Forever 21

A few months ago I finally stepped into a Forever 21 store for the first time. I’d read a lot about the store on Laura/Lollipop26’s blog so was really looking forward to my visit.

I went to the store in Oxford Circus which was huge! The floors are laid out by style and colour which I really like because that’s how I organise my wardrobe.

There’s a preppy section with checked shirts, soft cotton zipped up hoodies adorned with numbers, denim and cute blazers. A girly section which looks like a carpet of pale pink and cream dresses and pretty tops. A floral section with summery floaty tops, maxis and skirts. There’s also an accessories section filled with extremely reasonably priced jewellery, shoes and handbags.

This is what surprised me about Forever 21. The price. All the items are so well priced but they don’t look cheap at all. The clever shop layout fools you into thinking the clothes will be more Mango priced but they’re actually H&M/ New Look prices.

I picked up two cute necklaces which £1.50 or thereabouts!


If you’re walking past a Forever 21 store, I would definitely recommend venturing in. You’re sure to find something you love that doesn’t look like all the other high street clothes and the carrier bags are hot pink coloured!

Naomi
xx

Winter Warmers

I popped into New Look the other week for a mooch and was pleasantly surprised by their A/W 2011 range. The range consists of gorgeous maroon, tan, green and royal blue colours mixed different textures such as fur, 'silk' and rich cotton to give a warm and cosy look to the clothes.

I have a mild obsession with clothing that is either furry or adorned with feathers. I have no idea why. Perhaps I was a bird or a rabbit in a previous life! So, no wonder I was automatically drawn to this grey furry gilet (£34.99).

I also picked up some cute brown shoe boots which are surprisingly comfy given their height. They were originally £27.99 but had £10 off so were a bargainous £17.99. The 'leather' looks pretty authentic and the heel is sturdy. They look great with super skinnies.

I'm planning another New Look visit this week! #justbeenpaid

Naomi
xx

Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone,

I've been off the radar for a few weeks recently because I've been really busy at work and that's the only place I can post blogs :( We have to prepare all the new marketing materials for the start of January so December is always busy which is rubbish! So, I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.

I had a work Christmas meal a couple of weeks ago at a place called the Crazy Bear which is amazing. The decor is out of this world. It's very modern but almost a bit kinky but in a good way; think cream padded walls decorated with diamantes, fur and feathers, chaise longues embellished with gold and upholstered in leopard print. The loos are mirrored so you almost get lost in there and you can see straight through to the mens'! Here are some photos from the website.

We had our meal in this booth:


The lavish bar:


And one of the crazy bedrooms (we didn't stay though):


I'd booked the day after off work to do my Christmas shopping and buy my own very first Christmas tree. So, here are a couple of photos of my tree but minus a fairy because I'm still trying to find the right one:



Then, on the Saturday my mum and I went to the ballet to see Cinderella. We go most years and normally see the Nutcracker but it was Cinders turn this year. The ballet was beautiful. The direction was brilliant and the sets were amazing. I had such a good evening and it's really lovely for my mum and I to do girly things together :)



I went to my boyfriend's work ball last weekend which was in a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds. We had a three course meal, followed by awards and then a disco so we had lots of fun. Luckily, we were staying in the hotel so we just flopped up to the room when we'd had too much booze! I wore a black lacy dress by Ghost which has an asymmetric hem in a flamenco dress style. I tried to get my boyf to take a photo when we got back to the hotel room but someone had had a bit too much 'fizzy pop' and took a crap blurry one! So here's a dodgy 'posing for the camera' shot that I took:



And then I had my boyfriend's mum' birthday lunch the following day! So, that's what I've been up to and with all that and work, it's been a bit crazy but I think December's always are!

Have you been to lots of Christmas parties? Are you ready for the big day?

Naomi
xx

Pretty In Pink

Whilst perusing the net for a suitable client Christmas night out dress, I found this gorgeous one from French Connection:


I do think £140 is a lot to pay so I'll probs wait until the sale when it'll be about half the price but it is amazing.

I love pink and love how girly the dress is. It reminds me of Baby's dress in Dirty Dancing because it's so swishy and swirly at the bottom. It's like a princess dress.

I think this would look cute with either matching pink or silver platform shoes and a few diamond (I wish)/diamonte accessories.

What do you think? Do you have a fab Christmas party dress for this year or a timeless piece you can wear over and over?

Naomi
xx

OOTD

Another lift special! Haha. However, I’ve found that the lift down to the car park has a bigger and better mirror than the lift outside my apartment so I’ve managed to take a slightly better photo.


- Trench coat from Mango
- Dusty pink long cardigan from New Look
- White vest top from New Look
- Bootleg jeans by Levi
- Pale pink platform shoes from Carvela
- Diamante earrings from River Island
- Diamond necklace a pressie given to me by the boyf from this gorgeous jewellery shop in Worcester called Rock Lobster

I bought the trench coat about 1 month ago and I’ve worn it so much since. The beige colour seems to go with everything. It’s the perfect thickness for autumn and is waterproof when it rains. I think I’ll wear the coat during the warmer winter days with a chunky scarf and matching gloves. My boyf always sing the theme tune to 'Inspector Gadget' when I wear it!


The pale pink platforms shoes are probably my favourite shoes ever. I bought them in the sale last year and was very tempted by a pair in black too. You can have the foot straps either straight across or like a ballet shoe which is my fave. Although they’re about 5 inches high, the straps make the shoes incredible wearable as my feet are perfectly secure. They’re pretty comfy too (not without a slightly painful wearing in period though!)

ASOS have a sale on at the moment so I bought a few goodies which were delivered yesterday (I paid next day as I couldn’t wait). I’ll upload some photos soon. Typical old me bought another bleeding cardigan! But it’s so pretty so I think it’s acceptable on this occasion!

Naomi
xx

OOTD

I haven't done one of these for a while mainly due to the fact I don't have a full length mirror. I'm so indecisive that I can't find one I like. My god it's just a mirror, I know, but I always think I'll find something better so never ending up buying anything.

So, I have to be such a weirdo and run out of my apartment into the lift which not only does it's job of going up and down but acts as a mirror substitute. Yes, the lighting is dodgy, I have to keep my finger on the 'Door Open' button and I'm constantly worrying someone will see me trying a dress on with the wrong underwear and my socks still on but it works!

This brings me onto my OOTD photo, which as you can see has been shot in 'Lollipop26' style, in the lift, with my phone so I must apologise in advance for the awful quality and cheesy shot. I was going for comfy casual as the dresscode where I work is tre cash so we're allowed to wear pretty much anything.



- Black cardigan from Zara (I love cardigans, I'm thinking of a I heart cardigan post soon)
- T- Shirt from New Look
- Skinny jeans from New Look (These are my faves, they actually fit really well and they were only £20)
- Black pumps from ALDO
- Pearl earrings a present from my godmother
- My obsession which is my Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag
- Keys (the ultimate accessory...yep)

I'm been covering Reception for an hour this lunchtime; I've had two calls, one of which I couldn't transfer because I forgot how to and the other I cut off. Brilliant. I don't think I'll be asked again!

I hope you're all having a good day.

Naomi
xx

Gorgeous Dress

I was browsing the Daily Mail website earlier and found an article on Cheryl wearing the most gorgeous dress by Elie Saab.

Proof (from www.dailymail.co.uk):


I love the nude colour and sequin detail. I think the dress really suits Cheryl and her colouring. Althought, I'm not keen on her new overly long and rather fake looking hair extensions. Her hair normally looks full of volume but here it looks a little flat. Although that could've been down to the good old English rain.

What do you think?

Naomi
xx

The Saturdays

I’ve always been a fan of The Saturdays and even more so since watching their documentary series on ITV2 recently. Yes they’re manufactured but they seem to be the best of friends as well as band mates. I like that. And they have such cute dogs! I absolutely love their new song Higher – you can hear the song on The Saturdays official YouTube site http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSaturdaysOfficial.

Here they are incase you have no idea what on earth I’m talking about (photo from Celebrity Rush website:

After a straw poll in the office, I’ve concluded that the Frankie is the boys’ favourite (far right) and Mollie is the girls’ favourite (second from the left). I think the boys basically just want to have fun with Frankie and the girls love how girlie Mollie is.

I’m very open about being a huge fan of Girls Aloud and loving The Saturdays and why not?! Recently, I think it’s become a lot more acceptable for 20-somethings to like girl bands. And let’s be honest, most of the members in said bands are more my age than the tweenies they’re targeting so I can relate to them more in terms of clothing, make up, hair and boyfriends. Who hasn’t admired Cheryl’s sense of style (or stylist haha!)?

So, what do you think of The Saturdays? Do you have a favourite? What do you think of their new single?

Naomi
xx

14. New York Haul

I arrived back from New York on Tuesday morning and have spent the rest of the week trying to sleep as much as possible! A combination of jetlag and non-stop shopping and walking around NYC has left me exhausted. I need a chilled out holiday now to get over this one!

NYC really is mad. It's so busy and noisy and everyone is always in a rush but it has some amazing shops and department stores. What I like is that you always get a paper bag instead of a crappy plastic one when you buy something. I'm funny about that.

We stayed in a hotel just off Madison Avenue called The Surrey. The decor is a mix of art-deco, modern and antique which works brilliantly. Here are a couple of photos of the room.


So, what did I buy? Well, I tried to keep my purse as well hidden as possible so I couldn't spend too much but I did anyway, so here are my goodies.

I knew I was going to buy MAC Viva Glam Gaga lipstick which is gorgeous and so much cheaper than over here!


I know a lot of people have already reviewed this but it really is to die for. The vanilla smell is gorgeous (I love that MAC lipsticks have a yummy scent), the texture is smooth and moisturising and you can wear this with or without a lipgloss. The colour is buildable too so you can have a sheer pink with one sweep or a more intense Barbie pink with a second.


I also purchased two MAC make-up brushes; the 129 and the 239.



The 129 is great for applying blush to the cheeks and has super soft bristles. The 239 is a great eyeshadow brush and what I've noticed about MAC brushes is that you hardly need any product on the brush. I've realised how crap my old brushes really are since using a couple of MAC ones.

Jeans are a lot cheaper in the US so I took advantage of this and bought a pair of skinny jeans called "Senora" from Tommy Hilfiger for $70 (about £49) and some skinny bootleg jeans from Levis for $40 (about £27). The Levis fit so perfectly. They're the best fitting jeans I've ever had and they're really comfy.


Check out these sexy little cowboys from Steve Madden.


These were $200 reduced to $79.99 and then an additional 50% off so these only cost $39.99 (about £28.50). Amazing. And they're real leather and very well made. I love the stud detailing. I've been wearing them with skinny jeans and a long cardi.

I was after a new perfume and stupidly walked into Saks on 5th Avenue. The store is beautiful and looks sumptious and inviting but the people who work there are so pushy. Before you know it, you've handed your credit card over and you have no idea how much you've just spent until you walk out and look at your receipt! You've been warned. Anyway, I bought this very cute exclusive perfume from Guerlain called La Petite Robe Noire which translates to Little Black Dress.


The bottle is adorable and the scent is described as romantic, fruity, floral and sexy - well hello! The scent is really unique which I find appealing as I don't like smelling like everyone else.

The piece de resistance is my new bag. A bag was one of the main objectives of my trip so after visiting Macys, Barneys and Saks, I finally found what I was looking for in Bloomingdales. That place is like a maze. Introducing the Aidan bag by Marc Jacobs. (Please excuse the messy unmade bed!)



I'm in love with a bag. The leather is soft and the cream colour means this will take me right through the year. The inside looks pretty cool too and there's bags of room (haha).

Here's a silly photo of me surrounded by bags (and in my PJs!).


So there are my purchases after a successful trip. NYC was amazing but I'm not in a rush to go back just yet as there are others places I'd like to visit too. I also need some time to recover from the trip and so does my bank account!

Naomi
xx

9. Clothes Customisation

Take one standard blazer, some pretty buttons, needle and thread et voila, a brand new look.

Here's a lovely dusty pink blazer which I purchased from New Look for £25, complete with boring brown buttons.

I love the colour and the style but the original buttons looked a little cheap and tacky. So I popped over to House of Fraser and purchased some pretty flowery style gold buttons which I thought were cute. I bought 2 smalls buttons and 1 large button (plus a spare) which cost about £3 in total.

I whipped out a needle and thread and set to work removing the old buttons and sewing on the spangly new ones. And here is the final result.

I think the gold buttons look gorgeous against the pink and they've given this otherwise slightly ordinary blazer a unique twist. This is the first time I've done something like this and now I want to get needle happy with my whole wardrobe!

So, do you have any items you've customised? Do you have any tips or ideas for other sorts of customising other than changing buttons?!

Naomi
xx