8. Lady Luck

On Saturday, the Gods of shopping put me through my paces, and my determination was rewarded handsomely!

In a previous post I mentioned lusting after these bad boys from Hudson.

Beautiful, but £130-which would take a bit of saving for me. And I'm not a patient person. So in reality would mean me adding to my credit card debt. I was at work on Saturday wearing my lovely H necklace that I got for my birthday, when it just fell off from round my neck. Looking at it, I realised the clasp was faulty and didnt stay closed properly. So off I went to Topshop on my break hoping to change it for a new one. (Sadly they had none left, but going back tomorrow when the jewellery section has been replenished). Anyway, whilst in there, I of course checked out the footwear section. And ohhh, what did I spy? Last pair, in my size, reduced to £25 from £50 (though website says reduced from £100? Hmmm) the same shape boot that I so wanted, different colour but still in that neutral colour range, with the perfect heel height!

My prayers were answered! God bless you faulty necklace! So I duly had them put behind the till for me, and even picked up some suede protector too. Only I realised when I got to the front of the queue, oh horror of horrors, that I didn't have my purse on me. After desperately telling the shop assistant that I lived just 5 minutes away (its more like 10) so please could he hold them for me, meanwhile painfully aware that I only had 5 minutes of lunchbreak left, I did that thing that I never ever want to do again. I RAN. I ran (ok, powerwalked) through town to get my purse (which contained a £15 gift voucher) from home, then actually really RAN knowing my break was long over back to my boots. What an attractive vision I cast, striding through Topshop amongst the young pretty folk, red and sweaty, and gasping for oxygen. However the girl behind the desk made the mistake of not being scared off by this view and commented "Ooh, these are nice aren't they!?" as she handed me the box. Giddy on exercise endorphins and lack of oxygen, I proceeded to babble at her about the Hudson boots, how the sale ones were so similar, and how thrilled I was to find these ones "in my size!" as my sweaty forehead glistened at her like a piece of greasy ham.

But I don't care. I've worn them everyday since, they've even survived a day on my feet at work, so it was worth the run in the end.

Oh, and my boss didn't even notice I was late back.

You can buy them on sale on the Topshop website here-Aruba2 Suede Boots

7. Sunday Style Crush-Gillian Zinser

Thinking of maybe making this a little blog feature, if only to give me a reason behind my mindless browsing of beautiful girls in beautiful clothes, which usually only ends in a mumbled cry of "merrrhhhhggll" which as everyone knows is the universal cry to symbolise the mixed feelings of jealousy and longing.

The first creature to get these cries from me is Gillian Zinser AKA Ivy from 90210. Is there anyone who does not like her? Girls, boys, even my mum who has recently taken to watching 90210 repeats on C4 in the mornings said to me "I like that Ivy one, she's a bit different"

Oh Gosh. That hair. That amazing hair. And obvs I'm totally into anyone who can wear a leather jacket with a girly dress so well. But ohhh, to have her way of easy dressing. I imagine its something to do with the fact I don't seem as if I spend half my life in the Californian surf. I did recently invest in a skateboard. I love going on it (read standing on it, or rolling forward a couple of metres) but it also scares me a bit. I also dont like not being able to wear my too-tight-to-move skinnies on it. BACK TO THE POINT. Oh Gillian, you have the perfect surfer girl on a catwalk then going to a rock show look and I love you. Let me be you? I'll even wear a hat.

6. Birthday Swag

Happy 23rd Birthday to me (for Thursday) Birthday celebrations involved a trip to Thorpe park with 7 friends the day before, then I spent my actual birthday in bed. Whole day, in bed. Not doing anything saucy you understand, quite the opposite. Me and the boyfriend spent the whole day watching Buffy DVDs and eating lots of takeaway junk food. I don't wish to reveal the full extent of our piggery, but there were two 18inch pizzas involved, plus side dishes. Perfect day. It obviously got off to a good start when I opened my presents and they were ALL wonderful. Not one single dodgy gift. They included Benefit makeup, hair accessories, a wonderful "H" cameo necklace, underwear, an AMAZING owl cushion that I've been harping on about wanting since before Christmas 2010, a wonderfully tacky maneki neko (beckoning cat), Buffy and Psychoville DVDs, Marmite (from my mother's dog...don't ask), money that shall be changed up for my upcoming Antigua holiday, and the piece de resistance...? A Mulberry phone cover for my Blackberry (in oak of course to match the Alexa or Bayswater that I will one day own). My boyfriend got me it, partly because he loves me, but mainly because I agreed to ditch my beautiful (hideous) diamonte studded cover if he got me the Mulberry.

If it were possible I was just as excited about the packaging of the phone cover as I was about the gift itself. Wrapped in tissue, inside a giftbox (complete with small embossed logo), inside a bag, held together with black ribbon, and topped off with a bird. A bird! With real feathers, covered in some kind of foam that looks as if it's been handpainted. Mulberry's new season ad campaign is absolutely stuffed full of English countryside references, or as I like to think, its Mulberry meets Animals of Farthing Wood. All this foresty goodness totally exudes what I feel when I think of Autumn, and ties in nicely with the berry, pumpkin and teal shades featured in the current collection, plus the upcoming browns and greys, and of course the ever present oaky favourites. I've also just read that Tim Walker was the one magicing up these images, and since he's one of my most admired photographers, I'm taking it as a sign that Mulberry and I are destined for each other. Do you think they will marry me?

One day I will get my hands on the perfect handbag, til then I will lovingly stroke (and occasionally sniff) my best birthday present, the phone case.

Anyone else got an exceptionally good birthday gift this year?

5. Put On That Dress

Just a quick one, about to go out for a catch up meal with a bunch of friends. Dress code-I'm reckoning on smart but not too dressy, but definitely with a heel. I was going to bare leg and low heel it, but since its all rainy I must don tights-which in turn call for a much higher, exciting shoe to liven them up. Found these old New Look skyscrapers near the top of the shoe pile!

I got this dress in the Asos sale this year, its got a real vintagey look to it-its not a colour I'd normally choose, but with the semi-backless aspect, it kind of makes brown sexy! Oo la la. I love paperbag waists too but I've had to add the belt as otherwise it looked a bit frilly in the wrong place for me (read-it thickened my waist a treat) so a this good old cincher from Topshop saved the day. Though I may have to remove it when I've inhaled my burger. Yummers.

4. Gimme Gimme Gimme!

I bloody love Autumn/Winter fashion, particularly the Autumn part. I have a bit of a thing about coats and boots, in particular I want to discover the pefect heel height on a boot-high enough for some lust-worthy looks, but low/comfy enough to wear all day at work, where I'm on my feet for 8 hours!
P.S. This post definitely has nothing to do with my upcoming birthday!

 ASOS TASSEL boots £55

 H by Hudson Lille Boots £130 (These are definitely what I'm craving most)

Forever21 Combat Boots -£24.75 These could well be my failsafe, especially for the price.

ASOS Heritage Coat -£100 Swoon! I love love love the shape of this coat and the contrasting fabrics, its an absolute love child of an old english gentleman and a tailored mod. What a dreamboat.

3. All These Things I Have

There were only a couple of things I wanted to get my greasy paws on this week. One of them was Batiste dry shampoo, which I've used before, but never this "big and bouncy" version. Needless to say my paws are not so greasy anymore. And my hair is certainly big and bouncy! Now pretty much all of the hair products I use have some kind of "volumising" aspect to them due to my desire for my lifeless flat bonce to be gravity defying. However determined backcombing is the only thing that seems to work, and even then it's not more than a half hour before my poor locks are deflated once more. But this....but this! Spray on, give a quick massage, show my hair a bit of a brush just so that it doesn't look completely grey from the spray and VA VA VOOM! No backcombing required and it lasted a whole day at work. Also my lazy skanky side loves it, as I haven't washed my hair in 3 days and its still looking fresh. Sure it doesn't feel too great-it feels like a synthetic wig, but it LOOKS good and that's all that matters in my book.

  I also snatched up this mens Lee shirt as soon as its came into my work-we only got one size small and it became mine before the rest of the delivery was unpacked. As I've mentioned before, guys shirts are so much better for me, they're long enough for one thing, and when they're a slim fit like this one they work perfectly. I made my boyfriend model it to show how its meant to be worn, then took it back before he got too comfy in it. And yes, yes, I know he's far too hot for me-the photo of him was the first and only one I took and he requires no editing at all. To be honest, I probably wouldn't wear it with a high waist skirt (Topshop by the way) but I couldn't be bothered to change the rest of my outfit. I'll probably just be wearing it to work with skinny jeans and biker boots for the most part. I work in an independant retailer that stocks Levis, Wrangler and Lee and if you've got anything similar in your town, its definitely worth checking them out. For instance we sell Levi 501s at £55 whereas the RRP which you'll find in most department stores and online retailers is £70. Big difference!

Finally, it's my birthday and Thursday, so my mum came round today and dropped off a few presents, and my stepdad bought me flowers too ^_^ Now to assert my willpower and not open them early....

2. Date With The Night

Sheer top-Primark

Skirt-New Look

Tights-Henry Holland for Pretty Polly

Boots-Asos

Faux leather bralet (underneath)-Topshop

Leather Jacket-Vintage/Recycled leather at Topshop

I write this through a lemsip haze (not just any lemsip, lemsip max, the hard stuff) so please excuse any crapness. My boyfriend plays in a couple of bands and last night one of them were playing in front of an audience for the very first time. So I dutifully overdosed on the lemsip, blew my nose 100 times (I don't do illness subtley) and dolled myself up. I like to think the leather look bralet added a tough sexy edge underneath the feminine top, though you couldn't really see it in the dodgy lighting at the gig. Ah well, I tried. Everyone else was in jeans too, so kudos to me for looking the most sensational/tragically overdressed. I also have to mention the jacket. IT HAS FRINGING. From the moment I saw it in the Oxford Street Topshop I was massively in love. Its made up of various vintage leather jacket parts put together to make one magical beast. WITH FRINGING. I'd been searching for a real leather jacket that wasn't over the £200 mark but was a little bit different for so so long, so when I saw this one I knew it was worth abusing the credit card for. It's pretty much my key piece for pulling outfits together right now, especially going into Autumn. Anyway, time for my snotty face to catch up with The Killing (Yes, the U.S version, no I've not seen the original so I don't care if its sooo much better) Adieu.

1. Portrait d'une Femme

Hello. Bonjourno. Hola. Well I've gone and started a blog. I spend a bit of spare time reading up on other peoples lives so I thought I might as well be returning the favour. Otherwise my hobby is going to become watching repeats of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Which I love, but possibly doesn't stimulate my mind as much as I'd like. I'm not 100% sure what I'll be putting in this here web log just yet, but I suppose I'll be thinking about what I like to read about in blogs (everyday outfit choices, tattoos, bargain buys, the usual!) and flattering myself that I can offer something vaguely interesting and relevant too. I've also been living with my boyfriend for just over a year now, and we're considering moving again (financial crisis) so I'm always going "OH! Look at this, LOOK AT THISSSS!" and fawning over various housey bits. Basically the Ikea room style ideas are my porn. So I imagine things like that will worm their beautiful way into my ponderings also.

So today was/is my day off and oh boy, have I managed to not waste one single precious second of it. Errr....! my main feat was making my nails pretty, followed pretty closely by managing not to scream "Shut up!" at the workmen outside the flat. They're apparently doing something to the window frames-for a week so far-but from what I gather it involves a lot of talking on the phone and blasting out such manly tunes as the latest Jennifer Lopez song. Swoon!

Anyhow today's outfit choice was pretty typically picked out by staring blankly at my clothing rail for 10 minutes before going "Ahhh, that one will be fine". That one being an ancient Primark dress and a New Look men's check shirt. Men's check shirts are always so much more awesome than girls, cosier too, and also long enough for my stupid tall frame. Not an overly exciting dress up, but its served me well during nail painting and PB&J sandwich eating. NOM.

Pale pink is Barry M nail paint in 309 Strawberry Ice Cream
0ther pink is Barry M nail paint in 302 Fuschia
Silver is Stargazer chrome nail polish in 232