Back to School: Wardrobe Planning

About this time of year, my mum would always take me shopping to buy my new school supplies: stationery, bag, uniform and shoes. I loved getting all my new things ready for the coming year, arranging all my new pens into my pencil case (remember gel pens? pretty sure I had upwards of 100 of those!) and choosing the all-important school shoes.

When I left school and went to uniform-less sixth form and started buying my own clothes and stationery supplies, this little ritual seemed to fall by the wayside, but I seem to have picked it up again since I've been at uni. I suppose it sort of ties in with me thinking about the big items I want to introduce to my wardrobe for the upcoming season. Winter is always my favourite time for dressing; I love layers, and woolly jumpers, and the dark reds, greens, and blues that always come out during this time of year.

In the perfect world, my winter capsule wardrobe would look very much like this:

1: Rag & Bone // 2: Underground // 3: Vagabond // 4: Zara // 5: Proenza Schouler // 6: Topshop // 7: Topshop

Shoes:

I blogged about these Rag & Bone boots yesterday; they're still perfection. I have a pair of Underground creepers already, but they're bright pink suede and pretty unsuitable for incessantly wet Scottish winters! These leather ones are much better; as are these leather Vagabond flatforms in comparison to my usual suede Topshop ones.

Bags:

The Proenza Schouler PS1 is my absolute dream bag. This has been on my 'when I have enough disposable income' waiting list for a really long time, and will be staying there for the foreseeable future! Perhaps if I manage to clear my overdraft this year it could be a graduation present to myself. The Zara bag is in the sale right now, and I might buy it in the next couple of weeks. While I like to keep my shoes black, I like to inject a little colour when it comes to bags, especially in winter when everything is pretty dreary.

Accessories:

I love leather gloves in winter; woolly ones just seem to cumbersome. I've lost one of my old leather gloves which is such a shame as they fitted perfectly! I have really small hands, so it's quite difficult to find gloves that fit properly. My mum once bought me a pair of children's gloves with little puppets on the end, they're my absolute favourite but completely impractical! This Topshop leopard print scarf is gorgeous. I'm totally for regarding leopard print as a neutral.

1: Topshop // 2: River Island // 3: Topshop Boutique // 4: Burberry London // 5: Topshop // 6: Acne // 7: H&M // 8: Collette by Collette Dinnigan // 9: River Island // 10: Faith Connexion

Bottoms:

Black skinny jeans and a black skater skirt: I like to keep it simple. I've already blogged about my perfect pair of black skinny jeans, but I'm really nervous that they're being discontinued! They're in the sale on the ASOS website but there's barely any sizes left - they'd better keep stocking them or I'll have to go on yet another hunt!

Outerwear: 

A Burberry trench coat is the ultimate classic wardrobe item, isn't it? My granny bought me a well-fitting and comfortable trench from Zara Kids last year, but this Burberry London one would just be the dream. 

Tops:

Love this Topshop boucle cardigan. I find this style is perfect for slipping on in the library or coffee shops during the colder periods; they're super warm and cosy but look a lot more elegant and put-together than a hoody! 

Dresses:

I think it's pretty obvious that I love stripes. This H&M dress is an absolute bargain; the material also contains alpaca which I can confirm is SO warm! I've also developed a slight (read: major) obsession with this Faith Connexion dress. I really really hope it makes it to the NaP sale, or I find something similar somewhere else. I'm looking out for a plain navy dress as I can easily add the collar and buttons myself. Let me know if you see something similar! 

A/W Wardrobe Planning: Ankle Boots

I spent three or four hours spring cleaning yesterday - cleaning my walls, floors, and inside my wardrobe, washing almost all my clothes, cleaning my shoes - but about twenty minutes after I'd hung out the last load of washing, it absolutely poured down! Everything was completely drenched, and still is! I had to go to work in it as well, and my clothes were soaked through after walking the 45 seconds down the road to my boss's car. My first thought? I really need some rainproof shoes.

I buy a new pair of boots every winter, but I've never loved a pair so much that I've kept them for more than a year: this needs to change. I've always settled for what I thought 'would do' at the time, or what I could afford on a whim, rather than hunting out my ideal pair and saving up for them.

So what is my ideal pair of winter boots? They need to be black, so I can wear them with everything; made from leather, for comfort; and ankle height with a small heel. I'm also gravitating towards lightly embellished pairs rather than plain ones - nothing too blingy or brash, just to make them a little bit more interesting.

1: H by Hudson // 2: New Look // 3: Rag & Bone // 4: Jeffrey Campbell // 5: Dorothy Perkins

These Rag & Bone 'Harrow' biker boots are what I'd call perfection. A flattering almond toe, a decent-sized stacked heel, and interesting details in the contrasting white stitching and wrap-around strap. The only negative is the price (£345 on NaP); ideally I wouldn't want to pay more than £200, but none of the more affordable options please me as much. The plan is to shop around and wait until semester starts in the second week of September; if they haven't dropped in price by then, I'll pay the full amount. I know it will be worth it!

Paintings Update #4

Herve Leger // Faith Connexion // Alexander McQueen

Just a little update today; I haven't had much time for painting during the last couple of weeks, as my boyfriend has been up to stay with me for a while! Whenever he's here I like to spend as much time with him as possible because we're living in different towns at the moment, which is very different to what we're used to! I also work every evening, during my most productive time, so that's a bit frustrating!

Amazing news on the painting front though - I've made my first sale in my Etsy shop! I sold an A4 print, and the buyer was interested in buying a couple more so I'm super happy about that! Any money that I make from selling my art is going straight back into making more art, so I'm eyeing up some new paintbrushes as the ones I have at the moment are really cheap and keep shedding hairs - I think I'll just recycle them and use them for glue or nail polish instead!