OOTD: spot of leopard

 It isn't very often that I truly want to write an outfit post. Why? Well, I don't think any blogger will be ashamed to say how much bloody effort goes into one. Firstly, you have to reaaalllllyyy plan what you're going to wear because, I don't know about you, but I love nothing better than to just shove on my comfies and be done with it.

Secondly, once you've selected your outfit you then have to find a place to shoot it. There is literally no blank walls in my house to photograph against so I have to improvise by taking off all of my coats and scarfs off the back of my door (I have tons, it takes forever) and then balance my camera on makeshift podiums to get the right height. There is also no good source of natural light, it's like living in a cave.

Thirdly, my face always looks a mess, which is why I'm always cutting it out. It is the outfit that counts though, right? 

However, it's sunny and quite warm out and i'm in a good mood so I don't mind going through all of the above to show off my outfit for today/ this evening where i'll be going out for a bite to eat with my parents. 

(But, i'm not taking the rubbish off my door. Sorry!)

What I love most about this outfit is that it all cost under £30, yay!

Cream collar blouse- Primark 

Black peplum sweater- Primark 

Light wash skinny jeggings- Urban Outfitters

Leopard print shoes- Primark 

Leather bag- Charity 

Green leopard earrings & ring- Unknown, gift

I love my knitted peplum so much because it's so easy and versatile to wear and I really think it's an item of clothing that everyone should have in their wardrobe as it gives curves whilst at the same time hiding anything you don't want the world to see. It's also a bonus that I only paid £3 for it in the Primark sale but I know that they also do cotton/ t shirt versions and also a more fancy formal version in lace cream and black. 

So, I am hoping you all have a lovely day and rest of the week :) 

Enjoy the sun whilst it lasts!

XXX

Outfit of the evening & Zucca Plymouth mini restuarant review

Hey guys, Sophie here J

I’ve been more ill this weekend than I think I've ever been in my life! I've ached all over, had the worst headache, my face felt like it had been punched repeatedly, my nose can no longer be used for breathing, etc. etc. So I’ve spent most of my weekend lying in the same position trying to keep living. Today I have finally summoned the strength to sit upright and type so I thought I’d come and do a little bit of blogging to cheer me up. I promise this post isn’t just a tale of woe, I’ve got a little outfit of the evening for you.

This was from a few weeks ago when my boyfriend and I had a little dinner date. Usually we’ll just go to the cinema or for a pub meal or a Nandos or something, so as we hadn’t done it in a while, we decided to go all out and really dress up and pick a nice place to stuff ourselves silly. As you may have guessed I did not pick appropriate attire for this.

My dress is from Warehouse and was a gift from my dad quite a while ago now. Warehouse may be my all time favourite place for occasion dresses – I would never spend hundreds of pounds on a dress and the Warehouse ones are still quite pricey but justifiably so for birthdays and such as they’re excellent quality and always feel so special. The one I’m wearing here is a silvery metallic grey, almost like a shiny gunmetal colour which is brilliant as metallics are always popping back on trend for most seasons. The neck and chest area is made up of dark embroidered beads (none of which have fallen off) on black lace, which is repeated around the waist, and there’s a bow at the back in the silver colour. Like most Warehouse dresses, it fits like a dream (at least it does before your 5 course meal!), it’s a lovely length and there’s a lovely scoop type thing going on at the back. I think every girl deserves a pretty, sparkly, go-to dress like this for when you want to feel extra special. As the dress was the star of the show I paired it with my very pretty (very high) nude wedges and matching nude clutch (on the piano seat) from New Look and kept jewellery to a minimum with a few bracelets, stud earrings and my watch.

I must apologise for the pictures here (or lack of). I did take loads but during the process of transferring them from my camera card to my laptop they got deleted by forces unknown L These are the only two that survived!

 

  My boyfriend donned a pair of dark brown suit trousers and a white shirt for the occasion, with some shoes and a grey tailored coat. We’d asked around our friends for recommendations on a good restaurant, I wanted to go to the Barbican which is one of my favourite parts of Plymouth. In the end we chose Zucca as a few people had good things to say about it. I’m not entirely sure whether Zucca is on the Barbican itself or the harbour next to it, but we sat by the window and had lovely views of the boats on the water regardless. The restaurant itself is very well presented, it’s quite snazzy looking but there’s a lovely atmosphere as the staff were so friendly. There weren’t many people in, just a few other tables and although I usually prefer restaurants to be a little busier, I don’t feel like this hurt the vibe at all. It also meant that the staff were extra attentive to us and we were never left with an empty glass or finished plate. The food was amazing, all really well presented and delicious, and the portions were huge! We ordered appetisers, starters, main courses and a desert not realising that they give you breads to start off with too, so we had gained about twice our body weights before we left and ended up taking most of our mains home with us. All in all we had such a lovely evening, we couldn’t fault the service at all and the food was delicious, I strongly recommend Zucca if you’re ever in Plymouth wondering where to go for a meal.

Click here for more information about Zucca and menus and such. 

 I think that’s all folks, thank you for reading! I was going to do a more detailed restaurant review but I didn’t know how interesting that would be and I forgot to take pictures of the food L (too busy eating it!) but I hoped you enjoyed reading anyway. Do let me know if you’ve been to any nice restaurants lately as we’re always looking for new places to go!

Love you lots

Sophie xxx

Outfit of the night - little black dress x

Happy New Year everyone!!

I'm back at my home in Plymouth now after one of the best Christmases ever in the West Midlands with my friends and family! I spent far too much time and money in Costa, at the pub, shopping, eating and drinking but I'm certainly not complaining - hope you all loved it as much as I did. 

 

 

 I'm also back at uni as of today, although I'm yet to get back into the swing of things as I think I spent more time asleep during my lectures than I did awake. Never a good start when you're sat directly infront of the lecturer and keep snorting yourself awake as your elbow slips off the desk... I also have deadlines this week and next (boo) but I thought I'd slip a cheeky outfit post in for you x

The flash caught my eyes in a really interesting way here(!) and no amount of editing will get rid of it, sorry! I also had my eyes closed in pretty much every single other picture I had taken, if you can ignore my face I think this one shows the shape of the dress quite well. I wore this outfit on New Year's Eve, not too in your face but you can't go wrong with a little black dress. Mine was £15 from Topshop a while ago, it has a vest style top, really tight on the waist and then flares out skater-style at the bottom, loved it so much I also have it in red.  I found this  one from Boohoo, pretty much exactly the same (although mine doesn't have a belt), even cheaper (£12!), and available in way too many colours to choose from. 

Maya Scoop Neck Skater Dress, £12, Boohoo.com

My shoes were a recent investment from New Look (£49.99), as discussed here. 

 These ones on the website are almost identical, though the heel is a bit different to mine and they've crept up to £64.99 :(

Blink Black Platform Lace Up Shoeboots, £64.99, New Look.

I was only off to my local pub so I didn't want to be over-dressed, I threw on a leather jacket similar to this one to relax it all a bit:

Kept my accessories simple with a rose gold watch from Michael Kors (21st birthday gift) and my lacy black clutch was also a gift.

Welllll thank you for reading, back to essay writing for me! Or maybe I should bake some cupcakes first, priorities.

 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Happy 2013!

I hope you have all had a wonderful New Years, whatever you decided to do for it (: 

New year is always the place to spend quality time with your nearest and dearest, and in my case I spent it with the rest of the Gough clan. It's not very often I get to see my cousin Abbi and my uncle and auntie (pretty much only twice a year!) so it was really lovely to welcome in 2013 with them. 

My uncle is a member of his local social club which were doing their own little do, complete with cheesy disco! It's been a while since I've been out for a good boogie so it was all good fun. 

I always find it a little difficult to dress for this ocassion because I don't want to overdress but I don't want to look like a bore, it's new years afterall! I kept it pretty plain with my trusted plain black t shirt from Primark (£2) and this black and gold fair skirt, also from Primark (£5)

  I really like this skirt, it's got an elasticated waist and is really soft to touch. It got printed gold flowers all over it (which shimmer) so It gave my otherwise pretty casual outfit, a more party like feel. I've found a couple of other alternatives that would also spice up your outfit.

Spend 

Gold Jacquard Skater Skirt- Miss Selfridge £35.00 £15.00

Splurge 

Flower Embroided Full Skirt- Topshop £40.00

I also wore plain black tights that you can pretty much buy anywhere, and nude/ gold studded heels. I also added some gold jewellry to co ordinate with the gold flowers on the skirt, and a light quilted black clutch bag with cream and gold brooch.

Just a re-cap!
- Long Sleeve, Plain Black T Shirt- Primark £2.00
- Black & Gold Flowered Skater Skirt- Primark £5.00
- Light Brown Stud Back Heels- New Look- A gift, however the stud back wedges  are £29.99 and the stud back platform shoe boots are also £29.99 
- Black and Gold Detail Clutch Bag- Primark , also a gift but to my knowledge is £6.00 

XXX

   

outfit of the night (casual)

I've been going out quite a bit recently, making the most of my time at home in Sedgley before heading back to Plymouth for the next term of uni! Me and Jenn have been shopping like lunatics this week, so check back for reviews on what we got! Here I am last night ready to go for a few casual drinks at my local pub:

Coat: £10, New Look sale, shoes: £49.99, New Look, Jeans: £20, Miss Selfridge sale

I am in love with this beautiful boyfriend style coat that I spotted (okay Jenn spotted) in the New Look sale! It's a size 12 but I think the fit on me is just right as I like things like coats to be a little baggy. 

It was originally £49.99 but on sale for £10! Runnnn to your nearest New Look because this was the last one left in the store I was in, but look at these beautiful alternatives I have found you... Click the pictures!

Burgundy Melton coat, £20, down from £49.99, New Look website.

Black notch collar Melton coat, £22 down from £49.99, New Look website.

Because the coat has such a masculine fit, I put it with the skinniest high waist jeans from Miss Selfridge, £20 in their sale a while ago but there are some similar ones in darker colours on sale here.

 My shoes are also new, from New Look again but sadly not on sale. They were £49.99 which is more than I would usually spend on shoes, but they are real suede and so gorgeous. They remind me a lot of Jeffery Campbell Litas, they have a similar shape and style but without the huge platform (or price tag!!). 

Jeffrey Campbell Lita black platform ankle boot in suede, £120 from Office.

My New Look alternatives, £49.99

I wore a sheer chiffon top with cutout back for a bit of a feminine touch, with a black New Look bralet underneath. 

And my lacy black clutch bag was a gift :)

Happy shopping!

Sophie x