London Look #4

For this day’s adventures (17 June), my friends and I took a trip to the East End to check out some vintage clothing and record stores. The weather was decently warm and so I wanted to wear something very light and non-clingy

This maxi dress was a purchase from Marshall’s before arriving in the UK. This summer, I’ve been particularly keen on the maxi dresses/skirts. I bought three new ones before coming to London and I’ve been seeing them everywhere here. They have this subtle sex appeal about them and look flattering on everyone (men included…most likely). I know a lot of my shorter friends think they can’t pull off a longer cut, but it actually lengthens your torso, giving the illusion of a taller stature. And they’re SO EASY to throw on! They’re the perfect “I’m-in-a-rush-and-have-to-look-like-a-productive-member-of-society” look that you can put on AND it looks like you put a decent amount of effort into what your wearing. DOUBLE WHAMMY!

You can pull off so many looks with a maxi dress that I could literally ramble on for years jut talking about them. GET ONE. Or do what you want. You have the choice.

But you should really get one ;)

Overtop I threw on my denim vest that I’ve talked about before and for shoes I had on my red pumps ALSO A GOOD INVESTMENT TO MAKE. Just throwing that out there.

This weekend, my group is heading to Stratford, Bath, AND Stonehenge!! Whhhaaaaat! And there will be blogging. DOUBLE WHHAAAATTT.

I went there.

See you in Stratford!

PS - Sorry that I wasn’t wearing any of the looks! I’ll try not to make that a habit!

London Look #3 Nighttime

So my birthday treat to myself was purchasing tickets to a show I had been wanting to see. Only problem—it was 8 1/2 hours long. I had to find something that was both theatre appropriate but not terribly uncomfortable

SIDE NOTE: If you’re in London and your interested in theatre/literature/The Great Gatsby/have 8 1/2 hours to kill GO SEE GATZ!! It’s a BRILLIANT production and only here until July 15th. The cast is so talented and the production was incredibly innovative and moving. I HIGHLY recommend it.

This dress was one of those very rare finds in a Goodwill near my school. It’s a super flattering empire waist, vintage-inspired dress. It’s knee length, which makes it incredibly comfortable to sit in/live in/love in (idk what ‘love in’ refers to either). The only problem with it is that it’s DECEIVINGLY see-through. What I usually do to fix this problem is wear a slip underneath, but funnily enough I forgot to put it on and didn’t realize until about halfway through the show. Guess the whole “staying classy” thing was not working out for me so well. BUT YOU SHOULD BE BETTER THAN I AM AND WEAR A SLIP WITH YOUR SEE-THROUGH CLOTHING.

The earrings I found at a consignment shop that was closing down, so the owner was just giving them away. That sentence couldn’t have been more hipster. They are clip-on earrings, so after a while they tend to hurt my ears, but I guess I was too distracted by the show to notice. If you want to try clip-on earrings, I suggest going for a pair that’s more light-weight because they tend to put a lot of pressure on your ear lobes.

My shoes are probably my favorite part of this outfit. They’re super comfortable (once you break them in, which only took about three wears), easy to walk in, and they’re TOMS! I love that TOMS is expanding their shoe horizons with wedges, flats, boots, and even eyewear. Go TOMS crazy!

My hair was wet when I took the picture, but it’s in the same basic twist-style I typically put it in. You could, however, dress up the twist by doing a small french braid instead while still keeping the similar look.

Yay for fashion and theatre!!

London Look #3: Daytime

This morning I had to wake up particularly early to grab day tickets to a show, so I decided to keep things as causal and simple as possible (mostly because I was dead tired).

For my top, I decided on a simple brown tank. I didn’t want the top to be too extravagant since I knew I was pairing it with this multi-colored scarf.

The scarf is a Cynthia Rowley design that I got at Marshalls for 10 bucks. Not too shabby since the scarf was originally between $30 and $40 dollars. It’s a super light fabric as well, so it works well during the spring and summer seasons.

Overtop of both of these I wore my favorite faux-leather bomber. I’ve had it for about a year and a half and it’s probably my favorite jacket I’ve owned. And (shockingly) it’s a Lauren Conrad design! Not too shabby for a Cali girl.

The jeans are a simple dark wash straight leg from Old Navy. To be honest, I don’t love the fit in the waist but they fit wonderfully everywhere else. And they make my butt look quite nice. Guess you can’t win ‘em all.

For the shoes I wore my tie-up TOMS. I found the design really striking with the flecks of gold in the brown and I knew these could go with almost any type of outfit. They’ve especially been great in London for their comfort factor. I could walk all over the West End and not have sore feet. Score!

For my eyewear, I wore my classic Ray-Ban Wayfarers. They flatter every type of face and the brown and black design (which you probably can’t see in the picture) makes them match everything I own. 

My hair is just in it’s natural, Afro-like state, but if you wanted to get waves/curls similar to these, I suggest Garnier Fructis curling products. They wore wonders on all hair types. I’ve used Surf Hair, Curl Construct gel, and Curl Construct mousse (which is the current product in my hair) and they’ve all worked great! It just depends on what kind of wave/curl you want to get. I’ve also heard that mixing water and salt into a spray bottle and misting damp hair with it can also give a similar, beachy effect. Just be sure to scrunch your hair once the spray as been applied and let it air dry.

Tonight I’ll be going to the theatre again, which means another outfit change!! Post to come soon!