Shop Your Closet: White Shirt and Bright Skirt

Day/ Office 

This is a little outfit remix. 

I love shopping my closet as well as my makeup and beauty stash! 

One thing which gives me pleasure, is being able to use clothing which I already own. Then mixing/ matching/clustering  it with other pieces to create new outfits for different social occasions. 

 As a rule, if I cannot think of 5 events where I can were an item of clothing (5 things in my closets I can pair the item with) I do not buy it. 

It keeps the clothes on the shelves of the store and my ££ in my pocket. 

I would much rather own clothing  which I have worn over and over for 10 years, not spend 10 years buying clothes over and over. 

Night

I hope you all have a great Monday. 

Shirt - TM Lewin

Knit Top - Primark

Skirt - Gap

Flats - Miss KG

Heels - Jasper Conran

Cross Body Bag - Zara

Tote Bag - Zara 

P.S. This is the shirt I won last summer in the T.M. Lewin "Summer in the City" competition. Thank you to everyone who voted for me. 

xx

What to Wear to Work - Black and White

Sorry for the blurry pic my lovelies. 

This is just a quick outfit of the day post showing what I wore today. Staying true to my love of separates I paired a white cotton button down with a black tulip skirt. 

Shirt - T. M. Lewin white poplin shirt

Skirt - Zara Tulip skirt circa 2010 

Shoes - Dune Sanctuary Court shoes

Bag - Zara Braided shopper , 
this is the perfect carry all for when I am away from my desk. 
 xx

Style File - ZARA leather bag with gold metal detail

ZARA Leather bag with metal tab

The fall pieces are coming into stores slowly slowly and there are a few things which have caught my eye. Knitwear, blazers, flats and this gorgeous bag pictured above. 

The design and gold detail reminds me of  the YSL Cabas Chyc Cross body  tote bags. ZARA is really becoming a contender when it comes to affordable and fashionable handbags.  Of course the ZARA Braided Shopper holds a special place in my heart. However the sleek design, the gold detailing, the material  (100% cow Leather) and price (£109) of the Leather bag with metal tab (work on these names ZARA) are appealing to me. The dimensions of this bag are 15in x14in 7in, it is a fairly decent size, not too big or small. 

I would recommend this bag for any young professional or recent graduate who is in need of a well made, sturdy (the ZARA bags are very well made) bag for every day use. As always please waterproof the leather (at least 3 times with 6 hour intervals between each time, before use), to protect the leather from water damage. 

I see this bag being a best seller, so girlies if you like it, spend on it. 

As for me I will be counting the sheckles, because I want one of these bag boys. 

Happy Sunday my lovelies.

Summer 2012 Handbag Essentials

     Summer is here though you wouldn't be able to tell from the massive game of hide and seek the sun is playing with the British Weather. (Yes British weather is notorious for being crap, but hey) I have decided to share with you my bag and the items that I am carrying around at the moment.  

Zara Plaited Shopper  in Blue.

Now onto the items that I am carrying around with me, lol lol.

M&S Citrus Hand wipes

Avene Hydrance Optimale spf 20 face cream

Nivea sunblock spf 30

Travel sized listerime 

Avene Eau de Thermal face water

Kleenex tissues

Sanex travel sized deodorant

Lens cleanser spray

 Miss mai

Are you waterproofing your Leathers?

     Yes that is the title of this blog post.  Bewteen reality tv, youtube, blogs, fashion magazines and just general development of my style I have become a bag lover. I LOVE the look of  a nice handbag. I have quite conservative tastes so most of the bags I like tend to be of a simple design and made from leather.

      I ventured into the realm of luxury bags with help from my roomate in 2009 and purchased a leather day bag from Dune named the Mission bag, it was the hot bag for the season and with some help I only paid 50% of the cost price for it. Since it was leather and I come from an old fashioned "polish your school shoes every Sunday night kinda family." I went looking for something to polish my bag with and I was introduced to "Tarrago shoe cream". Shoe creams cleanse, protect, nourish and condition fine leathers of any kind or colour including smooth, grained or delicate finishes. Helps leather to resist stains.  

     Fast forward to 2012 and after inquiring about leather bag care at one of my fave shops Zara. I was informed that 1. they wouldn't get the bag in question wet, 2. The do not sell products to care for leather bags EVEN though they sell such ITEMS and 3. just go to the shoemaker and they would give me something to use. After a failed trip to Timpson, I went to Jones the Boot maker where I was given a thorough education about leathers leather care and how important it is not only to keep fine leathers covered from dust, but It is also imperative that we waterproof them. "Leather is a skin and just like our skin it is important to keep it nourished and moisturized in order to prolong its life. It is also important to keep it waterproofed so that the material becomes resistant to rain, reason being if the material gets wet and dried constantly eventually that will cause the leather to become hard and dry." He did his do, but he was trying to sell me 3 products and I am not that dedicated especially after using my one stop shop shoe cream for these past few years. I was on the Mulberry website browsing and saw that they had some care products. Enter Collonil Classic Leather Gel. 

 "Collonil Classic Leather Gl is a solvent free gentle gel to improve the water resistance of certain leathers. It can help leather to resist dirt and moisture. This leather gel can be used on Natural leather, Printed leather, Pebbled leather, Soft spongy leather, Glazed goat leather, Soft Buffalo leather, Glossy buffalo leather," *taken from the Mulberry Website*

Picture of this item here http://www.mulberry.com/#/storefront/c5745/4706/category/

The product itself says

- Highly effective waterproofing gel.

- Suitable for any product made from leathers, nubuck, suede and textiles. 

- Provides long lasting waterproofing to all materials

Directions

- Wipe area with a damp cloth to remove surface dirt.

- Apply gel evenly

- Once dry polish the leather with a cloth

- Use as often as necessary. 

So there I have it my 1 stop shop product. We all like nice things, but in order for them to remain nice we must take care of them. Leather bags are items that should last a really long time as ling as they are provided with adequate care. the leather needs to be cleaned, polished and nourished. So I will waterproof my leathers, will you?


For my American readers you can purchase this product here on Amazon and it is quite a substantial amount of product at a great price. #envious 
http://www.amazon.com/Collonil-Leather-Gel-200ml/dp/B000SQU44S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327365517&sr=8-3

Hands up if you didn't know that Goat leather existed?

Have a great day my lovelies.