Weekend Wear: Maxi a la Marion

I was going to call this post 'Baby's first Maxi', because this weekend was my first go at wearing a maxi-skirt. I never thought I'd ever wear a maxi skirt, it just isn't my usual style and I thought I would look like I was wearing a tent. In fact the only time I've worn a floor-length skirt was when I played Maid Marion in a (very improvised) short production of Robin Hood! However, over the last few months I've seen many a babe (be it friends, fellow bloggers or even celebrities I admire) rocking a floor-length skirt, which made me re-consider my stance.

When  experimenting with a new look, I don't like to break the bank (unless I'm positively certain I'm going to love it) and I'm sure many of you are the same! Cue one trip to Primark and a rummage on the racks and I came away with this fuchsia number. The range of colours was brilliant - cobalt blue, emerald green and even jewel-toned purple. In the end (as ever!), bright pink was the obvious choice and I could see myself teaming it with some of my Sonia Rykiel for H&M pieces to create a swoon-worthy pink and black ensemble.

This weekend, it was still too warm to crack out the Sonia knits so I wore my new pink maxi with a slouchy grey marl tee by Disney Couture. The top is decorated with symbols from Alice in Wonderland, which I found appropriate seeing as I had just fallen down the rabbit hole into maxiland! This top is an old favourite from one of my jaunts to Downtown Disney, I really could go wild in the shops there (So. Much. Cuteness). 

I accessorised this outfit with a Topshop flower crown and gold glittery Vans. I think everyone needs a sparkly pair of sneakers at some point in their life!

Wearing this style of skirt was definitely a kick out of my comfort zone, but any uncertainties were soon soothed when The Boy smiled and informed me that I looked "like a princess". Aww! Maid Marion, eat your heart out! I took the skirt out for a spin on Saturday afternoon and I must say I quite enjoyed it. I'm not leaving my skater dresses and circle skirts behind for it, but I could definitely be persuaded to wear it again sometime soon.

What did you wear this weekend? Are you rocking maxi skirts this Summer? Who is your favourite character from Robin Hood?

Thanks for reading!

If We Took a Holiday...

...it would be SO NICE! I must say, I agree with Madonna's logic on this one. Well, hello! I am back from my two-week holiday in sunny Florida and apart from a bit of jet-lag, I am feeling relaxed,  rested, refreshed and any other similar words beginning with 'R'. I thought I would post a quick round up of my holiday...

This year was our fifth trip to Florida and it was the best yet! The Boy and I spent a very happy fortnight exploring, shopping, eating and (of course) visiting Disney World. The weather was beautiful and the hotel (the Marriott Village in Lake Buena Vista) was wonderful.

We were based three-quarters of a mile from Downtown Disney which made "going to see The Mouse" (as the locals call it) as many times as we liked a skoosh. The parks themselves were quite quiet so there were no crazy long lines to get on the rides and we even got to meet a few of the characters since they weren't being bombarded with children all the time. Photo op! Disney World is still my favourite place on earth and it was amazing to be back.

Aside from the parks, we sampled lots of yummy things to eat - some highlights included lobster mac & cheese at House of Blues, Doritos Locos Tacos (a taco with the shell made from Doritos, so wrong and yet so right), being reunited with childhood favourites at Dunkin' Donuts and breakfasts so big I surprised myself. Unsurprisingly, in a lot of my holiday snaps I am never far away from the next plate of food...

And of course, there was the shopping! With HUGE malls, chain stores and designer outlets to choose from, Florida is full of excellent shopping destinations. I picked up a few cute dresses, two pairs of shoes, some goodies from Betsey Johnson and Tarina Tarantino (two of my very favourite designers) and a lot of make-up from both high(ish)-end retailer Sephora and drugstores like Walgreens and Wal-mart. I will post separately about my make-up product hauls so I can dissect them in detail for my fellow beauty junkies!  Like at home, I am a total bargain-hunter when I am on holiday and managed to get some really great discounts on everything from dresses to dinners! A lot of the outlet shops offered deals like buy-one-get-one-free or buy-one-get-one-50%-0ff so with vouchers and in-store deals I was able to get a lot of bang for my buck.

With temperatures in the high-80s and sometimes early-90s it was important to stay protected in such a strong, direct sun. As well as my usual SPF110 by Banana Boat for all over coverage I also used Neutrogena's Clear Face facial sunscreen in SPF55 which has an anti-breakout formula. This was the first time I'd used this product and I was very impressed. Normally due to applying a greasy sunblock to my face (even ones designed for facial protection, such as Boots' No7 facial sunscreen product) I am prone to a strong breakout on holiday, but this matte-drying formula from Neautrogena left my skin feeling nice and able to breathe. I didn't get a single zit on holiday and it did a great job of protecting my face too! It has earned a permanent spot (ho ho) in  my holiday kit.

It feels like it was over in a heartbeat now, but I can always enjoy the memories from this holiday - and start planning the next one! Now it's all about getting organised and back to Glasgow life (and temperatures - brr!) in my wee West End flat. I'm still catching up with what has been going on over here, in 'real life' and the bloggersphere. If there is anything you think I might enjoy reading up on please leave me a comment below! The West End Festival starts in a mere few days so there is a lot of excitement surrounding that. I will be out of Glasgow for the parade day (London calling...) but I will be posting a feature shortly on some of my top festival picks. Plus, it's officially summer now - hurrah!

Are you going on holiday this year? Are you excited about Summer? Do you like to bargain-hunt too?

Thanks for reading, it's good to be back!

Weekend Wear: Green & Black

Sadly this post is not about Green and Blacks chocolate (sorry if I got your hopes up),  instead it is about my colour combo of choice for what I wore this weekend. The Boy and I headed out to Bar Gumbo on Byres Road (full review to come) and I had a new green Topshop dress (£25 down to £12 in the sale) that was dying to be trotted out.

I have this dress in black as well and it is one of my most-worn, 'goes-with-everything' dresses. I wear the black dress on its own, layered under t-shirts and cardigans and with printed tights. It's a good wardrobe 'basic' of mine. The dress is a simple skater cut, with three-quarter length sleeves and a nice textured material which makes it that little bit more interesting. The material also has a little stretch to it which makes it ideal for going out for food too!  So when I seen the same one in green (a shade that I have decided should be called 'Christmas Green') and less than half price I snapped it up. The only thing about this dress is that it is a bit short, I definitely wouldn't go bare legged while wearing it but then again I don't really go bare legged anyway!

It was really nice and sunny this weekend so I let my Lanvin x H&M sunglasses see the light of day and wore my lightweight Betsey Johnson jacket (basically a fancy sweatshirt because it's made from soft jersey material) and Mickey Mouse printed tights from Primark. I bought these tights ages ago but hadn't worn them yet. Being a huge Disney fan (and patterned tights fan too), I love the subtle nod to Mickey Mouse and how wearable the print is.

I also wore jewellery by Bonnie Bling, Tatty Devine, Fossil and Thomas Sabo. After realising I had so many dark colours on (not intentional!) I added a splash of colour with my comic-book romance hair bow by Something Different - a fantastic local brand whose hair accessories are always cute and well-made.  Never one to shy away from bows (as if!) I also wore a black bow belt from River Island.

What did you wear this weekend? Did you rock some sunglasses? Do you ever make up names for colours?
 

Thanks for reading!

"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..."

A few months back, I blogged about MAC Cosmetics and Disney's upcoming collaboration, the aptly named Venomous Villains collection. The products were finally launched today and I managed to hot-foot it down to the newly refurbished MAC counter at Frasers to get a piece of the action. And I certainly was very glad that I did!

The first thing I noticed when approaching the store was the window decor. In honour of the new collection, Frasers have emblazoned their windows with huge tributes to the characters that inspire the collaboration - Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and The Evil Queen from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves:


All of these characters are ones that I grew up watching in the films and being the MAC (ahem) addict that I am, I was doubly excited to see the products, especially after reading the press release:

"A potion to poison, an apple to bite, a spell to cast… Bad never looked so good. A crystal ball of colour created from our favourite Disney Venomous Villains, inspired by the three most infamously frosty, fabulous and formidable of Disney’s dark ladies… and one dastardly Dr. Facilier. Don’t you love it?

A MAC and Disney collaboration to celebrate the dark side in every one of us, in a glamorous sort of way. Who’s the fairest one of all? Four separate mini-collections, in haute animated couture...Uniquely designed iconic packaging you will kill for, cunning characters and bedeviled beauties that are so alluring, you can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be one!"

The products themselves are very high quality and the nice packaging is a very welcome bonus. The collection is very extensive, with each character assigned a mini-collection so although it was tempting to buy almost everything I limited myself to five items. That was a struggle! This is my haul:


The nail polishes are by far my favourite items, the colour intensity is incredible - like petrol, the colour changes depending on the lighting. I must not be the only one that likes them - one of the colours has sold out already! I bought two nail polishes, a lipstick, a lipglass and an eyeshadow duo. It was a tough choice because most of the colours in the collection are very wearable.

It was also a pleasure to shop for the new collection in Frasers' shiny new MAC concession area. It's bigger (at least twice its original size), better laid-out and was very well-staffed. I was served almost instantly and a pleasant shopping experience will always get the thumbs-up from me. Bravo!

The collection be be viewed and purchased from the MAC website here, or you can browse in person at Frasers.

Will you be indulging in your dark side?