I predicted it in my New in Fashion During July blog post, somehow I knew I was going to end up spending more on clothes in August. In July I managed to limit myself to only buying two new clothing pieces, in fairness they were both luxury pieces from The Kooples but still, I only bought two items. In August I definitely let myself down after such a successful month.
I know exactly what happened in August, not only had I been out and about a little bit more but it was also the end of sale season. I am quite lucky as I am a smaller size so I can quite often find my size in the further reductions sale period and that is exactly what happened in August. There were only two items I purchased during the month that were full price so I don't feel as bad about buying more items.
The Kooples
When it comes to The Kooples I simply cannot help myself, especially during sale season. The Kooples is one of my favourite brands but it is just so bloody expensive! I rarely buy anything from the brand full price as my salary does not cover that sort of price tag but I love the style of their clothes and I feel like it is slightly different from what you see most people wearing. The Kooples is a seriously underrated brand, especially in the fast fashion world we live in.
When sale season comes around in The Kooples, I like to take full advantage and I have certainly done that this sale season. During July I purchased two items I had been eyeing up since the new collection launched but this month I went rogue and purchased something in the sale that I hadn't really been eyeing up but when I saw it I knew it was something I would wear a lot.
I have always been incredibly critical of the humble cardigan as I do think they are ageing and do not add any strength to an outfit but 2020 has been the year of the cardigan for me. I bought a cheap one from Primark earlier in the year and I have worn it way more than I thought I would. After wearing the Primark one so often, I thought it was time to treat myself to something a little bit more luxury and I found the perfect cardigan in The Kooples sale.
How Would I Style This?
When I saw this Navy cardigan dream, I knew exactly how I wanted to wear it and it is exactly the same way I wear my current Primark cardigan. I currently love to wear my Primark cardigan with no top underneath, buttoned up with the front tucked into my jeans. Nothing fancy; just casual and comfortable. When it comes to cardigans I am completely against wearing them unbuttoned and with anything underneath, it just feels too mumsy to me whereas the way I wear them makes it feel more modern to me.
One thing I cannot stand is navy and black so there is no way I would wear this cardigan with black jeans, this will exclusively be worn with my traditional blue jeans or tucked into a skirt but the key part is no top underneath.
This is a bloody thick cardigan as it is made from Merino wool so this is definitely a Winter cardigan and it is one I am going to have to be incredibly careful with as I do not want to shrink it. This cardigan is slightly oversized which I love and is very similar to my Primark cardigan. It has beautiful gold buttons on the front which will go with my usual rose gold jewellery. It might not be the right time to be wearing this yet but I cannot wait to start wearing this.
H&M
It is rare for me to shop in H&M purely because their sizing is so weird. I actually really struggle to find clothes that fit me in there. The trousers are always too wide but the dresses can be too small, there is just no consistency but as I walked past the other week, one item caught my eye at the front of the store and that was it, I went in and ended up picking up a couple of pieces.
Khaki Playsuit
I have been looking for a Khaki playsuit in this style for a long time. I basically just want to look like an 80s icon with big hair and a tiny outfit. This was the piece I saw from outside of the store and dragged me in. It was on the sale rack and I instantly loved it so like a Magpie, I went straight to it.
This is a very military inspired playsuit due to the pocket details and the lapels but this is emphasised by the fact that this is khaki. This did come in quite a few different colours but it was the khaki I was after. I loved the plunging neckline, the button up details and mostly the built-in belt around the waist. Playsuits can quite often look frumpy on me as they do not typically emphasis the waist which is something I need. I have quite a small waist and a larger bum so you know, I like to show it off. This playsuit is perfect for that.
The biggest pain about buying from H&M in Coronavirus times is that you cannot try anything on and with their problematic sizing, I wasn't sure which size to go for. In the end after holding up a size 4 and a size 6, I eventually decided that a size 4 was going to be the one for me. I took the risk and luckily it worked out; I have been wearing this a lot due to the heatwave we had.
How Would I Style This?
Clearly a playsuit is an all in one sort of outfit. Every time I wear one I am always initially taken in by how cute they are but then when I have to go for a wee and I have to sit there with my boobs out, I quickly change my mind on them. I don't mind this when I am in the comfort of my own home but when I am out and about it is a little bit unnerving.
This has quite a low neckline so I try to wear this with a necklace that is a little bit lower and takes away from how booby this playsuit could be if you had boobs. With this playsuit I want to make the most of the military inspired vibes of the playsuit so I have been wearing my Doc Marten inspired boots and using my taupe Aspinal of London bag. The taupe of the bag fits with the more neutral tones of the khaki which I love. I also think a tan is essential for me to wear this playsuit. I always think khaki looks better on someone with a tan.
Considering this playsuit was only £10, it was well worth picking up as it filled a void in my wardrobe for a military inspired playsuit.
Cotton Twill Dungaree Dress
After finding the khaki playsuit, I continued to look at the sale to see if I could find anything else and I ended up spotting another piece that I had been looking for, for a while: it is a black dungaree dress. I had wanted something like this for a while after I treated myself to a set of dungarees from Lucy & Yak. When I looked at the price tag and it said £6 I instantly started searching for my size. They didn't have a size 4 but they had a size 6 which looked like it would fit me so I went for that. After trying it on, I think I could have done with an 8 due to the skirt part being a little bit tight but the size 6 is definitely wearable.
I was drawn to this particular one as the cutout details on the top half were quite big so I could wear a cute top underneath and you would actually be able to see a lot of it which isn't the case with my full on dungarees. I also loved that the straps reminded me of dungarees from my childhood, plus they simply make it easy. The buttons down the front of the dress make it secure opposed to if they had used poppers and best of it, IT HAS POCKETS.
This dungaree dress was everything I had been looking for and it is cute. The fact that it was £6 made it even better.
How Would I Style This?
There is definitely a little bit more that can be done with this dress in comparison to the playsuit. The simple fact that you can pick and chose the top that goes underneath means you can change the style of this dress every time you wear it. I have worn this a couple of times and each time I have chosen to wear it with a mesh floral top that I purchased from Topshop last year. Wearing it with this top makes it quite cutesy but you could wear a faded rock style top to make this more punk looking.
Depending on the top I have paired this dress with, depends on which shoes I will wear. If I am wearing something cutesy like the Topshop top, I pair it with my Axel Arigato trainers and an anklet. This makes it cute but also shows more leg (and ankle if that is what you are in to). If I want to look slightly more punk inspired I will once again wear this with my Doc Marten inspired boots and I love a pair of fluffy socks peaking out of the top.
I feel like I could potentially get away with this for work as I could wear a shirt underneath this to make it slightly more formal or I could wear a long sleeve top that makes it a little bit more modest. Neither my white trainers, nor my boots would work for the office so I would wear heeled boots and tights with this dress, this would just make me feel a little bit more comfortable.
Star Wars Top
As well as checking out the sale, I also took the time to look around the store and I found the perfect top for me. Only the people close to me are aware of my love of Star Wars. The franchise has been a constant in my life and I remember watching the prequels at the cinema when I was young and I loved them. I believe Anakin Skywalker must have been one of my first crushes, what a hottie.
I love that the franchise has been revived, even if Disney are making the absolute most of it. I have been watching Clone Wars on Disney + and I am obsessed but the best thing they have bought us is The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda.
H&M do plenty of graphic t-shirts, for example they had a whole Billie Eilish range but it was the Star Wars section that had my attention and from the moment I saw this top, I knew I needed to buy it. It is a faded black crop top with an image of baby yoda on it. Not only do I love Baby Yoda but I also love a crop top so this all came together to work for me.
How Would I Style This?
How much styling can you do with this top, I mean there is no way of making a crop top formal. The hem of the top is unfinished which automatically makes it casual. I have been wearing this top a lot whilst I have been working from home with a pair of plain black jogging bottoms, nothing exciting. If I do wear this out of the house, I will just throw on a pair of blue jeans and my Axel Arigato Sneakers.
I have also been wearing this crop top to bed because I am incredibly lazy so if I have been wearing this top during the day, I will typically just say in it and wear it to bed. I do this quite a lot because I am super lazy.
Topshop
I rarely look on Topshop as I cannot stand Philip Green and I do not want to add to his retail empire but when Sophie Milner posted a dress which was from Topshop on her Instagram, I became obsessed with it. The dress was out of stock in my size for a long time but I kept my eye on it and eventually it came back in a size 6 so I immediately ordered it. Thankfully if you signed up to their mailing list you received 15% off which I did do so I did get it a bit cheaper.
This dress is called the Red Rose Print Ruffle Mini Slip Dress and I loved the style and the print when I saw it on Sophie Milner. I knew it wasn't going to look the same on me as she has boobs but I believe she is a similar height to me so I knew the length was going to be fine. The shaping and the style reminded me of my All Saints Wrap Dress which I love and wear all the time but this is a slightly more summery alternative.
As you would expect from Topshop, this isn't the most top quality dress you will find on the market, it is probably more comparable to the quality you get from Pretty Little Thing or Missguided, it is just more expensive. However it is still a beautiful dress none the less. I love that a wrap dress makes it easy to adjust to your body shape and automatically makes it quite flattering on someone like me who prefers to emphasis their waist. The ruffles around the top make it more flattering for smaller busts as it hides the fact that you have no boobs. The entire style of the dress is ultra feminine and I love that for Summer.
How Would I Style This?
One of the first times I wore this dress, I actually wore it to work and I can't say it was fully appropriate but there aren't many people in the office at the moment and it was during the heatwave we had in the UK. It turns out this dress is quite low which I think was a bit much for the office. To dress it down, I wore it with my fake Doc Martens and my denim jacket and it definitely looked more casual and the jacket gave me a way of covering up a little bit.
I had a week off during August and I wore this dress for a girly day with my bestie. My bestie is always super glam so I didn't want to look like a slouch so I put on a pair of block heel sandals, got out my taupe Aspinal of London bag and my Chanel Sunglasses. I felt like a boujie bitch, it was great. This dress will only come out during Summer, I mean look at it, it is a Summer dress but so far I have worn it a lot this month.
John Lewis
August brings with it my mother's Birthday and I always try to do something with her so that we can spend some quality time together. Covid-19 made it difficult to plan anything too exciting but I think I did pretty well. I ended up booking a private shopping experience in John Lewis which is my mother's favourite store.
The store closest to me has been taking bookings for John Lewis members to go into the store half an hour before the store opens so you can do some private shopping without too many people being around. All of the staff were around but we were the only shoppers and it was great. My mum has been nervous about going shopping since Covid so I thought this would be a great way of easing her into it. She picked up a couple of things but so did I and both of them were sale pieces.
Ted Baker
I love Ted Baker and I always have but I have definitely stopped shopping from the brand as often. However I always keep an eye on the brand. I had been eyeing up a jumper that I had seen on the Ted Baker website and I wanted to see if I could buy it from John Lewis. Thankfully they had the jumper and they had it in a size appropriate for me. I actually ended up buying it in a Size 2 (I'm normally a 1) but I like my jumpers oversized and the size 2 was perfect.
I am big on jumpers and Winter fashion in general as I think it is so much more stylish than Summer clothes. It might be completely the wrong time to be buying jumpers but it gives me something to look forward to. Not only do I love a good cable knit jumper but this is a thick jumper so this is going to keep me incredibly warm and it is a soft baby pink which is a bit of me. I also loved that there is a subtle bit of button detailing on one of the shoulders.
The jumper was really expensive full price and I honestly would not have purchased it for that price but it had been discounted quite a lot as it is now the end of the sale season and they want to get rid of all of this stock. The jumper had been reduced to a price that I was happy to pay so of course I purchased it.
How Would I Style This?
This jumper can be paired with everything and I think it is going to be a great layering piece in the height of Winter but then when it is slightly warmer, this could also be paired with a skirt and tights. To be honest for the most part this is going to be worn with jeans and boots but because this is such a thick knit, I feel like it looks a bit fancier than a regular jumper.
I haven't worn this yet as it has been too hot for a thick jumper like this but I can't wait until it is the right time to wear it as the style is cute and I just feel like I am going to wear it all the time. I feel like anyone who knows me will just be able to look at this jumper and know it is something I will wear a lot.
I am actually quite shocked as I looked on the Ted Baker website and this jumper is still in stock in every size! It is so cute and I don't know why people haven't gone crazy for it. I guess normal people don't buy jumpers in a heatwave.
Whistles
There are two sections I always check when I am in John Lewis and they are always Ted Baker and Whistles. I used to shop from these brands a lot more than I do these days but I still pick up a piece every now and then. During this shop I picked up pieces from both brands but they were both in the sale.
I can't justify why but this season I seem to have been liking khaki a whole lot more. I don't know whether it is because I have been tanning and I think Khaki looks amazing with tanned skin but I have just been drawn to it so when I saw this buttoned khaki shirt in the Whistles sale I decided I needed it. Oddly even though I am not in the office that often, I still feel the need to look for clothes that I could wear to the office and this shirt seemed like a worthy office piece.
This shirt is slightly more casual than my other shirts due to its boxy, oversized fit but I thought it would be more comfortable for my Rona weight gain. Like most people I have put on a little bit of weight so I have been looking for clothes that can hide this a little bit. This shirt is quite an oversized fit anyway but I actually bought it in a small which makes it even bigger but it means that the shirt gives the exact look I was looking for, formal but casual.
How Would I Style This?
I wanted this shirt for work mostly so I plan on wearing this with a pair of black jeans or black trousers. In order to dress it up a little bit I would wear this outfit with my Ted Baker Boots. The shirt is quite oversized but I wouldn't bother tucking it in, I would just wear it loose as I think this will look too puffy if I were to tuck this in.
The short capped sleeves do make these slightly more casual than a traditional shirt which is why I like it because I do not follow the traditional concept of dressing for the office. If I wanted to, I could definitely get away with wearing this outside of the office but I can't imagine I will as I don't want to wear a button up whilst I am doing nothing.
If you feel like the picture quality has increased in this months post, you would be right. I got a new phone in August and when I did this photo session, I had my new phone and I have to say I am scarred. No photo should highlight so many issues but alas, here I am and my new phone. Hopefully I will stop buying so many clothes in September as in theory the Summer sales are over and we are heading towards the inbetween season of fashion which I always hate. Bring on Autumn and it's cosy jumpers and cute coats.
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