International Womens Day 2016

March 8, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Something I wrote on Facebook earlier…

Today is International Women’s day.

Do we need it? Hmm, let me think for a minute. In my life every month via my social media I get unwanted advances and dick pics, at work I am called honey/darling etc and told how pretty I am despite being cleverer with a better career history than any of the men around me, in my life I have been the victim of sexual assault and each time I was made to feel I had ‘asked for it’ and I cant even go for a run without being beeped at by men in cars and lorries. Hey, skin tight lycra just asks for sexist cat calling, right?

It is still illegal to get an abortion without getting the permission of 2 doctors, our newspapers are full of topless or lingerie wearing pouting glamour models, porn showing violence to women (and loving it) is de rigueur, women are paid around 25% less than men in the same job and only 20% of FTSE250 companies board members are female.

Do we need it? We appear to be in a retrograde time – feminism as a cause is struggling to prevail having almost become a dirty word and womens rights across the globe have become more and more restricted.

So yes, yes we need it!

Whats your thoughts?

Sarah

My Limited Edition SS16 picks

March 2, 2016March 6, 2016 | blueskygirlie

I was in M&S the other day having a browse and as ever made my way to my favourite section, Limited Edition.

A fact about me – in my career as a stylist and visual merchandising manager I was part of the team at M&S who came up with the original brand concept (then Limited Collection) so it will always have a fond place in my heart.

The great thing about M&S and its ‘shop in shops’ is you can always find a sub-brand that you like and shop that area. For me Limited Edition is definitely ‘my brand’ – its trend led, stylish, aimed at a younger customer and always has an element of quirky styling that isn’t seen within the other M&S sub-brands.

In todays blog find my 5 favourite pieces all currently on sale in stores. Happy shopping!

Tie neck blouse – £29.50

This blouse is super pretty and perfect for dressing up or down. You’d need a camisole on underneath but I’d team it with skinny jeans or slim leg trousers and heels.

Shoulder bag – £38.00

I’m a sucker for a cartoon or fun reference and I love the mix of classic design and quirky detailing. Its a size that will hold everything and the nude and black colourway will never clash with what youre wearing.

Dungaree style jumpsuit – £49.50

Pinstripes – check, Navy fabric – check, Tie waist – check, Utility details – check. This jumpsuit has all the style points and will look so stylish through the Spring and beyond.

Flower necklace – £25

You can go wrong with a statement necklace and this oversized resin one would look perfect with a white skirt or t-shirt, white on white or to create a pop of colour over a bright top or dress.

Bomber jacket – £55.00

Bomber jackets are EVERYWHERE for SS16 and this is a more premium, feminine slant on the ones I’ve seen. The oriental style quilting definitely makes this look unique and its flattering and easy to wear – perfect!

What do you think? What are your picks for the new season? All products (plus lots more loveliness) available at M&S now – for the online range click here.

The future is now

February 23, 2016February 28, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Wearing white. Unless it is your wedding day it can have a lot of issues…Its typically a summer colour, it is one of the less flattering colours to wear (well it is the opposite of black!) and it marks easily. But…

…a white dress always looks cool and stylish! Dressing one for winter with a roll neck underneath and boots gives it a futuristic vibe which I’ve fully exploited in todays styling post. White is definitely is the colour to stand out in during the winter months and is great for looking a bit different.

The dress I’m wearing today is a Primark dress (last season but theres always tons of Primark on eBay) made from a thick quilted material with a half zip to the front. Although the quilting makes it a little bulky it also makes it very structured so it flares out beauifully at the waist (great if youre little and curvy like me). For size I am wearing the UK10 as it has some stretch to it.

Underneath I added a cotton roll neck, chain effect link necklace plus grey tights and boots. My futuristic look was complete! So do you think you’d give a white dress a go this winter?

Dress – Primark

Necklace – Primark

Tights – M&S

Boots – Store TwentyOne

Denim for the office

February 9, 2016February 28, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Being extremely fussy about fashion probably like many of you, I choose the gifts I want and put them on a wishlist for people to buy from if they want to.

I was lucky enough of receive quite a few of these this Christmas and todays outfit features two New Look items I received as gifts.

Denim dress – £24.99, ankle boots – £24.99, both New Look.

Denim is everywhere at the moment. I was reading the Metro on Friday and it had this spread…so at least I know I’m on trend!

The New Look dress is a really versatile piece – it has a button through front and D ring matching belt. The 100% cotton denim material is soft to the touch and has a slight stretch to it. It costs £24.99 and is available in store and online here. It is described as ‘slim fit’ and due to this I’d say the sizing comes up average/ slightly small – for comparison I am wearing the UK size 12 here.

To add some interest, instead of a necklace (which would of looked too fussy with its shirt style collar) I added a simple black neck tie tied in to a bow.

On my feet were my the ankle boots which are comfortable (they are from the wide fit range) but have a medium height heel and a soft pointed toe for a more formal look. They are now sold out but find similar here.
As this was a ‘in the office’ day my hair was blow dried wavy and my make-up was a simple base with a dark blue eye palette and neutral lipstick.

This dress is the perfect day dress to dress up for the office or down for the weekend…especially if you love denim but can’t wear jeans for work!

Dress – New Look
Necktie – Homemade
Tights – Primark
Boots – New Look

Creating my own Stairway to Heaven

February 3, 2016February 5, 2016 | blueskygirlie

As I have mentioned previously, we are currently revamping our house which will see us pretty much redo every room in our house bar the kitchen.

One of the first areas I have looked at is the hall, landing and stairs. When we moved in it was a pale green with no carpet and felt cold, was noisy and very dusty. All the doors were untreated wood and there were areas of architrave missing. I had wanted a striped stair carpet for some time but had only lived in homes where the carpets didnt need replacing so it was not to be. But now? Well, I had the perfect opportunity!

Over a couple of weeks I painted out the cold tone pale green walls into a warmer tone (a basic matt magnolia), re-glossed all the woodwork and primed and glossed all the doors. After quite a search, we found the carpet via SCS as I wanted a quirky, slightly uneven stripe rather than something too repetitive and formal. The brown tonal colours make the stripes stand out but not be too overpowering in this high footfall area.

With the bold carpet taking centre stage I then added some accessories to the window sills and some artwork to the walls –

A grouping of some of my collection of 1950s/1960s glass is presented on the hall window sill. Due to being overlooked I had to have a net curtain up (not one of my favourite things) so I went for a simple white voile…

And a huge vintage ‘Le Chat Noir’ print is one of the first things you see as you walk in…Upstairs, two large artworks dominate the top of the stairs, one being one of my favourite items I own – an original 1970 Geoffrey Leeson artwork of a Peacock. Two of my favourite ornaments, a pair of collectable Villeroy & Boch ‘Animal Park’ cats are placed on the smaller upstairs window sill as well.

I’m really happy with how its turned out! The first project of our new home is complete and I’m now working on the master bedroom…look out for my blog on it soon.

What home improvement have you been up to recently?

Dressing for the office

January 21, 2016March 24, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Business Dress.

Do those words fill you with dread or excite you into thinking up new smart outfit combinations?

I have just returned to an office environment after working freelance for the last few years and I have to say, I’m thoroughly enjoying dressing smartly each day. Here is five of my looks I’ve been wearing as featured via my Instagram…

Dress – BHS, Necklace – Primark. Jacket – Dorothy Perkins, Blouse H&M, Bow – home made, Trousers – Wallis, Boots – Next.

Pearl & sequin front jumper – George at Asda, Shirt – Matalan, Faux Leather skirt (just seen) – Dorothy Perkins.

Jumper – H&M, tassel necklace – New Look, Trousers – Monsoon.

Roll neck – M&Co., necklace – Topshop, Skirt – Monsoon.

Hey, lets make the office our fashion show!!!
Style tip: formal clothes can be expensive – look out for new or nearly new items in charity shops. The two Monsoon items seen in this blog were new samples bought in Cancer Research UK for less than £5 each. They still had the labels on!

To follow my Instagram for these sort of photos every day (plus a whole lot more) click here. Like these looks? Look out for more business dress inspiration blogs coming soon…

The thing I fell in love with this week

January 16, 2016January 16, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Lego mini-figure head storage: large £16.99, small £9.99 – Amazon (plus other retailers)Our house is Lego mad, its a fact, and I’ve been after some storage for it all for quite some time now. Luckily Father Christmas delivered my boys just the thing (thanks Amazon wish list!) and it is as stylish as it is practical! image via my Pinterest

I love a great piece of design and these heads are iconic. They also do a female version, an extra large shake and sorter, a skeleton and a pumpkin.

We now have 4 which will look great displayed within the white shelves in the boys bedroom when I redecorate (our house is still a work in progress) and I think we might get a couple of the oversized brick boxes as well, as although the heads hold quite a lot, we have a huge amount of Lego and its growing! And if nothing else they make a great photo opportunity! You just can’t help but be won over by them…

Studio Collection by Next

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 | blueskygirlie

Do you shop at Next? I have to be honest I don’t that much for clothing, but I have always liked their home and kids departments and often pop in for a quick browse. A few days ago a couple of images of their new home range came my way and I was bowled over. I love a bit of retro style and love the colour orange and their new Studio range seems to mix these two things with a great modern vibe (another thing I love – my home has to still feel contemporary).

Described as “well designed contemporary furniture, textiles and accessories in a contemporary colour scheme to create clear zones in modern open plan living” it looks great and today I share some of my favourite pieces. The full range is available online at Next here.

This has to be my favourite look of the collection – It feels modern yet at the same time a homage to the much coveted Mad Men style. The pops of bright orange and green work beautifully with the simple Logan sideboard (£325). The pair of prints by illustrator Budi Kwan (£40) are definitely a statement piece and I just love the orange leather chairs (£135 a pair) and that cast iron candleholder (£22) is a design that could be in your home forever.
Ooh, there’s those chairs again! The Logan round table (£175) is a great design – I love the look of dark walnut veneer against the black metal legs and again orange looks fabulous against it – that orange fruit bowl (£8) is almost too cool to use for fruit.

For modular choices the design of this Logan coffee table (£150) and stool set and the extending shelves (£275) are a brilliant way to define your different living zones as well as maximise your space. The upholstered cube stools that store underneath the table are £50 each and available in 3 colours so can be mix and matched and once extended the shelves can be used as a fantastic room divider.

I do love great lighting – when I was training as a window stylist at Harrods, one of the first lessons I was taught is light is the best prop you ever have. I can’t lie – that orange Orbit shade (£30) has made me swoon as well as the Good Vibes light box (£30) – groovy man…

If you love Orla Kiely but can’t justify the price tag, some parts of the collection are definitely reminiscent of some of her prints (but lets remember she is only referencing retro 1960’s patterns and designs anyway). This Retro Geo wallpaper (£15 a roll) for example would work great on a feature wall.

A stylish desk can be hard to find and this one (£250) could also be used as a dressing table in a bedroom…oh and there’s one of those cute stools again…in my favourite colour no less!

And talking of dressing tables, the retro style can continue in the bedroom too! This ‘Me & You’ reversible cushion (£8) is super cute, don’t you think? Especially against the geometric duvet cover. Best of all you’d never have to fight for your side of the bed again!I’d love to know if you love this range as much as I do! Its all available online and instore now – I think I feel a shopping trip coming on…

all photos – Next.co.uk

New Years Eve

January 7, 2016 | blueskygirlie

What did you get up to on New Years Eve?

We were lucky enough to be invited to two parties and split our time between family and friends and of course I took the opportunity to get dressed up!

What I wore –

I wanted a formal look that was a bit quirky and definitely sexy so went for a mix of underwear as outerwear and vintage! The skirt is an amazing vintage Frank Usher layered chiffon maxi skirt with a wired hem that makes it ‘swoosh’ out. Being vintage its fixed waistband was a tight fit on me even though the label said 14 – thats one of the things I hate about vintage…vain I know! But it certainly is a fabulous skirt. I teamed it with a black lace body with 3/4 length sleeves from the Secret Possessions range at Primark and a black satin underwear underneath.

Hair and make-up –

With it being NYE I went for a full face of make-up with Barry M smoky grey Dazzle Dust eyeshadow, highlighted with an amazing L’Oreal holographic silver shadow, black liquid eye liner and a wine coloured lip.

My hair was freshly washed in L’Oreal Paris Elvive Nutri-Gloss Crystal Sparkling Shampoo and conditioner (which gives a lovely shine) then dried while it was up in a loose bun to create full beachy waves. I pinned a few sections away from my face and finished with Ellnet hair spray.

Accessories –

As I was wearing such a dramatic skirt I went quite light on accessories wearing a pair of drop diamante earings and a novelty bag both from New Look. This chocolate bar clutch makes me smile whenever I use it!

And that was my New Years Eve look for 2015! I had a absolutely fabulous night and felt like a gothic princess which in my opinion, is not a bad thing to feel like! I hope you had fun too whatever you were doing.

Lace Body – Primark

Satin body (underwear) – Very.co.uk

Maxi skirt – Frank Usher (vintage)

Earrings – New Look

Clutch bag – New Look