Friday 18 March 2011

Holiday Wardrobe

It is 3 weeks today until I go on holiday to Thailand *lots of jumping around in excitement*, we booked the holiday about a year ago and I've been counting down ever since.

Since Xmas I have been keeping an eye out for any good holiday pieces to add to my wardrobe. This was quite important being as the majority of my wardrobe is only suitable for British summers (read 'not warm') and it is meant to be at least 30 degrees, and some, in Thailand, so what better excuse do I need to treat myself to some lightweight summer goodies!

This is my holiday collection so far, its unlikely to get much bigger to be honest. I can probably get away with wearing bikinis for most of the day!


Most of my new items have been pretty bargainous and I'm really quite pleased with myself that I have managed to bulk up my holiday wardrobe at relatively little cost to my student bank balance. I'm not going to list all of my holiday haul, but here are the new ones that are yet to be worn!

Sunglasses


The top pair I actually bought at the end of last summer so although they are not new they have had little wear. I was lusting after them all summer on the Accessorize website but didn't want to order them until I had seen them on me in 'real life', at the end of the summer I finally found them in a shop, loved them and made a purchase! Turquoise is a favourite colour of mine and I love the idea of having a pair of sunglasses that aren;t your usual black or gold/silver. These are my sunglasses of choice still. They have a pink pair this season which I would also like amongst many, many others, but I've been told by the boyfriend that I don't need anymore...that is never true...

The second pair I picked up last month in River Island for £14, i liked the detailing of the little bow on the side, my two key styles of sunglasses are aviators and oversized so these tick the second box.

The third pair are from New Look, I really wanted a pair of wayfarers and very almost bought a floral pair from Accessorize but then found these in New Look for the lovely price of £4.99 plus student discount, I thought the navy floral print on the inside was lovely...even though noone else will see it!

Bikinis

I do not know why but the first image keeps going upside down, hopefully you get the idea!

I found these two little numbers in Tesco and New Look, respectively. I'm not normally a big bold print kind of gal, but the purple Tesco bikini jumped out at me, I am also favouring bandeau and strapless bikinis at the moment (optimum tanning!) but the shape of this bikini top is really flattering. 

close up of pattern

I love the pattern on the  bikini, I'm a big fan of florals, and the ruffles are so cute! The ruffles are quite flattering on the top if you have an average/small bust, but not so good for the more well equipped ladies. 

close up of detail


The only issue is that I went up a size in the bottoms and they are still slightly on the small side, but I generally struggle buying bottoms...pants/bikinis/jeans etc as I'm quite narrow hipped but with a 'generous' curvy bum (my boyfriends calls it my 'bold curve'...thanks) and a small waist. 

Sandals

Every year for the last 3 years I have bought a pair of New Look Sandals. As far as I'm concerned they are a staple of any girls summer wardrobe. For £12 for leather sandals I think these are great, especially when leather sandals would set you back £20-£25 if not more in most other places. These are listed as £14.99 on the website, but they were £12 in store.


My newest pair are on the left through to my oldest pair on the right (as you can tell by the ware on the soles!) but other than a bit of superglue on one of the soles which came apart a bit, they are still very much wearable. I'm generally a 'silver' person but I have been venturing into gold with some of my accessorise so this years pair are a pale gold. I'm looking forward to wearing them.

Dresses


The first of my bargains is this little number from Tesco, it cost me all of £8 and I love it! It's so pretty and girlie. As mentioned before I'm a big fan or floral and ditsy prints so this was a winner for me, it also came in a few other patterns and colours and I was tempted to buy more than one. Here is a close up of the print


A lot of my florals are pink/pale colour based and I was drawn to the red and bold blue here. The rouched elasticated top means it fits well and has a bit of stretch and also means that I can tuck in the straps and it will stay up on its own if I want a strapless look. It also has some really pretty broderie anglaise detailing along the bottom. 

The next two dresses I picked up in H&M with some vouchers I was given for my birthday, so they were technically free *woo* but they still cost less than £10 each.


The first image is a dark 'denim' blue lightweight maxi dress with small silver buttons down the front. I'm 5ft 9 and often find that maxi's are too short, especially cheaper ones, and this sits perfectly on the floor when I wear flats. I think it will look great with my sandals and a straw hat. 
The second is a coral jersey dress with a pretty crochet detail around the waist/rib cage (depending on your height) A friend of mine also has this in the two patterned versions they have done which are also really pretty and great versatile pieces for the summer, very easy to wear. They can be worn during the day but also dressed up with a few accessories and slightly more glam hair and make up. 

detailing on dress

This last dress I got in the sale on ASOS. It is a Mango dress and I was in reduced from £40 to £19. I'm not usually a fan of muted/natural colours as they tend to wash me out, this has a naturally beige base colour but the brighter colours in the print mean it doesn't wash me out as badly. It has a button down front and elasticated waist, pockets (I'm a BIG fan of dresses with pockets, don't ask me why!) and two little pockets on the bust area. The straps are also detachable so you can change it up a bit. This doesn't look all that much on the hanger but I LOVE it when it is on. This will be a key dress in my summer wardrobe this year.



Well they are all my new purchases, sorry, I've just realised how long this blog has turned out! I hope you have managed to reach the end without getting bored. I will try and get some OOTD while I'm on holiday so you can all see them to their full effect. 

Have any of you got any holiday plans that you are looking forward to? Or just getting excited by the prospect of new summer clothes?



4 comments:

  1. Where is your hat from in the top photo?

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  2. The straw one? Its an original panama of my dads that he had years ago, vintage!

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  3. Its so nice, I've been looking for one like that for ages but I can't find one big enough for my head ahaha x

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  4. I have the same problem!...hence why I stole my dads! I did try on a nice on in H&M the other day though and it comes in S,M and L and the L actually fitted and it was only about £7 xx

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