Essentials and non-essentials

Recently I've noticed a pattern in my approach to shopping and the sales period this year was a proof that there is a slight change in my approach to shopping and spending which I'm actually very happy with. Probably the best evidence for that is my reluctance to shop the sales, not because I hate the stress of diving into messy sale rails and pushy customers but because I truly got to the conclusion that there was nothing I really needed to spend my money on, at least nothing that I can consider completely essential to my wardrobe at this time of the year. I have plenty of basic items, knitwear and by now, enough jackets and coats to last me a few good winters but one thing I noticed I can't get enough of recently is shoes and handbags, these shoes from Topshop and Maanii handbag have been two items I marked quite a long time ago as two pieces that I will buy once the end of season markdowns start and I'm quite happy I managed to hold myself until the sales and save some money but I was also really happy that I bought exactly the two items I set my eyes upon and didn't get distracted by any other sale items that I simply didn't need at this point. 

One of the things that I noticed is that pretty early on in the season I had a list of items that I wanted but didn't want to pay a full price for and with that list also came a more sensible outlook on what I need or don't need so when the sales started, most of those items I thought were essential at the beginning of the season, suddenly disappeared from my list simply because as times passed I started realising I did not really need them and eventually I was left with just two items on my list - a pair of shoes and a bag, certainly not big sale scores but definitely more practical then most other items I set my sight on when the season just started.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to keep up with this as the new season arrivals start to hit the shops, it was certainly something that not only saved me a lot of money but also taught me to evaluate carefully what I need and what I can live without. 

Touch of pink

I'm a little bit in love with all of those looks from &Other Stories, a touch of light and pink shades, so beautiful yet seems so out of reach for me. I really find it hard to wear pastels and pinks or even white, not because they're not really my colours but because I'm so clumsy that by the time I leave home and get to work I usually spill my coffee on myself about 3 times and manage to smear my mascara and eyeliner everywhere, not to mention the messy morning commutes on the smog and dust filled London Underground, all of those just scream 'accident waiting to happen' if I even try and think of something slightly lighter than my usual greys, blue and blacks. I do kind of envy those that are brave enough to rock a little bit of pink and pastel, I sort of wish I could find the perfect pink or pastel piece that I'd feel comfortable wearing without being worried about spilling coffee over it or mess it up in some kind of way. For now I'll keep on looking at these brilliant looks for some inspiration until I feel brave enough to add a little bit of pink and pastel shades to my wardrobe.

Bag obsession - the gym backpack

It seems like I can’t go a week without developing an obsession for a handbag style and after my foray into the controversial world of bumbags recently, I’m now developing a slight obsession with drawstring gym bags. Yes, it’s yet another time-travel adventure for me, back to the summer camp days when I was forced to pack all of my daily summer camp belongings into a flimsy drawstring bag decorated with all sorts of colourful and ridiculous motifs that were there to remind you what summer camp you’re in. Obviously, once the summer camp days were gone, I never had to look at the drawstring gym bag again, but recently it seems they’ve been slowly making their way back and luckily, this time, the loud and colorful is replaced by sophisticated and practical making the drawstring gym bag feel a little more age appropriate. 

These are some of my favourite picks, ranging from the very high end and ridiculously expensive Alexander Wang x  Samsung bag to the slightly more affordable high street option from Zara.  

Combat mode

It's been somewhat of a manic Sunday morning for me, I'm currently writing this while on a train journey to visit a friend who's leaving for a long period to travel around the world.

I woke up in a bit of a combative mood ( a mixture of not feeling very well an waking up way too early) and this outfit was the first thing I thought off. Sadly it was still too dark to actually snap a proper photo of this outfit so a quick browse through polyvore while on my train journey has helped to sort it out. 

I was trying to steer clear from the camouflage trend but I really fell in love with this pencil skirt from Topshop, it has a bit of an elegant touch to it despite the camouflage print. The shoes from Office were meant to be my winter shoes this year but I'm still having a hard time breaking into them so I have a spare pair of shoes in my bag in case it all gets too much!

Bag obsession - Maanii Copenhagen

I once again found myself drooling over a bag this weekend, I don't know if my latest bag obsession is a result of actually not really being that inspired when it comes to getting dressed, it's not that there are no fabulous and gorgeous garments everywhere this season, it might be just the recent changes to my daily routine and lifestyle that make me get more excited when I see a cool bag.

I've recently discovered this bag by Maanii , part bumbag, part shoulder bag, it's certainly one of the more unconventional bags I've bumped into recently and I'm really tempted to reach my credit card and get one of these. Oh, how I hate handbag temptation!

The perfect backpack

It seems like the last two season have thrown me into some kind of time-travel mood, the return of 90's fashion trends has thrown me into a nostalgic journey back to my teens, a period of my life that most times I would rather forget. But now , suddenly I find myself falling for all sorts of 90's trends I just couldn't work in my teens. One of these trends is the return of the backpack, in my teens it was my mum that used to dictate what backpack I'll be carrying to school and while she did her best at finding a good combination of cool and practical , I still wanted something more exciting to carry my books in. 

Alas, my school days are long gone, and for years I didn't think again about the backpack days, not until I moved to London and had to figure out the best way to carry all the junk I usually carry in my handbag on my train journey to work. I kept losing everything in my giant tote, I could never find my oyster card when I needed it, I kept thinking I lost my wallet, my phone and what not. Eventually my good old tote bag broke under the stress of carrying all my junk,so I decided to try a smaller bag which I just couldn't overload with junk, that didn't work out well at all as I couldn't fit all of what I wanted and then I saw this beautiful backpack at Fenwick, a department store I can never actually afford to shop in but love to visit for some window shopping. 

Surprisingly this bag is slightly more costly than my usual budget but was still more affordable than the usual designer handbag prices, at the time I still couldn't afford it and by the time I did it was sold out. The sales assistant offered to take my details and contact me if the bag is ever restocked, I left my details and forgot about this bag, but last week I got and email saying the bag is now back in stock , it's been a long long time since I got to treat myself with something nice so I thought it's about time I make a bit on an investment and buy a new practical handbag and what can I say ? It was probably the best purchase I made in a long time. I'm really happy with this bag, it ticks all of the boxes for me, roomy but not big enough to keep losting all my stuff, it's also comfortable to carry and has enough pockets to help me easily take out whatever I need without having to rummage through my bag and above all it probably embodies all of what I wanted in a backpack when I was a teenager with a little bit of extra sophistication.

Spring vibes

I go out one sunny weekend afternoon and come back with all sorts of bright and shiny items ? Well, it might just be the combination of the first week of March and the somewhat sunny weekend that made me feel slightly relieved that the winter is almost behind us. It's still cold outside but it didn't deter me from trying out a new pair of sunglasses (H&M , I can't bear buying expensive sunglasses because I always end up losing them) this progressed on to some nail polish and ended up with this bright red semi-transparent bag that I couldn't avoid. I mentioned last week that I quite like the clear accessories trend and this bag definitely caught me, it's different from the sort of handbags I would usually buy and red is probably one of those colours I usually not go for but this bag totally got me and I'm actually looking forward to using it to add a little bit of colour to my outfits ! 

All Clear

I'm really into clear plastic and lucite accessories lately, I'm not sure why since I have detested anything that has to do with clear perspex since my secondary school days when we used to have art classes that involved creating terrible jewelry and all sorts of ridiculous accessories from perspex and other types of plastic. Needless to say I was absolutely useless with that type of 'art' and constantly disappointed my mum by coming back from those classes empty handed so at least now I can tell her her wishes for some plasticky perspex made accessories have been granted as this summer is the summer for all the plasticky accessories she can only dream of.

I do actually think there some brilliant and interesting items worth having a look at and it looks like there are items to fit any budget from high-street brands to high end designers. I really love the slight futuristic vibe you get from some of those items and I love how simple and sharp they can be without being too much in your face.

My favourites at the moment are the boxy clutches and clear heels but a special place in my heart goes to the gorgeous Marc Jacobs satchel which is so beautiful in my opinion (although really not something an un-organised handbag owner like me needs!). 

Feeding the obsession - Zara lunch bag clutch

Zara lunch bag clutch

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I developed a slight obsession for lunch bag style clutches and although I'm not a clutch person myself I sort of started thinking I wouldn't mind one although I really couldn't justify the cost of the ones I liked,which lead me as always back to Zara, the place that seems to cater to every silly fashion obsession I have. I was actually looking for a birthday present for a friend, checking out the Zara website when I stumbled across this bag which was perfect to satisfy my obsession for a lunch bag clutch.  I thought to myself this can serve as a nice little treat and I also got one for my friend who absolutely loved it and can't stop talking about how cool it is. I think for the price it's actually serves as a nice accessory and the best thing is that it actually has a detachable strap so can be carried on the shoulder which is perfect for someone like me who loses her patience with clutches very quickly. So although it's not the designer clutch I was dreaming about, I'm still quite happy with it as it's quite affordable but still looks cool.

Obsession in the works - Lunch bag clutches

Yes ... New obsession  is here , the lunch bag clutches which were first seen on the runway in Jill Sander's A/W men's shows are now pretty much every where and to be honest I think they finally caught my eye after    having a quick look at Marie Turnor's clutches and checking out Celine's S/S 2013 accessories (just checking though ...). I'm usually not a clutch person, always find it hard to carry a clutch because I love to carry everything I own in my bag but I think I'm getting a little obsessed over those clutches filling my head with ideas on how I can squeeze all of my stuff if I can ever get my hands on one of those.