OOTD: iKrush

*This isn't the first time that my blog has featured iKrush, my previous post around a year ago featured their £1 dresses which they sold at the time! The online fashion retailer really is full of gorgeous on trend items at such affordable prices, and a couple of months ago I was thrilled to receive the 'skort' which is featured in my outfit of the day... for any of you who aren't familiar with the skort, it is basically a pair of shorts which is made to look like a skirt. When I got my skort I wanted to wait for the perfect occasion to wear it, and since the weather was so beautiful at the weekend, I was attending a barbeque and thought this little outfit would be perfect!

 I'm wearing: Phoenix floral print skort in black, WAS £19.99 NOW £9.99, c/o ikrush.com| Cream chiffon cami, £20, Topshop

What I particularly like about the skort is that from behind, they really just look like a pair of shorts, and from the front, the cross over design gives the impression of a skirt. The floral design is also not only really summery, but is really on trend this season. They are also super comfy to wear, although I would have to say that although these fit me perfectly, the item is a size 10 and I am usually an 8, so you may want to consider the smaller fitting nature if you want a pair!

The skort was originally selling for £19.99 which I think is such an affordable price to pay anyway, but now it is in the sale for just £9.99! I definitely recommend that you grab yourself one before they sell out... you can find the skort HERE.

I should also mention that although I wore my skort with a loose chiffon cami and jelly sandals, that on the iKrush website, you can also find a matching blazer to go with the skort if you would prefer a cute little two piece, which are very popular at the moment! However if you're not a fan, I would still recommend you visit their website at http://www.ikrush.com/ and check out all of the gorgeous clothes they have!

What do you think of my outfit? What is your opinion of the 'skort'? Leave me and comment below! :)

Birthday Shopping!

One of the things I love about birthdays is the presents and receiving money to buy those bits and bobs you've had your eye on for months but couldn't afford, I didn't really get that many presents this year so at the weekend I had one of the best shopping days I have had in ages, and really treated myself ! Luckily I didn't spend all of my money, so hopefully another shopping day will be on the cards in the near future!

Tiara silver & cubic zirconia ring- £40- Pandora| Tile stitch  leather crossbody bag- £38- Topshop| MOTO Authentic ripped skinny jeans- £45- Topshop| Petite floral trousers- £24- Dorothy Perkins| Fuchsia underwear set- £4- Primark

Okay so don't think I go and buy bra and nickers for my birthday presents :') I just picked this cute little set up because firstly, I seriously have no matching sets of underwear! And secondly, I don't know if you have noticed, but in Primark at the moment they have so many gorgeous underwear sets for just £4, bargain! This is seriously no joke, I made 3 trips to Topshop and tried at least 10 pairs of jeans on before deciding on these ones, and although I think they are a little pricey for Topshop jeans I fell in love with them! Although I have 2 pairs of 'Joni' jeans already, I just couldn't resist buying these as I wanted to venture into the world of ripped jeans...The bag I  bought has been something I have wanted for quite a while now, I just love it! I was honestly a little bit heartbroken when Topshop website told me it was "no longer available" but I managed to find 3 of them left in store thank goodness! If  you're a fan of comfortable style I highly recommend these Dorothy Perkins trousers, although they feel like you're wearing your pj's they look absolutely gorgeous and so summery! I would say though they are quite loose fitting so you might be like me and need a smaller size than usual.

Finally, I bought this beautiful Pandora ring, they really are one of my absolute favourite jewellery stores as they always have such gorgeous and pretty items that are such high quality! What have you all been buying recently? Leave me a comment below! :)

OOTD: jeans & jellies

I'm wearing: White crochet cami, New Look| Moto mid stone wash Joni jeans, £36, Topshop| Silver glitter jelly sandals, £6, Primark

I never usually have time to put one of these posts together as I tend to get dressed very quickly and I'm off out as I am usually late and have no time to take pictures of what I'm wearing! Today though the weather is still beautiful thankfully, even if it is a little too hot, (best not complain) and I will be spending my day in town, so I have opted for my favourite comfy jeans, although I'm sure I will begin to regret this choice as the day gets hotter. I have also chosen to wear one of my favourite cami's, I actually picked this up in New Look sale 4 years ago for just £2 and it has made an appearance in my summer outfits ever since, thrifty or what?! I just love this, as a loose floaty cami is perfect for warmer weather, and the crochet detail is so cute and very on trend at the moment. Finally I have thrown on my beloved jelly sandals which instead of buying £20 Juju jellies, I managed to pick these up a couple of months ago for just £6 in Primark! Surprisingly they actually are very comfy, I just love how these have come back into fashion because I adored mine when I was younger!

What do you think of my outfit? What would be your perfect summer outfit? Leave me a comment below! :)

Smells Like Summer...

This may be really strange of me, but is it just me who can 'smell' summer? Freshly cut grass, sun cream, warm tarmac.. well anyway I have compiled a collection of some of the nicer summeriest scents to get you into the summer feeling, a spritz of one of these will probably remind you of summer for months to come! My favourite perfume right now is Daisy by Marc Jacobs, and I am also a fan of Lola, I find that the scent is so strong it lasts all day, you really only need a couple of squirts, the bottles that all Marc Jacobs perfumes have makes them my favourite, I just love those plastic designs! With regards to a cheaper perfume more suitable for wearing day by day, I am a fan of Kate Moss perfume. What is your favourite perfume at the moment? Which one in particular brings back those summertime memories? Leave me a comment below! :)

Daisy Delight Edition, £48, Marc Jacobs| Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet, £79, Dior.com, Very Irresistible L'Eau En Rose, £37.50, Givenchy| Fatale, £62, Agent Provocateur| Mandarino Di Amalfi, £142, Tom Ford| Gucci Guilty Stud Limited Edition Pour Femme, £53, Gucci| Splendid Wood, £195, yslbeauty.co.uk| Velvet Bergamot, £150, Dolce & Gabbana at harrods.com.

100 Years Of Fashion Influences

1920s Pre 1920's was the age of the corset, now women were allowed to vote, smoke and were socially free... leading to the rejection of corsets and a new dawn of flattering your body shape, cue the dazzling embellished evening dresses and liberated boyish silhouettes. Think Gatsby.

1930s  Consumerism. Chainstores were popping up all over and becoming very popular, and so channelling those Hollywood deigns was all the range.

1940s Now women faced rationing, changing the way women dressed for an entire decade! The introduction of rules with regards to skirt width, pockets and the use of buttons left women's style restricted. With regards to society, women fulfilled male roles and had to undertake those jobs, all of this taken into consideration, women started to express themselves through their hair and makeup rather than their outfits during the war.

1950s And with the end of the war it was back to the housewife routine, so fashion had to be suitable, however women could still express their style with petticoats and synched waists.

1960s Welcome to the 'swinging sixties', I had a discussion with my mum the other day about her love of Mary Quant back in the day and her introduction of the mini skirt brought a change to female fashion, with younger girls becoming the trend setters... remember, mini skirts are really on trend at the moment!

1970s Okay I won't go into it, but we all know about the sexual liberation of the seventies, and the popularity of Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap dress reflected this new found confidence...

1980s At this time, designers were inspired by growing female strength and confidence by creating strong tailored outfits and creating big shoulder pads, a look that epitomises the 80's

1990s Eleanor was born! Well, aside from this, fashion had a complete make over... Dr Martens, colour blocked rain macs, bubble back packs, chokers, Nike trainers, gold chains and a boombox on your shoulder, need I go on?

2000s I always find it difficult to sum up a time I lived through... bit strange of me but I guess this was a time to accessorize, with the recession looming, fashionistas became more thrifty than they had ever been before and we all know that statement necklace or cute handbag can transform any outfit over and over again, I guess we could call it the time of the investment piece.

Happy 19th Birthday To Me!

Just a little life update! Yesterday I celebrated my 19th Birthday, wow I am getting OLD. Although when you actually see the pictures from my birthday you could easily be mistaken for thinking that this was the birthday of a 9 year old child, just another teen not wanting to grow up! Holy moly, this is my last teenage year... anyway... I celebrated my birthday mainly this weekend with my boyfriend who treated me to a weekend in London, including a trip to London Zoo (my favourite place ever) and a shopping day! On my actual birthday I also went for lunch and shopping with my dad in York, followed by a little tea party with the rest of my family.

Okay, so here are a couple of pictures from my birthday, in the way of gifts my dad bought me my first proper camera which I am so excited about as I can now finally start to take more professional pictures for my blog! My mum gave me money to spend on whatever I wanted and typically for me everything I wanted was either sold out or not in my size, fantastic. But she did get me a little surprise goodie bag from the Disney Store, always a good call, and filled it with a whole load of pink, fluffy and admittedly childish presents which I absolutely loved! I also managed to persuade my mum to buy me this gorgeous Disney Fairies birthday cake, who doesn't love Tink? If you are wondering why I have 3 birthday cakes, no I am not a heffa, my dads girlfriend baked me the cutest pink cupcakes and my close friend also made this magnificent chocolate finger/ malteasers/ m & m chocolate masterpiece for my birthday!

My final few pictures are of my prezzies, I have already told you about my Disney gifts, but my boyfriend also treated me to 2 MAC lippies in Diva and Cyber which are bold unusual shades of oxblood red and deep purple which I absolutely love and have wanted for ages! My mum also bought me the most amazing pink glittery MAC lipstick in Milan Mode, if you are very girly like me, you will adore this shade. The skirt I have added is from Topshop, one of the few things I picked up on my trip to Oxford Street, another favourite place of mine! I instantly grabbed this when I saw it as I have long been looking for a vintage style mini skirt and this one with a scallop hem adds a modern twist, the material also has a plastic sheen which is just amazing, I highly recommend you bag one of these while you can!  Finally, the image from the zoo is of the penguin pool, my absolute favourite attraction at the zoo, a bitter- sweet memory of my visit, as at feeding time I magnificently embarrassed myself by passing out due to the hot weather, I guess sometimes you've just got to laugh at yourself! Ah Well. Aside from the drama I had such a perfect birthday, now for the big 2 0, hmmm. P.S. My birthday cake isn't on fire, I just insisted on having 19 candles...



Kourtney Kardashian: Pretty in pastels

Cross back skater dress by LOVE, £36, Topshop| Pale blue V neck box pleat skater dress, £19.99, New Look| Sleeveless skater dress with sweetheart neck, £20, ASOS.

Any of you who are regular readers of my blog will probably be aware that I absolutely love the Kardashians! I love to take inspiration from these stylish sisters, they just always look gorgeous! Even when they are getting slated and criticised for their outfit choices I still think the average girl would look amazing in the same outfit, haha, anyway when I saw Kourtney had been spotted in this cornflower blue skater dress, I knew this was a very good style decision.

This dress is perfect in so many ways! Firstly, the pastel shade of 'cornflower blue' makes it a wonderful dress for the summer months, especially if the weather stays as lovely as it has been! Secondly, the shape of the dress is very on trend and gives a floaty shape which is very flattering for many body shapes. I knew straight away that this was going to be a very popular piece, surely you cant go far wrong with a pastel summer dress?

So, I have found some affordable dresses just like Kourt's, as although I don't know where she picked up her actual dress, I am pretty sure it will not have been cheap. In particular I love the Topshop skater dress for £36, and although it is the more pricey of the options I have found, it is so beautiful! If you are looking for something a little cheaper I would opt for the New Look dress as it is almost identical to the Topshop dress for just £19.99! My ASOS find is a slightly different shape which a few of the less daring of you all might appreciate, as it avoids the plunging neck line. What do you think of Kourtney's outfit? What do you think of the similar dresses I found? Let me know! :)

Retail Therapy

Ok so enough with the wallowing and self pity. If any of you saw one of my recent posts I explained what the reason why I hadn't been blogging a lot recently was because I was a little bit down in the dumps. I'm not the type of person to tell everyone their life story, especially online but as I have made some lovely blogger friends through here I think I should share a little. Basically my boyfriend of 4 years has just moved away to London for a work placement for a year, but this isn't the first time we have had to do long distance, he is a year older than me and so went to university first but it just wasn't as far as this! I live in Durham (North East England) which makes it very difficult to see each other. But hey ho, if any of you have any advice feel free to help me out! :)

Anyway back to blogging, the main reason I decided to do this post is because when you're feeling a bit low a fantastic cure is a bit of retail therapy, in this case I had been flicking through a few magazines in the hairdressers and had noticed a couple of really cute items and then had another look online, well I guess it is my birthday in less than a week! I'm allowed.

Yasbukey seashell clutch- £220- Yasbukey| Cluster embellished bralet- £38- Topshop|
Benefit posie balm- £14.50- Benefit Cosmetics| Rochas Silk mix- shoes- £482- Rochas|
Large peekaboo bag- Fendi- Not really surprising that I couldn't find a price...|
Lipstick in 'Cyber'- £15- MAC Cosmetics.

June Newbies!

One of the main reasons I have managed to spend so much money this June, yet having so little money is due mostly to the Topshop sale! Honestly I have managed to find so many great buys from there which isn't just cheap crap, aha, also I finally managed to pick up one of these Aztec monochrome pelmet skirts, lace bralets and flat form sandals which have been so sought after I am so pleased to have finally found some! Basically I think this whole recent buys list is from Topshop, never mind at least my wardrobe is almost ready for summer! What do you think of my recent buys? What have you all been buying recently? :)

Black lace bralet- £22- Topshop
Monochrome Aztec pelmet skirt- £34- Topshop
Ditsy Floral scallop vest- £15- Topshop
WALLIS platform sandals- £40- Topshop
Dogtooth pelmet skirt- WAS £34 NOW £15- Topshop
Moschino Belt (replica)- $9.99- Ebay

Cluster embellished shell top- WAS £36 NOW £18- Topshop
Cream halter-neck crop top- £12- River Island
Black lace halter-neck top- WAS £28- NOW £15- Topshop
Pink shift dress- WAS £40 NOW £10- Topshop
Side double elastic leggings- £20- Topshop
MOTO Mid stone wash Joni jeans- WAS £36 NOW £20- Topshop