OOTD: Kimono Monono!

Dress - Tophop    Kimono - Kreme    Shoes - Aldo    Choker - Ebay    Glasses - Calvin Klein

So this is what I wore to work today, it was prettyyyyyyy warm so I just wore my kimono as a cover up. I also wore my glasses for a lot of the day as my eyes were feeling really tired (I'm still blaming Glasto haha).

Really like my new choker from ebay too, think it was about £2 :D

 You can see my hair growing wooooooooooooo!

What you guys been wearing in this hot weather?

love&'ugs
bakes x

OOTD: Sunday Funday!

Sunday was absolutely glorious! And at the flat we went and brought a BBQ from Morrisons for 20 squid and lots of tasty stuff to eat and we were set (after we built BBQ haha).

Me looking suitably pained while making said BBQ

Absolutely banging burgers

BBQ Crew!

Scarf - Vintage    Shirt - Topshop    Croptop - Topshop    Skirt - American Apparel    Socks - Topshop    Shoes - Vans

Hope everyone else has been enjoying the sun! :)

love&'ugs

bakes x

Fave Song : Jarbird - More Bad Celebrity Poetry

This song makes me cry pretty much every time I listen to it, but that's probably why I love it so much.

It creates such an amazing atmosphere with tension filled pauses, big piano feels and beautiful voices and lyrics. This is one to pull at your heartstrings for sure (if it doesn't you must be made of stone!).

Also big respect to Crown&Owls who directed the video.

If you are able to see them this weekend at The Great Escape in Brighton I am eternally jealous. Otherwise you'll see me in front of the stage at the next gig I know they are doing in London in September! Link to deets here.

Listen to their other music here.
Twitter here.
Facebook here.

love&'ugs
bakes x

Clarks AW14 Press Day

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Clarks AW14 press day. It was really fun and gave me the chance to check all the new styles that are going to drop in August this year, and what people are going to be walking around for our many months of English Winter!

They had everything from, Men's, Women's, Children's to the Originals collections. I always thought the Originals would always be my favourites (and they were AMAZING!), but I was seriously impressed with Orla Kiely’s (the queen of prints!) second collection with the brand.

Renowned for her love of colour, pattern and texture, Kiely has taken her contemporary spin on 60s and 70s design and created a capsule collection of six styles. Weaving classic rich autumnal tones of burgundy, ochre and red, with bold silhouettes and unexpected textures, the collection is undeniably trend led, yet appeals to the wardrobe needs of every modern woman.

 Orla Daphne

Orla Dilly

From the Clarks Originals range I immediately fell in love with the collaboration done with PATTERNITY. The Pattern Specialists have taken Clarks most iconic style – the Desert Boot and put their own unique twist on it.

Described as ‘resolutely non-cliché’, PATTERNITY founders Anna and Grace have applied another one of their specially designed patterns to the Desert Boot. Using a bold lacquered geometric print on black or white suede, the result is both timeless and timely; an ultra-modern, monochrome interpretation of a truly original silhouette.

PATTERNITY founders Anna Murray & Grace Winteringham

Did anyone else get down to the press day? What did you think? What were your fave pieces?

love&'ugs

bakes x

OOTD: Pyjama Pants To Work - What?!

Hey heyyyyyyy!
What I wore to work today, pretty slouchy and comfortable with some sportswear cool (I like to think haha!)

Jumper -  Topshop    Scarf - Vintage    Jacket - Levis Vintage    Pyjama Pants - River Island

Socks - Primark     Trainers - Nike JD Sports

In other news I am desperately trying trying to grow out my hair, hence why it looks so crazy, kind of like when Hannah from GIRLS goes crazy and cuts all her hair off, haha.

I want less this:

And more this:

But I fear I have a little while till my hair looks THAT good. By Summer though - finger crossed!

Hope everyone is well in the land of blogging :)

love&'ugs

bakes x 

OOTD: Little Red Riding Hood

Bonjourrrrr!

Been away for a bit, but here's what I wore to work the other day. It's been really cold, but I really wanted to wear my crazy tartan shawl thing, so I wrapped it around my leather jacket and it worked our pretty well.

Shawl - Next (last year)    Leather Jacket - Topshop (last year)    Dress - Monki (last year)    Chunky Boots - Topshop £38

What have people been up to? I've been superrrrrrr busy at work, preparing for so many meetings for AW14, but lots of fun!

love&'ugs
bakes x

BANKS

If you haven’t listened to Los Angles based artist Banks by now, then you are missing out on some seriously good music.

Her songs sound like a mix between a sexy female The Weeknd and a dancey Lana Del Ray, with influences from Lauryn Hill and Fiona Apple. I can’t get enough of her first EP - London, which has been produced by some seriously rad producers, including SOHN and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.

Warm Water is one of my favourite tracks (I pretty much love them all!) and has been described as “baby making music” by TEED, which I totally agree with! haha

Make sure you listen to this amazing female. And if you are lucky enough to have tickets to her tour this month I am eternally jealous.

Listen to her music here:

https://soundcloud.com/banksbanksbanks

Watch her videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HerNameIsBanks?feature=watch

http://www.hernameisbanks.com/

love&'ugs
bakes x

Gathering Festival

Local Natives

Last weekend I went to city festival Gathering in Oxford. I wasn't really expecting that much as it was only the second year it's been put on, but I was pleasantly surprised and definitely put in my place when I saw how well run it was and the great musicians that played there.

With 7 stages split over 6 intimate venues, you were always up close and personal with any band you went to see and that element really did make it a special event to attend, and you can see why it has been shortlisted for 'Best New Festival' and 'Best Metropolitan Festival' at the UK Festival Awards.

My favourite stage had to be the East Oxford Community Centre, which had a great mix of eclectic bands and singer-songwriters. We saw my boyfriend's friend perform there under his stage name D/C and it was pretty special, a beautiful mix of personal songs and standout covers. Another great band was Oxford locals Candy Says, who got the crowd dancing (especially some crazy kids right at the front!).

And of course the two headline acts - London Grammar and Local Natives, really made the festival one you didn't want to miss. London Grammar was a one in one out affair and Local Natives put on a great show with old album classics and new album favourites.

I'll be heading back to this perfect autumnal festival next year for sure!

love&'ugs
bakes x

p.s. links to festivals & bands at the bottom of the page :)

Candy Says

Local Natives

http://gatheringfestival.tumblr.com/

https://twitter.com/GatheringOxf

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrDcproducer/videos

https://twitter.com/thatdckid

http://candysays.it/

https://twitter.com/candysaysit

http://www.londongrammar.com/home/

https://twitter.com/londongrammar

http://thelocalnatives.com/

https://twitter.com/localnatives

Desigual New York Fashion Week In London

A couple weeks ago I went to the Desigual New York Fashion Week catwalk live streaming show that took place at their flagship London store. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it definitely went way above my expectations!

We had a champagne and cosmopolitan cocktail and popcorn reception, which was was followed by the live streaming of the show with complimentary burgers and cupcakes with more drinks! I think the Desigual SS14 range is going to be really good, especially since I'm not usually into their kind of style. The monochrome pieces were the winners for me.

Favourite pumps that I want!

 Love the bottle ceiling!

I wore a Love Label dress I got from the ASOS sale and my studded pumps and my new fave Kanken backpack! Sparkly hat courtesy of Desigual :P

love&'ugs

bakes x

Easy DIY: Custom Phone Case

I really love reading other bloggers DIY posts and scouring Pinterest for amazing DIY pins, but truth be told I'm not that hot at doing DIY projects myself, you know the nailed it memes? Yeah that's me. So this DIY post is for the simple and short attention span DIYers among us.

I've been getting bored with my iPhone case for a little while. My massive Hello Kitty case just wasn't doing it for me anymore and I couldn't find a decent cheap one I liked on eBay. But a couple of weeks ago I got a beautiful package of goodies from the Confetti Monster (or Jaclyn- her human name) who has a shop on Etsy called Confetti Bandits. Along with my order Jaclyn had thrown in a bunch of free Moonrise Kingdom inspired stickers which I adored but couldn't think where to stick them. Until my 2 predicaments had a car crash in my mind...

First I brought a cheap iPhone case from eBay for 99p:

Then I grabbed my lovely stickers:

I played around with the placement until I was happy & stuck them on:

My dad had a bit of clear sealant lying around the garage so I used that to make sure the stickers weren't going anywhere (I'm sure a coating of clear nail varnish would be good too?). So yeah really easy but sometimes we all need a bit of inspiring :)

And TADAHHH, new phone case. Happy days.

love&'ugs

bakes x

P.S. Here's the rest of the delights I ordered from the Confetti Bandits shop. Seriously go check it out, especially if you are a Wes Anderson fan, you won't leave without buying something!

OOTD: Birthday Business in Brighton!

A couple weekends a go we headed down to Brighton to help our friend Sarah celebrate her 24th birthday. I love going to Brighton it's always really fun and if you go to the non-commercial clubs (I'm looking at you Oceana!) then you might be surprised at how good the independent clubs are.

For dinner we went to Donatello's that is an ace Italian restaurant that's really cheap too, I had tagliatelle with spinach and bacon in an amazing sauce. I'm not usually a pasta person, but this was so gooooooooood. After we went to our fave bar that we ALWAYS go to, called The Mesmerist, it's like a 1940s bar with the best cocktails. And then we went to a club called The Tube which is right on the seafront and under the arches- great success!

Leather Jacket- Topshop £90 (half price in the sales!)    Shirt- Wallis £33    Shorts- Sparkle & Fade at Urban Outfitters £20ish    Creepers- Underground £89

I don't usually shop at Wallis, but I really like this shirt, it's like a sheer material with a gold paisley print on it. It's pretty loose fitting which looks good leggings/jeans etc, but I tied a knot in the front so you could see my sparkly shorts :P

Han & Me

Me & Becca

Has anyone else been out in Brighton? Where do you like to go? I'd love to try new places where I'm there next :D

love&'ugs
bakes x

OOTD: Space Cat & Cycling Shorts

Bonjourno, mon petit freres!

How are we all doing? Embracing this glorious weather I hope! I have been, even if it has just been sitting in my garden attempting to soak up some rays!

This is what I decided to wear today, pretty casual and got my some strange looks when I went into Stevenage to get a birthday present for a friend (I don't think they 'get' space cats in Stevenage). I decided to wear my platform converse sneakers, since now it's not all wet and rainy they will stay looking fresh and clean. Now don't get me wrong I love these shoes like they were my real life darling baby (since it took me sooooo long to find the perfect pair and I was so chuffed when I got them for less than half price in the sales) but mannnn after a few hours walking they don't half start to bite at my upper heels. Any other fellow platform sneaker wearers have any remedies? Should I lace them tighter or looser or is there someway to break in the backs of them, without ruining them of course!

And they do make my feet look superrr long too but I can deal with that ;)

Oh I cut the collar off my space cat tshirt cos for some reason I hate them being all up in my neck, go figure?!

Space Cat Tee- Ebay £6.99    Cycling Shorts- American Apparel £9 (sale!)    Socks- Topshop £3.50    Platform Sneakers- Schuh £16 (sale!)

I think this summer is shaping up to be a good one. Fingers crossed :)

love&'ugs
bakes x