OOTD // Gypsy Gurrl

    

(Excuse the poor quality photos and mucky mirror, shoulda cleaned it before hand!)

Bad news incoming... My Grandma sadly passed away last week, so I've had a terrible week and it didn't help that I was ill the next couple of days either! Grammy had an awful illness called Lewy Body Disease which is a form of dementia closely associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diease which I think affects the brain and the motor skills of the body so I suppose it's reassuring that she isn't suffering any more. 

When we were clearing out her house and sorting through her stuff, I got to check out loads of cute old photographs and I got to know a lot more info about my family history, I'm hopefully going to make a family tree for my mum, which will be really cool! I also managed to grab a couple of items from her wardrobe before we sieved through of what to bin and what to donate. This midi skirt being one of the items! I love this skirt, reminds me of my Grammy and I also love the length and flow to it, I definitely need to invest in some more skirts like this. Its a tad big around the waist so I've paired it with a brown belt to hold it up and one of my mums black tops. I really like the style of this black top, however its REALLY old and used to have a glitter flower on it, which is why I nicely included a boob shot in the photos for you ... lucky buggers, hehe. 

I actually didn't want to wear this with my converse but because I'm back at home for longer than I planned, I haven't got much stuff with me however they did the job nicely.

This was an ideal outfit to wear for David's band practice, something long enough to cover my legs sat down and comfy to wear. My new leather jacket made an appearance too, that's right I am now FINALLY an owner of a leather jacket, I don't know how I've managed without one until now.

If you follow me on instagram then you would have seen that the other day I purchased one of the new One Direction lipsticks ;) ooh get me. I will do a full post with my thoughts about it soon, here's a quick selfie showing you the colour of Harry's lipstick 'Be Mine'

Hope you've all had a better week than me! What do you think to my outfit?

Sugar and Style Introduction

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A while back, in March I (Charlotte) first mentioned China Doll Boutique. I actually did an outfit post for a competition they were holding, with the help of Tori we came up with this... I unfortunately didn't win, boo.
Here are a couple of our favourite items that we love from there current collection, our favourites are 1 and 4!

Since launching in September 2011 this up and coming London-based company have been featured in magazines such as Now, Glamour, Closer and even Vogue, just to name a few, and since March they have re-branded themselves, Sugar + Style!

We asked Nhuc Tran, the founder of Sugar + Style a couple of questions to give us more of an insight into what's been going on behind the scenes:

Tell us more about China Doll Boutique Sugar + Style (who are you and what do you love)?
Sugar + Style is an online boutique set up by myself Nhuc Tran. I started the company just under 2 years ago, before that I had my own fashion and beauty blog (China Doll Diary) and was working freelance for another fashion label. I'm very much a girly girl and I think that reflects a lot in the collection and in the way I run the business.

You've recently changed name to Sugar + Style, what made you change the name?
We made the change from China Doll Boutique to Sugar + Style in June 2013. I thought it was a good time to revamp the branding of the site - I'm always keen to reinvent ourselves and row and I felt there was only so far I could go with the name China Doll Boutique.

Where did the company start off? What made you want to open your own shop?
I set the company up in September 2011, at the time I was working for a few other small fashion labels, building their profile and launching them online. I was nearing the end of my 6 month contract and had the option to extend it, but I decided that instead of moving to another small label and setting them up, I would go ahead and set up my own brand up.
I was working on a very low budget and did pretty much everything myself, I remember finishing a 10 hour day at work and heading home to work all night on building and designing the website and working all weekends. It was hard working but it's starting to pay off, although it's stressful at times, I do really enjoy working for myself.

What can we expect in the future of Sugar + Style?
We're working hard on the new AW13 collection and it is going to be our best one so far (in my opinion!). We're also looking into hosting a number of pop up shops around the UK and running a few blogger collaborations...

Where can we get our hands on Sugar + Style?
You can find us online at www.sugarandstyle.co.uk or at our East London based Pop Up shop every Thurs-Sun. The address is 156 Brick Lane, London, E1 6RU


We totally suggest you check out Sugar + Style, even hop down to London to the Pop Up Store. We're definitely keeping our eyes open for there AW13 collection which we hope will be coming very very soon!

What is your favourite Sugar + Style item?

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Charlotte's June/July Buys

Since we had a mini break and I was going to do this post a while ago but I some reason didn't get round to actually doing the post so I've rounded up everything that I've bought/I've been bought in the past couple of months to share with you because I have managed to get some right bargains!

 Urban Outfitters- Jewellery Box £12 (was £26) 

 Urban Outfitter- Photo Frame £3 (was £6)

Before we moved house, I was just browsing facebook at stupid o'clock in the morning and the jewellery box that I fell in love with popped up on the side advertisement, shouting, I repeat, shouting at me saying it was now £12! I honestly nearly wee'd myself. I was going to buy this at full price which I'm very glad I didn't. So while I was about to purchase this beautiful wooden box, I decided to gander through the sale and saw this adorable Glitter Heart Photo Frame which was half price so I thought it would be cute to put a picture of me and David in it!  

I will show you more buys I got from Ikea for my new room in my New Bedroom Post which I will do shortly.

The Body Shop- Born Lippy £Free (£3) Strawberry Body Mist £5.60 (£7.50)

I saw a deal on one of the student money saver websites (definitely worth checking out, they are always updating brilliant offers and freebies) for a free Born Lippy Lip Balm from The Body Shop, I instantly printed off the slip and walked into the shop expected them to say its not valid or something. Oh how I went in on a good day. As soon as I walked in the shop I noticed that all of the Strawberry collection was on 25% off, that day only, and I LOVE the strawberry section in The Body Shop, saying that anything strawberry is brilliant. Anyway, I had already pre warned myself that I can not afford to buy anything, get the free lip balm and leave; but when I asked the guy if it was valid, he also told me that if you spend £5 or more today you get the membership card free (normally £5). I then couldn't resist to buy the Body Mist which was just over £5.60, I got the free lip balm in Toffee, which I slightly regret now, it doesn't smell/taste like toffee, and the membership card all for £3.75- not entirely sure how but I got another 10% off from the membership card (I know it doesn't add up but I'm not complaining). The Body Shop is my new favourite shop.

Matalan- Soon Collection 

Matalan- Soon Collection

Matalan

So me and mum had a lovely trip to Matalan a while ago now, and planned to get some new and correct size bras for myself because none of my bras actually fitted me. We obviously also had to have a look around the clothes before getting to the bra section. I must say, the bra rails in Matalan are terrible, I think I l knocked a good couple of bras off and looking for my size was impossible without 10 other bras coming off too. After knocking the majority of the bras off and hunting around the hundreds of styles, I only found a couple in my actual size- story of my life and we ended up only buying 1. While I was looking at bras, mum had wondered off into the Soon Collection, which I'd say is a collection for the more mature lady. There was a 3 for 2 offer on, mum had already picked out 2 items and said I could have the final item, I initially didn't think I would find anything, however I managed to spot both the blue dress and the white top up which I love the embroidery and beading on them both! I tried them both on and fell in love and mum luckily only liked 1 of her items, so she got me both, tehe. The blue dress I thought was a bit posh, but it was perfect for cocktails for my friends birthday. 

Mum also picked out this grey midi dress for me, which she really liked and thought it would hide my minging thighs perfectly, cheers mum. But I'm very grateful, at first I was a bit weary showing just half my calf (poet) but I love it! I've been dressing it up with flatforms and a gold chain.

I'm not actually sure how much these all where but thanks momma!

Primark Jumper- £3 (was £12)

Tori already has this jumper and I was totally jealous when she bought it, so when I saw it hanging on the Primark sale rail in my size, it was fate. I love the embroidery on it and I can't wait for the weather to get cooler so I can wear it, I would definitely melt if I wore it in this heat. 

 L'oreal Skin Perfection Purifying Micellar Solution- £2.49

I got this from Body Care after seeing Essie Button post about getting this. I thought I might try it as my current cleanser was running out, so far I'm not sure if I like this product; I may do a full review after I've used it a lot more because I'm still not certain about it. 

 Dorothy Perkins- £2 (was about £6.50 I think)

Dorothy Perkins- £2 (was £6.50)

Me, Tori and Charlotte McQ popped into DPs to see if they had any sensible work shoes for me, however we made it to the jewellery sale rail instead. I fell in love with both of these necklaces! The wishbone necklace came on cardboard with a dog printed on it, and it's my new favourite thing, I've worn it nearly everyday since buying it. I haven't actually worn the gold necklace yet, but it's going to look great when it's a bit cooler for me to wear with my shirts! 

Kurt Geiger in Debenhams- Bank of Mum- £25 (was £85)

Oh god, here they are! 

I got these not long ago for my birthday night out. Looking through Debenhams shoe collection and these were the only pair I could find that I liked. They're a size 8 and a tiny bit big on me so it took me a while to decide if I actually wanted them. I thankfully persuaded myself to get them and just got big memory foam insoles to make them fit perfectly, hooray for big feet! I actually didn't know these were Kurt Geigers until I actually bought them, mum bought them and for £25 I was bouncing for the rest of the day!

I have a couple more items that I need to photograph and it's kind of august now so I will do another post at the end of this month and show you more of my new buys without spamming you with them all at once.

Have you got any good bargains recently?

MONTH OF THE LEO // Charlotte's Birthday Wishlist

It's the month of the Leo! Finally summer has hit kinda and its time to celebrate both mine and Tori's birthdays, wooo!
So we thought we'd both do a birthday wishlist and show a couple of bits we are really loving at the moment.

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1. I love this Copious Cats Tee by These Folk, to be honest, I love the majority of their products especially this tee though, who wouldn't love a top covered with different types of cat?
2. Ever since me and Tori went for our Benefit makeover in debenhams (check out the post here), I've wanted to try some more of Benefit's products. Out of all the range, the majority of what I wanted to try is in this box, and for £26.50 I think thats such a good price even though they are all little samples of each products.
3. Valentina by Valentino is one of my favourite fragrances. The whole time I was working for The Fragrance Shop I didn't really realise how much I loved it, until I got a tester at a student lock in when I went to uni and since then i'm in love with it. It's just a bit too pricey
4. Despicable Me Minons are ADORBALE, me, Tori and Charlotte are all obsessed with them, and this phone case is just amazing. I also love these two cases 1 & 2, because well, cats!
5. A Daniel Wellington Classic York watch, this is a very ambitious wish but i'm in desperate need for a cute, brown strap, vintage style watch especially for when i'm at work!
6. I fell in love with these Chunky Buckle Sandals when Abby from Beauty and a Blogger posted them on instagram. I was going to buy these to wear with my birthday dress (from Tori, cutie) for my night out on Saturday but I went to buy them too late and they won't come in time :'( boo hoo! Even if I don't get these pair, I'm in MAJOR need of some new flat forms, my River Island ones have fallen apart so I need to get my hands on a new pair but I just can't find any that I think, bam you're mine!
7. Well because we've moved out of town and it's like a 25/30 min walk to uni/town now, I've asked Momma bear for a ladies bicycle so I can bike around Leeds like a lady... well, this is what i'm imagining anyway! I really hope that I actually will use it because it'll save me money and get me fitter, i'm just scared some nasty person will steal it :(
8. I'm still unsure if these Jelly shoes should be on my wishlist. I do really want a pair and so happy they are back in, but I don't know what colour I would get. I think either the colour on my wish list or a black pair as they will go with more outfits that I have, I also prefer the Jelly shoes without a heel.

Do you like anything on my wish list? Are you a fellow Leo too?

WE'RE BACK

Uh oh, we had a mini unintentional break, due to the lack of internet *sobs*

We have so much to catch up on so here it goes...

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First of all, we've moved houses! We are moving on from our first year of uni and leaving student accommodation. Which sucks as we are no longer in the centre of Leeds anymore so we've either spent a lot of time walking or spent a lot on taxi fares to and from town. On the upside, Charlotte doesn't live with minging girls in a disgusting, unhygienic flat anymore, woo!
We were very lucky getting our houses, we have a FAB landlord, who is literally amazing, she took Charlotte and Lucy (one of her housemates and bestfriend from home) to Dunelm Mill to get new wall art for their house and spent £90 on stuff for us. Both our houses are literally across the road from each other, so we're basically in the same house, sort of...pretty much.
Because we have just moved in, we didn't have any internet until yesterday which is why we've had a bit of a break. We will do a blog post soon showing you around our new rooms, give you all a sneak peek! Lets just say it will be like a episode of MTV cribs without the swimming pools and excessive amount of cars and rooms!

Charlotte had to resit a module (major boo). So spent a lot of the sunny days revising and burning outside, and then decided it was best to spend the last few days revising inside instead... Her tan lines on her boobs were hilarious :') emphasis on the 'were', where has Mr. Sunshine gone? Leeds has just been muggy and overcast AND WE'RE NOT DEALING WITH IT VERY WELL, everyone is constantly sweaty and it is not very nice.

Anyway, no news yet if Charlotte has passed her resit but we have high hopes that it went well. Fingers and toes are crossed. 

We've got jobs!! That's right, we've both got jobs! We are now officially working girls again. 

Charlotte managed to get 3 jobs in the space of a week... 3! And tori has got a job and an interview for 2 of the places where Charlotte works. We've got a couple shifts in August but they don't really properly start until September when Leeds' student life is mad again, so we're still going to be poor this summer! And we have already found out a perk of the job...drum role please... we will be working The Script gig! So we don't really mind getting payed to "watch" them, helllllloooooo Danny O'Donoghue.

We also have pen pals!
Well so far we've just been setup with pen pals by the lovely Ashley from Private School Prepster. When she posted back in June about wanting to arrange some girls together to be pen pals, we couldn't ignore it and emailed her straight away because we all love sending and receiving cute stationery!
Tori is paired with Sockwun from ExtraExtravagant and Charlotte is paired with Hannah from Raspberry Kitsch, definitely worth checking these girls out as they both have brilliant and very different blogs.

Charlotte had a date with her housemate, Charlotte (we'll call her Charlotte McQ to stop the confusion), as Charlotte McQ got free cinema tickets to see The Heat on Monday.

The film was absolutely hilarious, I've never actually laughed so much in the cinema before, like genuine laughing. It's definitely worth seeing when it comes out 31st July, you can totally tell that it's the same director of 'Bridesmaids', and if you thought that was good you'll definitely love this! Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy make such a good duo, I am 100% buying this when it gets released on DVD and may even go see it again on the opening night. How photoshopped does Melissa McCarthy's face look on the main promotion poster!?

Can't wait to show you around our new rooms! What have you got upto this past month?

p.s. Urban Outfitters has upto 70% sale on at the moment and with the code 'LASTCHANCE' you can get an extra 25% off! 95% say whaat? GO GO GO Offer ends 31st July.