 14 Mini Trend: The Ugly Shoe

Ugly Shoes 1We live in a crazy world, ladies and gents, and I would say that the craziest thing in this world – aside from the fact that Kit Harrington has not yet noticed me as his soulmate (fix up Jon Snow!) – is fashion. The fact is that sometimes following fashion means you have to wear things that you think make you look like you belong in some sort of asylum. Oh sure, it would be great if pretty dresses and nice bags were always the height of fashion so we could parade around looking normal, but then how would we confuse elderly relatives?

So one of the oddest trends stealing the show this season is the ugly shoe. Yes, I do believe that is the official fashion name. Characterised by a cleated sole, numerous straps and buckles and preferably a bit of height, these are definitely the ‘it’ shoe of S/S14. Whether you opt for platform, flatform, jelly, canvas, velcro or even holographic versions, make sure you keep it as clunky and cumbersome as possible. You win extra style points the more it looks like you might have raided a Spice Girls dressing up box.

Here are a few of my favourite ugly shoes from around the ‘net:

Ugly Shoes 21. eBay / 2. Topshop / 3. New Look / 4. River Island / 5. eBay / 6. Pretty Little Thing 

And just in case you think I am actually mocking this trend, I want you to know that I am 100% not. Those ones in the top photos are my own little babies – Primark for a superbly purse-friendly £14, in case you were wondering.

What do you all think go this trend, love it or hate it?

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Mini Haul: Primark, Simple and Collection!

Hey chicks!

As a lot of you will aware from our incessant celebrating, yesterday was pay day. I feel like you have never truly experienced happiness until you get that heady ‘I’M SO RICH, KANYE HAS NOTHING ON ME RIGHT NOW’ joy from getting paid. Getting paid means splashing out on those things that you lusted over last month but couldn’t afford because you spent all of your money on pay day (LOGICAL?). As soon as lunch time hit yesterday, Claire was all over eBay and investing in her current list of must-haves. I, on the other hand, was attempting to be sensible and not buy anything unnecessary. This went pretty well until I got into Birmingham after work and had half an hour to kill before going for dinner. I went to Boots, which is ALWAYS dangerous, and then couldn’t stop myself from strolling around everywhere looking for things to satisfy my deep, deep need for material possessions (nail varnish = happiness. It has been proved. By science).

This is just a mini haul post on what I bought yesterday – I’d say none of it is HUGELY exciting, but still, a haul is a haul. You have to excuse the awful photos, I had to resort to my iphone after I’d had a couple of glasses of wine and apparently this is what happens. WHAT KIND OF BLOGGER DO I THINK I AM?!

IMG_1459I have a little bit of explaining to do with regards to each item actually and they all come with wonderful stories that I know you are all dying to hear, so feel free to make yourself a cup of tea and snuggle down. I’m justifying this little shopping trip because most of the items were entirely necessary and I did vaguely try and be thrifty NO JUDGEMENT PLEASE, MONEY GOD.

IMG_1461This little bad boy I have been lusting over since I spotted it in Boots a few weeks ago. I was actually having a lovely chat with @StonesGotStyle on Twitter about it and we both were thinking it’d be a BRILLIANT product if it delivered on the makeup fixing front. For the price, I think it really could be a winner, particularly when compared to more expensive brands. I’ve got it on today and so far so good – although I would say it’s not really a fair trial as I manage to smear all of my makeup over my face when I’m at work no matter what I’ve got on. I’m going to try it out on Friday when I head out with Claire and the gals – expect a full review very soon. It also smells lovely, as a side note!

IMG_1463Why have you put a lip balm on a haul post, you ask? Well, it does seem a bit pointless BUT I think it’s good to know what lip balms work and smell good. There have been so many times I’ve just gone with Vaseline because I couldn’t make up my mind about other brands and to be honest, Vaseline is a pile of greasy nothing. For anyone else who struggles with chapped lips in the summer, this lip balm is perfect. It smells and tastes yummy and actually works – I’ve been using it for a while now and I can safely say I’ve not used a better everyday balm.

IMG_1464I CAN’T RAVE ABOUT THIS CONCEALER ENOUGH. Honestly, it is full on amazing. I’ve tried similar illuminating concealers and they have all been WUBBISH. I’ve also heard this is the best dupe for Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche Éclat and for £5, it’s definitely worth giving it a go. I bought it in the ‘Glow’ shade as it’s the darkest one they do and use it under my eyes and down my nose for contouring purposes. Occasionally I’ll use it on spots too, although I try not to as it is a mixture of a highlighter and concealer (and who wants to highlight their spots?!). Saying that, it does work well as a simple concealer too. I could go on about this product for YEARS but will save you all the torture and just recommend you purchase and give it a whirl!

IMG_1465Claire and I had a moment the other day when we realised that big earrings were no longer cool. It was quite a heart wrenching moment; our standard jewellery ventures used to be a giant pair of chandelier earrings. But this just simply can’t be done anymore, sob. We’ve come to the conclusion that necklaces and rings are the big players in the jewellery world now, which is fantastic apart from the fact I have sausage fingers. ANYWAY, it turns out I haven’t been quite able to let go of my love of earrings and decided to buy a load of hoops from Primark. At £1, it was pretty rude not to. My theory is, because the 90’s are well and truly back, I can get away with a bit of Jennifer Anniston hoop. I’m planning a big topknot and hoops for Friday, so I will take a picture and see if this is achieved! I also got this set of rings because I love a bit of neon and they’re a great way of adding a bit of the trend into a boring outfit (note – Primark have some LOVELY neon jewellery in at the moment).

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If you follow us on Twitter, you might have seen my #bbloggers beg the other day for some eye makeup remover recommendations. I have a new mascara, which I love, but it refuses to come off. It’s not actually waterproof but has a terrible habit of sticking to anything and everything. I had a lot of response and I really wanted to invest in a No7 oil based remover that one of you lovely people recommended. However, I left my voucher at home and in a bid to be sensible, decided to go with something a bit cheaper. I also looked for the Neutrogena wipes that were recommended but unfortunately the Boots I was in didn’t stock them, so I went for the next make up remover suggestion! So far, I’ve been really happy with this Simple one and it takes all of the naughty mascara off in a few wipes. I’m actually very happy with it and for the price, I think I will buy it again. So big thanks to all of you who gave me some suggestions!

IMG_1468Finally, this was my last purchase yesterday! There’s not much to say apart from the fact that my shoe situation is terrible and I needed some black pumps for work. They’re quite cute, so I’m happy! I have my eye on a pair of nude t-bar studded ones in Primark actually, and will probably buy them in the next few weeks.

WELL, that was my slightly mad pay day haul yesterday. I’ve told myself I’m on a spending ban now, but lets see how long that realistically lasts….

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Outfit of the Day and a Fashion Tragedy.

I had a quarter life crisis last week (much like Claire and her strange purple dip-dye phase) and decided to overhaul my general appearance in my eternal quest to become a trendy wendy. This meant dashing to the hairdresser in my lunch break on Friday and carefully explaining that I wanted a fringe cut well above my eyebrows, so that all the effort I spend drawing them on is not wasted. After a disdainful “that’s a bit short isn’t it…’ and my hairdresser deciding not to charge me (probably because she thought it looked horrible and I was upset by it. I wasn’t, I love it and I got a free haircut), my new look is on its way to being complete. For those of you who follow us on Instragram, you may have seen a picture but here is the final result anyway:

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I’m also lying slightly when I say outfit of the day because this was actually my outfit on Saturday. However, I generally look slightly trampy at work because I get ready at 6am and forget how to dress myself, so there will rarely be a good outfit post here. Anywhoo, this was my favourite outfit from the weekend (the rest of the time was spent in a tshirt with a strange Jamaican man on it) and I wore it to do a spot of shopping in Birmingham.

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Neon skirt: H&M 

Lace top: Next

Box bag: Primark (its hilariously old so I wont even attempt a link)

Black boots: Dorothy Perkins 

I also have to share with you all possibly the worst fash trag (also know as a fashion tragedy) that has happened to me yet. On my shopping ventures on Saturday, I bought these absolute stunners from New Look. I’m a big fan of New Look heels in general (although I don’t love their clothes) and these ones are bang on the mark in every single way. I can’t describe to you how much I love(d) them; my day, NAY MY LIFE, was infinitely improved. They were only £24.99 too, so literally the biggest bargain of my entire human life.

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So, my shoes and I should have lived happily ever after. We had all the makings of a perfect couple. I wore them out on Saturday night for a casual one at Snobs and things were going swimmingly. They were comfy. I was tall. It was a most exciting time. HOWEVER, being the literal clumsy idiot I am and also blaming New Look somewhat, I managed to break ALL of the straps on one of the shoes. I wasn’t even vigorously dancing; I managed to break my shoes by simply standing up. Obviously, I was more upset about the fact my shoes had broken than the fact that I had to spend a million pounds to go home, get another pair of shoes and come back out. I’m going to replace them this weekend and hope that the next pair survives longer than an hour because I really, really can’t live without them!