tartan {autumn wishlist}

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For me, one of the very best things about autumn and winter is tartan. It always looks so festive and cosy. Above are a few tartany things I'm after. All of them are wonderfully casual and perfect for wrapping up warm in this chilly weather. I also thought it'd be fun to include a few pics from previous outfit posts where I'm wearing tartan. All of these were taken in the last year and are things I wear a lot. In fact, I'm                                            currently wearing the red tartan skirt pictured below!

Anyway I'd love to know what you think of my picks and also what you guys are lusting after for autumn and winter?

Happy Friday!

autumn inspiration

(I do not own any of these images. All images have been sourced from Pinterest)

What was life like before Pinterest because I cannot remember...I guess it must've been okay. It's just crazy when I try to imagine not having it there at my finger tips. I probably got all of my fashion and beauty inspiration from magazines and strangers. I mean, I still get inspired by people I pass in the street and flicking through a magazine will leave me with the biggest want list but Pinterest is just one step up. It's real. It's everyday people being creative and sharing it. It isn't just full of expert artists and models and photographers and bakers, it's just people and I think that makes it so much more amazing. 

The images above make me feel all warm and happy inside. It's the equivalent of drinking tea in bed. The colours and textures and patterns. The lighting. It's all so perfect that when I'm running low on inspiration or things to do (I'm in my last year of uni so technically there is always something to do!), I go on Pinterest and google random phrases. Most of the time it's fashion and beauty and hair but sometimes it's travel and food and home wear. It just depends on my mood! Really though, I just wanted to share with you the loveliness of these images and have a good excuse to revel in my love for this time of year. 

the brogues

On Saturday, my parents came up to visit for the day despite the fact that it takes three and a half hours to drive the distance. They must've been shattered by the end of it, but we had such a lovely day that I reckon it was worth it. First we went to this wonderful shop called Whole Foods. I'm sure you might of heard of it. It's like a posh marche with everything you could want. Beautiful fruit and vegetables, a station where you can make you own nut butter (or just buy nuts and seeds and grains and oats and dried fruit etc), spices, a butchers and fishmongers, a cheese section (Double Gloucester anyone?) and besides all the dried foods they sell they also have a big section devoted to fresh ready-to-eat food. We had mushroom and ricotta pizza.

After lunch we headed to a small town called Tewekesbury where we looked around the abbey, had a hot chocolate (cause it's really starting to get cold here) and I got some pictures of my outfit (above). It's been so nice the last couple of weeks being able to post a couple of outfits! I hate not being able to post the content I want to post. Any photographers in the Cheltenham area want a job? 

Anyway, I love this outfit. It's exactly the kind of the thing I dream about wearing throughout the summer. Layers and pretty colours and feeling all snuggled up. Also (and hence the title of  this post) I decided to wear my new brogues that I bought from New Look a couple of weeks ago. You may have heard me rant about footwear in the past but I find it such a difficult thing. In the summer I wear pumps and flipflops and sandals and occasionally trainers but when it comes to autumn and winter, I feel a little lost. When it rains and is really cold, I wear my ankle boots but unless it's freezing I don't want to wear boots but it's too cold to wear pumps. I decided to buy some brogues that were somewhere in between. Saturday was dry and a little chilly and my feet were nicely warm so at the moment they seem to be a good solution but only time will tell! My dress is also new. I bought it from Dorothy Perkins before I came back to uni as I thought it would be a nice going out dress during autumn and winter. Besides all this, I LOVE the colour.

Dress Dorothy Perkins

Denim Jacket Joe Browns

Scarf Accessorize

Bag Cambridge Satchel Company

Tights Primark

Brogues New Look

six coats you need this a/w

No, you're right. It's a silly title. No one needs six coats. Let's pretend it says six coats that would be extremely lovely to own for autumn and winter and maybe spring if it's particularly cold. Yes that makes more sense...

I have a real love hate relationship with coats. Every year, around this time, I find myself building up an online and real life wishlist of coats I want to own. I plan what I would wear with each of them in my head (am I the only person that does this?) and I just love all the different shapes, styles, colours and brands. I also think that I suit coats quite well. Some people can look swamped but as long as I find the right length and don't have to compromise on size, I can really suit a lot of different styles. 

So onto the hate part of my relationship...

Firstly I rarely have the money to buy myself a nice coat cause the majority of lovely ones range between £50-100. Secondly, if I can afford it I am stuck between a beautiful fashion forward on trend coat that I am dying to wear or a nice simple coat that will go with a lot of my stuff. Problem is, I hate this decision. I don't get why I get to pick between twenty different cardigans and why I get to own every shade of blue in my jeans but when it comes to coats I have to make this big coatmmitment (get it?). But seriously, I get that coats are expensive and that really, in terms of practicalities, I only need one but this makes for such a hard decision. I think it's probably why I just give up on buying one. This year though, I'm determined to buy a coat and not have to make a sacrifice. Instead I will find the ultimate coat that ticks all of the boxes. Such a thing must exist...

Newlook Navy Checked Coat & Blue Collarless Coat

M&S Green Double Breasted Coat & Cream Checked Coat

ASOS Black Trench Coat & Lilac Oversized Coat

If you missed my last outfit post on what I wore on my day out to London, click here!