April Fashion Haul: Missguided, New Look ,Ralph Lauren, River Island

Sunday 20 April 2014



As sure as somewhere out there, Kim Kardashian is photoshopping a selfie and Britney Spears is on her third caramel frappuchino of the day, I’ve been shopping. My April clothes picks have more of a casual vibe and there’s definitely a lot of bright colour in there. Here are the pieces I’ve picked up lately.


Khaki leather waterfall jacket – New Look


This is my nod to the (slightly) warmer weather and lighter nights. I first glimpsed this jacket in a magazine editorial, and I just assumed it would be really expensive. 

Something about the taupe colour and the fluid waterfall drape. Imagine my joy when I clocked that it was from New Look!

New Look isn't really on my radar normally, it's not somewhere I ever shop, but maybe it should be. I'm so pleased with this jacket. I picked up an 8 because I like little jackets like this to be quite fitted, but this is fairly small - it fits nicely around the waist but it struggles on the bust - and I'm not even particularly large-chested!

But the drap collar means that I'd always wear it partially unzipped anyway, so its not really an issue. This jacket is defintiely my most reached-for cover-up at the moment, the colour feels so right with so many outfits and I think I'll be getting a lot of wear out of it.





Black snake and Perspex strappy heels – New Look


Of course, while I was in New Look I had to check out the shoe section, because I hear they have a great rep for their shoes. And I wasn’t disappointed! 

These ankle-strapped beauties called out to me, because they're just so darn unusual. At first, I couldn't decide if I loved or hated them - I found them puzzling, but I think that can be a good thing when it comes to fashion.

The material is like a wet-look, faux snakeskin that sort of glitters, then they have that crazy holographic elasticated ankle strap and a broad, clear plastic section. 

In the end, I decided I wasn't going to see anything like them again! What really sold me though, was that although these are stappy and sexy, the heel isn't too high, which means they'll probably get a lot of wear. And as they were in the sale for just £10, the deal was sealed!





Yellow neon snake chain necklace – eBay


Like a magpie, I’m drawn to neon accents. I love them when worn with monochrome or neutral tones to add an unexpected flash of colour, so when I saw this gorgeous, chunky chain, it was love! 
You can also wrap it around your wrist to create a bracelet, so the two-ways-to-wear element appealed as well. I can see this being an easy way to give a lift to a few plainer outfits.


Coral high-tops – Ralph Lauren


These were featured in my ‘Ooh, Spring Shoes’ post and I had to treat myself to them. I’m a flat shoes girl at heart, and the bright colour and iconic embroidered polo man really appealed to me. 

I love that fashion is having a sneakers moment, even though its taken me a while to get on board. Now there’s no stopping me. 

The main reason I wanted these is for any festivals I might attend this summer – they’d be perfect for dancing around in. The only trainers I currently own are either black wedgie ones or proper running shoes, so I thought it was about time to get some casual kicks.


White leather t-shirt – Missguided.co.uk


Classics, re-imagined. Aren’t they the best?  It’s cool when brands put a fresh spin on an old favourite. 

This has sold out repeatedly, so I stalked this t-shirt online until it came in my size!

I love anything leather, but doing it in the format of an unassuming white tee seems very fresh. This fits really nicely and is a great basic with a twist that will be useful for pairing with dresses, skirts, silk trousers – really anything a plain white tee would go with. The opportunities to style this up seem limitless.


Evada triple section messenger bag – PopKors


I’ve been umming and ahhing over this bag for a while! It made an appearance on my Lust List two months ago, and in truth I’ve been watching it for longer than that. I haven’t bought a day bag in quite a while. 

Since saving up for my Alexa I’ve mainly used that – both for economies of wear and also because she’s so beautifully made that I couldn’t quite bring myself to go back to using cheap high-street bags. She’s spoiled me! So I was in two minds about this, but it won me over.

PopKors are an online Korean bag boutique. I’ve ordered from them before and was impressed with the quality of what I got. They do a sort of ‘premium’ range that’s made with nice leather etc, and that is part of this, so I thought it would be nice.

I just love the minimalist feel of this -  it’s basically three leather pouches that snap together or apart. It comes with a long, cross body satchel strap, but you can detach it and use one, two or all of the sections as a clutch bag, and I even thought you could also attach a chain strap to jazz it up for evening as well.  

The neatness and simplicity of the design just really spoke to me. It comes in black, tan, khaki, deep red or a navy blue, which was the one I opted for, just to steer away from the usual and also because I thought navy would be a good trans-seasonal colour.


Skinny camel trousers  - QED London


I’ve felt like a pair of slimline tan trousers were really missing from my wardrobe for work at the moment, and I seem to be wearing a lot of skirts and never any trousers to the office, so I wanted these to fill a wardrobe gap.   

Zara are normally my go-to store for anything like this, but the last few times I’ve been in they haven’t had anything of the sort, so I had to cast the net further afield.  This pair are a nice stretchy jersey which is a really great fit and I think they’ll be ideal for the office paired with a crisp shirt and a navy-blue blazer.


Tan and glitter wedge trainers – River Island


I finally gave in a few months ago and jumped on the wedge trainer bandwagon, and now I’m a total convert. They’re super comfortable and still make your legs look good- what’s not to love!?

I’ve worn my black pair loads, so I decided to treat myself to a lighter pair for spring/summer. These are a taupe suede with muted gold glitter panels, meaning they’d even look good on a night out. I know I’ve gone a bit shoe-crazy this month, so I might have to have a clear out to make room for all the new styles.

I'll be posting my beauty haul and a sneaky little trip to Primark separately!

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