A Night On The Thames

When the lovely Katy asked me if I wanted to be her date for a Bond night on the river Thames, I'll admit, I was hesitant to accept. Not because I don't like Katy (she's a total babe), or because a night of free drinks and casino fun didn't sound good, but because it involved leaving the house after six pm. Anyone who knows me even a little could tell you that I'm generally not a fan of any plan that means I'm not in bed with my bra and makeup off by 8pm. But, you've gotta step out of your comfort zone every now and then, so I said yes.

Friday night I headed down to Temple dock early to meet Katy, and snap some outfit photos before boarding the floating casino. 

 Since I've explained to you that I'm not exactly the biggest party animal, it should come as no surprise that I had literally nothing to wear. I'm not even kidding, the last time I bought a dress for going out was before my eighteenth birthday...so yeah. Finding an outfit was a struggle.

I had a look on ASOS and a brief look on the high street, but I couldn't find a single dress that I liked that wasn't staggeringly expensive. So I had to improvise.

I pulled out a dress from my wardrobe, this gorgeous floaty number that I've had since I was about sixteen. It's a bit short for me now, and it's VERY booby, so I layered it over a plain black tshirt so I wasn't exposed, and a black body con skirt with a lace trim. The skirt didn't really add any length, but it meant if I bent over or the wind blew my skirt up, I was protected! I actually love how the lace looked peaking out under my skirt!

I added a belt I think I picked up from Primark, but I don't really remember (are you getting the gist of how old this stuff is? I need to go out more...), which I like to think made it a touch more my style, which is definitely black studs than floaty dresses. I chucked on my pleather/cotton jacket which has a cute floaty front, but is also super warm, and my favourite sparkly shoes. These things are what heart eyed emojis were made for, they're beyond gorgeous. They were also VERY dusty, I had to give them a good clean before I went out. 

 I had planned to take a clutch, but at the last minute decided against it so I could take flats and my big camera. I ended up using the bag I bought for Disneyland, it's such a great bag, small and compact, goes with everything, and fits so much in it! A real life Mary Poppins bag.

I think this outfit kinda goes to show you don't need to spend a fortune every time you go out!

DRESS - APRICOT // SKIRT - H&M // BELT - PRIMARK // JACKET - NEW LOOK // SHOES - MISS KG BY KURT GEIGER // BAG - H&M

We boarded the boat and set sail at around 8pm, prosecco in hand! I'd never thought of doing a river cruise before, but the views were fantastic. We saw all the usual suspects from the Houses of Parliament right out to the O2 Arena, in the disappearing daylight, and all lit up at night. I spent a fair amount of time out on deck just admiring the views!

We had drinks and a little flutter on the roulette table, we ate lots of food and chatted about everything from blogging to living arrangements, and ended the night with a little dance sesh. I met some beautiful blogging ladies and just generally had a pretty awesome time! 

Be sure to check out these lovely ladies blogs, and thank you to Ladbrokes for a great night!

Katy, Lucy, Natasha, Milli, Emma, Charlie!

I Am Not A Fashion Blogger

 This week I played fashion photographer for my friend Aftab, and his humongous wardrobe, and after three hours of posing and two large coffees, he insisted on snapping a few pictures of me. Now I can take selfies with my friends and snap pictures of my makeup until the cows come home, but try and take pictures of my outfits and I freeze up.

I can't smile, I don't know what to do with my arms, I awkwardly cross my legs over to hide my giant ballet thighs. It's a problem. I'm working on it.

The other thing is I tend to either like my outfit, makeup or hair. Sometimes two but never all three. You can see that here I've put very little effort into my makeup, and I've relied on a braid to save me from my bad hair day. Braids are the best for these kinda days!

I'm trying to introduce a few 'smartish' pieces into my wardrobe at the moment, or at least items of clothing that make me look like I've made an effort when I really haven't. This top was a Primark find, but the quality is actually really nice. I'm pretty sure I've never paid £12 for something from Primark before, but this definitely feels nicer than most of their stuff! I normally shy away from tops with collars like this, being the proud owner of pretty generous basoomas, they aren't always the most flattering, but with the right bra this definitely works. I love that this looks like a shirt and jumper layered, it's kind of taken the effort out of outfits for me! Pair it with some skinny jeans and I'm done! It has this annoying habit of blowing up and making me look with child in the wind, but I can overlook that!

I ended up with these shoes after wearing these shoes out and not being able to stomach it any longer. They were meant to be a cheap stopgap for my bleeding feet, but I actually quite like them, and they're surprisingly comfortable. I'm not normally into loafers but I think the loafer/ballet slipper mix makes them a little more wearable for me!

 WHAT I WORE

TOP - PRIMARK | JEANS - TOPSHOP | SHOES - H&M | HANDBAG - MICHAEL KORS | NECKLACE - H&M | LIPS - NYX BUTTER GLOSS IN PEACH COBBLER

My Only Spring Outfit

 I thought I'd share a few snaps my lovely sister grabbed of my outfit on Wednesday night. It had been a gorgeous day, clear blue skies and glaring sunshine, so I reached for my only real 'Spring Appropriate' Outfit. I was in most of the day but headed out to the Movies with my Dad in the evening, so I grabbed my trusty denim jacket and added a pair of tights for extra warmth (I know, they don't really go, but it was chilly in the cinema!). 

The outfit's pretty straightforward, and I think this is pretty much the only outfit I own that isn't entirely monochrome. The skirt really is the focus of the outfit and I love it. It's from Miss Selfridge, I got it on a 20% Student Discount day back in January, it was pricier than your average body con skirt, but it's really well made and quite thick too, it doesn't show your knicker line! Definitely worth it. Since this has quite a bold pattern on I always pair it with a plain tshirt, this time I picked light grey (more spring-y than my go to black). To tie in the coral on the skirt I picked out a gold and coral necklace and some coral sneakers too (I'm not really a ballet pumps sorta girl). I am obsessed with Forever 21 jewelery, it's always really reasonably priced and they have so many pretty things! It's my go to shop for statement jewelery! I picked up the shoes on my last trip to Primark, I thought they'd be perfect to chuck on and go to the beach in the summer, and for £3, it doesn't matter if they get trashed by sand and sea.

 I love the way the evening light is shining through my hair in these pictures!

 Top: H&M

Skirt: Miss Selfridge

Jacket: Primark

Necklace: Forever 21

Bag: Zara

Shoes: Primark