My Sanctuary

The snow continues to fall here and I now have a shovel as my constant car companion but I refuse to be de-railed by this snowy climate and continue to debut my spring wardrobe; this is what I wore to work today. I've had this denim waistcoat in my wardrobe for a while now but often struggle to incorporate into my outfits but I just loved all that gorgeous double denim in the D&G spring 2010 collection and so persevered with it. Since I chose to wear it to work I didn't "double denim" it with jeans because then it would be too casual. Instead, I layered it over a dress and lace vest top. With the addition of brown boots and long gold pendant, I think the outfit had an almost vintage-esque quality and reminded me a little of the groupies in that movie Almost Famous. I have to say this is one of favorite recent outfits, I just felt really good in it. I hope you all like it too.

Black bodycon dress: Gina Tricot

Cream lace drape vest: Topshop

Denim waistcost: Primark

Gold long pendant: Topshop

Brown boots: Kurt Geiger

xxx

Think Spring....

I can't believe how much it has snowed here in Bergen in the last three days - there has literally been metres of snow, which means that getting to and from anywhere is a real mission despite how beautiful it looks from the cosiness of my apartment windows. I'm not used to all these over-efficient seasons and in my mind, it's spring already. Hence my outfit that I wore to work yesterday (obviously, the boots were swapped for rubber wellies when dashing about in the knee deep snow!). I donned my trusty fur gilet to stave off the cold (also seen here) but layered it with my 10 yr old faithful Gap denim jacket - a timeless classic, and a chunky scarf. Floral prints, my gorgeous Chloe Heloise bag and a slick of hot pink lipstick gave me the final spring in my step I needed to kick-start the day.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, even though that seems so far away already. I went to hot yoga and it was intense but brilliant - just what you need to blow the cobwebs away. I've signed myself up for another class this week plus some meditation....Ohm.....am determined to rid myself of any stresses.

Have you all been following London Fashion Week? Some of the shows have just been fabulous. I am spending many a happy hour trawling through the collections and designing my A/W 2010 wardrobe. I can't wait to show you all my favourite pieces.

Have a lovely day, wherever you are, whatever the weather!

Fur gilet: Coco and Lolly

Denim jacket: Gap

Chunky green scarf: Tescos

Black cardigan: New Look

Floral dress: Primark (first seen here)

Belt: Primark

Boots: Bianco

Bag: Chloe Heloise

Rose ring: Topshop

Hot pink lipstick: Girl About Town by MAC

xxx

Hood winked

Yesterday I was prancing around in a little skirt and top, albeit with thick tights and a cardi, but still I thought the sub-zero temps of winter were finally on their way out. But today I woke up and it was FREEZING! -10 C…brrrrrr! It’s so tricky trying to look and feel good in such cold conditions. I think the only thing to do is layer layer layer. I’m wearing a lot more black here than I usually do and my friend asked me if I was rocking a biker chick look – maybe I subconsciously reflected my dark thoughts re: the chilly weather via my outfit – ah the power of fashion! Anyhow, this is what I ended up wearing today: thick black tights under black harem pants (wierdly after a long hiatus from proper trousers in my life, I'm really getting into them now, see here and here as well) with a leather jacket layered under a fur gilet with hood. I was toasty! However, the boots were a little impractical on the ice and I nearly skidded my way to a broken hip on a few occasions! No pain no gain eh?

These pics aren’t great (no change there then :-P) but I am just so happy that we managed to get home from work in time for last few rays of sunshine….finally an outdoor post! Hopefully, there will be many more of them to come.

Have you all have a great weekend planned? I’m going to try hot yoga tomorrow for the first time – don’t think I’ll be posting any pics of that though considering I am so unfit it is embarrassing!

Fur gilet: Coco and Lolly
Leather jacket: Primark
Black tee: Primark
Black harem pants: asos.com
Side tie boots: asos.com
Hat: Knitted by my grandmother
Black leather gloves: H&M
Sunglasses: Superdry

xxx

Marcel Marceau

Hello all, sorry I've not been posting much but the weekend was really crazy with my best friend Heidi here and then it was back to work, which is always hectic. I hope I can show you all the project that me and Heidi are working on soon but she's just putting the final touches to it. Not much to report in my fashion world, I've just been trawling through all the New York fashion week fall/winter collections online and wishing I had been there to experience it all first hand. I'm collecting my favorite pieces and trends and will post them soon. However, I have to say it seems a bit sad to be planning my fall/winter wardrobe when we haven't even had a spring or summer here yet. But will use these sneak peeks in order to plan ahead, which I love to do, and smug about the pieces I already have in my wardrobe that are perfect for next fall/winter as well! :-)

Here's just a little outfit post, i'm wearing my new H&M skirt together with some of my other favourite pieces - stripes, leopard, skinny belts and full skirts. I just love to mix n match!

Coat: H&M

Cardigan: H&M 

Body suit: Topshop 

Belt: Marks and Spencer

Skirt: H&M 

Shoes: L K Bennett

Bag: Chanel

Hope you all have a lovely Friday...

xxx

My London haul

I promised I'd show you what I brought back from London and here it is. The top lot is from H&M, the two mid photos are from Primark and the final pic of the tie-dye snood is from American Apparel.

As you can quite clearly see, there is a little bit of a pattern in my purchases with lots of florals and tie-dye prints - definite summer trends! As usual, I sneaked a little leopard print in there as well as some checks and stripes.

Tried to get some basics in there as well and I finally found a black high-waisted full skirt in H&M that didn't break the bank (I was lusting after one in my I am dreaming of.... post). It came with a bronze studded belt, which I don't think I will actually wear with the skirt but it's always nice to get more accessories!

Everything was soooo cheap and that's why I couldn't help myself - those studded boots were only £19! What a bargain - studs are going to be the detailing trend to invest in this spring/summer.

The sun is shining here in Bergen and I have got my best friend Heidi coming to visit me from London this weekend. We've been friends since we were 11 and even though I have lived in Norway for about 5 years now this is the first time she is visiting me. Heidi is doing a MA in Photo Journalism so hopefully she can teach me some camera tricks this weekend. She's using me as a model for one of her projects - I can't tell you what it is about but hopefully she'll let me post the pics afterwards. We're also working on a non-MA related project which I am very excited about and can't wait to show you the results of that! Despite being friends for so long we've mostly had different focuses through school, uni and work and this is the first time we're able to collaborate on something. I really can't wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend as well.

xxx

R.I.P. Alexander McQueen

I am truly saddened to hear about the loss of one of the greatest contributors to fashion in its entire history - my thoughts are with his family and friends.

Whereever you are, I hope you have found peace now. 

xxx

BEAR with me :)

 

How cute is this panda bear hat? I just love it!Yes it is still freezing in Norway although we haven't had any fresh snow for a few days now which means that the pavements are now just compacted sheer ice and absolute death traps. The boots I am wearing here are saved just for indoor use for the most part and normally I have sturdy wellies strapped to my feet to save me from ice skating my way to the emergency room with fractures and broken bones.

The sub-zero temps mean that warm clothing is a must hence my fur coat and gloves. Am still experimenting with trousers and found these three-quarter lovelies in my wardrobe the other day. Considering, they came from Matalan a couple of years ago and were less than £20, I think they make a good staple for my wardrobe. Tweed print - how very English of me! Well I've got to fly the flag whilst I am here eh?! Sorry for the bad lighting in the pics but I wanted to brave an outdoor post and despite rushing from work, it was dark by the time we got home. Really the best thing to do would be invest in an SLR instead of using my compact one, but I keep spending all my money on clothes instead - whoops! I included a couple of indoor posts so you can see the detail on the pants and on the neckline of the top I had underneath all those millions of layers! Oh, and the reason there is so many pics is because I actually got some with me smiling which my mum says I never do in these pics - so these are for you mum!

I've just come back from a weekend in London which was fab! Caught up with old friends, ate amazing food, drank absolutely delicious cocktails and shopped until my suitcase was fit to burst. Also managed to finally lug back to Norway my favourite Xmas present - my sewing machine that my lovely boyf got me. Cannot wait to crack it open and get sewing - even though I am a complete novice I already have a stack of projects waiting to be tackled...so watch these space!

I am going to post the goodies I bought in London later - I went a little crazy but in a good way. It had to be done though esp as my Ashish dress didn't fit at all (was like a sack) - massive sad face :( I was going to wear it for my 21st: The Sequel birthday later this year. It's not for ages but I like to plan ahead but back to the drawing board. My ASOS stash was also slightly disappointing with only 3 of the items looking decent...but some is better than none! :)

Have a great evening guys!

xxx

Bear hat: River Island

Coat: vintage

Gloves: gift from my mum

Bag: Coco and Lolly

Scarf: present from boyf's trip to Abu Dhabi

Shrug: H&M

Top: Anthropologie

Trousers: Matalan

Boots: New Look

p.s. I am now on Chictopia so feel free to come and say hi! http://www.chictopia.com/nouey80

Acne treatment

Acne pre-fall boots. How gorgeous? I don't think I need to say anymore except can I have some please? Pretty please!!!

Pics: from Carolines mode

I am dreaming of.....

Hello my name is Anna-Jayne and I am a shopaholic. I dreaming of chunky black heels paired with massive metallic jewels and tiny little black outfits. Pair with mussed up hair, smokey black eyes and nude glossy lips and you've got the outfit I wish I was wearing right now.

Playsuit: asos.com

Boots: Irregular choice at asos.com

Black linen skirt: asos.com

Mock suspender tights: House of Holland for Pretty Polly (these are the only things I own!)

Silver collar necklaces: Topshop

Heels: Dolce Vita April heels (I cannot find them anyway in Europe!! Sob!)

Mosquito ring: Stephen Webster for asos.com (see Insecticide post)

If I'm a good girl maybe some of these gorgeous goodies will be waiting for me when I wake up in the morning.

Goodnight and sweet dreams everyone

xxx

I wear the trousers in this house!

 

Currently these are my favourite trousers, which I bought from ASOS a few months back but wasn't quite sure about until now. Ever since skinny jeans made a return I ditched all my regular trousers in favour of skin-tight denim but recently something has been happening in my trouser department (ha ha!). Despite really loving the look of harem pants I always shyed away from them deeming them too unflattering - every pair I tried made me look like I was either wearing a nappy or was an extra from Aladdin. Not hot. But I perserved in my search for harem-style trousers that didn't make me look ridiculous and that is how I stumbled upon these babies. I am so glad I gave them a go as I think the high-waisted paper bag waist is extremely flattering and the tapered ankle is the perfect way to show off my heels which usually drown under other trousers.

I put together these three looks to show how versatile they are - the top and bottom looks are perfect for dinner and drinks with your girlfriends/boyfriend whilst I wear the middle one to work. I add a skinny vest top under the cardi of the bottom look when I want to wear that one to work as well.

Sorry for another indoor post but the ground is so thick with snow outside I daren't venture out unless I absolutely have to at the moment.

xxx

Top look: cardi: Matalan, vest: Gap, booties; Aldo.

Middle look: cardi and vest as before, fur and cameo brooch: vintage, booties: Topshop.

Bottom look: cardi: ASOS, shoes: Matalan.