NEW SEASON FASHION: High Street Edition

Hi all!

As August draws to a close, the high street stores are beginning the shift from Summer to Autumn styles. From the odd winter coat dotted around the stores to the distinct change of colour gracing the rails, you can't help but notice the changing of the seasons. This week's post is all about new season fashion, what's new on the high street and our favourite pieces from some of these stores.

Topshop
Topshop for us is the ultimate 'cool' Hight Street store. London-inspired edgy street style trends fill the rails making it one of the most popular hight street stores today. 

Spot Cold Shoulder Mini Dress

Sleeveless Poplin Ruffle Shirt

PETITE Lace Playsuit

Herring Chambray Shirt

MOTO Step Hem Indigo Jamie Jeans

Travelling Rib Boxy Jumper

Zara
 Zara is an accessories favourite for us, along with structured pieces and comfy basics. It's a little more on the expensive end of the high street but definitely worth it for classic pieces that you will be able to wear from season to season - perfect for the transitional months.

 

A-Line Dress

Black Culottes

Frilled Jumpsuit

Leather High Heeled Sandals with PomPoms

Oversized Denim Jacket

Interchangeable Mix and Match Flaps

ASOS
ASOS is the website that we can spend hours scrolling through, with the biggest selection of styles for any occasion, you're sure to find the perfect outfit. 

Jumpsuit with Wrap and Self Tie

The New Forever T-Shirt with Long Sleeves and Dip Back

Textured Longerline Jacket

Premium Off The Shoulder Top in Floral Lace

Ultimate Bomber Jacket with Badges

New Look Leather Mini Skirt

New Look
A place we always look for on-trend basics and seasonal styles, New Look is a go-to for us to buy affordable pieces. We love the basics here along with more trend-led pieces like this gorgeous layered burgundy skirt.

 

Burgundy Lace Balloon Midi Skirt

Khaki Longline Bomber Jacket

Black Denim Skinny Dungarees

Black Sateen Bardot Neck Dress

Embroidered Ripped Skinny Jeans

Burgundy Frill Trim Cold Shoulder Top



For us shopaholics, a new season is so exciting! We can't wait to head out to the shops to update our closets and begin the transition from Summer to Autumn. Layering is a favourite for the upcoming transitional months so we're looking forward to mixing up styles in our wardrobes. We hope this post has gotten you excited about the fashion season and new trends to come!

S & K  xo 

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TOTALLY BARE PRESS-ON NAILS

Happy Tuesday!

Today I'll be chatting to you about my thoughts on fake nails and my recent experience of the press-on, short term type.

 I've never had really nice, long nails as they're super brittle and split and break when I try to grow them. I also always used to bite them growing up which can't have helped!  So as I was going to a wedding, I wanted to have nice nails for the occasion. I debated whether to go for a classic nude colour or the French manicure style, but as my outfit was pink, I thought I'd add some colour to my nails and have them tie in with my dusty light blue accessories.

The Totally Bare range by Elegant Touch (I got mine in Superdrug) is perfect for creating your own look: trying out nail art, or in my case, getting the perfect shade to match your outfit.
I bought the Oval (002) nails, as I wanted the most natural shape as possible and thought that I'd better stick to easier to manage nails for a newbie like me!

I bought a nail varnish to colour-match my accessories and found the perfect shade in 'Eat My Dust' from Barry M's Speedy Quick-Dry range. I then painted the nails individually before applying them with glue. This varnish only took two coats and was perfect - not streaky at all and really the perfect summer blue shade.

Being a total perfectionist, I painted two sets of nails (you get 48 individuals in the pack in 10 different sizes to your best fit) just in case I lost or damaged any before the wedding. It's recommended to use nail polish remover on your nails first to give the glue a better chance of longer staying-power which I would totally agree with. Then after that, follow the instructions and you'll have gorgeous long nails in minutes! I'll have to admit that I couldn't stop looking at them once they were on - I may be a false nail convert now!

I've loved having long nails, even if only for little over a week, even if it does make it harder to type (I'm finally getting used to it!) and with the odd nail coming off after a few days' wear.

I'd definitely recommend these nails as they're so quick to apply and are perfect for occasions or if you just want to test them out before getting longer-lasting acrylics done!

See you on Sunday for a post from the both of us!

K  xo

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Keeping Your Long-Distance Friendships

University is the best place for making lifelong friendships, so after spending 3 years together life can seem pretty weird and a little tough when you and your uni mates move back home... to different parts of the country (or even the world!)

Today's post will be a few of our tips on how not to lose contact with your uni pals and be able to maintain 'long-distance friendships'.

1. The Power of Social Media: Set up a Group Message

With the advances in social media over the years, staying in touch with long-distance friends has been made much easier. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram we can keep up to date with our friends' lives without even seeing them. Whether it's via text or Whatsapp, a group chat is the best way to keep up-to-date with everyone's news at once - it'll almost feel like you're all just having a chat in the same room. Just with more emojis. Group chats also create a space where you can all stay in touch, get advice and give opinions about the TV shows you love (Ahem, PLL! WHO IS A.D?!) Our group also love Snapchat, sending each other 10 second videos of our day is a great way to show each other how we are spending our time at home. 

2. Take trips to Everyone's Hometowns

Birthdays and celebrations are the perfect opportunity to arrange to meet up with your long-distance friends. If you don't already, plan to have your friends over during your birthday week (yes, a whole week is perfectly acceptable!), this will not only be a nice way to celebrate your birthday but will also be a great opportunity to catch up and spend some quality time together in a new place and have a tour of everyone's home towns!

3. Try Meeting in the Middle

Social media can be great and is an amazing resource for us to stay in touch, but nothing can compare to meeting up face-to-face. Living far away from your friends can make it difficult to meet up and with everyone doing their own thing you can go months without even arranging the next meet up!  This is why we always like to have a date in mind as to when to meet up next. Whether it's day trips or a weekend away, dedicating time in your diary to meet up will mean you won't have to go more than a few months without seeing each other. Plus, meeting somewhere roughly in the middle of where you all live can mean a day out in a new place with you all splitting the travel difference and cost.

4. Send "Snail Mail"

Cards and letters are a really cute and thoughtful means of communication. Especially if it's someone's birthday or if you haven't seen them in a while! It shows that you're thinking of them and have taken the time to do something for you. Plus, it's always nice to get something through the letterbox that isn't from the bank!

Image from Pinterest

We hope this post has given you ideas into ways to keep in touch with your long-distance friends!
See you Tuesday,

S & K  xo 

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Pineapple Vase

Hi all, today I try out the latest flower arranging trend: the pineapple vase. 

I love using flowers to brighten up a room, the large variety of colours and styles makes florals the perfect way to bring life into a space. In recent years I have become very interested in flowers and arranging them. Whenever flowers are bought for the house I nominate myself to arrange them beautifully: spending time picking the perfect vase and layering the blooms together.

I first discovered the pineapple vase trend in Lauren Conrad's Celebrate book. In the bachelorette party section, she wrote about how pineapple vases are an innovative and fun way to display your blooms. I couldn't agree more, ever since discovering this trend I have been eager to try it out myself, and today's the day I finally got around to experimenting with creating my own pineapple vase. If you haven't got your hands on Lauren Conrad's latest book Celebrate then Pinterest have many variations of the pineapple vase trend to inspire you to create your own.

Here is how I created mine!

Step one: de-head and core the pineapple like you would a pumpkin on Halloween.

Step two: cut a small plastic bottle in half across the width (this will act as a traditional vase and store the water). Place the plastic bottle inside the pineapple so that is it out of sight and fill with water.

Step four: place the flowers inside the plastic bottle arranging to your preferred hight and style (I prefer to display my flowers shorter and closer to the top of the vase).

FINAL OUTCOME 

Ta-da! Here is the final outcome, I Hope you love it as much as I do! This fun vibrant flower display is perfect for the summer months whether you're hosting a summer party or BBQ or like myself hoping to inject some colour into your room, this pineapple vase will be your go-to flower arrangement for the rest of summer.

I hope this post inspired you to create your own pineapple flower vase. If you do try out this current floral trend make sure you show us on social media using the hashtag: #elevenohseven 

See you Sunday for our next post 

S  xo

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