A 60's Vibe

Hello all!

So I've been pretty busy lately, and I figured what better way to catch up than to do a quick post about all the stuff I've picked up!

I spent the last week in Manchester with my boyfriend and his family, and although the weather wasn't great it was still a really nice trip. We visited the Trafford Centre a couple of times and to my surprise, they had a Forever 21! I love Forever 21 but living down in the South West means that there isn't one within my vicinity and I've only ever been in their stores in London and New York.

They had a really awesome sale on - everything in the store was buy one get one free, so I took full advantage of that! I bought 3 plain bodycon dresses, one in black, one grey and one red. And as I had an extra product free I asked my boyfriend to pick something for me.

As I always wear black he was determined to find me something that was a different colour, so in order to 'ease' me in to colour (ha!) he found me this white blouse. It's long and floaty, and the concealed buttons are a nice touch. I think it's got a bit of a minimal, 60's vibe which is perfect for this season. I think it's also smart enough to wear to job interviews which will definitely come in handy!

I also found that my hair curlers broke last month. That was pretty annoying as I really liked the ones I had (for the record, they were Remington. It was some kind of clipless model).

This meant that I had to invest in a new model, so I decided to go for a Babyliss one, as I've always had good experiences with their products (I have their Deep Waver, it's fantastic) and they are fairly inexpensive. I spent £17.99 on this one from Amazon.

So far, I haven't been able to get that familiar with it but I like the multi heat setting and the rotating cord. My only real bummer about it is that the clip itself gets really hot too, and it's pretty easy for your finger to slip from the safe black plastic bit onto the scalding hot ceramic - ouch!

I also needed some new heat protectant and hairspray, so I picked these up in Boots for a 2 for £4 deal. The deal was great, as it was almost a 50% saving and they're working really well for me. The hairspray is fantastic, it holds well and I love the matt finish. It's perfect for second day hair as the mattifying effect gives an anti-greasy illusion.

Finally, today I picked up these babies from - can you believe - Sainsburys! I've been on the hunt for a pair of patent, 60's inspired boots for ages and these fit the bill just perfectly. Originally I was looking at knee high gogo boots but these are way more casual.

They remind me of the YSL boots I love so much, and they were only a fraction of the price at £25.

I had to picture them with my Rubix cube (given to me by the boyfriend's grandad) just to emphasise that 60's feel!




Have you been shopping lately? Picked up anything good? Let me know in the comments!

 - Alice x x x

PS: If you fancy checking out a new project of mine, I'm starting to do some t-shirt designs on Teespring - if you wanna take a look, maybe even purchase one, click here to see my first design!

Holiday Packing!

Hey all!

So I'm off to Mallorca on Saturday, and I figured I'd share with you some of the stuff that's going in my suitcase. I'll be there for 7 days so I would imagine I'll add a few more essentials before I go, but these are the main items I will be needing. Hopefully this can inspire anyone who's also going on holiday soon!

So first off I pack my absolute essentials. I always like to start with the things I can't live without so that I know I'm not going to forget anything important.

Most importantly: my passport! I freak out at even the thought of forgetting my passport, so it was the first thing I laid out on my bed ready to pack. Mine has an 'A' drawn on it in biro, so my dad could tell mine and my brother's apart more quickly when we were younger (fun fact!)

The second most important things are suncream and sunglasses so that my skin and my eyes are protected. I'm extremely pale so I know that I'll burn really easily. I watched a Pixiwoo video a few days ago where Nic said that you should use 2 tablespoons per application - useful to know!
I also find that my eyes get sunburnt. Yes, my eyes. They feel dry and scratchy and go red in the whites, I'm not kidding. I've had these sunglasses for ages and I think I got them from New Look.

I also added in my swimming costumes, a cute top I got from the H&M Coachella collection and some hair ties. I always seem to forget hair ties and they're one of the most important things!

Next I got together my kimonos. I love kimonos, and they're just perfect for summer. You may remember the green one from my shopping haul the other day, and the grey one I've had for awhile now. I wear the grey one on nights out all the time and it's probably my favourite item of clothing. It fits in my little nightclub bag perfectly, which saves me on cloakroom fees!

Ok, apologies. I don't really iron my cotton clothes. The wrinkles come out when I wear them so I've never bothered, but now I realise how bad they look in this picture - ha!

These are just a couple of black essentials. A black t-shirt and a plain black dress. These are both super old but I consider them to be my core pieces in my wardrobe.

Last for clothing items was my shorts. I wear these Nike shorts a lot when I hang around the house. I did buy them for the gym but they're super super short and ride up my butt when I walk around a lot so I don't think they're all that practical for exercise. They're really comfy though and I think I'll use them as pyjama shorts when I'm away. The floral shorts were also from my summer haul.

I got the sparkly shorts from the kids section of TK Maxx. I think they're age 15 or something, but because they're quite stretchy they fit me just fine. These will be nice if I fancy a change from wearing black all day.

Lastly I got together my shoes. I bought the plimsoles and sandals only the other day because I don't really own summer shoes. I wore the heels on a night out last weekend and they were super comfortable. Like, surprisingly so.  You can see where my toes have shaped the sole a little, which shows just how pillowy they are.
I'm going to bring my Nike Air Force sneakers because they're the comfiest shoes I own and they'll be great for walking around all day sightseeing. They're also a bit of a statement, and they'll probably sparkle loads in the sun!


Are any of you going on holiday this year? Let me know in the comments!

 - Alice x x x

Shopping Haul!

Hi guys!

So I'm off to Mallorca on the 4th July (which is soooo soon, I'm very excited) and I needed to go shopping. Big time. My wardrobe consists of black, black, more black and absolutely nothing summery whatsoever. So today I stepped out and went on a well needed shopping trip with my girlies and picked up a few things!



 First stop: Primark. Ok, I know it's not high fashion or anything, but money is pretty tight right now (I'm what you call 'in between jobs' at the moment - ha!) so I needed some clothing that was pretty, and also pretty cheap.

I stumbled upon this kimono and I LOVE it. The only ones left were in size XL but I tried it on and the massiveness isn't that bad. I feel like a wise old shaman in it or something. The pattern is pretty ethnic but I found that it matched my nearly all black ensemble perfectly. £10 was a little expensive, to me, for a kimono, but I definitely think it was worth it quite simply because I adore it!

 I also picked up a pair of plain black plimsoles, as I literally don't own any decent flat shoes. My checkered Vans are almost completely destroyed, they're full of holes and I get lectured by my boyfriend every time I wear them because they are so disgusting. These were only £3, and I'm sure they'll serve me well during the summer.

There were also these pretty floral shorts, which match my everything black wardrobe and are actually pretty girly for me. They were £4 so a pretty decent bargain as well if you ask me.

I felt like I needed a pair of sandals too. These are really cute, and not really that high considering they are heeled. I like chunky heels, and these are really really comfy. There's a padded effect on the sole, and maybe the wide fit helps? I'm not sure. I don't consider my feet to be wide but this was the only fit they came in.
I'm sure these shoes will be great for summer nights out, and I should hope they won't be too uncomfortable after dancing the night away either.

 Soooo swimwear. I don't really own any swimwear. Don't get me wrong, I love swimming, but I tend to borrow my mum's costume whenever I go. I figured for maximum tan coverage I'd have to invest in a couple of bikinis. I picked up this navy bikini for £3 (Primark, again) and this stunning black bikini top in H&M. It's so me it's unreal. It's the ultimate high-fashion-goth bikini top. I love it. At £12.99 it was more than I wanted to spend on just one segment of a bikini, but I know that I'd have walked away full of regret if I didn't buy it.


Just because I'm so in love with this bikini top I had to add in some pictures of the back too. The straps are super thick - the design is very Herve Leger-esque actually. There's a small triangular cut-out part just between the bust, with some sheer fabric between. It's a nice touch. If I were brave enough, I'd wear this bikini out clubbing or something. It's just that awesome.

You'll also noticed I've popped some suncream into that photo. Suncream is soooo important (as I'm sure you all know) and I'm so pale that I would probably turn to ash if I wasn't wearing it. I got factor 30. This wasn't because I don't want to tan, it was because I know that I am very, very likely to burn. Factor 30 isn't sun block, so I'll still be able to bronze nicely without coming back looking like a lobster. You may be wondering why I chose kid's suncream. It's literally because it's £1 cheaper than the adult alternative. I don't know why, but I wasn't about to pass up saving a pound for slightly more adult packaging.




Lastly, I went into Hollister. Hollister isn't usually my thing, but I do appreciate the softness of their t-shirts. My boyfriend buys a lot of shirts from there, and I looooooove the texture. This long sleeved shirt is super soft, and I like the contrast of the tight fitting sleeves and the looseness of the middle. I chose the darker version, as there was another style which had more of a focus on the white stripes. This was on sale, so I only paid £7.99 which is extremely reasonable if you ask me, for such good quality fabric. This will be nice for the cooler, summery evenings and it shouldn't get too hot as it's not overly fitted. I really like that the sleeves are super long too, I have a habit of pulling my sleeves down over my hands anyway, so this will save me stretching the fabric.



So after all this, I picked up some painting gear and a few other nick nacks before heading to Nandos to fill up on delicious spicy chicken (mmmmmm...)


What will you be buying for summer? What's your favourite summer outfit? Let me know in the comments!

 - Alice x x x


PS. I'm Kylie Jenner today ;)