A couple more outfits, as strangely for me, there seems to be nothing interesting me at the moment in fashion.  Or rather, the only things I like are massively out of my price range, as the high street seems to be doing variations of the festival look, the things I wore as a teenager in the 90s and/or rips offs of Isabel Marant, a designer whose collections look increasingly like they actually come from the high street and ought to cost about a tenth of what they actually do.  But I digress.  My last few purchases have come from ebay, and they include a pair of stupidly cheap Chloe sandals about which I refuse to say any more lest I jinx myself and they're horrible/don't fit/get lost in the post, so secondhand is clearly the way forward. 

top- Pull & Bear, shorts- Oysho, shoes- CB Made in Italy

playsuit- Zara, shirt- Asos, boots- Dries van Noten

I've decided my favourite combinations involve bare legs/closed shoes and long sleeves, which is a bit unfortunate considering the temperatures are back up to about 30 degrees this week.  That, plus the fact that I found myself admiring jumpers on Asos makes me think a move back to the UK is definitely in order- actual summer clearly doesn't agree with me...

Also, despite my initial enthusiasm over the dungaree trend, they're actually proving near-impossible to actually wear.  The first time I wore them, I paired them with a t-shirt and ballet pumps and was told I looked like a 14-year old.  I've decided a smarter top and heels is a pre-requisite if I want to look anything close to my actual age.

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, fashion's been largely absent from my life as of late.  I placed a rather large Topshop order which got sent back in its entirety, the white ebay dress from a previous post was the wrong size and went back as well, and the weather briefly went straight from winter to high summer which left me at an utter loss as to what to wear.  But now the temperature's dropped a few degrees and, for the first time in ages, I wore a couple of outfits that I didn't actually hate, so I thought I'd share them (apologies once more for the terribly cameraphone quality)

left: blazer- Primark, top- H&M, trousers- Zara, bag- Massimo Dutti, shoes- Surface to Air. right: blazer- Topshop, t-shirt- H&M, shorts- Oysho, shoes- CB Made in Italy

The main conclusion I've reached lately is that my £8 Primark blazer bought no later than 2009 is the single best purchase I have ever made and I will cry when it finally dies.  I also don't know why it took me 4 years to purchase a second blazer, they add a much-needed smartness to my wardrobe, which at the moment consists almost entirely of basics.

And one successful purchase I did manage to make- this hat from H&M.  This is a big deal as I can never find hats to fit my ridiculously large head, so I'm incredibly pleased that Hennes do theirs in Small, Medium and Large.  So far I've managed to wear it to a birthday party which took place in a field.  My life is clearly very glamourous.   

New York State of Mind

As I'm looking for inspiration, thought I'd share this editorial from the May issue of Elle UK.  Dreamy 70s perfection.  

Now I feel the need to own culottes.  And a big, floppy hat. 

Grazia Italia

With the really sudden heatwave we're experiencing here, I'm utterly lost for what to wear, so this editorial from Grazia Italia was perfect inspiration- sheer, barely-there layers, lace and pale colours.  I'm determined this summer I will finally get out of my rut of wearing t-shirts, cotton vest tops and body con skirt or denim shorts...

source

 

I'm not normally one to try to attempt to copy catwalk looks, but I realised after winning these two on ebay earlier this week that, together, they remind me a lot of this look from Organic by John Patrick A/W 13:

Just add black eyeliner and white courts. 

MBFWA Street Style

Can I admit that Australian Fashion Week (or MBFWA as it's officially known) might just be my favourite of them all?  I seem to be minorly obsessed with Antipodean designers at the moment, and I keep adding Aussie and Kiwi fashion blogs to my favourites.  And as with any fashion week, it's the street style photos I go to first, rather than the catwalk shows (I've read both sides of the debate but I've always loved nothing more than seeing what real people are wearing, rather than models on a catwalk or in a glossy magazine editorial, so I'm all for the explosion in street style photography). 

Photos from style.com and Australian Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

 The first two photos are of the same girl, which makes me suspect I want to steal her entire wardrobe- even the Kenzo top, which I thought I was thoroughly sick of.  Apparently at the moment I'm loving the colour green, lots and lots of gold jewellery and daisy jumpers (also, pink sunglasses, I officially need a pair this season).

Trainer Lust

I've had the vague idea that it might be quite nice to buy a pair of trainers for a while now, but I could never quite commit to buying a pair- somehow I preferred to spend my money on more "interesting" shoes, all of which would leave me with bruised and battered feet after walking for hours in them.  Of course I do own two pairs of trainers- some low suede Pumas and a pair of cream low Converse.  Both were bought when I was still in my teens, which shows how infrequently I've worn them.  I think it's probably for the best I held off making a purchase though, because I've just seen preview images of the newest Liberty x Nike collaboration and I absolutely need to own these:

 

The rest of the collection is quite nice as well, and a change from the ditsy floral and pastels of previous collections:

Only thing I can't work out is how to buy them.  Some of the collection is available on the Office website, but it's not even mentioned on Liberty's site, so I'm assuming it hasn't been officially released.  I'll be checking obsessively though, as this is the first, and quite possibly last, time I've been obsessed with a sensible shoe.