Winter Wedding Dilemmas

In the coming months I have two evening wedding receptions to attend. One of which the female guests were asked to wear a floor length gown, and for which I've chosen this black JS Collections maxi dress. I spotted this dress about two years ago in House of Fraser but with no reason to buy it the £150 price tag made just a little bit pointless. I missed it in the Summer sale and then it hasn't been back in stock since *sob*. 

I did however keep a close eye on ebay and picked in up 'as new, worn once' for £15.95, how's that for a bargain? I do have to get it altered slightly but I would have had to get that done regardless.

Jamie's mum has given me a pair of earrings to wear, they were the first pair she bought when she got her ears pierced so a lovely pair of vintage that look similar to the ones below. 

The red dress I bought back in February in the ASOS sale, mainly because although I have a few lovely dresses there was nothing I could lift out at short notice and with a boyfriend that attends quite a lot of corporate events you just never know. However this one hasn't made it out the wardrobe yet.

I'm trying to be a little thrifty so close to Christmas so have been looking for shoes and a bag I can use for both, Jamie being the only person who will be at both, and have settled upon gold or black. So with the help of Polyvore I've been putting together some ideas for both events.

 

To go with the red outfit I've decided to have my hair down and hope to god it will actually keep a curl. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos and going through Pinterest to get some suggestions and I think it should be OK. I may add in a few extensions just to give some volume. 
For nails & make up I'm going to go light & natural. I think I will DIY French Manicure my nails and keep my makeup to nude shades. 

For the black outfit I'm going to go for a 'messy side bun', which again I've been researching lots. Having fine hair that doesn't back comb well is a bit of a nightmare. But a few lightweight products and plenty kirby grips should help. For nails I'm thinking a deep maroon, slightly 'gothic' vibes that will tie in with the Ghillie Dhu but again I'll probably keep my make up subtle and light. Mainly as my little eyes don't carry off a lot of make up, but I have almost two months so I may practice a lot and see what I can achieve, any advice is more than welcome.

So any fashion bunnies out there, what do you think? Does this work? Black or Gold? Something different altogether? And all you lovely beauty bloggers - HELP!

30th Birthday Wish List ft Radley, Harris Tweed, River Island

In case you didn't know, because I haven't mentioned it enough of course, in 54 days (4 December) I turn 30. 

Now I know, age is just a number, you're only as young as you feel and all the other sayings but in a huge way I do feel a bit depressed about it. Probably because I'm not exactly where I thought I'd be at 30. Now don't get me wrong, I love my life. I have a nice little *rented* flat, some of the best friends I could ask for and my boyfriend is pretty amazing, I guess as-yet I'm not fulfilled in life, there is so much I still want to do and achieve but that's not a bad thing, I have a lot of time left on this world to do them. 

So moving on swiftly from that slightly depressing part to the fun part about birthdays, presents. Now I don't necessary need anything, anything I want I tend to buy myself (Independent Woman yo!) but to make things easier on my friends and family I have been roaming the worldwideweb to get some ideas. 

Disclaimer* I'm not into blogging for just for free stuff but if any of the feature companies are feeling particularly generous .....

The first on my list are two biggies: Radley Aldgate Medium Grab bag in Burgundy and Harris Tweed Classic Satchel in 'dark' tartan. 

I wouldn't say I'm a huge handbag person, I usually grab something from ASOS, New Look, Primarni etc if I'm being honest. However, I think the Radley would be brilliant for client meetings, I absolutely love the burgundy colour. 

The Harris Tweed satchel I fell in love with during our visit to the Scottish Game Fair, however I didn't have £99 to pop down on a bag there and then.

Secondly, I do need a new watch, or rather I need to get the batteries replaced in the two watches I already own. But scouting the Watch Shop I came across this Radley ladies watch (can you see a theme developing). At the moment of writing the watch is half price at £57.50, absolute bargain. 

Now I have to admit, when it comes to sparkly, shiny things I fall in the 'typical girl' category and I occasionally check out what's new on the Rox website. When I noticed the bracelet before I instantly thought it was something subtle but also classy, something that I could wear daily or could keep for a special occasion and for £45 it's a great deal. 

 

 Going back to my #1, if you're going to go for a new bag, you may as well have a new purse to go with it right? And as much as I wouldn't say no to a Radley (medium sized Heritage purse in navy), I would grudge someone paying £55 for one. So I took to some of the high-street shops/online retailers and found this beauty from River Island