OOTD

OOTD by emilyhouse featuring a brown long sleeve shirt

OOTD

OOTD by emilyhouse featuring black ballet flats

The perfect little... Christmas dress?

Long time no blog hey? I promise you this is the last apology you will be getting off me for the fact I'm a rubbish blogger! Uni has finally settled down, I say settled down I have two assignments due in two weeks time but who doesn't love a little bit of procrastination now and again? So, whilst I take a break from fighting with this essay I will try to entertain you by doing a much-needed post! 

After being at work all weekend and having the question "So what are you wearing to the Christmas party?" thrown at me at least a dozen times I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was going to wear. Although, I was going with a black pencil skirt and a sheer peplum top with a red velvet baroque pattern, but after I had to put together an impromptu Halloween costume that’s out the window because, well no one wants a vampire at the Christmas party do they? I tend to be one of those people who sort of throw something together at the last minute and ends up pulling out the little black dress that has been ever so faithful to me throughout the years. But I have vowed that this Christmas that will all change! So, I am now on the hunt for the, it seems, somewhat illusive PFD- Perfect Festive Dress.

Now, if you’re like me and on a fairly tight budget you may have a harder time than others locating your PFD. I for example started where I imagine most people would, the local shopping center, I have looked high and low and still found, well, diddley squat. So now in lieu of my procrastination I have put down my book on ‘Realism in Contemporary Children’s Literature’ to adopt a new mission. Online shopping! Now brace yourself, if you take this route you may be in for hours of slogging through various websites in the hope that something might scream out at you. Although, it helps when you know exactly what you’re looking for.

For example one of the girls I work with is thinking black sequin dress. Now I have been down this road before and lets just say flash photography is not my friend on a good day and neither is it with sequins on. So I for one am planning to stay clear of the sparkle this year. Velvet is one of my much loved favorites for this season, it’s just something about the texture, I mean who doesn’t want to dress on red or green velvet the one time of year they can get away with it? Lace is always nice, but then again I don’t see it being all that festive. Although saying that I have just spotted a gold dress with red lace that would fit the bill perfectly. Unfortunately £60 is a little out of my price range but a nice try from Topshop. Asos has failed me because I just cant stomach the sheer amount of items on the website and Urbaoutfitters has once again proven that it is horrendously overpriced. I’m getting so stressed I’m tempted to just forget it and go right back to my essay.

Looks like it might be a Christmas miracle if I ever find what I’m looking for. Jesus Christ all this and I still haven’t picked out my shoes.

I'm loving...

I am addicted to the massive floral prints of this season and cant wait to get my hand on a few of the pieces featured in this post. So i think it's time to ditch the ditsy prints of previous years and get big and bold with our florals!

Matchy matchy

After creating my last couple of posts and looking through a number of fashion magazines I stumbled across some styling that I am head over heals in love with. Matching! That's right matching having a crop top that is exactly the same pattern and colour as your skirt or shorts is, in my opinion, an amazing way to embrace summer style.

I come across the first outfits looking through skirts to match with a peplum top a few days ago and instantly fell in love with the pattern and after having a quick browse of hm.com  I found the matching shorts and crop top which have made it onto my wish list meaning I will soon be picking them up and spending my hard earned cash.

Crop tops have become one of my go to pieces for this summer and I can't get enough of them paired with high waisted trousers, skirts or shorts. I think the fact they let you expose that tinny strip of skin around your waist makes me like them even more. This is yet another reason why I love this trend so much, it incorporates all my summer favourites form bold print to crop tops to high waists. 

Its not all about bright pattern so if that's not your thing I found these darker patterns selling in Topshop. With one being simple and the other a little bit more interesting they show that there is something for everyone. But although both of these outfits sport the full skirt with a little added detail they look worlds apart from one another. I love the cut out details that are everywhere this season but only at topshop have I seen them be used on the front of pieces, but I think its a great way to expose skin in a very sexy way.

And hey if you want to go the whole hog why not add a matching pair of shoes!?

Perfect for Peplum...

The peplum trend has swept the fashion nation and made a big slash on the high-street. You can't walk past a shop window or browse a store without seeing more than one dress or top in this classic style. Now I'm not really one for adopting really girly trends but this one is an exception. I've taken the plunge and invested in a simple black peplum top from Primark for just £8.00 showing they also wont break the bank balance.

Although when I got my peplum home I did sit down and realise I really didn't know what to wear it with. So if your like me and want to try the trend this is what i would recommend wearing with the versatile plain black pepelum top...

Boby-con skirts are an amazing pairing for a plain peplum top they add a pop of colour or an interesting look  with pattern to modernise the style. I found adding a plain black skirt in a mini or pencil style gives the impression of you wearing a dress which works amazingly for a formal look and bright patterns create a more casual appearance.

Let me know what you would pair with a peplum or even if you would wear one at all?

I'm loving...

I'm not a fan of pastel colours at all, being so pale they make me look even paler and in turn like I has some kind of illness but I cant help loving mint. Something about it just screams out to me and I have to grab it with both hands. God knows my collection of mint will be growing this summer and if I can find a thick jumper ill be taking mint into my winter wardrobe too!

'Modelling' for a photo shoot...

Hey everyone sorry I've been M.I.A yet again with my first year exams, extra shifts at work and a trip back home I haven't had time to sit down let alone film a video or blog... But I'm back and will be posting at least once a week from now on! No slacking for me! This is a bit of a late one but I had to keep these photos under raps until now! I did a photo shoot over Easter with my amazing friend daisy and it was so much fun! They were for a university project for a fashion cover and magazine spread so here are the snaps...

Styling: Daisy Churchward

Photography: Diasy Churchward

'Model': Me

P.S. If you want to know where anything is from just leave a comment and ill get back to you!

Haul: Primark, Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Newlook, H&M

List of items and their prices bellow.

Sorry this video/post is a bit delayed I was meant to put this up a couple of week ago but I forgot about it completely! I ended up starting my spending ban  may 1st until the end of may so you might see a tiny little haul mid may from things I've purchased over the last two weeks.

I hope you enjoy...

Daisy and dot crop tops.

Top of the black backless dress.

Items mentioned:

• Pleated skirt - 8 - £12 - Primark
• Stretch crop tops - 8/10 - £3 each - Primark
• Black cut out back dress - 8 - £6 - Primark
• Grey bralet - 8 - £5 - Primark
• Striped sheer jumper - 6 - £15 - Topshop sale
• Sleeveless shirt - 6 - £15 - Topshop sale
• Cream vest - 8 - £4.99 - Newlook
• Sheer crop shirt - 8 - £16.99 - Newlook
• White knit vest - 8 - £7.99 - H&M
• Midi dress - 10 - £12 - Dorothy perkins sale
• Topshop backpack - £36 - Topshop (but I bought on ebay for £25)

What I'm wearing:

Jumper - 8 - Topshop (old)

OOTD: Midi-dress

Ok, so here is just a tiny outfit of the day with something I picked up recently in the sale. I think I said it in my 7 deadly sins tag but me and midi-dresses have a bit of a love hate relationship. But today was definitely love more than hate. So... 

This is the dress in question its pretty similar to the ones I have seen dotted around my local Topshop but this one is from Dorothy Perkins sale it was originally £19.99 reduced to £10.20 in the sale and with 15% student discount too, which meant I couldn't not pick it up!

It was pretty cold today so I paired my dress with a plain black cardigan, scarf, leather jacket and boots to keep me warm in the cold and rain.

For accessories the standard rings I always wear, backpack, little hamsa hand bracelet (I swapped the watch from the video with the bracelet) and a necklace I bought in a charity shop and DIYed.

OOTD: Midi-dress

What I'm wearing:

Bracelt - DIY and ebay - £1

Leather jacket - Topshop - £55

Dress - Doroty Perkins - £10.20

Scarf - 99p Store - £0.99

Backpack - Topshop - £36

Belt - (old) Primark - £1

Boots - (old) River Island - £30

Necklace - Charity shop DIY - £1

Rings - Gift or Charity shop - £8-£20

Spring/Summer style ideas

If spring/summer ever arrives in my city this will be what I was wearing!

Spring/Summer style ideas by emilyhouse featuring Topshop tops

Lust List!

Lust List! by emilyhouse featuring hot denim shorts

OOTD

Ok, so just a quick one. It's been such a crazy week I haven't even had time to sit down and when I do get a second I'm so tired I just sleep haha. So here is my favourite outfit from this week so far!

t-shirt - Primark / neclaces - DIY and Wallis / skirt - River island / jacket - Topshop / bag - H&M / shoes - Newlook

What do you think?

Adding Colour for Spring?

So university work has been taking up a huge amount of my time recently and to be honest with you I should be doing work now, but I feel its time for a break! The sun as come out here and it's definitely getting warmer; it almost feels like spring. Which has got me thinking its time to break out in a little bit of colour. If you know me you will be all too aware that I love black, grey and white and that these are the tones that make up the majority of my wardrobe. You would also be aware I get a lot of stick for wearing such dull colours. So I have taken it upon myself to break into a bit of colour...

trousers - £24.99 Newlook / shirts - birthday gifts Topshop / Jumper- a year old Newlook / shorts- £35 Topshop

These are just a few items that I have been wearing recently to inject a splash of colour into my outfits. Although, after taking this picture I noticed I have a lot of warm tones so i think its time to go get some cooler colours. I have a craving for something patterned and bright blue for some reason, time to go shopping i think.

Clothing haul.

I know I shouldn't of but I did. I was meant to be off shopping this month because its my birthday so I didn't see the point, but, I've gone and done it! In my defence these are things I really 'needed'. If you follow me on twitter you will know that I bought some flatform wedges, and I am head over heals (excuse the pun) in love with them! I repeatedly saw people talking about the ASOS ones but as a student I can't really justify paying £40 for shoes I might not wear too often, so I gave up on them. Until I found these bad boys...

shoes: £24.99 - H&M

I am in love they are, in my opinion, 10 times nicer than the ASOS ones with their leather wedge and swede shoe. When I spotted them in my local H&M you can't even imagine my excitement, especially when I saw the price.

I then went out with my wonderful flat mates (who are a terrible influence on my spending ban btw) for a little shopping trip to town and ended up picking out a few things on my wish lists.

I've been eyeing up this leather jacket for the longest time and thought as I have £50 to spare this month from my wages I would treat myself to an early birthday present. I also don't own a leather jacket, and as a wardrobe staple I think you will all agree this purchase was very much necessary.

leather jacket: £50 (with student discount) - Topshop

The second to last thing I picked up is yet another thing I've been lusting after for the past month. The speckled t-shirt dress from Topshop, which I found out today comes in six other colours (that means more money spending on my part). I love this little dress so so much it's unbelivably versatile which means i can justify buying it, and well it helps that its really pretty.

dress: £25 - Topshop

I also went out today and bought these gorgeous earrings. How lovely are these, I can't get over how in love with them I am!

earrings: £5 -Topshop

I've noticed from moving to uni that one, I definitely have an unhealthy addiction to shopping, two, that I spend way to much money on clothes and three, that its so much more satisfying to buy something your over the moon in love with than something you just like. Which has lead me to the conclusion that unless I have put a piece of clothing or, a pair of shoes on my wish list (I keep one updated on my phone) and they have stayed there for over 2 weeks I am not allowed to buy them. I'm hoping this new method of shopping will save me money, slow my addiction and in the long term get me a wardrobe that I absolutely adore. Oh, and I'm still sticking to my 'if I wear this once for every pound it cost me its totally worth it!' As you can see I'm very good at justifying my spending haha.

summer wish list

summer wish list by emilyhouse featuring peep toe high heels

I thought I would post a few of my current wish lists from polyvore. Its a bit of a mix of stuff and admittedly most of it is from topshop but I've been a bit addicted to them recently! Although, I also have been attracted to American Apparel and Urban Outfitters so maybe those wish lists will come later. Along with maybe a makeup one too. Apologies also that it is mainly all black, grey or white, those are the only colours I'm wearing at the moment.

black and grey wish list

black and grey wish list by emilyhouse featuring pointed shoes

How I style...

The ways that people pick out their outfits has always interested me. Do they try on every combination they can think of before going for the one they love the most, do they pre-plan their outfits weeks in advance, do they just think in their head about what they fancy that day and then simply put it on and go? For some reason it seems that no-one ever talks about this kind of thing so I thought why not blog about it! For me everything happens on the day because my outfits tend to work around what I'm feeling like or the weather so nothing will ever be pre-planned with me. Although to be completely honest with you on the day that I choose to photograph my outfit this jacket was definitely not warm enough! Anyway, it all starts with one piece of clothing and this time it was a little jersey cream shirt I bought in Topshop last year because I wanted to have a collar on show.

Shirt: Topshop - (a year ago)

Then it comes to the fun bit, laying everything out! So, I take the one piece and lay it out on my bed ( in my room there is no where else to put it) and build my outfit around it. There is no other method to how I pick my outfits really the rest is simply whatever I feel like on the day.

Boots: Dorothy Perkins - £26

Jeans: Topshop Kirstens - £40

Scarf: Charity Shop - 50p

Bag: H&M - £7

I tend to be always be addicted to one bag so that's a given, but I tend to lay out my shoes and basic accessories with every thing too. The only thing I won't lay out if jewellery, not really sure why that is I just tend to put that all on afterwards.

Jacket: Topman - boyfirends

Hat: Topshop - £8

Jumper: Newlook - £20

As far as it goes my morning route of styling is nothing earth shattering but I thought the idea of knowing how people pick what they wear everyday was interesting, I'm just a tad nosey i guess.

a tad manly.

I have found myself since coming to university having a bit of a style change. I used to dress pretty smart really, all chinos, shirts pretty dressed and smart shoes but since arriving here I seem to have done a complete 180 and gone super casual.

A side effect of this you could say is that I am increasingly found to be wearing clothes made for men. Now don't get me wrong I have no shame in letting the world know I really love wearing men's clothes, I don't even mind wondering around the men's section and getting an odd look here and there. In fact i love shopping in the men's section. Although its not for everyone I think its nice to find something you know no other girl will be wearing around uni or a cut that you wouldn't find in women's clothing.

I've begun to collect quite a lot of men's items and I thought it would be a cool idea to show them in a post and essentially rave about how much I love them.

Vans: office £44.99

I think many people will agree with me that Vans are a pretty great shoe! Whether your a girl or a guy I think these are something everyone needs to have in there wardrobe for those days when you really can't be bothered to try too hard and want to throw something on with jeans and a jumper. I think as unisex shoes go these are my number one.

denim jacket: Topman (boyfriends)

hoody: Primark £8

Ok, i will admit this denim jacket isn't exactly mine and as hard as I am trying to keep it in my possession I think sooner or later my boyfriend will ask for it back, unfortunately for me it has become my favourite thing to wear, and I am now desperately trying to find one of my own just like it! The hoody underneath comes from Primark and was a cheap at £8 which i think was well worth it because I've began layering it under almost everything!

all tops: Primark £2.50

Another great buy from Primark is these men's slim fit t-shirts in XS for £2.50. I bought the grey one on a whim one day just to try it out and have rushed back to get them in a couple different colours and it turns out these are now some of my favourite t-shirts. I think the reason I love them so much is the high neckline which is almost impossible to find on any women's tops.

all Topman sale £1-£4

Men's jewellery is yet another thing that I love to get my hands on. Whenever Topshop and Topman have a sale I go straight for the jewellery because lets face it its a tad over priced when its not discounted. Thinking about it i need to pop down there again soon to have another cheeky look around. Its surprising what you find when you really look.

I personally think its totally acceptable to not only raid you boyfriends wardrobe but fill yours with your own selection of manly pieces, but then again that might just be me.