Won't dip out

Top | Topshop

Skirt | Goldie via Topshop (old)

Shoes | H&M

Necklace | Topshop

Bag | eBay

Hello lovelies, I hope everyone's been enjoying the gorgeous weather! I went back home at the weekend to see my parents and sister so got to do some sunbathing in the garden which was amazing! Unfortunately I don't have access to a garden in my flat so I really enjoyed relaxing outside for the whole weekend eating delicious food and the odd glass of wine! It was really nice to catch up with my family and I also got to see one of my best friends so it was a lovely weekend!

I got this skirt for my birthday back in October and didn't really wear it too much, but it's really come into it's own in the sunshine! I much prefer this as a summer skirt and I'm loving dip hems at the moment! I wore this to work today but was still pretty warm in it as it's been so hot recently! This top is new and was a gift from my boyfriend - I love the material and fit of it, it reminds me of a summer version of the slubby knits Topshop did for winter. I also finally bought the studded bag (which everyone has) from eBay, as my Marc B one is starting to fall apart. I love the size of it as it's quite large but not so massive you can't find anything - saves me rummaging around for 5 minutes trying to find my keys/phone/lipstick/money...

Katharine x

Giveaway winner!

I'm excited to announce the winner of my first giveaway!

Congratulations Claire you have won the colour tattoo and mascara, I hope you enjoy them! They're on their way to you, I'll be in touch now with details :-)

xxx

Motel Rocks Marilyn Playsuit

Playsuit c/o Motel Rocks

I finally got my hands on this little beauty today! It was delivered last week while I was at work and unfortunately missed it, so I arranged to pick it up from the Post Office yesterday, but when I arrived they had shut! At last I managed to pick it up today after work - I'm so happy with it! I adore the colour and the fit, and all the care that's gone into the packaging. Thank you so much to Motel and Selina, I can't wait to wear it properly! All I need now is a tan - fingers crossed the weather stays as nice as it was today, by far the hottest day of the year so far! 

Katharine x

P.S. I'm holding a little giveaway which ends on Sunday, enter here if you like!

Spot on

Dress and Shoes | H&M

Jacket and necklace | Topshop

Tights | Miso tights

I got this dress and shoes at the weekend from H&M - I shouldn't have been spending money but they weren't expensive so oh well! I'm really loving H&M at the moment and have been getting so much stuff from there, I think my obsession may be switching over from Topshop to H&M! This dress dress is really cute - I love the shape of it and this type of dress is so easy to just throw on and dress up or down. I love wearing my leather jacket with it as I'm really enjoying mixing something quite girly and pretty with other items that are more masculine / rocky to give it a bit of an edge. I'm also wearing my suspender tights which I bought by mistake - I thought they were going to be like these but I couldn't be bothered to return them.

I really love these shoes - I saw them in H&M a while ago but didn't buy them, then I saw them on Charlotte's blog and knew I had to get them! I think they'll look really nice with jeans and they're sooo comfy! What I REALLY want is a pair of Jeffrey Campbell litas, but I absolutely cannot afford them at the moment to I got these in an attempt to stave my desire for JC for now...

P.S. I'm holding a little giveaway which ends on Sunday, enter here if you like!

Trend Spotting at The Oracle Fashion Week!

As you may already know, I had the chance to attend The Oracle Fashion Week a few weeks back. I really enjoyed watching the catwalk shows, and afterwards felt so inspired by all the summer trends -which has been very bad for my bank balance! For me, this summer is all about bright colours and bold prints, perfect for festivals, holidays, parties and barbecues (as long as the weather picks up!) Read on to see the pieces I've picked out from my favourite summer trends...

Get the look: Printed Jeans / leggings

L-R: Missguided, Moto at Topshop, AX Paris, Missguided

Printed jeans and leggings are very on trend at the moment. As someone who rarely wears skinny jeans or leggings, I wasn't sure about this trend at first as I'm not the biggest fan my legs. However, I'm really trying embrace this trend and step away from my usual high-wasted skirt and blouse combo. I even made a purchase of some Baxter jeans from Topshop a little while ago! 

Here are some of my favourite styles of printed trousers at them moment. I'm sure most people have heard of Black Milk which has been beloved in blog-land for quite some time now. I would love to get my hands on some of their pieces but because of their high price they are a little bit more unattainable for most people. Missguided have come up tumps with some amazing dupes for the classic Galaxy print leggings and (my personal favourites) the cross of St Peter jeans. I'm also loving these vertical striped jeans from Topshop which are perfect for spring time, and these beautiful floral jeans from AX Paris! Printed jeans are also perfect for festivals - I am hoping to go to Reading festival this year if I manage to get a late ticket, and will definitely be sporting a pair of these if I do!

Get the look: Printed Body-cons

L-R: Motel, Bank, Lipsy London at Bank, Motel

Printed body-cons are one of my favourite trends at the moment. I especially love this butterfly print dress from Motel which I spotted as a playsuit when I went to the Motel event back in March. I also really love this lattice-style tribal dress from Lipsy which would be perfect to wear on holiday (if I get to go this year). I adore all of these dresses and wish I had the money for all of them - the bright colours and prints really appeal to me and have me dreaming of parties and sunshine.

Get the look: Dip-dye

L-R: Topshop, Topshop, Topshop, H&M

I'm loving the dip-dye trend at the moment, whether it's in hair, nails or clothes! I've been lusting after this tie-die, pastel, pleated (OMG trend over-load) skirt for ages now, and actually bought the vest from H&M as it was only £13 so I thought it was a bit of a bargain! If you're feeling creative you could even try dip-dying something yourself, there's lots of great tutorials floating about!

Get the look: Aztec print

Cami top, body-con skirt, T-shirt, maxi dress, earrings - all Topshop

The aztec trend is still around and I'm still loving it - it's really perfect for festivals and summer! Here are some of my favourite aztec pieces. You can create a variety of looks with the aztec trend - either a bold look with one stand out item such as a maxi dress, or one item in an outfit being aztec such as a bodycon skirt or a top, or a mish mash clash of different prints or even just having aztec accessories such as these gorgeous earrings, offset by a simple outfit.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! It's something a little bit different for me as I often just stick to outfit post, however I really enjoyed writing this and uncovering my favourite items from the different trends! Here are some of the snaps I took from the fashion week which provided my inspiration:

Here are the links to my first and second reviews to The Oracle Fashion Week if you would like to have a little read!

Katharine x

Ombré

Shirt | River Island (old)

Skirt | H&M (old)

Necklace | Topshop

If you follow me on Twitter you will know that I had my hair done on Monday and made first steps towards ombré hair! I've known for a while that I wanted to get ombré hair for the summer, and since it's grown quite a lot recently, I thought it was time to caste off my hair extensions and get a new hair look! Ombré hair is VERY hard to do if you're starting off with blonde hair - the top part of my hair had to be dyed darker which meant it looked very severe when it was first done, and not really the look I was after. I went back to the hairdresser again yesterday to get the dark blended in with the blonde some more and I now have a much softer look I prefer. The blonde actually blends in with the dark now so it doesn't just look like I've dyed the top of my head! To be honest the end result is actually quite different from how I intended it to be - it's VERY dark (almost black) which is very different from the fairly bright blonde I was before! It also has a slight red tinge to it in some lights, whereas I actually wanted the colour to be a light brown - closer to my natural colour, so I had a more subtle ombré effect. However, I'm getting used to this now and I don't mind it any more. As ombré is such a low maintenance style I'm hoping this will fade out over time to a more natural colour, and I won't need to do much more to it!

I'm wearing quite a simple outfit today. At them moment it seems that all I wear are hight wasted skirts and some sort of shirt or blouse - they're so easy to just throw on for a fail-safe outfit! I'm not wearing anything new which is really good for me! I'm on a spending ban  at the moment as I've been shopping far too much recently, so I need to start making the most of my older clothes and be a bit more creative with them! I hope everyone's enjoying their weekend - another week goes by for me without a night out, I'm starting to forget what a hangover feels like! I should be going out next weekend though, so really looking forward to that!

Katharine x

P.S. I'm having a little giveaway, if you would like to enter click here!

Sponsored Video: The Oracle Fashion Week

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone's having a fantastic week - it's Wednesday which means the weekend is in sight!

As you may know I had the opportunity to attend The Oracle Fashion Week a few weeks back. It was a fantastic opportunity and I had the chance to see the catwalk shows which depicted the latest high street trends, and was even given a behind-the-scenes tour and got to meet some of the models and the makeup artist! I was recently contacted by the lovely Lia, who asked if I would like to share this video of The Oracle Fashion Week catwalk shows with my blog readers. You can see the outfits that were showcased on the runway very well - it's much clearer than the rubbish photos I took!

As you can see from the video, there's a real mixture of styles, from bright and bold prints to florals and pastels - funky trends from Topshop, Bank and Republic alongside more elegant styles from Reiss, Mango and Zara to name but a few. There really was something to suit every style and budget. After watching the shows live, I was so inspired by some of the trends - especially the bright colours and clashing prints! It gave me a lot of ideas of how I will wear these trends this summer, so if you didn't have a chance to go to The Oracle Fashion Week I would really recommend checking this video out! My favourite item from the whole show was a gorgeous bright printed body-con dress from Bank which you can see around halfway through the video!

What are your favourite trends for the summer? 

*Disclaimer - This is a sponsored post, however all thoughts and opinions are my own - I think it's a great way to see the catwalk shows!

Giveaway! CLOSED

Hello lovelies! This is my first giveaway on my blog, I've wanted to do one for a while, to say thank you to my lovely readers who take the time to read my blog, follow and leave me such lovely comments - they really do make my day so I wanted to do this to show how appreciative I am! I'm giving away the much talked about Maybelline Colour Tattoo gel eyeshadow in the colour Turquoise Forever - this was my favourite shade so I hope you like it! And a 17 Wild Curls mascara in black - with gorgeous leopard print packaging! There will be one winner who will get both of these items, if you would like to enter, here is what you need to do:

This giveaway is open to readers of my blog only, you must be a follower by google friend connect!

If you would like to enter please leave a comment with your contact email address and what your gfc username is

For one extra entry you can tweet about the giveaway mentioning me (@kathy_kins) and linking to this post - leave another comment telling me you've done this and what your twitter username is!

Open to all readers both UK and international!

Competition closes on Sunday 27th May - the winner will be selected using random.org

Good luck!!

xxx

The Oracle Fashion Week Review Part 2 - Catwalk Shows

If you read my previous post you will know that a couple of week ago I had the opportunity to attend The Oracle (a shopping centre in Reading) fashion week. During the event there were some fantastic catwalk shows featuring the hottest trends on the high street right now. I've snapped some photos of some of my favourite outfits and trends which really appealed to me - I hope you enjoy! Sorry the photos aren't great - the lighting has made all of the models seem orange for some reason, and it was very difficult to capture good shots of them as the were so quick! I have a new appreciation for photographers now!

Colours and prints:

 L-R: Topshop, Bank, Topshop

L-R: Topshop, Republic Bank

Clashing prints is one of my favourite trends at the moment - although it has to be done very carefully as when done wrong it can look awful! I adore the bodycon dresses and printed jeans, these are some things I will definitely be investing in for my summer wardrobe. One simple way to follow the print-clash trend is to mix one printed item to be the feature of the outfit, and complement it with other items of bright block colours, as shown by some of our models. Another way is to wear printed jeans with a motif t-shirt for a rock-chic look.

Festival Chic:

 All New Look

L-R: Topman, Mango, Topman, Topman

As festival season is fast approaching, I and lots of festival lovers around me are keeping out eyes pealed for 'festival clothes'. Part of the fun of going to festivals for me is the fashion - it's always one of my favourite trends and I wish I could dress like this all year round! For the girls it was all about florals but I just loved this textured jumper from Mango - I thought it was very festival-y! For the guys it was nice to see lots of colour introduced, coloured jeans and motif t-shirts is a cool way for them to wear the trend. They weren't bad to look at either!

Preppy:

L-R: Reiss, Reiss, Reiss, Burton

This is not normally a trend I follow but I thought the guys looked pretty sharp (loving the geek-chic glasses!) and the floaty pink and beige skirt is to die for! Also loving the printed dress, definitely on my wish-list!

Florals:

L-R: Oasis, Zara, Oasis, Mango

It really wouldn't be summer without florals! This has got me longing for summer holidays and barbecues! I'm especially loving the lace and peplum styles from Zara who are mixing it up with some new and different looks, and of course the beautiful pastel colours which are so in right now!

So there you have it! I hope you've enjoyed this post and are feeling inspired and ready for summer - I know I am! Which are your favourite trends and stand out pieces? I would like to say a massive thank you to Danesha for organising the event and inviting me - I really enjoyed it so much! Please look out for part 3 of my review where I will show how to 'get the look' for some of my favourite trends featured on the catwalks.

Katharine x

The Oracle Fashion Week Review Part 1...

A couple of weeks ago, I and a number of other bloggers had to opportunity to attend 'The Oracle Fashion Week' event. For those of you who don't know, The Oracle is a shopping centre in Reading which hold's a fashion week every year. This year the event had a bit of a twist as it featured catwalk shows with the high street's interpretations of trends seen in London Fashion week and colourful displays of some beautiful pieces featured in the shows. Style workshops were running which offered advice about simple ways to interpret the trends into your own wardrobe as this season is all about lots of colour! Beauty advice was also on hand from the experts from Clarins and Benefit - unfortunately I didn't get a chance to check this out but there really was something to suit everyone at the event!

The event ran for a week but due to work commitments I was only able to attend the weekend, I really had a fantastic time and especially enjoyed the catwalk shows! Thank you so much to Danesha for inviting me and looking after us so well! I hope you enjoy some of the photos I've snapped of what I got up to...

Here are some of the gorgeous displays which were visible throughout The Oracle during the week. I love the creativity that has gone into their design - they really capture the imagination! One of my favourite pieces was a stunning aqua-marine, sequinned mermaid dress (pictured above) which was very glamorous! The summer tea-party themed display featured some pretty floral dresses  - perfect for a summer barbecue!

Here are some snaps of the style workshop where a stylist could recommend colours, styles and trends to suit! Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to experience this - I would have loved to as I've never had my colours done - it's always something I've been interested in! You can also see some of the gorgeous accessories on display - I'm especially loving the bright blue colours and the cute shoes!

We got to go back stage and meet the models and their amazing makeup artist! She told us which products she used - a lot of Bobby Brown as well as some drugstore products, and let us know what her beauty secrets! The models told us about their favourite trends for spring/summer - clashing prints, peplum style clothing and of course pastels!

As part of our behind the scenes tour, we got to see where the models get changed during the shows - and the extensive wardrobe of clothing and accessories used during the shows! I'm especially loving this gorgeous studded print dress from french connection - I pay have to purchase this!

So here you have some photos of what I got up to over the weekend, please look out for part 2 of my review where I will show you some of my favourite outfits from the catwalk shows! I really enjoyed the whole weekend - it was a really great way to see some of the gorgeous clothing available on the high street at the moment, and has given me so much inspiration! Thank you so much to Danesha for inviting me, I felt very flattered!

Katharine x

Print Clash

Dress and top | Topshop

Lips | Rimmel Rose Passion

The Bank Holiday is almost over! It's been nice having an extra day off to relax but I don't mind going back to work tomorrow as I'm really enjoying my new job! Today I'm going to the MAC counter as I finally have 6 empties to do a 'Back to MAC' - I'm so so excited! I'm going to get 'So Chaud' after seeing Jo post about it, I tried it on in the MAC store and I love it, thanks Jo for the recommendation! I'm also going to see 'The Avengers' at the cinema with my boyfriend, even though I'd rather watch the new American Pie...

Today I'm wearing two items I've blogged about previously in separate posts. I thought I'd try them together to try my hand at the 'print clash' trend which is very in this season. I've also recently switched from my usual 'lingering' eyebrow pencil (MAC again) to the darker 'spiked' and wondered what you thought of my new eyebrow look?! Hope everyone's enjoying their Bank Holidays, how will you be spending yours?

Katharine x

Get your colours on

Jeans | Topshop

Blouse | Miss Selfridge

Blazer | New Look (old)

Hello lovelies! Today I'm wearing my beloved new Jaimie jeans! I'm obcessed with the colour mint at the moment so couldn't resist these, they are super skinnies and really are  extremely tight! I haven't worn jeans in years so had forgotten how uncomfortable they can be (note to self - don't eat a big meal whist wearing these!) I felt a bit uncomfortable in them at first as I'm never sure if skinny jeans suit me and they are much tighter that I'm used to, but I think I will grow to love them (need to hit the gym a few times eek!) The camera has made them look extremely bright almost blue, but in real life they are mint and slightly acid washed. I'm also wearing my new blouse from Miss Selfridge which I saw on the lovely Lily Bee's blog a few weeks back! I've worn it loads since I got it and am obsessed with the little collar tips - such a pretty detail!

In the last week my boyfriend and I have been addicted to watching Series 1 of Lost on DVD. I never got around to watching it when it was on TV, but now I'm absolutely hooked! We're approaching the series 1 finalé so I think a fast purchase of series 2 will be in order! We also went to an Indian restaurant  and had an an all you can eat buffet which was delicious but I'm feeling as fat as a house now!

Galaxy

Top | Primark

Necklace and belt | Topshop

Skirt | H&M

Lips | MAC Viva Glam Nicki review here

I saw Leigh posted about this top on Instagram a couple of days ago, and instantly fell in love. I practically ran to Primark to go and get! It was only £6!!!! I literally couldn't believe my eyes, It has to be one of the best bargains I've ever found!! I adore the colours in it, it's so so pretty and of course I love the Galaxy print - it's the first thing I've taken the plunge and got with this print on.

Today I bought some mint green acid wash Jaimie jeans from Topshop!! I'm so excited about them, cannot wait to show you! I hope everyone has a fantastic bank holiday weekend! I don't really have anything planned, I'll just be relaxing and hopefully will get my hair done on Monday (hello roots).

Katharine x