September Wishlist

1.) Sassy Socks | Rock on Ruby
It's not often I fall for socks but these are, well, sassy! These socks have a surprisingly elegant script and I like the contrast against the super girly frills.

2.) Boring Ruffle Jumper | Tallulah's Threads
I'm on the look out for bright coloured knitwear for winter and this is such a different, cute take on ruffles. A bit of a departure for someone who likes a cinched waist, it's one for fitting a Sunday lunch into.

3.) Pink Side Frill Trousers  | River Island
Logically, I know that these are ridiculous. Ridiculously good, that is! The punchy Barbie pink and not so subtly side frill is the antidote to any dark night.

4.) Mule Lace Up Shoes | Bianco
Shout out to my Norwegian colleague for bringing these beauties into my eye line. She already owns a pair and describes them as her 'throw on' shoes, like they're a cheap pair of slippers, but these backless pony hair brogues in dalmation print tick all the boxes for me. They're on sale but are no longer available in my size. Not fair!

5.) 'Not The Best' Phonecase | Hello Harriet
I really like this tongue-in-cheek phone case that works as a reminder that it's okay to not be perfect. Although, of course, we know that I am the best. Just sayin'.





1.) Wiggle Bag | Benjamin Craven
This bag looks like it would fit so much in it. Perfect for all the crap I like to carry around! The black and white wiggle design is super fun and I love that there's a choice of long straps or short handles, especially when they provide a flash of orange.

2.) Satsuma of Self Care Pin | Katie Abey Design
I think everyone needs a satsuma of self care, just look at that happy little face! This colourful little pin is the perfect reminder to take some time out and focus on the good things in life - like the colour orange.

3.) Andaman Necklace | Ceremony Jewellery
I wanted this necklace so bad after spotting it on Instagram and then I looked at the Ceremony website. Now I want ALL of the necklaces AND earrings AND brooches. The colour combinations are spot on and the designs make such a statement.

4.) Star Faux Fur Coat | Thunder Egg
Winter is coming and I feel like I need this fax fur coat to keep me warm and also to cheer up the dark nights. Ok, basically I just want to sit and stroke it all winter long - it looks so soft!

5.) Bullseye | Rogue Matilda
Hello there dream shoes! I adore the combination of spot print with bright orange laces, plus those toes at so shiny.

What to Wear to Edinburgh Cocktail Weekend

We love a good excuse to get dressed up and the first Edinburgh Cocktail Weekend seems like the perfect occasion to get our glad rags on. They got in touch to ask us to share our tips for what to wear to their fabulous event and we were more than happy to oblige- especially as it gave us an excuse to visit some bars for "research" purposes. Any chance to sip some colourful drinks and we're all over it.

Taking place from Friday 6th - Sunday 8th October, Edinburgh Cocktail Weekend (ECW) is the perfect chance to check out some of the capital's best cocktail bars. With 50 different hotspots taking part there's plenty of places that take our fancy. An ECW wristband is the ticket to exclusive signature cocktails for only £4, the chance to take part in cool cocktail masterclasses and tastings, perks across the city AND access to pop-up spaces and events. We have to admit we're super excited about those signature cocktails though. It's so rare you get a decent cocktail for that price anywhere, never mind in Edinburgh (believe us we've looked!) but ECW have been sharing each venues selection and they look delicious!

Now we've whet your appetite (and our own), it's time to talk wardrobe choices. We teamed up with Jenners House of Fraser who helped us look and feel fabulous- just what you want for a weekend on the town!


Friday Night



A cocktail is an excellent way to start the weekend and, if you're anything like us, you want the weekend to start asap on Friday. That means we don't want to waste anytime going home to change but we still want to feel utterly gorgeous. A patterned jersey dress like this ISSA Megan Printed Dress is perfect and Helen cannot resist a cat print! Comfortable and easy to wear, it can be paired with black tights and flats for a smart day look then, when it's time to party, it's just a case of getting the pins out (however pasty they may be), piling on the eye make-up and slipping on some cute heels. Cocktail hour evening, here we come!


Saturday Daytime


A Saturday afternoon of sipping cocktails with the girls provides even more opportunity to get dolled up. Our preference is bright bold prints. Ok, so that's pretty much always our preference, but it works especially well for a dressy but not too dressy look. This Biba Printed Frill Layered Dress ticks those boxes for sure. Floaty and fun, it makes bar hopping a breeze, especially when paired with some shiny boots. Comfy, yet glam footwear is essential for getting from place to place.


Saturday Night


Saturday night is all about going full on glam. That could be with excessive use of sequins, luxury fabrics or copious amounts of glitter - we're fans of all of those methods. Or it could be with vintage Hollywood starlet realness. Betty Draper eat your heart out! Get those rollers in, clinch in that waist and embrace the matching shoe and clutch combo. Again, bold prints are our go to so this Hallhuber rose print dress is pretty much perfect for a ladylike look. Bonus points for pockets.


Sunday


By Sunday we're imagining we might be feeling a tad delicate but we know we'll still have some signature cocktails on our To Try list. That means wearing something that's as close to pyjamas as possible is the ideal. This Biba Printed Wrap Jumpsuit is just the ticket! Super stylish while being an absolute dream to wear. Yes, please! Essential accessories for Sunday chic include a headscarf to hide that day-after-the-night-before hair and some trainers for full on comfort.


We can't wait to get dressed up and taste some delicious cocktails with our friends, family and even colleagues. It's going to be a busy weekend! Obviously, we'll be drinking responsibly and all that.

Thanks to Edinburgh Cocktail Weekend for giving us a reason to getting glammed up and for providing us with wristbands so we can enjoy the event. You can get yours here. Will we see you there? What will you be wearing?

Thanks also to Jenners House of Fraser, Edinburgh for letting us loose in store and allowing us to borrow these fab threads. They are now firmly on our wishlists!

Styled by Helen: CrossEyes

I love wearing glasses but that hasn't always been the case. I've needed them since I was in primary 7 but it took me a number of years to find a pair I was completely happy with. Those super small, dull wire frames of my teen years still make me shiver just thinking about them. Luckily in 2012 I discovered Spex Pistols and found that glasses can have style. Shocker! I still have, and frequently wear, the cat-eye Ray-Bans that started my glasses obsession. I did have a brief affair with contact lenses many moons ago but now I'm very much in the glasses camp, so much so that I don't feel quite myself without them. There's the fact that I need them to see but they've also become a big part of my personal style and wearing the right frames always gives me a confidence boost. So I was very happy when CrossEyes got in touch and asked us to come visit their Edinburgh store (the brand's first in Scotland) and try out their spectacle selection.




Where Dundee has Spex Pistols and Glasgow has Iolla, there never really seemed to be anywhere in Edinburgh that had that same draw of a wide selection of awesome frames at affordable prices. But that's all changed with the arrival of CrossEyes. While this Danish company doesn't quite have the independent charm of my favourite Dundee and Glasgow glasses emporiums, they do have plenty of drool worthy frames, a relaxed shopping space and a tidy price point of £98. And they have one thing those other places don't have - they do eye tests! I didn't try out the service but I loved that people were coming in and booking a slot for the very same day. So handy!

As Kimberley mentioned in her post, we tried on pretty much the whole shop and had a whole lot of fun doing so. Eventually, after much mulling over, I opted for these lightly caramel coloured circle frames. A bit of a step away from my trusted cat-eye shape but it's good to try something new. I have to say I'm rather happy with how they look. They're easy to wear while still being interesting and fun and I love the toirtoiseshell legs! The only downside is that they have been referred to as Harry Potter glasses on a number of occasions. Not being a huge fan of this fictional wizard this is a slight drawback for me but for others it might be a plus. I still heart them though.

Glasses | c/o CrossEyes Edinburgh
Jacket | Charity Shop
Top | H&M
Trousers | H&M
Boots | Primark
Necklace | Syrah Jay
Tote Bag | Printed by me at DCA Dundee Design Festival workshop
Socks | DCA Shop




The CrossEyes shop itself has around 300 different frames in it, including some lovely colourful limited edition ones.  I particularly liked the turquoise pair, but I think that was mostly because they went with my outfit. So, if you're in Edinburgh and are after some new specs, I can thoroughly recommend checking out CrossEyes. If you aren't in Edinburgh, they do have a number of other stores across the UK. I even stumbled across one in Derry on my recent trip to Northern Ireland!

Thanks to CrossEyes for being super welcoming and treating us to some fabulous new specs.

Eye graffiti art by SYKE.

Styled by Kimberley: CrossEyes

We've had Scandi-homeware, Scandi-clothing, and Scandi-skincare.  If you think you've got Scandinavian-everything, you might be missing one element. Your specs. No fear, because Danish fashion-led frames have come to town in the form of CrossEyes! I hadn't heard of the brand before, although there are already a number across the UK. CrossEyes opticians offer a fixed price point, like a few other places (and I'm certainly not complaining about the growth in this!). The 'any frame' deal includes single vision lenses for just £98. Often single price points are offered by online only stores, and I'm a pretty cynical shopper, so having a physical store is my preference. Perfect.

We were invited along to check out the brand new store, in Edinburgh's Rose Street, and play with some frames ourselves. The compact, chic showroom really fits in with the other independent boutiques in the area, with its clean, simple branding. I'm not sure CrossEyes knew what they were in for, letting Helen and I hang out and try on virtually every frame in stock to pick out our faves.

I quickly fell hard for the chrome effect glasses above and hoped that they would soon be mine; a fresh frame among all my heavy plastic rims. Alas, it wasn't to be as I was reminded that it wouldn't work with my high prescription. It's not the first time I've been warned off this shape. The large size of frame that I wear to fit my potato head is always at odds with the depth of lens I need (read: milk bottles). While CrossEyes can thin the lens down, this particular semi-invisible wire frame would make my lenses look like goggles. The milky bars are most certainly not on me!

I'll forgive anyone else who picks up these beauts for themselves, if a little begrudgingly. Don't feel bad, as there was plenty of other choice on offer, with a vibrant array of colours in stock. In the end I couldn't quite pull myself away from my signature tortoiseshell, but I did get a flash of cobalt blue to set these lovely over-sized frames apart.

When our glasses arrived, only a few days after putting in the orders, we took them out for a spin on the Windiest. Day. Ever. Seriously, I took the wind swept look to a whole new level:


Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to the weather in Scotland, and trying to take photos outside means chasing daylight and battling the elements. It's sort of fitting for this look, as I'm attempting to make my cross-seasonal outfit work for autumnal temperatures while retaining the colour of summer. Having the flashes of blue and yellow throughout, from glasses to handbag, works really well to give that sunny nod. I even added my fab DIY Miranda Carmen bag charm that I made at the Emily Millichip leather applique workshop at last month's Craft Scotland Summer Show, and I paired it with the Jo Pudelko earrings I picked up at the 2015 one. The relaxed fit of this outfit makes it perfect for layering up. If only it was windproof.

Shirt | Zara
Bag | Zara
Bag Charm | made by me
Earrings | c/o Jo Pudelko
Glasses | c/o CrossEyes

Thanks again to CrossEyes for letting us in for an early peek at the fabulous eye wear on offer.

Styled by Helen: Candy Colours

I'm a lover of strong and bold colours but sometimes it's nice to embrace some lighter shades. I've been adding some candy shades to my wardrobe over the summer and enjoying getting into the sweeter side of the fashion spectrum. This peachy skirt has been a bit of a favourite, that was until I washed it with some denim and it developed a slightly blue tinge. Sob! It's still wearable but it's no longer looking quite as fresh as it does in these photos. Luckily my Dreamland tshirt is still looking good. I've been careful with it in an effort to make sure the glitter letters last. It seems to be workin so far!

It's true that I'm not the best at of taking care of my clothing. I will wear pretty much everything to death but sometimes an item's best days don't last quite as long as they should when in my hands. I own several dresses and coats that say dry clean only on the label but have never been near a drycleaners. I also wash everything way too much and avoid hand washing whenever I can. Basically, I have a lot of bad clothing care habits. So I've done a bit of research and written myself some rules to try and stick to:

• Separate clothes before washing. I'm usually pretty good at separating my darks and lights but sometimes I really want to wear something and it goes in the wrong wash for the sake of speed. Not a good idea!
• Wash clothes inside out. I only ever do this if something's ended up in the washing basket that way but apparently it can help, especially with dark items.
• Store things properly. I always hate putting my washing away, it's one of my least favourite chores. I think a wardrobe tidy is required and then that might encourage fold thins nicely rather than just shoving them in and closing the door.
• Be more delicate with delicates. Yes, that means hand washing items that need hand washed and putting others on a delicate wash. I read that putting items in a pillow case while washing can also help.

So there's just a few rules to get me started. You can see I haven't added 'take dry clean only clothes to the dry cleaners' on there. That's because I know I won't end up doing it and I don't want to set myself up for failure. Maybe sticking to the above list will lead on to other good clothing care habits, you never know.

Jacket | Charity Shop
Tshirt | Dreamland
Skirt | TK Maxx
Boots | Primark
Pin | Hello Harriet for Lucky Dip Club
Satchel | Vintage Weigh and Pay
Glasses | Spex Pistols

The combination of tshirt and midi skirt seems to have been my summer uniform. I can't get enough of this easy to wear pairing, though I'm having trouble finding a coat that will allow me to take this look into winter. Short jackets, like this denim one, have been working great but I know I'll want something longer to keep out the chill. Getting the right length of outerwear to go with a midi skirt is proving difficult, especially for a short arse like me. Nothing seems to look quite right. Usually I'm pretty good at carrying my summer staples through to colder months but this time I'm struggling. Can anyone offer some advice or point me in the direction of some solid style inspiration?

Styled by Kimberley: Candy Colours

I panicked a bit when Helen challenged me to find a candy coloured outfit with about half an hour's notice but it was actually great styling practice to try out a new combination. I've explained that I'm a suck it and see kind of stylist; dressing from the gut, so this kind of pressure suits me fine (after  the obligatory ritual of frantically hauling things out my wardrobe and complaining I have nothing).

I don't normally have a complete look in mind, unless it's one I've worn before. I start with one thing I'm in the mood to wear and then build everything else around it. In this case, it was this old, old H&M skirt that I've worn for one photo shoot but is too flappy to wear in any kind of wind (apologies to all who saw my knickers). Picking out the blue background of the floral pattern made it easy to fit the rest around it and I used the classic Rule of Two when colour matching to put the bag with the shirt and shoes with nails. Style it head to toe, girl.

Of course, I couldn't call it a 'candy' challenge without a themed item, so I tied the whole look in with these super cute pick'n'mix earrings from You Make Me Designs. Helen bought me them for my birthday and I love the way they're not a pair- one is a foam shrimp and the other is a foam banana. I love super cute playful accessories! I have my eye on the Monster Munch necklace too...

Speaking of playful accessories, obviously I have to give a shout out to my amazing Moe bag. He looks pretty similar to me getting ready for a night out, all in pink with fluffy slippers. As if his glamour and the GIANT tassels weren't enough pizzazz for one clutch, it is also extremely padded, so it doubles up as an excellent pillow. Again, this is pretty similar to me on a night out, as I normally start heavy yawning around 11pm...

Shirt | old
Skirt | old H&M
Shoes | New Look
Bag | The Simpsons X Skinnydip
Glasses | c/o Specsavers
Earrings | You Make Me Designs
Nails | Buff


As with so many outfits I throw together for our Styled By challenges, this has ended up being a great summer look that I'm keen to re-wear. It's just a shame that we have had our summer (all 5 days of it) in Scotland now, so I'll have to pack these away for winter and bring out the woolies instead. Having a look documented here is a great reference for me to make the most out of my wardrobe. We've been pretty slack lately but it's my favourite posts to do (and you seem to like them too, along with our Unlikely Style Icons).

If you've got a look you'd like to see us style up, a ridiculous topic you think even we couldn't pull off, or you want to join in and Be Our Guest on the blog with us, have a look at our Contact Us page for details on how to get involved. We'd love to hear from you.