Haul // Holiday Shoes

Hi everyone! I'm currently typing this post up very, very very excited as I go on holiday tomorrow, yay! I'm going to the beautiful Puerto Banus with my boyfriend and his family and I cannot wait to relax in the sun for a whole week sipping on cocktails - ahhh, bliss! I've been really stressed out lately so a week away will do me the world of good. We leave at 4am tomorrow morning and I still have so much to do. Why am I such a last minute Larry?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that I'm quite the spendaholic. I feel like half of my life is spent shopping and half of my blog posts are hauls. Oops, what can I say, I have no will power. Now I don't know about you but when it comes to holiday shopping, the tendency to whip out my bank card like it has an unlimited amount of cash is stronger than ever. Over the past few weeks its safe to say I've used and abused that little piece of plastic in my purse and I have to be honest, I don't feel guilty about it. If we can't treat ourselves to nice new clothes, shoes and accessories before going on holiday, when can we? 

Talking of shoes, I've gone a little bit shoe crazy lately and can't stop buying new pairs. It all started with the M&S cork heels featured in this post and ever since then I've been a woman obsessed. I didn't know if anyone would be interested in seeing my new footwear so I recently took to twitter to see if any of you would like to see a 'shoe haul' and a lot of you said you would. With this being said, here they are in all their glory ...

The first pair are from these beautiful ankle strap heels from Zara and I absolutely love them. As soon as I spotted them on the Zara website, they had to be mine. I love that the heel isn't too big so they'll be comfortable to wear on evenings out whilst still looking stylish. The thin ankle strap adds such an elegant touch to these shoes and the gold heel obviously adds some wow factor. I have to be honest and say I thought the heel was cream when I saw them online so although I was surprised when I opened the box to see a gold heel staring back at me, it was a pleasant surprise. I can't wait to wear them!

The next four pairs I bought are from good old Matalan, one of my favourite high street shops. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Matalan is so under-rated for fashion. I'm sure people presume its full of frumpy clothing for the middle-aged housewife but seriously, you need to go and have a browse. They have some amazing on trend bits and pieces up for grabs and I especially love their shoes (if you hadn't guessed) and accessories. I love going to Matalan for a good mooch around just as much as I love going to Primark or H&M and I always come away with some bargains. 

They've really upped their game in the shoe department with their recent Spring/Summer collection and I loved so many of their latest offerings, I bought four pairs! Whoops. However, due to Matalan's amazing prices, I didn't actually spend too much money. First up are these cool black gladiator sandals that are a little bit 'out there' for me but I love them regardless. These are pretty edgy and cool and I can see them looking great with flowing girly dresses to add a bit of edge to the outfit. They look fabulous on and I think they could be worn dressed up or down which makes them even more appealing!

Next are these gorgeous chunky tan wedges which in my opinion are the perfect Summer shoe. As soon as I spotted them on the Matalan website, they had to be mine, I didn't even give it a second thought. I have a thing about wearing tan wedges in the Summer and I seem to buy a new pair every year. I think they're the perfect shoes to pair with a Summer outfit and although they look scary high, they're actually pretty comfy. These ones I picked up have a this cool wedge heel running right along the base of the shoe and a nice padded sole meaning they're comfortable and easy to walk in. They will definitely be one of my most worn shoe of the holiday - I can see myself throwing them on most evenings!  

Next up we have two pairs of sandals and lets face it, holiday footwear wouldn't be complete without a couple of pairs of sandals for wearing by the pool or down to the beach. I decided to go for a black and tan pair so I've got something to match every outfit (miss organised) and I love both of them. I was a big fan of studs throughout winter so its nice to incorporate them into my summer wardrobe with these black studded sandals and the tan leather pair with interesting silver metal work stood out to me as soon as I saw them. Tan and Silver isn't normally a colour combo you'd see paired together so I like the fact they're that little bit different but will still go with almost all of my holiday clothing.

All this talk of Matalan has reminded me to remind you (wow, what a mouthful) that I'm currently taking part in one of their 'Style Project' competitions. Myself and three other bloggers have gone head to head to create the perfect festival outfit and I had so much fun coming up with my outfit. Head over to their blog here and if you like the outfit I chose, I'd love you to take a second to vote for me. If I win I'll win a £50 voucher which would be amazing for me as you all know how much I love Matalan!

I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe spotted a pair of shoes you like the look of. Most of them are still available online (I've linked them all within the post apart from the tan wedges which I couldn't find on the Matalan website) so go and snap yourself a pair up while you've still got the chance. I won't be blogging next week while I'm away but I do have five amazing guest bloggers lined up for you all so make sure you check back for those. Speak to you all soon!

Lots of Love,

Haul | Primark, Topshop, River Island, Garage & Missguided!

From Top to Bottom -

Blazer - Primark

Jumper - Primark

Dress - River Island
Crop Top - Missguided

 Skater Skirt - Topshop | Pencil Skirt - Primark

Skater Dress - Primark | Blouse - Primark

Shoe Boots - Garage

Ballet Shoes - Primark

Clutch Bag - Primark

Hi Ladies! I haven't done a haul post for a while now so I thought it was about time I shared some of my recent purchases with you all. I'd just like to point out I didn't buy all of this at once, probably over the past couple of weeks or so. As soon as I found out I'd landed myself a job I just had to treat myself so I bought the River Island dress and Garage shoes that are featured in my last post here and I am in love with the both. It was nice to finally be able to buy a nice new outfit and not feel guilty about it. I also had to get myself some new work wear which is the reason behind my other purchases. The good thing about my new job is that their isn't a strict dress code so even though we have to look smart we can pretty much wear whatever we want. We also have 'dress down Fridays' where we can wear casual clothes and 'fashionable' clothes so this obviously called for a few new bits and bobs for my wardrobe.

As you can see I bought myself a coupe of black skirts as they will go with absolutely everything, a sheer blouse that I LOVE, a cute little skater dress and a blazer. Apart from the skater skirt which is from Topshop, all of these items are from Primark. The Primark in Newcastle city centre was being refurbished over the summer while I was in Australia but as I didn't have a job I couldn't bare the thought of going in there without any money. However, as soon as I got the call telling me I'd got the job, one of the first thing on my to-do's list was going for a trip to Primark. All I can say is oh my goodness, Primark have UPPED THEIR GAME! I literally wanted everything but as I haven't actually been paid yet I had to reign it in and stick to the 'essentials' - we'll call them that so I feel better about my shopaholic ways.

As for 'unessentials', I bought myself this cute little missguided studded cropped top a few weeks ago before I even found out I had a job. Tut, tut, slap on the wrist for me. I do love it though and think it will look super cute with a high-waisted skirt. Continuing the studded theme I bought some ballet pumps to wear for work that are embellished with a bow and studs and I also bought this studded clutch bag for my friend Debra's birthday. I really wanted to buy one for myself too but I have one almost identical in black so I thought buying another while I'm skint might be a teeny bit greedy. I do love it though so I might re-consider this 8). 

So there we go, all the lovely clothing and accessories I have been buying lately. I was rather gutted last week as after buying all this I found out I have a £250 bill to pay and have almost NO money left. Why do things like that always happen at the most inconvenient of times? Ah well, it's a good job I'm getting paid at the end of this month. Bring it on.

Have you bought yourself anything nice lately? 

Lots of Love,

Small Matalan Haul

Hey Ladies! I hope you've had a lovely weekend. My boyfriend and I have been so lazy it's unreal but I've loved being cosy on the sofa, backing cakes and watching rubbish TV. I caught up with the last series of TOWIE today so I'm prepared for the new series starting tonight. Although the cast are some of the most irritating people ever I just can't help but find myself being addicted to it. Anyway, enough rambling, I'm going off the point of this post here. Whoops.

So if you have read my blog from the very beginning you might know that I am a huge lover of Matalan. I realise it might seem random and not the most obvious choice for clothing and accessories but I promise you when I say, they have some amazing on-trend pieces every season. I would probably class Matalan in the same category as H&M - somewhere I can go to grab a few on-trend pieces each season without breaking the bank. They stock everything from clothing to accessories, shoes and underwear so pretty much everything us girls need when having a good old shopping spree. The lovely home ware section is an added bonus too if your into a bit of interior design like me.

With this being said I thought I would show you the things I picked up on my most recent trip to Matalan. I didn't get too much as mum was treating me and I didn't want to push my luck haha. As I'm jobless at the moment my lovely mum said she would buy me a few bits and bobs to get my Autumn wardrobe a bit more up to date. How nice of her? Anyway, as I'm sure you can already see from the photos I managed to get myself a dipped hem top, a jumper, pencil dress, two pairs of shoes and some earrings. I got the pencil dress to wear to an interview I had last week and although it looks fairly boring on it's own, it looked lovely paired with a patent black waist belt, tights and heels. I felt rather ladylike I must admitt. If you work in an office I would really recommend taking a look at Matalan's work wear range as each time I pop in they have a lovely selection and everything is so affordable. I think this dress was less than £20 and as it's such a classic piece it can be worn over and over again with different accessories. 

So after I'd picked out the sensible work wear I then had a look at the rest of their new Autumn collection. They had everything from chunky knits to chelsea boots and I have to say I was very impressed. To be honest, if I wasn't trying to reign in my spending I could of gone absolutely wild. In the end I picked out this bright orange jumper and khaki dipped hem t-shirt. I loved both of these pieces as soon as I saw them and thought they would be perfect for the A/W. The jumper came in loads of different colours but this orange shade instantly jumped out at me as I think it will brighten up my otherwise neutral autumn wardrobe nicely. I've also been a big fan of the dipped-hem trend this year and think this khaki embellished t-shirt will look perfect under my leather jacket. 

As for the shoes I picked up, I love them both. Whenever I go shopping at Matalan I'm always amazed by how on-trend their shoes and accessories are. They always have a huge selection of shoes and this season is no exception. As I'm sure you will all know, studded slipper shoes have been all over the place lately and these ones were a bargain at £12.00. I've seen similar ones in Topshop for more than double the price so I was very happy to get my hands on these. Studs are everywhere at the minute so I'm happy to have some in my life. I then spotted these lovely deep purple wedge boots and although they weren't an essential, I just had to have them. I mean I don't need to explain why, just look at them, gorgeous! I featured them in this OOTD post here if you want to see how I wore them. As well as the shoes, Matalan's jewellery range is absolutely fantastic as it's created by the same people who make the 'Freedom' range at Topshop. I never buy jewellery from Topshop anymore, I just don't see the point when Matalan have exactly the same pieces for a fraction of the price. I picked up these cute spike earrings to wear out with my friends last weekend and they looked fab!

I've included a couple of photos at the end of me wearing my new Jumper and Pencil Dress lately. By the way, there isn't a stain on the dress - it's a dirty mirror haha! You can find most of the things I have mentioned on their website here.

So there we have it, a few things I've added to my wardrobe of late. Do you ever shop in Matalan? Do you love it as much as me?

Lots of Love,