Rachel the Hat

Friday, 25 October 2013

Spectacular Specs and Passion For Fashion LINKUP!

Happy Friday folks!! Lately i've been giving my peepers a break from constant contact lens wearing. I always shy away from glasses but when MyOptique asked if i would like to try a pair of designer glasses from London Retro i literally took two days to decide..all their frames are soooo good! Exactly my style, retro, funky and fun. I could have easily picked 7 pairs one different for each day, ha!

I picked this classic black frame as i wanted a pair i could wear to work and look smart and go with everything, and for me, they do exactly that! So pleased!

MyOptique were also super kind and put my (blind as a bat) prescription in for me too.

This outfit is kind of a mixture of a lot of my favourite pieces. Orla Kiely Scarf, an easy denim shirt dress and my seychelles mustard heels. Simple but effective i find!

The Lovely Sara sent me one of beautiful handmade bracelets, each silver disc has the names of my children (Mia, Talyn & Neo). It is the loveliest bracelet and is such a lovely wearable piece. (it would also make such a lovely present for any mamas you know!!) Sara is super sweet too, she takes the time to find out exactly what design and colours and sizes you would like to make sure its extra perfect, its been so lovely working with her.Take a look at her wonderful Etsy shop Naki Design and her Facebook page here. This is such a special piece for me, i have long wanted something with my childrens names on and it really is even nicer in real life, im afraid my photos dont do it justice!

Dress: c/o Uniqlo

Shoes: Seychelles

Scarf: Orla Kiely for Uniqlo

London Retro Glasses c/o MyOptique.com

Bracelet: c/o Naki Design

SO ladies, what have you been wearing this week?

Don't forget, there's still time to enter the $1000 giveaway with a chance to win 1 of 4 $250 cash prizes!
Have you entered yet?? Enter here!

Fashion is for everyone.

Whether you're single in the city or a stay at home mum from the country...
we all have a passion for fashion!

Every Friday Lena & I will be co-hosting a fashion free-for-all linkup!

Anything fashion goes!

Link up your outfit posts, a fashion recap, a fashion wishlist, get your kids or hubby in on the fun... if you've got a passion for fashion, this is the place to be!

Celebrate your style with us every Friday!

We'll be pinning our favourite looks to our Passion for Fashion boards on Pinterest!
You can find the board HERE

Follow both hosts Lena and Me so we can come visit you!
If you could link back to us via text link or button and help spread the
Passion For Fashion word.
The more ladies the merrier!

Then go visit, blog hop, follow and comment on all the fabulous ladies you are meeting!

{this linkup is very NEW we would love for you to help us spread the word! }

Tweet us / instagram us with the hashtag #PassionForFashion

with your outfits,

Lets spread the Passion For Fashion word, the more the merrier!

get everyone involved!!

What i couldn't live without..

There are a few things in this busy life of mine that make my life easier and generally happier.

My smart phone is one of them, i am one of those people who feel like i've lost an arm if i leave it behind and generally check it a gazillion times a day. Coffee is another thing i could not function without, and so is coke zero (terrible habits i know, but a habit i am not about to kick anytime soon!)

And now my new Asus Nexus Tablet

I have been a huge pad/tablet fan for the past 4 years. I bought my first ipad when i was on maternity leave with Neo and used it a lot when he was first born and then continually afterwards. Hub's being a bit of a techie geek has also had the Motorola Xoom and now on his recommendation the Asus Nexus Tablet.

When Argos reached out and asked if i would like to review one of their tablets, i jumped at the chance. My old ipad is looking a little worse for ware after being beaten up by a toddler and 3 and a half years of lots of use (and filled with baby games) This new tablet is just for me.. and i couldn't be more pleased with it!

It now goes everywhere with me, to work, out for coffee (like this lovely Sunday), shopping and to bed even. It has become a product that i couldn't live without (ok i probably could, but heck i don't want to thats for sure!)

I thought i'd just do a quick run through of some of my favourite apps that are always on my main screen for quick access:

Bloglovin'

I love keeping up on all my favourite blogs, nice clear and easy format and it means i can read blogs on the go at any time (which i do a lot!) grabbing a few minutes here and there.

Feedly

Sometimes i flit between bloglovin and Feedly, and lately ive been reading all my blogs through this format. I find the images load quickly and the layout is nice and easy, plus you can just sign straight in with your google account, easy peasy

Pintrest

Hi my name is Rachel and im a serial pinner.. yep i raise my hand to sayong lately i have really jumped on the pintrest wagon, its so inspiring , i love it!!

Are we pintrest friends? we should be! lets exchange boards shall we? this is me!

Argos

Major love for this app, its just so handy! When i first moved in in April i relied heavily on the argos app for viewing things for our new home and reserving them for convenient pick up..amazing. And now Christmas is coming (65 days people, 65!!) i am already browsing the toy section for a certain little boy to see what father christmas might be bringing him ;-)

Kindle

I LOVE to read. True story, we do not have a tv subscription in our house (you're thinking im crazy now aren't you) but we have been TV free for nearly a year and its been amazing. Don't get me wrong we still watch films and we go through phases where we will watch a box set (supernatural was a recent one!love those Winchester boys!!) But day to day TV we do not have. So instead of putting something on the old box, just for the sake of it, i now read a book. I have read so many amazing books and the kindle app is just perfect for being able to pick up my book, read a few pages, get distracted by a busy 3 year old, book mark and put down to be picked up later.

After a good read through my fav blogs, a few chapters of my current book and yummy coffee and cinnamon swirls , hubs bought be a lovely dress i had had my eye on (New Look superstore has a Starbucks in it where i live, how good is that?!)
Sundays don't get much better than that do they?!

How do you like to spend your Sundays and What gadgets could you not live without in your life?

$1000 October Style Giveaway!!

I've collaborated with an amazing group of bloggers to bring FOUR very lucky readers a chance to win $250 USD each!

To enter, use the Rafflecopter below. Each entry will give you a point. The more points you earn, the higher your chance is of winning! After completing all the mandatory entries, more entry options will become unlocked and can in crease your chances of winning! This October Style Giveaway will run from Monday October 21st 2013 through Monday October 28th 2013 and end at 11:59 PM MDT. This giveaway is open to international readers worldwide!

The winners will be announced via Rafflecopter and contacted through email.

Come get to know these wonderful bloggers listed below!

The Pleated Poppy // Kelsey Bang // LA by Diana // Walking in Memphis in High Heels // Cella Jane

SALT Style // Corilynn // Not Dressed As Lamb // Karly Kim // Marionberry Style

Merrick's Art // Citrus Refreshing Fashion // MOIOLOGY // Simply Lulu Style // Little Miss Fearless

GBO Fashion // Rachel The Hat // Ruby Girl // Gussy Sews // Style'd Avenue

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just a quick outfit post from me today as the obvious main attraction of today's post is up there ^^^!
Have you entered yet?? Go on , go on , go on!!
Amazing huh! Just in time for some pre Christmas shopping perhaps?

So this is the outfit i wore to our company thank you party last week. I am just totally crushing on coated jeans still, i love how they take normal skinny jeans to a whole other level, i call them my sassy pants as they make me feel pretty darn sassy haha!

The cobalt blue blouse is just about my favourite colour right now. Its just such a wonderfully deep shade and i am hopelessly head over heals for it, i may have recently bought a cobalt blue sweatshirt too (in the sale i may add!) which is great for causal days.

The dress code for this particular doo i went too was smart/casual. This always confuses me..how smart? how casual? what is the best way to accomplish this? i am a serial over thinker who could literally complicate the most menial of tasks, so after much deliberation this was my outfit, which i was pleased with, becasue lets face it, any chance to wear these coated jeans and i'm a happy gal!

Blouse & Shoes: Matalan

Coated Skinny Jeans: New Look

How do you do smart/casual? And have you tried sassy pants/ coated jeans yet?

Fading Light and Passion For Fashion Linkup!!

SO these dark evenings make taking photos tricky when your photographer is at work till 6pm huh!
And the thing is its only going to get worse/harder when the clocks go back for us here in the UK saying good bye to british summer time and hello to long dark nights. I can't moan, i do love this time of year, the crisp fresh mornings, the first frost, the wonderful colours, it really is the stuff of poetry isn't it! The persistent rain and gale force winds however are not my favourite!

I am all about buying great block colours with lots of remixing potential lately, i'm slowly building a collection of pieces i love that are really versatile, like these boots and this new Oxblood colour dress. It makes dressing so much fun having a wardrobe thats full of remixing potential.

Oxblood (horrible name) dress: Asos

Boots: *Lotus

Scarf, belt, bag: New Look

And now of course: