Graduation Dress Wishlist

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My University graduation is about a month away now and I'm still searching for the perfect dress. These dresses from House of Fraser are some I've had my eye on for a while. The first dress on the top row and the middle dress on the bottom row are my favourites, due to the neutral colours I think they'd go well with the crazy gown you have to wear! I'm really worried about the little hat too, I had to measure my head and put the size in online, but I'm worried I've measured wrong and it won't fit! Graduation is supposed to be relatively formal I think, so I'm not sure if the bodycon style would be completely appropriate but oh well! One of my other options is this Motel dress, which do you think would be best?

After the graduation ceremony I'm going out for a meal with mine and Josh's families at a restaraunt called The Story Teller. They do amaaaazing food, a combination of Mexican/Caribbean which sounds a bit weird but it's just yum. Despite me and Josh being together for nearly 2 years, this will be the first time our families have met! How weird is that - living opposite sides of the country has that effect sometimes haha. 

Which one of these dresses is your favourite? What did you wear, or what would you wear to graduation? x

*Edit (21st June 2013)* I have also featured a more recent Graduation dress wishlist here.

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Six Must Have Denims for 2012/2013

Denim is one of the most, if not the most, essential materials of any style-conscious individual’s wardrobe. Although when one thinks of denim, jeans immediately spring to mind in reality denim comes in many fashionable guises. In fact rarely a season goes by when denim, in one form or another, makes its way off the catwalk and into the high street.

If you’re keen to embrace the denim trends of the forthcoming season, check out these six must have denims for 2012/2013.

Cowboy Denim

The fashion trends of the 1950s that were inspired by the cowboy movies of the time are back with a vengeance for the 2012/2013 season. This year’s western-inspired denim is all about being flamboyantly adorned with embroidery, fringes and studs – straight out of the Wild West! 

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Cropped Jeans

Cropped jeans are staying in the limelight for the 2012/2013 winter season. Similar to skinny jeans, cropped denim jeans that are cut below the knee, midway down the calf or just above the ankle, look fantastic with a variety of shoes, including killer high heels and flats. 

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Coloured Denim of Earthy Tones

Since spring this year, coloured denim has been a key feature of the designer and high street stands. Although the lighter and pastel colours of the spring and summer have given way to darker and more autumnal hues of wine, plum, burgundy and brown, as long as its denim and earthy it’s in fashion!

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Denim Jackets                                                                               

The fashion favourite of the 1990s is entering the limelight once again as denim jackets are a leading focus of the forthcoming season. This year’s denim jacket craze is all about wearing the jacket with layers and mixing it with items of clothing that aren’t conventionally associated with denim jackets. For example, wearing the jacket with a smart pair of trousers, a glamorous shirt or evening dress will look ultra chic.

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Double Denim

Whilst wearing double denim has traditionally been a definite fashion no-no, this season’s bold statement of mixing denim with virtually anything has meant a path has been opened for a double denim trend.

Experiment with mixing jeans with denim jackets, cut off denim shorts and even denim shirts to try your hand at this bold look.

Torn and Ripped Denim

It seems all the denim trends of forgone decades are making a comeback this season and none more so than the ripped and torn denim craze of the 80s. Torn denim, whether it’s a jacket, shorts, shirt or jeans is the ultimate symbol of a trendsetter for this season.

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What's your favourite denim trend? x

*This is a sponsored post.

Camera Advice

I'm looking to buy a DSLR camera but literally have no idea where to start. I'm using my mom's Nikon in the photo above and I'm tempted to buy the same one, but  just wondered if anyone had any beginners advice or recommendations for me?

I'm not planning on becoming a professional photographer, or anything even remotely close. I would be using the camera for nice holiday/general life photos, as well as using it for product and outfit shots for my blog. I don't need amazing effects or anything like that, just want good quality photos. :)

Can anyone think of a suitable camera for me? Which camera do you use? And what was your first DSLR? x

Models Own Mirrorball Collection - Boogie Nights

Models Own Mirrorball Collection - Boogie Nights

I'm sure you've all heard the hype around this Models Own collection, if not then where have you been?! Well, I caved into the hype and bought a couple of these polishes while they were still in stock online. Unfortunately they have now sold out online but I've heard they'll be in Boots stores around mid-October!

The Mirrorball collection contains a range of polishes with big chunks of glitter, in a variety of shapes and colours. Boogie Nights features pink, purple and blue shards of glitter. I applied the polish over the top of Models Own Purple Blue from the Beetlejuice collection (review/swatch here). I don't think this base colour was the best choice, as much as I love the two polishes separately, I don't think they work as well together as other colour combinations might. 

But anyway, I love Boogie Nights! The pictures don't do it justice but I just want to stare at my nails or the bottle and twizzle it like a kaleidoscope. I'm excited to try it over the top of other colours, or even just on it's own. I'm not so excited about trying to get it off though... why are glitter polishes so hard to remove?!

Have you tried any of the Mirrorball collection? Which colour would you pair Boogie Nights with? x

soup soup, tasty soup soup

Roasted red pepper and tomato soup by Nigella Lawson

So today's post is slightly different to the fashion/beauty posts I usually write. But I've had a bit of 'writer's block' recently and not really found myself drawn to blogging in the past week... until now, when I decided I wanted to write about soup (as you do).

Does anyone else find that some weeks you just don't really feel up to blogging? I've been feeling a bit under the weather the past week and have just wanted to eat and get into bed when I get home from work, so my blog has kind of taken a backseat. But I'll be back on track soon, I'm sure :)

Anyway, I made this soup at the weekend and it's pretty tasty if I may say so myself. I found the recipe on the Nigella Lawson website.

If you want to make this soup, you will need:
- around 800g ripe tomatoes (I didn't measure but guessed & used two packs of small vine tomatoes)
- 1 large onion (...or 2 small)
- 2 red peppers (I only had 1 red & one yellow... all these brackets show I'm not very good at following recipes)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- salt & pepper
- vegetable stock

1. cut up the tomatoes, peppers and onions into large chunks and place in a roasting dish. Leave the garlic whole, in the skins and add to the roasting dish. Add salt and pepper.
2. pour the olive oil into the roasting dish and mix it all up, making sure everything is coated in oil.
3. cook at 200C for 30-45mins, until the veg is slightly charred.
4. make up the stock (I used OXO cube so followed the instructions on the box)
5. once the veg is cooked, pick the garlic out of the roasting dish and squeeze the insides out of the skins back into the dish.
6. add the stock and all the veg into a saucepan, then blend using a handheld blender. Make it as smooth or as chunky as you like :)
7. serve with some home-bake rolls.

This is the perfect soup for a cold autumn evening. Let me know if you try this recipe out, I hope you like it! x