Showing posts with label festival. Show all posts

Oversized cream smock: my Duo challenge day time outfit..

I love a good challenge, my competitive instincts saw me crowned arm wrestling champion at my work do on Friday (I'm not going to lie, I am massively proud of my mad skillz) so when Duo challenged me to style up a pair of shoes for both day and night, I was super psyched. I chose the gorgeous black suede Hana ankle boots and couldn't have been more thrilled when they arrived. I have been looking for an alternative to my beloved Bertope ankle boots and these have plugged the gap wonderfully. Although the weather was absolutely miserable, I decided that the boots and my leather jacket would toughen up this oversized cream smock dress perfectly. I realised when I was uploading these photos that this could easily be one of those 'festival fashion' outfits but as you are unlikely to see me anywhere near a festival or a muddy field (especially not in these lovely boots!) I figure I can get away with it, right?! ;)

Jacket:  New Look, dress: French Connection, belt: New Look, boots: c/o Duo
French Connection always has an awesome sale and this beauty caught my eye immediately. I had been eyeing it up at full price so as soon as I saw it was reduced, I was thrilled. I sized up because their clothes usually run pretty small but the fit is pretty generous thanks to the smock shape. I should probably avoid any dress that has pannier-like hip details but it is so lovely I couldn't resist. I love the embroidery on it and the mesh details make it more interesting than your average sweet frock! I cinched it in with a belt here but it looks equally nice worn loose. If we ever get the summer heatwave we are promised I can see this dress becoming a staple in my wardrobe!


I love the little heel on these boots, at 5'4" (standing up very straight) I'm not exactly short but it's nice to have the option for a little height. Luckily these boots have a lower front which helps to minimise the stumpifying ability that all ankle boots possess - always a winner in my books! I have been wearing these boots quite a lot seeing as we have plunged back into cooler temperatures and although they are comfy, they have rubbed on the back of my legs. Not a massive deal but worth remembering if you are thinking of purchasing. I think this is probably more to do with my impatience rather than the shoes but oh well!


How would you style these boots for the daytime?

P.S. Duo sent me these boots to style up for this challenge, I can't wait to show you my nighttime outfit! 
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Kenilworth Festival...another family fun day...

It seems to becoming a housemate family tradition to do something every Sunday and this last week we went to the Kenilworth festival which is held every year in the town where we live. This year they had live music, various stalls and (my personal favourite) the farmer's market filled with gorgeous French, Italian and German food. 


This reminded me of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, it even had all the props!  


I think this was the "up and coming band This Modern Youth" but I couldn't see a name anywhere so after a little detective work on the festival website, and a checking of photos to see what the time was when we saw them I am guessing that this was who it was! (Please correct me if I'm wrong though!) I loved the couple of songs I heard and they have a bright future ahead of them by the sounds of things :)


A Nutella and cherry crepe, cooked fresh on a little stall. Seriously it was the messiest but yummiest treat ever. If I ever go to France I am going to eat gazillions of these yummy treats!


We visited  the park where it was held and managed to see our favourite little ducklings again...aren't they just the cutest?! 


Olives and garlic galore...absolute heaven! 


You can't really say no to freshly baked bread either! These baguettes smelt amazing and I almost cried when I walked away empty handed from this stall! 


I comforted myself with the cheese stall though. I promise you, smoked cheese on toast can make anything better, even revision blues... 



This soap stall smelt absolutely divine and I ended up buying rose, peach and hazelnut [it smells like Nutella!] flavoured soaps which smell so divine. They are currently on my shelf wrapped in a bag but I can still smell them from my desk, I can't wait to try them out properly...


Lovely bundles of lavender too...these smelt amazing!


Everyone loves sausages, right? I didn't get anything from here either but the chorizo smelt amazing! 


A giant profiterole with a mini one on top? Go on then! 


A lovely selection of dried nuts which again looked amazing! It was lovely to go to a festival where there were so many local people, of all ages, and we really had a lot of fun. I could have ended up spending a lot more money too, but in the end I restricted myself to a few choice purchases. I liked the fact that there was live music too, I think it was a lovely opportunity for local artists and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Do you ever go to local festivals? What would you have bought? 
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Whoever said Vintage was overrated...

...clearly hadn't been to Goodwood's vintage festival. Me and Maria were lucky enough to be invited along to this celebration of all things retro by the lovely ladies at Aussie and I have to say it only increased my love of vintage fashion, music and attitude. Maybe such a vast amount of vintageness isn't to everyone's taste, but I think I can speak for all of the group in saying we were all truly inspired by some of the wonderful outfits, hair, and confidence that went with them!

We were given a taste of the day to come when we hopped aboard a vintage [let's count how many times this word pops up in this post shall we?!] bus and made a delightfully rickety journey to the festival itself...


Hehee, bless the conductor in his dapper uniform! After getting a little over-excited about our super-cool wristbands [hologramic vintage watches dontchya know] we made our way through a fairy-lit forest to the entrance where, already having been set a task of spotting some fabulous hairstyles, we realised we'd have little problem finding some very glamorous hair-do's and outfits; there were afro's and bell-bottoms everywhere! See if you can spot the guy in matching red flares and jacket below... amazing!

This festival was great as it encompassed fashion, cars, music, food and whilst one minute you'd be rushing past an enviably stylish 8 year old, you'd quickly stumble upon a group of older ladies nattering away in their finest outfits- twas a truly eclectic mix.

After having a quick wander down the high street our stomachs decided it was lunch, and what better way to spend an hour than with Pimms, pasties and pictures! It was lovely to catch up with the Aussie girls, and have a good old chinwag with our fellow bloggers Lil and Jenny - check out their blogs for more on the day!
The sun even decided to show its face for a little while, and soon we were itching to get on with our hair-spotting task. There were literally tonnes of different hairstyles, from the classic to the downright wacky, but i'll keep those pics for a bumper hair post later on. Being the multi-taskers that we are [well, when it comes to shopping anyway] we managed to carry on hair-spotting whilst we had a mooch round the wonderful stalls and we both ended up buying a little something...oops! I grabbed this skirt and decided I was buying it whether it fit or not- the patterns just too nice! Lucky thing it did really :P
 Aaand it has pockets... for some reason, to me, this is an added bonus in skirts/dresses. Not that I use pockets...ever. But knowing they're there is somewhat reassuring; weird. Maria bought a beautiful pink coat which I'm sure she'll be posting about soon enough - they were both bargains! Sadly, we had to rush off after this to get our trains home, and we missed a visit to the torch club which was apparently fantastic - I vow to visit this place again next year and get the full experience.

I'm off for a BBQ now, and then it's childminding again tomorrow but i promise I'll be posting some yummy hair pictures up sometime this week; from the sleek and classy to weird and wacky so keep a look out!

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