New In My Wardrobe | May 2018

I have been shopping A LOT during the month of May. Not that I don't shop during other months but I really have gone a bit crazy, for me anyway, over the past few weeks. I think it's because, firstly, I've started exercising more and eating healthier so am feeling better about what I look like in clothes, secondly, because I've been saving up some of my wages, and thirdly, because of the change in weather and the fact I'm going to Corfu this week (eek!). Because I've picked up quite a few bits in a short space of time, I thought I'd share them with you! You might have seen some of them styled already on my blog or on Instagram and if you haven't, you certainly will have in the next few weeks. I'm really happy with everything I bought because some things have filled gaps in my wardrobe and others are just beautiful pieces that I feel great in and adore.

Starting with these incredible vintage jeans because LOOK AT THEM! I picked them up from Cow Vintage in Liverpool after spotting them on my way out of the shop for only £14. I immediately grabbed them and took them to the changing rooms and they fit like a glove. This must be the best feeling when vintage shopping as it can sometimes be a disheartening process of trial and error. They're my favourite style of jeans, a straight leg with frayed hems but with this added super cool star print. I really didn't need another pair of jeans in my wardrobe but these are so cool, and a little different from your average pair, that I just couldn't leave them behind.

After bagging those incredible jeans, I realised, to my excitement, that COS have opened a store in Liverpool and went in to have a look. The store itself is beautiful, so airy and light and totally fitting with the feel of the store. As most of the colours of their clothes are fairly neutral, this pink top stood out to me, along with its stripes as I wear striped tops so frequently. It only cost £15 and I got it in a size small so it fits nice and loosely. This top is unfortunately out of stock on the COS website so you might have to go into store for this one. They do have the yellow version online here as well as the navy version.

I finished this trip, with the reason it started, by heading to Zara to find this dress that I had been swooning over online. I'm so into cream dresses with tortoiseshell buttons at the moment and Zara have an incredible collection. After trying on a few button down midi dresses in some other shops and just not being able to find the right one, I had a good feeling about this one because the neckline and the sleeves are a little bit more interesting than some of the more shapeless ones I've tried on. I didn't actually try it on in store because, as you can probably imagine if you've ever been to the Liverpool store, the queues for the changing room were ridiculous. So I bit the bullet and paid £35 for the dress (I had £5 left on a Liverpool One voucher to put towards it) and I'm so glad I did because I feel so great in it and I now its going to be a real stand out piece for my summer holidays. I bought it in a size XS if you're interested.

Next is a piece that I actually bought a few weeks ago now (it might have even been at the end of April but I thought I'd include it in this post anyway). I'd spotted it on Instagram a couple of times and had been eyeing it up on the H&M website for a few weeks before deciding to go into store to try it on and buy it. To my delight when I arrived at the store, it had been reduced from £35 (the price I was expecting to pay for it) to £15, which is an absolute bargain because it feels as if it's good quality and blazers can often be pricey! Baby blue is one of my favourite colours to wear in the summer and I have got tons of wear out my grey check blazer so I thought it made sense to update it for summer. The blazer is still available to shop online here but it's unfortunately gone back up to full price- I obviously got really lucky!

I've been keeping my eye out for a new beach cover up for my upcoming holidays for a while now and I knew I wanted some kind of shirt. This one from H&M fits the bill perfectly. I bought it in a size 16 so it fits really oversized like a dress and I think it would actually look really nice one evening on holiday. It cost £12.99 which I think is pretty decent for a shirt that can be worn in so many different ways. You can shop it online here.

This one is a bit of an unusual piece for me because animal print isn't really my thing. But I saw the dress version of this top on the Topshop website and was leaning towards it for a while. When I went into store to try and find it though, I was told that they no longer stocked it, which I was a bit gutted about. I spotted (get it? spotted? leopard spots?) the top version and wasn't so sure about it on the hanger but it's really flattering on and I actually think the top will be much more versatile than the dress would have been. It's the perfect piece for a night out and can really elevate any outfit. It cost £19 and I got it in a petite size 8. You can shop it online here.

Moving on to & Other Stories, I had *a bit*of a spree in their Manchester store the other day. I absolutely love the brand and the store experience however I usually restrict myself from buying too much, or anything, because it is more expensive than your average high street store. But I really do think there's a reason for this- the clothes are great quality and trend-led but also have a sense of timelessness to them. Anyway, the first piece I picked up was this knitted black tank top with tortoiseshell buttons (if you can't tell I kind of have a thing for them). I tried a similar, more expensive, version on of this in Urban Outfitters but the quality wasn't nearly as good as this one, nor was the fit. I think I'll get a lot of wear out of this over summer, and maybe even layered up in the winter. It was £23 and I got a size 8 (I think- the European sizes in & Other Stories confuse me endlessly). It's available to buy here.

I also bought this white printed t-shirt which I was immediately drawn to because, as mentioned, baby blue is my favourite colour for summer and white t-shirts are something I get the most wear out of in the summer months. Of course, I couldn't be sure about this top till I knew what the French meant. But after a quick google translate to find out it meant 'Sunset Boulevard', I decided this was very cool and something I wouldn't be embarrassed to translate for people, which is good as it's never fun to be living in fear of someone asking what your the writing on your top means for it to be something cringe-worthy. Or even worse, you having no idea! So I've got my damage limitation sorted with this one. I also got it in a size 8 for the price of £23. Shop it here.

Then I bought ANOTHER striped top (although I did actually purchase this one before the COS piece- sorry for the lack of chronology within this post). You can't really tell in the photos but this one has navy stripes and it's a bit more slim fitting than some of the other ones I own so I thought it would be nice for more formal occasions. Plus, I really do wear striped tops so often that I could never have enough because there constantly in the washing pile. Again, in a size 8, costing £23. They have it available online here.

Moving on to this skirt of dreams!! I swooned over a similar skirt from & Other Stories last year but never picked it up because of the price tag. But this year, when I spotted this extremely similar one, I decided to go for it. With this classic print that will never go out of style because it isn't anything in particular and the on-trend tortoiseshell buttons (here I go again), it's really the perfect piece for summer in my opinion. Also, serendipitously, they didn't have my usual size, an 8, only a 10 but it fit perfectly, which I took as fate because I needed a bit of a push to hand over the £49 this skirt cost. They have most sizes available online here.

Last but not least, I ordered this bag, a little bit impulsively off ASOS. My current go-to black bag, a bucket bag from Zara, is being held together by sellotape at the moment so I've been keeping my eye out for a new one. This satchel style bag fit the bill perfectly- it's a great size, roomy but not annoying to carry around. Plus it has croc print and gold hardware, both of which I love. Buy it on ASOS here.

I hope this post hasn't inspired too many impulse purchases but if it has, let me know in the comments! Summer styling is my favourite and it's always the time I spend the most money on my clothes so I tend to let myself go a bit wild every so often. You'll see these pieces styled on my blog and Instagram over the next few weeks so keep an eye out for that!

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