Sunday 7 – Cheap Summer Treats

Hello!

And welcome back to a Sunday 7 after an impromptu two week break…

… and confession time: I struggle to blog about ‘new-in’ stuff during this frenzied season of sales, where most people are simply interested in bagging a bargain and there is little to none ‘new-in’ to blog about.

That and this heatwave.

I always blame the weather for everything.

Or the kids!

Anyway, here are some cheap-ish summer treats which have caught my eye… new and sales stuff:

7. H&M – Large Earrings (£8.99)

I know… quite jazzy for me, right?

BUT… I picked up the plain wire version of these for £5.99 a week ago in store: they are light and easy to wear: I love them!

Unfortunately, whilst there was no shortage of stock of the plain wire face earrings in my local branch, they don’t seem to be available online.

However, I do actually quite like these bejewelled face earrings… a refreshing change against a tide of tassels and pom-poms, and they’re just a bit of fun.

I can imagine one of the blue eye stones falling out pretty quickly… but… until that happens, why not freak your friends and work colleagues out with extra faces hanging from your ears?!

6. H&M – T-shirt with motif (£19.99)

So… pretty much 20 quid for ‘just’ an H&M tee?

Seems pretty steep to me considering their usual t-shirt prices, but it is a very pretty yellow tee.

Currently in my basket waiting for a suitable justification to complete the purchase.

{anyone got any good reasons for me?!}

5. Zara – Wicker Handbag (currently reduced to £22.99)

Loved this bag when it was new-in.

Still like it a lot.

It was never that pricey to start with to be honest, and it’s only been reduced by a few pounds.

But… I’m not going to get it.

Yet.

Keeping an eye on it for any further reductions.

The trouble with buying this now is that you kind of know that next Spring/Summer there will be yet another new shape of ‘must have’ rattan/straw/wicker bag.

A new shape of bag which I’d no doubt want.

Not going to buy this Zara one just yet… but watch this space!

4. Zara – Floral Cropped Blouse (reduced £15.99)

Not sure if it was the heat going to my head, or my super tired eyes seeing what they wanted to see, but I spotted this blouse last night and ordered it straight away…

… it has Ganni-vibes if you ask me, and the ‘cropped’ length means it’s a good one for us petites.

(Although I do think it can be worn with any high-waisters, by any one, regardless of height to be honest.)

I’ll let you know how I get on with it… given it’s ‘floral’ I’m not sure I’d get enough wear out of it.

But equally, it’s a handy, generic ‘pretty top’ which would look great with jeans and some little heels (block or kitten!) for one of those evenings out where you want to look like you made a bit of an effort without going overboard.

3. Jigsaw – Modal Lace Trim Vest (reduced to £19)

This is such a lovely, slinky-soft feeling cami… I may have picked one up yesterday whilst the streets of Salisbury were like a ghost town during yesterday’s England world cup match.

{as in, I did pick one up!}

Although the colour is described as ‘carnelian red’ (what ever the hell that is…) I can confirm the colour is actually a deep rust.

I’ve been on the hunt for a little cami to wear now, wear under a shirt… as well as wearing under a simple v-neck knit in the colder months ahead.

And whilst there are tonnes of cheaper cami’s out there, a lot of the time the fit just isn’t right on my narrow frame… where as this Jigsaw one, just worked on me.

It’s also available in a lovely Blue Sapphire colour as well.

2. Urban Outfitters – Leopard Print Elasticated Belt (£12)

If, like me… you struggle to wear animal print, this cute little elasticated belt could be just the right amount of leo for us print-shy gals.

I like the darker brown tones of the belt… not too loud.

1. Topshop – Pointed Mules (£29.99)

Again, sticking to my slight obsession of wanting to introduce a little animal print into my wardrobe, but well aware of my actual inability to wear clothing in loud prints… how fab are these Toppers Pointed Mules?

And although I find it hard to believe, given the price… they are apparently leather.

Pig, no less.

Anyway… a pointed mule is right up my street in terms of style of shoe.

I think the python print of these ones would look fabulous with an all black outfit, as well as with jeans.

Definitely tempted.

So those are my 7 for this week… but the two things you’ve all no doubt been looking forward to the most, given their absence in my last couple of blog posts… are coming up!

Stinker of the Week: Zara Cropped Shirt (£15.99)

I ordered this cropped shirt, hoping it wouldn’t be *that* cropped and that it would work on my petite frame with high waisted trousers and the like.

I was wrong.

It’s properly cropped.

Which is such a shame!

The fabric of the shirt is lovely, the polka dot print is fab, the over-stitching detail, the sizing was great…

But it’s just a big fat no from me for this cropped-cropped shirt.

Soz.

Wildcard of the Week: H&M Lycocell-blend Trousers (£34.99)

I’ve always had a thing for this shade of mellow-yellow, although frankly, have never really worn it.

(Apart from a pair of tailored hot-pants which I wore to a free Oakenfold ‘rave’ on Clapham Common the day after I got engaged, along with a whole lot of glitter and fairy wings. But that’s a story for another time!)

H&M have quite a lot of new stuff in this shade of yellow and I’m definitely drawn to it.

This whole outfit in fact.

However, can I style these trousers up in any other wearable looks?

Gonna give it my best shot.

Look 1 – Lemon Meringue: 

So the obvious thing would be to switch the matching yellow tee out for a white one, right?  I’m going to stick with the H&M styling and those chunky Leather Sandals (H&M Premium, £39.99), and this half-sleeved, Boat Neck T-shirt from John Lewis (£25).

Bag wise, a black hand-held or shoulder tote/basket with this outfit would work best, simply because it ties in with the thick, black sole of the slides: this Topshop Black Straw Circle Tote Bag (£20) would be perfect.

Just grab your Square Frame Sunglasses (Topshop £10) and you’re set.

Look 2 – Icing on the Cake:

Now this look is not for colour, print shy minimalists… but bear with… I think it *could* work. Wearing a patterned top with the lemon yellow trousers would certainly liven things up. And I’m going “lairy” with this Cos Textured Stitch Top (£49).

Some blue Zara Tubular Sandals (£12.99) on your feet, and these Blue Cat Eye Sunglasses (Topshop, £16) on your face… and you’re all set for your quirky ‘out there’, bubble-gum-geeky look.

And as this is a colour-crazy, matchy-matchy, fairy cake kind of look, you’ll need a green bag: this Sophie Leather Studded Cross Body Bag (£20) is perfect.

Look 3 – When life gives you lemons:

Make lemonade? Has nothing to do with this look, but I ran out of names!

Gonna go smart-casual here, with the Ganni Harway T-shirt (reduced to £24), and a navy H&M Fitted Jacket (£24.99) over the top, although black / oversized would work just as well.

I’ve wanted to include these White Jigsaw Caber Flat Loafers (reduced to £68) for a while now, and finally have the right outfit for them. I absolutely love these loafers in white (and yet again, are in my basket).

Keep your bag simple with something like this White Mini Tote (Zara, £15.99), and simple white framed Mango Cat-eye Sunglasses (£17.99)

And that’s it for this week.

So what do you think of the lemon trousers… would you wear them?

And in particular, would you be brave enough to wear Look 2?!

And how are you all handling this heat?

We were supposed to get up early today… when I say early, I just mean ‘normal school day’ kind of time, and get in the car and drive to Lymington to take the boys to a water park, missing the traffic etc.

However we all overslept.

Instead, we spent the day at my sister’s house, escaping our own lack of outdoor space and setting up a water-slide (using a plastic sheet) in her garden.

I’m definitely too old for the ‘run and dive’ onto the water-slide thing… I was crappity-crap at it, and managed to ‘slide’ for all of 1.5 metres acquiring a pretty collection of bruises for my efforts.

The kids had fun though!

And isn’t it always, all about the kids?!

Thanks for reading… leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!

B x