I'm sure I've mentioned this a million times before but I LOVE winter clothing. The colours, the textures, the cosy layers... what's not to love!? I'm therefore very excited about my new M Missoni dress* - not only does it tick all of the boxes above but it's fabulously made and makes me feel super special. The roll neck design makes it perfect for daywear, (these images were taken whilst out and about in North London doing a recce for a recent shoot), but because it's so beautiful it can also be dressed up for the evening with a pair of heels and a pretty clutch. I'm actually thinking about wearing it to a Christmas party later this week; I'm not one for "dressy" dresses anyway and the tartan makes it feel a little festive! Does anyone else have a Christmas party to plan for? What will you be wearing!?

TARTAN TURTLENECK DRESS, M MISSONI*

CHARCOAL COAT BY THE WHITEPEPPER

Yesterday morning, after a delightful extra hour of sleep, I enjoyed a relaxing morning of tea, fruit and fiber and morning television. I know it's really naughty but normally when I'm working I end up missing breakfast, so on lazy days it's so nice to make time for the first meal of the day! One of my favourite breakfast treats is avocado on toast with scrambled eggs... yum!

After lunch Matt and I went for a walk in the park to recce for an upcoming shoot and then we did a bit of shopping.... we mostly bought boring stuff like light bulbs and I got a new hairdryer but it was fun all the same. I wrapped up in my favourite green coat, which I picked up at a charity shop years ago, and my favourite scarf, but it was still bloody freezing! Under my autumn layers I wore my new paisley sleeveless shirt* from Best Days Vintage, which is vintage Banana Republic, a Topshop cardigan, mid-rise black skinny jeans and DMs.      

VINTAGE SHIRT FROM BEST DAYS VINTAGE*

TOPSHOP CARDIGAN

BLACK SKINNY JEANS FROM MIH

DR MARTENS SHOES

BAG FROM PEPA LOVES* 

I was also recently sent this adorable phone case by Iconemesis. Despite getting my 5S about 8 months ago I hadn't actually bothered putting a case on it until now... maybe I was just waiting for the right case to come along! This bunny is seriously stylish. 

I was recently sent this cute denim dress by the Spanish brand Pepaloves. Over the past few years I feel like my style has moved on from the more girly, boutique look that I used to channel, I now much prefer a more simplistic, tomboyish silhouette. But sometimes I can't help but put on a really girly dress and feel "cute" again! I love the vivid blue colour and it's so comfortable because of the loose smock shape - here I rolled the sleeves up and wore it with my DMs and PU leather sleeve jacket, just to grunge it up a bit!  

JACKET FROM WAREHOUSE

DENIM DRESS BY PEPALOVES*

DR MARTENS

Woah, sorry for the lateness, I will try to get the rest of my images from LFW organised and up on the blog by this evening! Then I need to catch up with what's been going on in Milan as thus far I've only seen snippets on instagram!

On Tuesday, when London Fashion Week was winding down, I decided to break in my new Dr Martens, which were an early birthday present from the wonderful Matt Lain! They started killing me after about three hours... which I felt was pretty good going! I then spent the rest of the day hobbling around central London, very chic. Regardless of the pain, I love them, they're beautiful, I intend on living in them for at least a year. 

Another key feature of my outfit was my new Beyond Retro backpack*. It's a beautiful plum colour and is nice and roomy so I can fit lots of crap in it! I wore it with my gorgeous new Halston Heritage dress*, (I need to get some snaps of it worn on it's own soon so you can all see how breathtaking it is), and also a cosy Boden cashmere jumper.

CASHMERE JUMPER FROM BODEN

HALSTON HERITAGE DRESS*

BAG FROM BEYOND RETRO*

DR MARTENS

Since starting my new job back in January I've been terrible, I repeat, TERRIBLE with money. Excited by the regularity of "that time of the month", (payday that is), I've been eating out, enjoying mid-week wine and the most bank breaking of all, shopping. For once I am completely on board with summer trends and am finding it hard to resist retail therapy; either I'm having an early mid-life crisis or I've turned into a summer person!?

Back to the point - there are so many amazing styles on the high street at the moment! I popped into the Oxford Circus New Look the other day and found lots of great 70s bits as well as cute dresses and basic tops, they're a great go-to place when shopping on a budget. These adorable white dungarees for example are just £24.99! I was asked to style them in three different ways ready for summer... here's what I did!

I thought this vintage floral shirt looked super girly and cute - perfect for summer! As the dungarees are white it was actually harder than I thought to style them, just cos most of my wardrobe is quite dark and I don't like too much contrast in my outfits. Of course I still couldn't resist throwing my new black DMs into the mix though! (I had to throw my old ones away cos they were so trashed!)  

For my next two looks I chose to utilise the only two striped garments I own! This long sleeve funnel neck top is great because it's not really warm enough for bare arms yet, and I added t-bar shoes for a cute little twist. The last look is also very summery, I'll definitely be waiting till June to wear this one, brr! Again, I wore black Dr Martens and also my black leather backpack for an overall monochrome look.

Over the past few years I've found shopping for clothing very difficult. Not only have I had to worry more about paying rent than owning the latest trends, (London living is not cheap), but my taste has changed too and I've become a little confused in the transition. Whilst at Uni I opted for a rather boutique"y" look wearing mainly vintage and cute dresses, I now prefer a more sophisticated look featuring darker shades and sleeker silhouettes. I think growing my hair long has effected what I like wearing somehow too.

As you can imagine then, my wardrobe is now an eclectic mix of patterned blouses I never wear but can't seem to bring myself to part with alongside a cleaner, darker selection of Cos and The Whitepepper. This makes dressing in the morning very confusing.... "Who do I want to be today?"

Last weekend I put all of my ugly blouses, checked man blazers and vintage ditsy print dresses in a huge suitcase and I've hidden them under the stairs out of my life! Of course I've kept a few patterns and colours in my wardrobe; the electric pink, purple and green sheer checked blouse I picked up for £14 in a vintage store in Southampton for example, and a loud pair of high waisted 80s style shorts I've worn once but swear I will make more use of this summer.... I've also started some boards on Pinterest; Fashion Week and Style, which I pin inspiring outfits on to help refine both my personal style and styling aesthetic.    

I thought I'd given up on shopping - I always felt confused and disoriented and I'd always go home empty handed feeling a bit dead inside due to my loss of retail love. But then last Wednesday I paid a spontaneous visit to Topshop on my way home from work and found myself feeling not awkward, lost and overwhelmed but calm, collected and focussed. I scanned the sale rails, picking up a few bits here and there, before finding a really cute Sister Jane dress in the sale for £25. I tried everything on, you have to really, and ended up leaving with the dress and a simple ribbed funnel neck in navy, which I thought would look good under pinafores. I also picked up some new underwear, I love the knickers in the three for £10 section and always buy black so everything matches!

I'm not sure if my love of shopping has completely returned yet but I certainly seem better at it at least... finally! My main focus now is to refine my wardrobe and overall style so that I can literally get out of bed in the morning, throw something on and walk out the door looking effortless... I plan to do this by treating myself to a couple of new pieces each month, and I'd like to buy more investment pieces that I know will last. Dr Martens shoes, Cos coats, things like that.

I was recently sent this lovely little Laser Cut Petal Skirt by Rare London. Although it's quite a dressy design I thought I'd have a go at styling it for a more casual look and wore it out on Saturday with a comfy roll neck and Dr Martens. I also tried out my new LYCRA tights, which I discovered when told about the #LegfieLove competition they're currently running - you can find out more about that here. If I'm honest I really do love these tights - they're super flattering, excellent quality and warm too, so thanks LYCRA!  

I had another lazy weekend... on Friday night I stayed in and got tipsy with Matt and Harriet; we made hot dogs with curly fries then had the most delicious Gu cheesecake. On Saturday morning we got up, made scrambled eggs with avocado on toast then watched Boyhood before going for a walk in the afternoon. That night, surprise surprise it involves food again, we all made Mexican, (my favourite), and watched The Interview, which was actually pretty funny before the ending when it got a bit tedious. Today I managed to squeeze one more film in over lunch and watched Spike Jonze's Scenes from the Suburbs. It was really lovely but also quite tragic and left me with a funny feeling or unease afterwards. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on a still life project with Matt. What did you get up to this weekend?  

H&M JUMPER 

BACKPACK BY THE WHITEPEPPER

PETAL SKIRT BY RARE LONDON*

LYCRA TIGHTS

DR MARTENS SHOES