Work Outfit For < £35!

Tags

Brandalley, H&M, high-waisted skirt, Outfit less than £35, printed silk headband, Selected Femme, sereni & shentel, Sereni & Shentel x Anna Coroneo

YAY it’s my birthday today! 😀 Thank you Minty for the lovely post!

However, I had my disposal hearing case today (I was for the Defendant) at 2pm so I could only properly celebrate after 4pm! Hence, the “work” outfit! I don’t like boring you with work outfits (and I’m NOT even working!), but I realised that what I was wearing today was below £35 with 2 items being on sale! Fantastic!

Observe:

Not counting my Sereni & Shentel x Anna Coroneo printed silk headband in Spring Fling (it’s £25 on its own) which was a birthday present from Minty! I wore it for advocacy today for good luck 😉 It worked to calm my nerves. Good going, Mints!

Omitting my lovely headband, the rest of my outfit: blazer, layered top and high-waisted skirt were less than £35!

• Black Cotton Blazer: £14.99 (H&M current season)
• White Layered Top: £10 from £70 (Selected Femme bought from Brandalley, in this post)
• High-Waisted Skirt: £7 (H&M on sale)

Which is a GRAND TOTAL of…£31.99! 😀

How is that for cheap? A work outfit shouldn’t be expensive, and sales are the best places to get them!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I am looking forward to Japanese tonight and a good night of partying before I begin work tomorrow for next week’s load. Sad life of a barrister-to-be eh?

♥ P E A C H E S

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Hazy

Tags

All Blacks victory, Barry M nailpolish, Charles & Keith, clutch, Lemon nailpolish, printed blazer, TFNC London, wooden jewellery, www.thepoplook.com

TAKE #1

TAKE #2

TAKE #3

TAKE #4

Structured silk blazers & big glasses. Thank you for the hazy moments – it makes everything that much more fun.

Yellow nails brighten up the night!

I am wearing: Bustier brown dress from TFNC London, Printed blazer from ThePopLook, Wooden jewellery & bronze bangle from Thrifted, Clutch from Charles & Keith and Nails in Barry M Lemon (307). TFNC London make some amazing party dresses, so give it a look!

On another note…the All Blacks have won the Rugby World Cup 2011!! Finally! After being denied the Cup since 1987! Congratulations sexy boys, you are one amazing team!

I hope everybody had a lovely weekend!

♥ P E A C H E S

Peaches Loves A Good Bargain!

Tags

Asos, Brandalley, Kindle, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Warehouse

I keep vowing that I won’t shop for the next few weeks, months but I ALWAYS get itchy fingers that it’s very hard to stop.myself.from.clicking.urggGGhHH BUY!!

There goes my will power 😦

Well here are the few recent goodies I snatched up in the sales (my favourite time to shop!).

My 13″ pink Cambridge Satchel Company x Asos candy-striped pocket satchel arrived in the post today and I’m SO excited to see it! It’s the perfect size to go out with, compared to my 14″ batchel which is slightly bigger.

Love it!

13″ pink Cambridge Satchel Company x Asos satchel candy-striped pocket

Bagged this at a cool £55 from its original price of £110! 100% leather, it’s got a cotton candy striped pocket which makes this bag ultra cute!

I compare the pink 13″ satchel with my 14″ Vintage & Navy batchel:

There isn’t much difference, but the 13″ is a manageable size. The 14″ satchel carries A4 folders easily, instead of the 13″ satchels.

Treat the 13″ like a handbag, but this is to illustrate to you that I managed to pop in one 587-page legal book (Criminal Procedure), along with a thinner book in the big compartment.

Here is what fits in the smaller compartment:

…my Kindle! 😀 The man had recently presented me my very own Kindle because he knew I love reading but wouldn’t buy books as I wouldn’t be able to ship everything home when I left the UK. Also,if he couldn’t get any sweeter, he had 1000 free books waiting for me to be put into my Kindle! He’s such a sweetie 😀

Besides a Kindle, you can add your other essentials in the smaller compartment:

Kindle, iPod Touch, Blackberry

Here are my other bargain items I managed to buy online at Brandalley:

White Camile Layered Top with a sheer back from Selected Femme for £70 £10 only!

Peacock Tassel Trash Kaftan from OneTeaspoon for £63 £10 only!

I bought these two tops from an online Warehouse sale:

African Spot Top from Warehouse at £35 £15 only! It’s got a cute keyhole on the back of the top as well. You can still find the top here

Oriental Split Sleeve Top from Warehouse at £32 £7 only! The picture doesn’t do it justice but it really is a pretty top!

This isn’t a Fall/Autumn buy but let’s face it, can you turn down a good sale?

Instead of paying £200 for the 4 tops, all I paid was £42! Total savings of £158! 😀

Oh- sorry.

Dear Bank account, I promise promise promise I won’t shop anymore. 

♥ P E A C H E S

MTW: 13″ Green Cambridge Satchel

Tags

Cambridge Satchel Company, Cottage Industry, Nixon, Sereni & Shentel x Anna Coroneo, Steve Madden, thrifted, Witchery

Thrifted chiffon kimono cardi, Witchery grey pants and white tank top, green 13″ Cambridge Satchel, Nixon watch, Steve Madden flats, Sereni & Shentel x Anna Coroneo in Strawberry Pink with Tangerine band

After months of deliberation, I finally took the plunge and bought myself a green 13″ Cambridge satchel during my recent trip down to Melbourne!!!! WOOO-HOO!!

… Erm, and also a 14″ navy satchel, but who’s asking anyway.

Really love my satchels (DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, IT WAS TOO HARD TO JUST BUY ONE AFTER MONTHS OF SEE-SAWING BETWEEN COLOURS AND SIZES) even though mine aren’t engraved, and I honestly can’t stop fondling them like some kind of bag pervert. 

If you see a small Asian girl with non-existent calves hugging and cooing at a satchel in a corner, you’ve probably just spotted me in a moment of euphoria. 

….

Sorry you had to see that, world.

Peaches’ review stands – the colour is amazing, it’s well-made, the stitches aren’t unraveling.. It goes on, but you can really just read Peaches’ review (if you haven’t already), because there’s nothing I could say that she hasn’t already covered in her post.

Oh yea. And if you’re in Melbourne and currently searching high and low for a place to check a Cambridge Satchel out in person, mosey on over to Cottage Industry on 67, Gertrude Street in Fitzroy! The lady behind the till was really friendly and helpful despite my disgusting behaviour – modeling nearly every single colour they had on display (and consequently nearly missing my meeting… but again, who’s asking??). She never once gave me the Evil Eye or suggested that I hurry the hell up, so MAJOR THUMBS UP! Love that.

Also, they had a whole jar of these really cool fake plastic mustaches that you can hold up to your face by a stick, which were for sale that I really wanted to get but couldn’t, because I was receiving a couple of highly sexist remarks from my own brother. Gaaah the betrayal.

Honestly, there really wasn’t a good enough reason for his screeching: “WHY DO YOU NEED A FAKE MUSTACHE?!!? YOU’RE A GIRL!!”

How did we ever come from the same womb?!!?

Some people have no sense of humour.

xo, minty

PTW: Sunday Tea-Dress

Tags

Borneo, Chatuchak Market, espadrilles, floral prints, Murano glass beads, Shopaholics Unite!, summer dress, sunday church wear, Tea-Dress, Venezia, Venice

One thing I love about being in Borneo is that I don’t have to drag myself out of bed in the mornings…just because it’s cold. If it’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the cold. British weather can be unnaturally cold when it shouldn’t be, what with the equally cold skies. Grey everywhere can be very depressing and very SAD. Did you know SAD is also short for “Seasonal Affective Disorder“? No kidding!

But not here in sunshiney Borneo where it’s summer all year round! Well, except when the rainy monsoon season pops by. But that’s still fine with me because I can skip in my Havaianas in the rain whereas my toes would numb and die if I were to do that in cold, rainy Manchester. Oh wait, I did. It just took an hour before my toes could move and feel itself.

Today I wore one of my favourite cotton summer dresses (I’ve given it many a wear), designed by the lovely Malaysian HL who has sadly stopped her fashion venture (temporarily I hope!) as she just had a gorgeous baby girl! 😀

She loves her vintage summery prints! I also love how the designer thought this dress through and through – she made sure it was lined, and had flaps underneath the buttons just in case of accidental flashings!

Gold wired star ring – Chatuchak Market, Bangkok Thailand

As I grow older, sometimes less is more and I rarely stack up on my jewellery nowadays. A good print dress accompanied with minimal finger and ear candy is dandy enough!

Sea-blue murano glass bead earring – Venice, Italy

Did you know murano glass got its name from the Murano Island in Venice? Their glass beads are top notch and gorgeous (though a tad pricey)! I love how the single blue looks great on this dress.

A quick & fuss-free hairdo I did above is to tie a ponytail, create a parting just before the band and loop your ponytail through it! I have no idea what it’s called so I’ll just call it some Loopy Ponytail Hair thingy…

Nude platform espadrilles – Bangkok, Thailand

These platform espadrilles which I bought on an emergency for a night out (I only had Havaianas on me) are at a great height, comfortable and so cheap at only 390 Baht (RM39/£7)! I love a great bargain! 😀

I purchased this dress at only RM55/£10! If you are interested to see the true colour, see here! The dress I am wearing above is in Green. I also bought one in Magenta but that dress is still in the UK 😦

Have a great Sunday everyone and be blessed x

♥ P E A C H E S

MTW: In the Details

Tags

Asos, Chloe Marcie bag, Elizabeth & James knuckle ring, outfit of the day, red nails, Rimmel nailpolish, Sportsgirl, straw hat, Witchery

Wearing a hat always makes me feel jaunty, probably because I don’t wear hats often enough. Something to remember about millinery is that if you wear them, your chances of getting a heat stroke is greatly minimized on any day that the sun is being obnoxious. Which is important. It also helps wearing one if your hair looks like it’s been chewed on. I bought this one years ago from some street-wear store, and its been collecting dust on a lonely shelf ever since. I dusted it off today and put it on, because the sun was everywhere. And also because my hair was being seriously uncooperative, and I really hate when that happens.

 

Chloé Marcie bag, Witchery sunglasses, Rimmel nailpolish in Rapid Ruby, lipbalm

My current favourites. I seem to be really enjoying red on my nails recently, even though I never used to be particularly drawn to it. This one by Rimmel is top stuff because it does what it says it does and dries in a minute which is a dream for an impatient person like me. It probably doesn’t stay on for as long as I’d like it to, but reapplying this every 3 days or so doesn’t bother me when I can resume the use of my hands after 60 seconds.

 

ASOS talon ring, thrifted moonstone ring, Elizabeth & James knuckle ring, Sportsgirl ring, red string bracelet, DIY beaded blue string bracelet

Strung this blue string bracelet together because one of my ASOS ones fell apart last night so I pulled it all to shreds and put a new one together. I might do a post on how I did it if anyone’s interested.

Hope you all had a great weekend wherever you are! Here’s hoping the next one comes sooner than this one did.

xo, minty

PTW: Saturday Basics

Tags

DIY necklace, H&M, Havaianas, Havaianas Logo Silver, leather charm bracelets, leggings, Longchamp Le Pliage, stacked rings, Venice masked earrings

I am not blessed with slim legs: my brothers inherited my mum’s but I got my dad’s muscular bottom half, so I make it up with dark leggings, or dresses. You won’t be seeing me strutting in shorts outside unless it’s to the beach or to sea.

I mostly wear longer tops to ‘hide’ my big hips and thighs (big in comparison to typical Asian sizes) with skinny jeans/leggings to create a slimmer illusion 😉

Here’s what I put on quickly before I went out:

Longchamp Le Pliage Medium Short-Handle in Bilberry

H&M Basic wide v-neck tee. Still mulling on my over-tanned arms

DIY necklace with bits of chain

Arm Candy: Bronze knuckle ring, stack of vintage rings, leather charm bracelets (gifted), DIY necklace

Ears adorned with earrings from one of my travels to Venice, Italy. The cut-outs of the eyes make it interesting when the sun shines through it (and hair is tied up). The girls at practice today loved it!

Havaianas Logo Silver in White

Walked out, and came home drenched with equatorial heat. It’s about 34°C out today. In weather like this, I sometimes miss winter a little bit. Just a little bit.

♥ P E A C H E S

MTW: Prints Charming

Tags

Aztec print, kimono-sleeve, Longchamp, outfit of the day, Zara

Thrifted printed kimono cardi, Agent Ninetynine top, Country Road pants, Zara belt, Longchamp bag, Nixon watch, thrifted necklace, Sportsgirl beaded bracelets

It was rainy and windy (YESSSS, THANK YOU GOD!) enough today that I could slip on a cardi and not get stared at in public whilst generating whispers that slide towards the general notion that I’ve lost my mind. I think I like that this one is all floaty with kimono-sleeves and a longish back that off-sets the cropped front – kind of like a mullet, except this is way prettier, and made out of chiffon. It all comes together nicely and gives me an ethereal sort of air when I make just the slightest of movements, which is always an added bonus.. in my mind, anyway.

Ah. Man, do I miss layering. If only the temperature on this island would drop about 10 degrees (not asking for much, really), I’d have looped a scarf around my neck.

Who am I kidding. I’d have done two. But only because I am dreadfully obsessed with scarves, and find nothing wrong with layering them on recklessly with wild abandon.

I promise you it would have looked something like spectacular.

xo, minty

Current Love: The Cambridge Satchel Company

Tags

14 inch vintage & navy satchel, Asos, Cambridge Satchel Company, embossing, espadrilles, review, summer dress, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Vintage & Navy

My current love, the satchel that has taken the fashion world by storm: The Cambridge Satchel Company satchels!

An Alexa bag is still top on my list but it’s too bloody expensive, and hard to comprehend (the price) to be buying it with my own bills 😦

However, I still wanted my first traditional satchel…

…then I discovered this British brand earlier this year while browsing some sites online (it was actually Asos!) and found out about these cute, fun & bright made-to-order 100% leather satchels! They come in a multitude of colours too; fluorescent, patent, metallic…the list goes on!

There is no CSC physical store, except for stockists around the world (Singapore & Philippines in the SEA region) and major online sites like Asos and Urban Outfitters.

To distinguish themselves as more than just a satchel bag, CSC collaborates with the likes of Comme Des Garçons, Urban Outfitters and Asos. These unisex bags were an overnight success with celebrities (even London designer Erdem!) donning them, it being featured on fashion weeks (Paris Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, London Fashion Week) and gracing magazines such as Vogue, Grazia and Elle!

How’s that for a mother-daughter team who started this traditional satchel phenomenon back in 2008 because the daughter of the team (Julie Deane) couldn’t find a sturdy, perfect ‘Harry Potter-ish’ little satchel for her own little girl?

This is a 14” Vintage & Navy multicoloured batchel (‘batchel’ due to the top handle on the bag otherwise it is called a ‘satchel’) which I purchased from the website itself. It is a perfect size for me (I am 5’2”) when I am travelling but an 11” or a 13” would suit better as a day handbag.

This Vintage & Navy is actually from the racks of the collab between Urban Outfitters x CSC and exclusively sold in Urban Outfitters. However, the CSC site sells it, and has thrown in FREE embossing (Blind, Black, Gold or Silver) as well!

Each letter costs £5 but luckily I had it free! I’ve blurred out my embossing here but believe me, it’s beautiful and clean! Also, this will avoid theft… true!

I love the contrasting blue stitches on the traditional brown leather! The bag is very sturdy, and hard. Julie Deane emailed me saying the bag weighs less than 2kg, and I’m glad it feels lighter than 2!

It is not a clasp-on buckle, it’s the real deal! A little bit troublesome, but it’s traditional and authentic!

The bags are not lined so I was expecting some fur, but to my delight the interior is smoothed out so much that it nearly feels like the exterior of the bag!

The back of the bag

Genuine and authentic CSC satchels have this logo stamped behind the bag. Make sure you buy from the right CSC website or its legitimate stockists!

I am wearing:

• Vintage & Navy 14” batchel – Cambridge Satchel Company
• Summer Dress – thrifted, Bangkok
• Nude espadrilles – thrifted, Bangkok
• Dual bird-sun necklace – Asos
• Ring – thrifted, Xativa Spain
• Wooden bracelet – thrifted, Borneo

As these CSC satchels are made-to-order, a 30-day wait is the norm. Their communication is still slightly lacking but they are definitely working on it (call them, as they answer very quickly!). Julie Deane even apologised for the delay in replying emails and was very witty about it!

I had my bag sent to the man in the UK (I also saved on shipping as to Borneo it’s a crazy £20 charge!), as I figured that having the bag sent locally would be quicker. I waited more or less a month for it and now it’s finally in my hands as the man’s here for the Summer!

p.s: You don’t know this…but my man wore my bag out a few times! Now that’s a very stylish manbag 😉

If you already have a CSC satchel, do let me know how you feel about it! 🙂

♥ P E A C H E S

PTW: Ethnic Print Paperbag Skirt

Tags

Asos, Bangkok, Chatuchak Market, church, church wear, ethnic, outfit of the day, paperbag skirt, postsecret.com, print, Thailand, tribal

Deciding what to wear to church on a Sunday can be as daunting as deciding what to wear on a night out.

I was always taught to wear my best and nothing that would raise eyebrows… Mum has never allowed me to show up in jeans, leggings, pants, flip flops, the list goes on. However in recent years, I’ve broken this ‘rule’ countless of times!

I’ve not gone in flip flops (except for injuries), jeans (very rare) and sleeveless clothing (arms always covered). It’s always dresses and skirts for me, with a pair of flats (I’ve outgrown the vanity of needing to be taller, long legs and having a perky bum) because comfort is most important to me now.

Detailed ethnic print

For today’s Sunday Wear, I decided to try the new paperbag skirt which I bought in the massive Chatuchak Market, Bangkok during my travels recently. It is intricately woven with a beautiful golden/orange/red pattern. The paperbag skirt is aptly named so because the top looks like a scrunched paper bag (where the belt goes).

I’m unsure if the pattern is of Thai ethnicity but it looks tribally chic, and the best of all? It’s a wrap skirt! Perfect for those days of unsightly tummies.

Paperbag skirts are meant to be worn as waisted skirts. But the best slimming effect is to clinch the paperbag skirt where your waist is smallest to give you a beautiful curvaceous shape.

As you can see, the illusion of a slim torso! Perfect for someone like me who has inherited her part-Borneoan native’s big and muscular thighs.

This paperbag skirt literally feels like hardened paper, but that would be due to the material of this skirt.

It’s fast becoming one of my favourite skirts to wear at the moment!

• Get more looks for the paperbag skirt at Asos

• If you want to DIY your own paperbag skirt, why not try making one out of a…pillowcase?! See here! She does amazing DIYs so check her out 😀

Lastly, I never forget my weekly Sunday dosage of Postsecret secrets. New secrets are up!

Have a lovely Sunday all, and be blessed ♥

♥ P E A C H E S