My Summer Fashion Essentials

It would seem that I have been slightly quiet of late on the old blogging front; job interviews, full time work, broken laptops and the revival of my social life, (although I’m pretty certain that the party animal within me will tame itself shortly) have all been keeping me busy over the last few months, leaving me with little time to blog.

I’m currently going through a bit of a buying frenzy, whereby I’m finding it near on impossible not to buy a new item of clothing every two to three days…must stop now. So to tie in rather perfectly with this current buying obsession, here is a sneaky peak of some of the pretty summer dresses, not so short shorts and colourful bikinis that are set to see me through both the festival and holiday season with ease.  Enjoy. 

 

1. New Look £24.99  2. New Look £19.99  3. New Look £19.99   4. New Look £19.99 

 5. Topshop £45  6. Amazon £45  7. River Island £25  8.New Look £20  9. Topshop £12 

10. River Island £25  11. Topshop £50   12. River Island £25

 

The reality of being a graduate

The life of a graduate should be all about power dressing, briefcases and business meetings shouldn’t it? Well that's what I always thought, before I actually went to university, worked extremely hard for three years, obtained an impressive degree and now spend my days applying for countless jobs and working full time in a coffee shop. Unfortunately my wardrobe isn’t full of sharp pencil skirts and crisp jackets just yet.

One thing I have realised is that many university courses are riddled with false hope of sudden employment the minute you acquire your degree...lies! It not untrue for all graduates of course, but even so, the majority of us leave university feeling deflated, depressed and confused, heading back to our family homes with our tails between our legs and the distant memories of dissertation stresses and £1 jäger bombs on a Monday night.

I'm aware that I've written a similar post to this in the past, but after almost 9 months of being a graduate I thought it was about time I reiterated the sheer difficulty so many of us face in finding a job after university. Endless job applications and constant CV tweaking is what my life is all about. I stupidly pin my hopes on a particular job vacancy time and time again, telling myself that this is the one, certain that my application is sure to blow their socks off, only to never hear from them again. As you can see the life of an unemployed graduate is not enviable.  

Have confidence and don't give up people say. Unfortunately the thought of giving up on your dream career becomes the obvious choice when your confidence is shattered from countless rejection emails. In fact, sometimes I feel uplifted from rejection letters; at least they take the time to actually acknowledge my application. Usually I'm left wondering if my email account is actually working or worse still if I’m invisible to the world of employment. Sometimes I feel like sending out follow up emails to employers: “Hello! I'm here, can you hear me?! Please read my application, I'll be the best worker you've ever had!”  What are the chances I won't get a reply from that either? Yes, I thought as much.
 
Of course I shall persevere with the fight for my dream job, just like many graduates still waiting for their big break. God help us all when the fresh batch of bleary eyed university graduates come stealing all the jobs that we can't even get in the next few months! That's sure to send our confidence levels soaring through the roof.
 
There’s no denying that the journalism world really is the hardest industry to conquer. Now excuse me whilst I go and perfect my CV.  
 

April Wish List

I've finally had enough and cant deal with this ridiculously cold weather anymore. I'm sure I am not the only one starting to resent my  winter coat right now, back in October it was my favourite winter purchase, but fast forward 7 months and its definitely started to lose it appeal.  To help cheer us all up, April’s wish list is dedicated to preparing for our long awaited summer, or at the very least spring, fingers crossed it actually arrives this year.  Full of dainty hot pants, striking playsuits and killer sunglasses, it's sure to offer a much needed spring clean to your drab winter wardrobe.

 

Whilst putting this post together I was rather surprised at the lack of spring/summer wear available on the high street right now, it would seem that even the retailers would prefer to keep hold of their winter coats and boots. Fingers crossed the dark, cold, gloomy blanket of winteriness leaves us all soon, surely there's only so much more we can take.
 

 

  

1.Miss Selfridges £40  2. River Island £25  3. New Look  £21  4. Topshop £28 

5. Topshop £35  6.  New Look  £17  7. Topshop  £35  8. Topshop £22  9.  Topshop £16

 

March Wish List

Right now the high street is a real mix match of seasons, pretty floral dresses, crop tops and super short shorts, shorter than last summer may I add,  share space with cable knits, winter coats and scarves all continuing to keep us warm during these long and dreary days. Believe it or not, it’s actually March and those New Year blues should have disappeared several weeks ago, mine certainly haven’t. If like me you’re counting down the days until the sun reappears, then my best advice is to head out and revitalise your wardrobe with some summer essentials. You might have to wait a while until you can actually bust out your new sandals, but organisation is essential and chances are it will make you feel a whole lot better.

Here’s a pick of my favourite items available right now, a true representation of the diversity of the high street with summer skirts and sandals as well as a few jumpers thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!   

 

1. Topshop £20  2. Topshop £28  3. Dorothy Perkins £32  4. Topshop  £26  5.  Topshop £75  

 6.Oasis £55  7. River Island £30 

The best of the Brits

I'm well aware that the Brits were almost a week ago, and therefore I am extremely late jumping on this musical bandwagon, but better late than never I say!

For me this years Brit’s was a vast improvement from previous years, not that I haven’t enjoyed them of course, but the 2013 awards introduced something other than pop music to the bill. Of course everyone loves the expected yearly award that Take That/Robbie Williams/ Coldplay take home to add to their already huge Brit’s collection, and we all enjoy the outlandish performances from the biggest artists in the pop world, with the word POP being as far as things go.

For so long the Brits have awarded the success of the world of pop, to be expected considering it plays such a huge part in the music industry, but what impressed me this year was that the Brit doors were opened to new forms of music, with the likes of Ben Howard, Alt-J, The Black Keys and Mumford & Sons all being recognised for their musical abilities.

As a follower of alternative music I welcome the Brit’s decision to identify fresh, new musical genres. By offering hard working musicians who don’t perhaps fit the usual identification of ‘Brit award winner’ the recognition that they so greatly deserve it helps to transform their lives forever, offering a sudden surge in album sales and popularity. Highly deserving winners Mumford & Sons and Ben Howard both of whom released their albums several months ago, (Ben’s debut album Every Kingdom was released in September 2011) have both re-entered the album chart at number 2 and 4 respectively…all thanks to their Brit success. About time I say!

For me there was no greater feeling than watching this years Brits and seeing alternative music sweep the floor with the world of pop. Don’t get me wrong I’m a sucker for pop music but for me the likes of Ben Howard, Alt-J, The Black Keys and The Vaccines, who were all up for an award this year, have all work  incredibly hard and therefore deserve as much recognition as the likes of One Direction, (Yes to Mumford for snatching Best British Band) Rihanna and Lady Gaga.

Let’s hope alternative music genres are recognised for many more Brit years to come, helping to give many new artists the acknowledgment they deserve and helping to propel them into the mainstream world of musical stardom!

 

HELP! I'm addicted to my iPhone

After much deliberation I’ve come to the rather difficult decision that me and my iPhone need to take a break from our rather full on and at times volatile relationship before things get any worse.

My smart phone virginity was taken over a year ago and since then we have become extremely close. Every spare moment is consumed with a ‘quick’ browse of Facebook or another sly game of Temple Run when no one's looking. It’s not that I don’t love my iPhone, because trust me I do, the main problem is that I am ADDICTED to it.

Before the Smartphone life takeover (rather dramatic I know) myself and the majority of the world had to physically communicate with those around us.  Awkward situations couldn’t simply be resolved by pretending to be’ busy’ on your mobile…back in the day there was only a number of tools you had on your Nokia 3310 to make it look like you were pre occupied.

With thousands of apps to download and busy yourself with on the train, on your lunch break, whilst watching TV with your other half and dare I say at the dinner table, (because I’m pretty sure some people would even stretch to that) I think it’s fair to say that we have become a generation of unsociable Smartphone addicts!

Don’t get me wrong, my phone allows me to keep up to date with the world around me. A quick swipe of the lock screen and a delicate tap on the BBC News or the Daily Mail app and I can see a round up of the latest news in a few short seconds; much quicker than loading up my extremely slow and half functioning laptop for it to eventually decide that it doesn’t want to work today. 

And then there’s Twitter not only great for communicating with friends but also a handy tool for helping me to secure my dream job. With tweets from industry professionals and media organisations it allows me to see straight away new vacancies in the journalism world.

I could go on forever trying to convince myself that it’s ok to have my phone practically strapped to my hand all day, but that would make for an extremely boring read.  Yes it may be beneficial for me to access my emails wherever and whenever, but what’s not necessary is the constant scouring of social media sites every five minutes whilst I sit at home feeling rather bored on my day off.   Nor is it necessary, myself not included, to take pictures of everything we eat, drink and buy, making it look pretty with some fancy photo effect before posting it on every social media outlet available.

If we all perhaps added together the number of minutes, or dare I say hours, that we spend on our smart phones each day and instead used the time to communicate face to face with the people around us, I am almost certain that the world would be a much happier place. Bring back the old school flip phone I say!

 

 

February Wish List

Monochrome and polka dots seem extremely popular of late, great for making a statement and standing out from the crowd. However if this trend isn't for you, don't fear, add a splash of colour to your wardrobe with bright neon jumpers and block colour tops in the most unlikely of shades and dare to stand out. From pretty party dresses and t-shirts to cute jumpers to help you through this never ending cold spell, here’s my pick of the best pieces on the highstreet this month, enjoy!

 

 

1. Topshop £30  2. Topshop £38  3. Topshop £38  4.Topshop £38  5. New Look £28.99  6. New Look £39.99  

7.New Look £6.99  8. Miss Selfridges  £10  9. New Look £12.99