New Look Lust List

Happy sunday everyone! I've had ever such a busy weekend - yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited down to The Guardian offices for a masterclass day on how to break into the fashion industries (more on that in a new post soon!) so today I've mainly been catching up with Homemaker work and doing some online window shopping. My eye has been particularly focused on New Look - my brother bought me a £20 giftcard for christmas that I've not spent yet, so I think a trip to town is in order. 

Whilst perusing their site, I came up with this little selection of beauties under £20 (or a cheeky bit over, but a couple of pounds to make up the difference never hurt) and it seems my love of pastel isn't going away any time soon. I love making this moodboard but it didn't half make me pine for summer! I particularly love the crochet top, brown sandals and the longline floral blouse, perfect for adventures. 

What do you think I should buy? I've also got a £10 Boots voucher to spend, so if anyone has some beauty advice, let me know...

Pack It Up, Pack It In - The evolution of the backpack

Hello all! Just one last cheeky little festival themed post before I head off to Beacons for the weekend. I've spent the evening feverishly trying to cram my clothes, belongings and my tent, sleeping bag and camp accessories (all kindly provided  by The Lazy Camper, review to come soon!) into 'bag for life's and have now realised that I could do with about four more pairs of arms. This got me thinking: whatever happened to the humble rucksack/backpack? Neatly storing all your bits and bobs, leaving your arms free?

Growing up, the rucksack was the only practical option for me. I was one of those overachieving Hermione Granger sorts in school - I liked to have all my books on me at once, so a flimsy tote or the handbags that all the cool girls seemed to take to school simply wasn't in question. Oh no. Jenessa has always been a very practical girl. In fact, the evolution of my school career can probably be tracked via the following backpacks.

First off was the bubble pack. A 90's classic, mine was metallic gold and looking back, frankly hideous. I remember the strap breaking and resolutely tying it in a makeshift bow in an attempt to lengthen it's life, but alas, a puncture in the plastic sent that one to the graveyard. 

Next up was a lime green Donnay. About the same length of my entire torso at the time, it matched my Gameboy colour perfectly and stood out on the year 5 coatpegs at the end of a busy school day. Is Donnay even a brand anymore? I hope not.

The Donnay was succeeded by a Hello Kitty rucksack that I kind of wish I still had now, Precured on a holiday to America, it was bloody massive, lasting me through year 6 all the way up to Year 7, the year where supermassive backpacks seem to be an absolute prerequisite. What with Hello Kitty having made somewhat of a resurgence, I think I could probably make good use of it now.

The last backpack I can remember came during my emo phase of '07/'08, where skate brands were law and everyone ran bebo accounts with My Chemical Romance background and with 'super random' in their 'About Me' section. This Dickies number with multi-coloured stars still lives on now, although the strap is frayed to hell and it appears to have been inherited by my boyfriend who likes to take it to gigs to carry his camera.

Which brings me nicely up to now. Now, I know these slouchy brown boho leather ones are back in fashion, but they just never look that BIG to me. Like really, what can you actually fit in there? If it doesn't accommodate at least an A4 notebook or folder, a lunchbox and a jumper or cardi then I'm just not that game. All through sixth form and since starting uni, I have always ended up toting round my stuff day to day in a satchel, far from ideal when you realise it's heaviness is making you walk lopsided and the strap is straining for freedom.

It's a bit late for me to order one in time for Beacons, but I shall definitely be contemplating a nice pretty backpack for uni in September. I think it's about time their connotations of nerdy cyclists or overloaded schoolkids became a thing of the past. Here are some of my favourites from around the web (well, mostly Asos). 

1)Roxy via Asos, £14.00
2)Mi Pac via Asos, £20.00
3)Asos, £20.00
4)Cath Kidston, £42.00
5)Mi Pac via Asos, £20.00
6)River Island via Asos, £20.00
7)Asos, £32.00
8)Kanken, £50

New online discovery - Oasap High Street Fashion

Evening! Just a quick post to update you all on my latest favourite online store, Oasap. I'm not even sure myself how I stumbled upon this one, I think I spotted it on a different blog. But that's not important! The important thing is how cute and affordable some of these dresses are. Taking inspiration from High Street fashion around the world, they are a Hong Kong-come-American based brand and offer all sorts of trends. They're also incredibly blogger friendly, offering free shipping around the world and an affiliation service which earns bloggers comission for click through links from their site through to oasap's. Sadly, I am definitely not a big enough deal in bloggerland for that to work for me, but that didn't stop me putting together a lust montage of some of my favourite pieces anyway.

I LOVE the bunny dress and pastel heels - I think they're look great for a summer BBQ or garden party. Looks like I best get saving that student loan!

Have you visited Oasap yet? You can find them at http://www.oasap.com/. Enjoy!

Boden Bargain!

I seem to have been on a bizarre little bargain spree recently, despite trying to curb my summer spending - I blame lack of uni lectures! Still, I rarely spend more that 7 or 8 quid at a time and with my New Look dress having to go back to the shops, I was feeling a little disillusioned with online shopping. That was until I got a delightful little pink envelope through the post from Boden, inviting me to take £15 off a shop with them. Result!

Having been signed up to the Boden catalogue for a few months, I've always thought that their adult clothes were a little plain and mumsy for me, but their Johnnie B range, designed for girls aged 8-16 is adorable - lots of ladylike skirts bold patterns and modest cuts, exactly the sort of thing I like. Just a shame that I'm 20 isn't it really? Here's a few of their bits and bobs to give you an idea - 

Super sweet no? In hindsight I really wish I'd bought pretty much all of the above, particularly the minty dress, the sandals and the love jumper. They would have been really cute layered up for the odd rainy summer weather we're currently having and considering that the mint dress combines broderie with pastels, it's practically my dream item! Maybe I'll have to pop back... 

 With prices similar to that of Next clothing (a little upmarket but not outrageously pricey), I knew that Boden was a brand that must boast decent quality. So with £15 in my metaphorical hand, I set about trying to scout out a bargain. I looked through women's, but nothing jumped out at me. I thought I'd risk a look at the kids wear - I'm not particularly tall so I hoped that I might be able to squeeze into one of their age 16 dresses. And result! A look at their size guide showed that I might be able to get myself into their biggest kids size.

Bolstered by this new, I settled upon this here dress. I've been after summery stuff to brighten my wardrobe for a while and I am a big fan of breton stripes. Considering I was trying to fit into clothing designed for someone 4 years younger than me, I also thought it'd be a safe bet as the skirt was quite long.

Now, the dress was retailing at just under £17 (I forget the exact price), so with my discount voucher and the free postage that the lovely people at Boden offer, I ended up snagging this dress for just £1.38! A definite contender for all time bargain. I waited patiently for three days, and it arrived like this - 

I was even more delighted when I ripped open the package and this fell out - who doesn't love free stationery! This will be perfect for some handing dissertation planning.

Unfolding the tissue paper with minute johnnie b, detailing, I unfurled my dress...

And pulled it over my head...

And here we have it! A perfect fit that I'm pretty proud of - I don't think I've ever fitted into kids clothing before. The heavy fabric means the dress hangs really nicely with the pleats, and has a demure length that will lend itself well to a tights-less summer. This dress will be perfect with a simple belt and sandals for those days where you can't be bothered to think about your outfit but still want to look nice. And who doesn't love a bit of nautical? In fact, the stripes and neckline have given me a idea for a handmade sailor collar tutorial: watch this  space! 

Boden are certainly a company who know how to treat their customers, from their rapid delivery time (with up to a years returns policy), gorgeous free gift and the quality of their fabric. Not to mention their generosity - I don't think I've ever managed to buy a dress brand new for less that £2 before! I couldn't recommend them more, and will certainly be making a return visit - that is, unless I finally grow out of children's clothes...

Have you bought anything from Boden before? If not, check out boden.co.uk.

New Look Nearly Buy - Pinafore

Hello friends! Thought I'd update you on my latest purchase, or nearly purchase. A favourite past time of mine is trawling the online sales of  High Street brands, and I nearly keeled over in shock when I spotted this coral number on New Look's website for a lowly £6.00.

As we all know Pinafore's are well and truly in vogue, and considering that my wardrobe is in desperate need of some summer colour injection, I was tapping my card details in before you could say overdraft. I've never bought from New Look online before, but I can report that the transaction was pleasantly simple and postage was only £3.95, which is quite decent next to it's competitors.

My item took a week to arrive, firmly within their guidelines. So far so good. I unwrapped it eagerly, but to my dismay, the item was simply not my description of coral. In fact, it was a full on red! Considering my love of pastels and subtle shades this was a little disappointing because it really did look more like a pinky orange online. Secondly, the dress was massive! I'm normally a size 12 but went with a 14 because it was the nearest size in stock, and I find that New Look clothes sometimes come up a little small. But the waistband turned out to be hugely gappy on me, giving the pinafore more of a dinner ladies apron feel rather than an on-trend summer winner. Simply not cool, it had to go.

This however, is where New Look came into their own, Despite purchasing the item online, I was able to claim a full refund in store, and was treated really politely without any of the suspicion or accusation you sometimes get when trying to return clothes in a shop. Though this item might not have been quite right for me, the actual quality of the fabric was faultless and I certainly wouldn't be put off buying things from them in the future. I guess the moral of the story is just to try before you buy- maybe if I had verified my perception of 'coral' in the store things might have been a little different...

Have you bought anything online recently?