Monday 30 July 2012

Crow Wear



Daisy tee £16.99 - Crow Wear [link]
Necklace £12.99 - Crow Wear [link]
I just couldn't wait to post about my new stuff! Crow Wear are relatively new on the scene and contacted me about a sample and sent me a t-shirt and necklace.  The t-shirt (obviously) has a peace sign made of a daisy chain and is a really flattering fit, with pre rolled up sleeves and the fabric is ridiculously soft, so yes I'm so happy with it.  I also received a $100 bill necklace and wearing Benjamin Franklin round my neck pleases me somewhat.  It's like an antique silver and it's so intricately engraved.  The tee is just £16.99 and the necklace £12.99 so they're both cheap considering how awesome the quality is and Crow Wear's other designs are also fab and they do mens wear, so definitely check out their store here!
love amy x
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Sunday 29 July 2012

Sunday Summary Week 63

1/ Drew on my friend's wall   2/ Training it   3/ Bought my boyfriend a plug
4/ Bike ran out of battery   5/ Sleepy Tommy   6/ Cider ice lolly
7/ Midnight cowboy rides again   8/ Bitten legs   9/ Vintage cars
10/ Countyside dusk   12/ Electric bike errday   13/ Horrendous weather change

Overall this week I've had two events where we've stayed up all night - really not as fun as it sounds!  I've been working a lot more so hopefully I'll get a paid well at the end of next month, in time for Reading Festival!  The weather went a bit tits up today really, and it's really not fun cycling in it, the ride from the train station to my house really isn't that far and I got soaked, hope it gets sunny again soon!
love amy x
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Saturday 28 July 2012

Get an affordable (dupetastic) wardrobe!

Fashion Vouchers are hosting a competition on which blogger can create the best post about finding affordable online fashion finds and the prize is £300!  Enter the competition here, or read my entry below!

Boohoo
I've loved Boohoo for quite a while now as they're constantly bringing out new stuff and it's all cheap as chips! I've made a couple of orders in the past and I've been happy with the quality and prices.  Creepers have been absolutely everywhere lately and I own a black Underground pair which I bought at the beginning of this year for £80, then everywhere started doing them for under £30 and I can't believe I paid so much! I've recently really been loving the dalmatian print creepers and Boohoo do a great dupe for only £25, saving you £74!  There are also a few Wildfox inspired designs as well as some inspired by UNIF, specifically the Lexie cross tee, which I actually own myself, and that's just £10 instead of the regular £60 price tag.  Top brand-alikes for affordable prices!

Funky Divaa

I cannot tell you how long I've been lusting over a pair of Runway Dreamz shorts but there's no way I would ever pay over £100 just for some shredded fabric!  Thank heavens that Funky Divaa sell these gorgeous ombre studded shorts for just £15.  They're refined enough to look like they're from a shop and not amateur enough to look like you spilt bleach on your shorts and got them caught in a lawnmower.  They also look like they're a much more flattering cut, with the fabric on the bum being longer so your cheeks don't hang out like what happens with the god awful hotpants that appear to be so popular amongst young teens lately, no one needs to see that.

Olive

I really liked the hear/speak/see no evil skull tee when Zara first brought it out but I wasn't really willing to pay nearly £20 for a simple tee that wasn't even of exceptional quality.  However, then Olive Clothing came along and made a dupe with all three skulls on the front instead of two and one on the back, and they're only charging £7! I'm really lusting after this item but I'm waiting for a free shipping code or something as they charge £4 for UK delivery which is a little steep in my opinion!


Glamorous UK
I'm guessing quite a few of you may have heard of Glamorous' brilliant disco pant dupes [link] because they have literally been all over the blogosphere for a little while.  These babies can give you supermodel legs for £40 cheaper, and actually feature the button and zip closure as well as the pockets on the bum which many disco pant dupes do not have.  You can get them in the standard black, but also navy and a pewter grey too!  A couple of satisfied bloggers with the disco pant dupes are Kim and Becky.

Miss Rebel
I think most of you have to know about Black Milk's incredible clothing, printed leggings and the like, but the prices, at £50 with nearly £10 postage it's not exactly easy on the bank balance. Luckily Miss Rebel is at hand! At first I wasn't keen on the name as it sounds like a bit of a young teen try hard brand, but their clothes are great and so affordable, with a few Black Milk dupes that could save you over £45! They also do a pair of leggings similar to a Topshop pair that were out a while ago priced at £20.  The quality of Topshop has never been particularly spectacular so £20 isn't much of a reasonable price so never fear, Miss Rebel do a pair at just £6, so that's a saving of £14!

eBay

A bit of an obvious one, but eBay is literally bargain heaven.  Whether you're buying secondhand or new, there are always great buys going, especially shoes! I found a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Night Nail dupes on eBay for just £25 including postage, and I actually like how they fasten more than the real Jeffrey Campbell's as they actually just zip up at the back instead of a fiddle buckle, and I love the peep toe detail.  I do actually own a pair of the eBay dupes and I can tell you now they are absolutely worth every penny!

A Summary
- Altogether I have featured 10 pieces of clothing, and 10 dupes from 9 top websites and 6 dupe websites
- If you gave in and bought every piece of [original] clothing here straight up you would spend a whopping £650! (not including postage!)
- If you shop smart with my helpful tips, all this [dupe] clothing would be just £141
- Altogether that's a saving of £509 just by having a little more self-restraint and patience!
- You could buy all the dupes here four times over with the money the originals cost.
- That would mean that you would have 40 items of clothing for £650- Whereas if you didn't shop effectively, you would only have 10 items for £650

Hopefully I've put some perspective on online shopping by showing you some affordable websites, I find that even I was surprised by the statistics in the summary, that's a whole lot of money you could be spending if these affordable websites didn't exist, and just think if you used the rest of the money you don't spend on originals on dupes instead; you'd be swimming in bargainous clothes! So henceforth go my little pretties, save your hard earned money, don't give in to glorified t-shirts with ridiculous prices, be smart and shop safe!

More affordable clothing:
- OMG Fashion
- Superlooks
- Everything 5 Pounds
- Humbara

Swap Sites:
Yes, there are sites that exist where you can just swap your clothes for other clothes..for free! These sites include Big Wardrobe, Posh Swaps and CovertCandy but do be careful with these sites, sometimes there is a risk of getting swaplifted, which is when another person agrees to send you an item so you send yours to them, and they never send anything to you and then they drop all contact.  Swap sites are a great idea and an effective way to trade clothes of equal value but they can be a little untrustworthy.  A blogger that frequently uses swapping websites is Joelle and she has some great stuff so it's definitely worth considering!

Fashion Vouchers:
Be sure to always check out Fashion Vouchers before purchasing anything from online chain stores such as Urban Outfitters, Motel Rocks, Madam Rage and tons of others, because there will almost always be a discount code.  I actually bought something off Boohoo today using a code from Fashion Vouchers, saving me 10% on my order, so definitely keep this site bookmarked!

A couple of tips:
Mailing Lists - I'm subscribed to many online shop's mailing lists and I'm constantly getting discount codes and free shipping notifications, as well as trend updates and I often get early access to sales! It's definitely worth it and it's so easy to sign up as well, most websites have a box you can just submit your email into on their home page!

Student Discount -Remember, student discount is your friend!  The NUS card is definitely worth £11 as you save a load more than that eventually.  Even if you're not a student anymore, get in contact with someone that is, or even tweet to ask about it! There are countless times where people on my twitter dashboard have asked and I've tweeted it to them.  It's not like it's a secret thing so people will be more than happy to give out their NUS number.

Blog sales - I've picked up a good few bargains from blog sales, and often postage isn't very expensive either.  Cosmeticswise - don't be put off if the product has been used, as a lot of the time it will have only been swatched or used a couple of times, and lipsticks can always be cut and lipglosses cleaned.  Blog sales are basically a way of getting your favourite bloggers wardrobe for a fraction of the price!

Find potential - Hideous maxi dress in a size XXL which has a gorgeous pattern, could it be made into a summery playsuit and a skirt?  All items as hideous as they may be can always have potential, especially if you're a bit of a whizz on a sewing machine.  I once bought a velvet maxi dress and cut it into a tunic top and made the excess fabric from the bottom into a circle skirt which are super easy to make and totally on trend!
love amy x
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Friday 27 July 2012

Power & control



I can't believe I never posted any of these images before! I used a Nishika N8000 for my last photography project and created these moving images. I have yet to receive my grade but hopefully I'll do well! These images can only really be created easily with the Nishika N8000 as the camera actually has 4 lenses, which, when you press the shutter button, takes a 4 exposures, all from slightly different angles.  The camera was originally made to create 3D images, and you would send in your film to the company and they would send you back images you could see with the special 3d glasses.  This company is however no more and the camera which would have been around £500 back in it's day is now available for £20 on ebay! I developed my film and put together the images as a sequence gif on photoshop and these images are the results, what do you think?
love amy x
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Thursday 26 July 2012

LULUS.COM WISHLIST

                    
                   
          
          

[Click pictures for listings]
I recently stumbled across LULUS.COM and have absolutely fallen in love with their site! I've just put together a small selection of the things that most tickle my fancy, my favourites being 1, 11 and 12! I would definitely recommend taking a look at the site, and let me know if you have any favourites!
love amy x
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Wednesday 25 July 2012

Jewellery Storage


A random topic I know but I love seeing how different people store all their jewellery and accessories and have picked up a good few ideas from the internet and I thought I'd share some of my own ideas!

Firstly, I keep everything in my mirror cupboard in my room.  It's actually the mirror I take most of my outfit pictures on instagram with, but you wouldn't notice if you don't know so here's a couple of pictures! (1, 2)

Necklaces:
I hang all of my necklaces on a coat rack thing that I drilled into the back of the cupboard door myself, which I didn't really do very well as it sometimes falls off, but it's pretty easy to fix! I can't remember where the rack is from but I organise necklaces on it according to length so it's really good if I want to layer different lengths together!

Earrings:
The cupboard has shelves in it so I stapled a cute woven ribbon just below one of the shelves and the length goes along the whole of the cupboard, then I simply pierce the earrings through the ribbon and they all hang down! This means that the pairs are all together rather than fishing around a little bowl for ages trying to find a full set!

Rings:
I found an old Chanel storage box in my garage which I think may have been used to store a watch and just filled it with my rings.  It's not really the best storage as you still have to root through a ton of rings but it fits well on the shelf and the gold Chanel logo makes it prettier!

At the moment I'm still trying to think of a way to store all my hair garland things and sunglasses as they're all just dumped in a box, any ideas?  How do you store your jewellery?
love amy x
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Tuesday 24 July 2012

My REDROCK look!


Nike shredded tee - Redrock [link]
Bat knuckle ring - IRIDESCENT [link]
Rodman Spike Shoe - Jeffrey Campbell [link]
Flower Garland - Crown & Glory [link]
Jesus hologram sunglasses - Giant Vintage [link]
Tropicana shorts - Redrock [link]

If you've been a follower of my blog for a little while you'll know that I looove vintage clothing, and REDROCK supply the best kind of vintage clothing and they have a giveaway going, so naturally I have to enter! The competition rules are that you put together an outfit featuring one or more pieces of REDROCK clothing.  I think this outfit would be awesome firstly because it's got that 'sport chic' element which is so popular as the Olympics is nearly upon us, but it's still cool, almost like 'glam sport chic' haha.  This outfit would also be perfect with the amount of sun that England has been getting, and would also be rad to wear at a festival (if you're willing to get your Campbells a little muddy!).  If you would like to enter the competition you must via the REDROCK blog and the post is here.  The steps aren't very complicated and it was fun to make!
(ps. how awesome are the jesus hologram sunglasses?!)
love amy x
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Sunday 22 July 2012

Sunday Summary Week 62

1/ Rainbow silly band!   2/ New SheInside tee   3/ YSL Shocking Mascara
4/ Sooo beautifuuul   5/ I like trainz   6/ Good luck card from my baby bro
7/ Made Alex's hair pretty   8/ Macaroni came out the ice maker   9/ Hippie party!
10/ Twiggy makeup   11/ Snuggly Paddy   12/ Dad got me goodies from work
13/ The exerciseless bike   14/ Edible flowers!   15/ Pretty burger

I've had a pretty crappy week if I'm totally honest, this summer really isn't turning out how I expected.  I failed my driving test on Tuesday, my supposed friends have been bitchy to me and because of this I haven't seen anyone other than my boyfriend, who seems like the only person I can trust at the moment.  Hopefully things will get better soon.
love amy x
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Thursday 19 July 2012

WANT: asos


ASOS Double Spike Bracelet
- £6

Really loving the rose gold trend at the moment and this really floats the boat, especially with the precious metal being mixed with a punky twist, and how can you pass it up at just £6?!
love amy x
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Tuesday 17 July 2012

I'M ON THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS



Sunglasses - Camden
Denim vest - DIY
Back patch - While She Sleeps Merch
Tie dye dress - Miracle Eye
LOVE belt - Urban Outfitters
Bag - Charity shop
Snake arm cuff - vintage


Pretty long overdue, but this is the outfit that I wore to Lily's blogger picnic (post here) a couple of sundays ago.  I don't really wear this dress very much as it's a little long for me so is unflattering sometimes, and my mum's supposed to be shortening it a bit but she's taking ages to get round to it, so I just tucked up the dress into my belt!  I may not be as much a whizz on the sewing machine as my mum but I finally managed to sew my While She Sleeps back patch onto a denim vest I made a little while ago and I'm so happy with how it turned out and it's definitely made me a lot more confident with sewing machines, but not as much to trust myself to hem anything!
ps - how creepy are my legs in the second photo, one seems to have disappeared, freaky!
love amy x
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Monday 16 July 2012

Sunday Summary Week 61


1/ Braving the top tucked into disco pants!  2/ Posting off shorts from my shop  3/ Got ma nails did
4/ Cute yellow pub  5/ Appletiser, yummm  6/ Pink to lilac ombre lips
7/ Adorable popcorn packaging  8/ Boyfriend before Guilfest  9/ Cat managed to get on the pram
10/ Cidre is incredible  11/ Found some sequin leggings  12/ Chicken Katsu!

Not really that much to say in this post I'm afraid! I have my driving test tomorrow so all I've been doing these past few days is driving everywhere (which has been burning a hole in my bank account!) so I'm really hoping I pass.

Just wanted to mention that a blogger I used to follow called Rebecca has started a new blog and would definitely recommend checking out her blog Bandasaur here.  She's still starting out and you all must know how frustrating it is to get followers when you start with a clean slate, so please check it out!
love amy x
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WANT: Illustrated People

       

       

1 // 2 // 3 // 4

I'm really loving Illustrated people's clothing at the moment. The prints are all so simple so the tops would go with anything! I think the ice and rock digital prints are really cool as well, as the galaxy print trend is so overdone and in my opinion, out of fashion so simple, minimalistic colours are a nice change.  There's also a sale on at the moment so I would definitely check out the site!
love amy x
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Monday 9 July 2012

Sunday Summary Week 60

1/ Krispy Kreme date with the boy!  2/ Chocolate glaze donut, nom  3/ New dungarees  4/ Made a necklace, should I add to shop?
5/ Drop Dead case is back, Fifi broke ):  6/ Cool looking lipstick  7/ Freddie & guggie  8/ Lilac hair!

9/ So many prospectus'!  10/ Found an old crop top  11/ Alex's new kitty!  12/ Tom & 20 chicken nuggets
13/ Alex & Tommy  14/ Tommy & food  15/ Snuggly Tommy  16/ Sleepy Tommy
17/ Driving practise day!  18/ Freddie & babychino  19/ Naff/awesome South Park tax disc holder  20/ New topshop skirt
21/ Vintage shop  22/ Made bracelets  23/ Planning my outfit for a hippie party!  24/ Stained glass at college

Okay so I know there's a ridiculous amount of pictures of my boyfriends new cat in this summary but I couldn't filter them out, Tommy is too cute! I finish college tomorrow so I can finally enjoy summer, then I have my driving test in exactly a week which I am so nervous for! I'm so paranoid I won't pass because my manoeuvers aren't up to scratch as I haven't been able to practise them much in my new car, so wish me the best of luck!
love amy x
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Lily's Picnic!


Bit of a late post, but last sunday I went to Lily's birthday blogger meetup! I had an amazing time and brought along my friend Polly, who's pretty new to the blogging world so check out her blog! It was so lovely to meet new people, including obviously Lily, then Ella, Lyzi, Kim, Michelle and Camilla.  We went for a picnic in St James' Park with some yummy treats like cupcakes and sweeties, then when the weather started to turn bad we ventured into Fulvio & Mason which was beautiful, but everything was so amazing and expensive, I felt I couldn't touch any of it!  After that we went to a Boba bar for some boba tea which looks amazing, but really doesn't taste it.  It's like a japanese milkshake thing with jelly balls at the bottom and I got coconut.  It was a fun experience but they were so sickly and totally not worth around £4!  Next, me and Polly wanted to go to Camden so we split from the group and I bought a vintage dungarees from Rokit, and as is tradition, went to get some bang bang chicken!

Overall I had an awesome day and on the train home we came across the cutest little puppy, I couldn't not share a photo of it.  I have a ton of outfit photos so will post them in a separate post (:
love amy x
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