Autumn Style Picks

In what seems like a blink of an eye, summer has decided to make its way out. Yes, we might still have some sunshine, but instead of hot lunch breaks spent in the park, there's now a definite autumnal chill in the air.

Instead of mourning the loss of summer 2014 by mid-August, it means its officially OK to start planning, getting excited about and even purchasing some new autumn style essentials. Summer ending doesn't seem so bad now does it?

Here are a few items I'm lusting after for the approaching chilly months...

Parka - £70, Pull & Bear

Source: pullandbear.com

Personally I think the outfit the parka has been styled with in this picture kind of spoils it (fash ignorance maybe, but black socks with that skirt - really?), but believe me it is SO gorgeous. I tried it on in store on a recent trip to Westfield and the way the faux fur hood hugs your neck is just heavenly. Parkas are a timeless staple and at £70 a really reasonably priced investment. I can't wait to wear it.

Black ripped JAMIE jeans - £42, Topshop

Source: topshop.com

I can just hear my mum (and boyfriend!) shouting in my ear 'your knees will get cold!', but I'm all for a bit of impracticality when jeans look this good. Ripped jeans are massively 'in' for autumn, and I rarely buy them from anywhere other than Topshop, as they're great quality and fit my shape in a way a lot of other jeans don't. These ones are super tight but flattering, and have a bit of stretch in them which, let's face it, all of us need after one of mum's roast dinners! Teamed with some chunky boots and a big coat, these will take you from autumn through to winter.

Chunky heeled boots - £30, Boohoo.com

Source: boohoo.com

Just the sort of boots I'd be teaming with those ripped skinnies! Although they look quite high, the arch on these isn't too big, so would hopefully be comfortable for every day wear. Everyone enjoys having a bit of extra height, and at £30 it's confidence with only a small dent to your wallet.

Leather Jacket - £119.99, Mango

Source: mango.com

The price tag makes me wince a bit, but every girl needs a decent leather jacket. I lost my beloved Miss Selfridge faux leather number in a bar a couple of months back and have been on the hunt for a new one ever since. I'd never experienced love at first sight before, but with this Mango jacket, I think I now have. The leather is so soft and fits perfectly, I've now convinced myself that I NEED this jacket. It'll improve my life infinitely... right?

Paisley boyfriend shirt - £22.99, Missguided.co.uk

Source: missguided.co.uk

A vintage style, paisley print shirt livens up what is otherwise a fairly dark autumn wardrobe colour palette. Tucked into a pair of jeans paired with chunky boots, this works as gorgeous smart casual outfit both in and out of the office. And in a relaxed boyfriend style, it's perfect for lazy days and thrown over a pair of leggings.

Hope you enjoyed my picks, let me know if there's anything you're looking forward to wearing for autumn - I can't wait to wear all these!

-PB 

How to: make the most of a small room

I recently moved in to a new house with eight of my friends (I know, crazy, but I like company) and after drawing straws to decide who had which of the rooms, I ended drawing the shortest straw there was...

I moved in and my room was/is rather small. It still only had a bed in it with a desk supposedly still left to come. There was no way a desk was going to fit unless I wanted zero floor space so I decided to do without.

Instead of sulking about my matchbox compared to the spacious rooms downstairs, I picked up my heels and decided I just had to make the best of it. There had to be some way of making the room a nice place to be for the rest of my tenancy!

The first place I went for 'bedroom inspiration' (which also drew up some rather dodgy results, presumably for middle aged married couples looking to 'spice' things up) was Instagram of course. But after a few minutes it became apparent that most of the bedrooms in the search results were considerably bigger than mine is. If I couldn't rely on Instagram, I had to get a bit creative myself

A month or so later, here's what it looks like. It's still not exactly how I want it, and definitely not going to inspire much on Insta, but I thought I'd share a few tips for how to make the best of a small room, should you end up with one :-)

Tip number one: Smart storage

Cheap and cheerful plastic boxes available from Ikea, Wilko, Tesco etc.

Under-bed boxes and other mediums of storage now excite me far more than they should. A couple of boxes under your bed to keep toiletries, spare clothes, bed linen and any other odd bits frees up space in your wardrobe, which is pretty vital if you've got too many clothes/shoes like me!

Another investment that completely maximised my wardrobe space was this hanging clothes organiser from Ikea and matching collapsable boxes. Not only do they match my colour scheme, they also mean I can use the bottom shelves of my wardrobe for shoes, and putting my underwear & socks in the boxes instead of my bedside drawer means I've now got space for make up and other essentials.

Unfortunately I've never been one for folding things neatly...!

Sneak peek of my unimpressive underwear drawer - oo er

Tip number two: Choose a colour scheme

Several months ago if you'd said the phrase 'colour scheme' to me, a vision of a bored Stepford Wife agonising over a lampshade that didn't quite match the fuschia and orange bedspread would have sprung to mind. But picking one or two colours and sticking to them makes a small room far more pleasing to the eye than a big one that's paid no attention to the colour and decor. I chose pink and white (as you've probably already guessed), so most of the additions to my room (the laundry basket, bedside table, lamp and flower decoration) are all either white or pink and makes it feel much more unified.

Tip number three: Create a sense of space

The last thing you want in a tiny room is loads of clutter taking up valuable space, so keeping the room as tidy as possible makes it a much nicer to place to be (thank god for smart storage!).
As well as not cluttering the floors, keeping the decoration on the walls and other places to a minimum will makes the room seem much more spacious, especially if the walls are white. I'm quite lucky to be in an attic room with a velux window and lots of light, but I've currently only got one bit of wall decoration up (which I still need to mount, oops!). I've also bought a shelf from Ikea that I'm going to put on the wall nearest my bed when I get around to buying the right screws, which should hopefully make it a little less bare.

Hope you enjoyed this post! All of the furniture and little decorative additions are from Ikea, Wilkinson's or other supermarkets so all totally affordable if you're a student. Let me know if you have any tips yourself for making the most of a small room - I'd love to hear them.

-PB

Max it out...

I finally purchased a maxi skirt at the weekend, which is a bit of a change from my usual choice of leggings or jeans (adventurous I know) but I thought it'd be nice to wear over tights for winter.

Excuse the crappy selfie mode photos from my room, but as yet I don't feel confident enough to ask someone to take photos of my outfits for me! haha.

Anyway this is how I wore it the other day, hope you like it!

- PB x

Scrunchie - Urban Outfitters
Scarf -  Primark
Basic Tee - H&M

Maxi Skirt - H&M

Autumn Style/Beauty Favourites

My blog has been a bit neglected for the past month or so since I've been back at Uni; partially due to the fact I've only just got wifi in my house and i've been a bit preoccupied by going out and shopping with my maintenance loan.

This does however mean I've got a fair bit to write about in terms of what I have purchased/will purchase style and beauty-wise for Autumn! So here we go...

Beauty

Maybelline Browdrama Sculpting Brow Mascara

I've been looking for an alternative to an eyebrow pencil for a while because I find they don't last very long and sharpening them pretty much every day is quite annoying. So when Maybelline brought this out I had to give it a go. I found it quite hard to get used to at first, but once I got the hang of applying it properly it's a really quick and effective way of doing your brows. It's lasted me much longer than a pencil and I think it was around the same price, if not only slightly more expensive. 

Nail Paint by Barry M in Red Black (115)

As Autumn closes in I felt it was time to leave behind my beloved pastel brights from the summer and move towards darker colours, reminiscent of blackberries and such like growing around the place (very in touch with nature, me). Most of my nail colours are from Barry M so of course this was a natural choice; this colour is absolutely lovely after a couple of coats and i'm sure it makes my currently shorter nails look longer?! Could just be me but i'm happy...

Rimmel Stay Glossy Lip Gloss in Non-Stop Glamour (120)

When I bought this I was after a subtle lip gloss for every day wear; this colour is a pale pink with a slight sparkle that looks natural but gives my lips a much-needed shine. To top it all off it's nice and moisturising which is essential for my Vaseline-dependent lips! 

Impulse Body Spray in Sweet Smile

I used to think Impulse spray was something you got in secondary school before you could afford decent perfume, but I gave this a try because I wanted something I could chuck in my handbag on the go without having to carry around my expensive perfume. I'm pleased to say this scent is actually really nice and so handy when i'm out. I think it was something like 80p as well, so an absolute barg. 

Style

Topshop 'Mom' Jeans

These are my favourite style of jeans at the moment, despite the fact my mum keeps telling me she had a pair just like them when she was my age! They're really great to wear with chelsea boots and a tee tucked into them. 

Chelsea Boots

A decent pair of boots are a must have as the colder weather draws in. I got a lovely slightly heeled pair from River Island that look great, but aren't the most comfortable, so once I get some more money, I'm going to get a flatter cut out pair i've had my eye on from Deichmann.

Shirts and Jumpers

Obviously this can be taken as wearing them separately, but I really like the combination of wearing a shirt underneath a cosy jumper with the collar coming through and the buttons all done up. A cute necklace also goes well with this as well as collar chains. 

Midi/Maxi Skirts

Praise be for an Autumn trend that is both stylish and practical. Infinitely warmer than a mini skirt, these look really cool with a pair of heeled chelsea boots. But to avoid looking like you're going to work, dress it down with a baggy tee. 

Slogan Tees

I'm a big fan of oversized black/white tees with a cool slogan on. Urban Outfitters are a pretty safe bet  for these and look great with pretty much everything

Beanie Hats

Shamefully i've kind of been looking forward to the weather getting a bit colder so it's acceptable for me to start wearing my beanie hat that I bought in August (don't ask why). They can be combined with pretty much everything, but I'll be wearing mine with a midi skirt, baggy tee and leather jacket with a dark red lipstick. 

 

Bank Holiday Hair

Pretty self indulgent post but my hair fell quite nicely today without me really doing much to it. 

I just put some dry shampoo and L'Oreal Studio Salt Spray et voila! 

-PB 

Fishtail Plait - How to

I'm really not intending on making videos a regular thing, but I've had a few people asking me how to do fishtail plaits, and videoing how to do it seemed a lot easier than trying to explain it through pictures and words. Sorry about the the editing and if i'm confusing, doing it in the mirror image was quite difficult! But I hope i've explained things well enough for you to find it useful. 

If this doesn't work for you, there are some much better vids on youtube! 

-PB

Outfit Of The Day

Wee bit bored on a Sunday afternoon (my parents are out at a festival while i'm stuck at home babysitting 6 dogs, how's that for role reversal), so thought i'd do a little OOTD. Nothing particularly special, but I really love this top with fringe detail on the back, a total barg from TK Maxx where I don't usually shop. Scarf was probably about £1 from Primark years ago, teamed with standard leggings and my bargain boots that I got from some Brick Lane cockney geezers. Had a couple of strangers ask me where I got my necklace, which is only New Look - proper alternative... Lipstick is Rimmel Kate Moss in 107. 

Sorry for the lame pics, I don't own a decent camera with timed capture so Mac photobooth sufficed!

-PB

A Weekend around the Capital

A bit lost at London Bridge

I spent my weekend wandering around what felt like quite a lot of London; After going out on Friday night and spending most of Saturday hungover with my friend Ed in Watford, I made my way across to another pal Hannah who lives near Greenwich. A combination of part of the northern line being closed and my ineptitude with anything that involves a sense of direction got me a bit lost, but central London does look quite pretty at night time and it was actually quite funny working out where to go. I eventually got there (despite going too far on the 422 bus), and on Sunday Hannah took me up to Shoreditch for cocktails and shopping.

Cocktails at the Drunken Monkey 

We went first to a bar called the Drunken Monkey, which does half price cocktails all day Sunday and were some of the nicest i've ever had. If you ever go, i'd recommend the Strawberry Lemonade and Pigeon Rumba.

Next we walked over to Brick Lane, and like tru indie galZ we hit all the vintage shops and markets. It's an absolute treasure trove for good vintage garments and one off pieces; I find the disorder of some vintage stores quite annoying and I lose patience with finding the hidden gems (I also find some of it rather overpriced...) but a couple of places were really reasonable and I managed to pick up a great floral print shirt for £5! Hannah also got a couple of great shirts from an underground vintage market which I think were no more than £15 each.

Slightly pokey changing 'room' in the underground market

I also picked up some desert boots, which i've been after for a while. These were real suede and only £19, only made better by the fact they were sold to me by three hilarious cockney geezers, one of whom told me my shirt did nothing for me because it detracted from my 'piercing blue eyes' - apprentice worthy sales charm!

And finally, probably the funniest thing I saw all weekend (apart from a drunk woman in Watford who was talking to her flip flop...) - won't be stealing from Brick Lane market stalls!!

Perhaps a bit extreme...

-PB

Things I'm loving

Here are a few general fashion/beauty things i've been into recently...

Midi ring - Urban Outfitters, Blue Aztec ring - Claire's Accessories, Hearts ring - River Island

1. Rings - I've not always been a massive jewellery person. I definitely go through phases of wearing them, especially when i'm regularly doing sport I tend not to bother with the hassle of taking them all off. But with the summer upon us and sports season over for now, I thought i'd try my hand (har har) at wearing some rings. I really love the look of midi rings at the moment; they take a bit of getting used to at first but look really cute with a more colourful normal ring below them!

My battered old Nike Blazers... I think I got these from Office?

2. Trainers - I'm absolutely obsessed with wearing trainers at the moment. To be honest, if I have the choice of wearing them as opposed to heels on a night out I'll choose trainers every time, because they're just so comfy and I am completely over the pain of wearing 4 inchers! (Think i'm getting old). I have a gorgeous pair of hot pink Nike Blazers that I've worn to death, also a pair of blue vans that pretty much go with anything. I have my eye on a pair of amazing Nike Pre Montreals at the moment... watch this space.

Earrings - Topshop/Claire's Accessories (Ears look odd up close!)

3. Mismatched earrings - Why be limited to matching earrings in each ear eh? I think wearing different ones is really fun, i've also managed to put a dangly earring through the same hole with a stud already in...!

Body butter - Boots

4. Soap & Glory 'The Daily Smooth' body butter - this was a godsend after overdoing it a bit in the sun on holiday (whoops) and I have almost run out. It's not particularly cheap but it smells absolutely divine and has lasted me quite a long time.

My perfect foundation... - No7 at Boots

5. No7 Stay Perfect foundation - so after months of my mother telling me my foundation was either too dark or that I looked orange I decided to go to boots and get the strange cyber scanner put on my face and find out what colour foundation I should actually have (as much as it pains me to admit). Needless to say I was 'prescribed' a much lighter tone which actually matches my skin perfectly possibly for the first time in my life. It's really light and goes on very evenly, lasts a long time and has even got an SPF 15 in it which is an added bonus. Would definitely recommend giving No7 a whirl.