My Favourite Dress!

Just a quick look post taken from my Lookbook. Here's how I've styled my new ASOS shoes which I recently posted about - with one of my favourite dresses showing one of my new favourite trends - TARTAN! This little number is from Zara for £29.99 which was definitely worth it for the lovely lace detailing around the neckline and hem (and of course the adjustable straps which helped with my 5'4 issue!)

Also, I don't know if you noticed but my hair has had the chop! I think this is the shortest I've ever gone. I'm constantly going back and forth between loving it and hating it. 

Thanks for looking!

xx

New ASOS Boots

So last weekend I grabbed myself a RIGHT bargain!! Originally £52, down to £17, plus my ASOS Insider 20%
discount - I present to you my new favourite shoes, bought for £13.60!!! 

I absolutely loooove them! I always buy black shoes just because they go with everything and I could never imagine myself wearing any other colour, especially since tights are a fundamental part of my wardrobe. 

My sister commented saying that they looked like my jelly shoes, which if you take in to consideration the strappy, cut-out-ness of them, their small block heel and their buckles, I guess you could say yeah, they do. But they're leather - not rubber, have a pointed toe, two buckles instead of one, and are ultimately a 'boot'. 

The only downside to them is the serious lack of grip - I've found myself in a few near death experiences since wearing them (okay, slight over exaggeration).

And whilst I'm here can I just applaud ASOS for their super fast, AND FREE delivery service. I ordered the shoes Saturday evening, and they were with me by Monday morning. 

Thank you ASOS!

xx

Check Mate!

I've always had a bit of a thing for tartan and have secretly been wanting to don a stylish alternative of a kilt for some time now, but I've been afraid I would come out either looking like a Scot-gone-wrong or a Halloween style 'indecent' school girl. But now that tartan (and other forms of check-ery) are bang on trend, I can finally go out in Clueless style!

I've put together some of my favourite tartan pieces for you, so you can go and buy them if you like! I myself will try to refrain, although I might have to make an exception for one or two items. 

Check Mate by aderynh2 featuring short skirts

Motel red jacket £55 / Sparkle Fade green plaid jacket £68 / Missguided punk pants £24.99 / Missguided short skirt £19.99 / New Look Green Short skirt £16.99 / New Look Monochrome Short skirt £17.99

(trying out the new Polyvore features - let me know if you'd rather I typed and linked you myself)

It seems I do have a preference for the green tartan over any other. I think it's much more subtle and easier to pull off!

You may have noticed the slip dress isn't linked. Unfortunately the dress isn't available any more (it's from Zara - you might be able to get it on eBay) but I wanted to throw it on there cos I own it myself and I absolutely love it *blog post to come soon!*

Are you a fan of the tartan trend? Leave a comment 

xx

Polyvore

For my Graphic Design course at college we have been given complete freedom over the brief for our current unit, so being really interested in fashion I decided my project would be to create a fashion magazine. As part of that I have to do photo-shoots for the fashion spreads inside the magazine. I've already done a more edgy/grunge shoot with my friend Amy who was an AMAZING model (thank you!!), so now I have opted to do something a bit more clean and 'preppy' for my next shoot. So here are a couple of mood boards I put together on Polyvore for my models (my friends Katy and Andrew) so that they had a rough idea of the style I am going for!

Minimalist (male) by aderynh2 on Polyvore

I'd really recommend checking out Polyvore! It's great for putting together 'sets' like this as mood boards for inspiration, but it's also good for shopping. It compiles hundreds of brands together so if you're searching for something specific you don't have to go through each shops website individually. You can just type in what you're after and it'll come up with that product from loads of different shops, and you can filter the results by price, colour, brand - it makes things so much easier!

Check it out!

xx

Look: Tropical Breeze

You can buy this dress on eBay for £17.99 here - apparently it's a Zara copy? I'm not sure of this is true but I've seen loads of bloggers wearing it and I really like this shape of dress. I think this will be perfect for summer and my holidays!

My boots are from River Island and have become my absolute staple shoes over the autumn/winter months!

xx

Look: Same jeans on!

For some reason I struggle to find jeans that fit. I often suffer with baggy-around-the-knees skinny jeans as I'm sure many of us do. But embarrassingly, the biggest nuisance for me is a baggy crotch area! I've put this down to having quite slim hips, resulting in a lot of excess material around the crotch. The biggest culprits tend to be high waist jeans - but I love them! I was just about to start rummaging through the teen section for my ultimate pair of jeans but then came across a pair (albeit not high waisted) that actually fit quite nicely on me, in the form of a £15 pair that I found on sale at River Island. *queue staring at my crotch*

As stated above, my jeans are from River Island. My lace cami can be found at Internacionale for £9.99 and my shoes were bought also in the sale last Christmas from Topshop. They were delegated to the bottom of my wardrobe for quite some time, but I have a new found love for them now. Maybe it serves me right for not wearing socks - but they did give me blisters! :( Hey, maybe that's why they were delegated in the first place.

Where is your favourite place to buy jeans? Leave a comment below.

xx

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Look: Dots & Daisies!!

Another monochrome look from me. I should probably inject a little colour in to my wardrobe!! 

I got this skirt in the River Island sale for £15. The length was a bit out of my usual comfort zone but I really loved it so I took the risk. The annoying thing about this skirt is that it has two slits down the front creating a loose flap that goes between your legs as you're try to walk!!

My cami can be found at New Look - it's become such a staple piece for me! My jelly shoes were bought at Topshop along with my ring. I've never really wore jewellery but I'd definitely like to start so I bought a couple of rings the other day and hopefully my collection will continue to grow. I've always found rings really cool!

Thanks for reading, leave any comments below!!

xx

Look: New Years Resolution

As I promised I am going to Lookbook more so here is my first post of the new year!!

I bought my jumper from New Look in the sale around October time. I've paired it with my new skort that I got for Christmas, also from New Look - currently available for £17.99. My shoes are black leather oxford-style shoes that I got from Topshop around Christmas '12, and my watch (which I only recently found after being lost beneath laundry for a couple of weeks) was a 17th birthday present off my lovely grandparents made by Citizen Eco-Drive. 

I hope you like my look. Very monochrome!!! Feel free to leave any comments below.

Thanks for reading

xx

New Years Resolution

Hi there! It's been a very long time since I last blogged - just over two months in fact (it's shameful, I know) - but that's why I have officially made it my New Year's resolution to try to blog and Lookbook on a much more regular basis. 

I tried to start this off with a bit of a blog re-vamp, but as I'm still a massive beginner when it comes to HTML and CSS coding, my 're-vamp' has so far consisted of re-naming my blog and shifting my side bar to the right (crazy - I know!) If you weren't aware, I was formerly 'Hopeless Whistler' - a blog name which I could certainly not warm to and actually made me cringe a little bit when ever I said it out loud to anyone. So the new year brings a new name for you all: 'Frock Me' (and 'frockmefashion' for my domain as just 'frockme' was already taken *insert sad face here*). 

I don't want to say exactly how often I intend on blogging, because with January mocks peeping over the horizon and a wagon load of coursework stacking up on me, I could find it hard to keep to a perfect timetable. But I'd like to say at LEAST once a week. I can manage that, surely? 

I popped a little link to my Lookbook at the beginning of this post for you all, and you can also access it through my side bar. Again this is something I aim to do a lot more regularly, although my limited wardrobe and terrible camera quality will throw a few restrictions on that. It's terribly time consuming trying to capture a picture where your clothes AND your face look okay, taking in to account you're using an iPhone camera and self timer app to do this. 

Thanks to everyone who read my blog last year, and I hope to gain a few more fans this time round. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Years. Maybe you could drop a comment telling me what your New Year's resolution is? :)

Thanks for reading, Aderyn

xxx

Thank you ASOS!!

After a rather hectic incident involving running around with no pants on and a few days of waiting, I have finally received my Access All ASOS package!

It almost arrived on Friday, but having just woke up in a t-shirt and undies I had to frantically run around trying to find some pants to slip in to. I finally managed to find some hidden under the mounds of clothes on my floordrobe, put them on (backwards) and ran downstairs only to find one of those pesky red notes telling me I had to wait until Monday to pick it up. But I got it in the end!!

(please excuse the grainy picture that has been blown up from my phone)

I thought that the hand written note was really sweet and it showed that the ASOS team actually took notice of what was on everyone's applications. I'm currently testing out the nail polish - I love the colour but it's taking ageeees to dry and although I'm not really a jewellery person, I think this 'LOVE' necklace will be the perfect start to my collection! 

I can't wait for all the invitations to start rolling in. So far we'd had three, two of which I've shown an interest in, but I don't know if I'll get picked. Fingers crossed!!

xxx

I'm an ASOS Insider!!!

A short while ago (I've been rather busy recently so I've completely lost track of time) I applied online at ASOS to join their Access All ASOS team. Obviously I never thought I'd actually become one and I totally forgot about it, but then yesterday I received an email to tell me that I'd been successful!

For those of you that don't know, Access All ASOS is the opportunity for a selection of their most loyal fans to gain access to the latest news and information from ASOS. This includes their new collections, chances to visit ASOS HQ and supposedly the odd freebie or discounts. Sounds appealing, right?

I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this and I really hope I get the opportunity to take part in some of the stuff they have on offer. It's only just kicked off, but I hope to let you know if I get to participate in any of these amazing events. Applications for 2013 have now closed, but they'll be taking on more applications next year so keep your eyes peeled!

Step Up New Look

New Look has slipped under my radar for quite some time now, but after browsing around on their website and nipping in to store a few weeks ago, my system is blinking and telling me that this is going to become my new go-to shop for affordable but on trend pieces!

Many of my shopping hours have been spent frustrated over how expensive the likes of Topshop and Urban Outfitters are, but never satisfied with the replicas that the likes of Primark offer. Enter New Look. I'm a fan of the prices, the quality and the clothes! Should I feel bad that I've always underestimated this brand? Well, here's how I'm making up for it. I've pulled together a tonne of style surprises from their website, which I wouldn't be surprised to find in the more expensive, edgy high street shops.  

1. Chunky Black Heels

2. Chiffon Cami

3. Asymmetric Wrap Skirt

4. Black Embroidered Dress

5. Biker Coat

6. Geometric A-Line Skirt

7. Jacquard High Neck Cami

8. Chunky Gladiator Sandals

I already own the two cami's. I thought that £18 for the one's in Topshop were a bit too expensive for just a simple vest, but the £5 one's in Primark were a really odd fit. So I was met in the middle by New Look who offered me this chiffon cami for just £10. I've also been a bit of a jacquard fan recently, so the other vest was perfect for me!!

I'm in love with both pairs of shoes, and they look like something you'd spot in Topshop!! The dress featured is also the spit of this Urban Outfitters dress that I was lusting over for months but refused to part with £52 for.

How do you feel about New Look? Are there any other stores that you underestimated for some time?

Kimono Krazy!

Fabulously flowy, delightfully delicate and beautifully bohemian! I'm in love with this oriental inspired trend. To be honest, I love anything that's going to add a bit of a boho vibe to an outfit, and with the glorious weather we're having at the moment, minus the terrestrial rain, the next-to-nothing material and loose fit is perfect to avoid any unattractive sweating, whilst still looking like the cool kids at Coachella. 

Kimonos are available practically everywhere at the moment, and you'll find them in all sorts of styles, from the traditional oriental florals to bang-on-trend modern neons! Here's a round up of my favourite kimonos to suit all occasions, as well as how I styled up my own knitted version!

Formal

1. Black Lace Kimono - New Look, £19.99

2. Blazer Kimono - ASOS, £40

3. Mono Kimono Jacket - Urban Outfitters, £50

 Modern

1. Lime Embroidered Kimono - Topshop, £65

2. Blue Mandala Print Kimono - Motel or ASOS, £45

3. Vintage Floral Kimono - ASOS, £65

4. Textured Stripe Kimono - ASOS, £50

Traditional 

1. Bird Print Kimono - Topshop, £55

2. Oriental Kimono - Miss Selfridge, was £55 now £30

3. Canton Kimono - Motel, £48

And here's how I styled my Topshop knitted kimono. I love the burnt orange colour!!

What's your opinion on kimono's? Love the oriental look, or think they're best left for fancy dress?

Intern Diaries: Week 2

The tasks for my second week as an intern were similar from the first week. The whole internship has involved a lot of social media. I'm happy I get such a big role when it comes to this and I am completely trusted to update all the social networking websites with whatever I want! I even set the brand up with a Lookbook account. 

Here's how my week went:

Day 1 - The first day of the week saw us photographing all the shoes we didn't get the chance to shoot at the weekend. We also made a fun little video of us dancing around in the shoes. There was some seriously funky footwork going on! Only a few of the shoes were my size so I don't think I can quite call myself a foot model just yet.

Day 2 - I had to upload pictures of all the sale items to our Facebook and Pinterest pages. This was a pretty tedious task but I guess it's the interns job to do all the nitty gritty stuff. I was also given the task of creating a few mood boards for the new collection whilst looking after the shop. We finally received the shots from the photo shoot at the weekend, so another tedious job was lined up - uploading all the items to ASOS Marketplace. Hurrah!

Day 3 - As well as becoming a foot model this week, I also gave hand bag and scarf modelling a try. All these pictures were also uploaded to ASOS Marketplace. More social media work was done, and it was today I set up the Lookbook account! I also started using their Chictopia account again which had been lying dormant for quite some time. 

Day 4 - My final day! Myself and some of the other interns spent the day in the shop whilst working on the brand's social media. We even got cake because it was on of the interns' birthdays over the weekend! It was a nice final day to have despite the weather welding my bottom to my seat! 

I really enjoyed my time and I feel like I learnt so much in such a short space of time. Of course I'd love to intern at bigger companies, but it's true that you get a real hands on experience on smaller brands because the team is so much smaller! Everyone was so friendly and I intend on going back for another two weeks later on in the holidays, but I need to time to relax and catch up on my college work first!

Please leave any questions, I'd love to hear from you!!

Intern Diaries: The Photo-shoot

Don't get your hopes up thinking that this was some high end, glamorous photo shoot. It wasn't. All the prep was done in the tiny office, the shots were done just outside our building using only a camera, and we had about sixty different outfits with three different make-up looks on two different models to shoot in the space of about six hours. Talk about hectic!

My job was primarily just to carry the masses of clothes around with me to allow for super fast changing, with a few opinions on the styling and direction of the shoot thrown in. I found myself peering over the photographers shoulder to get a peep of the photos - and they looked fab! It's amazing what a bit of make-up, some natural light and a decent camera can do! They're gonna be the coolest shots on ASOS Marketplace - watch out!

It was great to be able to get so involved with the photo shoot, even though the brand is only small, and the team even tinier. I'd love to be able to experience a full on glam editorial for Vogue, but that's setting my hopes a little to high, don't ya think? Regardless, the whole day was so much fun and the lovely weather made it even better!

The shoot just consisted of product shots for ASOS Marketplace, so it was quite technical in that we had to show off the clothes accurately, with views from all angles, and we had to apply the no flash and no editing rules that ASOS enforce. We gathered quite a crowd! The professionals on the shoot such as the make-up artist and male model were confused as to why people found this interesting but it isn't something you see everyday! At least I haven't seen a shoot take place before. If I was one of them I'd be stopping and staring too! Heck, I'd put my jacket on the ground and sit and watch!!

It was a loooong day. I arrived at 10am, and didn't leave till 8pm. We weren't expecting it to take so long but it was well worth it. The shots look great, it was a fun day and I can now say I've assisted on a photoshoot. Win win all round!

Intern Diaries: Week 1

So I managed to land myself an internship (which are pretty damn hard to find up here in Manchester) with a small start up brand based in the city centre. I was really happy when I found out I'd got it, because I had no experience what so ever, and they always say the first internship is the hardest to get, probably for that reason. 

I'm only there for two weeks, but hopefully I can go back later on in the holidays for another two weeks (as I'm pretty sure my best friend and my boyfriend are on holiday at the same time which is going to be mega torture for me, I need to keep myself occupied). 

So here's what I did in the first week:

Day one: A nervous me walked in to the studio, but was pleasantly surprised to find that everyone there was very nice and friendly, and I wasn't given too big a task on my first day. Myself and the other interns (who had already been there for a a week or two before me) were given plain t-shirts to customise and let our creative juices flow. It was a nice relaxed first day.

Day two: We started off the day by sketching some designs for the new collection, and then we were sent out to snap some street style shots (wow, talk about alliteration!) which we were very unsuccessful with because it was really early and no one was about. :( I had to do little errands throughout the day like nipping to the bank, and putting stickers on a huge pile of lookbooks. Then I was given the task to create a print for the upcoming collection which I was really excited about, although the speed of the computer that I was working on made the experience rather frustrating, and the fact I was using macs which I've hardly used before. I was also sent to work in the shop they have in Affleck's for a couple of hours.

Day three: I spent the first half of the day working on the different social media websites the brand has which included making a Pinterest board, and a sort of 'steal her style' celebrity look sheet using pieces from the brand, which I then uploaded to their Facebook page. When I came back after my lunch break, a photo shoot for ASOS Marketplace was being organised which I helped with, then we all spent the rest of the day styling for the shoot which was so much fun!! I can't wait to actually attend the shoot and assist with everything! :D

Day four: Today was a very tiring day. I write this having just woken up from a nap. The morning was spent locating all the items that we needed for the shoot which was a huge task considering the amount of clothes that are crammed in to such a tiny office space. After this I was sent to work in the shop, where I spent my day on the laptop checking the social media sites, and I also got to create my 'pick of the week' from the items in store, as well as an outfit post on ASOS Fashion Finder and I also did some more designs for the upcoming collection. 

I think working for a small brand is really great because you get much more of a hands-on experience. I wasn't expecting to be given so much responsibility. I was half expecting to be stuck in a little corner with a list as long as my arm of mundane little tasks to do, but so far I feel like I've really contributed to the brand and learnt a lot. The hours are quite long, but I only work 4 days a week, and the experience is definitely worth it!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about the first week on my internship, and that this post wasn't too lengthy. I will have another post up by Monday talking about my experience on the photo shoot, and then another post up next Friday covering my second week as an intern! So please check back if you'd like to hear more!! :)

Please leave any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you! xx

Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model: Devastated!!

This is post is well overdue! I started it and then saved it in my drafts to return to another day, but never did. Oops! 

Bascially, I was just going to rant about how jealous I was of the girls for being able to work with those hot male models (and topless may I add!). And also that I'm devastated that Jess went home. She was probably my favourite, on par with Naomi, and to see her go home to my least favourite (Abigail) was just too heartbreaking. I don't like Abigail's look; I don't think she looks like a model and she should have gone home. I definitely think they made the wrong decision, and I'm going to miss Jess in tonight's episode.

What do you think? Are you happy that Jess went home?

Invading my dad's wardrobe!

Who thought you could find stuff to wear from your dad's wardrobe!? Ok, a lot of people. This trend isn't a new thing, but my dad doesn't have any of those cool patterned shirts that are oh-so-stylish on us girls, not him, at the moment. But I did manage to scavenge this belt, and considering I've been searching for good width black (ok this is dark brown) belt, I'd consider this a huge success!

1. Cardigan - Topman

2. Shirt - H&M

3. Belt - My dad's

4. Shorts - eBay (brand unknown)

5. Shoes - Topshop

Whilst we're all gathered here, can I just congratulate myself on snapping up these denim bad boys for less than a fiver! I don't know if you've ever tried to find a pair of cheap Levi's (or other alternative) on eBay, but you can't usually bag yourself a decent pair for under £15! Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Levi's anyway; they don't stretch much and their idea of 'high waisted' isn't as high as I like. I'm very happy with this purchase.

 Especially since before I bought these, I didn't own a single pair on denim shorts. I'm sorry, but denim shorts are too much of a staple piece for me not to have in my wardrobe, and the amount of times I've thought to myself "you know what, this would look great with some high waisted denim shorts", well! They had to be my next purchase.

Wild for Daisies

The daisy trend has been around for a couple of seasons, and just as the tears were filling my eyes in fear that this craze was coming to an end, the daisies have come back in full force, bringing with them other floral prints, like sunflowers which I am completely lusting for!

I don't know what it is about daisy prints that make them just so much more adorable than any other floral. Maybe because they make you think of the daisy chains you probably made when you were younger. Regardless, I need more daisy themed items in my wardrobe! 

I recently purchased this cute shirt off eBay (of course) originally from Warehouse. Although it's a little tight around the chest, I had to keep it because it was just so cute! I have also just discovered that Warehouse did a whole range of items in this gorgeous pattern, including pants, a bralet and dress. Give me them now please!

Another pattern I'm totally in love with is sunflower prints. I first noticed this summery pattern whilst browsing and eternally crying because I can't afford the stuff at American Apparel. This cute little shirt and shorts combo is on my wish list, but at £94 for the set (insane), I think I'll try and track them down on eBay instead.

You can purchase the top here and the shorts here!

Here are some of my other favourite floral finds!

1. Daisy Shorts - Motel, £38
2. Daisy Midi Dress - ASOS, £28
3. Daisy Tank Dress - Urban Outfitters, £42
4. Daisy Vest - Topshop, £30

I'm absolutely in LOVE the ASOS midi dress. I think it would look great toughened up with a pair of boots and a leather jacket. I also really love the midi length, since I hate showing my legs; this covers most of them up!

Are you a fan of the daisy print or are you bored of this floral fad? Let me know! xx