Styled by Helen: Winter Florals

Cardigan | Primark
Tshirt | Zara
Skirt | Primark
Boots | Zara
Necklace | Topshop
Brooch | Garudio Studiage

Oh my, these are some breezy photos. I know my hair isn't the neatest at the best of times (well, apart from my last outfit post) but it's all over the place here. The seafront might make for a nice background but sheltered it is not. Just looking at these photos is making me feel chilly. As Kimberley mentioned on Monday, we do love our florals on this blog. I decided to take it even further with this outfit and go for floral on top of floral. Both of these flower power pieces were complete bargains, with the top and the skirt coming in at less that £6. I do love the sales.



I picked up this brooch when visiting Jupiter Artland. Now, my geography isn't the best but I have enjoyed moving the little marker around as I have traveled around the country. I do love accessories I can interact with and this piece is super fun.

Styled by Kimberley: Winter Florals

Blouse | Primark
Skirt | Topshop
Brooch | vintage (gift)
Shoes | Clarks

Brrrr! Arbroath harbour is lovely for a stroll but my coat had to be pried from my back for these pics.

We have done a few floral style challenges now (here & here) but I'm getting back to my old womanly ways with this winter florals look. Prim blouse, ceramic old lady brooch and floral corduroy; it's a librarian's dream. The trouble with having such a preppy look is that I can wear all my outfits to work and feel like I have nothing to wear come the weekends. Sob!
The blouse is a bit of a weird shape too but that's what you can expect from an £8 Primark number. They don't seem to have humans in mind when they design their pieces. I think my mistake was not trying on a couple- you can pick up two size tens and they'll be totally different. Or is that just me?



These nails are hand painted with ordinary nail polishes and were about 4 days old. Not bad, eh? If you ignore the blue tinge to my mitts. When I first created this nail look, inspired by this Toppers skirt, I was pretty damn chuffed with myself. Although I can never be bothered to do my hair or makeup, my nails are always filed and polished to perfection. They have been since I was about twelve, when my granny taught me the art of buffing and shaping. Now my left and right hands are matched in skill and they take seconds to do. I even finally got Helen into it! However, I haven't done much by way of nail art designs and I only just bought nail pens. I'm no Nancy Mc (be still my beating heart- that girl's got skills!) but I think I'm going to give it a go.

What Helen Wore: Birthday Outing

 
Jumper | Topshop
Dress | H&M
Shoes | Clarks
Necklace | Katze Shop
Ring | Bloody Mary Metal
Nails | House of Holland

This is the outfit I wore for some birthday adventures in Glasgow. It includes a couple of presents I received and a birthday treat I bought for myself. My lovely sister bought me this great cat necklace from Katze Shop after seeing on my Jolly Good birthday wishlist. Kimberley had also been paying attention to my wishlists as she noticed my love for jewellery brand Bloody Mary Metal. She bought me this fab diamond ring alternative. Pretty sure that means were getting married now.

 
The nails were the treat from myself. I included them in my Spring Wishlist and it was the first time I'd worn false nails since being a teenager. I'm not sure I'm completely converted though. I love that they are make a big statement and the pattern is super fun, but they felt really weird on. It didn't feel like I was looking down at my own hands and it made opening my cocktail in a can very difficult. They were super easy to apply, and felt very secure, but the length just didn't feel very me. Might have to try some shorter falsies next time, just to compare.




Getting my hair done was also a real treat. As I mentioned on Monday it was the work of the fabulous Miss Dixibelle ladies. I wish they could do my hair everyday! I usually spend 10 minutes on my hair, tops, so having someone spend time on it made me feel so very fancy. It's made me want to make more of an effort at home. Can anyone point me in the direction of some easy to follow hair tutorials?

What Kimberley Wore: Birthday Outing

Dress | Primark
Shoes | Nine West
Hair | Miss Dixiebelle Glasgow

I have a confession to make: I bought this dress in FOUR different patterns for Helen's birthday weekend. I was still feeling the effects of my cold and it's just so easy to wear. It's tight enough to hint at my hour glass shape but loose enough to lounge around in. I managed to pack my weekend pack even in my fever-filled stupor the night before and I could eat all the food I wanted. Bonus!

Unfortunately it means my photos from the weekend are a blur of the same look in different colours.

As a special treat, Helen and I had our hair done by the Miss Dixiebelle girls at the West End Fair (more on that in Monday's post). I had my bridal hair done by Ariana at the Edinburgh parlour and it was phenomenal so I've been itching to have it done again.
This time Casci gave me this gorgeous 50's beehive. I got compliments all day, despite it being quite wind ravaged by this point and the humidity of the hot houses wasn't helping! It looked even better before I stepped outside. I'm hoping to go to one of their styling nights soon.



I cannot even explain what is happening with my hair colour at the moment. All the playing around with pastel has left my hair dark; a strawberry blonde with peach and pink hints through it. It makes me want to attempt a full peach head but my other half is reaching his limit of my hair experimentation!
He wants me back to my normal shade of blonde. What do you think?

Helen's Birthday Adventure

Hair by Miss Dixibelle

Enough of all the Valentine's stuff of last week, we want to take you further back in time to the weekend before and an adventure to the west coast. It was Helen's birthday on the 4th so to celebrate we decided to head over to Glasgow for some fun and games. Being the glamorous ladies we are we booked ourselves a room at the Euro Hostel. We just never see the need to shell out for an expensive room when we can save our pennies for more important things, like shopping, food and drinks, and that's just what we did.


 Cup Tearoom

We kicked off the weekend by meeting up with the lovely Glasgow based blogger, Lynsay from Miss West End Girl. It was nice to chat blogging with someone else who's passionate about it as we are! After that we headed out for some Friday night food and drinks at Cup. We treated ourselves to some tasty sliders and even tastier desert and washed it all down with gin based cocktails in pretty tea sets. The food was great and the atmosphere was nice too. Our meal was accompanied by a live singer serenading us with some of our favourite Disney songs.



The next day we popped on the subway to the West End Vintage Fair, where we had an appointment with the Miss Dixiebelle ladies to get our hair done. For only £15 each, we were pampered, preened and transformed into vintage vixens (well, our hair was anyway). After a tour round the fair, and a few cheeky purchases, we headed along Cresswell Lane. We did some pottering around the cute little shops until we began to feel a little peckish and ducked into The Cup & Saucer for a bite of lunch. We felt very at home in amongst the vintage decor and were delighted when our lunch was served to us on tv trays. The sandwiches, cut into little triangles, and some super tasty milkshakes went down a treat. In the afternoon we wandered around the botanic gardens and snapped a few outfit shots (which we'll share later this week) and then headed back into the centre for a spot of shopping.


 Food and drinks at The Cup & Saucer

After a quick refresh and change back at the hostel we braved the rainy evening to meet some other lovely ladies for tea at the Tiki Bar and Kitsch Inn. The food here was delicious, even if a little spicier than expected, and the cocktails were even better. We loved the fun glasses they were served in! After all the excitement of the day we decided to forgo dancing and head back to our room to munch on sweet and salty popcorn and drink cheap wine. All in all a rather super weekend and we can't wait to head back to Glasgow for more fun times soon!

Where are your favourite spots in Glasgow? Let us know so we can be prepared for our next trip. 
     

Styled by Helen: Valentine Outfit

Scarf | Karen Mabon
Shirt | Monki
Dress | New Look (borrowed from my sister)
Shoes | Topshop via Ebay

Monday saw my anti-valentine outfit but since it's the big day I thought I'd bring out my romantic side, such as it is. I decided to go for a very red look to match this silly heart shape balloon I picked up. I then added another romantic touch with my Come Close shirt. To top it all off I went a bit abstract with my Karen Mabon scarf tied as a headscarf. The scarf is named 'Like a Bull in a China Shop' and Bull just so happens to be the surname of my other half. Turns out I'm more romantic than I thought. Sappy, I know.







Are you getting dressed up for valentine's day? 

Styled by Helen: Anti-Valentine Outfit

Dress | George at Asda, printed by me
GRR Necklace | Finest Imaginary
Eye Ring | Cheap Frills
Shoes | Topshop via Ebay

Friday is Valentine's day, in case the hearts in all the shop windows hadn't given it away. For those of you who aren't into this shmaltzy celebration here's an anti valentine outfit for you. Basically this is just an excuse to wear my halloween outfit again (featured here). I love the skull print I created and the dress itself is so comfy and easy to wear. I paired it with some of my meanest and creepiest jewellery, including my new eye ring from Cheap Frills.

I have to say I'm not totally against Valentine's day but me and my other half never really mark the occasion. I'll usually pick up so kind of offensive/ funny / pun filled card for him but that's as far as it goes. Candle lit dinners and red roses just ain't our thing.

Are you anti or pro Valentine's Day?

Styled by Kimberley: More January Sales

Blouse | Zara
Skirt | River Island
Shoes | Next via Ebay
Headband | borrowed from Helen

I'm still enjoying my moody sassy look. It's a new one for me but it's giving an edge to my otherwise librarian look.

I've wanted this skirt for ages so when I saw it in the January sales I snapped it up! And when I finally returned to work after New Year and got the skirt out for my First Day Back, I discovered that in my excitement I'd picked up the wrong size. Nightmare. Thinking I'd left it too late to get the right one, I took it back to River Island for a refund. There I found- TA DAAA!! - the very last one on the rail in my size.

It was fate!