Chasing Waterfalls

August 28, 2015September 4, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Black and white – simple, flattering and VERY easy to wear.
Waterfall jackets – simple, flattering and VERY easy to wear.
Hmmm, hang on, I’m starting to see a pattern here.

I’d been looking for a lightweight duster coat/longline jacket for a while and after a bit of shopping around I went for this great waterfall jacket from M&Co. Its a fantastic piece, well made, stylish and do easy to wear. Best of all its in the summer sale!

For sizing I am wearing a size 10 but it is available in sizes 8-20. With no fastenings its a free fit but is structured on the shoulders so go for your usual size. It flows beautifully and has sleeves you can roll up to 3/4 length and large patch pockets.
For a simple, chic look I’ve styled it today with a striped breton tee, wet look leggings and black wedge sandals. Its super flattering and looks as good with jeans or a dress…I really love it.

Oh and I accessorised with a cute vintage necklace…

Currently in the sale for £24 reduced from £35, find it instore now and grab yourself a bargain! Its a piece you’ll wear again and again and always feel great in! I’m loving wearing mine and it will be great transitional piece too as we go into Autumn.

Waterfall jackets are the perfect shape for all body types. My advice is get one in your wardrobe ASAP.

Jacket – M&Co
Necklace – vintage
T-shirt – Papaya at Matalan
Leggings – eBay
Sandals – New Look

Shoe shopping

August 12, 2015 | blueskygirlie

So, I’ve been doing a bit of shoe shopping…in fact I’ve bough six pairs this month! However being the bargain hunter I am they’ve all been in the summer sales in total I’ve only spent about £50. Cost per wear thats a bargain!!!

Want to know what I’ve bought and where?

Primark sandals – pink/navy £3 (was £6), aqua £3 (was £8), white platforms £5 (was £10). All instore at Primark. You can never have too many sandals and I love them to match my outfits.

F&F girls patent t-bar shoes (available in sizes 1-6) £5.50 (from £15). Available instore at Tescos or online here. Super cute and will be great for Autumn too to wear with opaque tights and dresses.

Baby pink Vans – £36 (from £60) these were from Littlewoods Direct and are now very low on stock but can be found at many Vans stockists. These are my first ever pair of Vans! Very comfortable and they are definitely drawing me away from my huge collection of Converse!

Peacocks red flats – £4 (from £10). I’ve been looking for some red shoes for a while and these cuties will look great with denim and for £4? I couldn’t say no!

Do you love a bit of shoe shopping too? Its even better if they are a bargain! Happy shopping in the summer sales!

Featured Friday Bloggers: A Blue Sky Girlie

July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 | blueskygirlie

This week I am thrilled to be featured as M&Co.s blogger of the week. Find my interview with them here…

http://blog.mandco.com/2015/07/24/featured-friday-bloggers-a-blue-sky-girlie/

This week’s Featured Friday blogger is Sarah from Always a Blue Sky Girl. We’ve spotted Sarah styling some of our pieces fabulously on her social channels and though it was time to find out a bit more…

Introduce us to your blog Sarah…

M&Co. multiway maxi dress

July 17, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

A little while ago I entered the M&Co. summer blogging competition on holiday style (read it here) and came runner up. As a prize I was asked to pick one of items I blogged for a gift and I chose the Petite multiway maxi dress.
I thought it was a very wearable dress for summer – today I style it up for wearing on holiday and give my review on it. So the details – this dress is part of the M&Co. Petite range and is currently in the summer sale reduced to £16 from £29. It is available in sizes 8-18. Its made from a lightweight, silky material with smocked elasticated waist and slightly blouson top which has a tightly elasticated top seam.

The dress has multiway straps (a bit like a bra) which means you can wear it with straps, strapless, as a halterneck or crossed over. The straps themselves were a little fiddly at first and hard to get into place but once set worked well (although I found the end hooks came out of the dress a couple of times which was a little annoying). However a bit like a multiway bra, practise made perfect and I soon got them how I wanted them!
I ended up with a size 12 after the 10 was too small across the bust and had to be returned. My advice is to go a size bigger than your normal size in M&Co. (which is usually quite generous) if you’re buying from the Petite range and are quite curvy. At 5’2″, the length was just skimming the floor with flat sandals on, which is how I like a maxi dress – this range is for 5’3″ or below and I’d say just right length wise.

I teamed it with my cropped white denim jacket bought from M&Co. last season and Accessorize camera novelty bag. A perfect look for a bit of holiday sightseeing maybe?
Pinned back wavy hair, red lipstick and my favourite lucky sixpence coin necklace (£1.50 from Primark!) completed the look. All in all, I found this a versatile dress and liked it particularly as the strapless version – after all who wants strap marks as part of your holiday tan!!!

Are you going away soon? Do you plan your outfits beforehand? Let me know what your summer holiday styling looks like.

Maxi dress – M&Co. Petite*
Denim jacket – M&Co.
Necklace – Primark
Bag – Accessorize
Sandals – New Look

Tell me about it, stud…

April 25, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

I do love a bit of detail in an outfit – a flash of metallic, a statement necklace or a great bit of embellishment. In the words of a vamped up Sandy in Grease…”tell me about it, stud…” and studs are what we have today!!!

Full outfit –

Styling details – pussy bow neckline, studded wide belt & statement shoes.

I also wore the bright purplely/plum lipstick I recently bought (and loved) from Poundlands new make-up Gallery range (blogged here). You’ve got to love a bit of make-up co-ordination!

Dress – Very.co.uk

Belt – Warehouse

Shoes – Fearne & Lily @ Dorothy Perkins

Lets hear it for coral!

April 1, 2015August 12, 2015 | blueskygirlie

The sun is shining and *sings* I’m feeling gooood!!! One of the best things for me as the weather warms up is the opportunity to wear more colour. I love bright colours and always feel confident and happy wearing them.

Todays outfit is all about the colour coral. Coral is a great colour to wear for Spring and Summer as it is bright but not over-powering, is super cute and feminine and is flattering to most skin tones. And here I am wearing a shirt, jumper & skirt combo embracing the hue.

I love a full skirt and this one with pockets from my favourite haunt Primark, is just perfect – and it’s so flattering. You put it on and feel like you should be in an episode of Mad Men, all cinched waist and shwoosy hemline. Plus it only cost me £5.00 in the sale!

I love to use a white shirt as a layering piece and think it adds a great preppy edge to what could be a ‘too pretty’ outfit. Make-up wise I wore the coral lipstick I got recently from Poundlands Make-Up Gallery (blogged here). I’m definitely loving their bright lipstick colours and its adds that extra pop of colour!

And finally, gold pointed flats from Matalan complete the look. Metallics are perfect with bright colour as wearing a dark shoe just looks odd. I’m not one for high heels so a pretty, pointed flat gives me a feminine look without the discomfort (pain is not good when you’ve got a school run to do!)

This is one of my favourite outfits I’ve styled so far this year and it got a lot of great feedback via Instagram (follow my feed here). So, what do you think about coral – hot or not? You know where I stand.

Shirt – Matalan

Jumper – Per Una @ M&S

Skirt – Primark

Shoes – Matalan

Top & Tail – 30th March 2015

March 30, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Todays mini blog capturing my head and feet look via Instagram photos. Follow my daily Instagram’s here.

“Channelling Wednesday Addams on a Monday”

Todays top look

Jumper with lace collar – Primark

Todays tail look

Faux leather skirt – Very.co.uk

200d tights – Matalan

Starstruck

March 27, 2015September 27, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Simple styling 101: Take one statement shirt (think bright prints or a strong pattern), mix in some plain jeans/shoes and finally add a vintage accessory to make your look unique. Voila, your look is complete!

Todays look is based around a fabulous star print H&M chiffon shirt. I love statement shirts as they are so easy to wear, practical and flattering. I do love this shirt…

I added a great 1980’s bow collar I own and cute flat shoes with gold toes. Adding the collar is a great way to make the blouse unique – you could make one yourself from ribbon or a scarf. I saw a stylist using a satin dressing gown belt to do the same a little while back.

Make-up wise I went for dark eyes and neutral but glossy lips. Winged eyeliner works great with the black jeans and shoes creating a great daytime ‘made-up’ look thats strong but not too OTT.

This look can be replicated again and again using shirts of different patterns and colours. Easy outfit building and no-one will ever twig youre basically wearing the same outfit again and again! We’ll just keep it our little secret…😉

Blouse – Divided @ H&M

Jeans – c/o Bonmarché*

Bow collar – vintage

Shoes – Store Twenty One

To Culotte or not to Culotte

March 18, 2015August 5, 2015 | blueskygirlie

Culottes are an odd thing – not a skirt and not a trouser. For me they remind me of being in 6th form where for the first time we didnt have to wear school uniform but as we were at a girls school we couldn’t wear trousers. Our way round it? Culottes! Every pair of Culottes in the south-east got found and bought by 16 year olds on a mission!

So are they a difficult wear? Well, to honest I’m a little undecided.

In todays outfit, I’m wearing a pair from BooHoo.com in a oversized dogtooth check print. Culottes sit quite wide and loose so a fitted and tucked in top balances out the look. They are flattering though, particularly if you are a hourglass or pear shape and this particular pair flare out really nicely with a fixed, wide waistband.

I co-ordinated it with a simple black polo neck. The print is quite overwhelming so simplicity is the way to go styling wise. Star earrings mimicking the dogtooth print and Atmosphere buckled platform flats complete the look.

All in all, I think culottes are really versatile piece of clothing to have in your wardrobe. Want to climb a wall? Go for it! Ready to dance a Can-Can? You’re set! Want to sit like a boy? Do it!