The New Leather Bag & A Gentle Reminder To Myself

I am only a little blog, I don't do this full time, it's purely a hobby that sits alongside my styling business and being a Mummy so I still get excited when I'm approached by a company to review a product.  It's a novelty that never wears off (and apologies in advance, for some reason they've come in a flurry so expect a few more over the coming weeks).  Mandy's Heaven contacted me to see if there was anything I fancied reviewing from their online store, naturally I went straight to the handbags.  I was even more excited that the one I homed in on was leather and made in Italy.  Result.

Sweater & Jeans; Topshop
Bag; Mandy's Heaven
Shoes; Timberland
Cat; My Own 

Unfortunately this bag is now out of stock but they have some other fabulous ones in, in particular this suede one that like mine, can be used as a clutch as well as a cross body bag.  It's also available in other colours.  Have a look here to see their collection.  

£32

So the little reminder to oneself - have you guessed it yet?  You know I always harp on about fibre compositions (check the Italian leather handbag reference?!?).  Well I haven't been 100% true to myself and bought two sweaters in the last 6 months from my beloved Topshop that I really shouldn't have.  I love this one I'm wearing in these photos but without planning it - I was thinking about the handbag close up, the picture below shows the true extent of buying a sweater that isn't made to last.  Insert a sulky face there if I could.  Now for some, they accept it, it doesn't bother them but me, I like my pennies to go a long way and pride myself on buying well made, stylish clothes to remain in my wardrobe for a good few years at least.  I got carried away with the sweatshirt trend and as you can see below, the jumper is now matted and not as fluffy as it was a few months ago.  It is made from 66% polyester, 22% cotton and 11 % viscose.  My other one is 76% polyester and 24% cotton. The cotton content was just not enough to stop them looking tatty in less than 6 months.  Such a shame.

I'm sorry Topshop, you are absolutely still one of my favourite shops on our High Street and I fully support you and all the hard work you do.  You provide on trend pieces for a wide variety of age groups, I just got this one wrong.  It wasn't pricey at under £30, I'm just a hard working Mummy not a frivolous teenager and I expect a lot for my buck.

Readers - don't ever say I'm not honest in my own little blog space on the World Wide Web!

The Timberland Bargain Boots

I popped to Bicester Village last week-end as the husband was in desperate need of some new Diesel jeans so after making him wait (we had been in London the day before shopping with his birthday pennies) until we got home we went late Saturday afternoon.  Just a side line - so much quieter there first and last thing for those who live pretty close to it.  We are only 10 miles away as we've now moved even closer than before!  I always go into Timberland when I'm there as I love their Earthkeeper range and their sales are good.  After having a quick chat with the sales lady she said she had something in mind for me and went off to get them (always great, friendly service in that store without fail). 

She came back with these suede boots which were £100 down to £19.99.  They were absolutely perfect!  I had an additional discount booklet (if you have AA breakdown cover you can get one!) so they worked out at £17.49 - wow!  I wear my Nike Thea's so much but felt like I wanted a little ankle support at times and more warmth, these have done the job brilliantly.  I wore them the very next day - a testament to how much they are going to work in my wardrobe if they've not sat there looking pretty for a week or more before being worn.

Perfect 'school run' shoes!

Coat; Miss Selfridge
Hat; Primark
Shoes; Timberland

They are called the 'Glastenbury' and are still available online here but unfortunately aren't as cheap as mine, they are £100 down to £50.  However after wearing them the best part of this week, I still think they would be worth the £50.  They have this secret wedge inside so also give you a little height - bonus!  They fit true to size, I am a 3.5 and that's what I bought.  

Tower London Breakfast

I spent a lovely Sunday morning the other week in North London with the crew at Tower London checking out there shoes.  What other way is there to spend a morning right?!?  Here's my round up of their latest offering with a great selection of brands.

Calvin Klein

The marmite Ugg!  Personally I still think there's a place for them, they are too comfy not to be in my wardrobe

If only my girls were with me!

Just a few Converse!

I LOVE Timberland boots, such a well made, sturdy, comfy shoe

Tommy Hilfiger, probably my favourite boot of the day

The French Connection suede and studded slipper were just as good in the flesh, honest

No collection would be complete without the Ash boot

For all the Birkenstock fans out there (I am a fan but they just don't work on my feet!)

My favourite colour was this green

Vivienne Westwood for Mel (for some reason, it's the baby powder smell that wins me over with these shoes!)

My error of the day were these Mel sandals.  Reduced to £21 - they would have gone perfectly with my dress for the beach wedding later this month, arrrrrgh!  Why wasn't my thinking cap on properly that day?  Back up to full price £33.99 and no small sizes left.  Booo!

I'm now a little obsessed with finding some Mel sandals - has anyone ever bought some?  Do they rub?  I am thinking in heat they may not be ideal but I really like them.....!

Dorothy Perkins has this one for £14, very tempted but I will await any reviews on them from you guys first!

(PS Just read that they are a Vegan friendly brand and the bride is a Vegan, I am thinking I should order them, are you seeing my logic here?!?!)

And now I'm just getting carried away - the Vegan bride needs these!

Timberland Discount

Happy Bank Holiday week-end my lovelies!  Use code FRIENDS30 for added discount in Timberland, ending tomorrow night.  It even works in the outlets!  Contact me if you need a voucher sent via email, they are very helpful in stores and accept seeing the email.

Some Jack Wills At Bicester Village & Topshop

I tend to go a few months without visiting Bicester Village, then I go several times very close together!  Today was kiddies shoes shopping time and my youngest was so pleased with hers that we only managed to get one off to swipe through the till!  The Timberland shoes from this post went back today.  When a 6 year old tells you they are 'Granny', then they need to go back to the store.  Good job as I found this lightweight cotton Ralph Lauren jumper for £25, bargain!  

Navy & Cream breton, can't go wrong with a breton!

From the previous visit I bagged this amazing junky cardi from Jack Wills, £129 down to £39.  Now even though it was a bargain, it's normally more than I would spend but I was fairly impulsive with it.  It must have been meant for me as I have worn it at least 5 times in the 9 days I've had it.  It cheers me up!  I've been wearing it with my animal ballet pumps as I like that they are trimmed with red so the cardi picks this colour out more.  

The colour on it is fantastic and comes down to nearly the length of the cardi

Such a fab knit, added a clashing animal print!

We finally have a Topshop in my town - woohoo!   It's so nice to see things in the flesh rather than online.  They have so much colour in at the moment.  But it's not over whelming, it's all wearable and also not high fashion.  Well done Toppers on your A/W collection!  Here are some of my favourites.

It's all about the knit!  Beautiful powder blue £36

A great simple cut dress £46

A brighter version of the blue

If I didn't already have a green Topshop dress, this would be mine.  My favourite loose style cut £45

And still on the coat obsession, I forgot to share this pink one I found in Bicester Village the other week.  It's from Ted Baker and was £289 down to £199.

Probably my favourite none pink coat at the moment is this one from Marks and Spencer £139.

Oh and just in case you weren't aware, 87 sleeps until Christmas and the shops are getting ready......

Marks & Spencer Shoes and their Sale!

I had a very interesting conversation with some lovely ladies last Saturday night whilst 'out on the town' - M&S shoes = your old (well something along those lines anyway!).  Myself and another lady were baffled at this shock announcement, as we both wear them and are actually huge advocates of them.  Their Autograpgh Insolia range is on a par with my love of Timberland's Earthkeepers range for comfort but better for style (and are also dare I say it, both above Ugg for comfort factor).  The following day I was dashing into an M&S for some urgent school ware for my eldest and literally grabbed these snapshots - um, not so fuddy duddy in my opinion?  Get yourselves in there ladies, your missing a trick!

Some of my favourite M&S Autograph shoes (both under £20 in the sale)

Another reason for this post - I literally got all excited about the email that arrived in my inbox tonight, their sale starts on line tomorrow at 8pm, in stores Tuesday.  So no one call me, no one Skype me, Twitter and Facebook will be ignored, I will be fighting the crashing of their systems as happens at their sale times.  And if any of these go into the sale, DO NOT purchase the size 3.5 - they are my wish list items this week!

Sales

Well what a busy week, not helped by us all coming down with a bug.  Just a quick post to remind you all to start keeping an eye out for the sales.  Gap, Kurt Geiger, TK Maxx, The Outnet, Timberland, H&M, French Connection, to name but a few have all started their sales/clearance.  If you can brave the shops, do, if not then hunt those bargains down on line.  

Some of my favourite sale items so far (and not bought, how good am I....yet...!);

Dune £75 down to £45

Timberland £135 down to £81

 

Gap £14.95 down to £5.99

H&M £12.99 down to £7

French Connection £275 down to £137.50

A Few Recent Outfits

I can not pose for toffee, my eyes are either shut, the picture is blurred, I move, I look drunk, I don't get the background right, the list goes on.  So bare with me whilst I try and master this like other bloggers seem to.  Honestly, the outfits looked better in the flesh (I am assured).

I went for an evening out to a used designer clothing sale at a pub, which gave me an excuse to don some heels instead of my usual flats for the school run.  I purchased these burgandy suede knee highs from New Look last Christmas.  Being heavily pregnant, I was insistent on buying them even if I wasn't going to wear them for a while.  Why was I so insistent - because they were £20 (and real suede!).  Love them!  They spruce up an outfit instantly.  Throw in my trusty (and also not worn so much due to the kiddies) McQueen scarf and a dash of perfume and I felt effortlessly chic and comfortable.  A little tip, if off to a clothing event/shopping, wear a vest or cami under your jumper.  If changing room queues are horrendous, you can whip off your jumper and at the least try on some tops.

Next I bring you my Gap jeans from my last post.  Now honestly, this outfit looked better in the flesh!  I teamed them with my H&M black vest top seen in this post and then woke it up a bit more with this fab yellow necklace, £2 from Primark.  The shoes are old Kurt Geiger.  This was a meal out outfit for my friends birthday, warm legs and a roomier top to accommodate some food, job done!

SMILE!!!!

Not an outfit as such, but a demonstration of my brilliant snow boots, I purchased them a while back and featured them in this blog, for the bargain price of.  I have never owned a pair before, but my they gripped the ground well for the school run.  I will say it again, buy investment pieces like this out of season when you see them reduced down to pittance.

Amazing Ebay deals - be quick!

Still not sorted out my pictures, so here are the links, be quick, selling fast!

Boden Waterfall Cardigan, 100% merino wool £20, was £59

French Connection black coat, 100% wool coat, £39.99, was £100

Womens Timberland Boots (only a size 6 left now!) £34.99, was £135

Follow this link for more Sunday Spectacular's, just picked the best 3!

PS Don't forget to log on through Nectar for extra points

PPS Anyone in London today, 20% off at Selfridges, and free parking on single yellow - get shopping, do me proud!

My Weekly Tesco Shop....

Ended up a little more exciting this week!  As 'A' woke up earlier than planned (my plan, not hers) from her nap, I ended up with a whole 30 minutes extra in Tesco, yes I know, I am a lucky lady.  Feeling a little a drift with this extra time, I of course made my way to the clothing section, for me, not the children!  Low and behold, a 10 minute changing room session later and I come out with 2 pairs of new trousers, and still a happy baby in tow.  Always reluctant to try on trousers, I am lazy when it comes to them as I find them hard to shop for, I forced myself with this added time to make the effort.  I still like to stick to darker colours for my bottom half, I tried some light green ones on but they just emphasized the parts I didn't want to.  So I chose these dark green soft trousers with zips up the ankles (£14), and these oiled like black ones (£16, which the husband hates!).  Both came in a shorter leg - well done Tesco!  I will model them at a later date for you!

 Off to London Fashion Weekend tomorrow and I can't wait.  I always have a great day out with my sister and we hopefully will discover a new brand for us to get our teeth into!

On a more 'Wintery' note, Timberland have just launched these.  For those of you who follow my blog, you will already know how I feel about their Earthkeeper range and these look so nice.  Will be looking out for a sale or discount code, £140 full price.