MONKI AROUND

lusting:   1. jonna dress £18   |   2. elisabet dress £30   |   3. precious knitted dress £25      

4. klara bra £12   |   5. hanna hipster £6   |   6. jane hat £15   |   7. lilly sunglasses £8   

   8. miracle purse £6   |   9. nelly corduroy shirt £25

Meet Monki, my new fave brand ever for affordable/ lovely basics. I'm such a sucker for anything under £30 (In my eyes, it IS a bargain and therefore MUST be purchased) so I was absolutely deee-lighted when I stumbled across this amazing Swedish brand who offer clean designs with the odd print thrown in, for an affordable price (pretty much everything is under £30 = winner).

Asos have also recently jumped on the Monki bandwagon (hello, 10% student discount and free delivery!) but have a gander of their wonderful website for a full range and some lust-worthy products. Obviously, I couldn't control myself and made myself a lust list of my favourite pieces from the collection (today is payday, no one can judge me if I go a little crazy) and £18 for a beautiful underwear set?! I can't resist...

www.monki.com

x

BOTANICALS

wearing:   zara knot blouse   |   zara multicolour shorts   |   primark leather sandals

Bank holidays are renowned for being a little dull in my eyes. Bad weather? Check. Horrific television? Check. But wait, good weather on a bank holiday monday? Unheard of. So yesterday was a day to exploit the lovely sunshine we'd been given, throw on some shorts and grab an ice cream. Perfect. 

Myself and the famalam headed to the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield for a wander, so it was the perfect opportunity to go a little snap happy in the sunshine and get posey in some plants (cue strangers looking at you like you've grown another head...)

And here's a photo of my dog eating an ice cream thrown in for good measure! Cute.

x

THE LEATHER JACKET

lusting:   karen millen electric blue leather jacket

Okay, so another obsession to add to my already ridiculously long lust-list for winter? The Karen Millen luxury leather jacket in electric blue. Words cannot describe how utterly IN LOVE I am with this jacket (not materialistic at all, ha!). It's the one. Karen Millen always have amazing leathers each season and its a gaurentee I'll always have my eye on one and never end up purchasing, but with such beautiful material and immaculate tailoring, I really don't think I'll be able to leave this one in the store. Time to get some self control, I think.

Only one thing that's holding me back (holds breath and covers eyes)...the price tag. This piece of beautiful, lust-worthy, mouth-watering craftsmanship comes in at a whopping £495. I know, that's what I thought. BUT, for a leather jacket that will probably look better after 5 years than it does when first bought, is there really a limit as to what's too much to pay for such an amazing all-season essential? I think not. 

This is definitely straight to the top of my lust-list! I better start saving...ha! 

But for the time being, here's a pretty perfect dupe. Welcome, River Island cobalt belted biker jacket (£120)...

x

(*all images courtesy of Karen Millen online and River Island online)

FLORALS? CHECK

wearing:   zara dress   |   h&m jewellery 

Zara Autumn/ Winter 13 collection is perfection, there's no denying it. So when I saw this trf dress in my local store a few weeks ago, I knew I needed it straight away, no messing around. BUT when they didn't have my size my heart broke a little bit (dramatic, yes, but very true). So, I did the best thing you can do and  took a road trip down the motorway to Leeds where they had it! It was mine! And obviously I wasn't waiting to wear it after this whole kerfuffel! Straight on it went..

Far too excited for Winter now and to get my mitts on more of Zara's beautiful collection! Roll on payday, woo.

Don't forget to have a browse of my gorgeous friend Hannah's amazing photography at http://hannahcolligan.wix.com/hannahcolligan or https://www.facebook.com/HannahColliganPhotography

dress - here

x

DANCING SHOES

wearing:   pins & needles (at urban outfitters) playsuit   |   river island flatforms   |   h&m hoop earrings   |   marc jacobs watch

A few quick impromptu outfit shots from a few nights ago. I went salsa dancing at a local bar with my friend Mia (absolute fail). Let's just say it didn't end well and I definitely didn't look like this by the end of the night and a few glasses of gin/bottles of wine later (when will you ever learn, Lydia?). Sigh.

Anyway, this playsuit is a God-send, throw-it-on and leave, no brainer that I always come back to when I'm having a wardrobe meltdown and cannot find a thing to wear (even though my wardrobes are bursting and I definitely have enough clothes for a different outfit everyday of the year). Thrown with some good ol' fashioned leather flatforms to avoid any blister related nightmares and hey presto! Hot to trot, ha!

Once again, check out my fabby best friend Hannah's beauuutiful photography at http://hannahcolligan.wix.com/hannahcolligan or have a nosey around her Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/HannahColliganPhotography. WOO, yeah!

x

ON THE BRAIN

on the brain:   cut out ankle boots

1. Balenciaga Ceinture ankle boots   

2. Monki Vanja boots

3. Alexander Lewis sling back cowboy boots

4. Zara leather sling back ankle boots

5. Topshop KATZ2 cut-out boots

So, the new obsession? Cut-out ankle boots. I own ridiculous amounts of ankle boots, so probably don't need any more, but I definitely would like a cut-out pair for Autumn/Winter to pair with some chunky tights or socks! My absolute favourites are these Zara leather sling back boots which come in at (a fairly purse-friendly) £59.99, which ain't too hefty for leather! I cannot get these out of my mind and keep finding myself checking these beauties out on the Zara website without even realising (I need a new hobby!). 

Definitely a pay-day splurge!

x

MEDITATE

wearing:   h&m dress   |   zara cardigan   |   karen millen boots   |   topshop socks

Ooh, deep blog post title. It isn't deep at all actually (ha!), but I am just a little in love with these Karen Millen studded biker boots. YUM. I clearly found something really amusing in this photo, what, I have no idea.

Not the most enthralling of outfits I know, but who needs to dress up whilst browsing Ikea? Even though Ikea is within my top 10 list of all time favourite places, an all black ensemble was all I needed. I bought this cheeky H&M number a few months back in a peachy colour and fell in love, so when I found it in black a week or two ago, I snapped it right up. A bargain at £14.99, no? And a chunky boot to go with worked a treat for me (enter Karen Millen studded leathers).

Again, I called in the work of my (very talented) photographer flatmate and bezzy, Hannah. Check out her work here: http://hannahcolligan.wix.com/hannahcolligan and have a browse yar!

x

H&M FALL/WINTER 13

collection:   h&m fall/winter 13 (images courtesy of elle uk online)

Okay, so I haven't posted in quite a few days. I'm afraid I've been 'busy' with 'work'. Well, I've been busy with work AND visiting new puppies, drinking coffee and stuffing my face with cakes and burgers (AKA, doing everything that won't benefit you when you're on a beach and in a bikini in 3 weeks time. Minus the puppies thing.) So apologies, my bad.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Last post I mentioned I'm lusting pretty much every item in the H&M Fall/Winter 13 collection, so I figured I'd do a whole post dedicated to my new obsession with it. That's A WHOLE POST. You lucky things.

The entire collection is heart-stopping, throat-thickening, makes you want to dance around in your new H&M over the knee booties, beautiful. The chunky knits, leather, sheer fabrics and embellishment come together, thrown in with some fur and velvet to create the ultimate luxury capsule wardrobe. Basically, everything I love about winter - lots of texture. The military vibe, 60's references and oatmeal hues also make for some intense wardrobe-yearning. 

 Not H&M's cheapest collection, but still great prices for quality, designer-esque pieces that will last for years. And throw in Cara Delevingne's beautiful face, what's not to love? I know I'm sold!

Also, did I mention the over the knee leather boots? I'm in love. Ha!

x

THE LUST LIST

lusting:   maison martin margiela black oversized leather jacket   |   acne grey mohair jumper dress   |   rag & bone leather belt   |   saint laurent grey felt fedora   |   acne ankle boots   |   mulberry small willow tote

Okay, I hate to be the one to say it, BUT I can't wait for winter. There, it's out. Not for the terrible weather or holidays or anything like that (I can't deny I do LOVE Christmas though), but because I'm already desperate to put on a chunky oversized coat, throw on some cheeky ankle boots and head out of the door and into the crisp winter air (sounds romantic, eh?). It'll probably be more of a 'head out of the door, slip on some ice and make a fool of myself' situation, but who says you can't fall, whilst looking great? Ha!

I couldn't help but make myself a little lust list. Admittedly, there are a billion other items I could have added to this (er, hello! H&M Fall/Winter 13 collection!) but instead, I opted for cutting it down to those things I really can't afford this season and will therefore be lusting over for a long, long time.

I'm in love with Acne. Everything about it, and this oversized jumper dress would be perfect, especially with the chunky ankle boots and a belt. I'm a sucker for a handbag and if I could, I'd snap up the small Mulberry willow tote asap. But I don't have money coming out of my ears, so it's a no for now (note: for now). But the Saint Laurent grey felt fedora is the ultimate lust. This one is PRETTY pricey, so I say a good dupe is definitely on the cards for winter. My new mission!

x

THE NEW THING

haul:   boohoo heels  |   boohoo cream bralet   |   boohoo striped bralet   |   primark earrings    

I'm calling this an 'accidental haul', perhaps to try and make myself feel better about the fact I bought these ah-maaazing shoes and tops when I currently have £0.00p in my bank account. Sigh.

The truth? This wasn't accidental AT ALL. I've had my eye on these Boohoo 'Cady' heels for a while and after trying to spend as little as possible whilst my bank balance recovers from my most recent excursion (London living + unpaid internship = my bank balance crying itself to sleep), I decided that I really deserve these babies. Pah! But I'm in love with them and I don't care who knows it. 

I also managed to snap up the 'Skye Scuba Bralet' in cream which I also needed, as it now means I don't have to steal my flatmates cream bralet whenever we go out. Surely that makes this all justifiable, no? And then there's the Striped knot-front bralet, which is gorgeous. If you can't already tell I was going through a bralet-loving, mad half hour when I purchased these. But who can blame a girl when it's free delivery over £35?! That's right, nobody. Ha!

These cute earrings from Primark were supposed to be 2 'L's', but luckily the pair I picked up had been arranged in my initials, therefore I couldn't leave them in the shop for £1...it was fate (and I love a good Kim Kardashian inspired earring haha!) 

Ps, please excuse my insanely creased bedding. My mother would be ashamed of me, but I ain't no domestic goddess! 

x

ALL IN WHITE

   wearing:   h&m top   |   h&m skirt   |   converse shoes   |   mulberry bag   |   marc jacobs watch 

Judging by these photos, you wouldn't have guessed that this was the ultimate lazy(ish) day for me. Waking up late in the new apartment (Eeep! New apartment!) and then a late brunch with my photography flatmate Hannah (hence the photographs, ha!) was perfect after a busy few weeks for me. It was so nice to relax and settle into our 'new home', even if it is a little messy, and then have a wander around a Flying Ant swarmed city centre.

Excuse the huge bruises on my legs. Believe it or not, I haven't been involved in any kind of brawl, just some (admittedly horrific) drunken dancing with my brother the other night...Oops, ha! Shamefully, the tag on this skirt was ripped off today after it's been hanging in my wardrobe for a year whilst I 'uhmm-ed and ahhh-ed' about what to wear it with! So today was it's first preview and even though it's a little big, I do love it. First time for everything though, eh?! My top is also H&M and shoes are converse (apologies for how filthy they are, this whole moving in business means my shoe wardrobe is all over the place). My bag, A.K.A my baby, is Mulberry and watch is Marc Jacobs. Random mix, I know, but perfect for a chilled day!

Lydia x