Transitional Neon

Summer has officially left the building. However, I've been very pleased to note that neon (along with florals and, yes, monochrome!) has retained a firm grip on the high street rails this A/W - much as I love a good burgundy, you can't beat a shot of shocking pink for an instant mood uplift (something we surely need more and more often as the nights and clouds close in). 

So, I couldn't resist picking up this cropped waffle knit jumper in Forever 21 for a neon hit in chill-beating form! It's been invaluable during England's recent period of "between-seasons" schizoid weather, allowing me to carry on rocking my summer staples whilst avoiding the urge to smother my legs and midriff in additional layers for as long as possible! I'm sure I'll find a way to work it into my "deepest winter" wardrobe in due course, but, in honour of the passing of that brief window of opportunity during which knitwear/skin combos can be flaunted without risk of (a) heatstroke or (b) frostbite, here's how I've been wearing it over the last couple of weeks...

Tapestry Mini

Jumper: Forever 21, Skirt: Primark (Current), Shoes & Bag: Both Primark (Past Season)

Denim Dungarees

Jumper: As Above, Dungarees: New Look (Teens - See more of them here), Beanie: New Look + DIY, Shoes: Primark

Strawberries and Cream

Jumper: As Above, Skirt: Boohoo (See more of it here and here), Shoes: Marks & Spencer

Will you be rocking neon into winter?

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DIY Embellished Shirt Collar

If you follow me on Twitter, or live within a 5 mile radius, you may have borne witness to my outrage and despair on discovering that my dentist's orange putty had permanently damaged the collar of my beloved stripy shirt. Yes, it was from Primark, but it had the most perfect tailback boyfriend-style cut I'd ever encountered, and you know how attached I am to my monochrome stripes! Copious quantities of stain remover and much time spent scrubbing eventually succeeded in removing most of the errant orange pigments, but also began to fade the stripes themselves! OK, the final result wasn't that bad, but, since I still seethed with anger every time I looked at it (I did reclaim the cost, plus a little extra to compensate for my extreme distress, but, since the shirts were sold out, I couldn't buy a replacement), there was only one thing for it - DIY!

Yep, for the first time in nearly 2 years, I got out an actual needle and thread! I used the same eBay pearls and floral buttons as I did for my embellished sunglasses, but as they were actually intended to be used this time! I decided to go for an irregular cluster effect, polished off by 2 of the roses acting as "collar tips", and am rather pleased with the outcome... even if I did have to do some damage control on finding that I'd accidentally sewn the collar to the shirt on one side!! It adds an interesting feminine touch to the androgynous style, no?

Shirt and Jeans: Both Primark, Shoes: Boohoo

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Chocolate Afternoon Tea at Hilton Park Lane

For the concluding part of this year's birthday festivities, I made my way to the Podium Restaurant at the Park Lane Hilton to sample their much-feted chocolate afternoon tea, along with Mummy and Nana Muses, Uncle Roger, my cousins Martina and Mark and our family friend Peter (sadly, my BFF and Uncle Martin had to pull out due to illness/teething troubles). 

I decided to style a nu-vintage monochrome look around my new cropped eyelash jumper from Primark (yes, that one) for the occasion... It's soooo snuggly, although, on an unseasonably mild early October day, it caused me to swelter a little bit on the way there! The ensemble also provided the perfect canvas for my amazing new monochrome wedge shoes, discovered in the Dotty P's sale last week: comfort + style + absolutely no compromises = hurrah!

Top, Skirt, Blazer and Bag: All Primark, Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

As for the tea itself, although the surroundings weren't quite as elegant as at The Savoy (and we had to pour our own tea and place our own napkins in our laps - for shame!), the setting was great for a more casual bite. The individually plated open sandwiches (including my specially prepared veggie versions) were delish, and the warm scones (plain and chocolate chip), with choice of warmed chocolate spread or double cream and strawberry jam, were divine. Sadly, we weren't given enough "fancies" to be able to try one of each, but Martina and I got around this by, rather messily, cutting each treat on our stand in half! Not all were quite as exciting as the delicacies on offer at The Savoy, but the elderflower cupcake and milk chocolate cremeux deserve a special mention. For a chocolate tea, there wasn't quite as much chocolate as we expected, but most of us agreed that a bit of variety was a good thing, and the chocolate chip scones and co-ord spread alone made it worthy of the title!

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Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You...

You may or may not have noticed that I've been a bit quieter than usual lately - this is partly due to my furthering my thespian aspirations by going back to school (acting school, this time), and partly due to my partaking in various prosecco, tea and shopping-related festivities in honour of my 28th birthday. The first part means that I have committed myself to spending at least 2 days a week wearing black clothes in which I am happy to roll around on dirty floors if required (boo - it's not all corsets and crinolines, sadly). The second part, though, means I have lots of lovely new things to wear on the other 5 days, like this ridiculously cute pussycat skirt from my BFF, the latest bundle of joy to join my kitty clothing cache - yay! Here's to many more years of not acting or dressing like a grown-up.

Skirt: H&M, Shirt: Primark, Blazer c/o F&F, Shoes: Boohoo

Anyone else still a crazy cat lady?

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