Monday, 5 June 2017

Floral Shirts & Hot Pink Shoes (An outfit for in-betweeny weather)



Happy Monday Folks! 
Firstly.. I know.. And outfit post on a Monday.. what is this, 2012, when i actually used to post outfit posts 2-3 a week? Well no, you see I made a conscious decision this past week that I will be posting outfit photos every Monday and every Friday. You see, I appear to have gotten lazy on the old picture taking front and have fallen in to daily snaps on the phone for Instagram (which i do of course love), but i realised, by doing that i seem to have neglected this space a little. 
So i shall be kicking my lazy arse back in to more outfit pictures here for the blog. I'm hoping most of the time they will be with the DSLR with Salvatore taking them, but sometimes they may just be phone pictures with my timer and tripod, which i hope you won't mind a little amateur style now and again ;)
But yes, Monday and Friday I do hope you'll join me here for light hearted banter and outfits.


And so, on to today's outfit. This is the kind of outfit for those in-between summery cold days, y'know, the ones we have a lot here in the UK. The month may say its Spring/Summer but the weather decides to keep us on our toes with cool temperatures and rain.
A few weeks ago i wanted to purchase a few nice tops for just those types of days. I wanted something a bit more fun that black and white so went hunting some florals down.
Now, i am not a fan of too much frou-frou, frilly, busy tops, but this one immediately caught my eye.
I love the frill detail to the shoulder, its interesting without being 'Too Much' and the floral pattern is super pretty with a lovely array of colours to open up lots of remixing potential.
I really love the idea of remixing this tucked in to a pleated midi skirt and also with some faux leather trousers come autumn. 
For today I've paired it with some skinny jeans in a dark indigo(which i always feel looks quite a smart colour for jeans) and my gorgeous Raspberry Pink Shoes from Lotus Shoes.
Can we all just take a moment for the shoes??
Darling aren't they?  These are The Briars Shoe, which come in a gorgeous array of colours. They are the perfect heel height to add a little leg lengthening powers but also supremely comfy. I can not wait to wear them again, and now i also want the orange oh and the swan grey colour, and well the navy.. Lets just say they're all amazing.








OUTFIT DETALS:
Shirt & Earrings: H&M
Shoes: Lotus
Skinny indigo Jeans: Tu clothing at Sainsbury's
Old Clutch: Love this one

What do you wear for in-betweeny weather?



My favourite floral shirts

SHARE:

Friday, 2 June 2017

Confessions From a Style Blogger #1 ( & Passion4Fashion Linkup)

 I wanted to start a fun series of confessions. Honest little anecdotes from me that are really all about keeping it  real. In the social media led world we are so easily sucked in  the land of forever wanting .. Wanting to be thinner, richer, have a bigger house, have a better wardrobe, to portray that perfect life.
This is me calling perfection out. I am so far removed from perfection it is actually hilarious.
I am also so not a typical Style blogger it is also absolutely ridiculous, take last week, i fell over walking my dogs and actually bruised my arse. I had to walk back to my house with a soaking wet bum and walking like i'd had an accident in the underwear department. I looked like an incontinent crazy person.
So this I hope will be a glorious warts and all post, proving its still great to be you in a world where we are constantly bombarded with perfection.

1. I haven't worn mascara in about a week.. partly because i can't be bothered to take it off at night time, partly because i'm enjyoing the fresher faced look.

2. I've returned to my brunette ways and i'm really pleased! My husband and kids however are gutted i lost my super hero streak... major loss on the cool mum points. 

3. I'm 10lbs heavier than this time last year but i have absolutely no inclination to do anything about it.  I'm enjoying healthy foods, and i love walking my dogs but i just really don't want to diet or exercise in a gym.. so i'm not going to.

4. I've ditched the bra.. I know, possible TMI, but honestly i've never felt so liberated. See, here's the thing, I have tiny boobs and for years and years i've covered those puppies in padding just to give me more shape, to conform, to hide them away and to look socially acceptable. But i am done with it. This is actually a topic I'm going to go in to more next week, but yeh at 32 i'm finally accepting my body and actually being ok with it!

5. I've been fake tanning with one of those gradual build up tanners, I'm kinda liking it but i'm also terrible at it, what you can't see in these photos is the mahoosive streak down the back of one leg.. lush.

6. I took these pics last night after wearing this outfit to the vets. I was having a "I have nothing to wear in this gorgeous hot weather" moment so just threw this on. Its really comfy on and a delight to wear, just so easy, but once at the vets i had the comment of "Oh, you look nice, where are you off to dressed like that?" Blatantly all i was doing was sitting in the vets in a nice frock. I actually lied and said "Oh just out for dinner" instead of saying " This is just how i dress to go to my dogs vet appointment.. I'm sorry, is this not appropriate?"

And finally

7. I bought these shoes and i really love them, for a day to evening shoe, or even a day to vet appointment shoe they're great. However the first few times of wearing they rubbed my big toes so much i got home kicked one off which such vigour it flew off my foot and hit the dog (not the reason the dog was at the vets btw.. she was fine) I since started using some foot lube (i shit you not) and its really helped wear these bad boys in.










Outfit Details
Similar Black dress
Red Mules or These are Lovely

Newbridge Silver Jewellery Amy Collection
Similar Clutch

So tell me, do you have anything to confess?

SHARE:

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

How Much Does Your Daily Makeup Cost?


How much is your daily face worth? Interesting question right? How much do we spend on our daily makeup products? I read this article in Look magazine a week ago and i was intrigued to see how much my daily face of makeup is worth.
Makeup to me is one of lifes little pleasures. I actually enjoy wearing it (the majority of the time, on the days i can't be bothered i simply dont), it makes me feel great, not in a "I need makeup to live" type way, but more in a " i am in control of how i look today" type way. Is that weird? It is isn't it.
I'm ok with that.

Not only do i love finding great product i also love the actual action of applying makeup, I would say maybe i missed my calling in life and should have been an MUA to the stars, but honestly i'm actually crap at it... really not good. I have the tried and tested look for my own face, which has taken me years to perfect, and even then its ok at best.
However, i enjoy the action of actually applying makeup. When i worked in an office environment and had myself and the kids to get ready of a morning, i would get up half an hour earlier, get a coffee and grab my makeup and take to the mirror. With my face on all i had to do was chuck my uniform on at the last minute. It gave me the sense of being ready for the world.
Now i work from home i go makeup free more days, which makes me love donning my makeup even more when i do do it.



So the matter in hand.. How much is my daily face of makeup worth? I am genuinely intrigued.
Lets find out shall we?



This is what i wear on my face whenever i wear makeup. I'm not overly adventurous, i will change the eye-shadow occasionally but generally keep it to a black eye liner then i go all in with the lipstick, usually bold red or pink. And the rest is for full face and ready to go!

Top Row Left to right
W7 Bronzer  £5.95
W7 Blush £6.95

Bottom Row Left to Right
W7 Eyeliner £4.95
W7 Mascara £4.95
W7 Lipstick £4.95

Total cost: £87.13

Amazing.. I would never have guessed that, less than £100 so that's pretty good and of course cost per wear brings each item down to pennies, but its amazing how much our daily face of product is worth and what us ladies spend our money on isn't it (this doesn't even include beauty prep items!).

I have to admit, a lot of these pieces are excellent value (W7 cosmetics in particular are amazing value, the mascara is the best i've ever used including all the designer ones i've tried over the many mascara wearing years!) so i feel pretty good about my daily face products.

Have you ever totalled your daily face up? Id love to know yours!

SHARE:

Friday, 26 May 2017

The Perfect Little Red Dress (& #Passion4Fashion Linkup)


Summer made an appearance here in the welsh hills this week and what a mood changer its been! I've been waking up to glorious rays of sunshine streaming through and warmth to heat you through. We have this weather so rarely here in the UK so i feel we all lap up every second when it does show up. And not only do we lap up every second, but we also get to wear some summer fashion finally!
I have so many summer dresses but this one from Bows Boutique has become an instant winner on the favourite dress front. It's stylish on-trend bardot cut fits perfectly and doesn't do the pesky crawling up the arms thing, it just sits,skims and hangs perfectly. Perfect for those summer bbq's and parties as it skims the tummy area without adding lots of voluminous fabric.
Dress perfection!
I absolutely love wearing this dress, i can see it working for an evening meal as much as on the beach with sandals, which makes this perfect for holidays as well as stay-cations and days at home.
Now all i need is for the sunshine to stick around a while so i can get plenty of wear out of this beauty. Summer dressing is just so easy isn't it? Dress, shoes, done! 

What are you wearing to get in to the summer mood lately?














Outfit Details:
Dress: thanks to Bows Boutique
Wedges
Denim Jacket
Cream Bag
Red Tassel Earrings


Ps 10 points to anyone who spots my sunburn.. wear sunblock kids, let my crabstick impression be a lesson to all 😉

SHARE:
© Rachel the Hat. All rights reserved.
BLOGGER TEMPLATE MADE BY pipdig