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!

Wedding Outfit & Some Vintage Accessories

So my last post was about leaving my outfit's until the last minute.  Well I can report I am consistent, I did the same on Friday.  Three dresses hung in front of me, 1 hour left to leave the house......the navy French Connection dress won.  I wanted something fitted, not loose that day.  I am mostly a simple dresser, I like to keep it classic.  So I threw in my vintage pale pink Chanel handbag, painted my nails pink (Chanel again!) and wore my L.K.Bennett snakeskin heels for the first time.  I love that they cover the soles of their shoes so they are not scuffed until the first wear - genius for saving them for the owner not the shoppers in store.  I added several other accessories then removed them all and just added some sparkle with a necklace.

Not the best of shots, you will know by now I'm not the best in front of the camera

Bows on the back

In a slightly better light (but the end of the day!)

It deserved a seat all of it's own

I love the ruffle detail on the shoulders of this dress

My accessories

Whilst driving to the wedding I took this photo to send to my family as the necklace was my late Nan's (RIP Nana W) and it was the first time I've worn it.  It's not real diamonds but my Mum polished it up and boy does it sparkle.  The hubby said, 'I wonder if our grand-daughters will be sat here one day calling your New Look/Primark costume jewellery vintage'.  Good point.  I'm thinking that my Nan's was well made back in the day and probably cost more then what I spend on token trend jewellery now.  This piece was obviously made to last, it must be 50-60 years old.  But I do wonder, will our costume jewellery one day be classed as vintage?

So tonight I am trying to plan my outfit to the Next Blogger Network Workshop.  Bad weather has stumped any plans I had.  At the moment I think it will be my Converse (seriously, I don't know how I survived without them before) for the commute then a quick change to some court shoes with skinny jeans.  As I have spent all week-end on another project (below!) I've neglected devoting any proper thought to my outfit for tomorrow.

This week-end I've been mainly painting my lounge furniture!

So my brain is not in the 'planning outfit' stage.  I've given up and done what I know will work, paint my nails.....then the rest will follow.  I love red nails.  Would I advise this way round for outfits to my clients?  Absolutely not, that's what I'm there for!

Helen E Cosmetics base coat & my favourite red Chanel

Wish me luck braving the storm whilst trying to remain fashionable!

The Converse Have Arrived!

Decisions decisions!  So, all you Converse lovers out there, do they loosen up?  The grey are a 3.5 which is my normal size but my toe is pinching at the end.  The 4 currently feel more comfortable.  That aside, grey or animal?  Going with my 6 year old (who got the Timberland wedge shoes right from this post and they were returned), it's the animal ones all the way.  Her exact opinion; "Mummy I love them, you must keep them".  Are they to much?  In the flesh I was thinking I preferred the grey but looking back at these photos, I actually think the muted animal print aren't as loud as I thought.  

It's going to take some time to get used to thinking my feet look a little like flippers/clowns shoes!

Mmmmmm

Boring?

(excuse Lizzie the cat lurking in the background)

I am nearly there on the animal so long as they don't loosen up to much and become large, so please let me know how your's have worn!  Apart from my fab Converse find (these were £25 at office!) and a suede pair for my sister, not much else to report this week.  We thought we were done with the sickness bugs in this household but it appears not so it's been a dull week here.  I hope to get out more next week!  Oh saying that I did manage to see the pink Topshop coat in the flesh from my pink coat blog, it's not all it's cracked up to be.  Felt a little cheap and no warmth.  I wouldn't advise buying that one!

Converse + Sale = Ordered!

Well I did say in this post that I was reluctant to pay full price for them (and most things I might add) and a few weeks later?  They are now £25!  I couldn't remember what size I tried on and was dashing out of the house for school pick up when I saw they were reduced so it was left to fate.  By the time I came home there was only a 4 in the animal and 3.5 in the grey.  I decided against the blue as I wear a lot of blue denim jeans and I want them a different colour.   Check out Office as that is where I found them in the sale.  Will update once they've arrived and I've decided which pair.  Excited, my first pair of Converse!

I also managed to try on the Topshop Gwenda shoes I was raving about in this post.  Mmmmm.  Strangely the navy size 4 felt big yet the pink 4 were small and I did not like the toe cleavage.  So glad I managed to try them on as now I can knock them off my wish list.  I actually preferred the navy though, even when I seem to have a pink thing going on at the moment!

For anyone already considering the Christmas party frock (well done!) give French Connection's Ebay outlet a try here.  They have some amazing discounts.  I've ordered and returned things to them before and it's been no trouble.  There are some silk tops I am so tempted by but Converse were more important for my day to day living than a fancy silk top, so head over ruled heart today (I won't make this a habit).

French Connection Ebay Outlet £87 down to £25

And I will end with a little tip off, Grazia are having a sample sale from 11-13 October.  If you are in London and enjoy a designer bargain on two, pop along.  More information here.  I think I might just have to attend as I've never been to one of theirs before so in the name of research for you my lovely readers.......
PS I want that top above now even more, damn.

Converse Update and Some L'Occitane

It feels like ages since I've blogged but in the real world it's been just over a week and I have so many posts to share!  But I will start where I left off; Converse.  Thank you all for your comments on my post below, interestingly only a few were completely for Converse.  But they do seem to be a bit of a wardrobe staple I'm missing so I've tried them on.  I definitely liked the slim ones a lot more than the original.  Here are my finding's in pictures.

The 'Ct Lite Ox' Converse

The 'Dance Lace' Converse

The two styles I wanted to try, lined up next to each other

Quite a selection!

I ran out of time to try these on but I'm thinking the depth of the sole would be the same as the original Converse anyway.  However I thought I would share for any Vans fans - how cool is this collaboration!

So my conclusion is that it's definitely the 'Ct Lite Ox' style that work on me.  The 'Dance Lace' finished a little to low down on my foot for what I'm looking for.  However at £44.99 I can wait for them, I know they fit and the style I like but I begrudge paying full price for anything.  My research is done, when the price is right, they will be mine!  (Although I appear to have missed out on the dark grey for £20 on line!).  Just the colour left to decide, do I or don't I go wild......

I popped along to a L'Occitane shop in High Wycombe for an 'In Style' evening.  For £10 if the deal ever comes up again, I fully recommend it.  My friend and I each received a hand massage (there was also the choice of a facial) along with in depth, invaluable advice on all their products from the amazing Ali.  A glass of Rosé (or still lemonade - it was delicious), 15% off anything and a goody bag worth £50 made it a well worth while event.  I purchased some lavender roll on essential oil as I decided I definitely need more clam and relaxing smells in my life!  It feels so cool on the skin as well as therapeutic.

Just a few things in the goody bag!

It's on now and I'm relaxing and signing off!

My Converse Dilema

I love them, on other people but they've never suited my foot for some reason.  Am I alone here?  Since the school runs started two years ago I feel there is a gaping hole in my wardrobe for this style shoe.  I have some old Elle copy cat ones but they really are only bought out in desperation.  Ballet pumps, sandals, flips flops are all great for the runs but when it's wet I need something more but less than a boot.  Superga recently came to the fore front in the canvas trainer game but they too just look odd - it must be my feet!

However my friend introduced me to the slimmer version which I have seen on people but not really put two and two together and thought these may be my answer.  Has anyone got them - would you recommend?  I am yet to try them on my odd feet (there is actually a whole size difference in them, my friends find it very amusing that I have a short, fat left and a long, slim right foot) but I am hoping that they might just work.  Saying that, if they don't maybe my feet just aren't cut out for converse, don't they realise what they are missing?!?!

Animal print Superga

Fearne Cotton in her pink Superga's

And if you are a Converse/Superga fan - laces in or out?!

Nicole Richie in her black Converse