I needed new clothes... - A Haul Post.

Hello!


So I'm going to set the scene for you a little bit....so imagine your a depressed 17 year old who is somewhat (read as: very) overweight and not at all interested in appearance...now imagine being taken on a shopping trip and having new clothes brought for you....now remember that you're said 17 year old and that you're basically only interested in covering up all the time (unless you're out in which case you'll make an effort, which seems odd doesn't it...) so you basically only buy comfy hoodies and some jeans. Now imagine that it's 7 years later (7 YEARS?! How the hell did that happen?!) and that you've basically only replaced said jeans and hoodies and maybe, occasionally brought 1 top that you liked. Aaaaand....you've become me. I'm so sorry for your loss of fashion sense! Haha! Basically, what I'm saying is I'm really really bad at clothes shopping and get very frustrated because I don't really know what suits me. I also have this weird fear about looking terrible in my clothes. I think it's from a long standing loathing of my body shape. I think I have a mild form of body dysmorphia that stems from years of comfort eating as a teenager - I want to be clear that yes, I may be a little overweight for my height, and yes, my hips are pretty big, but I'm actually not as big as I used to be. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you're happy with how you are, then that's all that matters! But I pretty much spend my time either thinking I look fab or thinking the complete opposite. I know this is the same for a lot for people but, unfortunately, when I'm having a day where I think I look fat and frumpy and just generally not at all how I'd like, I tend to punish myself either physically or verbally...or both. It's not pretty and if I'm having a bad day and clothes shopping then I used to be an absolute nightmare. I have recently been able to calm myself down and use clothes shopping as a form of therapy, as I have found that when I'm having a "my body is the worst" it can actually be quite good to go and pick out lots of clothes and try them all on. When I was in H&M a couple of weeks ago, I actually got the girls who work there to help me pick out a few different pieces that i would NEVER have tried on. This was really helpful and when I found a top that I was in love with, it really boosted my confidence quite a bit. Plus the girls were lovely and honest with me too, which was refreshing! I'm under no illusion, I've still got some way to go with my issues and I still want to lose a tiny bit more weight (and most importantly, firm the hell up!) but that's something that I've got to work on. When my room is sorted (ie: when I'm not in this guest room prison cell...) I've already got a little area pegged out for exercise. I've pre-warned my mum that I might be yelling at a woman called Jillian in my room for a little while! Haha!

Anyway, enough about my depression and body issues, let's get on with the fun bit! I recently decided to do an overhaul of my clothes so I could throw out some old jeans and tops that I've had for ages. I mean, don't get me wrong, my trusty black zip up hoody will be staying....that sucker is always handy to have around just in case, but I wanted to get some clothes that were a) new and b) more flattering. I'm warning you now that this post is very picture heavy....


First stop: H&M

I love this top simply for the sleeves to be honest. I have an issue with the tops of my arms so I always love it when I get a top that I don't feel I HAVE to wear a cardigan (or hoody) with. I love the dusky pink and black stripes and the loose belt bit just wins it over for me. Fun fact: this is the first top I've brought in forever that actually comes up over my cleavage! I usually get tops that show off (what I think is) my best feature! I felt so grown up when I put it on! Haha! Weird right?? 

This was £14.99 (this was pretty expensive to me, but I really did just fall in love with it)

I got this simple grey vest top because it comes down quite far and I liked that though of it covering a multitude of sins, and it really does! 

This was £3.99

I LOVE this top. So much so, that I'm actually not ashamed to show my arms off in it... It's quite loose and also see through, so a top underneath is a must (well...for me anyway...) The grey top goes really well underneath this one actually. I like the way that it's nice for the day, but I can totally see myself wearing it with jeans and heels for a night out. Throw on a long necklace and I'm done! 

This was £3.99 but then had £1.99 off it for some reason (it wasn't in the sale at all or anything, so I have no idea why there was money off but I wasn't about to complain!) so it actually came to £2.00! 

Next up: Sainsbury's

A classic dark blue pair of jeggings. I got these because I didn't have any dark blue jeans that fit me (I have a pair of slim size 12 jeans that I got during a post break-up non-eating fest. Needless to say when I started eating again, I couldn't fit into them anymore. I'm keeping them as my goal weight jeans though. Incentive FTW!) I thought jeggings would be a good choice for winter as they have the same comfy fit as my jogging bottoms, without the horrendous fear of me actually leaving the house in my jogging bottoms... I have men's size medium jogging bottoms and they are not flattering at all....but they are DAMN comfy for at home! Anyway, I figured these would be nice and comfy (they are) but also look good with my new tops (they do!)

These were £12.50

Next up: eBay

(Please excuse the state of these, ;ve worn them quite a bit and they were stuffed under a chair in our hallway this morning. My Dad has an odd way of hoovering...)

A few weeks back I'd had a lovely girl come in at work who was really nice and chatty and was actually friends with one of the other girls who work in Debenhams. Anyway, as we were chatting about make-up and other bits I noticed her boots and commented about how much I like them. She told me she got them on eBay and that I just needed to search for Chelsea boots. I then happened to sell a few bits on eBay and had some money in my paypal (free cash right??) and decided to have a little browse. I've been after some boots for AGES and when I found these I fell a little bit in love. I thought about it for a few hours and asked my Mum's opinion...and then just decided to go for it (after checking out the returns policy, just in case!) They arrived a few days later and I was complete sold. I got them in a size 5 just in case I wanted to wear them out during hardcore winter, as I knew I'd want thick socks on! I did feel the need to put some comfy pad thingys in the front and will probably invest in some insoles to pad them out a tiny bit as I find them a little uncomfy to stand in all day (I tried them out at work) but that might just be because I barely wear heels... 

You can get them here on eBay where they cost me £27.94 (including p&p) or if you don't particularly like this style, you can visit Garage Shoes website and get £5 off until the 15th of November with the code LAUNCH2012 (which is always handy!)

Up next: Primark (and a couple of brief purchases in other shops...)

So first up is the obligatory trip to Wilkinsons for a pot of pick 'n' mix for sugar perks when shopping in Primark. It can be a tough trip on a busy Saturday! 

This was £1.99 and packed full the brim with sweets! Gotta get the most out of it right?!

So I have a pretty bad obsession with scented candles. I just love them! I can't have Yankee Candles though as I discovered that they set my asthma off and give me a headache. That was an annoying one to discover after buying 5 small candles... Anyway, these ones were from a shop called "Butlers" and aren''t too overpowering. I got them in the scents "Baked Apple" (like a less powerful version of the cinnamon candle that they had) and "Black Cherry" (which smells delicious and is nice and subtle) I also got my parents a little Christmas gift from in there too, but I'm not putting it on here for obvious reasons....it's super super cute though!!

These cost me £1.99 each (so these four cost me £7.96)

So finally we entered Primark.... First up, pants. I always buy at least one pair of pants whenever I go to Primark. I don't really like their bras as they are bad sizes and can be a bit damaging actually. I don't mind their basques (except for the fact that bigger cup sizes come with big size pants....annoying!) and found a really pretty one...but it was £10 and I just really didn't need it. I wanted it, but I didn't need it. Putting it back went against my very being but was worth it in the end! Anyway, I liked these pants and they will go with lots of my bras, plus they are a little bit sexy but also looked comfortable too so I decided to get them.

These were £2.00

So as much as I loved the jeggings, I really wanted to get some actual jeans so I didn't feel quite so much like I was wearing jogging bottoms out when I was out for meals and stuff. My friend Laura highly recommended these as she had some and thought they were "comfy, warm and super super soft!" I wore this pair today and was really impressed with them! I can usually fit into a 12 in Primark but I decided to get them in a 14 as Laura said her 12s were a snug fit and she's usually between a 10 and a 12. I didn't want to risk another pair of jeans going into my "need to slim down for these" pile. 

These were £11.00

Another pair of jeans like the ones above, except these ones are in black. I've been needing some black jeans for ages as I quite like them for nights out sometimes. Again, these ones are super soft, super skinny jeans. I may be a little bit bigger than most people who wear skinny jeans, but I just find they suit me more than other types of jeans. Straight leg look especially hideous on me. They make my calves and thighs look like the same width, which is definitely not a look I want in my life!

Again, these cost £11.00

The first top I found was this jumper. It's thin enough to want to wear something underneath but thick enough to keep you warm inside without thinking "should I put my coat back on??" I really like the colours and style of this....although I really should have picked up the grey version too because this is really comfy! It's really soft too and isn't scratchy at all.

This cost me £8.00

I've been needing some new cardigans for ages since my trusty black one became more of an interesting faded black colour after many many many washes! I've been stealing my Mum's cardigans for going out etc for ages, so when I saw these I knew I had to snap a few up. I decide to pick up this dark grey one as I figured it'd be handy to have a different colour but didn't dare risk buying a bright colour in case I couldn't bring myself to step that far out of my comfort zone! I got this in a size 12 because it looked massive and I don't intend on doing up the buttons really so I won't have a problem of trying to squeeze my boobs in like I normally do in smaller tops!

This cost £6.00

Same as before but in a trusty black colour instead. I feel like I should've picked up two of these as I've had such difficulty finding a black cardigan but I didn't want to be ridiculous! I got this in a size 10 because there were only 10s and 16s left. 16 would've been very baggy on the arms, so I risked the 10. Seems to be fine though. Also I really like the fact that these have small pockets on them. I don't know what but I just feel like they'll come in handy at some point! I might also be able to get away with this at work if Debenhams can't work out how the hell heating works (not air con now thank you!!)

This was £6.00 too.

Now then, I'm not sure how many of you know this but I'm obsessed with penguins. My dream job would be to work with them in some way (I say work with...I mean shun humans and just go live with them. That's cool right??) Anyway, I generally like to have anything with penguins on and this pj top was no exception! It's so cute!! I love the fact that it's got that bit on the back too!! Just so freaking cute! I'm not going to lie, I feel like I will most likely wear this out as a proper top over Christmas and not as a pj top...I know that's weird but I just think it's so damn cute!! (Also if anyone else loves penguins like I do, then you totally need to click here! Watching during the daytime is obviously a bit more interesting...)

This was £3.00 (BARGAIN!!...well for a penguin fan like me anyway!)

What's this?....more penguins?! Crazy! So I've been needing a new scarf for a while (mine is still in boxes somewhere from the move home. I seriously can;t wait to have my old room back so I can unpack! It'll be like Christmas for me! Haha!) I was going to try and get a bog standard black one that would go with everything, but I saw this and I just couldn't believe how cute it was! And matching gloves too?? I was sold! It's one of those "just put over your head" scarves (you know what I mean right?) which I thought might annoy me, but actually I think I might prefer it to normal scarves! Plus the gloves have a hole in the thumb so I can still text/change my music/call people in the cold. Seems like an odd thing but I found that SO frustrating last year. I had to keep taking my gloves off to text people because I can't text with my fingers. I'm weird like that. The main thing that sold this for me though, was the fact that my Granny would've blatantly had something like this. She died when I was only 7 but I remember her loving random prints like this and always sending us the weirdest clothes....which would then be in fashion a few years later! One of the scarves that is in my boxes of stuff is one of hers. I certainly won't be getting rid of that in a hurry. 

This cost £5.00 (Scarf) and £3.00 (Gloves)

A new bag finally!! It's not a bag I think I'll use for my everyday stuff because I think it might be a tiny bit too small, but for a meal out or something, I'd definitely prefer to take out this bag than my big old everyday handbag. I did pick up a little black bag first and then saw this and had a bit of a dilemma. Black is just my go to colour (shade?) but I preferred the design of this one. Laura convinced me to step out of my comfort zone and go for this and I'm glad she did because I've really fallen in love with it. It's weird because the clasp is underneath the bag, which I thought might be annoying but I guess time will tell with that. I can always easily added another magnetic clasp on the side if I want. It's got enough room for my big bulky purse, my phone and my inhaler plus a bit more space and then it also has a zip on the inside too...I assume for chewing gum. That's what's going in there anyway! Emergency stash!

This was £6.00

I needed work shoes desperately but they needed to be smart, practical and comfy. It's very very difficult to find all those things and for them to also be in my price range. The shoes I wear now are fine, but I've had them for years, so they've actually stretched a bit too much and sound like flip flops when I walk...mmm...professional! I saw these and just thought they were really cute. They have the tiniest heel, so I feel a bit more professional on counter and the bow with the matching detail round the top is just enough to stop them from being bog standard black shoes. BUT the main reason to love these (other than the super comfy wide fit too!) is the fact that in the balls of these shoes, they actually have a built in cushion bit to help make your feet more comfortable when wearing these shoes!! Love it! I'll be wearing these lovely shoes tomorrow for my first day back after holiday!

These were £10.00

Next up, my one jewellery purchase. Primark can be hit or miss for me in this department, but I was determined to look thoroughly just in case they had a dupe of this beautiful fox ring from accessorize that I am completely lusting after at the moment. Unfortunately they didn't but I did spot these lovely rings. I really like wearing rings as a little finishing touch to my outfits (I don't wear bracelets at all as I have tiny wrists and they usually end up either falling off or bunching up near my elbows. UGH!) I really liked all of these so decided to snap them up.

These were £2.00

Here are the rings individually on each finger. I got these in small but they are all still a tiny bit to big for my fingers. I can wear them on my middle finger, index finger and thumb without fear of them completely falling off easily but not on my ring or little finger. They'd be gone in seconds. I really like all of these, even the jewelled band, which I normally would look twice at if it had been on it's own.

This is to show that the ring that was on my middle finger is actually a little bird! Very cute!

This has got to be my favourite out of them all. I thought it would be the flower but actually I love this one. The twisted band and tiny butterfly detail just win me over! (Also quick side note - Laura said my nails looked like "a work of art!" which made my inner nail nerd feel a surge of pride! Haha!)

Of course a shopping trip wouldn't be complete without some make-up and nail polish for me! The eyelash curlers were just something I needed since my ELF ones broke a few months ago. I don't find myself wanting them on a daily basis but for nights out it's sometimes nice to have curlers for a bit of added oomph.

These were £1.00

 I needed a new clear mascara for my brows (my Natural Collection one is over 2 years old now. Gross.) and I was going to get the MUA one but the Superdrug I was in didn't have any. I went to the 2true stand where I found a nice standard clear mascara waiting for me. Now then, this is a stand that I've been a little bit interested in recently since discovering that they were doing some limited edition crystal nail polishes. In the Superdrug online Christmas catalogue they looked really pretty so I wanted to look at this stand anyway. I also needed a brown eyeliner and I couldn't find one by any other brand anywhere in the store so I picked up the 2true one as well (I'll do a review when I"ve worn it so you can know if it's good or not) Then I treated myself to a look at the nail polishes. They have a lot of pretty colours and I kind of like the tall bottles, but I could only find one Crystal Nail Polish as the rest were sold out! It was in a beautiful purple though so I was happy with that! I will be checking out my local Superdrug to see if they have any more colours in I think! 

Anything by 2true is £1.99 each or 3 for £4.99 which is good but Superdrug at the moment has a 3 for 2 offer running on all make-up! Bargain buys of the 3 for £3.98!

Lastly, some polishes from Claire's Accessories. I have a few polishes by them and I really like them. They last for a long time, are fairly pigmented and the brushes aren't too bad either. I just wanted to pop in to see if they had a dupe for that damn expensive fox ring but I got easily distracted by the nail polish section and saw these two bar glitter ones and fell in love. The hologrpahic bar glitter one looks a tiny bit like the Nicki Minaj OPI Save Me one too, which I liked but couldn't justify the price tag of. The blue one is just because I like blue so much... I want to point out that I did actually put back lots of nail polish in various stores because I really didn't need it, I just wanted it. I was so proud of myself...even if I did still come back with 3 nail polishes (222 in total now. That's ridiculous isn't it??)

These were £2.50 each.

A few swatches of the nail polishes. I've ordered myself a nail art wheel thingy from eBay so these will be easier to do from now on hopefully. It should arrive next week so I'll be able to put some tutorials up too!

From left to right - one coat each:

2true Crystal Nail Polish in Shade 4.

Claire's Accessories Blue Bar Glitter (no name)

Claire's Accessories Holographic Bar Glitter (no name)

I tried the bar glitter over a couple of different polishes to see what it would be like.

From left to right - one coat of each:

Blue Bar Glitter over Model's Own Juicy Jules

Holographic Bar Glitter over Models Own Juicy Jules

Holographic Bar Glitter over Barry M's Red Glitter

I really like the bar glitters over Juicy Jules and I think if I were to mix all three then I would basically have Save Me. I don't think the red glitter works with these ones but I will try them over other colours.

So congratulations on getting to the end of my clothes haul! I'm so proud of you! I waffle so much that I'm always surprised that people stick around til the end of the post! I will point out that I did get a couple of other Christmas presents that I haven't included for obvious reasons. But what do you guys think of my clothes haul? Any styles you would suggest for me/any shops you recommend? Have you tried the 2true range before?? Any recommendations on nail polishes too? (not that I'm trying to get you guys to help feed my habit! Haha!!) Anything you'd like reviewed in more depth at all?

Until next time,

xoxo