Beaches, denim and LFW

So, I haven't blogged in well over a month... I had the busiest February imaginable this year, with a trip to Copenhagen right at the beginning with my mum and sister as a relaxing little break and the other about a week later for a four day politics conference, full of debating, networking and fitting in loads of fun trips to cosy bars at the end of a long day! I had a lovely time both trips, though the combination of late nights and early mornings of the second killed me ever so slightly and it took me an awfully long time to catch up on all the sleep that I missed. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure that it's going to be one of the highlights of 2016 for me and it was a great opportunity to spend some time with people who I wanted to hang out with more; I found myself missing sharing a room with friends and all the chatting, laughing and sharing of makeup that comes with it afterwards.

February carried on to be a cycle of work, work and more work as I got hit with more important deadlines, and this seems to have carried on into March too. I'm finding myself sitting taking notes well past midnight or frantically typing on my laptop in cafes incredibly often, and I'm feeling the pressure of the subjects I'm taking much more now; At this point there isn't much room for error so I really need to knuckle down and be more organised. It's an exciting time as well though, as I'm really looking into Uni now and deciding what I want to take and where. I ordered the prospectus for Fashion Marketing at UCA a few days ago, so I'm excited for that to arrive; seeing people like the fab Jamie (ily Jamie) do the same course I'm sold on and be generally amazing is really inspiring me to work hard right now! Its all feeling very real and grown up at the minute which may or may not absolutely terrify me.

I've been feeling super happy style wise lately. I finally feel like I'm making my way out of the rut I got stuck in and I've been trying to take myself out of my current comfort zone a lot more, something which may involve showing my arms a bit more and, as you can see here, wearing denim. I never ever wear denim because usually, Denim= Jeans and Jeans= My own personal nightmare. I never feel comfortable in Jeans anymore. I just don't understand how to style them and make them look good on me, and I can never find the right style for me and it just doesn't work. I found this skirt about a week ago, chucked on the floor of the H&M sale section and thought that I might as well try it on (mainly because it was my size, the only one left and cost about a tenner). I now realise how much I miss out on the whole denim thing and have rarely taken the skirt off since buying it. I also feel incredibly late on the whole button down the front bandwagon, so you'll have to excuse me for that! I never thought it would suit my style but actually its really working for me on the days I want a more chilled out, casual vibe. I'm also loving a massive t-shirt at the minute and find that chucking one on and layering a few Vivienne Westwood necklaces is the easiest, comfiest and still 'me' combo I can pull together on days where I don't want to look overly done, but still put together.
'

I have also FINALLY gotten around to watching and gawping at all the LFW shows I missed. I feel like LFW was filled with such wonderful shows this year; I'm not sure if it was the little Bowie influences sewn into so many designs or the sheer amount of faux fur, sequins and facial glitter I've been seeing but I don't remember enjoying seeing the clothes, shows and presentations this much in a long time! Here are some of my favourite looks:

      

Preen by Thornton Bregazzi AW16

Vivienne Westwood AW16/17

Felder Felder AW16/17

Ashish AW16/17

OTHER FAVES: Joseph AW16/17,  Lulu Liu AW16/17, Sophia Webster AW16/17, Shrimps AW16/17 Presentation. 

I'm currently in the car driving to Rotterdam to get the ferry to Hull where I'm going to be spending the Easter break. Its fallen quite perfectly actually as I'm in the UK the week before my birthday so I can see my family and UK friends,  and arrive back in Denmark just in time to spend my actual birthday with my Danish friends. I'm looking forward to a good chill out with my family. I have quite a few plans shaping my week up nicely; On Sunday I'm eating paella with my whole family, on Tuesday I'm going to get dinner with my oldest friends and on Good Friday, Ells, my cousin Lauren and I are going to see The Hubbards EP launch with Native People and Affairs at Fruit and then may or may not be eating our own body weights in pizza afterwards amongst other things. 

I hope you have a lovely Easter! 

Bethany x

* Beach Photography by Ellie Officer

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Uncommon goods

Outfit details: Jumper: H&M, Skirt: Boohoo, Bag: Vivienne Westwood, Necklace*: Julie Nolan via Uncommon Goods, Boots: Primark

Is it just me who thinks January has flown by this year? Normally, I feel like the first few months of the year drag on as you get back into the post-Christmas swing of things, but I've been keeping busy with work and what not. That said, January tends to be my least favourite month, so I am glad to be getting into February. I'm a little bit gutted at the minute because I was due to see Wolf Alice in Copenhagen on the 16th, but due to them being nominated for lots of NME Awards, the gig has been cancelled and postponed until July (fingers crossed I can still go!). Ellie and I have been wanting to see them play for a while now and never seem to be able to get there, but I guess this time it wasn't meant to be! I'm heading to Copenhagen anyway in the next few weeks for a Politics trip with college, so I'm looking forward to that instead. I'll be moving back to England next year for Uni and I really want to make the most of my time in Denmark now. Copenhagen is such a gorgeous and chilled out city (as is Aarhus, where I live) so I want to make sure I enjoy what’s around me while I can!

Recently, I was approached by Uncommon Goods, the loveliest company specialising in unique, handcrafted and sustainable products by providing a platform for Artists and Designers. I was over the moon to have the opportunity to collaborate with them as they offer such an amazing range of products from homeware to accessories, so I was bound to find something I adored. Basically, if you need to find a gift for a loved one, everything you could ever want is on their site. As I predicted, I fell in love whilst browsing the jewellery range. As soon as I saw this beautiful Julie Nolan locket*. It's called the "Astrology locket" as the little circular openings are in the shape of astrological constellations (mine is Aries), so its also a really personal gift that would be the perfect valentines present (either for a significant other or just as a little treat for yourself!). Ive been really into horoscopes lately (I'm not so sure why but I just like knowing), so I was instantly drawn to the locket.   Uncommon Goods also run a programme called 'Better to Give', where they donate $1 of your purchase the non profit organisation of your choice. This was started 12 years ago and since then over $1000,000 have been donated; Just another incentive to shop there!

 (If you've ever tried to get a dog to look at a camera you'll know the amount of pointing at the camera involved)

Lately I've been struggling with my makeup quite a bit. Nothing seems to be going right, from a basic winged liner to pencilling in my brows. These past few weeks have proven to be very irritating makeup wise and I'm not sure why. I cant seem to find the right base for my skin at the minute, as I'm dealing with loads of breakouts and annoying dry patches dotted about, but this day, I picked up Estee Lauder double wear foundation after falling out with it for a bit, and found that it went onto my skin PERFECTLY. I have a slight love/hate relationship with it honestly as I feel like it can look really heavy in real life (and feel a bit mask like), but in photographs it looks amazing. I usually find that I really want it off my face after about 2 hours of wearing it just to let my skin breathe which is so annoying ! Hopefully I can find a base I love once my skin clears up. If you have any foundation recommendations tell me in the comments! It’s nice to be back blogging after the few weeks I haven't posted. I know I always say it, but I'm going to try to post more in the next few months! I should be back soon with a travel post and some outfit bits, but until then, have an amazing February and I hope the start of your 2016 has been wonderful. Bethany x *Photos: Ellie Officer

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Victoria Dock

HAPPY (fairly late) NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a wonderful Holidays and that 2016 is going well for you so far. As always, I'm feeling a quite bad about not keeping my blog updated as much as I should. Over Christmas, I had so many ideas and plans for posts, but I didn't seem to get the pictures I wanted. I was having such a lovely time with family and friends that I totally forgot about blogging. In the words of Edie from Ab-Fab, I was just ' Too busy doing it, Darling!'. I promise I will try harder next year xoxox 

That said, I (and in this case I mean my usual photographer, Ellie) managed to shoot one set of very quick photos over the holidays. I was going for a cosy coffee and cake meet at Thieving Harry's with my family and we arrived slightly early, so we decided to shoot on Queen Victoria's dock, a stones throw from the said cosy lunch location. Living away from home, I never normally get a to hang around here. I'm usually so busy running around in town or visiting people or taking trips outside of Hull, that I forget to appreciate Hull itself, so it was a really lovely opportunity to see somewhere a little different.

I have a massive obsession with all things leopard print, so as you can imagine I am in LOVE with my new top. I was admiring it in Topshop whilst in Amsterdam and, without me knowing, my Mum snuck off and bought it for me as a Christmas present. It is now nicknamed the Marlene top after we saw the EXACT SAME ONE being worn by a barmaid on an episode of Only Fools and Horses, but for some reason that just makes me love it more.

My love of Vivienne Westwood has also grown more than I ever thought was possible over the Holidays. I got the Frilly Snake Heart Bag for Christmas from my parents after years of admiring the model, and I still cannot believe I've finally got it! It might just be my favourite piece in my wardrobe. I also got the necklace I'm wearing from my parents and I absolutely adore it. It goes so perfectly with everything I wear! I'm lucky enough to have built quite the collection of V.W now, but I managed to visit their Leeds store just after Christmas and found myself in my own personal heaven yet again. They had a big sale on so I may have bought myself a couple of very lovely treats that I can't wait to show you soon! I also wore my big H&M coat, a Boohoo skater skirt and H&M boots.

Photography: Ellie Officer

    

Ive been wanting to visit Thieving Harry's for ages and I wasn't disappointed. I'm quite sad I didn't take my camera with me to get more/better pictures, as the interior is amazing, all mismatched vintage furniture and fairy lights. The cakes were also to die for!

I should be back with a post on my trip to Amsterdam soon and an exciting collaboration too. I hope you enjoyed this post and have a lovely week or so, 

Bethany x

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Happy Hour Again

IT'S DECEMBER! Time to put some Wham! on and bake Christmas treats! December is my favourite month of the year, mainly because it means I get an excuse to spend loads of time online shopping, wrapping presents (I actually really enjoy wrapping presents, and I am the queen of curly ribbons) and dressing up. I woke up on December 1st feeling 100 times more festive than I had in November. Christmas really starts now!
Last weekend I went out for dinner to one of my favourite hangouts, Drudenfuss in the centre of Aarhus. As I love any excuse to dress up and put my best red lipstick on, plus the fact it was the first weekend of December (always a reason to celebrate) I took the opportunity to don my new knitted dress and to finally showcase the most wonderful bag on earth, my Vendula London Happy Hour Clutch*.

   

 I've been waiting for a chance to use this bag (and a drop a Housemartins reference in my blog title) as it really is the most beautiful thing with its gold embossing and red satin lining and I feel like teamed with a sparkly dress it creates a dynamite winter look! I am a huge fan of velvet, wearing it always makes me feel very glam but still comfortable, and this bag does the exact same. Vendula have been lovely enough to send me two clutch bags now (see the other in a post here!) and the thing that strikes me about them is that they are surprisingly practical and fuss free to use. I was a little concerned that with them being a box bag it might be easy for them to get in the way of daily life or that the metal sides might be easily scratched, but this is not the case at all. Easy to carry, sturdy and beautiful!



My favourite part of this bag is the back of it. I mean, look at the little cocktail! This bag is perfect if you want a statement peace to wear at Christmas and New Years parties or just out for dinner and drinks. There really are so many occasions in the next few weeks (and months) that I know this bag will be fantastic for. Vendula are fast becoming one of my favourite companies so do check them out, especially all the beautiful things in their A/W range. The clutch bags are the perfect Christmas present (My mum wants one and has told me she will be borrowing mine as much as she can , as have a fair few other people). Every experience with Vendula has been fantastic for me, from the quality of the bags to the brilliant customer service. I really can't recommend them enough.



I have changed up my makeup routine an awful lot recently and seem to have switched products completely. I've been trying out the MAC Mineralize Moisture foundation in NW15 and I really have fallen in love with it. It sets brilliantly with a loose powder and gives a flawless but sheer finish that is great for everyday wear. I also had a bit of an eyebrow grooming disaster a week or so ago which left one of my brows looking a little worse for wear so I have been going for a much more 'done' look rather than leaving them to their own devices. I have been filling them in slightly with a Rimmel Brow Pencil in Black Brown, but I am trying to keep them looking fairly natural at the same time!

I got my dress last month when I visited Hull. I went to Meadowhall with my Auntie, Uncle, Grandma and Cousin ( we always try to fit in a shopping day, my family are some of the most stylish people I know and together we always find the best buys) and I saw this dress in Primark and knew instantly I had to have it. I've been wanting a very wearable but still sparkly dress since last Christmas when I wore this beauty by Oh My Love (gorgeous, but a little too much effort for day to day!) and this one fits the bill perfectly. They also had it in silver which I massively regret not getting, but the gold was an instant winner for me.

The Oh My Love Dress, layered under a Primark Christmas jumper for last years Save The Children Christmas Jumper Day

Pictures from Christmas Day last year:

This Months Inspiration:

Brands & Designers featured: Shrimps, House of Holland, Topshop and Vivienne Westwood.
Photos: From A/W 15-16 shows of featured brands and designers, Stills of Rita Hayworth from Gilda, Stills from 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I feel like I haven't been in the blogging zone recently but I feel really motivated to write at the minute, especially with the holidays coming up! Have a lovely week this week, and remember to have a good look on the Vendula London website whilst you do your Christmas shopping!
Bethany x

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